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It scares her, how much influence he has over her actions. How hopelessly at a loss for words, expression, reaction. [break][break]

His response elicits an uncomfortable mixture of dread and relief. It sinks into her skin, slackening her shoulders and tugging a breath from her lungs. She hesitates then, because she's uncomfortable, unsure. His voice is raw, his intents are clear. Once again, she's witnessing his desire, his affection. [break][break]

"Then why are you filled with so much doubt?"

She turns as she asks this, witnessing the dramatization of his hands.

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The woman releases a slow exhale, her strength impeccable as she measures her anger, her disappointment. She doesn't shake, doesn't dare to let on how truly she feels pain. And yet she's sure he knows anyway, given the way his expression falls short. The warmth of his smile fizzles out against her cold front.[break][break]

He speaks her name but she feels hollow, detached. [break][break]

"I knew you had ambition, Gavin, but I didn't realize just how blind and foolish it made you," she speaks evenly, but even she can't mask the strain. It pains her to speak to him this way.[break][break]

"I shouldn't be so surprised."[break][break]

But she is.

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It wasn't just a dog. Not really. There's a sense of embarrassment and humiliation in her belly, gnawing away at her sense of pride, of her ability to see reason. This gift she'd brought him had been far more than just a dog. [break][break]

And it's because of that that she finds herself retreating, running away from the hurt, the misunderstanding. Communication between peers eludes her, especially those she cares for, especially for those she harbors attachments to.[break][break]

Emma's retreat is cut short when he calls for her to stop. He makes no move to stop her but even still his voice causes her to stiffen and draw to a stop. [break][break]

But instead of speaking she merely lowers her head, her gaze lingering at her feet. There's a pause as he begs for her to talk to him, and she finds it difficult to give him what he seeks.[break][break]

"What do you want from me?"

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There are subtleties that Emma picks up on that wordlessly announce Gavin's return. The way Hades' fur rises along his neck, bristling just slightly as the wind changes outside the door, the shadow stretching through the gap under the sun room door. [break][break]

Emma lingers, heart beating uncomfortably loud in her chest. She'd had half a mind to have not been here when he returned. She'd made herself as clear as she could when he'd spoken of leaving in the first place. She'd voiced her concerns and he'd blatantly looked past it, too absorbed in his own ambition and excitement to care.[break][break]

It had been exactly what she was afraid of.[break][break]

Her face is severe when he breaches the room, excitement bubbling on his surface. His eyes are wide, cheeks flushed, face bright. The way he addresses her is indicative of his obliviousness to her own tumultuous emotion. She's agitated, angry, afraid, and he just doesn't see it. [break][break]

And because of this, Emma does not approach him in return. In fact, she takes a step back from him, expression cold - colder even than she's ever given him.

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Emma's eyes narrow, her expression cold, quiet in her anger. She sees the way his hand clenches, the way the muscle in his jaw twitches. She takes it as a sign of distrust, dishonesty. It doesn't occur to her (and why would it?) that she's the one aggravating him, that she's asking too many questions, asking too much.[break][break]

And when his fingers uncurl she nearly flinches, half expecting to be reprimanded or scolded. Perhaps even struck.[break][break]

But no such punishment comes except for his exasperated breath, his attempt to reconcile and explain his situation. It leaves a bitter taste in her mouth, like bile creeping up the back of her throat. Emma only reads the defensive tone in his voice, misinterpreting it as aggression. It fuels her own aggression in kind. [break][break]

"It's just a dog," she snaps, overlooking his stumbling attempts to rectify the situation. She's overwhelmed, unwilling to see what's really happening. He's insinuating a scenario she hadn't anticipated - that she was showing him an act of affection. Perhaps her snarl is laid out for herself, not for him.[break][break]

"Forget it. I'll look after them myself."[break][break]

And she doesn't wait for him to interject, she's too lost in her own beating heart as she turns away with the intent to not look back.

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Emma's eyes narrow as the woman tosses her drink into the sand. It splashes against the grains, leaking the remainder of melted ice and light alcohol. Sand sticks to the rim and Gavin retrieves it before she can. [break][break]

"That's... the point of free drinks. They don't want you drunk for free."[break][break]

Her tone is flat and she stiffens as Gavin approaches her.[break][break]

Emma is only irritated based on her current interaction with him. The man was clingy and touchy-feely, something she was absolutely not. It's a side of her or him that she had never seen, probably because she didn't stick around in scenarios involving them.[break][break]

Vanessa insists that she hasn't been stalking them but frankly, she isn't convinced. Emma's relationship with Gavin had been unpublicized and kept in secret. This was the first time they had been out in public in a place they might be recognized. And honestly, she was starting to regret it.[break][break]

"I wasn't taught."[break][break]

She had been beaten, threatened, abused into the position. She had survived and that's why she held this position now.[break][break]

Gavin attempts to speak to her but she's frankly overstimulated. Her tight grip on the glass loosens as he breaks her line of sight, and she glances at him briefly.[break][break]

"I need something stronger."[break][break]

Honestly, she was about ready to down a drink the same way marcel maeda had downed his.

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Emma raises a hand to silence her Lycanroc the moment he steps forward, accepting the Lucario's challenge. In kind, Gavin sends his Pokemon back into the house. The tension there is sated at least, for now.[break][break]

But tension lingers between the two, and it only seems to get worse.[break][break]

He's trying to explain, trying to rectify the situation and change it. And it's the tone in his voice that urges Emma to stay and listen despite the impulse she has to leave.[break][break]

She's tired of running.[break][break]

"Imply what, Gavin? Please, explain it to me."[break][break]

Her words are both biting with her muted pain and receptive to his attempt to rectify the situation. She's both angry and begging for an explanation.[break][break]

And then he exhales as if he's frustrated and it honestly makes her blood boil. His inability to communicate drives her insane. [break][break]

"Didn't know what?"

