There was something that she found absolutely tedious and completely unworthy of her time in this place of lights and noise that the barbarians called a thrilling risk that she absolutely despised though it wasn't because she didn't understand the mechanics of the game or the probability that almost everyone had when they entered one of the halls dedicated to decadence and greed. That being said places like these were the source of much of the capital for her expeditions being that most of the employees were too dimwitted to know that they were being outsmarted by someone half or a fraction of their age, it seemed like this region of the world was plagued by the same stupidity and poor education that blighted the rest of the world. Though most would claim this to be her own fault and passed her so called luck off in casinos as her being too smart which was a lie, where she grew up even the dullest of children could do complex field equations in their heads so counting cards at a blackjack table from across the room hitting on both men and women alike was a trivial pastime she engaged in while waiting for her perpetually late companions to meet back at the designated point.
The point being: Charlie Lyhnnmann was a pain in the ass know it all about ninety percent of the time with a case of OCD that even the best shrinks in the world couldn't reason out and nothing worked which in the mind of their dearest Charlie confirmed that everyone else in the world was lax in their constitutions including Sundown who couldn't be on time for anything or remember some of the most basic instructions to save his life. Infuriating, insufferable, childlike, unintelligent, obedient, handsome, adorable, cringe worthy, sexy, adoring, loving, caring, gentle Sundown… she'd forgive him and his obligations to the Void every time because she loved him unconditionally.
Anyone who saw the young woman would automatically mistake her youth for foolishness or foolhardiness or maybe even an easy lay depending on who was looking and from what she understood people found her attractive enough though she couldn't comprehend why. In her mind and in the eyes of everyone else the barely five foot even frame she sported emphasized the minimal weight of her years which was not helped by the long unkempt dark blonde pony-tail that trailed down to the center of her back shot through with strands of charcoal and rich copper. That and her eyes that were either too wide or too shiny or whatever drew the attention of others and made her appear as a teenager in a pale bronze iris that alternated in shades from true liquid amber gold to almost black and everything in between, they were betraying things combined with her minimalist white t-shirt and jeans.
As she met the stunned expression on the dealer's face at the next table as she again won more than three million from the idiots sitting around her at the high stakes table she absently wondered if this stop was worth the trouble she was taking toiling here, she could almost feel her intelligence eroding away at the edges like chalk in water. Slateport was not her favorite city and the time of the Grand Festival was not her favorite time of year there were too many people and too many enclosed spaces in open areas to be even comfortable even in the vaguest sense of the word. Somehow it wasn't tiny passageways that you had to crawl on your stomach to get to the other side of or even sand traps that crushed the air out of your lungs as you exhales, not centuries old traps or disgruntled Pokémon guardians that she had an irrational fear of it was crowds of people.
Her aversion to human company had given her several very unfortunate names by her colleagues and just as she prepared herself to be devoid of species same company for the rest of her life she'd met Erin Lynch Kirkland Braddock completely and utterly by chance in Blackthorn City where the annual conference for the more prominent and well-rounded archeologists of the world. Erin had been her only real friend for years before she was introduced to Cynthia and Devyn, followed by Jayr and Sundown. Gateway friend into a whole new world of faces and people who had things in common with her all because Erin had the patience of a Saint for her OCD like tendencies and spasmodic and almost single minded focus on her work.
Her mind flickered to the real reason she'd visited the city of steam and smoke stacks this time of year in during this particular time even with Sundown of all people, that have are or would ever exist, was experiencing problems at remote locations for their dig sites and encampments all over the world and the only loose end was Cynthia or more likely that tart that she had around with her. While Charlie did not understand why people did such stupid things for love she did understand the basic fundamentals of the affliction in short terms: Cynthia was pussy whipped and there wasn't a damn thing anyone could do about it besides Cynthia or maybe Devyn or Erin. Her suspicion of Dawn wasn't based on religion or superstition it was hard facts, she'd seen the girl on multiple occasions leaving places she had absolutely no business being if their conclusions about the girl but mainly the fact that neither Jayr nor Caitlin, of all people, liked her.
"She cannot be trusted," the words drilled into her head with a delicious venom she recognized instantly, on high alert her eyes moved over the open floor of the casino searching for the one she knew was there, her spine went ramrod straight, dark blonde locks of hair falling into her face as the disgusted dealer pushed the enormous pile of chips across the table at her. He all but growled at the loss of the money and was glaring at her as if he knew that she was cheating but couldn't tell how, the electronic ping that went off under her chair a moment ago would've been enough for him to throw her out if it had come from her during the game.
