[attr="class","dibody4"]The man behind him, DANIEL WALKER , takes a leap of faith across the chasm like something out of assassin's creed (odyssey is so good so far ok) as the river rushes below. Zeke watches him -- he hangs in the balance for a moment, and Zeke waits for him to clang off the side. When he connects it seems to ease the lingering tension in the air, and the officer heaves a sigh. Others have made it as well, but the party is splintered and the rescue force is ever-shrinking in power.

"ExtremeSpeed. Good idea." he approaches the woman with white hair, persephone amavi , with a smile. He waves away the notion of Scott's whereabouts easily and follows the rest of the group forward. Tension builds around them in a silent symphony, unease setting in on Zeke like a fever as light dwindles with the dwindling of the group (and therefore light supply). Flicking his flashlight back on, he points it up to the heavens but cannot see them, the ceilings too high for accurate detection.

The growing glow is not immediate but its mystery hangs heavy enough in the air to make the approach toward it feel too fast and too unexpected. He looks like a tourist as his eyes scan the walls of the cavern, ears picking up on various curses as the group recognizes the collective light as a massive colony of Morelull. For a moment it feels peaceful, like the Morelull are just observers -- but only for a moment.

Flames erupt and a Safeguard goes up to protect them from the spores. His hand reaches to his pocket and releases his Electabuzz with a flash of light. "Zurich, Light Screen." ethereal barriers form from the energy in the air and make flimsy, glass-like barriers around the party. It won't protect them from the Spores, but he knows it isn't worth nothing.

"They might have been filling the place with those spores for hours. Should we really be trying to mow them down?" his baritone rumbles in the group and he looks at Dallas Rhodes in particular with a big set of very alarmed, very wide eyes.

"They are a good light source." it's an after thought but nothing worth suppressing.

Zurich stands in front of him, ready, while his owner looks from face to face.

- plugs AC:Odyssey at DANIEL WALKER 's expense.
- Compliments persephone amavi bc she's a qt.
- Summons Electabuzz and puts up a Light Screen.
- Urges Dallas Rhodes not to fight just yet.

[attr="class","ditags3"]@ raid

[attr="class","dibody4"]With a curious eye, Zeke watches those around him slide across the newly formed ice bridge. This time things go without a hitch and a group of the rescuers actually make it to the other side.

Its creator may not have heard him suggest it, but he feels smart.

Looking at @scott , he shrugs. "No need for more deliberation." while the option to go down or go forward remains in the air, he has no real interest in taking a dip.

"I'll go first...make sure Raichu catches me if this thing breaks or I just fall." Marin wriggles on his back and he knows she's nervous, but Zeke sets a foot to the ice slide.

It is slick, but doable, and he begins to make his way after the rest of the group.

- Zeke follows the group across the ice slide
- Urges @scott to follow
- That's it

[attr="class","ditags3"]@ raid

[attr="class","dibody4"]The lighting in the bathroom feels less offensive as the mood lightens considerably. Scott offers to take Zeke down to the power plant sometime, his tone indicating that it isn't entirely worth the trip for several reasons, all of which are intriguing to Zeke.

Scott punctuates this all with a shrug to which Zeke has to raise an eyebrow. "...you realize I'm stopping shoplifters now, right? You of all people know that's not what I'm used to. I'd love to go down and smack down with some smugglers and Rockets." he can't help but laugh this time...his life felt like a joke.

Helping in Slateport? It seems like an attractive offer, but Zeke shakes his head. "I mean you don't have to worry about it. If they need my help, they'll ask for it." he refers to the lieutenant that gives him his assignments, knowing that if he just goes and does what he wants and something happens in Mauville, it'll be his ass.

"Besides, maybe I deserve a little bit of time in a lower stress environment. And I do have to save your power plant after all, right?" a playful smirk is on his face as he continues to loosen back up into friend mode.

[attr="class","dibody4"]Scott's snark saves his life; his delayed action of a few seconds to give Zeke grief is enough time for both of them to feel that pulse through the air safely from the ground at the beginning of this jump puzzle. The disturbance in the air is not truly noticeable in itself, but the ensuing chaos that it seems to cause alerts everybody to it: people fall to the river below, the web bridge disappears, some hitting the water and some remaining on the pillars.

@andromeda walks off the edge and plunges into the water like a high diver, earning a shocked eyebrow raise and due respect from Zeke. He is hesitant to jump in himself, so he settles for peering over the edge at the potential damage. Much to his surprise, the others seem to be okay (though webbed together?) thanks to kim cole-essam and persephone amavi's Relicanth. Zeke feels Marin wriggle on his back, but he decides to keep the Kabuto for himself for now -- unlike the girl who gave the Relicanth, he still has to find a way across.

His eyes reluctantly turn away from the swimmers to Scott, who has asked his opinion on how to proceed. "Uhh...I don't want to jump in...unless the same shit happened to the lost explorers?" the thought doesn't feel unreasonable.

"A water type combined with an ice type could make an ice bridge? Or your magneton could do...magnet stuff, you know. Magnet re-repellant...?" he stumbles over his words and feels the brunt of his lack of attention in school. There were people still trapped in the middle and there were people in the river and Scott was asking his dumbass for a way across?

