His answer only bred further disappointment within him.

He was here for guests - not for him, or gabrielle black , or Sirius Black . Though, to be fair, it was Finn's fault for expecting anything at this point. Beyond the lessons he "instilled" into them, the most important lesson he taught was to never rely on anyone else. This implied especially to him.

"I am enjoying my youth." He shrugged, still avidly avoiding his father's gaze. "There's nothing better to do anyways."

This was embarrassing. One second he had buckled up and made way towards the exit, assured by his brother that he hadn't caused him any trouble. The next second, he was playing the starring role of damsel in distress. Finn didn't even manage to make his kidnapping cool - nah, he was kicking and screaming the entire way, begging for someone to help. Begging for URIAH BLACK to help. 

Fear ran rampant in his bloodstream, sending every muscle and self-preservation function into overdrive. "Let me go, you fucks," He hollered, flailing within the Pokémon's grasps. Eventually, when Locke Jamison and Eris Halla came into view, these attempts strengthened as every bone in his body begged to be released. A mixture of pain and dread was clear in his eyes as he stared out towards the two.

His life was now in their hands.

---

left to die thanks to uriah
wah wah wah
just struggling and screaming
bryan delarosa

With the space granted to him (a little bit of brotherly love), Finn was able to regain his composure, slowly but surely. "Sorry," He laughed through shakey breaths.

Eventually, he was calmed and back on his feet, ready to put this day behind.

"Yea, I'll be fine."

Would he? He'd like to think so, but...he had a strange feeling whirling around in his stomach. He shook his head. There was no time to let these anxieties get the best of him, especially if it meant holding URIAH BLACK back any further. So, a look of determination plastered across the teen's face, Finley released his typhlosion and made pace towards what he assumed to be the exit of the city.

---

- apologizes to big bro
- can't shake off a strange feeling
- shakes it off n heads towards the 'exit'
bryan delarosa

Little does URIAH BLACK know that his younger brother was among the crowd.

One second it was just Finn and Pea hovering near the side of a peach color house, and the next second they realized the house WASNT peach color but was, in fact, on fire!

"Shit shit shit" The teen muttered after returning his pokemon to their ball. The clamouring of distressed parents and children rung from all around him, with the heat of flames following close behind. As much as he wanted to follow the swarms of crying residents, his legs had begun to go on a strike, leaving his body planted in place.

It wasn't until a familiar voice broke through the cloud of noise that he felt a flash of clarity.

"Uriah! I'm over here!!"

August's departure came without warning. One second Finn was off staring down towards the ground, avidly avoiding any temptation to steal another glimpse of Ophelia, and the next, his best friend was gone and out of sight.

'You two should talk'

Those words created a thick ball of mucus in his throat. Hesitant eyes frantically searched the ground and his lips twitched into an uncomfortable frown. But, before his awkwardness could manifest into words, Ophelia was the first to prompt conversation. "Yeah..." The word drooled out from his lips, slow and cautious.  "...I plan on painting her pink later. It'll be a pain in the ass, though."

But it would be worth it

Because it'll match that damned pair of fuzzy dice-- the way they planned it look all that time ago.

The man's cool voice sounded more like a whip cracking in the air than curious words from a father. Finn's expression tightened. Gaze cast downward, the teen inspected the car's innerworkings once more, allowing the hood to act as a thin divider between him and intense wave of expectations that blocked the doorway.

It wasn't like he needed help -- he had done fine without it for this long. But these prideful thoughts could only do so much to block the pang of disappointment that fell on his heart.  

"Wing it." He replied with a mask of nonchalance, "I can always use a ratchet handle extension anyways." 

After a brief pause, Finn spoke again. "...why're you home anyways?"

They were so tantalizingly close. Just a few cranks here, a twist of the screwdriver there, and maybe a few trips to the scattered monitors. The teen's dirtied fingers fiddled away at the toy car, refiguring it to the blueprint spread out beside him. Every now and then his eyes would gaze back up at the rotom, gauging his reactions to his work, or fall back down on the crinkled notes encircling them.

"C'mon..." He muttered, threads of sweat weaving across his forehead. "Put this here...click that together...add this..."

CRANK.

CLICK.

BUNK.

Presto! With a flip of the switch, the toy car roared to life. Smoke puffed out of its added modified mufflers as Finn gingerly laid its wheels on the ground. When placed, his hand instantly reached over for its remote and his finger launched the car forward, speeding it around the laboratory. With the help of his modification, the normally sluggish children's vehicle was hitting 15 mph easily, with an ability to achieve more.

But, before his finger could push the truck further, the swoosh of metal doors caught his attention. Must be haggard. "Oh, hey," He called out from the ground, lips quirked up into a cheeky grin that perfectly matched the rotom's. "Check this out." The toy truck was sent flying around the lab once more. "Cool right? Just wait til I add the BB

Despite his calm expression and laidback laughs, Finley couldn't resist stealing a few glimpses from Ophelia. Her trembling lip, her redden cheeks, he noticed it all. Truth be told, if it weren't for August's persistent efforts to distract him, he might've been lost to her gravitational pull.

"Huh?" Mouth agape, the teen's gaze snapped back to his friend's call. The gears in his head took a second to click back into place, but when they did, his face instantly lit up with excitement. "Oh, yeah! I dunno if I told you, but my pops got me this sick Miata for Christmas. She's got a long way to go, but I'm shooting to get her up and running by next week."

For a moment, maybe due to his habitual nature, his eyes glanced towards Ophelia, as if to gauge her reaction. He used to always bombard her with his dreams of fixing up a car to take her around in, and so, a part of him grew curious if she remembered, or if she even cared. 'I'll need your help decorating it' he used to tell her, 'you know I'm hopeless with design.'

If their eyes were to meet, a tint of embarrassment would instantly flood his cheeks, forcing him to turn back to August.

What should they do?

Finn bit his bottom lip and pondered over their situation carefully. So someone had supposedly gotten inside their house, took all their decorations and presents, and left...? But why? "I don't...know? It's weird. You'd think they would've taken more than just our presents."

He turned back towards Gabby, frowning, and asked, "Do you know if pops' home? Maybe it's some sort of punishment?"

It was a low guess, but who else could've done this? At least it'd make sense if this was some form of vindictive parenting.

gabrielle black

Both the man's words and his pokemon's indicative howl allowed the worried teen to let out a sigh of relief. The stress of separation was wearing at him more than he would like to admit, but thankfully, their presence had lightened the load enough for him to comfortably breathe again.

Nodding at the man's words, Finn closely followed the two as they made their way through the wooded area. Whenever Chuchi barked, he would smile and cheer her on, but grow quiet after there was a prolonged silence.

But, thankfully, every string of silence was ended with a bark-- and, eventually, their chase ended the same way. "ZAP!" Finn hurriedly rushed to the log Chuchi had stopped at and knelt down at one of its ends. He hung his head down to peek into it, and sure as hell, he has met the embarrassed ass of his poor pooch. "ZAP YOU DUMBASS!"

With a few solid tugs, the electrike was free from the log's embrace.

"Oh, sorry Chuchi...here" Before he could forget, the teen fished out a Poke Snack from his pocket and rewarded it to the small pokemon.