this was a moment of bonding between the two. it was also a moment of healing, alecis supposed. the first step she needed was to let go, for sure - for jesse, however, he seemed formidable in the face of his own ordeals and comfortable in sharing his experiences. it almost made alecis jealous, if not unwilling to let such a touching moment be marred by such a negative feeling. “so like fate?” she asked, a half-smirk on her countenance as she wrapped an arm loosely over the man’s side. the more he leaned into her, the more she pulled him close and held him comfortably as if it were an everyday occurrence. [break][break]

“i don’t believe in that kinda thing, you know?” she admitted, but she did start to wonder. “i just am glad that we did end up where we are.” being with each other felt right, though not permanent. something made alecis mourn the future, although one should normally be hopeful and enjoying the moment. as jesse lived for every moment, alecis was very much so a pessimist and could already feel herself wanting to dig her claws deeper into the blonde in an almost possessive manner. that was dangerous and made her want to push him away, knowing very well she still needed time to get rid of some toxic traits of hers from the fear of losing and retaining all at once. even so, she held jesse gently, appreciatively. [break][break]

maybe she could live in this moment, at least.[break][break]

“you know, we should probably get something to eat before the gang ends up rebelling.” uncharacteristically shy, alecis looked up towards the dittos that were now propelling from the ceiling - happily cooing at each other. “did you want anything in specific? i’ll treat you out for letting me take your time.”

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

“that’s a long-winded way to say you don’t want me to meet your father,” alecis continued to tease, laughing as she gently jabbed jesse in the side with one of her elbows. “i don’t mind having a ton of questions thrown my way. i can redirect curiosity just fine, thank you,” almost as if offended, she put a hand to her chest. her whole day job consisted of misdirection and intrigue so she figured she could keep anything a secret so long as jesse wished for it. it wasn’t her place to really say much regarding what they were or how they were, given the fact that she quite frankly didn’t know what to say. the two of them always had been good friends but good friends also didn’t know how each other looked half-naked … or did they? some did, probably. alecis didn’t pay this thought much more mind, also at ease with letting her youngest ditto roam free.[break][break]

“i trust your boy to take care of anything that comes along,” alecis said, looking in the direction the pokemon had all seemed to wander off to. it wasn’t too far away - not like last time where cracks in cave walls could lead to whole other areas. it would be fine this time, especially since her ditto was with friends who could likely easily body anything that dared to bother them. after all, alecis had learned to accept that pokemon - much like kids - got scrapes and bruises, sometimes even breaking their bones and getting super sick to the point of great concern. all she had to do was make sure they would get well again and didn’t suffer fatal damage. this much, she was confident she could do and so she was at ease still.[break][break]

“mmm, depends on you. my work can be done most anywhere. hell, i could leave here tomorrow and not really miss it much.” truly, she had few ties to this region. her job was transient and her following would be annoying to amass once more, but it was doable. she could even find a stable job elsewhere, if she wanted. looking at jesse, she paused. “you’d be coming with me, so i have no reason to really worry about where or how long so long as it’s good with you.”

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

to only alecis’s surprise, jesse stepped up to the plate.[break][break]

the blonde man wasn’t exactly someone alecis thought she could depend on to be forward and assertive, so it made her almost jump when she heard the soft thump of the door on his shoe. this noise inspired anger shortly after, however, as the private eye pulled jesse’s arm backward gently in a protective manner. primarily, this was her job - if not totally so. she couldn’t have him being hurt or bothered, though he really set up a good introduction for the strong arm approach she usually used anyway.[break][break]

“ma’am, we have reasonable suspicion to believe you are implicit in the disappearance of this child.” whipping out a fake id for a short moment, the lavender town native showed her more inherently frightening side as her face hardened - armored with assertiveness. putting the police id away before further questioning could be done, alecis looked at jesse with an almost disappointed smile. “though i suppose if you don’t want to answer our questions, we can touch base with the others and see what they would like to do about your lack of cooperation.” a threat - vague and empty, but it rang true. a soft ‘no, no please come in’ signaled their entryway into the modest home of the aunt and uncle duo. only the aunt seemed to be home, the uncle away at work. perfect timing, really. a woman cornered in her own home would be much easier to interrogate.[break][break]

– or so came the invasively horrific thoughts in alecis’s mind, coming from previous experience.[break][break]

“so what will you tell us about this?” alecis asked, pushing the printed photo of the missing son to the aunt. if this woman had any pride, it was best not put in her acting skills as she tried to smile and just play off knowing the child as her nephew and nothing more. there was an overplayed gasp and an ‘i didn’t know he was missing!’ which was already proven so very untrue by her closing the door so early before. “well he is missing and i’d like it if you could tell us when you last saw him.”

