It isn't in the past if he is wearing it so plainly in the present.

But she doesn't push it because it isn't her place. She can only admire and feel sorry for the way he carries his grief. While hers is raw and painful, she can see that his is much the same, but he has a far better lid on it.

She doesn't envy that.

"What, you don't think they'd like the killer aliens and frequent world-ending events every other week?"

Remi attempts humor, but there isn't enough kick in her jest to really push it through. It doesn't land quite right, maybe because her own voice still wobbles with the remainder of her previous breakdown. She swallows, bites her bottom lip, and looks away.

"It's nice to see you still in the ranger's seat, though."

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

"No.."

Somehow, evil thoughts creep in alongside the dread and the flash of grief. Immediately, she assumes the worst. Unkind, unfair thoughts are invasive and they take hold instantaneously. It comes through in a neon sign: did calla mccoy have something to do with this?

But no, she couldn't have. She wouldn't have. As manipulative as she was, she wasn't capable of something like that..

Was she?

Remi can't help but stare at him even though he turns away from her. He's hiding his pain well, but even she can see him refill the cracks that had appeared. Like pouring cement to fix the damage, it's imperfect but it works.

"I'm so sorry."

I should have been there.

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

Fingertips grip the pokeball tight, and although the Pokemon within does not attempt to break out, she holds it with a fierceness indicative of her fear of such. thing happening. Eventually, however, the woman tucks the warm pokeball away in favor of taking in her surroundings again.

Nearby, there is a splash that she had originally overlooked. But upon closer in spection, shadows dance along the wall and the sound of footsteps draw her attention in further. It appears that she may not be alone- but she has not yet realized that it is another human being in the cave with her.

No, because she has spotted the floating little creepy little unblinking little eyeball near the waters edge. Angelo, somehow, remains out of sight for the time being. With a sharp whistle, Remi directs her two Sneasel to the hovering Unown. And, naturally, they take to her command quickly and with the intent to be efficient.

This was their task, after all, and it seems all of their hard work had begun to pay off. Remi grins from ear to ear, unaware of the giant Jellicent rising from the depths behind her to swallow her whole.

pass

angelo vestri

☉

Remi spares a glance at him, confusion clearly written across her ugly, tear-splotched face.

Was there.. bitterness in his tone? What was it that he wasn't telling her?

Scratch that.

His life was no longer her business-- it never had been. The thought makes her stomach hurt.

"Nothing left? Did you just.. pack up your whole family and move? Why?"

But she feels herself slipping, feels her claws digging in to pry him open. She wants to know, she has to know. She shouldn't. But she does. She has feelings for him, still there even behind that dark fucking cloud she's hiding behind.

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

His laugh rumbles loudly from his chest, shaking even her where she lies next to him. It amuses her because, evidently, nothing has truly changed.

"Perhaps more than a few by the sounds of it."

She exhales, pulling herself up. And, without warning, she moves to straddle the man.

"I may.. continue enjoying the view."

NIKO MANNER

☉

Satisfaction creeps like poison ivy, leaving her itchy with anticipation. He falls to his knees and she shifts her knee to allow him to creep ever closer. His hands, warm, gently make room.

"Please."

She leans closer to him, lips brushing his lips while her fingers unfasten the top button of her jeans. The amused, confident smirk grows wider at the prospect of his attention being trained solely on her.

mission: pokemon hunter

KING WAYLAND

☉

"I like to get paid."

She scowls, but ultimately steps aside to let Valentine do his work. As long as the job gets done, after all, she has no qualms about who does it.

And when she comes back to find the Dracozolt folded up and half asleep, she purses her lips and crosses her arms over her chest.

"Not bad. She seems to be quiet now."

And they are just about prepared now to haul her off. Just in time.

mission: life, uh, finds a way

valentine besoras

☉

"No."

Her tone is sharp, and she quickly clears her throat and looks away. She is thankful for the rain, now, and for the way her hair, now drenched, clings to her cheeks to hide the furious embarrassment rosying them.

"Just don't crush me."

She steps inside, or rather, crawls. Once her knees touch the slippery fabric of the tent floor, she wrings her hair out and drapes it over her shoulder. After some grumbling and groaning, tossing and turning, she eventually settles down.

"Neither of you best touch me."

Julien Demassieux

☉

Remi stares at him, weighing her options. She could just sleep outside, in the cold and wet, with the dead Venomoth as her pillow.

Or she could sacrifice her ego and cuddle up to... the spring chicken over there.

She glances to the Blaziken he refers to as 'Orion'. Her lip twitches with annoyance. It would be a tight fit already to share a tent, let alone to share it with two people and a Pokemon. But the longer she stays outside, the more she starts to look like a half-drowned rat.

Remi ends up hovering by the mouth of the tent, uncomfortable.

"I'm.. claustrophobic."

Julien Demassieux

☉

Remi stares back with all of the muster of someone caught staring and annoyed that he had been staring back.

Her own tent-building is not nearly as quick and efficient, and as it happens, is littered with holes. Apparently, whoever had last packed this shit up hadn't done it properly. There was even a dead Venomoth wrapped up inside that she reveals when she unfurls the fabric.

"Wonderful."

And then it starts to rain.

Julien Demassieux

☉

He was very similar to an awkward virgin teen. He amuses her and irritates her in the same breath, and she finds it impossibly easy to make fun of him and yet seek some semblance of approval. Why? She had no idea.

Call it the reconstruction part of her path of grieving.

Or call it being an asshole.

"You're always weird."

She waves him off so she can eat in peace, using the motion to mask the shivering beneath her thin jacket. Hoenn weather was a doozy. Overall, the soup isn't all that bad. It is by no means the same quality as the one he'd made and shared with her on the submarine- but in some ways it was better because it didn't have the secret ingredient of seasickness.

With a lick of her lips and a final scrape of her own bowl, she sets hers next to his and waits a moment longer before pulling herself to her feet and approaching her pack with the tent.

Julien Demassieux

☉

She passes the bowl off quickly, both because of how awkward and mundane it is to feed someone else, and the fact the bowl is piping hot and scalding her fingers.

"Of course you do. Most men do."

And in response to his defensive comment about his relationship status, she rolls her eyes and snorts.

"Right. That's what they all say."

She slowly pours her own bowl second, sucking air through her teeth as she splashes it over the edge to burn herself, and readjusts the bowl over and over to avoid hurting herself more. But eventually, she settles into a seated position in front of the fire, tucking her jacket up and around her reddening ears.

"Are you trying to hit on me or something?"

What kind of pick-up line was 'do you need help setting up a tent?'

Julien Demassieux

☉

She tucks her chin and glances at him.

"You're going to be picky, now? No wonder you're single."

But she sloshes around the contents and points out chunky pieces of potato and chunks of unidentifiable meat. She shrugs, glances back at him, and rolls her eyes.

"I'll give you the meatier parts, then, if you're so hungry."

And, from her pack, she pulls out pieces of bread as well. It seems really wild-man of them, like they'd gathered ingredients from roughing it in the woods. Frankly, Rocket could have done a lot better in providing a healthy meal.

"Just don't get all worked up, and you won't be hungry."

She raises an eyebrow.

Julien Demassieux

☉