[attr="class","rosepost"]'And I'll do it again!' How did he make that sound like a threat? Her knee-jerk reaction was to argue, but she fought it this time, willing herself instead to stop blushing like an idiot. He had such a strange impact on her, and she didn't like feeling like her reactions to him were out of her control.[break][break]

Naturally, she fell into a mute confusion and couldn't find the words to tell him to stay lost if he was so determined to be the Gogoat's ally. As it was, now alone, she needed a remedy for her annoyance. [break][break]

She created a sundial with some stones and found herself a piece of serenity in doing so. She sat beside it and watched the shadow tick by. She really wanted to take a dip in the ocean since the waves were mild enough for it, but she would've had to fold up her clothing to avoid getting drenched, sick, and stuck with a salt-stiffened outfit. She didn't want to risk him returning while she was compromised, given he certainly hadn't earned it. [break][break]

What a stupid thought. She pinched her arm to rid the thought, then rose to her feet. It had been long enough that he was clearly dead or dying. If it was at the hands of the Gogoat, she'd never let him live it down. [break][break]

And so she entered the depths of the island.

[break][break]Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]He was the most infuriating guy alive. "It's the principle of the card game," she retorted. She couldn't care less about some random cards generated by Togepi - but it was all they'd had for entertainment, and Gogoat should not have eaten it when he had been readily surviving off the island for who knows how long. [break][break]

"Miss you? Oh, you've lost your mind." She jabbed an accusing finger at him. "You kissed me, remember? And now you want me to bend a knee to Gogoat? The dehydration has gotten to you, clearly." As soon as it was out of her mouth, she sobered at the thought that it could be true, that his actions stemmed from delirium. [break][break]

The thought was bitter. She wasn't going to entertain his antics, especially if he was losing his mind. "Go to your best friend, Mr. Gogoat." She turned away from him. "Keep him company. But don't bring him around here." She was not apologizing to the gluttonous traitor. "I can handle myself."

[break][break]Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]Of all the things she'd expected him to say, going to the Gogoat was at the bottom of list. She stood up with him. "Wh- you can't do that?" Her confusion overtook her anger until indignation won. "You can't do that! I- I'll take my chances in the ocean if you go get that thing."[break][break]

He looked amused. The bastard.[break][break]

"I'd sooner set the island on fire than apologize." She put her hands on her hips firmly. "You cannot pick his side over mine."[break][break]

She couldn't reasonably fulfill her anti-Gogoat agenda while Rex was conscious, as any of her efforts would be halted by his interference, and it'd only waste her energy. She needed them to agree to take down the Gogoat or for Rex to fall asleep while she kept guard.

[break][break]Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]The moment floated like a Pelipper feather in the wind, unhurried. The warmth of a tropical sun didn't prevent her from shivering against his searching fingers in her hair. And then he opened his mouth to ask the stupid question.[break][break]

She clicked her tongue. "Yes." She punched at his shoulder. "You shouldn't have gotten in my way." Her face scrunched up, displeased, but it probably looked more like a pout than anger. [break][break]

"For as far as trust got me, you still let him get away. He's, like, a fugitive." But as mad as she was, even she was capable of hearing herself. It was a stupid thing to be hung up on, but she hated losing. And that Gogoat deserved to suffer for eating those cards! But she didn't see Rex letting her rampage the island anytime soon, so while Gogoat's days were numbered, he wouldn't face a reckoning today.[break][break]

No cards, no Gogoat. She braced herself on her elbows, limiting their personal space unless he backed up. "Now what?" Sit around and commiserate?

[break][break]Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]The thing about time was that it was simultaneously holy and sacred, law and principle, the beginning and the end. But, like all immovable, incontrovertible things, it bent to human perception.[break][break]

In other words, it felt like time stopped when he kissed her. [break][break]

Keiko was not someone who experimented with relinquishing control, especially where it concerned surprises. She hated them, really, but this one? Marginally acceptable. [break][break]

She pulled him closer. Shock gave way to eagerness as she held tight to his shirt to keep him here, savoring the moment until she could no longer fight the need to breathe, nudging him away. Her heart was racing over something so stupid, but any irritation was betrayed by both her smile and her flush. Gogoat forgotten, she had the opportunity to look over him in a new light: no longer near-stranger nor adversary, but something of a partner. [break][break]

"Hey."

