something I cannot justify

Morning came all too soon, as far as May was concerned. She wasn’t one to sleep in that much (force of habit from her days roaming Hoenn), and being a rather… strange location hadn’t helped with keeping her asleep and in bed as long as she probably she have. After all, despite no longer being at odds with Team Magma, some small, vestigial part of her mind kept her alert, convinced this was still ‘enemy territory’.

The feeling would pass, she knew, but given the fact she knew herself and her sleeping habits, the young champion had crawled out of the bed she’d been lent and had then pretty much proceeded to stumble through the Magma hallways. All roads lead to Rome, she figured, and she’d stumble across the god damned kitchen (and hopefully some blessed coffee) sooner than later.It took her… an embarrassingly long time to actually find her destination, however, and by the time May stumbled into the dinning room, she was shooting daggers at the teleporter she was exiting. The young woman almost tripped as she entered the dinning room, passing by people without actually looking at them, mumbling something about doorways and wanting to blast a hole straight through the god damned base because seriously, it was a damned labyrinth, and where was her coffee?

Given that she was actually… not looking where she was going (too busy glaring at the stupid teleporter), it was no wonder she managed to walk straight into someone’s backside. Thankfully, she’d been more or less moving at the speed of a Slugma, and thus… the force was practically none whatsoever, but it was still enough to stop her progress, forcing her to look up and blink owlishly at the obstacle that blocked her way.

"S’you…" she sounded more or less relieved when her gaze met Maxie’s, "M’sorry. Coffee?" this was apparently, the extent of her vocabulary early-ish in the day. May Maple was apparently not a morning person. She yawned slightly and tugged at the very obviously over-sized Magma sweater she wore; her top, which had been singed the day before, had been discarded, and thus, she wore a rather comical miz of her own, usual outfit and the Magma uniform.

Courtney had tried to lend her a sweater of her own but… the bright haired Admin was, in fact, slightly more petite than May was, and well, if one had to pick, over sized was better than too-small, “Did it help?” she made a small, sleepy, almost uncertain motion towards the pokeballs he wore on his belt, figuring he’d know what she meant. Whatever small piece of lucidity she’d possessed was lost then as she turned her attention away from Maxie and towards the room in question.

The night passed rather uneventfully as he awoke to find himself drooling on the sofa with a blanket hastily thrown over him, one he was sure, he tossed onto himself whilst in the throes of sleep. The room he was in had no windows so he wasn’t certain as to the exact position of the sun, not that it mattered – today was a weekend that much he was certain. A glance at the clock told him it was but in the early wee hours of the morning, 7.00 a.m., to be exact.

Slipping on the glasses he usually wore and stumbling out of the room, through sleep blurred eyes, he had a vague recollection of the events that had happened yesterday. Groudon. May. Talk. Pokepuffs. Yes, it was a fruitful night. It gave him time to think and reflect upon his actions and hey, at least he was sorry now, right? He would strive towards being a better person, whatever that ideal may be and whenever he would achieve it. In due time, he told himself, shuffling slowly out of the room and into the teleportation maze which he knew by heart, no matter how sleepy he was. Still slow and sluggish, he made his way towards the dining rom wherein muttered “Good morning boss” was heard all around from all the members gathered there. Courtney was not in sight but Tabitha, he noticed, was fast asleep at one of the couches at the corner of the dining room.

Coffee was now his mission after all the morning niceties with his staff and as he turned around and was about to walk towards the coffee machine (why did he have the bright idea of putting it in the furthest corner of the room?) when he felt something press against his back. He turned around slowly and raised a sleepy eyebrow at the person who had crashed into him. Also, he was about to blow up and lecture said person to “watch it”, being grumpy first thing in the morning and then his vision focused and he made out the form of the person.

It was May.

“Yes, sleepy first thing in the morning, huh?” He gazed down at the mishmash of clothing that she was wearing and chuckled inwardly. “You want coffee? This way,” he said, indicating with a finger in the direction of the coffee machine, which was thankfully not being used by anyone, as it rightfully should be. He’d gone off (due to severe caffeine and sleep deprivation) on almost everyone in the base about vacating the sacred space known as the coffee machine when he was around.

