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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Jayspurr
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Post by Lucien Benoit on Dec 28, 2017 15:43:02 GMT -8
Lucien grimaced as he walked slowly back into the contest hall. His once tidy hair had reverted to more than messed up. His once fine contest clothes were pulled and stretched out at all angles, and the fabric was torn in numerous points. But more than anything, it was the look in his eyes that had quite a few people backing away or looking away as he came back inside.
“What the heck happened to him?”
“Heard he got in a fight with one of the other contestants.”
“He didn’t even show up to claim his prizes…”
“Should we tell him he won?”
Their whispers were not quite quiet enough to be concealed. Lucien was very aware of them but didn’t even stop to talk. Instead, he moved along, his inner eye searching and scanning for a signature that he knew, that he felt was still there. Ah wait— There she was talking with a group of people and smiling and happy and…
Lucien’s hand reached Sera’s shoulder before he even registered it. “Hey can we talk?” his voice was hoarse but his words were very clear. It was one of those rare moments that his Kalosian accent shined through in true fashion. “Privately?”
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Coordinator
He's into me for everything I'm not, according to you. |
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY 🌸 SG 🌸
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Post by Serafeyna Carroll on Dec 28, 2017 21:33:56 GMT -8
Sera was indeed having a wonderful time. She hadn't placed this time, and some part of her felt like she 'should' have been upset about this, that this should be worse than her first contest coming in second. But she'd had so much fun, done so little to 'try' to please the judges, and still come in basically fourth! In her mind, this was so much better? To have something so genuine and natural come so close felt so much nicer than trying to hard to fall just barely short.
She'd missed the whole ordeal with the contestants running out in a fight earlier, though she'd caught some vague gossip that two boys had done so. She hoped neither was Niso, but sort of told herself he probably just hurried off as soon as he could; she'd still have to talk to him about his 'surprise' entry, but she felt a bit less worked up by his not telling her now than she had in the moment seeing it, and she was so endeared by his performance.
When her shoulder was grabbed, she jumped and spun. Her brain registered 'oh it's Luci!!' and her face started to light before it registered 'oh wait he looks awful' and that light went out. Her mouth opened and shut. She was still in her cutesie 'sexy Eevee' attire, and some part of her brain suggested a joke about him being so eager to get her in private, but the rest shut that out. This was clearly important.
"Of course." Turning to the contestants she'd been chatting with, she quickly excused herself. "Sorry, he's a good friend." 'Good friend', 'friend I barely talk to but enjoy immensely in multiple ways the rare times we do see each other', same difference. He was hardly a confidant but she was more fond of him than most of her more casual friends, so there was that?
Even as they headed toward one of the rooms backstage (or she assumed that was where he'd lead her? though she'd follow wherever) she was already asking, "What happened? Are you all right?" And then a follow-up thought: "Does it hurt? Do-- would my empathy trick help at all?" It wasn't really healing, but maybe some warm calming feelings would ease some tension?
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Breeder
PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Jayspurr
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Post by Lucien Benoit on Dec 28, 2017 21:58:05 GMT -8
Once Sera had agreed, Lucien nodded, made sure she was following, and then started off towards one of the rooms sure enough. Her questions, however, would have to wait. A small head shake was given, and he walked a little faster, all the way down to the end of the dressing rooms where he pulled open the door and held it there for Sera to step it before closing it behind him.
Leaning against the door Lucien finally allowed himself to wince. His teeth grit, and his hand went to his throbbing ribs again. Arceus they hurt, and he kinda wanted to cry about it but wasn’t going to let himself just yet. Instead, he refocused his mind as best he could. If he didn’t get this out now, he wasn’t sure he’d ever have the energy to again.
“Niso Konto competed in the contest,” Lucien spoke low, his voice shaky, his throat still hoarse. “His aura is very distinct and fucking frightening…” A weird, pained laugh threatened to burst passed his lips, but he suppressed it. “And… it was on your clothes back….back in summer or …or whenever the hell it was..” His tone wasn’t even accusatory yet, just a sort of matter-of-factness right then. “And then he told me to say your performance was good or something…shit…” He reached up and rubbed one side of his face. “You know him huh?” Ah there was the accusation— tired and pained but none the less there.
