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"Fools," he agrees, breathless, and matches her aggression with his own.[break][break]

He had never experienced the awkward, exploratory stages of love, lust. Like an actor, he has studied and mimicked the actions of others in a quest for self-discovery, but the myriad of emotions he's been missing slam into him all at once with a shiver up his spine. His veins are on fire and his confidence grows with every moment that Emma does not pull away, encouraging the ferocity which Charles had only shown hints of.[break][break]

This time, should Emma's hands find somewhere to settle, Gavin stays close. His own have wandered, fingers finding purchase in her hair and his perfectly-trimmed nails digging into the small of her back.[break][break]

When breath fails him and he has to pull away, he remains intertwined with her.[break][break]

A lazy grin spreads across his lips, mischief glinting in his eyes. "Shall I book two tickets then?"

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Emma is no stranger to passion. While not an expert by any means, she is practiced and deliberate in every movement. There is no hesitation, no awkwardness as she descends upon him. When she requires breath she takes it in slight pauses, her breath warm on his lips as she breaks apart temporarily.[break][break]

And her hands have found several places to settle, namely his shirt, his buttons, his chest, anything tangible that she can pull at.[break][break]

Warmth of passion fill her cheeks, an expression that has not lingered on her face in a long, long time. His fingers in her hair bring the emotion out of her, a gasp escaping as his other hand pushes into the small of her back, pulling her closer. She wants closer, desperately.[break][break]

It is with great restraint that she allows him to pull away to breathe. Her eyes are aglow as she studies his face, as she settles on his lazy grin, on the mischief in his eyes. Her heartbeat is loud and deliberate, her fingers lingering on his collarbone, unwilling to fully separate. He asks a question and she's mesmerized by his lips, the growl in his tone.[break][break]

"Sounds like fun."

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It's a wonder they make it to the bedroom at all.[break][break]

Their love is passion, fire, ferocity. It bruises, drains. He is exhausted in the afterglow, but happy for what feels like the first time in years. There's warmth in his cheeks and in the pit of his stomach. Emma had been warm, too, an anchor of reassurance until she'd slipped off to the shower. The absence of that warmth left him wanting, but he had voiced no protest.[break][break]

When the afterglow dims, he takes his own turn in the shower and washes the scent of her from his skin. In the mirror as he dries his hair, his thumb traces a blossoming mark above his collarbone. It will out them to anyone perceptive enough to notice, but Gavin doesn't care. If anything, it is something he takes pride in. He is certain that Emma has not escaped the encounter unscathed; he wonders if she is equally blase.[break][break]

He finds her in the living room. His fingers ghost along his jaw, just-shaved.[break][break]

It occurs to Gavin, then, that he does not know how to approach the situation on his mind. Naturally, he opts for the direct approach:[break][break]

"If we're to go to Galar together, there's something you should know."[break][break]

It sounds daunting, phrased like this, and so he does not make her wait for long. He sits on the couch, twitching as he reaches for a pack of smokes that isn't there. Fingers curl against his thigh as he retracts his hand.[break][break]

"My real name isn't Gavin." Nor was his surname Merlino, but he trusts she can infer as much. There's a note of vulnerability in the breath he takes before confession: "It's Cillian. Cillian Quinn."
[break][break]
Emma was the third person who knew; the first he'd told.

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The moment their moment ends with heavy breathing and bodies limp side by side, Emma is quick to slip from the sheets and collect her clothes on the way to the shower. She doesn't dress, of course, continuing to offer him a tease should he choose to follow.[break][break]

But the intent behind her quick abandonment is for her to separate, to breathe, to think through what had just happened and the magnitude of it.[break][break]

Because she knew that this was more than just sex for Gavin. She felt it in the deep kisses, the aggressive touch, the way he looked at her.[break][break]

And it's because of that that she detaches for just a moment.[break][break]

The shower's noise is steady and welcoming and she enters before the water has even grown hot. She massages her scalp as the water pours against her hair. Eyes closed, breathing slow.[break][break]

When she finally exits she takes no pause to observe the battle scars of their passion. She is neither proud nor ashamed. She finishes drying her hair with the towel but leaves it damp as she dresses and makes her way into the livingroom to reunite with Gavin.[break][break]

