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The problem with Fern Delaney is that they never really do know what it is they want.[break][break]
They are often an enigma, even to themself. Slave to the thrill of spontaneity and the chase of a fleeting desire as it comes to them. There, and then gone. A moment seized upon, or allowed to pass by. They say they want one thing, and often want the opposite. Still, they watch as jayden cross tilts toward the mask, and does the same when their own time comes:[break][break]

Curious as to whether or not it will tell them what it is the Fern Delaney, that elusive bitch, wants the most:[break][break]

[break][break]

When they lurch away from the glimmering mask, they are filled with ache. Culled of the everything the contain and left hollow with the knowing that at their core, there is surprisingly little. And yet. And yet, they wish to peer into the curvature of its interior again and fit the shape against their face. They want to repel from it, they want to to fall into it until they understand themself keenly and steadily. They want that that sugar cube sweetness melting on their tongue again.[break][break]

They want, as they often do, but they never know where to put it.[break][break]

With furrowed brows, they drift with the rest when they are ushered away. Uncharacteristically quiet as they comb through the tangle in their mind and grow frustrated with the effort. Not distraught, but contemplative in their silence. Every the self-centric, they pay little mind to the faces that filter in around them—both familiar and not. They observe the showers with a mute tilt of their head and then shed their clothing—tucking it neatly away before gravitating toward jayden cross. Because he is the one steady thing they actually have in their grasp. [break][break]

If the chill were there, the scalding heat of the shower head would surely burn away the frost. There is only a steady familiarity in him that they haven’t seen in some time. No ice, no frostbitten hatred. They don’t speak, but the ache they’d left behind in the chamber gnaws itself in their chest again: bittersweet.[break][break]

There is truth here in the clarity they sense. There is a pretty lie in the same that sings from the mask they can’t walk back to. They harbor the same sentiment, but because Fern Delaney never really does know what Fern Delaney wants, they sway on the rope between truth and lie, waiting to tip over one way or the other when the line goes slack.[break]

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jayden cross[break]
+ ok onto desire town[break]
+ not even fern really knows what fern wants (they want simplicity and stability)[break]
+ there’s some repressed Galar memories there they didn’t know still lingered, but it’s unfamiliar.[break]
+ follows jayden cross to the shower, and yes, they are mcnakey

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"That's me," Fern confirms with a short nod of their head when Zev Harcourt seems to register who they are. Their mouth opens, intent on saying more, but the little catch-up session is woefully interrupted by their feathered warden.[break][break]

Fern casts a glance back toward the beast. "Find me later," they mutter before their attention shifts. Whether he does or not depends on what happens next, they suppose.[break][break]

As the litany of punishments are rolled out, portrayed front and center, Fern watches mutely. Their eyes scan the reactions of others, silently grateful that they have been playing by the rules. After all, it is better others and not them enduring the consequence.[break][break]

Linked by their toxic chains, the lot of them are called to vote, and it is unsurprising that the line falls into debate and argument. When Navy takes the noble route, they snort. This isn't the place for nobility, the proof of that is lying smashed to pulpy bits on the floor. But to each their own. Fern is much more interested in surviving.[break][break]

Similar, quiet exasperation is reserved for every protest that follows.[break][break]

In the natural order of all things, they gravitate back to jayden cross as they always do. Hand winding through his as their other finds itself tangled with BARNABY FINCH's on their opposite side. Funny that - a shame they're just missing howard slayte, or they'd have a full suit.[break][break]

The three of them somehow in unspoken agreement as they each state their vote. As one speaks, and then the other, the third admin nods along. "All of this bickering is boring," they drawl, eyes rolling behind their mask. "Weakling ward."

