starlightlightning

[starlightlightning]

do you really want someone like ree as a kid, though?

"What's that supposed to mean, huh?"

"Anyone should count themselves lucky if they get to be Ree's family, and I'd choose them any day if I had to. They're a great kid! Sweet, smart, creative, brave, selfless, and thoughtful. And if anyone says otherwise...."

Her cracking her knuckles did a pretty good job at finishing the sentence for her.

[starlightlightning]

Mom... mom... mom... mom...

The word was going to be echoing in her head for a while until she sorted out why she was so giddy and starry eyed at the thought of being one.

She was going to have to sit on that one for a little bit.

"Haha! Ree~ Aren't you supposed to be taking better care of yourself? You're healing up, you need to give your body the energy to heal properly!" Elesa chided lightly without a hint of anger or disappointment. Honestly, she was in too good of a mood to be anything but.

Mom...

She sighed, putting her hands on her hips.

"Let's get some lunch in you then. Someplace where there'll be plenty of leftovers so you can just reheat it later." And maybe something from a bakery for the rest of Team Skull. It wouldn't be fair for Ree to come back with food and not have something for everyone else too.

She totally caught on. She totally knows that Ree almost called her mom. Elesa’s face is so flushed up and her eyes are watery. She’s …

she looks like she’s about to cry. Ree, what the heck is wrong with you, making a nice lady cry by accidentally calling her mom.

It’s not like they know what a mom is supposed to act like. They’ve never had a mom, not really.

“… yeah, uhm.

I ate … some croutons for breakfast, and I had some apple juice.”

They have no idea how to act in this situation. They’ve never gaffed up this badly before. Is there anything salvageable here or do they need to leave the country.

[starlightlightning]

I wonder if I would be a good mom figure. I've got to be better at it than my mom was, but... I don't know if I'm exactly a good role model...

[starlightlightning]

"Yup! Sometimes you just cant help it if you get in trouble! Even if you try not to." Elesa nodded sagely, her own adventures running through her head. It probably wasn't totally the same because she did most of the time stumble into trouble purposefully, but-

She paused, something Ree said catching her attention and dragging her out of her thoughts.

"Mo...?"

Was... it certainly sounded like the start of mom. But... That couldn't be right, right? Ree's reaction was answer enough though, and Elesa had to do a quick double take. But they were clearly embarrassed! Anyone would be! But she couldn't help but feel giddy.

A mom figure? Her?

Don't make a big deal out of it! They're embarrassed already! Just be cool and pretend you didn't hear them! I don't know how to react properly to that anyway! Do I want to be a mom figure? Do I want to be a mom? Maybe I heard wrong? They could have started saying 'marmite' or 'mars' or...

Elesa cleared her throat and smiled.

"Y-yeah! Miss Elesa is fine! Mhmm." Well that was awkwardly delivered. Super cool and casual, Elesa. Quickly, she added, "Have you eaten today? Had plenty of water?"

“I get what you’re sayin. Most of my injuries are cause I stick my nose where it don’t belong and wind up havin to fight. Still, I think the only grownups I know that’s got scars like that are you an’ my teacher an’ my dad.”

They do wanna hear about her misadventures though. Elesa always seems so proper and — normal, for lack of a better term. The little champion laughs, scratching the back of their neck.

somehow, hearing Elesa talk like this makes them feel better about their own scars.

“— right! That was an accident. Sorry, mo—

….

— Miss Elesa.”

[starlightlightning]

"Haha, it kinda did. But it was my own fault, I shouldn't have been where I was." Elesa laughed, glad that Ree seemed to cheer up at the realization that she was just as scrappy and scarred up as they were. Her skin is itchy where the scar is, her body immediately reminded of how the scars ended up there.

She smiled.

"Yeah, we are. I have more scars than just these too. I'll have to tell you about some of my misadventures at some point. You'll probably be surprised to know how much trouble I get into back home!" Elesa had the decency to at least look a little embarrassed by her statement. People her age really shouldn't be getting into so many scraps. Should be setting some positive, mature example or something like that.

But, life wouldn't be as exciting if she did that.

"And I thought I said not to call me ma'am?" She giggled

“… woah.”

Ree’s eyes go wide at the sight of the injury. They never expected someone like Elesa — pretty and kind and gentle and nothing like the scrappy, angry punk that Ree is — to have something like that. It’s …

“that’s so … cool,” they say, more in awe than anything, as they scoot a little closer to see the healing injury, “it looks like it hurt…”

Ree’s eyes glance up at Elesa’s face, at her smile, and feels … at ease about it. A grin cracks across their face, too.

“Guess we’re two peas in a pod, huh, ma’am?”

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Elesa took Ree's hands in hers, gently, their hands barely resting against her palms as she stared sadly down at the injuries. They were healing, but they must have been pretty bad to still be there even though they had been done in April. She wished she'd been there, maybe she wouldn't have been able to help, but...