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Coordinator
He's into me for everything I'm not, according to you. |
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PLAYED BY 🌸 SG 🌸
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Post by Serafeyna Carroll on Dec 28, 2017 22:06:38 GMT -8
Sera followed along without hesitation, and was just as ready to listen. The first words out of his mouth, though, were Niso Konto, which meant either he was trying to warn her and she was about to play innocent, or he was suspicious or knew, and...
Quickly enough, it became clear which. She briefly debated the merit of lying, but-- Two boys got into a fight earlier. ...Where was Niso now?
Her face slowly faded into something resolute, her eyes quite possibly the most sincere Lucien had ever seen them. There was no warm light or playful glee or mischievous spark. "Where is he." It was barely a question. "Were you two the boys people were saying were fighting?" She'd have asked if Lucien hurt him, but it was Niso. She had to imagine he took a beating, but it was Niso. And holy Arceus she had never realized just how much she appreciated not having to worry about his injuries until now.
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Breeder
PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Jayspurr
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Post by Lucien Benoit on Dec 28, 2017 22:21:41 GMT -8
Lucien let out a slow breath at Sera’s question. “Probably halfway to wherever the hell he hides out,” he answered dryly, his own eyes deadening a little. He took in a breath and forced out the next couple of words. “We were the ones fighting…” Yeah, that was the basic truth wasn’t it? His free hand tightened into a fist. “I used my aura and beat the shit out of him, and he returned the fucking favor.”
Luci’s teeth grit, and his eyes reflected something truly frightening, truly angry for a moment. “If he were mortal I would have killed him for what he’d done to my sister, my brother, my cousin… my family.” His voice snarled, and what aura he still had to burn flared in his eyes. “Do you know what he did to them? Do you know what he did to Elena?” Had he explained this to her? Did she know what Niso had done? All of the horrible things Niso had done? She had to have.
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Coordinator
He's into me for everything I'm not, according to you. |
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY 🌸 SG 🌸
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Post by Serafeyna Carroll on Dec 28, 2017 22:40:54 GMT -8
Sera visibly flinched as Lucien proclaimed he'd 'beat the shit' out of Niso, and the follow-up stressed her more, but for all the temptation to break down, something deep inside her was standing as strong as ever, and refused to let the rest fall. His anger, his hurt, were impossible to block out, too, and they melded with her own sense of rage-- was it even her own or was she re-appropriating his??-- at the thought of Niso being beaten up, taking injuries that would kill anyone else. She wanted to scream that hurting Niso wouldn't bring Elena's sight back, but after a few distressed half-noises, she managed to force herself to calm.
A deep breath, a heavy huff. A deeper breath, a slower exhale.
"I met Elena," she finally answered, tone and volume both low. "That was one of the first things I ever learned about Niso. Antoine, too." He didn't know if Antoine was Lucien's brother or cousin, actually; this was probably something a better friend would know. But she knew the Benoit connection.
Another deep breath, and her mind recreated the image. "At the Rose Gala in Caravella, back in February. I was among the hostages he took. Niso forced Antoine into a chair to torture him in front of the crowd. He taunted Elena about her eyes, surprised she was still alive at all." She knew good and well exactly how this was making him feel-- she felt it, after all-- but she maintained her composure. "Elena tried to fight him, and he went from taunting to violent." Sera pasted on a weak, false smile. "If I hadn't stepped it, he absolutely would have done his best to kill her. Probably both of them. Was actively in the process of having his Dragonite crush Elena's servant to death. Who knows who else would've been next."
Some sense of spite she didn't know she could achieve in such a degree burned in her, almost strong enough to dampen some of her feed from him. "Instead, he let everyone go. He hasn't killed anyone since before then. His crimes are getting less violent. He's sneaking into contests to put on cute plays about being yourself. Because of me. So." Her smile grew wider and more pained. "Yeah."
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Breeder
PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Jayspurr
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Post by Lucien Benoit on Dec 28, 2017 22:59:10 GMT -8
The corners of Lucien’s eyes were burning, but he was still fighting back the urge to cry. She was there at the Gala that trapped Elena that trapped Antoine that hurt them all the more. She knew— she knew how much had been taken from them— from him. Bubbling up under the still vibrant fire of anger was a nasty anxious underbelly. He had just gotten to Veria, and they had been hurt again by Niso. He could have lost them both and there was so much that wouldn’t have been said, couldn’t have been done.
But… As Sera kept talking, a different feeling came to Lucien. Whether it was exhaustion finally hitting him or the extra everything finally breaching the surface. A sharp, weird laugh escaped from him like a struggling breath. It was her doing? It was her doing. It was her. As much as he couldn't believe it, he'd already experienced enough that night to accept it for now.