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

the way jesse pulled the christian woman out of alecis was alarming.[break][break]
of course, this was hoenn and christianity wasn't real so that was out the window.[break][break]
"you act like you've got yourself at half-chub at all times that it surprises me you don't have a girlfriend or some sort of line of women with you at all times," alecis retorted, her brow flat - dead behind the eyes as she was pulled close. she didn't hate or dislike jesse, but she did like to playfully give him flat responses to his direct and bold manner of flirting. her own way of flirting was indeed a bit roundabout, but she could be bold as well - should the situation allow. it wasn't proper of her to really put herself out there, given all her baggage, but the more time she spent with jesse, the more she came to realize he didn't quite care so it made it all the easier to playfully flirt and then perhaps more meaningfully tug him forward.[break][break]
"ah, what's that?" the monotone question came forward as alecis spotted jesse in his loose clothes.[break][break]
yes, the springs were perhaps a bit public but the rocket member didn't quite get the memo of wearing something modest. the swimwear she had packed was part of the wooden bowl she carried with her, noting to wear it when she went to rinse off from the springs. "i'm sure you forgot," she whispers, playfully and in a loud manner. "we get our own spring since i sprung us an upgrade last minute." and thus alecis dropped the good news on jesse, pulling his arm with her free hand - already forcefully dragging him towards their shared room which had its own small hot spring just beyond its back doors. in the appropriate towel for the maximum soakage, alecis was first to sink into the waters and let out a happy sigh - steam practically rising from where she had placed herself. arms splayed behind her and propped up on her elbows for comfort, she beckoned jesse in with a wide, cheesy grin. "come on, you stink like hell."

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

there was something about being around jesse that made alecis want to joke around and lighten the mood as opposed to stay down and stressed.[break][break]
while some may think this was a curse that left others not able to be serious and put the right mental energy into serious situations, it was quite the opposite. when the lemonade can was offered to her, alecis couldn't help but crack a small smile. "yeah, thanks." the brevity in her words was annoying her. she wished to be better company, but she was obviously stressed. although poison was quite common, she hadn't really had many times in which she had experienced it with the youngest of the troupe. although many people would argue that all her dittos were similar, they each had their distinct personality and having the youngest of the three suffer in any way had her with her other two dittos rubbing her sides and back with their stubby arms in worried manners - feeling the energy from their trainer. in an attempt to calm down the room, alecis tried to focus on the fact that the medical staff were more than capable of dealing with it. there was low to no chance of any fatalities, it was just the process of getting to the pokecenter and checked in that was startling.[break][break]
"i'll treat you to something after this," the rocket member offered, also patting the spot on the bench next to her for jesse to take. "so i suggest you think about what you'd want to eat now." a lighter topic indeed, alecis focused on it now as she eyed the entrance/exit to the back of the pokecenter for her ditto to come out of any second. "you seem to be in a sweets mood, but i think you need to eat something proper so how about some noodles after this? maybe seafood?" a pause. her gaze shifted to jesse now, tentative. "if you'd still want to hang out after this, that is."

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

the silence of the fire was deafening. every crackle accentuated the way that jesse had to pause and take breaths between painful memories and thoughts. it was physically painful to alecis to hear him call his mother violent and then turn back on it, as if trying so hard to remember something differently for the sake of preserving the cherished memories of someone who had once been so important to him. a dull ache was harbored in her chest and she did her best to not let the tears in her eyes fall, instead rubbing them away with the back of her free hand with a yawn as an excuse for them.[break][break]
"you're a sap," she replied shakily at his heartfelt compliment, her hand under his own turning upwards to hold his fingers loosely. it was a non-invasive way to approach holding him, allowing him to hold her back. "if you're trying to make me cry, i'm going to stop inviting you out," alecis joked - not trying to exactly lighten the mood but also trying not to get buried deep in the weight of his words. despite her constant jokes about their ages, she had all the time in the world to process what he meant and how much it meant to her -- how much he meant to her.[break][break]
"your ma, though. that's really rough." no shit. alecis knew this was lacking in depth, but she was a bit at a loss of even oxygen with the way the cigarette ate at her lungs and she felt the walls of her chest cave in with fought-down sobs. "while not everyone has similar trauma or moments of sadness, i'd like to think that between people with relationships like us -- there is no real contest of who has the deeper story or not. i'm sorry that happened to you." the lavender trainer offered the cigarette fully to jesse now, to try and free up her hand that was holding it. [break][break]
"your mom likely couldn't take not being able to raise you as she thought you deserve. i'm sure your mom is real proud of who you've come out to be regardless of everything - your dad too. look at you, you're even here tolerating my sob story despite having your own to share."