After a moment of quiet thought, Elesa smiled and pulled her hands away, long enough to roll up her right sleeve and show off the raw, jagged claw and teeth marks that covered her arm. Normally, she went through great pains to put on latex and make up and scar coverage, but she was glad she opted for long sleeves today.

They weren't her newest scars, but, she wasn't about to show off her still-healing stab wound.

"... You're not the only one who gets into trouble a lot, without meaning to." She said lightly, rolling her sleeve back down and taking Ree's hands in hers once more, this time with a bit more pressure - an attempt at comfort.

"People like us just tend to find it. Or maybe we're just magnets for it? So I can't be upset or angry about you getting into trouble. I can just be glad that you came back from it."

“I mean… it’s not like I did it by myself on purpose. I was actually — asking for help. I was trying to figure out… what to do… when I got jumped, and then it sorta snowballed from there.”

This is … ugh. Ree’s fingers clench and loosen against the palms of their hands, feeling the pull of the burn scars there. The little blond can’t look Elesa in the eye, and the red chain pieces they still have weigh heavy in their pockets.

“You don’t have to talk… about your stuff. I know you’re only sayin’ that to make me comfortable. I just…”

They hold out their hands, palms up; the injuries, though healing, are still evident.

“I get in a lot of trouble. I don’t mean to. It just happens.”

[starlightlightning]

"no trespassing" "restricted area" "private property" bro im literally curious by nature

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It kind of felt like they were both hiding things from each other. That was troubling... especially since she knew the sort of things Champions dealt with on the daily. Evil organizations, world-ending disasters, all that sort of stuff. Elesa never much liked the idea of kids dealing with that stuff though.

It felt wrong.

Kids were supposed to just have fun. Not save the world.

Maybe she should lead by example...

"Hrm... well, you don't have to do things like that by yourself. It's better if you don't. I've met a lot of Champions over the years, and most of them had friends to fall back on during hard times," Elesa began, rubbing nervously at her chin. "... What if I talked about my stuff first? Then you talk about yours. No d-dodging questions from either of us, alright?"

“Oh, don’ worry, it was just … champion … stuff … that I had to deal with. You know. Things every champion has ta deal with one way or the other.”

That’s kind of not a lie, right? After all, hasn’t ever champion in recent memory had to fight against people that want to either bring the world to its knees or destroy it completely?

Hopefully Elesa won’t press. Ree is avoiding that too. They scratch at the inside of their wrist for a moment…

“Anyway. It’s okay that you couldn’t help me. It was something I had to do by myself.” Until Lance swooped in to rescue their ass.

[starlightlightning]

"I'm sorry April was so awful... maybe May was punishment for me not being around more to help you out." That certainly made more sense than her being friendly with Proton and Archer. She'd been friendly with them for a while, it didn't make sense for karma to just now start kicking her for it.

Talking about everything that sucked could make it better...? That didn't quite sound right, but...

Honestly, she'd take anything at this point.

"Huh... talking about it... I guess there's no harm in trying that at some point... and, er, you know, if you need to talk about April, I'll gladly listen!"

Ah, even she could see that she was dodging talking about her own problems. Pretty obviously. It wasn't really right though, to pile all these adult problems on a kid, especially when said kid had so much going on already.

Especially when said problems ranged from really annoying to dangerous and scary.

“I mean… I get that. April was a pretty shitty month for me.”

That was when Cyrus had encountered them and tried to destroy time and space when Ree snapped the red chain he had in his possession. They’d been beaten black and blue, and in the end they were so exhausted they were bed bound for a week. And then they met the other version of Ghetsis, which has been… a whole other … thing.

Ree doesn’t say that though. It would only freak Elesa out. So instead, they simply nod their head, fidgeting with their fingers.

“I think that once you tell somebody that stuff has really sucked for you, life realizes that you’re catchin on and suddenly gets a little better. At least, it makes me feel better ta tell myself that.”

[starlightlightning]

i post this and immediately after that, the blog i worked all night on got nuked bc i had my vpn on.

tumblr, you piece of shit

may was hell. like, literal hell. i think ive served ten years in hell with as bad as it was, and i'm not joking or saying it in jest

it sucked

june is the gay month. it better be amazing or its homophobic.

[starlightlightning]

Honestly, things had been going pretty miserably for Elesa lately; everything in nearly every aspect of her life that could go wrong had, and she was honestly starting to wonder if it was karma for something that she didn't understand. Was it because she was friendly with Archer and Proton?

...Yeah, it was probably that.

Either way, it had been a Bad Month for her and she'd been more than a little low and down on herself.

"Haha, no, no it's nothing like that!" Elesa exclaimed, laughing lightly. She smiled faintly, though she didn't quite meet Ree's eyes. "It's just... been a really rough month is all. The kind of month that makes you wonder if you're being punished for something. Maybe I've just been working too much and I'm starting to slip up more often because of it."

