Ran held Outrider's face an inch from her own and let out a long, breathy sigh. "The day starts soon, you know," she whispered.

It did indeed. The dawning oranges and yellows of the rising sun filtered in through the enormous window of their bedroom, bouncing off the polished, dark wood floors and casting ever shortening shadows across the walls.

The sheets on their bed were a tangled mess, criss-crossing between their legs and hanging partially off the side of the bed. Ran had no idea where their pillows had gone. It didn't matter. Nothing really mattered. Not right now.

Early morning was one of the few moments Ran could steal a vulnerable Outrider away from the rigors of life before countless judging eyes. A rare moment for the temporary head of Crag to lay bare his worries, fears and desires. She closed her eyes, and felt a wave of exhaustion flow through her. It had been a fitful night of the lattermost.

"I'm exhausted," muttered Outrider, pressing forward to kiss her nose and then pulling back once again. "You're a tunnel with no end."

Ran smiled and laid against his shoulder, tracing a claw up and down his chest. "You're the one that tried to get out the other side." Strong arms like bundles of steel wire wrapped behind Ran and brought the two of them flat against the bed.

"We can't have more than an hour or so," said the lucario, turning his head to look over at the light filtering through their window. "So much for a good night's rest."

Ran traced her claws down Outrider's back in a practiced fashion and then looked up at her lover's face. She knew what these crevasses and bundles and mounds meant. She laid her paws flat against his back and checked again. She felt a sheepish grin cross her lips. There were a lot of cuts and scabs. "You're tense. And I'm too enthusiastic."

"I'm always tense." He chuckled. "And you're always enthusiastic."

"You're more tense."

Outrider blew into the crest of plumage erupting from Ran's head and mumbled, "You know me too well."

"What's bothering you?"

"What isn't?" Outrider released Ran and rolled onto his back. He crossed his paws on his stomach and stared up at the ceiling. Ran rolled partially onto his chest and cupped his face.

"Well, start with the things I don't already know," whispered Ran. "Then move onto whatever you think has moved up in priority."

"Figured me out very quickly, didn't you?" said Outrider, throwing her a grin. "The rebuild is...underway. But without access to the magic that produces primaries, it is more of a controlled demolition at the moment."

Ran frowned. "I was there for those discussions, but I'm not an architect. Why are we destroying more of Crag?"

"Not...destroying. Not quite. We are engaged in a controlled destruction of damaged portions of the city that ringed the area of the collapse. Walkways to nowhere, partially ruined buildings, dangling support structures holding on by splinters and good hope." He shook his head and brought both paws up to hold the Ran's. "But it isn't proving popular, as you might imagine."

"Yeah, I haven't been around for that discussion. I think while you were doing that, Thea wanted me to review plans for restructuring the city guard." Ran smiled helplessly. "I don't know how it is I helped her, but she thanked me for my insight."

"You provide an outsider's perspective. By knowing both very little and very alien things, you provide unusual approaches. Like a miniature version of Stone. The two of you even provide advice with the same casual air. It's remarkable."

"Should just be using Stone instead of me, honestly. She's way better at this than I am. I'm less a mini version and more a bad imitation." Ran chuckled and shook her head.

"Don't sell yourself short. Besides, Stone is hard to bring around to help with things."

"Yeah, because she doesn't want to be an influence. I'm not surprised she asked to work with restructuring the recon forces."

"She wants to be away without actually abandoning us. Am I reading her right?"

"Yeah…" Ran shifted uncomfortably against Outrider. Stone had kept her word. She had stayed in Crag to be with her friends. But her restructuring and instruction of the reconnaissance forces meant she was away at least a week out of each month. In the four months since the collapse, Ran figured she'd been in Crag proper for perhaps two. Still, the lycanroc swore she'd be around more now that the forces were becoming adjusted to how to scout and keep their eyes open for valuable resources.

She'd even gone so far as to suggest Outrider come along and train them further. His namesake had been earned, after all. Of course, the lucario was always too busy.

"She must resent me," muttered Outrider.

"Not really. She… accepts what happened." Ran shrugged. "We gave everyone their say, and she respects what the outcome was. But it's still Stone. You know how she is. I think she put it like, 'I don't have to like something to do it. And just 'cos I'm doing something doesn't mean I can't bitch my ass off the whole time.' Something like that."