"I'm not smart enough to be trusted with stuff like this." there's disappointment in his voice but it is mostly masked by frustration with the situation.

- @andromeda is actually a badass sorry for doubting
- Still at the beginning looking at everyone.
- Is too dumb to actually come up with good ideas.

[attr="class","ditags3"]@ raid

[attr="class","dibody4"]He blames the alcohol for the bout of romantic tension, as he always did, because it always was to blame. Zeke cannot be sure how long they'd been standing in this bathroom now, but he feels himself sobering up even more; whether or not that is due to his liver or the situation, he doesn't know.

He doesn't really care either, and he runs a hand through his dark hair as Scott washes his face and talks about theft and power plants. The comment pulls Zeke in a little bit, his interest piquing with the mention of the power plant. "Well, you know I'll be around if you ever need some extra help securing the place. I know you can handle yourself, but..." consider it an olive branch as he grins at Scott. "I'm not exactly thrilled by the idea of mall cop duties." his eyes cannot help but roll at the thought of his skills being squandered.

"The rest of the city seems okay though. Plus Verdanturf is right down the road. That small town, open air bullshit is becoming more my speed. Guess that's what happens when you grow up in a toxic slum!" though it isn't clear to him that he may have upset Scott before with his lack of enthusiasm, this might clear the air a little bit. He looks at the fresh faced blondie and for a moment almost forgets about the lingering stench of vomit.

"You sober up pretty fast, damn. It's like a super power." he himself hadn't had enough to drink to even get close to where Scott appeared to be before.

[attr="class","dibody4"]Zeke finds a moment to curl his lips at Leo's comment on spelunking. It isn't Zeke scene either but he nods to the man, providing his own name without as much as a second thought about Leo's allegiances. "Zeke...hopefully carbon monoxide isn't lingering down here. Though I guess we'd all be dead if it was." with an introduction to Leo, Zeke offers his comment to Ava Rosewood , though the issue of the stench seems to be falling from the forefront as the sound of rushing water can be heard from ahead.

Almost magically, his name seems to summon @scott from out of nowhere; along with Scott comes a slew of annoying comments that force his eyes to roll almost into the back of his head. "Hey, asshole." he decidedly ignores the comment on being a paladin after Scott reveals him as a mall cop to everyone -- that guy could go fuck himself. He instead listens in on @jing and @andromeda , a look lingering on the latter; Lucien strikes him as a pretentious piece of shit, but Zeke says nothing to either of them.

The ruins rumble angrily, the ground vibrating beneath his feet, begging them to leave. The bridge that is supposed to be before them is gone, a makeshift path being made out of spiderwebs by DANIEL WALKER and kim cole-essam . It looks like a creative form of suicide; better that than the bald little guy's passage, which just looked like normal suicide.

His eyes linger on Scott's Raichu before passing over to the gym leader himself. Asking anything of Scott felt shitty, but he knew he wouldn't say no. "Raichu can levitate us or whatever, right?" he trusted Scott more than the rest of them anyways, but mentally prepares himself to cross the gap in the same fashion as everybody else if Scott does not cooperate.

- Trusts @jing well enough
- Talks to Ava Rosewood about the now not-so-important smell issue
- @scott is a mean bitch
- Lucien Durendal makes him wary
- watches DANIEL WALKER and kim cole-essam build their web-bridge and doesn't trust it
- begs @scott to make Raichu float him across instead

[attr="class","ditags3"]@ raid

[attr="class","dibody4"]Zeke wants to laugh at Scott's inability to accept his praise but his expression remains the same. There is an irony to the patterns that repeat between them that almost tickles him, but he wonders if the last time really was the last time. Reconciliation feels impossible in this moment and suddenly he doesn't feel like laughing at all as his eyes drop to the floor to display his defeat.

Would Scott be Scott if things weren't so complicated between them? Their relationship is like navigating a pyramid: the promise of a prize at the end is supposed to be sweet enough to take on the booby trap. Was there a treasure at the end? He truly doesn't know, but it doesn't matter. Zeke flips on the faucet at the sink and begins washing his hands to fill the silence.

"So yeah, I'm a fuckin' mall cop. Starting to wonder if the commissioner hates me." his voice grumbles dramatically as he tries to flip the switch back to drunken escapades. It doesn't always flip easily, but it does today as he scrubs his hands together for a few more seconds. "Been here one day and it already sucks. Not that I'm surprised." the music playing in the bar suddenly becomes a part of his background noise again; it's EDM and he doesn't care about EDM. Zeke looks at Scott again, almost smiling again.

"I actually stopped someone from shoplifting today. Shoplifters, in YOUR city!" Zeke feigns exasperation by digging a pointer finger into Scott's chest, the sarcasm of the statement very apparent to both of them.

