[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]initially, the suggestion had come with the selfish desire to have a coffee cup as a lifeline through their conversation...

she hadn't realized annalise was also seeking out coffee, however. it makes the concept land easier, less indulgent in her own anxieties and more welcoming for their current companionship.

"oh, sawsbucks sounds good!"

annalise's voice lowers, as if sharing a little secret just meant for her ears, and giada can't help but let out a soft laugh.

"to be fair, i don't think anything can really top whatever sawsbucks puts in their drinks."

they're addictive... do they put crack in there next to the cream and sugar or what?

she lingers in place for a moment, smile widening as seconds pass into minutes.

"did you need anything here, um, before we go?"

annalise henderson

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]as she follows him down, the path begins to open up...

and it's mossy beneath her, soft and easy to maneuver. a cushion, she realizes, to ease her descent after him.

a small, barely there smile begins to rise.

it disappears after a moment, after she catches up to him and he answers her question.

"most people pry."

perhaps he is not most people.

either that, or he simply doesn't care to know.

regardless, the decision of which direction to take is up to her now... and she takes too long to consider.

right or left might lead into walls. she glances one way and then the other before deciding on:

"forward."

hopefully it doesn't end horribly.

Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]she hadn't expected it to be so easy, in hindsight.

there's no questioning, no suspicion placed on her shoulders... just blithe acceptance and willingness to chitchat.

it's nice, she realizes, as annalise shifts to open the door for her. it's bright and warm and accepting. everything team rocket is not.

"okay, thank you!"

her smile is wider than it has been in recent months, more genuine than she can remember.

and as she steps through the door's threshold, the ranger headquarters opens up. it's busy, full of people. they all seem to be in good spirits, content, almost happy with their daily lives.

she feels jealousy creep in.

"do you, um, want to get coffee while we talk?"

annalise henderson

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]she does, in fact, find it baffling.

he isn't going to pry? put up a fight? scoff and complain?

it's odd, she realizes, to be caught off guard by such a simple courtesy. it leaves a festering sadness, perhaps, the longer she dwells on it.

and without much prompting, she digs her claws in. strings try to jerk her back but it's too late. curiosity has taken control. she dances the dance that got her into this mess in the first place, that same curiosity killing off eight of her nine lives.

"why? aren't you going to make me talk?"

she doesn't quite receive an answer. not at first, anyway.

instead, he takes a leap of faith (literally) and lurches down into the tunnel. she blinks.

and as silence falls around her, she feels a clawing in her throat. here, alone, she feels exposed.

it's unnerving.

she is quick to scramble behind him, a rushed request calling after him.

"wait up!"

Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]right...

did she need help?

yes, but also no.

she flounders for a moment, words failing. in this lull, annalise's face registers. she's pretty, bubbly, bright.

and as gia slowly takes her hand, she gives it a gentle shake.

"giada. sorry, um, are you busy?"

she didn't mean to interrupt...

her brain backtracks, circling back to the initial question.

"i wanted to ask a few questions about ranger requirements if you have some spare time?"

annalise henderson

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]she's been scouting this place out for a week now...

trying and failing to work up the nerve to finally pull on the door and enter the ranger headquarters of mauville city.

each time she thinks she's ready, she chickens out.

and she looks out of place here, standing awkwardly on the sidewalk with her eyes focused on the doors. every time someone leaves, they side eye her and she doesn't even seem to notice.

finally, painstakingly, she lets out a shaky breath she hadn't known she was holding and approaches the door...

only for it to pop open as a woman struts out in full ranger gear.

word vomit overtakes her. it spills from her throat in a quick, fumbling rush.

"are you a ranger?"

no shit, sherlock.

annalise henderson

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]she brightens a little, as if her idea isn't completely terrible once elise agrees.

and maybe it's not, but there's only one way to find out...

"okay, let's try it."

she turns her body and begins to lead them backwards.

as they begin to move, their surroundings almost begin to change. she sees mild shifts, alterations occurring around them.

and the trees loom over them, shadows painting faces on them.

wait, no...