"Do you accept what happened?"

Ran rolled completely atop Outrider and held his face in both of her paws. "I chose to stay with you," she whispered to him, looking him in the eyes. "And that means I had to accept whatever came my way."

"Do you remember everything?" asked Outrider, reaching up and rubbing her cheek. "Everything that came before that forest?"

Ran let go of his face and instead locked her claws around his paw and sighed. "You know I don't. I only remember a few things. Glimpses. Things I'd rather not."

"But even then, it must be nice to know, at the very least," said Outrider, staring up at her, eyes full of desperate desire.

"Outrider…" mumbled Ran. "I killed people. I…" She lowered her gaze and closed her eyes. "I had my way with them. In so many terrible, terrible forms. Sometimes I ate them."

"But you know."

A cruel smile filled with razors faded into her thoughts. Red eyes with pupils like pin pricks opened up in the vast emptiness of the sky in her mind. Ecstatic laughter laced with violent, corrupted lust echoed in her ears.

Ran opened her eyes and looked into her partner's. "I don't want to."

"You're never easy to find!" huffed Valor, as he approached Stone. The lycanroc sat atop Crag's enormous wall, her legs dangling off the side, holding a bag full of jerky and dried fruits. She gave him a cheery wave and a toothy grin and continued tucking in. The quilladin's cheeks puffed up into a pout as he sat down beside her and pulled a bag full of dried fruits from his side and joined her.

The two ate in silence for several minutes, contemplating the orange and brown vista all around them. The trees had become a wave of yellow, red and orange leaves, marked with the rare green straggler and towering evergreen pine. The grasses that spanned between sections of forest had shifted from yellowish-green to greenish-yellow in places, tan in others. The clouds rolling into the skies above and the nip in the air signalled to the two that autumn had settled in around Crag and made itself comfortable.

Stone pointed out a particularly large oak in the distance, its sprawling boughs and brilliant red leaves marking it out from its shorter and yellowed cousins. "Looks like a great place to have a nice picnic or something," she said before taking another mouthful of jerky.

"Why are you always so hard to find?" asked Valor, contemplating his dried mago berry slice. "It's really annoying. And you know I don't like having to launch myself onto this thing."

"Sorry, but neither does anyone else," replied Stone, offering him an apologetic grin. "And that's kinda the point. For them, for them. Not for you. You're, uh, sort of collateral damage." She reached out and patted him on the head, right where his quill was missing. "So, you know, sorry." She sighed and tossed another piece of jerky in her mouth. "If there wash somewhere better to hide out, I'd be there sho fasht."

"You could just eat in the Chambers of Authority," offered Valor. He picked up a slice of nanab berry and made a face, then tossed it down to the ground far below them.

"Such a dumb name for that place. Anyway, don't waste food," said Stone, though she was grinning nevertheless.

"Sentry always said not to, but I don't like nanab berries…" he mumbled. A look of realization crossed slowly over his face and he looked up at Stone with a faraway gaze. "It's been four months already. Almost five."

The lycanroc stopped herself from tossing another piece of jerky into her mouth and instead stared at it, looking contemplative. "Yeah. Yeah, it has been." She shrugged. "Time flies, I guess. And you've changed a lot. Really fillin' out that new shell of yours."

"I don't eat that much," said Valor, looking taken aback.

"I mean... metaphorically. You're…" Stone stopped and stared at the quilladin. Silence itself out between them, broken only by the distant sounds of the city behind them in the early afternoon.

"I'm…?" asked Valor.

"Growing up too fast," said the lycanroc at last, her gaze dropping down to her knees. "Way too fucking fast."

"Did Thea say something to you?"

"No. Well...yeah. She mentions you. A lot. Not a lot a lot, but you know, often enough." Stone shrugged. "It's not really that though. It's not what she says about you. It's everything you do. Everything you say. And how you look at things now."

"I didn't think I was looking at things differently," said Valor, frowning. "Has Outrider…?"

"You can't tell. You can never tell with these things. You'll just know one day. I don't know how to put it, humans don't grow up like you do. It takes longer. Or maybe pokemon do grow up like humans but you're just…" Stone dropped flat on her back and set her bag of food beside her. "Maybe you're just really fucking unlucky." She covered her face with her paws and let out a long, resigned sigh. "Sorry Valor. We took everything from you, and you don't even know what we took. We should've just gone to Treasure Town."