There was a strict rule about psychics using their powers to gamble and the special monitoring system inside of casinos picked up on the transmission sent by psychics when they used their more famous abilities for mindreading and made a noise to alert the table. The fact that she had straightened and started looking around instantly for the source of the disturbance was the only reason that others were looking around as well, they wouldn't see what she was searching for though, they never did. She would have to get up and leave after this round but that was fine with her, the shaking in her limbs had begun as violent tremors at the thought of someone so easily accessing her mind and leaving didn't bother her in the slightest.
Her eyes locked on with avian precision and she stood, eyes flashing. "Miss are you okay, do you need security?" the voice was light and calm out of courtesy and a hint of that seemed to engulf the table.
"No, I am fine. I'm going to exchange my chips now and leave, my business associate just arrived." She swept the little plastic chips into one of the little sacks that they give you to use and hurried away from the table, heading to where she knew her associate would meet her by the tables that exchanged coin for money.
Elegantly draped against the door frame of one of the larger arches near the counter the tall woman leaned with an expression that was almost boredom; garbed in what one could describe as 'teenager Goth theme garb'. In all black from the neatly pressed black dress shirt and tie to the slacks, perfectly dressed and prim, with black sunglasses on. The sunglasses cut down the glare inside the casino, the brightness of the lights were chasing tears down the woman's face and those eyes were most likely red by now. The tears were an unfortunate side-affect that you had to endure when you were born with a genetic mutation that those of The Under and Those of the Void shared.
The fact that she was dressed in something that could be seen as 'normal' in most cultures could only mean that Caitlin was somewhere close by and had insisted that her disgruntled delegate turned partner take her out to see Slateport and accompany her to the Bicentennial Grand Festival. She stared defiantly into the thick blackness of the reflective lenses and knew that those eyes were closed, even with the dark shading their optic nerves were entirely too sensitive to light to remain open in a casino. A group of tourists must've realized who she was because they stopped and gawked awkwardly before a low snarling growl that was more felt than heard sent them running away.
That, without a shadow of a doubt, was Jayr.
She stepped towards the counter and pushed the bag over smiling pleasantly as the clerk behind the counter congratulated her on her winnings and alerting her of multiple other events during this month. The clerk smiled at her and dealt out fresh hundred stacks onto the top of the counter, Charlie reached forward to push it all into the triple lock backpack she wore and froze. "Look it's Dawn." A flicker of motion at the corner of her eye and Charlie whirled as the unmistakable image of Dawn brushed past her shoulder and disappeared further into a crowd of people.
"Where's she going?" she mouthed turning completely around she let her eyes wander after the girl who always, at least in the mind of Charlie Lyhnnmann and that was all that mattered thank you very much, up to something. The gut instinct was never wrong especially with what had happened next, shoving the cash into her bag and setting the three locks into place she turned with the full intention of rushing after her and asking where Cynthia was… a strong masculine arm wrapped around her waist pulling her tight against the muscular planes of a well-developed chest and stomach, a large hand drawing her head around to meet soft lips and the drowning dark scent of cloves. Sundown.
The large man looked down at her with black eyes and flicked them towards Dawn; that was never a good sign in Sundown land it meant that Jayr was perfectly aware of what was going on and had set him to dance on the edge of legality and trail the girl. He was apologizing now before he had to shadow her for the entire night, staring into the handsome face she had to forgive the perpetually tanned man for that fault of his, the instinctive hardwiring to follow Jayr in everything that she commanded. Sometimes though she just wished that she could spend a night with her fiancée without something coming up, her schedule would have to be amended for the rest of the night. But now she had something to do with that time, find Cynthia because wherever the tart was her friend was sure to follow.
-ooo-
Her room was dark and quiet in the early morning light, the coolness of the working fan touched her skin still damp from the shower, the benefit of years as a Guardsman she had developed a legendary alcohol tolerance that knocked off the drunken haze she'd been experiencing the night before. The state she was left in was a strange headspace where she remembered waking up curled around the red head the sweet scent of flowers filtering through the open window. A place made even strange when you're in bed with another woman lying on her left arm, allowing sensation back into her forelimb as Cynthia rolled over. There was more than enough room for them both on the queen sized mattress, where the blonde normally stayed when she visited.
There was a bristling sensation at the back of her neck that drew her attention up and to the slight creeping sound of someone standing just outside her door, an internal sense of being watched that must've served the early ancestors of her people as a warning signal to them being hunted. Hunting was a very good thing, a useful tool that the young girl in the hallway obviously hadn't learned yet. Alerting your prey to your position was a surefire way to go home hungry.
