gentle beating of mighty wings [event]

[toska]

hisham lights a cigarette.

so maybe he shouldn't have left that kid alone, but it's too late to regret that now. all he could do upon leaving proserpina city was follow the trail to amber glade.

well, he's here now, and he doesn't see ismael in sight. hisham sincerly hopes that he hadn't plunged in face-first and drowned. he might...actually be quite bothered if that was ismael's fate. okay, he would be a lot bothered. 

he releases three pokemon. an eevee, a hawlucha, and a croconaw. the eevee scurries along the bushes, the hawlucha searches from the skies, and the croconaw dives into the amberwell.

hisham feels a little more at ease when croconaw comes back up with no body in his arms.

"no luck?" the amberwell has been drying out for awhile now. the deepest parts of the pool had not taken long to search.

the croconaw shakes his head.

king

[king]

this place reeked. alex wrinkled his nose, but the faint smell of tobacco comforted him. he raised the book he held higher, blocking out the bit of sunlight that came through. he was supposed to be fighting for scourge, but perhaps he could simply lead them instead.

caught up in the book, he almost didn't realize that he wasn't the one smoking this time. alex reached for his cigarette only to grasp air. someone else was here then?

a silver eevee rustled out of the bushes, to whom alex stared at. "what a shame." he murmured, eyeing its colouring. "though you must belong to someone. some eos fool." alex put his book back into his bag, trailing after the eevee, wondering who it belonged to.

a pity the eevee's eyes still had the light in them. perhaps his, her?, trainer did too. well, if the trainer was attractive it would be a different story.

[toska]

hisham just happened to have been walking in the direction that the eevee had been headed, just in case she got lost or ambushed somewhere. he had told her to keep close to him, but maybe she had heard something with her long ears. the croconaw and hawlucha were trained - they could take care of themselves. the eevee was a different matter, even if she had a good nose. she was practically a baby by pokemon standards -- a gift from a well-wishing neighbor before he left for kohaku. it would be rude to be negligent of such a gift.

above, his hawlucha watches him carefully. he is not unaware of the forest's dangers.

he does stumble upon an eevee, along with some idiot who was dumb enough to be tracking a wandering eevee without a pokemon out at all. gee, who did that remind him of? oh yes, another dumbass who was currently wandering a forest when he was barely even lucid enough to be crossing a road. without even a pokemon in a pokeball. it was a failing that even eleven year olds with pokemon league ambitions had understood plainly. had the scourge invasion truly drained the region of so much common sense?

maybe the stress was getting to him. 

however, his speaking tone is gracious. "excuse me, have you seen a boy with grey hair and grey eyes? probably too sick to even stand up straight?"


king

[king]

grey and grey, sickly? well that sounded familiar. he wondered what ismael was to this sod. "i happen to be looking for someone by that description too. ismael. does the name sound familiar?"

alex put away 'hot lavaridge steamy times' earlier, but it was still in his mind. he looked the other up and down, raising a brow. "perhaps we could... search for our partners together. power in numbers, as they say." he tipped his head, bowing slightly. "the name's alexander faysal... call me alex. it's ... a pleasure to meet you."

oh, alex would get to meet this man very well. right here by the amberwell? that was the dream.

the virus screamed inside of him, but it fueled alex. his blood was pumping, this was where he felt the most alive.

[toska]

hisham almost had to applause his own luck.

"i am hisham mersault, and ismael is a friend of mine." he takes another drag from his cigarette. "i am afraid that he may have run into some trouble. he can barely keep himself lucid, he's without pokemon, and he told me that he was going to the amberwell."

he seemed plenty calm, but hisham knows that he's got little else to go off of if amberwell turns out to be a dead end. hurrying his search wouldn't change the fact that he would be no closer to finding ismael.

"i appreciate the offer, but i am afraid that i have little else to go off of. if you have any ideas, then i'm all ears." he pauses at the mention of the name. "...family relation, i presume?" the question was a formality. hisham can see the resemblance in the face. 

king

[king]

ismael was lost? alex watched hisham's expression carefully. there was definitely concern, but it wasn't as urgent as it could be. hisham didn't know then, that ismael had been welcomed and accepted by the lemures circle. "if he is going to the amberwell, then there is little more concern, correct? it's a spring of life, it certainly should benefit if he were to be lost here. i've given him my number, if there is a dire concern he certainly would call one of us."

alex sauntered over to hisham, fully removing his headphones. "i'm ismael's older brother." it was likely that ismael would rather consider him a corpse than his older brother. lies and deceit slipped off alex's tongue like acid in their childhood. for ismael, memories of alex were toxic things to be left and forgotten. but hisham didn't know that. he retrieved a cigarette from his own case, holding it between his lips. alex leaned in close, lighting the end with hisham's, tapping it lighting a few times on the lit cigarette before smoke emerged.

"thank you for keeping ismael safe." alex took a drag, blowing two perfect smoke rings. he waved them away, the cigarette held between his fingers now. "i suppose i should do something to return the gesture."

toska

[toska]

"i'm a little more concerned about whether he would be conscious enough to dial any number" hisham tries not to show his displeasure towards ismael. he feels as if he is successful. "when did you see him last?"

perhaps alex wouldn't be so calm if his brother was truly in any danger, but there are some sick bastards out there in this world. hisham would know. he's one of them, after all. he also knows a snake in the grass when he is faced with one. he cannot deny the adrenaline rush when alex approaches. it is nothing that he has not encountered before, but he welcomes the sense of familiarity. (are you here to fuck with hisham mersault? hisham welcomes you.)

