perhaps she's always been just a tad bit cruel. perhaps it runs in her veins, in the deepest parts of her bones, marbled in the marrow, unable to be expelled. it's the effect of growing up privileged; she can make people dance to the symphony of her words, with so little as a bat of an eye. bile wells in her throat. she had never once left her family behind. [break][break]

when she asks mika to accompany her, she observes every little action the ranger takes. the pause, the hesitation, the way they roll her reasoning in her head before settling on an answer. the thing with their relationship now is a simple thing: mika can easily say 'no' to julie, and there would be no reason to complain. as lovers, there is obligation. as friends, there are simple possibilities. but mika always indulges her, and julie rides the waves of satisfaction until the tides die down and she is left in a lull. the grin that spreads on her lips in response feels twisted. i knew you'd come along, her heart says, but her lips mold around: "you're a lifesaver, mimi!" [break][break]

ugliness rears its head, and inside, julie finds herself withering. this isn't how it's supposed to be, and she knows it. these unknown tests she puts mika through, the way she pushes and pulls... but she needs confirmation, each and every time they meet like this. [break][break]

i want to know you still care, even just a little.[break][break]

it's always like this though, same as always. [break][break]

just the smallest of things makes julie run miles in her mind, and she finds herself leaning against mika's shoulder searching for sanctuary. they don't know it, but she's very much so exhausted. it's hard. being in love and trying to let go, but clinging to it all the same. human emotions were fickle, and a vague thought comes and goes: maybe this is why the solette family pretended to be dolls. [break][break]

"we can go whenever. i'm not busy like you are, so i guess it's more like... when are you free? if anything, you can always just give me a call." because if there's one person julie drops everything for, it's mika. maybe mika knew that? or maybe she thought julie was just free, any time she answered. who was it that dances to another's rhythm? it's hard to say. [break][break]

her fingers idly dance in the air to entertain their pokemon, a hum filling the oncoming silence. "you're just telling me to take stuff since you overpacked." she sits up from her place against mika's side and shoots them with a teasing grin. "you don't need to be embarrassed about that, mimi! you could've just said so~" she clasps her hands together as she sings, laughing soon after. "just kidding!" mika isn't clumsy like that. "i'll be sure to take some. if i say a snack is from you, my precious babies will be quick to gobble everything up!" [break][break]

she bops her little ami where a nose would be and smiles gently as the bounsweet grins brightly. "isn't that right?" it stung, the way julie's pokemon loved mika all the same, just in varying degrees. a huff of a laugh escapes her nose. at least it sounded amused [break][break]

"but, um, yeah!" the smile is directed back to mika, her head tilting slightly. "just let me know. i'd be happy to go whenever! but don't push yourself to make time for my sake. not like the hot springs are going anywhere." [break][break]

+ Mika Nakayama [break]
+ pov you're me trying to reply at a NORMAL hour for once but you're hit with the yuri and it drives you crazy insane asylum

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mika easily can cover the entirety of julie's body with their height, and though she becomes blanketed in their shadow, julie finds comfort and safety in it. it's nothing like the cold darkness that stretches its grasp out to them from between the stands, attempting to take them by the ankles and drown them in it (though, julie muses, there's a sense of romance in it: intertwined together, searching for warmth in a sea of a freezing abyss? it sounds like something out of a novel, and while it seemed attractive, perhaps fiction should remain as such). against the expanse of mika's warm back, julie's fingers cling to her clothes, basking in the heat and the relief of her presence. [break][break]

a soft gasp of surprise involuntarily escapes her lips at the sight of the hydreigon (san, julie notes), julie only slightly confused at the fact mika owned such a destructive pokemon. still, anything seemed better than nothing, and when the ring appears out of no where, julie flinches and cowers further into mika's back. what reveals itself is a tentacruel, the pokemon looking at its surroundings and wildly flailing in response to being magically displaced. [break][break]

"look out!" the kalosian squeaks, pushing mika to the side and only narrowly managing to avoid a poison coated tentacle. behind it, julie can see the ring closing, laughter echoing as it blinks out of existence. her hair flies with how quickly she whips her head to look back at mika, brows furrowed in concern. what was that? she wants to ask, because if there's anyone she trusted on knowledge about nearly anything, it'd be them. mika experienced the world in a vastly different way than julie ever did (and ever could), and their worldly knowledge was something she relied on often. be it in their every day or in dangerous situations, julie would always think back on the ranger and her advice. [break][break]

it seemed far-fetched though. [break][break]

how likely was it that mika knew of floating circles and pokemon appearing out of no where?[break][break]

before she manages to get the words out though, the tentacruel weighs its options. the hydreigon, a ranger of menacing height... or the girl almost too petrified to move? the water type makes its choice. tentacles spread, it lunges towards julie with the intention of wrapping her, as if julie was the reason it was far away from home. its loud cry alerts her to its intention, and unable to do much else, julie only raises her arms and braces for the impact. [break][break]

+ Mika Nakayama [break]
+ finally... not 4am eli writing...

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