Of course, the look in his eye is intense and she's mildly on edge. She opts to de-escalate the scenario with a quick joke, a hidden test.[break][break]

"Don't tell me, you have a lover in Galar you need taken care of."[break][break]

But that isn't what he says, and the surprise is reflected in her slight hesitation, the small 'o' of her lips. She shouldn't be surprised, but she is. She had looked into him a long time ago, dug deep into his background and records, learning about him. Nothing had ever suggested that his name wasn't his own. [break][break]

It had been something she had once suspected but dismissed because she trusted him.[break][break]

And now that trust was... presented differently as he speaks to her now, confesses.[break][break]

"What?"

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Had it been any other situation, one of lesser gravity perhaps, Gavin might've laughed openly at the jest. Instead, Emma is rewarded only with a twitch of his lip before he steers the conversation back to the matter at hand, back to his confession.[break][break]

Her surprise is genuine.[break][break]

It's subtle, muted, as so many things are with Emma, but there's something real in the way her lips part, a subconscious gesture.[break][break]

Anxiety flutters in Gavin's stomach.[break][break]

"Cadis knows," he admits, grimacing. He'd covered his tracks well, but not well enough to hide from the man who had an entire criminal enterprise at his fingertips. Now, he had Gavin at his fingertips as well. His position had come with a cost, one that he might not have paid if he'd been given the choice. "And my sister's told someone. No one else. Not even Marcel."[break][break]

He's never explicitly stated his closeness with Marcel, but Emma has been with Rocket a long time.[break][break]

Gavin's fingers twist together in his lap, trimmed nails still finding ways to bite into flesh.[break][break]

"I — figured you should know." He frowns at his own choice of words. "I wanted you to know."

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Emma observes him quietly as he twitches, fidgets, searches for an invisible pack of cigarettes. It's clear that revealing this information is daunting to him, perhaps even scary. It makes her think more about how he regards her, what he sees in her. And that scares her more than realizing he had lied to her and that her own masterwork skills had been fooled.[break][break]

But instead of asking him why he'd kept his from her, she stands still, stiff, and asks something more intimidating.[break][break]

"Why?"[break][break]

Why tell her now? She knew the answer, deep down. There was a reason his nails bit flesh, his breath was ragged and nervous. Perhaps he had wanted to tell her for a long time.

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His moment of vulnerability is met with silence, stiffness, then a single question: why?[break][break]

This, he thinks, is the hardest question she could have asked him. Had she asked why he'd lied to her, he could have answered. But as to why he was telling the truth now?
[break][break]
His throat feels dry. Regret closes in on him, begs him to throw up the walls he'd built up over years of lying and keeping others at a distance. It was easier to lie. Gavin Merlino might not have been his identity at birth, but he had become Gavin as surely as he'd been Cillian Quinn, Galarian university graduate and aspiring scientist.[break][break]

He wants to look away, but doesn't.[break][break]

"You — I trust you." His expression pinches as he wills her to understand. "It's been a long time since I've trusted anyone."

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He hesitates because she did. His reactions an uncomfortable reflection of her own. He looks on her with expectation, with some degree of hope, and she can't fathom it. His faith in her is suffocating, but she wants it anyway.[break][break]

It especially sets their course in stone when he says he trusts her. Her sharp gaze softens, the stiffness in her shoulders relaxing just the slightest bit. She hadn't wanted anyone's trust. She hadn't been willing to give anyone her own - not in a long time. And yet this man stood in front of her swathed in fear and she was drawn to him like a magnet.[break][break]

"Gray. My last name is Gray."[break][break]

She approaches then, hands discreetly reaching, a mind of their own. Where once she put mandatory space between them, she seeks closeness.[break][break]

"I trust you too, Merlino."

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Her gaze softens, and it's like the vice grip around Gavin's chest has been worked loose. He can breathe again, his chest rising and falling with deceptive steadiness. He is very good at simulating calm.[break][break]

Emma offers a confession of her own, and Gavin tilts his head as he processes it.[break][break]

"Gray," he repeats, and his lip curls into an amused smirk. Emma closes the distance between them, reaches for him, and Gavin pulls her closer. It's with a certain fondness that he teases, "My Gray wolf."