Her lessons with her father and grandfather returned to her vividly, the laws of hunting and meat were simple enough to understand but it seemed as if her young and inexperienced stalker did not know the second and perhaps the most important law of meat. Not everything that you hunt is prey.
The blonde in her arms shifted at the pressure of fingers on her hip, the subtle signal to wake up but stay quiet. With her back to the door there was no conceivable way that Devyn could turn around and not have Dawn bolt for cover somewhere in the house and pass it off as her having to use the bathroom. However Devyn could provide enough cover for Cynthia to get a good handle on what was happening, puzzle the girl's reasoning, and help come up with a plan to stop it.
A finger slipped just beneath the waistband of her boxers.
The faintest touch of skin on skin sent a bucket of ice down her spine in such a way that it took every bit of discipline to keep from shuddering, the door had been locked and now it was opened. Ajar. There was a tightening of muscles down the front of her body in response to her movement and carefully she tightened her core against Cynthia's side. Any more movement would have been noticeable but she prepared her body as well as she could for springing clear of the bed and engaging in a fight.
Chances were that there would be no need to gain her feet to overpower the teenage girl but after their experience outside the Relic Castle with Darmanitan in Zen Mode making their way slowly up to the campsite and lighting it on fire you never knew. The statues had moved and come after them because they thought that the team had been there to desiccate the site like tomb raiders of the past centuries. The things had given everyone a scare but after putting the flames out they had managed to get across to the angry guardians that they meant no harm and intended to take nothing but knowledge from the city. They had been watched closely night and day for the duration of their stay regardless of the fact that their claims were true with the exception of the Volcarona that Charlie had friended that chose to come with them.
Relaxing entirely into the bed Cynthia scooted until their bodies were pressed flush against one another and laid a gentle kiss to the center of her chest. "Devyn," she whispered softly, sleepily, "Are you awake?"
-ooo-
Silently Cynthia begged him to go along with her, feeling the skyrocketing pulse of his heart beneath her lips and imagining the rushing sound of his own heart in his ears. Over his shoulder she could just make out a stiff black shape against the charcoal cave of the hallway at the sound of her voice, could almost feel Dawn's fear of discovery and was tempted to laugh at it. She wasn't as smart as she seemed to think that she was and she wasn't nearly the hunter that Erin or even Devyn was.
Her eyes fluttered closed at the very thought of Erin, a strange fixation that came after the end of yet another awkward spell that she'd spent with Devyn. He was a sweet boy, excellent guardsmen, outright brilliant archeologist, fearless adventurer, the yin to her yang, the balance to her chaos, the other side of her coin, and sometimes when she was in need of it he served as her brother, boyfriend, best friend, and lover.
"Hmmm?" his voice was deeper with sleep and disuse.
"Hey, Devyn, can I tell you something about Erin?" she saw her lover shift and lean in towards the door, the girl was waiting with baited breath for whatever would come next with the utterance of her name. There was a low sound in his throat, a rumbling noise of acquiescence. "There's something about Erin that makes me nervous in ways that make no sense, I mean beyond the normal unnerving quality she's got about her. And well she interests me in a way that's dangerous."
"Ah." He was listening and Dawn seemed about ready to fall through the gap she had made in the door as Cynthia continued.
"I… I slept with Erin." Devyn sat bolt upright in bed, his arms lifting her easily onto her knees as she startled violently. There was a strangled gasp from the hallway as something slammed into the door cutting off Dawn's life line. The little Nipper clicked the lock back in place and moved back to his little bed on the other side of the nightstand.
"How." The command was low and dangerous as frozen pale green like tundra grass met the misted disheveled grey.
The words came out rushed, "When we were at the villa in Undella Town, we went free diving and you went with Caitlin to make sure that she was alright. Erin invited me to go with her to the Whirl Islands to try to connect the pieces of our puzzle." In her mind she could see Erin clearly that day. She remembered seeing the Dragon Master on the bow of the ship they'd taken out looking wild and feral as the creatures that she "controlled" an uninhibited fierce joy in her eyes that drew the darkness of the purple down further from just a dark amethyst to a color that was almost black. Already garbed in a pair of black board shorts and a red tank top the dragon master was displaying the myriad of tattoos, emblazoned so that they appeared to be burned into bronze skin, that covered almost every available inch of her arms specific patterns of her back, the complete meaning a mystery to all except the members of the three clans (Lynch, Kirkland and Braddock) and their numerous subsidiaries. She'd let knee length black hair fall free around her shoulders, dancing in the wind as she stared straight up into the sky watching the flying leviathan angle through clouds high overhead.
