She's never felt reality could live up to a dream, that the soft edges of the dream realm gave everything a divine energy. Time and all things felt fluid in a dream. The ones she had were not abstract nor snapshots of phobias or memories like others had; her dreams were like movies where she revisited experiences in a new light, with a new angle, with a new twist. Slightly different, as if from an alternate reality. [break][break]

This? This transcended dreams. Exceeded that that they had shared in Mossdeep. It was heavenly. [break][break]

She hadn't realized just how many emotions she had invested in this man - and how many she had suppressed for well over a decade in order to maintain focus on her sole objective - until her release. In the immediate aftermath, she tucked against him like a puzzle piece finally joining the whole. Her exhale against his skin felt like it came from the depths of her ribs, and oddly, felt like a surrender. A deep satisfaction rested over her like a heavy blanket, and she found herself betrayed by the sense of safety he had crafted here as the urge to sleep crept up. [break][break]

She traced designs on his chest with her fingers, blissfully thoughtless. In a word, she was freed... from the forces that kept her constantly moving and constantly upright and constantly walking the tightrope of Rocket work.

TAGS – Montgomery James [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

Truthfully, she'd wanted to spoil him since their first meeting. The warehouse had only heightened that need, and even their fight in Sootopolis had failed to fully extinguish it. He'd make such a wonderful kept man, a trophy, a wild thing tamed only for her. [break][break]

It felt only natural, then, to drape herself over him and lavish every inch, sure to follow her lips with a bit of teeth when he seemed impatient. "So good for me," she cooed against his hip bone. "Just relax. I have you." And she meant it. Every muscle that relaxed under her touch was a testament to trust - which she still had not earned, might never earn so long as there would be a price on his head from the higher ups in Rocket. [break][break]

Her kisses were apologies, though he wouldn't interpret them as such. She drew out each movement, tasting slowly and committing it all to memory. She wouldn't stop until his mind was reduced to only her.

TAGS – Montgomery James [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

She chased him, but it wasn't necessary. He pushed her against the wall and, with nowhere to go, it was easy to surrender. She roped an arm around his neck and kept him close, until he was trailing his mouth down her and she found herself preoccupied with getting his clothes off. She laughed breathlessly as he tried to direct them to his room. [break][break]

"Might not make it there," she confessed, but she stepped that way slowly, mindful of his mouth latched onto her. Without the worries of the public eye and of war machines, it was only the two of them. How odd to finally have him without limits. [break][break]

She tugged him into his bedroom, shedding her coat. He'd said they didn't have much time. She felt like time stopped when she stepped inside his room. For what it's worth, she rushed through further undressing, uncaring of wrinkles. She forced him to walk backwards to the bed, demanding. "You want me to put up a fight, or are you needing a little tender love and care?" She traced a finger from his collarbone to his waist; for as teasing as the question was, she was willing to let him pick the playbook just this once. There would be more time for handcuffs if he wanted to savor this night, and more time for patience if he wanted to work things out the fun way.

TAGS – Montgomery James [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

Her heart breaks just a little as he reassures her to their safety. She's never felt unsafe in his presence. She believes him whole-heartedly. [break][break]

But she has to make sure he's safe. She needs to ensure that nothing in Petalburg, nothing from Rocket, ever touches him. Not like the knife that had kissed his throat. She needed it. So she squeezes his hand back and smiles reassuringly. She'll construct a plan to keep his home safe, but it will wait until morning. [break][break]

The night belongs to him. "I missed you." She brings her hands to cup his face gently and brings herself to him this time, kissing him and leaning into his solid frame.

TAGS – Montgomery James [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

Her expression is wiped clean of the smugness when he answers. Home? [break][break]

It's something she's never imagined herself earning. In fact, she's never described an inch of Hoenn as home. Hers was in Galar, in the patch of grass she last shared a moment with her mum, before everything changed, before she knew that was the last she'd ever see of her. [break][break]

She feels like a ghost as she gets out of the car and comes with him. She feels like this is actually a dream itself, though it is far too creative to be one of her own. Still, she pinches herself. 'I can trust you here, right?' Could he? Had she earned it? What if she was being tracked right now or watched by one of Nomi's Unown or by her own Unown or if the Petalburg Rocket forces were actually running a perimeter check or [break][break]

He unlocks his front door, and she fears the worst. More honest than she's ever been with him, she says, "I think so." I hope so. Every privilege she has, she has earned. To be given this one... leaves her more speechless than she's been in a long time.

TAGS – Montgomery James [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

"Tch." Virtue meant nothing, but he was worth more than she cared to quantify, so she supposed he could have his way just this once. "Better be a good gift," she insisted, "but trust: we have plenty of time." Infinite time, if she could make headway on her research. She was getting closer, she was sure of it. She had been working on too many different approaches to the dream realm to still fall short for much longer. [break][break]

She kept her hands to herself. "Okay, so where is this special, mystery place?" They were nearing Petalburg, she knew, and it made her anxious. It was a dangerous place for Leaguers, now. She just wasn't sure how to ask about his safety.

