"Darach, I am going to travel," Caitlin says one day. "I am going to go to Unova."
bang bang bang
i don't really know much about love.
When Grimsley first sees her, Caitlin is a girl. She is frail, delicate, lovely—with blue eyes and blonde-brown hair. He remembers knowing of her, long ago, when he lived in a mansion and she was referred to as 'Caitlin, your intended.' He never got to meet her—her name is a wisp of a memory, and he pushes it away.
Grimsley does not like thinking of the days his family was not a ruined name. His nails dig into his palms and he downs his glass of champagne.
Karen—his current fling—raises a thin eyebrow and tangles her manicured fingernails in his dark blue hair.
He turns back to her and leans down.
Caitlin falls in love often, hard and fast. She has never gotten who she wanted, not yet—and she is not sure whether she ever will.
Darach shifts beside her—he is always beside her, and she is tired of it—and asks, worriedly, "Lady Caitlin?" His eyes are dark. Caitlin prefers men with light eyes—men who are not merely Valets, men who have a brain of their own. She was never particularly fond of Darach, despite his loyalty to her.
Out of all the men she has been enraptured with, he was never one of them—Thorton, Volkner, and a billion others made the list, but not Darach. Never Darach.
She is perfectly aware that he admires her. Caitlin is not stupid, and she sees the way he looks at her. But, she is not interested.
"I am fine, Darach." she says, bitterly, and he withdraws. "Now, would you leave?"
He does not, but she was not expecting otherwise.
It takes a year or two for him to forget her name, and even then her face lingers in his mind. Grimsley does not understand how someone he saw for only a few seconds remains imprinted in his mind. Some nights, he sits in his room filled with velvet furniture—he does not sleep anymore, not since his families downfall—and every time, her features worm their way into his thoughts.
Occasionally, it makes him scream in frustration, and he throws things—expensive things, beautiful things—against the walls. Shauntal thinks he's crazy.
Grimsley thinks that she might be right. Whenever that sort of thought sneaks into his mind, he dresses in his finest suit and makes his way to a sleazy club in Nimbasa City.
The things he does do not help him think straight. But it keeps her out of his head.
When Caitlin reaches Castelia City, on the S.S. Aqua, she is struck by it's largeness. She feels small, for the first time in her life—but also, she feels alive. Her hair is in a bun, and she wears a new outfit. Everything about her is newin Unova.
Caitlin's breath is quick, excited, and when she walks through the streets of the city, she cannot believe how different everything is. She has been to Jubilife City, many times, but Castelia is different.
Unova is different than anything in Sinnoh—warm, and filled with motion. Caitlin thinks she likes this new region more than the place she called home.
So she decides to stay.
It is a few years later when she reaches the league. Grimsley does not defeat her—she is powerful, and he is thrown off kilter by her face.
She is older now. Instead of the sharp angles of the girl he saw, long ago, she is soft. A woman. More beautiful. He supposes they were bound to meet sometime, but it is still hard for him to breathe when she walks into his haven.
The battle is quick, ferocious and she leaves without saying a word. Grimsley isn't sure what to make of this woman, but he is certain that he will not get rid of her.
When she is crowned the new member of the Elite Four, he is not surprised.
Caitlin does not go out of her room much. Mostly, she sleeps.
Grimsley is still in love with her. Or, perhaps, he is in love with the figment of his imagination. He thinks that somewhere along the line, she could fall in love with him too.
(she has no time for love anymore.)
BAH I DON'T LIKE HOW THIS TURNED OUT. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SEDUCTIVE!GRIMSLEY AND INNOCENT-ISH!CAITLIN BUT NOOOO IT DIDN'T WORK OUT LIKE THAT GRRRR. I think it's okay, though. I HOPE IT'S OKAY. Is it okay? Anyway, this is for irisniri who came third in my contest. I still have to write pieces for the first and second place winners but. Um. I started on this first? I'M NOT NEGLECTING YOU.
I hope you guys like this fail of a piece. ;_;