"Things were going good for the first few days, we made excellent time and I found something. We cracked open a bottle of champagne and got to celebrating and she said something to me that I won't ever forget:
-ooo-
Olivine at night was really a sight to be seen, the lights of the fishing town glittered like jewels off the waters of the bay illuminating the sides of the boats moored for the night with a gentle white light. The movement of the boat beneath her feet had become a constant reassuring motion that had rocked her to sleep for two months as they explored more of the Whirl Islands than ever before done in one go. The close quarters with no one but the Dragon Master, the Dragon, her Garchomp, Spiritomb, Milotic, Braviary, Lucario, and Eelektross, she had learned a great deal about herself. That and more about the tidal differences between Johto and Unova than she had before, a surprisingly interesting find that had amazed her with how much it had amazed her.
They had stopped far enough from the bay to be out of the way of the shipping lanes but close enough that the view of the Legendary Lighthouse was put into sharp relief against the vastness of the Southern Johto Plains and that the tidal flow here would move them back into shore with its changing. The gentle countryside had become a familiar shape in the distance from the Islands and had a calming effect on her emotions with every weekly trip to shore to restock supplies. Whoever said that romance was dead obviously had never been on a ship sharing a cold platter of cheese and salted meats, a wine, and stories with a surprisingly refined Dragon Master in Olivine's harbor staring up at the immense hulking white form of the lighthouse against the lights of the city.
Romance clearly was still thriving.
"So, how long have you lived in the Independent Nation of Hoenn?" the formality of the region's entire title seemed to be a bit arrogant but then one must consider that each different region is a different country, a fact that was further reinforced by the need for a passport every time you thought to travel elsewhere. "I mean as a whole?"
"On and off for most of my life." The black haired woman leaned back against one of the rope tie offs for the folded sails and sighed in contentment, "My father is a Lynch and my mother is a Kirkland Braddock, the area around Meteor Falls is Lynch land and I spent most of my school days in and around Rustboro and Fallabor. Most of my winter and spring vacations around Forina. My summers were spent on Kirkland and Braddock land which are the Blackthorn and Opelucid areas respectively. Once I got older I decided to move to Lilycove because it's just about as far away as you can get and still be in the Connectivity, you know?"
"Ah… I see." And she did, she had spent a great deal of time in Opelucid City herself and knew well that the man who controlled the area, as mayor, gym leader, and leader of the clan there, was a fierce creature. She didn't envy the childhood that Erin must've had with him for a grandfather even if she only saw him certain summers.
"What about you, Miss Champion. How did you manage to land a spot as Champion of a region that you don't live in? Isn't that illegal unless you were crowned Champion of Mt. Battle or the Champion League?"
The blonde laughed and took a sip from the glass of red wine before placing it carefully back on the deck where it undulated slowly with the waves against the deck. "I got a research grant and to pay my bills I decided to take the gym challenge because as you well know for each gym you successfully manage you get a monetary reward as well as a badge. Before I knew it I was a citizen of two countries and had mounted the steps for the League and conquered it. Apparently you can retain dual citizenship in Sinnoh for any other region, they didn't seem to care that I live in Unova most of the year for tax purposes and only rent out a small place when the league is in session. It's a backwards kind of thing."
"Does the Sinnoh League not recognize the right of Battle to become Champion?" Cynthia shook her head at that and sighed wistfully, "Ah then the rumor is true, are you still trying to get that overturned."
"Yes. I don't see how you won't let someone who can best the current champion become the champion. It's only fair." Ah there was that word that Erin despised, the low growling base that echoed from the bow of the ship told her clearly that Shannis had heard it as well and there was a bright but small firework of blue sparks that signaled his displeasure before he lay his head down again.
"You also can't just hand your title to anyone can you?" the question wasn't a question but it didn't matter because Cynthia found herself painfully enthralled by the movement of the muscles in Erin's arms, chest, and back as she stretched.
Watching her companion had become something of a hobby of hers during the last two months and still the movement of those intricate designs had astounded her, they caught her eyes in their strange dark and light tones of blue, purple, black, silver, and white. As far as she could tell the geometric and abstract patterns signified something important, some sort of rank in the hierarchy of the Clans. The colors seemed to detonate which clan that an individual belonged to but didn't clash with the war paint that they all wore with the same strange sort of reverence and honesty no matter where in the world that they were. From memory she could see the deep blue and white on Clair and the same on Lance with a gracing of silver winding its way through like a ribbon. She had seen the purple on Drake with the same arrogant and bold white patterns with the same silver, and the Black on Iris and Drayden though only Drayden had the silver while Iris had a strange gold coloring that seemed to mark her as an outsider but one of them all the same. Every color had significance but she knew that she didn't have all the code down; the white seemed to only ever be on the accessible parts of the body, places you could easily reach in distinct symbols, and not everyone had the same patterns.