"You sound like Outrider," said Valor as he sidled up to Stone and laid down beside her. "He says the same thing. Just without bad words. And it takes him longer. Way longer." He chuckled. "At least I can understand him better now."

"You're not supposed to be able to understand him. You're not supposed to be evolved or missing a quill. You're not supposed to be running around with a braixen that's gods know how many years older than you." Stone paused and removed her paws to look at the quilladin. "I'm sorry, Valor," she said, her tone a mixture of apologetic and guilty, "You should be playing pretend war with kids. Instead we made you fucking fight in a real one."

"So did the Children of Mother. It's just how things are. The world is, uh…" He tapped his chin with a paw and frowned. "How did Outrider put it…"

"Oh fuck off with what that pompous asshat said," shot back Stone, sitting up almost immediately. "He probably told you that the world's cruel and things aren't fair and blah blah blah, necessary sacrifices, no one chooses their fucking lot in life…" She hung her head and mumbled, "Like me and being human."

"Do I have to comfort you now after you tried apologizing for making me fight in a war?" asked Valor, grinning.

Stone looked over at thim, her expression thoroughly miserable. "The fact you can even recognize that is just…" She held a paw out and brought it right beside Valor's shoulder. "You used to be this big. You were a thin little fluffy thing that slept with me and sneezed because my fur's basically a dust trap."

"I'm kinda round now. You wanna hug me at night? Not really that soft but…"

"Oh piss off," said Stone, grinning reluctantly. "I just want you to know that, however long it takes you to realize that we took something we shouldn't have from you, that we didn't do it on purpose. And that I'm sorry. Hell, I'm sure everyone is sorry. Even Outrider."

"He apologized for it a while back, actually," said Valor, scratching the side of his head. "I think someone got really mad at him for something and started shouting at him. Called him a tyrant and a, uh… What was it? A 'calamity that will doom us all' or something like that." The quilladin shrugged. "I got mad and started shouting back, but Outrider stopped me and just thanked the pokemon for his 'insight' and then dismissed him. And then he turned to me and apologized for what he put me through."

"Weird time, if you ask me. Doesn't really seem to fit," said Stone, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, he said he'd been meaning to do it for a while but he just…"

"Doesn't have time."

"No. Not really. He's always so tired. Some days, he looks like he's just been up all night."

"Yeah. Yeah, I wonder why," said Stone, rolling her eyes.

"Do you know?"

"You ain't growin' that fast, kid. And if you are, I ain't helpin' you."

Outrider rifled through the proposals sitting on his desk and let out a tired sigh. The lowest portions of Crag had been rebuilt, reinforced as best as the bibarel tribe could manage, and reopened to the public. It had taken several months, but the results were satisfactory. Or so seemed the sentiment in Crag.

But higher up, where the demolitions of flimsy structure, barely hanging support beams, and splintered walkways ran rampant, there was still indecision. Indecision, infighting, accusations and hurt feelings. There was no end of it in sight, and no end of the countless headaches that would come the way of Crag's temporary ruler.

Temporary - for six months. And as things in Crag continued to develop or stall, perhaps another six were coming directly at the lucario.

And so, his tired sigh rose high into air, and joined the cramped interior of what once was Octavian's office. Where the dragon had chosen a rather sparse interior, Outrider had elected to fill the office with tables, chairs, charts, and maps. The walls were thick with maps in particular, showing off floor plans, especially around areas of the collapse. Bookcases flanked him, each of them containing countless volumes detailing Crag's history, her inhabitants, and the surrounding landscape. One of the newest books, sitting open on his desk, was partially penned by Stone.

Well, perhaps not penned, as Stone could not write. But she had assisted in providing information about the surrounding area of Crag to the writer. Anyone that asked the lycanroc about why she had contributed to the book was met with an indistinct answer, or a grin and a change of subjects.

Outrider himself, however, had made it clear to Ran that he suspected Stone was looking for a means to provide something to Crag that could not be construed as human meddling. His paw came up and dragged a digit across the brilliant red feather that he'd tucked through the armband he wore that bore Nomad's colors.

