Adventure Thread - Group A

Late the next morning is when Rei finally wakes. She just stares up at the ceiling and tries to collect her thoughts. It's a struggle to even remember meeting Xerneas in the first place before everything went insane. Most of her mind is on two things. Whatever caused Holly to act this way, and Marissa. She 'HATES' Holly's sister right now. It's terrible, even she realizes that, considering how much she cares for Holly but... What the actual hell was Rei supposed to do way back when she showed up during the fight with the others? Run and kill herself trying to stop D'mara? And the battle themselves was a mix-up in the first place.

And then there's what was in Holly's mind. How did it even happen? It sounds like D'mara did it, according to Marissa. That would track, considering she had her for a while. But then... if it was her plan all along... how did D'mara know that early that Holly would join them?

She just sighs and stares up at the ceiling. She can't keep worrying about this, about herself. It's going to be so hard, she passed her stress limit yesterday. Most things in her life feel like she's either at fault, and if she isn't at fault, then she's just the unluckiest person in the world, and that won't change after defeating D'mara.

This just sucks...

As the 'love' pours in, Rei has trouble keeping the hate. She just has to just shut down her emotions. All of them.

She just stares up at the ceiling and waits for Holly to wake up.

Kalani is not only still in bed, but snuggled right up next to Clay, an arm draped over him. Must've happened sometime in the night, but Clay can quite definitely feel her soft body pressed up against his back. Thankfully, she only groans a bit in her sleep when he stretches out wide, but she remains pressed up against him.

Clay turns a little red, but he leans back down and kisses Kalani's forehead gently. He must not have noticed her snuggling up to him - of course, he's used to that from Fan. This is a little different, though.

There's a lot he should probably be doing. He needs to check on Rei and Holly and see if either of them can tell him what the heck happened last night... everybody from Fighting Branch is liable to be up here soon... he should probably at least say hi to Tiki and thank her for helping out, assuming she hasn't already started back to Celadon...

... But he can wait a little while. Let Kalani wake up with him still there, at least. He snuggles back down next to her, and if he doesn't go back to sleep, he'll at least still be there.

Rei and Holly head out for where Clay said he'd be spending his nights, the Mayor's house. She gently knocks on the door, hoping Clay hasn't run off already.

Rei stands her ground but then she just becomes a jungle gym for the young pokemon.

"Ah! Hello again you all."

She sticks her tongue out at Holly who seems to have dodged all the pokemon play. She looks back.

"Hey, if Clay is still in, could you let him know once he's available that we are outside? He probably wants to talk to us anyway."

Rei knows it's rude to just enter in without a proper invitation inside, and Kalani and Clay probably deserve some time together anyway. She looks to Holly.

"So what would you like to do while we wait?"

And a bit off to the side.

"Maybe help me with the totodiles so they stop turning me into a jungle gym?"

Clay grins back at Kalani when she finally wakes up. "Morning, sleepyhead."

While she gets started on the day, he dresses quickly and slips out, hearing the commotion at the front door. He can hear a ton of tiny Totodiles, so he's sure someone's there - and his suspicions are confirmed when he meets Gertrude on his way down.

He sticks his head out the door. "Morning, Rei! Hi, Holly! You two doing better today?" Holly is smiling, which seems like a pretty good sign. "I see you met Gertrude's kids."

"They think everybody's some sort of toy."

Clay laughs quietly, but settles down as Rei starts to explain just what the heck happened last night. When she finishes, he lets out a long sigh. "Well, I'm glad you're both okay. Mostly. I didn't want to hang around and bug you last night 'cause you looked like you needed a break, and if Holly was really hurt..." He hugs himself and glances away. "It seems like you usually wanna deal with that stuff on your own."

Quietly, he adds, "I wouldn't pay too much attention to what scary sister says. At least not about this being your fault. No offense, Holly, but your sister's... not always the clearest thinker when it comes to you hanging around humans. Probably about like I'd be if Fan started dating a Mankey." Privately, Clay thinks he's a little more rational about Mankey than Marissa is about humans, but then, he doesn't have direct, serious emotional trauma about them.

"We all wanted to try and get you back to the Guild, but it was because you were hurt and the Guild's where the healers are. None of us could've expected D'mara to show up - none of us even knew who she was then." His hands clench for a moment before relaxing. D'mara he's entirely willing to admit he has a Beedrill in his bonnet about. Then again, he's pretty sure he's justified in wanting to punch D'mara in the face a few times before they get her to either act like a responsible death god - whatever that means - or give Yveltal's power up to someone who will. "And if hurting either of you hurts you both, well, we'll just have to make sure you're both okay, then."