#{ though feel free to have ren be physically present somewhere; i'm sure he could }

[huntershowl-moving]

@nightmarefuele said:

"Did they lock you in here?" (from yk who.) protective starters. ACCEPTING

❝ THEY MAY AS WELL HAVE. ❞ THE WORDS contain no bitterness directed at her employer. only exhaustion — at the circumstance, and at herself for being stupid enough to get caught in her most vulnerable state. ❝ they can get me out any time they want. this is as much a punishment as a direct hand. ❞ somewhere, fletch waits for what they deem an adequate moment to make the call, the blackmail, the infiltration. usually a few days. sometimes weeks.

despite the hound's complete inability to fight back, the imperial military soldiers sent in lieu of bluecoats still clapped full-block shackles over the creature's ankles and hands. this time, they didn't make the mistake of processing her; they simply used the immortal emperor's warrant to bypass fair trial and threw her in solitary.

it was a smart move, they have to admit. the last time they tried to lock her down, she killed fifteen inmates because their de facto leader tried to lay a hand on her. sometimes she wonders if fletch keeps her here just to see what she will do.

the voice reverberates through persephone's skull, fingerlike, as disconcerting and familiar as the singing rush of blood through muscle & vein. they cannot see him in the pitch-dark, but there is no need to. he is not here — he cannot be. the prison would have sounded the alarm if he were.

if persephone were any less exhausted she would have reacted defensively. aggressively. but the kill they committed today, and the world-eater tide of rage that fueled it, leaves her shaking and spent. in truth, they aren't even positive this interaction is real — it would not be the first time they hallucinated after a kill.

❝ what do you care? how did you know? ❞

[rhnuzlocke]

Episode 15

Scene 6:

[Ren is lying on her back in the grass with Tāraki laying next to her and the rest of her pokemon scattered around nearby. Kai and Wally are off somewhere else at the moment and Ren seems to be enjoying her nap. Her nav buzzes and she grasps for it blindly and brings it up to her eye. The screen informs her that Steven is video calling her. She snaps upright, staring at the screen, heart suddenly pounding.]

Ren: [muttering quietly to herself] It’s probably no big deal. He’s probably calling you because of Magma stuff. If he was in imminent danger he wouldn’t bother with video. Just breathe.

[Ren takes a deep breath, pushes her hair behind her ear and answers the call.]

Steven: Hi Ren.

[Steven appears to be sitting in the grass leaning against a stone wall. He looks far more disheveled than usual and there are dark circles under his eyes.]

Ren: [concerned] Hey Steven. Is everything okay?

Steven: Hmm. How to answer that? Yes and no, I suppose. [seeing her look of panic] Nothing life-threatening! No Magma or Groudon or asteroids involved. I just wanted to talk to you about something and I can’t talk to Rire, so…

Ren: No, go ahead, what’s up?

Steven: [rambling] Well, we had a League meeting this morning. I stayed up the night before working on the agenda because of—you know—and I admit I looked like crap because I forgot my concealer and I was tired, but that can’t be the reason. It doesn’t make sense. They obviously planned this ahead of time. This was not a spur of the moment thing.

Ren: Steven, back up a minute. You’re not making sense.

Steven: Oh. Sorry. [clears throat] So, we went through the whole agenda and I was about to call the meeting but then it turned into like… an intervention… for me.

Ren: [confused] What?

Steven: They all said that I was taking too much on myself and had to delegate. And they wanted me to get more sleep and keep them updated and coordinate stuff with them. Not just regular League things, the Magma stuff too. They obviously talked it all out beforehand. All of them! I didn’t think they knew about… I don’t know. But who started it? I would say it Wallace, but…  

Ren: You know, maybe ambushing you like that was a little much, but all of that stuff sounds good. It’s nice that they care about you and want to be more proactive.