The feather was from Ran's headdress. It seemed like each day he was rubbing it more and more. There was so much to do. His eyes drifted down to the plans before him and he began to review the fourth suggestion once again. It was perhaps the fifth time he'd looked it over, making it the most considered plan of the six he'd been offered. And it certainly seemed to be the best option. Rebuilding much higher than the second floor was too dangerous. At most they could perhaps manage flying plazas every few floors.

Big, open areas that had nothing but places to walk about and enjoy the sensation of floating. And even that seemed unwise. There could not be many of these. Perhaps three at most, and they would require heavy support from both above and below to keep properly "floating." But they could offer a means for Crag's citizens to enjoy some semblance of proper daylight as well as bushes and shrubs. Perhaps flowers. Even berry bushes. Greenery could go a long way.

A knock filled Outrider's office, and his left ear twitched. "Come in," he said, looking up at the entrance.

It was Thea.

She walked soundlessly over to the chair in front of his desk and seated herself. With a practiced flourish, she threw one leg over the other and crossed her arms and stared the lucario in the eyes.

"I'm rather busy," said Outrider, recognizing the motion. "But, I suppose you've just cleared my next half hour."

"Maybe," said the braixen, her arms still crossed. She gestured to the plans on his desk with a nod of her head. "These are?"

"What they were a few days ago. Plans for the rebuild. I am deliberating."

"Right. Any idea what you want?"

"I'm trying to come to an understanding of what the pokemon of Crag want. And it would seem that they want all of these plans and none of them." He made a helpless sort of gesture at the papers before him and shook his head. "You can imagine the impasse I find myself in. I have thoughts about all of the plans - some are agreeable and others are born from fanciful hopes."

"So pick the most agreeable," said Thea, staring him in the eyes.

"I'd rather others pick the most agreeable."

"Why?"

"Because I am not supid. I have a working pair of ears that are quite good at their job, and I find myself relishing that I did not lose much of my hearing during the Craggian Civil War."

"I never thought I'd live to see history being made," said Thea, her eyes dropping down to the book sitting open on his desk. She reached over to pick it up and then leafed through it. "So much history was made in front of me."

"You helped shape it."

Thea hummed and continued to leaf through the book, staring down the runes without reading. "Yeah. I know."

"There is a reason for this meeting beyond simply reminiscing about our actions half a year ago."

"Do you know what they call you?" asked Thea, snapping the book shut and looking the lucario in the eyes.

"Who is 'they' in this context? That will sharply affect what I'm called."

"Your dissidents," said Thea flatly. She grit her teeth and tossed the book onto his desk. She huffed, producing the ghost of a flame as she did and crossed her arms once more. Her right leg kicked up and down, dangling over her left. A small trail of sparks followed in the wake of her paw. "My dissidents. Our dissidents."

"I have many," said Outrider, giving her a wry smile. "Which do you speak of?"

"The ones that call you 'king'. Those shit-" She caught herself and let out an irritated sigh. "Dissidents."

"Yes. I know them."

"Does it bother you?"

"Anything that compares me to the tyrant I was supposed to temporarily replace bothers me. So I endeavor to show them they are wrong. I must work to help a city I had a hand in wounding. Work towards finding a solution that will finally allow me to be rid of this position. But before that can come, I must see to my duties. I must make Crag's goals my own."

"That's a long and thankless path," said Thea, frowning. "Especially for you. I only get mutters now and again when I'm dealing with the guard. Shaping them up is a pain in the ass, and it doesn't get any easier when some of the older pokemon start mouthing off about how much I deserve the position."

"Ran and Stone both have told me on separate occasions that you've… dealt with insubordination."

"A kick right where it matters is the only language some of them speak…" spat Thea, her gaze falling to the floor as a snarl crossed her face.

"It would behoove you to not become too well versed in it."

"Valor tells me the same thing. But I think that trying to let go of…" She trailed off and shook her head. "Nevermind. That's between him and I. And don't you go asking." Her flashing eyes shot back up to Outrider. "I mean it."

"I won't pry."

"Does Ran know I come in here and talk to you in private?" asked Thea.

"Yes."

"Does it bother her?"

"No."

Thea stared at the lucario and then dropped her gaze to her knees. "She trusts you."

"More than I deserve."

"You think so?" she mumbled.

"I am not worthy of a great many things, Thea. The collapse pulled back the curtain for you. In my case, it was my ascension that laid the world bare - a dark, naked, fearsome thing. Like an envoy of Giratina, here to raise a spindly, claw-tipped finger and aim it at my heart." He paused before jabbing a digit at Thea and adding, "It is accusatory."