Maxie was about to walk off towards the machine to brew a cup when he just barely caught the sleep-slurred words of the young woman. He looked down at where she was pointing and nodded, smiling. “It did,” he replied, passing the ball back to her in his outstretched hand. “Do you want it back?” he asked. When she’d turned away and seemed to be gazing longingly at something (must be the coffee, he thought), he tucked the ball back into his belt and headed towards the machine.

She shook her head, hoping to clear the thoughts. The cracks in the cavern revealed the sun above, its heat growing at a terrible pace. One press of a Pokeball and Salemence appeared, his roar quiet, sensing his partner’s distress.

❝Let’s go, now. We have to hurry…!❞

The dragon-type launched into the air, but the swift changes in the temperature of the air were difficult for him to handle. Though he had lived nearly as long as Zinnia and had flown in rough weather, this was something he almost feared. 

Salemence faltered, a gust of wind knocking him off balance and sending Zinnia tumbling into the sea. 

Panicking, she swam up to the surface and gasped for air, treading water as she swam towards a nearby island. Once she managed to calm herself down, she returned Salemence to his Pokeball, concerned- she didn’t want him to have to fly through something that he just couldn’t handle.

Zinnia swam the rest of the way, sighing in relief when she reached land again. She froze in panic, however, when she looked up and saw the very group she’d left behind only moments ago, congregated and looking towards Sootopolis.

She had to come up with some kind of excuse… But what? She could always come clean, but that was no good. Then that’d just cause even more panic and then someone would have to do something awful to destroy the meteorite, or she’d have to go towards even more drastic measures…

No. She’d just make something up. If she could make an excuse, then maybe they’d let her go. A sudden sense of dread welled up in her mind, though, the moment the thought took hold. She’d gotten them into this.

The rest of the Magma group were making their way there; if there was anything for them to do. Tabitha joined the group and as he turned his head towards the horizon, he could see the same girl who had disappeared earlier and she was now soaking wet.

He scowled. Now was not the time.

“You!” he cried, “Come! We have to head to Sootopolis to help Leader Maxie!” Not one for niceties, much less on borrowed time, he grabbed the girl by the scruff and dropped her before directing her (verbally) towards the tittering group, who seemed focused on entering the city.

“Now!” he shouted, as the hatches of several submarines appeared from the surface of the water. “In!” He entered the first one with several other grunts, latched the hatch and was off towards the city, which was not too far away.

“Come on!” was the cry of another Grunt as he called for Zinnia, for the last of the submarines was ready to leave. He entered the hatch and slipped in before sticking his head out towards the girl and crying, “Hurry! We don’t have much time!”

Meanwhile at Sootopolis, Maxie hissed in frustration; what was taking this boy so long? He would be tempted to do it himself but he knew that he was incapable of beating the beast, much less control it.

The air was eerily silent as he fumed silently and the others gathered looked at the entrance worriedly. Sunlight, harsh sunlight, beat down on them as the few minutes that passed dragged out like long hours.

May found that when he answered truthfully, completely unoffended by both her admission and her inquisitive nature… a  heavy weight lifted from her shoulders (weight which she hadn’t even realized was there, really). The heavy atmosphere lifted along with it, leaving behind a comfortable, companionable silence, during which she blinked at him, finally able to somehow decide that it didn’t really matter what sort of image it was she had of him; she’d take him at face value and construct another one, all brand new.

If he was willing to turn over a new leaf, per se, he deserved that much from her.

"I think… that you’re meant to be whatever it is you want to be. Then… now, shouldn’t matter," she made a small motion with her head, "Learn from the past, build a future? Something like that? Not sure how the saying goes. I guess all that matters if we learn from our mistakes and at least try not to trip over the same rock twice," he then pointed at his glasses and the young champion offered him the first, real, true, honest grin, both his chuckling and comment amusing her greatly, "No, see… the glasses I actually get," a hand lifted and moved to the side of her head, tracing her temple down an invisible line, "They’re shaped like Groudon’s eyes and face, right?" the grin widened slightly as she pointed at the three holes on the side of them, "The holes even mimic the spikes. And the spikey thing… the one that goes down the side of your face mimics Groudon’s too. I thought it was cute when I realized it," granted, she hadn’t arrived to the conclusion until after the cave of origins for… obvious reasons.