“Thank you…” The words came out unexpectedly, in a weird squeak breathy laugh. His shoulders were shaking, and he was sliding down the door to a sitting position. His ribs hurt more that way, but Lucien didn’t have the energy to stand again. Instead, he’d heave a little more, cry a little more. He was choking back other words, other feelings, other everything. “I couldn’t take it if…. They were taken away from me…”
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Coordinator
He's into me for everything I'm not, according to you. |
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY 🌸 SG 🌸
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Post by Serafeyna Carroll on Dec 28, 2017 23:12:44 GMT -8
As he broke down, her instinct was to comfort him, but she'd refuse it so staunchly that it almost startled her. Why was she angry? Was this still from his anger? Was his tiredness fueling some of this 'no fuck you' feeling she was clinging to? It felt as though her brain was split into two distinct parts: the more sympathetic part who was a little surprised and confused by her own actions, and the fierce part who had taken the wheel.
"And I couldn't take it if he was taken from me," she found herself answering. ..Right, that was the source of this. That was fair. "Niso Konto is the best thing that has ever happened to me. He's changed so much for--" She stopped and swallowed, his play really hitting her. "...Not even for me. Inspired.. by me, I guess... He's... changing for himself, though... Just like his Mimikyu..." Wow that reference was gonna be lost if Lucien hadn't watched his performance, ahaha....
Her own fire was weakening a bit now, and she sighed. "But..." Eyes finally moved to try to meet Lucien's, starting to sting. "I'm in love with him. He's done more for me than anyone else has ever thought of, and I don't know what I'd do without him."
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Breeder
PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Jayspurr
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Post by Lucien Benoit on Dec 28, 2017 23:42:09 GMT -8
Niso Konto was the best thing to happen to her? Really? Sera get out more or some shit. There were instances of stepping on Pykumuku that were so much better than dealing with Niso. And yet… even with his eyes down, Lucien could see Sera’s aura. She wasn’t lying. She wasn’t joking. Her wild emotions were probably about as fucked up as his own were at the moment but they were straightforward and honest enough in their manic-ness.
Niso was so important to Sera, and even if he couldn’t understand why, Lucien understood those feelings better than anyone. Elena was important to him. Antoine was important to him. Thomas and Seraph and Andie were important to him. Hell, when he looked passed their grievances, he knew damn well Dad was important to him too. It didn’t matter what had been said and done. He loved them all so dearly and he wasn’t going to deny that Sera had those feelings.
Yellow eyes raised to Sera’s. Lucien blinked harder than necessary before folding his arms over his ribs and leaning back hard against the door. “He has no empathy,” he sighed and deflated softly. “But he…” Wasn’t a complete monster. Lucien had beat that out of him in the heat of their fight. If nothing else, if no one else, he had true emotions and felt loss. He…regretted killing his parents if no one else and that brought him down some… A weird noise escaped from Lucien, and his breath shook. “M, pretty sure he let me beat him up….Let me get all that out.” All of everything that had festered for almost an entire year now.
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Coordinator
He's into me for everything I'm not, according to you. |
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY 🌸 SG 🌸
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Post by Serafeyna Carroll on Dec 29, 2017 0:00:07 GMT -8
Sera breathed out slowly, and shifted to sit down near him, still keeping a little distance but.. closer that before. "He has very little," she agreed. "He has the potential for it, but it doesn't come naturally most of the time. He's had to work on manually learning it, and often needs things explicitly spelled out to have a chance of understanding what the problem is, and even then I think half the time he doesn't care so much as just... trusts my judgement over his own and accepts it as the way things are, or... something." She laughed, very weakly but genuinely all the same. How this had come to vaguely endear her she couldn't guess.
"But..." She shifted into a bit more comfortable position, and muscle memory reached to grab her favorite cloak to pull around her before she recalled she wasn't wearing it. Damn. "He does listen to me... about everything. My silliest ideas, my deepest pain, my hopes and dreams. He... devours it all like the most luxury dish he's ever seen." Was she tearing up? Was she squeaking? Okay apparently that was happening. "He... he makes me feel... like I'm the most important person in the world." Oh her voice broke terribly on that last word, and got so much softer as she mumbled, "Or at least his world..."
But why was she telling him all this, even...? "...Please try not to hate him..." Ah, okay.