"he is a good friend. a good man." he smiles around his cigarette. "i protect him for my own sake. you owe me nothing, alex." he says the name like a contract to be sealed.

(don't give in until i am forced to strip everything from your bones)

king

[king]

honestly, the encounter in land of nightmares had been the last time, but alex doubted that he should ever tell hisham. perhaps someday, but it would be while on opposing sides. "in the dream world. i sensed he was in trouble." but enough about ismael, alex was tired talking about the teen.

"ah, but he's my brother. i must, i insist." alex laid a hand on hisham's shoulder at the last sentence. the other hand he took a drag from his cigarette, blowing the smoke out just adjacent to hisham's head. "i have something in mind, if you're interested." he leaned forward, lips grazing across hisham's throat. a slight flick of the tongue, a squeeze of the shoulder.

"ismael is so dear to me... i couldn't let an act of kindness go unpaid."

toska

[toska]

"well, isn't that an interesting power?" hisham smiles wryly at him. the croconaw comes up behind him by now to express in arm-movements that no, ismael's corpse had not been found at the bottom of the lake. at the same time, being in the dream world meant that he was unconscious. he's not sure if that's lucky or unlucky. perhaps it is only a matter of perspective. being in the dream world also meant that he was not dead.

"oh, that's adorable" he puts out his cigarette. "i don't know, i think i would be rather disturbed if you were offering me a few creature comforts in your brother's stead."

not that he looked disturbed at all. he looks at alex with faint amusement. the games shall continue for as long as you allow them to, alex

nevertheless, he allows the touches to happen. he holds himself still, but his stance is relaxed. "maybe you could repay me by telling me what happened to him. i'm stubborn, not stupid."

he places a small kiss on alex's forehead.

(god writing this kind of thing is so hard IM SO EMBARRASSED) 

king

[king]

ah, so hisham wasn't as boring as other people might be. he smiled against hisham's neck, teeth grazing his skin. "i'm selfish. maybe i just needed an excuse, you're quite handsome." he pulled back a little, hands grabbing hisham's shirt collar, fingers digging into the cloth tightly.

"tell me, hisham. in this battle against the scourge," alex's body hummed in a vicious anger, pulse jumping. it was almost physically repulsed by the 'battle against the scourge'. alex ignored it, calming the virus inside him. he knew what was true, what was real. "when was the last time you... let loose?"

alex undid one of hisham's shirt buttons.

toska

[toska]

"selfish enough to give me what i want, i hope?" hisham doesn't stop smiling, which was usually someone's cue to back the fuck off before you're in too deep. which is why he did enjoy the occasional new blood. "i have told you want i wanted. you have yet to give me a response. that's rather ... unorthodox among gentlemen."

not that the either of them were really gentlemen, but hisham can handwave that. "i don't let loose until i get what i want. that's all there is to it." he catches alex's hand and grins like a wolf. "i prefer to be paid upfront."

where in seven hells is ismael faysal?

king

[king]

he really wouldn't let up, would he? alex sighed, expression mildly bored. ismael was a boring topic. he preferred attention on him. "he's resting. i found him earlier and let him sleep by a tree. my pokemon are guarding him."

yeah, alex had no idea where the fuck ismael was. sonata certainly wasn't looking after him.

"i've given you what you wanted. i believe it's time you gave me what i want." alex leaned over to press his lips full on to hisham's. whispering into the other's mouth, "you know what that is."

toska

[toska]

"yes, and i suppose that i should take you at your word." to his credit, hisham hasn't started laughing yet. "that's cute. it almost makes it seem as if the two of us are...trustworthy. which we are, of course."

as trustworthy as a sneasel in a pidgey nest, maybe. he'll need to confirm.

"maybe i do." hisham kisses him back, pushing against the other man, an arm curled around his waist as support.

then he pulls away from alex and pulls out a c-gear. "good to know that he's still around the forested area, then. and to think, i almost headed back for proserpina."

he dials ismael's number. he had reached the voicemail earlier, but an answer is not what he's looking for this time.

hYCaaatM < 50 a c-gear sound can be faintly heard somewhere from the other side of the amberwell. i mean the amberwell is basically a small pond right

king

[king]

alex curled against hisham, smiling. "i'm sure you do. you seem smart, you must be if ismael is with you." in the back of his mind, alex wondered what ismael was doing with this sod anyway. well, his win.

alex listened carefully while watching the cgear intently. there was just silence. "i don't think ismael is here anymore. my pokemon would have taken him to a centre if he was injured. he wasn't." he would be, if he fell into the amberwell, that was for sure. "come now, hisham. i'm not the most patient person in the world. my pokemon can surely vouch for that."

he closed the c-gear, pressing up against the other. "hisham... come on. ismael would be fine." alex rolled his body against hisham's, certain that the other could feel something lower.

king kindly censored a bit more he did, not wanting kohaku to get shut down.
toska

[toska]

while alex was busy being a gigantic perv, hisham's pokemon weren't just standing there looking throughly disgusted at their trainer's priorities. well, maybe they were. a little.

hisham can't say that he was completely immune to the other man's pandering. which is exactly why he deems this situation a little too dangerous for his liking. alright, you win. he thinks as he frees one of his hands to signal to croconaw. the water pokemon is only too happy to oblige him. he blasts alex with a water gun just as hisham completely distangles himself.

"i don't deal with anyone who can't give me what i want." he smiles, as if it could get any clearer that he trusts anyone for as far as he could throw them. "so you might want to think about dinner reservations instead of vague reassurances."

vague reassurances are his field of expertise.

king