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jayden cross BARNABY FINCH[break]
+ this is like soooooo annoying[break]
+ holding hands with jayden cross and BARNABY FINCH[break]
+ votes weakling ward

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They knew when they were outclassed, even if their own skills were nothing to scoff at. Still, they pondered how this might be to their benefit—it would bode well if they could curry some semblance of favor with someone who bore this sort of power.[break][break]

More information was squirreled away as they picked their way back over to Zev. Careful steps navigating the carnage.[break][break]

“Need a boost?” they asked, eyes bright as they offered a hand—palm up as it glowed softly with jumping sparks. “I assure you, it’s no trick.” Not a trick, but perhaps a subtle means of making themself noted as useful. To keep themself flagged in his mind.[break][break]

Fern nodded, eyes sweeping across the charred remains, “Yes, let’s. It’s a bit pungent out here now, isn’t it?”[break][break]

Not that the police station proved much better.[break][break]

Their face crumpled in distaste as they revisited the old site of their introduction to Tapu Koko. The ultra beast nest that their group had inadvertently kicked here had been long abandoned, but the lingering rot had remained in the back rooms.[break][break]

Nothing.[break][break]

“No,” they groused in turn, baleful eyes rising to their patron, who flit about in unrest. “I’m beginning to feel like I’m being taken on a wild goose chase.”[break][break]

That wasn’t true, of course. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been reports of a Tapu Bulu in the city. It was a lousy accusation, fed by nothing but bitter disappointment.[break][break]

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MILKY

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They think little of the contact BARNABY FINCH imparts, crossing their ankles neatly as his hands settle on their shins. Almost like it’s an everyday gesture. Casual, like sprawling on their couch at him. They wave a hand in the air, flapping at the wrist as they open their mouth to conjure some sort of aggrieved point to make about their current restrictions.[break][break]

But before they can continue any sort of conversation, the grind of gears and levels pull a platform down to their level. Curious, Fern relinquishes their spot on the cot, and they shuffle closer to what they can see. Their fingers close around the bars as they pull their face close to the gap. [break][break]

It’s not a pretty sight, naturally. [break][break]

While jayden cross and BARNABY FINCH might not give much reaction to the grotesque and gory display, Fern is expressive behind their mask. Throughout the ward, they can hear the gasps and shocked reactions of others kept behind the gates. But Fern’s stomach doesn’t drop, nor do they crumble in dismay or fear.[break][break]

Instead, their nose wrinkles up behind the shroud, lip curling as their eyes give away the distaste they find in the way the creature steps over the mess it made and leaves it behind.[break][break]

Now that is the pot calling the kettle black, their mind murmurs, though Fern has never left a mess behind that is quite so…. visceral.[break][break]

Their eyes follow the fezandipiti with vested interest. It is a lovely creature–with long, feathered wings and a regal posture. But clearly also capable of great cruelty in its sense of allure. Fern makes a mental note to watch it just as keenly.[break][break]

Just because they have rolled with the situation does not mean that they are presently fond of being told what to do.[break][break]

Or that this is their forever home.[break][break]

Something that Jayden immediately picks up on as soon as they are allotted their share of mochi. Like the other admins, Fern shoves the treat in their mouth, but they do not immediately swallow the overly-sweetened rice cake. The cloying peach flavor sits heavy in their mouth, resentful gaze sliding away from their partner and toward the retreating Megalopolan guards.[break][break]

They have the distinct urge to cause another problem just to see if the bird will react the same. Chewed mochi on their tongue, their cheeks puff with the intent to spit it on the ground.[break][break]

And then Jayden meets their eye and reluctantly, they relent and swallow the food down.[break][break]

But not without a baleful scowl.[break][break]

One that persists when they are shuffled out to work. “Yeah, sounds good,” they agree to BARNABY FINCH’s terms, though Fern doesn’t very much feel like keeping a low profile. They sigh, fishing some of the sharp little shards into a pile that they plop down next to.[break][break]

Their blue eyes slide over the other occupants of the ward, and they’re fairly certain they recognized the familiar gaits and mannerisms of their fellow Rockets as they use the front hem of their kitakami as a polisher. Eventually they hone in on another pair sitting not far off and a lightbulb goes off.[break][break]

“Ah!” Because they cannot do anything normally, and they are honestly unsure of how camaraderie will be regarded by their beaky overlord, Fern tosses one of the tinier shards over toward Zev Harcourt much like one would throw a pebble at their darling’s window in the middle of the night.[break][break]

“Psst psst!” They look at him, wild-eyed though their sharper grin isn’t visible past the mask on their face. “That you, Harcourt? I thought I heard you bellowing like a ursaring with a splinter not long ago!” Fern takes a quick glance over their shoulder, eyes naturally gravitating toward jayden cross as he bumps into someone, then toward the guards.[break][break]

“What cell are you in?” If they can make a mental layout of who goes where, that’ll only benefit them, right?