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Breeder
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PLAYED BY Jayspurr
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Post by Lucien Benoit on Dec 29, 2017 9:01:18 GMT -8
A small, tired breath escaped from Lucien. Some part of him wanted to argue she was overestimating his potential. Some part of him wanted to fight back with a ‘he killed his parents without a second thought until I pointed it out’. But some part of him had already registered that Niso wasn’t a full monster and... he wanted to believe Sera’s words… for Sera’s sake? Or maybe his own. Or maybe Elena’s and Antoine’s and anyone else’s that Niso had hurt. That Niso had the capacity for very true regret and could change.
But he was so tired and so bitter and so many other things that were weakening but not snuffed out just yet. A weird, breathed laugh broke passed his lips at her last words and his gaze raised to catch hers again. “I don’t like hating people,” was the brief answer. Lucien shifted and folded his legs in front of himself before folding over said legs. This caused more pain than it was worth, but what the fuck ever at this point. “I don’t like being angry or sad or feeling like this. I don’t want it.” His hands balled up into fists, his nails digging into his hands. “But I’ve been feeling it for months almost a year.” His voice broke for a second, and he settled in for some quiet choked noises instead. His fists relaxed, but the trembling of his hands became obvious then. “I’m tred of feeling scared.”
That was what it boiled down to huh? All those feelings that twisted around and all those thoughts that stopped and started. At their core was the image of Niso's aura still plastered in his mind. All those souls, all that turbulence. It was so fucking terrifying like WHY did it even.....
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Coordinator
He's into me for everything I'm not, according to you. |
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY 🌸 SG 🌸
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Post by Serafeyna Carroll on Dec 29, 2017 11:35:17 GMT -8
For all his tension, Sera could feel herself starting to relax now. Lucien didn't want to hate Niso. That was... so much better than most. But... heh? Feeling feelings he didn't want, huh? She wondered what that was like?
Maybe... she could turn those tables. Shifting again, she pushed herself up against the wall next to him, brushing his elbow along the way but ultimately keeping about three or four inches between them as she settled into a similar position to him. "You know... how they robbed some noble at the gala..." She breathed in deep but quiet, and smiled softly. She could do this. "Some of that money he put into custom making a silly bunk-bed-slash-fort I designed. It has a slide and a ball pit and a canopy to hide it...~" She giggled softly, and as she spoke she did her best to block out any input from Lucien, focus on how cute and sweet she found this gesture, how much it endeared her and how much silly fun could be had with it, and projected that feeling at him instead.
"He's vandalized buildings to write 'I love my girlfriend'." This was projected with similar feelings, along with a certain level of embarrassment and just a tinge of guilty pride.
"He.. knows I never wanted to be 'serious' enough to live with someone, and keeps pretending I just happen to stay over a lot even when I've been there five to seven nights a week for months." She chuckled, and added, "Or honestly, it is just as possible he legitimately hasn't realized and is still just accepting from back when I said I wasn't. He.. really can be the most naive dork...~" Her level of endearment was so strong here that she didn't even need as much effort to overwhelm outside feed.
And then a much deeper and more serious sense of adoration flooded them both. "He has sworn, to someone else when he didn't know I was there, that even when I die, if he lives forever without me, he will... still never kill again. Never break his promise to me..." Oh no she was tearing up again now, she was still not even close to getting over this (not that she believed it was something one should be able to get over).
All this, she just... wanted to 'show' Lucien, in both the words and the feelings she tried to share with him, just who Niso could really be. Who he was with her, to her. She explained all this not just to counter Lucien's fear and anger, but with an end goal in mind.
"This is... who he's become with the right support. With someone to help him find outlets and have fun without being so destructive." She grinned, weak, sheepish, but a little cheesy. "Through the Power of Love and Friendship, you could say...~" She chuckled lightly, then paused to let it all sink in for a moment before suggesting, "...You could try to get to know him, too. Could... expand his circle of friends. ... You could join me in helping him become the kind of person who wants to make up for what he's done, instead of just wanting to punish him."