She’d never studied or seen Groudon before then.

"Then yes. Please," May added the later word almost as an afterthought, "I’d very much like that; I’ll be honest… don’t think I can fly home without falling asleep and off the back of my pokemon. So yes," she watched as Courtney made her way into the room and drowned the remaining milk in her glass, settling it on the table. There was just a small hint of hesitation before she stood up and then reached down to her waist, snatching one of the pokeballs that hung there; a duskball, to be exact. She then tapped it and made it larger, taking a short glance around the room, as if mentally measuring it.

Then, after a second or two, she placed the duskball on the desk and gave it a very gentle push forward, the momentum rolling it deftly forward until it reached Maxie on the other end, “Here then,” she told the Magma leader, “I suggest… you forget about controlling entirely,” she said in a soft voice, “Start with apologizing, maybe? Go from there; wing it. You’re not that bad at winging it, if tonight’s a good example,” she then turned towards the awaiting Courtney, offered her a smile, a nod and began to follow her.

The young champion did pause just before leaving the room, however, “Pokepuffs,” she called at Maxie, looking at him over her shoulder, “They kind of work wonders; specially the sweeter ones,” a pause and then a smile, “And sure! I’d love to. Maybe by morning my brain’ll be out of second gear. G’night to you, too!” and with those previous, rather cryptic words, she left the room.

He found the silence comforting in a sense, it gave him time to think, to reflect upon his actions and to quietly acknowledge that yes, he was enjoying the conversation. It was taking a turn that was unexpected, a sense that both he and May had come to terms with what had happened. The confessions that he had put forth came from deep within him, from an area that, figuratively, had not been used for ages. Before this, he would only acknowledge ideas that pertained to what he saw fit, which in that sense was anything that could awaken Groudon.

Everything else was deemed heresy, even when the signs were dire.

“But it can also be said that your past shapes you to who you will be. Then again, it is not set in stone and the future can change. And yes, learning from the past is the best way to build a better and brighter future.” He paused briefly for a moment and set the glass down, peering over the rim of his glasses at the young woman. “But tripping over different rocks, is permitted in a sense; it’s different types of falls, if I may steal your metaphor.” Maxie watched as she drew an imaginary line down her temple, mimicking the shape of his glasses and chuckled a little at that. “Yes, indeed they are. And you are right, the indentations do mimic the spikes as well as this extension,” he pointed to the area wherein the glasses were jutting out, “but really, frankly, it looks ridiculous and perhaps the only reason why I wore it in the first place was due to my fixation with Groudon. Now its just nostalgia.” Certainly the glasses were unique and different from what was the norm; but Maxie wasn’t trying to stand out, he was merely paying homage to the creature that has captured his interest.

“Great, I hope the room is to your liking. It may be a bit… sparse but as a place to recuperate and rest, it would do just fine.” Courtney had by then arrived at the table and stood by the side, waiting for May. Silence took hold once again as she pulled out a Dusk Ball and rolled it towards him. He caught the ball just as it was about to roll off the edge of the table. Staring bemusedly at the ball, then back at May, something deep in his gut told him he knew what creature was inside. Then her words only cemented further the suspicions he had about the ball’s contents. Watching his admin and the young woman leave the room; he then caught sight of May turning around one last time to speak. After she had finished, he smiled at her, nodded to Courtney, and said, “Wonderful. Goodnight. I hope you sleep well.”

“And May, I’ll try.”

When he was alone again, he picked up the Dusk Ball, tucked in into his pocket and travelling via a series of warp panels, made his way to the dock where the submarine he had once stolen used to reside. The space would be enough to contain the creature he was about to unleash. For the briefest of moments, the spark, the urge to contain the beast rose from within him once more but as he put the tossed ball and the creature, Groudon let out a happy cry, whatever that was left of his old self dissipated into the night wind.

“So, you’re Groudon,” he said to the red beast, which had bent down to stare at him with a large, yellow eye. “May said to apologize, so here is my apology: I’m sorry for what I did to you and I’m told you like Pokepuffs? Here.” Taking out a large pink puff, he tossed it upwards and watched as the legendary leaped upwards to grab the snack, the ground shaking as it landed. It looked back at him after swallowing the treat with a curious look. Maxie walked over to it and gave it a solid pet on the head. “This is…actually quite nice.”