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jayden cross BARNABY FINCH[break]
+ this is like soooooo annoying[break]
+ is behaving…. For now[break]
+ finds Zev Harcourt and tries to get some DEETS[break]
+ 1x salac used

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It is unbearably boiling in their house. Fern shifts uncomfortably, a frown present on their sleeping face. Stubbornly, they attempt to fight off wakefulness, mouth smacking as they register how dry their tongue is.[break][break]

Then the yelling breaks through their foggy semi-wakefulness.[break][break]

Why is Zev Harcourt howling in their bedroom?[break][break]

Fern grumbles, annoyed. A muttered shut up could likely be heard by their cell co-habitants. Eventually his yelling ceases, but it is much too late to return to slumber.[break][break]

Eyes screwed shut, they smack their mouth to conjure whatever moisture that they can muster. They only manage to suck in more arid, stale air. Their hand fumbles out to reach for their nightstand in the dark. For the water glass they keep there.[break][break]

Their hand passes through air, swatting at nothing. Then smacks at stone.[break][break]

Perhaps they are still dreaming. Twisting, they roll to their opposite side. Feeling for another familiarity— one they are successfully granted. They know this body, have slept alongside it for so long they can decipher him by feeling without sight.[break][break]

They mutter something unintelligible.[break][break]

He is not laying. Their hands find his bent knees, feel the drift of his fingers over their cheek. And then he speaks.[break][break]

Bee?[break][break]

“Bee’s here? Tell him three’s a crowd,” they ask before their eyes blink open, and they register the hardness of the floor under them. More of that stifling heat.[break][break]

A cell that is definitely not their bedroom.[break][break]

“Where—?” Their questioning is intercepted by a yawn, but Fern is most certainly awake now. The mask clamped to Jayden’s face startles them, and the flail before abruptly sitting up. Their head swivels, and registers the third man on the cot.[break][break]

They pull themself up as they pat themself down. Not their clothes. Then unceremoniously they plop themself down on the other side of the cot, feet propped on BARNABY FINCH’s thigh. Quite determined to share the sparse comfort.[break][break]

“Well now this is outrageous,” they say as they scratch their head, blue eyes irritated. The other two are still talking, but Fern isn’t quite listening. Normally, static would be clinging to their hair, electricity conjuring at their fingertips.[break][break]

But nothing comes.[break][break]

Frowning, they snap their fingers to draw more sparks to their palms, and are met with the tight wrap of painful constriction about their neck. “Nope,” they wheeze, eyes bulging before they give up the attempt and relief comes, “No good.”

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jayden cross BARNABY FINCH

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Tapu Koko danced through the throng, spurred by the pulse of Fern’s ELECTRIC TERRAIN. A blur of orange and black, accented by the flare of golden lightning as it reveled in the furor. Twitching limbs and mindless frenzy. What wasn’t felled by the shock underfoot, the patron of The Charlatan pulled down forks of THUNDER upon. Conveniently leaving Fern open for the breakaway.[break][break]

If there was any fear in Fern at that moment, they didn’t betray it. Grin still jackal-sharp, they leaned forward–hands out as if to meet the Megalopolan halfway in the steps of a dance. The flow of electricity danced brightly in their hands, ready to stun and char their quarry as soon as their fingers curled around a waiting neck–[break][break]

Only for the crazed denizen to fall short just in front of them, battered down to the pavement by Zev’s design.[break][break]

Their tongue clucked irritably against the back of their teeth, and the sharp blue of their eyes jerked defiantly upward toward the beast.[break][break]

But it seemed he was not quite done.[break][break]

A squelching sound drew their eyes downward. The seams of the Megalopolan came undone as they watched with morbid fascination. Cell matter broke apart with the unspooled undulation of organs that slowed as lifeforce ceased. Rapt, Fern’s head tilted, sharp as a noctowl’s, before jerking upward to look at Zev with the sound of his voice.[break][break]