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

"hey, make space for arceus!" alecis called out suddenly, pointing accusingly at her ditto who blushed a bright magenta. it wasn't really doing much but hugging the leg of the gengar it seemed so fond of. it warbled unhappily, tugging gengar away from the sight of the two trainers to just spend more one-on-one time in a shy crush way. although alecis didn't quite like this, she decided it was best to just let them be. it seemed she had much to address with jesse, anyway, so she couldn't quite let her dittos get all her attention at that moment.[break][break]
"huh, that might be nice." getting to meet up with jesse's associates at his hometown seemed a bit personal and it made alecis admittedly shy, one hand rubbing at her corresponding side's cheek. it wasn't that she didn't want to, she was just happy that the man seemed to like her as much as she did, him. they had a mutual trust of one another and it showed in the closeness of even the pokemon they called their own. the remaining two of the ditto troupe were happily wrestling with jesse's other pokemon and alecis used them as a focal point in her gaze, thinking not to look at jesse for fear of seeing him vulnerable when he didn't want it or seeming vulnerable in a moment of weakness, herself.[break][break]
"all that aside, though, when am i meeting your dad?"[break][break]
knowing it was sudden, alecis was attempting to get to jesse - tease and rizz him a bit. "it's been a while since we've been friends, jess. don't you think it's about time i get to see him? want to just see where you get your personality from, really. if he's anywhere as strange as you, i think it'd be fun." a thoughtful pause. "in fact, when we do go --" when they do go, huh? there was no room for arguments now, seeing as she was already set on making this small wish of his come true, "would we be staying with him or did you have other plans?"

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

an attempt was made.
[break][break]that is all that could really be said, or could it?[break][break]
surprisingly enough, alecis's idea of coming down to petalburg city to expand jesse's business was seemingly a success. although it was a bit rude of her to assume - and even say out loud, mind you - that the nature-minglers of petalburg city likely needed a whole makeover with how small their community was, she was right on the money. and oh boy, did money come in.[break][break]
"do you need more shampoo?" alecis asked, wiping her brow. this was her way of making up for all the times she had been dragging jesse up and around. it was her idea to make a pop-up stand and start spreading the good work of his talents and people were coming in by the handfuls to get their split ends tended to and their whole wardrobes looked over. although they weren't too far from the city, it seemed many of them didn't care to really make the trek and so the stylist's job was quite appreciated here.[break][break]
going to already turn around and get another box of supplies from the local -mart, alecis paused only to make sure jesse didn't need something else from her. her three dittos were strangely dexterous, helping with scissors and other tools that jesse would need to work on a client with. the time that the two trainers spent together was shown through moments like these and the lavender woman couldn't help but laugh softly at this fact. "be sure to let me know how i can help."

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

"being part of rocket makes me think i should be less bothered by things like this," alecis started, pausing to look up from the scrap of paper that contained the notes of the missing child, "but i'm still a bit worried."[break][break]
on yet another run through the realms of hoenn with jesse, alecis found herself pulling him in for a particular case of hers - one involving a missing child. it was a tale similar to ones she'd partaken in before, but it didn't lose the sting it caused to her heart. after a rough divorce, the child of the divorcees had escaped their not-so-watchful eyes and now was missing. littleroot town was the home of the family and the child and he couldn't have gone far, so the search began and hopefully ended there.[break][break]
"i don't think the kid should be far from here, so let's take a moment to look around and maybe ask some questions." the child's aunts and uncles lived in littleroot as well. it was strange, seeing the family be so close-knit and yet the parents seemed too angry to even come eye to eye in the search of their child. "i think we could get some interesting gossip along the way." indeed, something was quite suspect about this whole situation. how could two parents of a child possibly not at least come together to go look for them? from what she knew of the situation, alecis felt like the child may have been the child of a previous marriage or ... [break][break]
trailing off in her line of thought, she looked up at the door before her. they had come to the first house of an aunt/uncle pairing - and the biggest red flag alecis could think of, given how belligerent the mother acted towards the idea of her 'sister' she begrudgingly called as such. the father seemed particularly defensive of said sister, wink wink.[break][break]
"you can go ahead and knock or we can keep moving. i'm the one who dragged you here so take this at your pace - i'm basically bringing you to work for free."

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

ditto troupe intact, the rocket member found herself diving into certain danger out of sheer curiosity. what good could three masses of pink gelatin really do in the face of a bend in the space-time continuum, anyway?[break][break]
truthfully, not much - or perhaps it wasn't in her itinerary of the day to really do much. after all, work was waiting for her and this was evident in the way that the aspiring trainer found herself picking up a [RED SHARD] and going about her merry way right after.