Steven: You don’t understand. It’s like a conspiracy. Everyone is in on it! Wallace talked to Bes and now they have the rest of my pokemon in on it too. I’m supposed to take the rest of the day off. Damascus won’t fly me anywhere and Anthy insists on keeping house now and is trying to learn how to cook. I have Ptilometra in there making sure she doesn’t burn the place down. Alwyn and Komatsu are planting a garden—Oh, Alwyn likes her gift very much and wanted me to tell your sandslash thank you. I think she may be working on something to send back? I’m not sure. Anyway, she roped my excadrill into into helping her plant all of those seeds.

Ren: That’s good. I’m sure Kōtai will be happy.

Steven: But you see what I mean, right?

Ren: That does sound like a lot, but maybe it’s for the best?

Steven: I know. What’s really been driving me crazy is how this all started. Wattson was sort of the ringleader, but I don’t think it was his idea. I’ve hardly seen him at all lately and he’s such a workaholic himself. He’s usually the one that tells Wallace to get off my case. It doesn’t add up. But I know it wasn’t Wallace because I grilled him already. Wattson called him. But who called Wattson? You know them a little right? Got any idea who it might have been?

Ren: [Her face twitches because by this point she actually does have a pretty good idea.] Um, no. I can’t say that I do.

Steven: Dammit.

Ren: Steven, I think you should take a deep breath and try to relax a little. Otherwise all of this effort is for nothing. And I’m sure you’ll figure it out eventually. Maybe you’re overthinking this. And I do know how you feel. I hate being forced to do things, even stuff I like doing. But you do need to take better care of yourself, like we talked about. And the more people working on the Magma thing the better. They are all League members, right? They are not going to blab and they can all handle themselves if something happens.

Steven: [sighing] You’re right. I know you’re right. And I know I’m being a baby about this. Today has just been very surreal. Thank you for listening. It helps a lot. I feel a little calmer now.

Ren: That’s good. That’s really good.

[He rests his head back against the stone wall and while he is looking away, Ren smiles fondly at him. She rests her head on her free hand and her eyes go soft and her expression dreamy. There is stomping on his end and Ren snaps out of her reverie. He looks over at the source of the noise.]

Steven: Yeah, I’m okay now… No, Bes, I’m not working, I’m just talking to Ren.

[A huge metal leg edges into the corner of the screen and pushes gently up against Steven. He leans away.]

Steven: Whatever. You are still on thin ice. I know perfectly well this is all your fault somehow.

[Ren chuckles as Bessemer continues to nudge Steven both physically and mentally until he gives in and leans against his pokemon. Steven readjusts himself so that more of Bessemer is in the frame.]

Steven: Sorry about that. Bes says hello.

Ren: Hi Bessemer.

[She can hear them rumble. Steven leans back against them, looking almost peaceful when something occurs to him and he starts.]

Steven: It was you.

Ren: What?

Steven: Bes talked to you and you must have told Senri, he’s your father. So it was Senri who called Wattson and all of this was really your doing.

Ren: [guilty] All I said was I was worried!

Steven: [loud and theatrical] Here I was, confiding in you, and you were at the root of my problems all along!

Ren: [defensive] That’s hardly fair. And I didn’t plan any of this, I swear.

Steven: I know. It’s just funny. I just—

[He starts laughing and covers his face with his free hand. Ren laughs a little too. Steven stops himself abruptly and tries to look stern, but he is still smiling underneath.]

Steven: No. This is serious. [a stray chuckle] How dare you. [stifled snort] I'm—I’m disappointed. Don't you trust me?

Ren: [trying not to laugh] With most things…

Steven: Well I hope you're happy because now, thanks to you, the Hoenn League Champion has a strictly enforced bedtime.

[Ren loses it and starts laughing really hard, almost dropping her nav. Steven laughs too but tries to fight it.]

Steven: This is my life, Ren! It’s not funny!

[Ren just laughs harder. She falls over and drops her nav so that all Steven can see is the sky. Ren can still hear him laughing on the other end before he quiets a little, distracted by something.]

Steven: [still laughing intermittently] No, Bes! I'm not going to say that! You can tell her yourself when you see her. No! Get off me!

[Ren rolls over onto her stomach and grabs her nav to see what is happening. The camera on the other end is going a bit haywire as Steven flails around, but it seems as though Bes has him on the ground. From the strangled giggles it also seems likely that they are tickling him.]

Steven: No please! [snort] Ahh! [giggles] Stop! [wheezy laugh] Okay! Alright!

[Steven pops back up and swats the hair out of his face, aiming the camera at himself again. He takes a moment to catch his breath, then sighs.]

Steven: Bes says thank you.

Ren: [stifling giggles] Is that all?

Steven: And a lot more besides that they will tell you [directed at Bessemer through gritted teeth] when they see you.

Ren: [chuckling] Okay. You're welcome, Bessemer.

[Bessemer rumbles happily. Steven shoves them away and sits back against the wall.]

Steven: You know, I would never have pegged Senri as the instigator.

Ren: Well, he may not be the best dad, but he is still a dad.

Steven: At least the mystery is solved.

Ren: I wish I could say I was sorry for accidentally siccing the League on you, but I’m kinda not.

Steven: Well, at least you’re honest. I forgive you.

Ren: That's very generous of you.

Steven: It is.

Ren: [chuckling] Yeah, just go ahead and pat yourself on the back.

Steven: Will do. [He lets out a long sigh and readjusts himself against the wall.] So, we already talked about me. What have you been up to lately?

Ren: Pretty much training non-stop. I got my sixth badge.

Steven: Very good.

Ren: Oh, and my taillow decided to stay and train with Winona. Do you, uh, know her very well? I asked otōsan about her already, but he's not always great about… personality. He pretty much just talked about what kind of trainer she is, which was helpful but… I mean, I'm not too worried. She promised to let Māia stay a taillow and keep the stones you gave her and everything. I just, yeah, I can't help it.

Steven: No, I get that. Hmm, where to start with Winona? Is it safe to assume you know about the whole amnesia thing?

Ren: Yeah.

Steven: Well, I think that is a big part of the reason she doesn’t always give the best first impression. As I understand it, she spent a lot of time after the accident trying to be the person she was before and please all of these people who, for all intents and purposes, she didn’t actually know. So, at some point, she abandoned her old self and became someone new. I think the whole thing made her very uninterested in what anyone thinks of her. And losing all of one’s formative memories definitely shows, though it’s a little hard to pinpoint how exactly. It’s made her a singularly present person. She can’t dwell on the past and it makes her throw everything into whatever she is doing at the moment. She’s incredibly focused and tenacious, just maybe not the best people person.

Ren: She actually sounds like a good fit for Māia. Thank you, Steven. That helps a lot.

Steven: Happy to be of service.

[He smiles and yawns. He slumps against the wall and blinks slowly.]

Ren: Maybe you should take a nap.

Steven: I haven’t napped since college.

Ren: Well, you’re already falling asleep. I’m just saying maybe it should be on a couch or a bed.

Steven: I am not.

Ren: At least lie down in the grass. I know you love rocks, but that wall can’t be comfortable.

Steven: Alright.

[He edges away from the wall and out into the full sun. He lies down on his side in the grass and turns his nav so that he is still upright in the frame. Ren rolls onto her side and follows suit.]

Ren: Better, no?

Steven: [sleepy] Hmm.

[They smile at each other for a moment and his eyelids drift shut. Her face fills with warmth as she watches him fall asleep. It isn’t long before Kai and Wally can be heard returning, but it doesn’t really register until]

Kai: We’re back!

[Ren starts and looks up to see them approaching.]

Ren: Bye Bessemer, if you’re still there!

[There is a rumble on the other end.]

Ren: [quiet] Goodbye Steven.

[She snaps her nav shut just as Kai and Wally reach her.]

Wally: Who were you talking to?

Ren: Uh… my parents?

Kai: Ren, you’re red as a slugma.

[She rolls over onto her face and whines.]

Wally: [bouncing up and down, hands hovering near his mouth] Was it Steven?! Oh my goodness! What was he calling about? What did you talk about? What did he say?!

[Kai can’t help but smile a little at Wally’s excitement. Ren tries to melt into the turf.]