Thea half-suppressed a single laugh. "Being a bit dramatic, aren't you?"

Outrider shook his head seriously. "No. This responsibility has opened my eyes. I stand accused of failing to do enough. Failing to succeed enough. I have failed to be exceptional."

"Some king you are. If only the dissidents could hear this."

"Perhaps I will speak to them. A visit to the lower levels of Crag may be just the thing that's needed to show them I am no king. I am simply trying, as they are, to find my way."

"Maybe leave that part out. Confidence wins pokemon over."

Outrider nodded, and at the sound of another knock on his door, said, "Enter."

It was a lilligant, holding a tray bearing a steaming teapot and two teacups. The wet sound of her voice, like folding and waving leaves, filled the room. "Sorry the tea took so long, Captain Thea. I got caught up with something." The lilligant bounced over to the table the braixen and lucario sat at. How the pot and teacups did not fly off the tray was beyond Outrider, who continued to stare as she set them down on the table. She gave them both a short bow and then bounced away, calling back, "Enjoy!"

Thea reached out and picked up the pot with some difficulty. It was stuck?

"Honey?" said Thea, peeling the pot off the tray at last and pouring herself and Outrider some tea. "That's how she kept it from flying off?"

"Ingenious," mumbled Outrider. He accepted the cup Thea offered him with his thanks. The braxien had left the tea dish on the tray - it too was doubtlessly stuck with honey.

Thea took a deep sip from her cup and let out a contented exhale. "Liechi and cheri. Spicy, sweet, and relaxing."

"I… would not call it relaxing. Spicy and sweet, yes, but I feel I'll need water when I'm done with my tea."

"Oh, don't be such a pup," said Thea, waving the comment aside. "You can handle it. You fought a dragon and won, you can take a little heat."

"Speaking of," said Outrider, setting his teacup down on the one part of his desk not already covered in papers and parchment.

Thea rolled her eyes. "That's a comment Stone would make."

"Yes, it is, isn't it?" said Outrider, tilting his head and furrowing his brow. "Odd that she would rub off on me, I'm not exactly with her very often. I imagine that is by her design, and not mere chance."

"No comment," said Thea, taking another sip.

Outrider made a low hum in his throat and then said, "Do you fancy Valor?"

Thea stared at the lucario for a long while, sipping her tea. The silence stretched, broken only by the slurping of tea and then gentle creak of Thea's chair as she shifted her weight.

"If you'd rather not answer…" began Outrider.

The braixen drained her cup and then leaned forward to pour herself another. "I've got more to discuss. It's all business though. So, I hope you're ready to gain a taste for cheri-liechi tea," said Thea matter-of-factly.

"Very well."

"And no. I don't."

Outrider looked taken aback. "Is that-"

"Not yet."

"Yet."

"Yet."

She saw it this time. With a shout, Ran raised her hands and caught Stone's sword, still in its scabbard, and saved herself a knock to the head. The lycanroc growled at her, the hilt of the sword clutched firmly in her jaws, and twisted her entire body around to bring a kick into Ran's side, using her sword as leverage.

The blade had been wrapped up tightly with lengths of leather to keep it from coming loose from its scabbard. Safety first. Mostly. The kick sent Ran flying off to the side, skipping along the open ground in front of the Chambers of Authority, until she managed to right herself in her haphazard tumbling and drag herself along the floor to a complete stop. Stone was already rushing towards her, and a smirk crossed the weavile's face.

With one swipe, she was on the other side of the lycanroc, and already turning on the tips of her toes. She launched herself forward, ducked the wild backwards swing that Stone threw at her, and stopped with the backs of her claws on Stone's neck.

The lycanroc's chest was heaving. Her fur was splayed everywhere, and Ran was certain she'd never seen her panting quite so hard in all the time she'd known her. Or sparred with her. Not that Ran wasn't. Gods above no, she was happy to have won this bout. A few minutes more and she'd have just accepted a smack to the face or stomach.

"Giving it your all," wheezed Ran, doubling over. "Good work."

Stone fell into a fit of alternating between gasping and coughing before she'd finally caught her breath. Her sword? "Yeah." She coughed again. "Same to you." The lycanroc fell backwards onto her ass and then resigned herself to falling flat onto her back. "For the honor of the fuckin' dragons, Ran, you're one tough bitch."