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

+1 [RED SHARD] & LEAVING

"so you don't mind me cozying up with you?" [break][break]
alecis was teasing back now, aware of how real the mood had gotten. she shot an apologetic glance at the stylist's morpeko, not wanting to cramp the blonde's mood any more than she had. there was little to do to continue being a bit of a serious half to the duo, anyway, seeing as he seemed to know exactly what to say to make alecis almost physically recoil violently like in an animated series. a soft rose came to her cheeks and she let it sit there, glowing with a happy flush of her entire face shortly after. she wasn't blushing from a truly romantic perspective, but she was simply happy to hear such genuine words from someone she actually gave a damn about. jesse had no time to mince words with almost anyone since his work already had him doing that, so she knew that he truly meant them and that meant the world to her.[break][break]
as if their pokemon agreed, the baby ditto found itself attempting its best to take the form of the gengar to imitate its actions and expressions it seemed to like. this was only done momentarily before the ditto reached up a short stubby hand to the taller-than-life gengar as if to just hold hands. this made alecis almost want to laugh from how cute it was, feeling the positive vibes emanating from the scene.[break][break]

"hey jesse," the magician began, a flair of her wrist summoning forth her business card that she offered him as if he didn't already have 20 of them. "why don't we go to kalos sometime?"

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

alecis took a drag of the cigarette, knowing how much of a drag she was being. as per usual recently, she was sorry for dragging jesse alongside her but she didn't have many people she would exactly call 'friends' or anything more out there. it wasn't due to her trying and failing, but more due to her not trying to socialize at all - preferring to worry about work and raising her troupe of dittos properly. since jesse was tied to her work, he was an easy outlet for all energy she had for friendships and any sort of bond. he was an easy escape route, though alecis didn't want to dehumanize him to something so trivial - seeing him as her best friend, if not her only one at the moment.[break][break]
as best friend rules entail, he deserved to know more about her.[break][break]
"i didn't think you'd care to know," alecis breathed out, smoke accompanying her words. she was joking, not attempting to be bitter and it showed in the way she chuckled right after - obviously not bothered by the questions. this was all in the past and she had finally decided to at least start letting go fully. it took a lot out of her, but she knew this was the best way to approach growth unlike some sob-sodden weaker individuals who annoyingly pushed people away. "no, i didn't want any of this," she started. alecis didn't want to bog down jesse with too much information or a long-winded story, so she took a moment to contemplate her next words. jesse's cigarette met her lips once more and then she held it up for him to take another puff out of. "but even a partner's aspirations can become folie a deux you fall into." alecis rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand, attempting to clarify. "my husband --" if you could even call him that "he wanted children so very badly that at some point, i believed i did as well. it was never part of my plan nor is it now, but when you spend so long being pushed to have children, i dunno." she looked at jesse, placing her free hand on his head now as if sympathizing with him for listening to her. "it still sometimes feels like i should want children. i was close to having one many times, so i guess the sentimental portion of potential motherhood still sticks with me even now." they do say that you never know what it's like to be a mother until you are one, and alecis lived on the cusp of that every day. it showed sometimes in the way she babied her youngest ditto, but she didn't care to recognize that - instead enjoying the way it seemed to eat up the attention.[break][break]
"we all have our struggles, or some kumbaya shit." tss. the cigarette was nearing its end already and she went to dig for one of her own, offering it to jesse after lighting it on the fire.[break][break]
"so tell me, what are yours?"

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

borderline tears aside, alecis tried her best to hold herself together. the youngest ditto was still an amorphous puddle on the ground, but she pulled herself to start taking chunks out of the cave floor that held up the sickly creature - effectively raising it out of the dirt with it. hands dirty and nails filled with chunks of who-knows-what, she didn't quite care about her messy appearance as she obeyed the suggestion given to her and rushed to the pokemon center. she hadn't been thinking properly before, really, and was ready to just mad dash and ask for help to come to the cave but luckily jesse was a man with a plan ... at least at that given moment.[break][break]
when she arrived to the pokemon center, the pokemon and nurses already looked at alecis with pity in their eyes. the rocket member hated it and it set her skin on fire, though it was quickly dampened by the gravity of the situation. every few steps, her ditto would let out a weak whine, yet another telltale sign that he had been poisoned by some despicable creature. "i'm so sorry to bother," alecis started only to be cut off by the medical staff who just ushered her forward understandingly and rushed the ditto to a stretcher that looked more like a petri dish. when the pink mess was out of sight, alecis felt herself about to break into tears but jesse startled her - two other dittos in his arms, blissfully dumb as fuck. perhaps jesse was too, at all times, really.[break][break]
"it'll take just a few minutes," alecis said, reaching out to grab her dittos from the stylist. she was sure this wasn't part of his itinerary of the day and she relented. "sorry to drag you all the way here just for this to happen." it was an honest attempt to train together - ensure each other's pokemon and themselves could get out safely. luckily, she was right to do so and had the support she needed at that moment. "are you ok? are your pokemon doing fine?" jesse had his own troupe to take care of and alecis understood that. instead of hogging all attention on herself, she extended her concern with a small frown. "i think there was some kind of poison user in the cave so i would recheck everyone just to make sure."

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse