Set in the original region of Arciel, Legends Rising is a route-inspired, but not strictly route-based, Pokemon roleplay. Pick a faction, pick a class, and strike out into the wild to take on the League, master Contest coordination, research the mysteries of Pokemon and Arciel, and much, much more. Will you be a classic trainer? A criminal? A farmer? Choose your destiny on Legends Rising.
The snow was really falling now, wasn’t it? Gabe glanced out one of the bar windows to watch the flurries fall down and then spray upwards as the undercurrent of air saw fit to throw them up a couple times despite gravity’s best efforts to keep them down. It was a beautiful time of year— aside form the frigid temperatures terrible ground ice which constituted most of winter anyways.
Gabe’s gaze flicked inwards to the bar itself. Midnight was more than a few hours away, but everyone in it was in high spirits: ready to congratulate each other and the earth in total for making another full rotation around their star when the time came. One of the patrons had already ordered an entire round of drinks on him, and someone else had brought in several boxes’ worth of pizza from the bakery across the street. Currently there was an argument going on in the corner as to what music should be played with three different people standing over a juke box, but if that was the most conflict Gabe would see that night, that was fine by him.
It was then that a flash of something pink caught his eye, and Gabe had to take a double take to be sure he was sure of what he was looking at. It had been a while. He didn’t like following Arietta’s blog and hadn’t done so in a long while, but he had seen this particular person’s picture more than a couple of times immediately post-breakup with her. I cold be misremembering… Of course that was always a thought but right then he was willing to take the bet. “Hey there cutie,” he called waving a hand up. “I’d say I’d buy you a drink but the big fellow over there already offered one free round to the entire bar.”
Post by Shea Briar Rose on Jan 4, 2020 4:53:08 GMT
[googlefont="Pathway Gothic One"]
HEARTBREAKER
MY KISS IS A LIFE TAKER
TAG
@tag
WORDS
371
NOTES
---
PARTY
[attr="class","shea"] Shea really hadn't gotten out enough lately. After getting a few more Pokemon, the plan had been to start a Real And Proper Pokemon Journey, but like... they didn't really feel like going too far from home for a few days, and then they got kind of busy with school assignments, and then they'd met a cute girl back in Pine and wanted to hang around a little longer to try to get to know her, and then by the time it became clear she wasn't interested it was starting to get cold and they didn't really wanna travel in the snow and... Eh, it was one excuse after another, really. But that was fine, it wasn't like starting a journey right away was exactly important. Just something they'd still like to do eventually.
That wasn't to say they hadn't gotten out at all, though, still heading to Birch every now and then at least, and tonight was one of those nights. They had turned 18 last March, meaning this was the first New Year's Eve they could celebrate by drinking! And while their few friends back home all had their own plans, Shea was more than happy to hit up a nice bar and see if they could meet people tonight.
Shortly after walking in, they spotted a major hottie waving at them. Oh~? Grinning, they approached. "Oh yeah? Awfully nice of 'im. Ya think it applies to folks who got here after?" they asked. Only one way to find out. Wandering over to the bar, they called, "Hey bartender! I heard about a free round?"
The bartender squinted a bit, but then smiled. "Ah, sure. I'll let you slide in on that. Enjoy, kid~" He slid Shea a mug of a cold local brew, and Shea flashed him a grin in return.
"Thank ya~!" Honestly, they preferred wine or cocktails to straight beer, but they weren't gonna look a gift Horsea in the mouth. Sliding into the booth across from the hottie from before, then, they greeted, "Nice to meet you~ The name's Shea! And it's they/them if you don't mind~" ... Hm? Actually, this guy looked, like, very vaguely familiar? Shea couldn't begin to place from where, though.
Gabe couldn’t help but grin a little when the bartender slid Shea’s drink over. Good, good. As the pink haired person slid into the booth across from him, Gabe raised his own glass briefly in a ‘cheers’ motion before taking a small drink of it.
The introduction, though, did ring some bells. Shea… wasn’t that the name under those photos? Or had it been something else S related? Sammy? Shin? No, he was just deceiving himself on that front now, and Gabe knew it. If his assessment was right, this was the person who’d dated Ara right after him. Heh….Hah…. hahahahah.
….Huh, it had been a hot minute since anyone had introduced themselves with pronouns after. A smaller smile came to Gabe’s features right after. “Call me Gabe, he… or they is fine.” He’d come to terms with the comfort of both pronouns but had never really… pushed they/them all that much. Maybe one of these days he’d try and go a few days or a week to try exclusively with those. Heh, New Year’s goals, maybe. “Hard to believe it’s a new year, huh?” he decided on for now. “Where’d the time fly off to?”
[attr="class","shea"] No really, it was gonna drive Shea crazy. They were becoming increasingly certain they knew this guy from somewhere, and the name Gabe felt like it clicked with this image. Did they go to school together, maybe? Bass was pretty big so that may or may not be it... Did... did they date at some point? Nah surely he wouldn't be so chill if that were the case. Maybe Shea was imagining it; he had introduced himself after all.
Shaking off the thought, they laughed lightly. "Tell me about it. Seems like last week we were getting ready for Halloween." And now Christmas had come and gone. Man. They nursed their beer a little as they gazed out the window. Sighing contently as they set the drink down, they noted, "You got a good spot. I bet we'll be able to see a few fireworks out the window when they start setting them off."
A small chuckle came and went from Gabe. “Honestly…” he agreed. It felt like such a mad rush to get things done, and now that had suddenly leveled off into …. this. Gabe’s gaze also flicked out the window as Shea’s did. “Huh, you’re right, heh… I just didn’t want to be elbowed too much at the bar,” Gabe snorted softly.
“The fireworks in Birch are so much better than those in Bass, though.” Gabe’s gaze flickered back to Shea again. “They have to worry about both Plum Island and Ivy’s Island when raising off fireworks over the water.…In Birch, nothing.” Gabe paused a moment before deciding to ask right after. “Do you live in Birch?”
[attr="class","shea"] Shea chuckled lightly. "Yeah, I imagine the bar'll get pretty crowded as the night goes on."
He went on about the fireworks, and Shea's brows rose a little. "Oh yeah?" So... He was from Bass? Or had spent a good amount of time there, at least? Shea maintained an outward cheery smile, but internally they were squinting. "Oh nah, I'm from Pine Town," they answered. "Though I went to school in Bass." They hesitated a moment. "Did uh... we go to school together by any chance? You look kinda familiar and I feel bad that I can't place it." They laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of their neck.
Gabe bit the inside of his mouth hard. So Shea went to school in Bass… and maybe even kind of recognized him. They could have gone to the same school, but that was par for the course that this Shea was the one he’d seen on Ara’s blog. And I don’t actually remember how that relationship ended up hah… But if he had to guess—
“Maybe?” Gabe ask-stated back. “I went to Bass High but only for…” Gabe paused. “A year or two…” Not even. “I had … a very bad relationship and decided school just wasn’t for me.” Teeth dug into the side of his mouth— hard. Did he really want to bring this up? On the chance that they were both, mutually…. Whatever? On New Years Eve? Gabe took a drink. “Do you happen to remember an Arietta Ostinato?”
[attr="class","shea"] Only a year or two, huh? Had he moved then? Wh-...wait what? Decided school 'wasn't for him'? So he just quit? Over a-- As Gabe said that name, though, Shea paled, and everything clicked into place in their brain. "Ohhhhhhh, shit, you're that Gabe!" they exclaimed. They remembered now! They remembered the stories about the kid who quit school after dating Ara. What had she said, that he'd been a bad influence? Tried to get her to quit, too? Had she said he was wrapped up in drugs and shit, or had that just been the rumor mill running away with and embellishing what she'd said? Either way, Shea was pretty sure that had been part of the rumors back then.
And at the time, they felt so sorry for Ara. Had been there to comfort her. They remembered helping her get rid of a bunch of old pictures and keepsakes from her time with Gabe, even. ...Admittedly, Shea was pretty sure he was a lot better looking now than he was a few years ago. But what the hell, they probably shouldn't be thinking that about their ex's ex? ...Then again, why not? If their experience with Ara taught them anything, it was that she was a lying manipulative piece of shit, so everything she'd said about Gabe was probably a lie too? And now they felt... really, really sorry for him.
"Yeah she's my ex too, but I get the feeling you knew that to have asked? Or if not, uh, surprise?" They laughed awkwardly, bitterly. "Honestly you mighta had the right idea dropping out. She made my last few years at school absolute hell after I, quote-unquote, 'cheated' on her. Not that she literally ever said we were supposed to be exclusive, but hey, that was MY fault, right? For not reading her damn mind?" They let out a grumbly noise before pouting, staring into their beer.
Color shot to Gabe’s features as he was identified as that Gabe. “I—“ Lips sealed together, and he gave a nod back. “Yeah that Gabe….” He was that Gabe, and Shea was that Shea. He nodded at the question. “I sort of guessed…” He wasn’t about to explain that guess had started with a glance, but it wasn’t a lie.
As Shea went on, though, color left Gabe again, and he grimaced in response. Ara, Arceus goddamn it, hah. Ruining more people’s lives just like that. Gabe took a heftier drink before actually speaking. “It wasn’t your fault any more than it was mine.” he answered. Even if he didn’t know the circumstances of Shea and Ara’s relationship, he could extrapolate just fine.
“I couldn’t be bothered to go back to school after she’d already chosen her friends over me and—“No, this was about Ara. He wasn’t going to drag anyone else into this. “Decided I was crazy…” That one… that one still got him, just a little. A lot. A hell of a lot.
[attr="class","shea"] "Yeah?" Shea perked up when Gabe agreed it wasn't their fault. "Y-- yeah! Damn right!" They sat up straighter again. Finally, someone could see reason!
Brows rose just a little at the 'friends over me' thing, but then-- oh! Yeah, that was right! Shea remembered all the talk about how psychotic Gabe was now, too. How he was 'scary' and 'unstable' and maybe Shea wasn't the best judge of character but Gabe seemed pretty damn chill so far to them. "And I was 'callous' and 'heartless' and 'maliciously, intentionally' started seeing another girl over the summer just to hurt her, clearly. It wasn't like I fully expected her to be looking at other people during the break, or like Rachael was just fricking gorgeous and into me. Like what was I supposed to do?"
... Come to think, Rae and Gabe looked an awful lot alike now that they were like, looking close up at Gabe's face? But Rae's surname was Kempler and Gabe's was uh... A-something Shea was pretty sure. Coincidence maybe? Or... "Uh... This might be a weird question suddenly, but you don't have a sister do you?"
Called callus, heartless, malicious, intentionally… Yeah that sounded like Ara, didn’t it? Or at least it sounded like what was on her damn blog. Doing things just to hurt her… Yep that was par for the cour—
Rachel?— That wasn’t, not that’d be silly, it couldn’t— But she had gone to his old school and –You don’t have a sister, do you?— Where else would that question have come from just now? That was his sibling wasn’t it? Gabe’s lips sealed together as a vicious, mocking laugh stirred itself up in his chest. Don’t laugh, don’t laugh. Gabe, don’t even…
For all he was and all he wasn’t, Gabe managed to gulp it down with the last of his beer. “Sounds like you know my sister maybe?” he ask-stated. “I’m technically a triplet, but my other is Michael.”
[attr="class","shea"] Shea caught that hint of smile on his lips before he gulped it down, and their face slowly flushed to match the shade of their hair. "Well... shit," they mumbled, then laughing awkwardly. "There's three of you?" They shook their head, one hand rubbing the side of their face. "Arceus... And here I thought hot twin fantasies were something," they only partly joked. It was meant for a laugh, but like, also, hot damn. They wouldn't turn that down, especially if Michael was as hot as his(?) siblings.
"So... yeah, seems like... we just have all kinds of adjacent history, huh? Heh." This was embarrassing, but all the same Shea forced a smirk. "Let me guess, my last boyfriend was your hairdresser?" They snickered softly.
"But ah..." It seemed like he was fine-- amused if anything-- with realizing Shea had dated his sister. (Even if 'dated' might've been a strong word; it was more like a weird summer fling but whatever.) So... "Back on the subject of her royal bitchness, like. We can drop it if you want, but just wondering if you wanted to share your side with someone who knows her shit? I know just you saying it wasn't my fault felt fucking fantastic, ha. So ya know." Siiiiiiiiip. Ah damn their mug was almost empty.
Shea’s awkward laugh earned a small snicker from Gabe. “Yep,” he answered only to outright snicker again at the hot twin fantasies comment. Shit. He guessed. The boyfriend was the hairdresser. HAH. “Small world,” he agreed snickering all the same. “Or small Bass….” Even if it was a city of entirely too many people.
As the subject came up again, though, Gabe exhaled slowly, almost exhaustedly. At the same time that he didn’t want to tread this water again… Shea did know Ara and maybe… “Well…” Gabe smirked softly after, raising his eyes to Shea’s. “Only if you let me buy you the next drink.” He chuckled a little, unwilling to put anything on Shea without that. “Bartender! Would ya mind bringing me rum and coke, and whatever they want?” he called.
Once that was settled, though, he looked back at Shea. An elbow rested on the table, and his cheek rested against his hand. “I loved Ara,” he stated with a small shoulder shrug. That was a given. “And home kind of sucked for me in general.” At least at that point when Mom was…. whatever… “And I wanted to run away, you know, all Disney magic style…Kind of romantic, us against the world, all that nonsense,” he laughed a little lightly but with a strange twang of pain at the end.
“And she went along with it, all the way to Ivy Town…. And then suddenly she didn’t want to go! Imagine that… after I’d spent months planning and prepping and getting everything ready and she just… poof. Decided she didn’t want to leave her friends and whoever else.” He made a small poof hand gesture with his free hand. “Told me I was crazy… over and over and over again….” His face slumped down his arm and he sighed a little instead. “Then I didn’t even leave…. Hahahahahhahahah….It's sad and dumb. Maybe a little less cathartic than 'oh she's doing this or that or'.”
[attr="class","shea"] At least Shea's jokes were going over well, it seemed. That did help reduce the awkwardness considerably. And ooh, they were being offered a refill? "Deal~!" They wanted something sweet to wash the beer taste out of their mouth! "One White Russian, please! Extra cream on top!" Once the bartender was busy preparing their drinks, Shea settled in to listen to the tale...
...and immediately regretted it. Their stomach knotted as soon Gabe said he loved Ara. They... running away? Maybe it sounded kind of romantic in a sense, but it also sounded kind of--... well, crazy. Maybe Ara didn't exaggerate the story as much as she had theirs? Then again, they supposed younger kids started out on Pokemon journeys alone, but... still. And then... Eh, they couldn't blame her for not wanting to leave her friends and family behind. But they guessed if there was one thing they could say to sympathize with Gabe, it was, "Sucks she didn't make up her mind sooner... She could've just said no instead of going along that far and putting you out so much." Would've probably been the smarter choice, just saying no in the first place, but... yeah.
Their drinks came, and Shea swirled their cream around with a straw. "I uh..." They debated, but decided they owed some explanation for turning so awkward at the story. "I've never... loved anyone," they admitted. "I liked Ara... And Rae, and whoever else. They were fun to be around at the time. But I can't... really imagine what it's like to wanna be with someone that badly.." Heh, maybe this was what they meant by 'better to have loved and lost'? They pulled the straw out and licked a bit of cream off idly, then stuck it back in to take a drink.
Gabe sighed a little. That kind of wasn’t the response he was expecting, but he probably hadn’t given the tale Shea was expecting either so. Not like he could really say much.
She could have. Ara should have said no earlier. But she didn’t. And it… didn’t even matter now, did it?
He adjusted slightly when their drinks came and took up his own to down about a quarter of. “It’s…. frustratingly rare…. for me,” Gabe spoke after a moment. “I can’t say I’ve actually loved anyone since, not really.” A smaller sip of his drink was taken, and a small puff of air came as a laugh. “Sort of like I grew out of those feelings or something.”
He liked Amell, he’d liked plenty of people before him, but in the same way, it wasn’t that feeling he’d had with Ara. But then… all the recent stuff…. Nah. That was far too depressing to share or bother with.
[attr="class","shea"] "Ah..." Shea nodded along as Gabe elaborated some. "That actually makes me feel a lot better, heh." Shea offered a small but sincere smile. "Like, really though, short of not being able to relate when people talk about it, like..." They leaned in a bit and propped their face on their hand, elbow on the table as their other hand continued to swirl their straw about. "I don't think there's anything wrong with that? Like, I don't think you should be frustrated." They sipped their drink a bit more. "I've always thought it was kind of nice to just... enjoy everything for what it is in the moment, with no expectations for what it'll be later or what it's supposed to be. Ya know?"
Hmmm, were they making sense? Their violet eyes shifted out to watch the snow fall a bit, almost wanting to play in it but knowing that it was too cold and dark and that they wouldn't get this good seat back if they left, heh. "I do kinda wish I could feel that way once, just to know what the fuss was about... But I don't especially feel like I'm missing out for not having someone, either. Just means I'm free to do whatever strikes my fancy without worrying about consulting anyone else first." They flashed a lopsided grin. "Like, I can admire a sexy not-quite-stranger who buys me drinks at the bar, for instance~"
“It’s just….. something I want,” Gabe answered softer, almost to himself. Glancing inwards to the bartender and the numerous patrons that were starting to fill the seats, he had to wonder how many of their faces he would ever remember if any. “Can’t really explain it otherwise….” He sighed again and drank more of his drink. It was a yearning, a craving, an itch that never fully went away, only dulled now and again.
At the follow up comments, though, Gabe snorted and looked forward to Shea again. “You are very cute, yourself,” he answered with a toothy grin. Not sure I could touch anything of Rae’s…. or Ara’s though, heh…. Past or present, heh. “…Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself?” Gabe leaned his hand under his chin and rested said chin a little more.
[attr="class","shea"] Shea fell into a frown as Gabe insisted he really wanted romance. Was it really all that great? Could he not even pretend to let Shea romanticize (no pun intended) the way they lived, romance-free? They sighed softly and ate another little dollop of cream off their straw.
Fortunately, the compliment was much nicer, and lifted Shea's mood back up a bit. "Yeah~? I do try~" They giggled softly. Hmm... What to say about themself? "I'm almost 19," they started. "So this is my first New Year's drinking, heh." They flashed a silly blep. "I graduated last spring and I've been doing college courses online since then. I wanna go to med school and become a Pokemon doctor with my own Pokemon Center one day~" It was a bit slow going as they couldn't afford to be a full-time student, but progress was progress. "Aside from that, hm... I love fairy tales and Fairy-types! I'm not much of a trainer. I got my starter, a Shiny Spritzee, when I was 16, and only started getting a few more Pokemon in the past few months. But I've been kind of wanting to get out and start training more when the weather's nice and I have the time. Keep telling myself I'm gonna travel and then not making it much farther than the far side of Birch, but ah well."
They finished off their drink, other than a bit of cream left, and tipped the cup up to down that. They licked the cream off their lips then before asking, "What about you, gorgeous?"
Huh, so they were kind of around the same age? Maybe they’d been a grade or two apart then. Gabe smirked a little more at the mention of a first New Year’s drink. Well now, he could say he’d paid for the first of one of those for Shea yeh?
Online courses to be a nurse… Ah, Shea did have the pink hair for it, didn’t they? Gabe smirked a little. That wasn’t very nice. Still, someone had to heal Pokemon— even if it was mostly an army of pink haired individuals, somehow.
But ah, Fairy tales and Fairy Type Pokemon? Heh. Well, Gabe had a few of those now, didn’t he? The mention of travel earned a small nod of understanding. Winter travel was… a nightmare unless you had the right arsenal of Pokemon under you, and even then it was rather dangerous.
…Gabe’s eyes may have followed that cream a bit too much for his own liking, but anyways.
“Well, let’s see… I just turned twenty a couple weeks back,” he half smiled. “I’m sort of a self-designated Pokemon hunter… when people are willing to pay good money for certain Pokemon, I’ll go out and look for them for them. I travel a lot for that… maybe we should go down a Route sometime together when it’s a little less treacherous out… Otherwise I do odd jobs mostly. My favorite Type is Fire with Lizard, my Charmeleon, being my starter.” Gabe snickered softly to himself, though only he would know why then. “Aaaaand since you mentioned Fairies, I have a Togekiss and a Grimmsnarl.”
[attr="class","shea"] Shea listened as Gabe talked a little about himself. A Pokemon hunter, huh? They considered if they had the spare money and what they might want to buy if possible. But, ooh~! "That'd be awesome!" they exclaimed. "Traveling is way more fun with a friend~" Was it too presumptuous to call them friends already? Oh well, too bad, heh.
Lizard? What a creative name, ha. Then again, Shea just going with a theme for their nicknames wasn't exactly the pinnacle of creativity either, so meh. Ohhh, a Togekiss? And OOH! "Grimmsnarl!" they exclaimed. "I'd love an Impidimp some time." They were such good terrible little shits. "Even if Dark and Fairy is kind of PNG aesthetic, heh." A downside, perhaps, but not enough to ruin the species. They loved fairies before they even met Ara, so whatever. "Maybe you could find me a Ralts or show me where to look for one, too. I've always wanted a Gardevoir."
A server came around, and Shea flagged them down to order another drink, looking to Gabe in case he wanted another as well or wanted to pay or whatever.
06
04
00