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Breeder
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PLAYED BY Jayspurr
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Post by Lucien Benoit on Dec 29, 2017 12:30:45 GMT -8
Lucien’s head turned as Sera moved. Gold eyes followed her as she sat down and rested. As Sera spoke, however, they closed of their own accord. He listened to her words, felt her feelings, and slowly, truly began to relax. This was…. what he wanted? He did not want to fight a monster. He did not want to have to suffer. He didn’t want anyone to have to hurt. He just … wanted this damn situation resolved. He just—
These thoughts got twisted up with the gush of emotions that came as Sera kept talking. Yellow eyes flickered open, and for a second Lucien felt overwhelmed??? It twisted in his stomach and almost made him shudder. It was so… so weird, almost gross, heh. Man had he ever even… felt something quite like this? Probably not, probably never. He could guess the word was ‘adoration’ but he’d never Felt It??? He just…wow. Man. Wow. Was Sera the weird one or was this…was this him?
A smallish laugh did escape from him at Sera’s last statements, however. “I made him cry…” he snorted softly shifting and resting his face in his knees. “He told me he killed his parents…and I ….made him realize... how fucked up it was….” It came out in a joyless laugh now. “I don’t know if he’d … ever even realized what he’d done…..I…. mean …..” He shook his head against his arms. His neck protested angrily. Oh, guess he was hurt there at some point too. Nice to know. “How do you just….kill your parents on a whim? Shit how hard just running away from them?” His hands tightened again briefly. “But…. he....” Crying about it after the fact was not justification. Crying about it after the fact was not justice. Crying after the fact was not repentance and never would be. But it meant something, at least.
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Coordinator
He's into me for everything I'm not, according to you. |
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY 🌸 SG 🌸
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Post by Serafeyna Carroll on Dec 29, 2017 13:29:22 GMT -8
Sera... uh? What... did someone even say to something like that? She wanted to be surprised, or upset, or even maybe like... a little hurt that Niso told Lucien and had never told her? But... Here she was just kind of... "Guess that makes sense..." Really Sera? Apparently, yeah. "He never talks about his family. Guess I know why now."
She sighed slowly, sinking down a little lower against the wall. "I don't know what goes through his head sometimes. I ran from my dad, but I never wanted to hurt him. ...Like I guess spiritually." A sudden bitter laugh escaped her. "Watch him suffer seeing how wrong he was about me and knowing he couldn't make amends. But.." That brief spot of amusement faded again. "I can't imagine what he gets out of causing pain. There's just... gotta be something Wrong with him... right? To find that fun?"
Without really thinking, she shifted to scoot a bit closer, and would lean into him if he'd let her. "But.. locking people up for being sick doesn't fix anything, does it? We should... try to really help... shouldn't we?"
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Breeder
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PLAYED BY Jayspurr
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Post by Lucien Benoit on Dec 29, 2017 14:00:58 GMT -8
Wait she— she didn’t know? Luicen grimaced a little not entirely sure why this was even bothering him, but heh… maybe he just didn’t want to get him in trouble (as fucked up as that was? Arceus damn.) As Sera spoke about her own dad, however, a small snort of air escaped from Lucien. Lower, as not to detract from her words at the time, he breathed back a simple “Same.” Dads were tough heh.
But…but yeah. There was clearly something wrong with Niso. Obviously, something wrong with Niso. Battling was one thing but ….hurting people like that was so much more. As Sera leaned on him. Lucien sighed softly. He wouldn’t push her away but… “Dunno, isn’t that called quarantine ‘r something?” A soft half-laugh reverberated in his throat before falling by the wayside.
Both eyes closed again, and a sigh escaped from Lucien. “But I… I get … some of it….” Did he want to start this story? No? And yet, he physically needed to, apparently. “Back in Alola like… I guess a couple years ago now,” Lucien paused and laughed on realizing how fast time had gone by. “ I got wrapped up in a gang… they were just… my friends, ya know?” Friends who pushed him around and got him to do a lot of shitty stuff but friends none the less. “We never really …hurt anybody— and never killed anybody— but we did some stupid shit…” He grinned toothily for a second or two before allowing his features to fall again. “A lotta stupid shit.”
His eyes flickered open again and zeroed in on Sera’s face. “But… when we got caught, we…. They gave us a chance to change— and we changed. I changed. I …” He realized only after the fact that his emotions had spiked his words and shaken several of them over. Pausing, he took a slow breath in and out. “I did… a shit ton of community service… and found out how good a breeder I was.” He smiled a little and shrugged his shoulders only once. “I really enjoy it… I like connecting people to Pokemon and vice versa… and I like raising Pokemon to be the best they can be…” His eyes lidded a little. “Just needed to find a niche, ya know? Just needed that chance…”
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