She kicked at the ground a little, sighing softly.

"Sorry for asking something like that out of the blue."

-> @starlightlightning

❝ do you think i'm a good person? ❞

“Huh…? Of course you are.”

The answer is immediate, even if Ree doesn’t quite understand why it’s being asked. The little champion dips their head, trying to connect with Elesa’s gaze — did something happen that upset her? Did someone say something nasty?

“… do you need me to beat somebody up?”

[starlightlightning]

may was hell. like, literal hell. i think ive served ten years in hell with as bad as it was, and i'm not joking or saying it in jest

it sucked

june is the gay month. it better be amazing or its homophobic.

[starlightlightning]

"I've decided to quit being Gym Leader! Hehe... just kidding! April Fools!"

(This is a cry for help; she's been so busy.)

[starlightlightning]

im alive! and medicated.

im gonna sloooooowly start getting back into the swing of rping... i've been so busy the last few months so i'm excited to get back into relaxing and chilling. and probably starting too many threads... i'm sorry for people i've accidentally ghosted, i was having a Bad Time(tm)

who did i owe replies to on this blog again... actually i probably will just... not look at those and instead do a proper starter call tomorrow...

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I want to make this known; it’s OKAY to flirt with my muse, it’s okay to say flirty things to them, yes, they may not react to it, they may not respond to it positively, but know as a mun I’m 100% OKAY with it. Especially if my muse is clearly attractive appearance wise, go ahead, flirt with them, if my muse is your muse’s type, it’s okay to flirt, we don’t have to be shipping, we don’t ever have to ship to have you flirt with my muse; I WONT think you’re pushing a ship on me either. But I just feel that some people are scared to have their muse be flirty to another because we a muns might take it the wrong way.

 I’m not saying this goes for everyone, but I’m letting you know that it doesn’t make me uncomfortable and I’m fine with it. 

[starlightlightning]

Oh, that was good to know. Ree had a head start on this kind of thing at least, that was good to know. Now she wouldn't need to worry quite so much at least.

Her shoulders slumped in relief, and she let out a little sigh.

"That's good at least! I'm so glad to hear that." She admitted, leaning back on the counter and picking at her sandwich a bit. It was definitely starting to get a bit soggy due to the amount of fussing she'd been doing, but she didn't really care all that much.

As long as Ree was eating, that was what mattered.

"I was just-- sorry, I really hope I'm not coming off as too much of a worry-wart," She most certainly was. "I just-- well I guess I am a worry-wart... I never had anyone to tell me how to do these kinds of things, so I just had a really hard time with it... so I wasn't sure if you had the same troubles I did. But... you're already a lot more independent and clever than I was at your age."

Oh… okay, maybe it’s not as funny to see Elesa freak out as they thought it would be. They should have kept their mouth shut, honestly…

“I have a savings account, yeah. In my bank. That’s where most of my money goes. But — yknow, it ain’t just me bringing money in. Lots of the skulls are earning dough. Nobody’s dependent on me.”

Guzma had been very insistent about that. Ree works because they want to, not because they have to.

“I don’t really spend my money, either.” Not when they can get a five finger discount on most stuff “and I get extra cash sometimes” when Mr Lu takes them out to steal wallets from tourists “so we ain’t in danger or nothin.”

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"Wha-- that's awful!" Elesa squawked in shock, horrified by the thought of how awful it probably was to have a Pokecenter that barely worked and power that wasn't even on! She'd been there of course, and it'd been annoying, especially since Unovan summers were horrid.

At least they were doing better, but now she was even more worried!

What if something happened?

She didn't doubt their strength, but what if next year Ree lost? Were they able to save any of the money they got monthly? Did they even know how to save money? She hadn't been taught that as a kid, and had to learn on her own, but it'd been hard!

Elesa fidgeted a bit, clearly having a lot of questions.

"I know you're doing better now, but... I mean-- er-- do you have a savings account set up? For emergencies and all that? I didn't really learn that stuff until a few years ago, and it took me a long time to make it a habit to save..." Oh geez, she really was starting to sound like a parent, and every word that followed that just dug the nervous hole deeper.

they’re a little embarrassed that they never realized it, honestly. Elesa is being so nice about it, but … shouldn’t there be like. A gender radar or whatever? Ree takes another bite of their sandwich and swings their legs a bit.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” they say, instead of apologizing. Elesa doesn’t really seem to want them to apologize, anyway. The blond looks up at him, frowning quietly to themself… thoughtful.

“If you were here four years ago, you’d have a heart attack, i think. We didn’t even have power in the house half the time, an’ the Pokémon center in town was all busted. I’d hate for you to freak out about that.”

Even if it would be funny. A little bit.

“We’re doin a lot better now.”