[break][break]Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]Nice. The armband would be a sweet souvenir for whenever her time in Hoenn was over and she returned home to Sinnoh. "I'll hold you to it," she teased.[break][break]

Her eyes lit up at the prospect of shadowing. With the Dragalge subdued, they were free to finish things up and move on to other rescue efforts. Yet her mind was elsewhere. "I wanna fight a wildfire or something. You guys do all this cool stuff."[break][break]

She gestured emphatically with her hands. "I mean, I don't want trouble or disasters or anything. But you guys work really well. It'd be cool to help out. If you can hook me up with a mentor, I'd love to work with you guys."[break][break]ollie morales [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]Her brow furrowed. What did he mean, this side of her? She was always this determined, this goal-oriented. He was an obstacle, and she did not yield to those.[break][break]

His proximity as he whispered in her ear, ever sensitive, forced a fierce blush to cross her face. But she found her willpower and nudged at him and tsk'd. "That doesn't mean anything," she insisted, not looking at him. [break][break]

And then she saw, in her peripheral, a notable absence. [break][break]

She craned her neck to look around Rex to confirm her worst fear: the Gogoat had fled. "Almighty Sinnoh," she breathed out, trying to find her zen, "you let him get away!" She huffed. Just another obstacle. "I'm going after him; get off me." She shoved at his shoulders with a sound that most certainly wasn't a growl.

[break][break]Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]His Heracross did a great job rounding up the Dragalge. Togekiss offered a fairy wind to keep toxic spit from the pokemon from hitting anyone. The breeze pushed their poison attacks back into the water or onto themselves, mitigating any damage.[break][break]

"Part-time," she echoed thoughtfully. Could she manage it? Their preservation efforts interested her, though when it came to preservation, she preferred the kind that kept history in time capsules for appreciation and for learning. She loved document preservation like her parents, though she had yet to make her way through Hoenn museums.[break][break]

She considered the name he offered. "I was told June was the one I dived with to recover supplies from the sunk infrastructure." Kind of a mean older sister type, that June, but Keiko had liked her presence all the same. "Do part-time Rangers get the cool armband, too?"
[break][break]ollie morales [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]He spoke very authoritatively. She was glad the Rangers in Hoenn were so seasoned that this didn't throw them off their rhythm even a little. The Rangers in Sinnoh never saw much action, so there was a bit more panic in their operations than she was seeing here.[break][break]

"Right, let's clean this up." His Blastoise was efficient in clearing the oil. "Follow his lead," she told Togekiss, who used life dew to finish the lurking, seeping oil. [break][break]

She brightened as their efforts visibly made a difference. "I would've never thought to use life dew on the oil. You Hoennites are such a creative lot." She rested her hands on her hips. "It's a shame I can't juggle being a Ranger with my current work as a courier." Getting to assist with federal mail inspection on top of it was plenty of work for one woman.[break][break]ollie morales [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]"Braze. You sound like my grandfather." It was endearing, but in this particular instance, more annoying than anything else.[break][break]

The fight he put up was surprising. She felt incredulous at the notion he'd go this far to defend Gogoat, but that also made it all the more personal, choosing him over her. "Stop... fighting... me!" He ended up on top, but his threat was uninspiring. [break][break]

She furled her hands in the collar of his shirt. "We're on the same team, you can't just defend the enemy!" It wasn't about the cards but the principle of the betrayal. She tugged him down sharply, bringing them eye to eye. "I need to know I can trust you. Can I trust you?"

[break][break]Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]Her reign of terror paused only due to disbelief. "Et tu, Althus?" The government name to relay the absolute betrayal of the moment.[break][break]

"You're taking his side? There's so much grass on the island he could've eaten and he took your cards! The deck's imbalanced!" She gestured to the cards behind her. She couldn't scrounge up a real game now that the currency cards were halved. [break][break]

She pointed accusatorily at the Gogoat behind him. "You're a menace." The Gogoat stopped its chewing to meet her gaze, then coughed up chunks of card that he clearly was not digesting well. He had the gall to throw up the delicacy of Yun-gi-oh cards?[break][break]

She lunged.

[break][break]Althus Rex [break]