"Well, I stayed alive somehow, right?" said Ran between gasps. "Couldn't rely on Karan for everything once I…" She cleared her throat and straightened up to stretch her arms and then her legs. "You know - bottled her up."

With a groan, Stone sat back up and got to her feet with some difficulty. "Yeah, well, sounds like you took just about all you needed from her. You're a cunt when it comes to trying to get in." Now properly upright, the lycanroc swayed dangerously on the spot and shook her head. "You mind if we head into the Chambers of Bad Names and pass out somewhere comfortable?"

"You're going to anyway, whether I say yes or not," said Ran, chuckling.

"Bingo."

To Stone's room they went. Located in the furthest room at the end of a lonely wing with little else but storage areas lining the hallway, Ran sometimes felt like Stone wished she could turn real distance into an emotional one. But those fears had been assuaged the very first night after Stone had picked her room - because it was also Valor's.

A dust pit for Stone. Several chairs for them and for guests. Two beds, on opposite walls of the room. Chests of drawers. A window to gaze out of. And a collection of odd rocks and ores that Stone insisted on bringing back with from her outings. For his part, Valor kept very little in the way of personal effects other than the small wooden statuettes and figures he'd begun whittling in his spare time. No one was sure where he'd picked the hobby up from - but it seemed to occupy him when he was otherwise exhausted from whatever his duty that day was.

The quilladin was out right now, likely doing something related to his position as Thea's lieutenant. Ran wasn't sure if that position was official or not. Valor had, after all, earned himself a great number of titles. Lieutenant when he was with Thea. Squire whenever he was around Outrider. Quill whenever he was around Stone. And nothing around Ran.

It made sense. Ran and Valor were basically never alone together. He never sought her out, and she never sought him out. What did they have to offer one another besides the common banner tied to their arms?

As Ran watched Stone collapse into a pile of extremely fine dust, sending enormous plumes of it sailing up into the lofty ceilings, she frowned and sat herself in a chair beside the lycanroc's pile. A moment later, Stone sneezed and shook nearly all of the fine dust from her body and then began to pad around the room, mumbling to herself.

"What do you need?" asked Ran, watching her pace back and forth.

"A brush. Fur gets all tangled and shit, can't deal with that. You ever try undoing knots? It's misery."

Ran brushed a paw through the short fur on her body and laughed. "Look at me." The lycanroc spared her a single look and a roll of the eyes as she began to dig through a chest of drawers.

"Yeah, yeah. You get all the luck. Only knots you've ever worried about come in the singular variety from some other blue bastard," grumbled Stone. "Aha!" She pulled a simple wooden brush from the lowest drawer and then made her way back to Ran. She plopped herself down without the slightest hint of ceremony and began to run the brush through her fur.

"You know how much it sucks not being able to sweat?" said Stone, busying herself with one of her arms. "When you don't know that you used to, panting's all you know, right? It works. Good enough. No problems." She growled and brushed her arm more vigorously. "But once you know you could sweat, oh now it's just the worst thing ever."

Ran flipped her paws over and stared down at her pads. "I guess I'm sort of lucky."

"Yeah, we don't all get to be popsicle dispensers," said Stone. She began to brush her stomach and legs. "And you know, I didn't give a shit about doing this before either. But now, I've got the worst fucking compulsion to do it."

"Brushing your fur?" asked Ran.

"Yeah. You saw me back in Nomad. And before that Rune Ore. Knotted hair, fucked up and matted up to the Abyss and back. Who gives a shit, I'm a fucking pokemon." She focused more on her legs now, running long strokes from hip joint to shin. "And gods above I'm trying to stay one."

"Trying?"

"Don't judge me, it's hard."

"No, I mean, you're trying to stay one. Can't you just...be one?"

"I mean, I have the memories I have from before I knew. I lean on them harder every day, but it's just too easy to think the way you did for…" She stopped brushing and scratched the side of her head. "I dunno, I must have been in my early twenties when this happened to me."

"It's hard to forget." A flash of teeth flared up in Ran's mind, and a soft giggle tickled her ear. She ignored it. Imagined it. Probably.

"It is." Stone stopped brushing and looked over at Ran. "You can't forget either - I shouldn't bitch so much. At least I have fond memories."

