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They can’t go back–that’s the long short of it. The companionable peace that once existed between them was shattered irrevocably.[break][break
“Is it? I don’t think it is.”[break][break]
She’s not afraid to pop him in the jaw if he keeps goading her. Maybe she should be, but she isn’t.[break][break]
Her teeth grit in annoyance. “I don’t see you doing much.” Other than the bruxish making an unholy racket. Her lucario focuses, building energy before thrumming AURA SPHERE ripples out and crashes into Zapdos.

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Her look remains sour as Theo speaks. “Har har, you’re so funny,” she retorts. There’s a reluctant piece of her that begrudgingly acknowledges the mild humor of his words.[break][break]
Achingly reminiscent of the banter they once exchanged. A lifetime ago.[break][break]
But that is in the past. Buried under the things he does now. Keeping her here and refusing to just let her go.[break][break]
“You’d be a better target.”[break][break]
Annoyed by all of the bruxish’s screeching, she sends Fang forward to get things started so that the fish might shut up for a moment. The lucario lunges toward Zapdos, expelling a FLASH CANNON in a bright ray of blinding light.


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"Because." It's a childish reply, punctuated by the fold of her arms. She knows it, they both know it. But it doesn't quell the bitter taste of her anger, acrid on her tongue.[break][break]

Her gaze travels upward - watches the bird that glows with electricity through resentful eyes.[break][break]

"No!" Blue spits at his accusation, fury hurled back at him. "Would just rather use my fists." The addition is a resentful grumble as she summons her lucario.[break][break]

Patiently, Fang watches her as she activates the keystone on her dog tag. And then sure enough, he's engulfed in the light of mega evolution.

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It was almost more unbelievable to hear that he accepted her words for what they were. Not that she believed Shinra to be incapable of it, but more because Blue barely believed what happened herself. In the weeks that followed, reports would come out—a litany of experiences of varying degrees of detail. All tied to the strange alternate world dozens of others also experienced. Twenty years. Half a lifetime.[break][break]
But right now? It was fresh. The reality of the passage of time hadn’t been real at all. Awkwardly, her hands shoved in her coat pockets, and her fingers closed around fabric. The eyepatch, stitched with ornate threading around the edges, she laughed in disbelief as she held it out to him. “I lost an eye,” she said, a sliver of her crooked smile finally returning as she looked up at Shinra. “I think I looked pretty fuckin’ badass.”[break][break]
There, that sounded way more like her, didn’t it? Crass, even in the pristine space of his apartment.[break][break]
The boldness flickered away, though, oscillating back toward the strange vulnerability that she found herself capable of with him. That was a frightening thing, being offered that safety, as much as she craved it. And as the conversation turned toward Theo, the raw cut of their disagreement wept with fresh pain all over again.[break][break]
She didn’t like the look that crossed Shinra’s face at the mention of her mentor, friend, either. That stricken expression that he worked to quickly hide, but that Blue caught anyway, out of the corner of her eye. “He said we’d have to flee Hoenn. To avoid repercussion for abandoning Rocket.” Her face set in a frown of stubbornness again, cheeks tingeing with color. “He’s…sort of important there. But I said I wouldn’t leave you behind.”[break][break]
She couldn’t, not when she’d finally made it back. Back to Shinra.[break][break]
Even if she’d come to accept her life in not-Galar Galar, or wherever they were, with a degree of peace—the hope had always been there nagging at the back of her mind. Home, was where Shinra was. Like the feeling of his fingers tangling softly in her hair. Blue’s eyes fluttered closed and she let out a breath, leaning into the contact. Something, she didn’t fail to note, wasn’t gloved. No small thing. “Thanks, Shin.”[break][break]
No formality, and not derisive nicknames. Just Shin.

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Shinra Moro // m: post-goodbye galar

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She could probably deduce why it is she’s been left alone all this time, if she really took the time to do so. But in her frustration, she willfully overlooks it.[break][break]
After all, she doesn’t understand why he can’t just let it continue to be that way. Why he can’t continue to just know her without keeping her tethered to Rocket.[break][break]
“Don’t see why I can’t take it out on you,” she grumbles, ruby eyes sullenly sliding away. But it’s no more than a petulant remark. She doesn’t actually make any attempt to raise a hand toward him.[break][break]
Despite her sulking, her eyes dart toward the brightness of cascading sparks with silent curiosity. An avian shriek follows the light, and her eyes widen in surprise.[break][break]
“…zapdos?” A harsh laugh slips out. “You want me to fight zapdos?”

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There’s a degree of guilt she feels in not being open with Callie. Because Callie is so kind to her, and it reminds Blue of when they were kids and things were less complicated. But if she did tell Callie, that would all change, wouldn’t it?[break][break]
And Blue is terrified of what that might look like.[break][break]
A part of her considers stealing Callie’s cup when Blue drains the rest of hers. Briefly, her vision spins before it resettles on the party moving around them.[break][break]
“Just a little bit,” she echoes, grin turning sloppy, “just a lot.”[break][break]
She shakes her head and the false ears on her head flop down. A hand flies up to push them back in place. “Wouldn’t catch me doing it,” she scoffs while her eyes scan the room, looking for another drink stand. “This could cause so much drama if they got mistaken for the actual person.”[break][break]
Well, she thinks that would happen.[break][break]
“Er, I don’t really know,” she admits awkwardly, “I don’t really know popular people.” Not personally. Not even at a distance, really. She lives under a rock. Which is probably weird for someone who’s meant to be a normal, every day citizen.

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Her face twists in irritation, “Would someone have, though? Or is that just what you’re telling yourself to make yourself feel better for doing this to me?” Her arms fold, “I was left alone for months before you turned up.” She was a nobody within Rocket. It had felt as though she’d fallen through the cracks when she’d slipped away.[break][break]
The only person who had ever really seen her was him.[break][break]
He’s smart to keep quiet after this, though, undoubtedly to avoid stoking the flames higher. Not that Blue has ever needed much fuel in order to implode.[break][break]
“Why do you need me to care, Theo? I don’t want to do all of this anymore. I already told you that.” She huffs, eyes turning away stubbornly. “What are we doing out here now?”


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Had she made it weird? It seemed like she had. Frustrated, Blue shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. The silence was heavy, muting even the battle sounds in her ears.[break][break]
Her issues were not his to shoulder, or suffer the consequences of. Her broken, sullen behavior. Her inability to hold a normal conversation without devolving into a dodgy, skittish mess. A cornered dog, much like her own companion.[break][break]
There was nowhere left for Bonnie to run. And when the lapras stared down at her, she relented. The mighyena crouched low in defeat, belly brushing the ground as her tail swept low from side to side. Another match over, just like that.[break][break]
“Yeah, ‘course,” she replied, somewhat absently as her brows creased together. Her hand rose, pokeball clasped between her fingers to recall Bonnie in a beam of light.
Her lips pressed together as Caleb approached her, and her eyes rose to study his face carefully. Then, a hesitant hand reached back and clasped his. Blue nodded, slowly at first, before it picked up rapidly. “Yeah, uh–yeah. I’ll do that.”[break][break]
The tentative workings of a returned smile tugged at one corner of her mouth. Ghostly and flickering, but present all the same.


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