Her eyes openly traced a line of silver until it disappeared down around one of Erin's hips and the world swam for a moment, it seemed to have been long enough for her to reach out and touch the coil of muscle that rolled down that arm. "Erin… I think…"
"Dawn's not right for you." Those rough words almost jolted sense back into her brain but strong hands had seized her around the waist and pulled her half the distance between them forcing her to meet unnerving purple eyes. In the faint light they seemed to glow with the light of the bay giving her eyes a silver gleam like the eyes of predators to that already almost unnatural gaze. "She never was because she doesn't get you and she won't."
"What are you-", the deck moved violently and a slithering splash signaled the nighttime dive of their third unseen companion, her glass spilled, the suddenness of it all took her breath.
"Listen, and listen well, Cher." The husky tone of her voice sent a thrill through at the term of endearment common throughout Lilycove but uncommon to her ears through the black haired woman's lips. The words seemed completely incongruous to the very nature of the wild creature sitting before her but they fit, the calm and almost tame air that seemed to roll off of her like waves whenever she was around a certain group of people. She scooted further into the calming embrace and rested her head against the taller woman's collarbone; it startled her on a deep level when she considered that she was in a committed relationship with someone. Somehow touching Erin was startlingly comfortable.
"People are like dragons and since you train dragons you will be able to understand what I am about to say. When the world was created it became common knowledge that that those who lived with dragons were superior to others because like those they lived with they felt everything at once." Erin's hand rested heavily on her back, rubbing it comfortingly. "As you well know Arceus' dragon plate amplified and enhances the power of whatever was just there. It seems like this rubs off on people in unexpected ways, this is one of the speculated reasons that dragon trainers flourish and live more 'colorful' lives. Most people can't dedicate one hundred percent of themselves to anything and that is why the Clans say that most people don't know what it means to live. Dawn couldn't understand how you can give one hundred percent to everything you do from archeology to battling. She thought it was an act as a result of petty secular emotion, the depth of a puddle, she found a reason to hate you for it."
Her fingers tightened against the plain white t-shirt that Erin had pulled on after coming out of the shower the earlier this morning. "Is it really that obvious?" she whispered haltingly pulling back to read the absolute true in those eyes. Grey eyes met purple and the raw emotion that boiled inside of the black haired woman.
"I, however, have no such reserves; you share nothing in common with her anymore, you've grown apart. I enjoy our conversations, debates, stances on pressing matters, and I enjoy your sense of humor and that brilliant mind and vibrant personality. You have to be the single most beautiful and intelligent woman I've met. I am not going to lie to you, I want you. I want you badly."
She leaned up and nipped Erin's chin before she realized what she was doing, steel arm locked under her butt and her legs went instinctively around Erin's waist as the effortless strength of the Dragon Master lift carried her away. Her mouth found Erin's as she made her way down the three stairs and through the door into the living compartment with an ease and confidence that none of her former lovers had possessed, few of them had carried her like this and fewer still had the balance part of lifting down enough to not stumble or wobble. It was almost as if she was making her way down like every other night. Her hand came up easily to push in the door to one of the two rooms and deposited her load on the bed dominating the space.
Cynthia sat up and fumbled for the silvered buckle of her shorts, swatting both of the hands that had come to help her assistance. She threaded the belt free of her belt loops and tossed the belt away and leaned back as bronzed fingers worked their way up her legs, caressing the inside of her thighs with a deep, smooth, even pressure that had Cynthia clenching her jaw in an effort not to writhe. It felt good in the same way that massages do and the tender insides of her thighs, her fingers pressed deeper moving higher and higher.
She slid back with the assistance of those hands, the bed shifts as a knee settled between her legs. The sensed weight of the taller woman as her fingers moved up her body, catching her shirt and pulling it up with an agonizing slowness that made her reach out for Erin. "Erin…"
"Hush," she leaned down and pressed lips to the underside of her jaw, "I want to savor you, Cher." Her body moved up against the smaller woman beneath her, teeth worked against her throat alternating between rough and soft. "Now then will you do what I say?"
Cynthia looked up and at her and made a derisive decision, a choice to indulge in something she was certain would never repeat if her relationship with Dawn was to last the few months that if had left. Why not indulge in something just once, just a taste and she would be through with it, Cynthia nodded.
"Go and hold onto the headboard." Just a taste and she would go back to her life with Dawn however long that may be.