"Those memories I do have…" said Ran. She struggled to find a softer way to put it. There really was no way around it but to be honest. "They are fond memories. They disgust me, but when I think back on them, no matter how much every part of me says it was wrong, I can still remember how I felt." She stared Stone in the eyes. "I can remember joy. Pure joy. Bundled up with every gratification a body can have." She looked away and let out a shaky breath. She could feel her skin crawling at the thoughts. "I've never been more disgusted at memories that are probably the best I've ever felt."

Stone put a paw on Ran's knee and patted it once. "Come on, can't be ever. You've got Outrider waitin' for you back in your bedroom. And you've got us as friends. You got me! Sure, I'm grumpier than a sudowoodo in a rainstorm about my stupid memories, but I'm still cheery about everything else!"

"You are. It's admirable." Ran smiled, but shook her head nonetheless. "I've felt that kind of joy before. But it's only really been once. You have to understand - it's pure joy. That's rare."

"Only once? Well, it sure as shit wasn't meeting me."

"Sorry."

"Was it you shackin' up with Outrider?" asked Stone, giving her a knowing grin.

"Almost." Ran bit her lip, unsure of whether to go on. Perhaps if she didn't have to look the lycanroc in the face. "Gimme your brush, let me brush out your mane. You can't reach it even if you arms are 'way too long' or whatever it was you complained about a few days ago."

Stone handed the brush over with a frown. "They are too long." She gave Ran her back and added, "Now go on, you didn't say what-"

"It was our first night together." Ran began to run the brush through Stone's man, the bristles catching now and again on knots. Wasn't matted at least.

"Pretty good deal, assuming he didn't pop a minute in."

Ran continued to brush, unsure if she should really continue. It was private. And - not embarrassing, so much as terrifying. "It was just for a few seconds. You know which few seconds."

Stone fell silent. "I dunno if that's pure joy, Ran."

"It is. I know it is. It's a weightless feeling in your stomach that spreads through your entire body and soaks in your spirit. It makes you feel like you've turned into vapor. It was pure joy. I could pick it out from everything else I was feeling. And it was just that very first time. Every time after is-"

"You don't gotta embarrass yourself more. I get you."

"I'm sorry for telling you this. It must be disturbing. And, I've kinda gotten us off track. You were talking about being a pokemon and I was talking about…" Ran stopped brushing and hung her head. "Being a violent whore."

"Don't call yourself that," said Stone, her voice firm. "Don't."

"It's-"

"It's not fuckin' true. And if you think it is, then you can fix it. I'm fuckin' human. Or used to be anyway. And I'm tryin' really fucking hard to make the used to be part as true as I can get it."

Ran smiled at the back of the lycanroc's head. "So that's why you got a sword?"

"I can indulge my human tendencies now and again."

"So you won't forget you used to be human, you won't stop indulging that side of you every so often, but you're going to make everyone think you're a pokemon first."

"That's exactly fuckin' it. And you're going to tell Karan she can take her memories and stuff them into her cunt with everything fucking else she shoved up in there."

"Stone, we have the same body."

"Alright, her metaphorical cunt, whatever," said the lycanroc, waving the comment away impatiently. "Point is, you're not a whore. You're you. You're fucked up, but we all are. At least you're willing to admit just how far down it reaches. I knew a lot of people when I was human that wouldn't. Unova had some pretty fucked up cities."

Ran kept brushing her mane, though it had become almost completely tangle-free and smooth now. "Is that so?"

"I didn't catch Danse because I wanted a fuck-buddy," mumbled Stone. "I wanted protection. He just happened to offer both. I hope nothing happened to him."

"Try not to think about that."

"I try every day, Ran," said Stone, her voice bitter. "But you don't forget companionship like that."

Ran wrapped her arms about the front of the lycanroc and rested her chin atop her freshly brushed mane of fur. "I'm sure your sister is taking good care of him. We'll take care of you in return."

"Don't go getting me all teary-eyed. I just finished rolling around in dust. Who wants dirt tracking down their face?"

The weavile chuckled, though the feeling of contentedness faded as the teeth and glowing eyes rose up in her head once more. A flurry of images from a world of crimsons flashed in her head. She pushed them from her mind, though she felt fatigue grip her very psyche as she did. I'm not a whore, she thought desperately. I'm not Agilrad's whore.