He tossed a couple more treats the legendary’s way and returned it into the Dusk Ball, but not before it has nuzzled his body and let out a low purring (?) sound. Returning back to his quarters, he safely stowed the ball in his belt alongside his other Pokémon, making a mental note to return it to May the next day, and lay down on the couch.

She had almost reached the lower room when she heard Maxie’s voice. She had no time now, she had to hurry- if she wished to see the beginning of her own plans set into motion, the lorekeeper had no time to waste.

And she was just in time. No sooner had she made it to the final cavern did she see a plume of lava arise through the air, the glow of the red orb casting throughout the entire cavern. 

Groudon’s cry was nigh deafening, yet she still walked forward past Archie, eyes wide with amazement as the Omega began to rise through the top of the caverns to the surface above.

It was too dangerous to proceed; he had to warn Maxie, despite the consequences he may face for insubordination. He knew that the man was adamant that the plan went ahead, regardless of what had happened.  He scurried into the deeper part of the cave.

Therein as he approached the cave, the creature had already made its way to the surface and the crowd of people, whom he'd noticed, were made up of his boss, the young brat and Archie. Each of them had their eyes fixed upon the ceiling where Groudon had risen from.

He didn't see the girl standing amongst them.

"Boss, temperature fluctuations are higher, much higher than predicted by the models." As soon as those words hit Maxie's ears, he spun around and let out a quiet, 'no' before getting Tabitha to regale the rest of the data.

A silver brow was raised, but a head did not turn as the slightly monotone voice of none other than Maxie cut through the thick silence.Well, perhaps not silence, as waves still washed up against the sandy shores, wingull still flew above. But compared to the calamity just prior, this was silence.

Yes, Steven had heard him, but for a moment he collected his thoughts into a response before turning towards the now “former” criminal leader.

Steven looked rather melancholic about the whole fiasco and the choice of words and tone of his voice indicated that he was perhaps musing, or disappointed by the Magma leader's actions.

"To move forward, yes. I am now clearly aware of that fact, perhaps it was foolish of me to think in the first place that I would be able to control the beast. To think if he were not here; it is something I find difficult to imagine. The possibilities are endless, but I'm very sure the situation wouldn't have been diffused as easily. I'm not sure how I would have behaved either, should the boy had not arrived."

Something about the way he spoke seemed to indicate that his words were directed at her; that he wasn’t just saying them for the pleasure of saying them, and that they were his gift to her. This did little to lift the overall strangeness of the situation, and May hung onto her glass of warm, comforting milk as if it were a lifeline, sipping calmly from time to time as she processed his words and stole glances up at him.

His smile was as strange as his words, and after a while, she let out a small sigh. May had never been a particularly sneaky person at all, and she often wore her emotions on her proverbial sleeve. If anything, she was rather blunt, speaking her mind even when it wasn’t particularly wanted… specially if her sense of justice was poked in the face. Which was, needless to say, what had happened when she’d met the man sitting in front of her at Slateport; a mixture of her sense of justice, need to correct what was wrong, help and a probably unhealthy doze of curiosity had lead her to rush all over Hoenn, following after a man and a gang that could have been dangerous, for all she knew at the time.

Needless to say, at the time she´d almost felt like an action super hero, delegating him to the role of James Bond villain. At least… until Mt Chimney, where his Crobat and the damn mega-evolution had given her pause. That was where her carefully constructed image of him had crumbled and she’d realized there was more to him than comic book villain. After all, Crobats were hard to raise, and mega evolution required a deep bond in order to achieve it; not just anyone with a keystone could mega evolve his or her pokemon. Her image of him had been tossed out the window, and her mission to stop him had transformed into a mission to knock some damned sense into that thick skull of his. At the time, she hadn’t really paused to realize the man might be about as stubborn (if not more) than she was, which had made her endeavors altogether fruitless until the very end, but still, she had tried. Oh, had she tried.