"those are actual faces."

the thought is mumbled out loud as the expressions on tree trunks begin to take tangible form.

Elise Calcifet

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]a hum escapes as she glances to the right.

"i had gone left and also ended up in the same spot..."

so, if left and right both led back here, would forward or backward end with the same result?

"should we try going backwards?"

it's worth a shot, maybe. what's the worst that can happen, really?

her thought process on this conundrum is cut short, however, with an introduction. she blinks then flushes a light embarrassed pink.

"oh, no worries! i'm giada, it's nice to meet you."

wait... crowned prince? of galar? didn't she break into his home once to steal from him?

ah, good times.

Elise Calcifet

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]"i don't want to tell you anything."

sharp, snippy, rushed.

attitude hides what she looks to bury, what she doesn't want to indulge in. there's a hope deep in her bones, settled down firmly next to a primordial longing for freedom.

yet she sits in this cage all the same.

fear paralyzes. fear suffocates. fear kills.

his presence, this mission... it's all the same bullet lodging itself into her skin. she cannot cut deep enough to scrape out the shrapnel.

and he doesn't even supply an answer to his own question. it infuriates her, she realizes, as his shovel strikes metaphorical gold.

she supposes in some small way, she had been hoping to hear the words she's afraid to say.

instead, she finds nothing but silence. the tunnel opens up. it swallows them whole.

"now what?"

Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]is there anything she even wants to tell him?

too much, really, just to get it off her chest...

and yet, she sticks to basics, to ancient history long buried in kanto.

"i grew up on the streets of celadon. i was orphaned or whatever, doesn't matter too much now."

team rocket is supposed to feel like a family in some fucked up sort of way, isn't it?

then why does it feel more and more like a noose?

"now i just steal whatever i can find i guess?"

it's half truthful, too. she has yet to completely kick the habit, but it's still a work in progress.

and she looks to take the spotlight entirely off of her, to no longer feel the warm glow of it. she seeks cold darkness, settling like a heavy blanket.

"what about you?"

Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]for a few minutes, she offers him nothing more than a nod and a mumbled thanks when a shovel is passed her way.

there's not much for her to say. anything that might come out would be related to her mind's own turmoil. it'd paint a bullseye on her back, carved down through muscle into bone.

and they dig side by side until he breaks silence once more. by then, she's found a whole lot of nothing.

"giada, nice to meet you."

it feels like a lie as soon as it leaves her throat. and in a way, she supposes it could be. he's rocket. she no longer wants to be. how is that nice?

"not much of a story to tell, i'm afraid."

there is, perhaps, but she refuses to tell it. her shovel digs into ash a little harder than before.

Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]she feels a small relieved smile rise. it curls into her cheeks, firm despite the turned around place they find themselves in.

"it's okay, so am i."

they're in this together, it seems.

and she's a bit grateful, if she's being honest. if she were to have to find her way out of this alone, she might have just lost her mind.

"which way did you come from?"

was it the same way she did? does... gia even remember which way anymore?

everything looks the same.

and if she looks a little too long, she swears the shadows start to creep toward her. it's unnerving.

Elise Calcifet

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]her plans are not, in fact, for the good of the region.

they are for the good of herself, selfishly concocted out of a plethora of emotions. fear, self-loathing, and a loneliness she can't ever seem to shake out of her bones.

"okay. just dig through piles of ash until you find something, right?"

she doesn't debate nor pretend to know what she's doing. this is simple. this is clockwork. this is going by painfully slow.

the strings feel a little too slack. without a puppeteer, she flounders. the control must be replaced, not taken up by her own hands... for she would ruin her chances of getting out otherwise.

"lead the way, i'll follow."

away from the trees, away from the pokemon, means venturing out into the open.

will it make her a sitting duck?

can you feel the target imbedding into your skin?

Isaac Merlo