“Well, I’m afraid I can’t outshine that,” they mused, the coy lilt of their tone impressed rather than showing any signs of disgust for the grotesque display. Their hands rose, and then they clapped slowly. Once, twice, thrice.[break][break]

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MILKY

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The story began to spill from Mint in rapid succession, and Fern listened. Dismay writing itself across their features the more he spoke. They didn’t interrupt, they didn’t know what to say. “That’s not going to happen here,” they eventually said, voice feeble as tears began to slide down the other’s face.[break][break]
How did they amend something like this? Something they would never do, but some other iteration had.[break][break]
“Hey, hey,” Fern tried to cut in, giving Mint’s shoulders another soft shake. “It’s done and over now.” Unsure of what exactly to do, they fold their friend into a hug. “I’m listening to you now, see? You’re not hurting me, I’m not hurting you.” It was just another mark in their book of grievances against Father Winter 2.[break][break]
He should’ve been bisected like his prior iteration for all of the trouble he’d cause. Fern counts it as another personal slight.[break][break]
They retreat after a short while, looking down at Mint with a pointed look. “I don’t think I see any benefit in continuing this conversation here. Do you want to leave?”[break][break]
If they were rid of their occupational distraction, it might be easier to come down from that panic and desperation. “You can come over, just you and me.” They would even send Tapu Koko off to preoccupy itself for a night, if needed. Incessant as the little beast had become in messing up Fern’s living space.

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Even in his clingy desperation, jayden cross is earnest.[break][break]
Something Fern has always found unendingly endearing, and so despite the fact that they are starting to chafe under his constant presence, with hardly a moment alone (work obligations excluded) they cannot find it in themself to be cruel or cold.[break][break]
“When did you grow so sappy with your words, mo ghrá?” It is sweet, though a bit strange. Not that he never showered Fern with verbal affections—it is perhaps the abundance of it now.[break][break]
After all of the—[break][break]
They sigh as lips dust against theirs, sweet and soft like powdered sugar on their tongue. What are they to do with him, when they love him so fiercely?[break][break]
How do they reconcile it with the uncertainty that storms in their chest? When everything that remains unspoken hangs suspended in the in-between, nearly covered up by a layer of tender gestures and sweet nothings?[breaK][break]
Never again.[break][break]
This feels like a promise he cannot make authentically. There are still wounds in their heart still being knit back together. There is still a fear under their skin that skitters and jumps at a word like never.[break][break]
But Fern doesn’t refute him. They only kiss him again— soft, and then turn back to the winding path of the chasm ahead.


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“It’s quite a force,” Fern chirps in agreement, before a slyer smile crosses their mouth, “When it cares to be.”[break][break]
A shared sentiment between patron and avatar.[break][break]
Fern chooses to step forward then, assisting their patron with the flow of an ELECTRIC TERRAIN that flares out from Fern to encircle the scattering acolytes of the DRK Triad.[break][break]
Crackling under their feet with electrifying and paralytic force. Empowered by the energy, Tapu Koko conjures a volley of ELECTRO BALLS that cause bursts of conflagrations whenever they collide with silvally’s FLAME CHARGE.[break][break]
Goading, Fern waves at a cluster of unown. “Are you getting all this? Sending it back to the powers that be?” They taunt, and then turn back to Theo.[break][break]
“Think that about wraps things up?” they ask, somewhat back to business.


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At some point, their desire for more information shifts. It is not that Fern doesn’t trust the heads of science within Rocket who are conducting research every day. They do not think themself inadequate during their trips to the rotten city perched in Ultra Space, either.[break][break]
They simply…think that they could find more to glean if they could pick through the league’s research as well. It’s just consolidation of many efforts from multiple sources![break][break]
And Fern is curious to see what they may have found. More and more these days, their curiosity is one that demands to be indulged.[break][break]
It is well into the night when they slink toward League Headquarters with this exact notion in mind.[break][break]
On the back of their dragapult, they slip through the gap created by the creature’s PHANTOM FORCE. It takes them from one side of the glass pane over to the other, nice and neat.[break][break]
(An act that Tapu Koko reluctantly partakes of as well, though it would much rather shatter the window altogether.)[break][break]
They slink through the halls, attempting to meander their way on quiet feet to the labs. Nary a soul in sight.

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