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He snaps at her and she pushes off of the wall to stand up straight, to uncross her arms and stand against him, opposing. There's a hardness to her gaze, a warning. But as quickly as his frustration is vented he pulls it back, corrects himself. [break][break]

The woman's attention shifts to the Lucario, as does Hades'. Her werewolf peels back lips to reveal gums, a silent threat. [break][break]

It's become a mess of an interaction. Emma's good mood dragged through the mud of a misunderstanding.[break][break]

"You aren't fine. I've overstepped, clearly."[break][break]

She says this stiffly while he runs his hand through his hair. Her gaze is still hard and her stance unapproachable. [break][break]

"I expect nothing from you than what you've already given me."[break][break]

There's definitive hurt in her voice, his admittance jarring for her. The fact that he assumed she would want something in return, that she would demand anything more from him than what she had already received -- it felt like a mockery of her gratitude.[break][break]

He had given her his home and his trust, a puppy was nothing in comparison.

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Emma finds herself studying his face the entire time he pauses to reflect. There's a story behind his eyes, one shrouded in a fog of war. She doesn't know what it is he's thinking, what sort of inner turmoil he's facing. [break][break]

It's just a dog.[break][break]

She's given Pokemon to fellow Rockets before - though this time was certainly more personal. His discomfort makes her uncomfortable, as if she's overstepped or stepped out of line. It makes her skin crawl.[break][break]

The puppies wrestle viciously, tearing at fur and rock in order to come out on top. It's the female that seems the most dominant, using her smaller size to outmaneuver her brothers.[break][break]

But Emma isn't watching her. She's watching him.[break][break]

"I want it trained right, that's all. Is that too much to ask?"[break][break]

She's sensitive, misreading his lack of reaction and his questions as a sign he's unimpressed or uninterested. That her efforts are wasted and she'd made a mistake. It gnaws at her, the not knowing what it is he's thinking.[break][break]

"Are you okay?"

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She leans against the doorway or just outside of it and against the frame while he stands there, stunned. The pup crashes to his feet before getting back up, it's stubborn, not easily shaken. The fact that it throws itself back into the fray so readily is the reason she had chosen it.[break][break]

Emma feels the weight of Gavin's attention linger on her until she faces him. Her expression is almost irritated by his hesitation, unsure why his reaction is so strange.[break][break]

His question reflects his uncertainty, as does the breath he exhales.[break][break]

Her arms uncross in front of her and she blinks, glancing back to the pups.[break][break]

"You're the only one I trust to raise it properly. You and myself - but I wanted you to have one. I may be capable, but I'm not willing to split myself three ways for these runts."[break][break]

She says this with an underlying tone of indifference, but the way her eyes linger on each pup suggests she isn't as hard on them as she suggests. [break][break]

"What's wrong?"

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She can feel the start of a migraine coming on but she's too stubborn to give it any mind. Instead, her expression just looks pinched and uncomfortable as she reasons through their situation. They needed to build a makeshift shelter. She needed to leave a signal or a sign for the Noivern to find her. It had impeccable echolocation abilities, it would find them.[break][break]

"You know, it's easier if you take the heels off, Morgan."[break][break]

There's a reason Emma doesn't wear them, herself. It's not that she can't, she'd just rather not break an ankle or a stiletto heel trying to get a job done. [break][break]

"We don't have time for games."[break][break]

Emma sounds distracted, already planning ten steps ahead in order to keep them alive - both of them. It was increasingly difficult to do so when Giada was insisting on being a distraction.[break][break]

And, to add insult to injury, she could see no source of water from her immediate position. Her expression is set in a firm line as she thinks this over.[break][break]

"Do I look playful to you? Focus. Do something useful and help me find some water."

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She isn't expecting to run into Giada tonight, but the pieces fall into place and she follows the sound of sirens.[break][break]

And the sirens lead to a woman in red leaping over a trash can and slamming to the ground on the other side. She picks herself up and continues, and Emma follows her from a different route. She's waiting for an opening, waiting for the right moment.[break][break]

And when she takes it, Emma's hands latch onto the woman biceps to lift her up. There's a dangerous look in her eyes, a look that orders her to keep her mouth shut.[break][break]

It takes all of her core muscles to pull the woman onto the roof with her, but she manages, and presses her body to the ground.[break][break]

"Shh."[break][break]

With both of them lying low and Giada's trail ended, the woman's pursuers hesitate in the alleyway or street, peering around every corner. [break][break]

"She couldn't have just disappeared, she's around here somewhere! Keep looking!"[break][break]

Emma waits, patient as ever, until they pass by and they can slink away, unseen.[break][break]

For now, anyway.[break][break]

"So, what did we royally fuck up this time?"

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If Gavin has been concerned for her at all, she is oblivious to it. There's more on her mind to dwell on and she addresses them first. He moves close to kiss her and she is brief in her response, driven in another direction. [break][break]

Excitement - to whatever degree was possible for the woman - turns her into a less affectionate being. Not that she is overly affectionate to begin with. [break][break]

It's ironic that her affection is so limited and yet she cares deeply for what she's about to show him. [break][break]

She leads him outside to the mess of puppies covered in dirt and dust just outside his door. They pounce against one another. One in particular misses and lands on Hades' shoulder, causing the beast to react viciously, grabbing the pup roughly by the scruff to toss him aside.[break][break]

"I want you to have one and raise it as your own."[break][break]

Though she would be chuffed to admit they would all be unanimously raised under his roof, really. It's the thought that counts.

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