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He pulls her closer and the magnetism of their dance intensifies. She studies his face with calm curiosity as his amused smirk crawls across his face. It seems she's put him at ease, which ultimately puts herself at ease.[break][break]

And then she mirrors his smirk at his tease. She's skipped past the possessive term and accepted the endearment. It feels like a lightning strike has sent her nerves into a scattered mess of numbness and electricity. It's exhilarating.[break][break]

"I like the sound of that."[break][break]

Emma's hand then wanders where it shouldn't. They have some time before they'd need to leave for the airport - not that she cared at the moment.

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By the time the plane touches down on the Circhester airport's runway, Gavin sports aches in muscles he didn't know existed — all worth it. He spends most of the flight asleep, exhausted, but opens his eyes to offer Emma a secret smile as the turbulence from the landing rouses him. She's the reason for such sweet suffering; their time before the flight had been well-spent.[break][break]

Saoirse would notice immediately, of course, but Gavin doesn't care.[break][break]

She meets them in the airport as they retrieve their luggage, sharp eyes honing in upon deep scratches along Gavin's neck. She quirks her brow, but he doesn't offer the satisfaction of response. There is no hug, no grand display of sibling affection, only a curt nod from Gavin as he takes in the minute changes in his sister since he'd last seen her in the flesh.[break][break]

To Emma, he says, "Anywhere you'd like to go first, after we drop our bags at the hotel?" He presses his lips together at a look from his sister. "Yes, hotel; if you think I'd subject Emma to Mum and Dad, you're sorely mistaken."

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Surprisingly, Emma sleeps most of the flight, her head propped on Gavin - but only because she'd lean one way or the other. The neck pillow only does so much to keep her in a position all to herself, and she's comfortable enough to allow their intimacy.[break][break]

But she stirs when the plane begins to land, the rumble of the landing strip and the awkward and only slightly smooth landing jarring her from her sleep. And yet she manages to be on high alert even though she's stirred from sleep. The secret smile is missed - because it's a secret - and her attention is on getting off the plane and getting some fresh air.[break][break]

She follows Gavin off the plane to meet with his sister and she is no stranger to the pointed stares the woman gives the both of them. Ultimately, Emma says nothing, offering the woman only a polite nod. She doesn't exactly linger in Gavin's shadow, but she remains with him in some way that isn't shy but isn't that confident or dominating.[break][break]

"Nothing comes to mind."[break][break]

Her attention slides back to Saoirse and the pointed stare Gavin receives at the mention of hotel, prompting his defensive remark. Was he worried what his dear old parents would think of her? That's cute.

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"There's always the Hero's Bath..."[break][break]

Saoirse grins, eyes gleaming as she attempts to get a rise out of the pair. Gavin, used to her antics, doesn't so much as wince.[break][break]

"True; the Baths are a great place to stop after a long flight. It's a hot spring in the city center."[break][break]

Perhaps Saoirse assumed that Gavin would be shy, awkward, bumbling over the suggestion of a soak with his lover. His sister has never seen him court anyone, after all, and it's given her a whole new range of buttons to push. Shame for her that the buttons don't appear to function.[break][break]

The air is cold as they exit the airport, a gust of wind carrying with it a flurry of snow as if to immediately set Galar apart from the heat and humidity of tropical Hoenn. Gavin breathes deep, the cool, crisp air welcoming him home. Snow-capped mountains rise high in the west, while the eastern sea adds the faintest hint of salt-and-brine.[break][break]

Gooseflesh rises on Gavin's arms, and he scoffs. "I've spent too much time in Hoenn, apparently."[break][break]

With a promise to meet up with Saoirse later, Gavin dismisses her from their company as they reach their hotel room. His sister is clearly disappointed, but doesn't argue with his withering stare.[break][break]

"Sorry about her," says Gavin dryly as he strides over to the window and pulls open the curtains. They have a lovely view of the mountains. He glances over his shoulder at Emma, curious. "You have siblings?"

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