"I…" she found herself floundering again, peeking her gaze up at him so their eyes met, and though she wasn’t a particularly shy person, by any stretch of the word, she simply didn´t know how to react to him, "You confuse me," she admitted after a few moments, all in a rush of air, as if maybe getting the admission out in the open would help, "I don´t know how to treat you. I don´t know what to do… it was easier when I had you boxed in a neat little ´James Bond villain´ cardboard box; but you refused to stay put, and now you´re all over the place,” here the young champion paused and tilted her head from left to right, as if a different perspective would somehow help her cause, “Not that I´m complaining here; I like this you a lot, but I… don´t know where to go from here. What do you want from me?” it was an honest question, not an accusation, “Like before; you cried, and I got up. I was going to hug you. That´s what friends do when they comfort one another, but then, well,” she unwrapped a hand from her warm glass of milk to indicate in his general direction, “Something about you always screams ´Do Not Touch´. Maybe it´s the fact you cover yourself up from neck to toe… I don´t know. But anyhow; I´m rambling. And bottom line is I really don´t know what to do. What do you want?” here she paused, and given she´d just word vomited all over him, continued, because, well, why stop now? “Also, curious here; why do you not wear gloves, anyhow? It´d fit your whole… thing you have going on.”

She seemed to be listening intently to him; it felt strange, almost surreal. Why would she listen to him in the first place? Back before the awakening of Groudon, no, even then he realized that she listened, perhaps being forced by the situation. Now was different and why she was paying attention to him baffled him. Occasionally, he would notice her looking and him and he wondered, what did she see in him? Or was it simply her being polite? After all, one is supposed to make eye contact with the person one is speaking or listening to.

The silence that held the conversation in its grip was something that unnerved him ever so slightly. The only thing that had penetrated the air was a soft sigh from the young woman and it was as though the whole room breathed collectively with that sigh; a thousand words unsaid. He wondered as to whether it would be worth it to break the silence but for some strange reason, it began to soothe him. The situation itself held a lot of value, even though nothing was said. Maxie fiddled with his glasses once more and took them off briefly to wipe them with a buffering cloth. Putting them back on, he could see that May was just sitting there, silently clutching her milk and taking what look liked tentative sips. Her silence was something that he found odd and uncharacteristic; usually she would speak a lot. It hit him that that was the case from the moment he took back the stones that she’d presented to him.

When he’d first met her, she was this person that was just starting out and seemed, to him, to then undergo an evolution of sorts. When he met her upon Mt. Chimney, it was then he knew that she meant business. But then again, why would she take great pains to go after him? She probably wasn’t aware at that time of the greater plans that he had in store but even then, she seemed determined enough to stop him. A sigh escaped him and he closed his briefly, thinking upon the events that led up to this moment. Then a realization came upon him, in that the turn of events, however strange they were, was what had pitted him against her and in that, was what led to him changing in the first place. What if he had succeeded in controlling Groudon and May was unable to stop him. For sure, they wouldn’t be having this conversation but if such were the turn of events, would he have changed?

Finally when she spoke and the first words he heard were, “you confuse me”, he fell deadly silent, and gently placed the shot glass down on the table, the bourbon still sloshing around within it. His eyes left hers and he exhaled deeply before meeting her eyes once more. “Perhaps that’s what I was meant to be, which seems really ironic and paradoxical, coming from you. But then again,” he stopped briefly and took a sip of the drink, “that’s how life is; it’s both a mix of ironies and paradoxes.” Glancing at her sudden motion, he quietly leaned forward and added, “I’m glad. I’m not sure whether I’m happy with myself or not; that remains to be seen. What do I want from you? Nothing, really. I guess I just enjoy your company and I’m glad that you consider me a friend, or at least someone that was worthy of comforting.” He smiled lightly at her latter comments and simply answered, “There are reasons for this, what they are, even I’m not sure of.” The last question she posed after the pause caught him off-guard, he’d really did not see it coming. “Hm. I’d like to claim that it was a personal choice but it was simply due to the designer that made these clothes; he did not include them. And I saw no reason as to why I should add them. I guess you could call it laziness, however uncharacteristic that may sound.” He chuckled a little at that and added, “I’m surprised you didn’t ask about the glasses. These happen to be a personal choice.”