TAGS – Montgomery James [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

"I have come around," she answered, though she much preferred the cuffs on him instead. In fact, it was an image that had cut more than one workday short for herself... [break][break]

In the patrol car, she had to face the window to prevent him from seeing just how pleased she was, like the litten that got the cream. She got under his skin just as much as he got under hers. Of course, that didn't mean she'd make things easy for him. Her hand found his thigh only a few minutes into their trip. "So," she drawled, "I am trusting that you are taking me somewhere fun instead of somewhere cold and dark and punishing... and I think that warrants a reward, surely?"[break][break]

She squeezed his leg. A test of wills. "How about you pull over first?" Her hand drifted elsewhere.

TAGS – Montgomery James [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

How sentimental. [break][break]

She tucked that away for later. Partner was a little generous, she felt, for the floating runic pokemon, but she was in no position to argue. After all, she had minimal experience with Unown and her own had barely acclimated to her. "I trust you," she said. "My partner is still warming up to me, as I suspect the shadow process has darkened its trust of others, but I suspect it will not raise an issue with your powers." [break][break]

But hey, who knew? She felt they were on the edge of a scientific breakthrough. "Okay, show us what you can do."[break][break]

Her Unown levitated away from all of them, standing in a corner and generating a small, pink, geometric domain around itself. "When it does this," Ameena explained while gesturing to it, "all attacks seem to deflect. I am not sure where it learned this, as it does not seem to be some innate talent in shadow pokemon." She hoped it was news to Nomi. She hoped it was a brand new factor to consider in her work with the Unown, that Ameena might witness an interaction for the first time it occurred in history.

TAGS – Naomi Sato [break]

NOTES – UNOWN: TRANSLATION ERROR - PSYCHIC-TYPE
a small domain forms around the unown where all attacks, including z-moves, deflect. pokemon inside the domain gain a slight increase to evasiveness.[break][break]

Her breath caught in her chest. It felt like the stars aligned whenever they touched, and she felt like she was floating out of her body and watching from a third person perspective - which, to be fair, was a delightful sight. She was reluctant to let him pull away, keeping her hands braced against his chest. [break][break]

Ah. [break][break]

So that's how they were playing it. [break][break]

Like it was yesterday, she recalled what he'd said the first time he wanted to take her in. She rose from her seat and followed him, pulled along like the string of fate was knotted between them. "I hope this is where we have some fun with your cuffs, Officer James. I assure you," she said with a hand dancing across his shoulders, "I can be pretty damn reasonable... when you give me what I want."

TAGS – Montgomery James [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

"Nothing easy is worth your time." She spoke authoritatively as she fell in line with her Inteleon. "You have too much potential to settle for small projects with small outcomes. You have the capacity to change the world... you only need to find a passion and pursue it." And she would. And Ameena intended to teach Gwen the prospects of science under her wing and hope the girl took to dream research, though any field would truly benefit from the redhead.[break][break]

The Guzzlord was an unexpected obstacle. "Guzzlord is a large, slow ultra beast. But, I must say, I prefer these to the suicidal Blacephalon." It had not noticed them, but Inteleon preferred to solve problems before they became imminent. He launched a snipe shot at the creature, but, surprising all of them, the Guzzlord's reach was insane. Its tongue lunged out and snapped around the Inteleon, drawing the pokemon into its mouth. [break][break]

"Shit." Maybe it wasn't an improvement from the Blacephalon. She sent out Lucario, who used extreme speed to rush the beast like a blur, sucker punching it. Still, the Guzzlord did not spit out the Inteleon.

TAGS – Gwendolyn Conway [break]

NOTES – 29 become ensnared by a guzzlord's pincer like tongue that undulates to draw you and/or your pokemon within its endless gut.[break][break]

The more insistent he was about his way, the more rewarding the prize that he dangled in front of her every time their paths crossed. Gods, she wanted him, and she would have him in this realm or another. [break][break]

"I remember plenty," she answered evasively, pleased as punch to see him step closer. "And unconscious is usually the opposite of a problem." She cared not for the nameless grunts around her, smaller cogs in a machine. The mental image of him unconscious sparked greater interest, though not of the scientific variety. [break][break]

She hummed thoughtfully. "So force me," she challenged, a glint in her eye as she tugged him close for a kiss, urging his body to bend towards her like a magnet. Her hands sought out his jaw to hold him close and feel him after being apart for long enough, after the last time being dreamlike.

TAGS – Montgomery James [break]

NOTES – [break][break]