diamond dust;

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. INSURRECTION.

[lumipose-blog]

reunion (@lucas)

[lumipose-blog]

He looked guilty right away. Dawn’s first instinct had been to forgive him immediately and pull him into a hug, but she was far too stubborn for that. Not after all she’d gone through looking for him, only to find him by accident in Sunyshore. And who did he think he is being so blasé about this?

"Sorry?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. She nearly crossed her arms against her chest in defiance, but thought better of it at the last moment.

Instead, she frowned and slugged him in the shoulder with perhaps a little more force than necessary. 

"I have more words for you," she hissed, glancing at the grunt out out of the corner of her eye, "but it’s going to have to wait for now. Or, at least until we ditch this guy."

Dawn glanced back at the grunt, then grabbed ahold of Lucas’ arm, tugging him into a run without warning. “C’mon — keep up!”

[kongoseki]

Okay, so she was mad. That was fair. He hadn't at all been expecting her to hit him, an "Ow!" near-shouted mixed into uncomfortable laughter born from nerves while he cringed and rubbed his poor, freshly aching shoulder, but Lucas had to suppose that was fair too. He probably deserved it, and whatever else lay in store for him (though he was dreading it, the ominous tone of her low voice only making him cringe further).

He'd been about to respond with a shaky word of agreeance when he was stopped in his tracks by her sudden bolting, dragging him alongside her, but at least his body had the good grace to reactively burst forward with her where his mind halted. "Dawn?!" Was the response that came instead, startled but complacent partly because she was absolutely right and partly because there was really no other option. Truthfully, Lucas wasn't particularly athletic-- generally speaking lab work didn't involve lifting weights or anything like that-- but he was at least capable of hightailing it away from pursuit.

(Sometimes you really piss off wild pokemon and have to book it. It just happens. The struggle is real.)

That didn't stop him from nearly tripping and hitting the ground hard with his face, regaining balance in the nick of time before the stumble became a fall, a hand shooting up to keep his hat firmly held on his head rather than preparing to catch himself-- which in hindsight should have been his natural reaction, but hey, marathon running wasn't his area of expertise, okay?

[lumipose-blog]

reunion (@lucas)

Months. It had been months since Dawn had heard from either Lucas or Barry. No matter who she asked or how far she traveled, there was never any news of either of them. In her search for them, she’d run into Team Galactic on numerous occasions, joined an exclusive resistance, attended a meeting at mythological ruins, and scoured other regions. 

Maybe she had to accept that they didn’t want to be found. 

Dawn sighed as she walked along one of the streets of Sunyshore. It was getting late out, and she knew that the city had certainly become less safe since Volkner left the gym, but with her Luxray out of its Pokeball by her side, she tended to feel better. She could spot a Galactic Grunt watching her nearby.

She groaned— all she wanted was warmer weather and ice cream — one of them first times in forever she was allowing herself any kind of luxury — and it had to become a big deal.

Pouting, Dawn tossed the rest of her ice cream cone to Luxray. “I don’t even want it anymore.”

Luxray swallowed the cone whole, then something seemed to attract its attention. A familiar scent, maybe. Luxray took off, leaving Dawn baffled and running to catch up with it. With a quick look behind her shoulder, she noticed the Grunt scrambling to keep his eye on her. When she looked forward she noticed Luxray running towards what appeared to be a boy with a astonishingly familiar beret.

"Lucas?" she asked incredulously before repeating herself louder. "Lucas! Hey!"

[kongoseki]

There's a lot to be said about guilt.

Lucas has a lot to feel guilty for, what with the whole 'Sorry I helped set Cyrus free on the region again' thing and all, and if anything has been his motivation in all that's come since-- even if it's only stacked on more guilt in certain aspects, between up and disappearing with little to no contact between his friends and family-- it's the desire to set things right.

Of course, it's never that easy.

But one finds it's much easier to disappear off the radar when you aren't the hero; the part he played in the original Galactic takeover was a more modest one, by the large, and a research assistant isn't the most interesting target to keep an eye on. His personality isn't one that leads to sticking out in a crowd. Slipping off after confiding in only one sole person isn't difficult to manage. All the factors add up into making it easy to disappear, the hardest part lying in the struggle with not contacting anyone else--

He should have factored their own agency in to the plan more, a realization he only comes to when a familiar voice jostles him, and there's nothing to do but turn to the old friend calling him and halt his brisk pace to allow her approach. His heart pounds in his chest despite the steady sinking feeling, and already, a grimly apologetic smile softens the youth's expression as the familiar Luxray bounds toward him. One step forward. Two. Three. Enough to cross the short distance, despite the sensation that he thinks might be reluctance.

There's a lot of explaining to do, he's sure.

"Dawn. Hey."

Eye contact is brief before his gaze falls to the ground between them, and there's so much to say, but he keeps it brief, voice cautiously low in face of the presence of the none too subtle grunt.

"I'd have kept up contact, but you've got quite the entourage as of late. Still-- I'm sorry."