He saw her fall silent for a moment and the barest of utterings graced his ears. He couldn’t hear it properly but he was certain that he’d heard her name. Perhaps judging by the blush and lowered voice, she was in some ways, embarrassed. Picking up the glass of bourbon, he took another swig at it as he heard her uncertain reply to his invitation. “I am,” he replied, “and yes, it would most certainly be alright. Courtney is fine; I have just paged her to prepare a room for you. She’ll be here shortly to show you there.” Another question that caught off-guard, certainly this young woman was clearly unaware of the depth of herself. “I’m sad, but not for the reasons of which you think of. And would having control over Groudon really bring me closure? Honestly, I really don’t know. Maybe it might, maybe it might not. All I know is that it would make me a different person as what I am now. For better or for worse, I can’t really say.”

No sooner than he’d said that, a flash of purple hair indicated to him that Courtney was here. She walked up to them both and glanced at Maxie, who in return smiled and nodded. She responded with a smile of her own and turned to May, “Come, I’ll show you to your room.” The Admin beckoned to May, as she turned to leave the room. “Goodnight,” he said, after a brief moment of silence.

You’ll be able to come out again soon, Aster. Just be patient.

The Draconid looked around wildly for the trainer, needing no assistance in seeing. Her eyes had adjusted throughout the millennia to see in the darkest of places, and this place was no exception.

Except… She couldn’t find them. Where on earth was that trainer?!

❝Mister Tabitha! I’m going to head into the cave. I… I don’t want to think so, but he might have made it past us… But how? We’ve been standing here the entire time… There are no other entrances…❞ 

No. Groudon had to be awakened. As much as she was starting to root for him, she couldn’t let him past. But just the same… It was a bad idea for her to head in. Then, if things went as planned, and that trainer had to leave to heal his team up? All would be peachy-keen.

He must not get past.

The sound of the Sceptile faded as quickly as it had come and as he heard the words from the girl, his face became a scowl.

"There is no way that he would've made it past us! But he is not there…perhaps…" In the silence, he began musing uncharacteristically. What was he to do next? 

In those brief moments of silence, he heard the girl speak up again. He sighed and made a shooing motion with his gloved hand. "Go, and make sure no one else gets past. Understood?"

Deep within, Maxie stood by the lava pool. He heard the sound of a young boy crying out to him, alongside the gruff voice of Archie. 

A battle between him and the boy turned out to be a failure on his part. He smiled anyways.

"Now," he said, turning to face his newcomers once more; their presence didn't matter now, "I will awaken Groudon!"

He held the Red Orb aloft. 

And what happened after that… she wasn’t sure.

Regardless, she accepted the orders with a smile, saluting. 

❝Of course, sir. I know you don’t require it, but I bid you good luck.❞ 

She immediately lowered her cowl, ruffling her ponytail a bit. It was already getting warm, and she doubt Groudon had even the foggiest of notions it was about to wake up. Perhaps it was just nerves. Yes. Had to be just nerves. 

Zinnia waited, arms folded, as another submarine arrived, this one a tad less streamlined, and watched as a group of grunts filed out. She began walking back and forth along the shoreline, ensuring that there were no other entrances save for the ones already made. The last thing they needed was interference. 

No matter how much that trainer reminded her of Aster, she couldn’t falter now.

After confirming that there were no other entrances, she returned to where Tabitha was waiting.

Within moments, he was at the innermost cavern. 

The slumbering beast lay half-submerged in a molten pool of lava.

He stood there, marvelling at the beast. Soon, its power would awaken the creature that will solve humanity's problems.

"Soon," he breathed, his senses tingling.

At the other end of the cavern, Tabitha leaned back against the wall, observing as the grunts went about their duties. Quirking an eyebrow at the young grunt's question, he heaved a sigh and said, "No, just stand by the entrance to make sure the brat does not make it in."

No sooner than he had said that, the cry of a Sceptile pierced the air. One creature he was sure belonged to the meddling Trainer.

It was clear that May didn’t look like she was particularly convinced by what he was saying, and was thus hesitating over what to do in return. On one hand… what little experience she had in life told her that crying generally equated to either sadness, relief or intense joy, and since she really didn’t understand how the later two could have anything to do with the current situation, it left the former. Following that line of logic meant that she, in turn, should offer him comfort; and that’s where the conflict appeared. Not only because of past events (after all, May was technically a forgiving creature by nature - hot tempered, yes, but she rarely held a grudge), but because everything she knew about him seemed to scream 'Hands Off If You Please'.