[attr="class","dibody4"]This falls out of his jurisdiction as a member of the police force and he knows it. Whether or not it is his moral responsibility to try and take charge of the group is lost on him -- he is no leader. He walks in the middle of the group and stands among the members that were wise enough to bring a flashlight. His hand guides its path slowly over his periphery, his eyes scanning what visible faces were around him to find that all of them are unfamiliar. It doesn't matter -- maybe it's better this way. It gives him liberty to operate without bias as the mixed bag of league and rocket move forward as one, though it is short lived as members start to peel off. To him, it feels silly to go off on one's own, and he lets out a humorless chuckle as several members go off on their own.

"And what happens when they get lost? Do we have to find them too?" the words aren't particularly loud but they're audible to those standing around him. Zeke finds himself standing behind a camera phone attached to a chatty reporter; his eyes fall to the ruinous floor as her piercing voice slices through the mystical air with its shrillness. He is grateful when she distances herself from him. He looks over to the woman walking beside him, Ava Rosewood . It did smell.

"Yeah, and not that normal moist cavern smell. Almost...I don't know..." his voice trails off, not wanting to bring up rotting flesh. That isn't quite the smell anyways: none of the missing explorers would have been dead long enough. He can't put his finger on it as his Kabuto wriggles, still clinging to the external surface of his backpack like a leech. Zeke continues to pace at the center of the pack, eyes dancing over the other members warily.

- Provides light with a flashlight
- Comments on @alexander, @arlette, kim cole-essam
- Interacts with Ava Rosewood

[attr="class","ditags3"]@ raid

[attr="class","dibody4"]He remembers reading somewhere that mirroring body language is a sign of attraction; was it back when he was eighteen and fawning after the angry blond boy that stood before him now? He can't remember. Zeke feels eighteen again as Scott barbs him with his words; those days he would not have let them pass like he does today.

He does not say sorry for his own barb -- the conversation has shifted to him anyways. The question feels even sharper than the statement that had come before it, even if it wasn't intentional. Zeke cannot maintain eye contact, even now. The man in the stall passes behind them and exits without washing his hands as Zeke tracks him in the mirror. A sigh escapes his lips as he looks at his reflection. "I'm an officer...they assigned me to Mauville starting today." his voice lacks excitement because he is not excited.

"Indefinitely." with this he turns and looks at Scott again. He needs to know how Scott reacts to their forced reuniting; there was enough good and enough bad behind them to really make this a mixed bag of potential reactions. Zeke doesn't give Scott time to speak or even think -- maybe he doesn't want to know Scott's true feelings for him right now in this bathroom. Instead, he speaks again.

"I'm proud of you, you know."

[attr="class","dibody4"]Lucky? Maybe...Zeke does not react as Scott rambles on. He can't be sure just how different Scott is, but he knows that it isn't luck that got Scott to where he was. The asshole was many things, among them a natural-born leader.

The compliments pass through his psyche and leave without being voiced. It feels easier not to bring leadership up, especially not here in this phosphorescent, western bathroom in a bar while both are buzzed-to-drunk.

Scott does more good than bad these days? Zeke expects a smile from himself but it doesn't come. Nothing comes, not so much as a word as he stares into Scott's eyes. He knows both are thinking about the same things, the same fights, the same day.

The door bursts open but the bubble does not pop. A man squeezes between them, his destination the stall as he murmurs something about having to take a shit, but Zeke does not stop searching for answers in Scott's eyes. The comments prove to be enough to scrunch Zeke's face up in confusion and look over at the back of the guy as he slams the stall door shut. He leans against the wall behind him again, arms crossing in front of him.

"So...Scott Harver, Mauville Gym Leader. Why are you groping men and throwing up on them in shitty bars?" Zeke does not forget that they'd just been talking about growing up -- he hopes Scott doesn't either.

He walks over to the mirror and takes a look at himself. It's an excuse not to look at Scott, even if he doesn't really give a shit what he looks like. Scott looks worse, after all. Zeke can hardly recognize the lingering smell of vomit in the air as he runs a hand through his dark hair.

[attr="class","dibody4"]His eyes catch the white on Scott's knuckles as his hands grip the edge of the sink. Thoughts wash over him but he pushes them away like the tide, too caught up in the moment to care about something so trivial when he knows the tide will come back again all too soon.

He turns to look at the door of the bathroom: it, like everything else in this fucking bar, is wooden. On it there's a copy of a painting depicting a cowboy reeling in a Rapidash -- its coloring is strangely sexy for such a topic. Zeke studies this for a moment before his attention is yanked back to Scott. "You're the gym leader?" the exasperated response is drowned in a fit of laughter erupting from the blond before him. Like so many moments already, this one triggers a reminiscent streak in Zeke. That laugh haunts his dreams, not that Scott would know it. Zeke can't help but smile, even with shock still controlling his wide open eyes. "You've got to be shitting me!"

His head shakes back and forth...this asshole is the gym leader? And he was what, a glorified mall cop? A small laugh fills the silence after Scott's dies down, this time coming from Zeke.

"...you must have done some growing up, asshole." it isn't meant to be pointed, and his monotone voice does not portray any bad feelings; nonetheless, he cannot control Scott's interpretive skills as his eyes instinctively fall to his feet once again. They search for something on the floor -- perhaps it is his dignity. Perhaps it is his sense of strength and power that he loses every fucking time he sees Scott.

Zeke cannot find it, and his gaze go back to Scott.