On some level, she was aware of it — aware that whenever it was just the two of them ( and hydreigon, but he never participated in the conversation, so it was hard to count him ) she instinctively flooded silences with her own voice, her own observations and remarks and stories of grandeur. It was as if she feared that silence would end a conversation; as soon as it settled over the room like a blanket, he’d excuse himself and the two of them would go their separate ways. He’d be fine — he always was — but she’d find herself empty and withering, as if all of the oxygen in the room left when he did.
That was the effect that Ghetsis Harmonia had on people. When she was here with him — or even when they were out in public, and she’d feel his gaze on her, when he’d walk by and the fabric of his clothes would brush against her shoulder, when he’d speak her name with the same tonality one would use to address the stars and the moon — she felt like she was melting, she felt like she was unraveling, she felt like her rib cage was ripping open and his hand was around her heart, beating it for her.
She hadn’t even realized it, but she’d wound up talking about her first trip to Alola — her encounter with a shiny sandyghast, the morning she awoke surrounded by sandcastles on an island she didn’t recognize, the odd sensation of seemingly infinite grains of sand pooled in her lungs, and the mystery of the following days that had seemingly vanished. Her sentences were choppy and marred with excited voice-cracks ( if she were a little more aware she might have even cringed, because Ghetsis’ voice was so perfect and nice-sounding and hers was… well. ) At some point she’d moved herself to sit cross-legged near Hydreigon’s side, one hand absently stroking the feathers by the base of his wings — more like he was a large dog than any sort of ferocious dragon.
And when Ghetsis spoke her name her breathing hitched, her hand stilled, and her train of thought was left abandoned in the middle of her sentence.
( It was a coveted talent that only a few people in the world
possessed, being able to shut Kris Clarity up so quickly. )
“ Y-yeah! Yeah, a’course I do, Ghetsis, sir! ” She stumbled over her words, embarrassed that he’d have to ask something like that. She didn’t… seem tired, did she? The last thing she wanted was for Ghetsis to think she was someone he needed to worry about.
“ I’s gettin’ plenty’a rest — not too much, I ain’t slackin’ off or nuttin’!! I’s done a lot, yeah, but I’s also been a traina’ fer just about five years, now — ‘at’s a lotta’ time!! S’not like I’s pushin’ myself too hard; I’s Kris Clarity, I neva’ get exhausted!! I just… I hate sittin’ still fer too long, y’know? ‘Ere’s so much stuff out ‘dere ta do — you’s ‘da same way, right, Ghetsis, sir? N-Not ta be presumptuous or nuttin’, s’just, ah, ya strike me as ‘dat kind’a poi’son, since, ah — just look at errythin’ you’s accomplished!! Errythin’ you’s helped build!! ‘Ere’s no way any rando off ‘da streets could’a done all ‘dis — y’gotta be somethin’ special, a go-getta’, like, um. Like me, and, uh, like you, too, most likely — not ‘dat I’s questionin’ it, Ghetsis, sir, s’just ‘dat I don’t wanna, um… y’know…! ”
She’d started petting Hydreigon once more, rhythm racing to keep up with her words and hammering heart. She was rambling again.
"Ever a modest one, aren’t you??”
It was followed by a well-natured chuckle rumbling from somewhere deep in the back of his throat; to any and all observers the way his lips curled in at the edges and the twinkle to his one gleaming red eye could only suggest mirth and a genuine level of pleasantness, but in the privacy of his own thoughts he was completely aware of the fact that he was laughing at her, at the very idea of Kris Clarity ( oh, how she LOVED to listen to her own name! ) and modesty being used in the same sentence together. The fingers on his left hand ventured to the side, groping blindly at the air for a moment before he felt the familiar brush of the cold metal of his cane against his skin, and he took it in a vice grip to tap it twice against the ground. The ensuing metallic clanking got a rightful rise out of Hydreigon; he lifted one of his secondary heads momentarily in expectation of a command, and when enough time passed and none came his chin met with the floor again and his ruffled black feathers slicked themselves back down. One wing ( the one in the centre left row, the one closest to the girl’s touch ) twitched a bit and rose higher than the rest to grant her some more space in her scratching.
She was such a fool. His smile grew tauter.
"Mhmhm...!! Oh, my dear, sweet girl --- I would never condone any lethargic behaviour, but it is always important not to push oneself too hard. If you will not rest for yourself, then do it for me, from time to time: how are you to help me if your performance is hampered by fatigue?? I do care, Miss Clarity.”
I care for you like a bird does a worm.
A small, insignificant bug.
You helpless, stupid little thing that you are.
"There are certain benefits to keeping still for a time, I’ll have you know. Perhaps it is difficult for you to understand. In my younger years I was much more physically active, but with my body the way it is now...”
It was overwhelmingly rare for Ghetsis to draw any attention at all to his physical disabilities ( to anything marring his otherwise perfect body, to anything that showed him as anything less than GODLY, than ROYAL, than ABOVE CRITIQUE ), but he did it regardless, his cane clinking once more against the ground. The feathers on the end of his dragon’s tail flinched.
"... Well, all the sitting around has certainly helped aid me in the art of observation. Taking one’s time every now and then helps sharpen the mind. You do me a kindness in calling me something special---
( I AM P E R F E C T I O N. )
---but I’m afraid it really all boils down to a little critical thinking and a lot of time spent in a chair.”