Life, in general… had been good to May. Her parents were doting (even if one was an extreme workaholic), and she thus, tended to resolve what problems she faced in life through their teachings. Whenever she’d been sad, her mother had hugged her, and quite honestly, if she’d been in his place, she’d not have felt sad; she’d have felt devastated.

Still, after a moment or two of hesitation, she finally nodded her head to him and returned to her seat. When she sunk into the chair, she realized she was extremely grateful he’d actually egged her to do so, because no sooner had she sat down that her muscles breathed out a collective sigh of relief.

She was uncharacteristically quiet for a while, looking as if she was pondering something, and then finally looked up, “I always thought the rogue lines were the most interesting things in life anyhow,” voice barely above a whisper, as if she were still lost in thought, “Always thought it was interesting when things didn’t go as I expected. Often thought ‘why’?” a pause as she finally focused her gaze on him, as if realizing whom she was saying this too and finding it… strange. Not unpleasantly so, but still the situation was strangely out of place for her, “Then again, I’ve been told I’m too curious for my own good, so there’s that too.”

As he continued to speak, detailing his plans, talking to her as if suddenly her opinion mattered, May’s head tilted to one side, her eyes squinting briefly as she looked at him. Really looked at him, almost as if for the first time. She was trying to line up both images of him; the one she had in her mind and this… newly presented persona and found the results fascinating, “I think…” she said after he spoke, gaze still taking him in, “I think that you think too much. Sometimes… a cigar is just a cigar,” upon his question though, she instantly and eagerly perked up, “Hot milk, please!” because really, at this point, if she asked for tea, which would have been her first choice, she was never going to go to sleep that night, and maybe the hot liquid would lull her.

In the moments leading up to her return to her seat, he observed in the silence of the room. It surprised him that a sudden burst of emotion came forth from him, and thusly caused a reaction from her. It bothered him at first; he hadn’t done so for many years. Not to say that he repressed his emotions, but it was more of a case that he did not have opportunities to do so. Perhaps the lack of interaction with humans in the earlier years of his life led to this. It had always been natural for a person to display emotions; it was purely because he wasn’t used to it, save for the occasional outburst, honed over the years because he learned that you keep your feelings to yourself lest someone mark you as weak.

The Magma leader began to fiddle with his glasses and adjusted them, more out of habit than anything else. He wasn’t sure if this situation was something he would ever be in but here he was, talking to the very person he had detested in the past.

Perhaps his hatred of old did not stem from a single source, her meddling in his plans, but from something much greater and deeply subconscious. She had freedom to roam the world, something even back then he was sure she had the blessing of her parents whilst he did not. Perhaps what he did was to compensate for what he never had and a twisted view that no one should ever go through that was what led him to execute his plans.

He returned the nod, glad that she acknowledged and complied with his simple request. From across the table, he noted mentally that her tense muscles seemed to have relaxed. Why had she stood up in the first place and why had she stopped short in front of his table? He was certain she wanted to do something but what?

“I think,” he began, exhaling deeply, “I once hated the unpredictability of rogue lines; they fell outside of what I knew. I thought I could ignore them or tame them. It isn’t true to me now and what has happened in the past had made me see it.” His eyes met her oddly calm ones and even then, he felt the depth opening up from within her and her lowered voice indicated to him that this was territory that was uncharted for her. He paused, and a mirthful smile appeared as the words flowed from him, “And there’s nothing wrong with being curious. The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”

How ironic that he said those last words. He preferred certainty above all else, even now, perhaps to much less of a degree. There was a reason he said that, no matter how hypocritical he felt, perhaps of all the people who needed to hear it, she was the one who needed it most. It was an indirect way of saying thanks, thanks for helping him see past his flaws. He was still a flawed man, but in the same breath, he was working towards bettering himself, slowly. “Hnm,” he replied, “maybe I am. But I guess that’s how I always been.” The moment she had given an answer, he made his way towards a hidden pantry stowed away in the back of the room. Bringing back a glass of warm milk for her and a bottle of bourbon for himself, he hands the glass to her and returns to his seat, taking a shot of the drink.