The Cloyster - Evening - Humid
Kasimir Rheinallt
“Thank you; have a nice day sir!" The cashier beamed at him; Kas shot her a wink more by reflex than anything, grinning right back.
"Thanks, Gabby; you too." He wasn't the kind to make a pass at someone on the clock; they were paid to be friendly and even if she was into him she couldn't escape the situation if she changed her mind and he didn't want to harass anyone even if purely by accident. He was conscious of stuff like that, and frankly thought everyone should be. It was basic courtesy, but pretty rare as far as he could tell.
Shifting his purchases to one hand, he pulled his phone out of his pocket with the other, hitting the seventh number on his speed dial and bringing the device to his ear. When the other end was picked up, he grinned, even though the person on the other end wouldn't be able to see. "Hey Cy, sorry for the call, I'd have texted, but it'd have taken too long. You have plans tonight?"
He supposed this could sound like he was asking her out. But he was pretty sure she wouldn't take it that way. Cy didn't ever seem to mind flirting and goofing around, but he had the feeling he wasn't really her type—just sort of a vibe she'd given off. Honestly he doubted she'd even call him a friend, despite having lived and worked together for months now. He had to admit that one stung just a tad: he could handle not being her cup of tea no problem, but he'd figured he was at least fun enough to rate friend status. Yet he always sensed a distance with her, under the playful exterior. In any case, he was pretty confident she'd interpret it as it was meant: a casual invitation from one coworker to another.
“Ah, hey Kas," she replied easily. She seemed to shuffle around from the background noise before she spoke again. “And actually, I don't have any plans tonight. Do you?" she asked, a bit of curiousity in her voice, leaking through. He could hear her on the other side of the phone, though, speaking to someone. Or something when she mentioned Diva. Apparently the lycanroc had something she shouldn't have.
“Sorry, Diva's trying to eat my shoe."
He laughed softly; that sounded about right for the pokémon, honestly.
"Well, I dunno if I'd go so far as to call them actual plans, but I did just stop by the store and get some stuff. Including some rum and punch," He knew it to be her preferred mixed drink, so he'd picked up the ingredients—easy enough to mix on the fly. "I figure you probably hadn't done the whole 'get drunk on the beach at night' bit yet, but everyone who lives on an island has to do it eventually, so I thought if you were up for it you might be so kind as to bring a couple things to drink out of at meet me at the backisland beach?"
He paused, and then: "oh and feel free to bring your pokémon. The rules about which ones can get let out are kinda relaxed at night and I doubt there'll be much of anyone around."
He could hear her huff lightly, but it was easy to tell she was laughing, too. “Sure, Kas. Sounds like it'll be fun," she replied. More movement in the background could be heard as it seemed that she was rummaging through the cabinets. Probably to look for glasses or cups of some sort. “Alright, got what we need; I'll meet you there in a few minutes, thirty tops," she stated, the other end of the line clicking to signal the end of the call.
It took him about ten minutes ambling at his slowest to reach the spot; he took off his sandals immediately. Shoes on the beach were a crime against humanity. He'd come from a run, so he was still wearing loose athletic shorts and a brightly-colored rashguard, breathable and patterned in blue, green, yellow, and even a bit of orange. The sleeves were fitted, but only to his elbows, exposing some of his ink, especially the tribal-style black and green on his left arm. He wasn't concerned about it though—NTR wasn't really fussy about stuff like that, even in the office.
The beach was nice, even compared to walking around in town, fresh air in off the ocean helping to alleviate the thick heat of the fading summer day. It was almost like being home again.
Someday, maybe.
True to her word, it had only taken about twenty minutes for Cyrilla to arrive. She'd been perched on Zero's back, probably using him for transport. She slid off his back, and placed a hand inside of the arcanine's mane, pulling out what seemed to be a bag of sorts. It probably had the cups inside of it. She turned towards Kas's direction and waved. She was dressed for the humid weather, it seemed. A dark, hunter green short-sleeved cardigan over a white tank top and a pair of black capris that had some tears near her thighs and one in her right knee. She was wearing slip-on canvas shoes, too, that were white.
“Hey, Kas," she greeted, Zero trotting behind her before he took a seat when she stopped. His tail was wagging in an almost excited manner, and his tongue lolled out of his mouth. Cyrilla rolled her eyes at him, though, before turning back towards Kas. “Brought the cups."
"Excellent. I brought the booze." He grinned, holding up the bags in his hand. He'd been conned into the reusable ones because he was a sucker at heart. Normally he'd have just done paper, but they'd been out and plastic was an affront to someone who'd occasionally cut them loose from around the necks of ocean pokémon when he was a kid.
With his free hand, he pulled the pokéballs from his belt and let his team out, unsurprised when Lani headed immediately for the water and Widget took to the sky. Princess took her time looking around, satisfying herself that there were no challenges to be had, though she did eye Cy and Zero dubiously for a few long seconds before huffing and turning away from them. The massive charizard was taller than he was, and pitch-black by way of coloration, the flame burning on her tail casting her in deepening hues as the sun lost its last bit of grim on the horizon.
Sigrún and Meep stuck a little closer, as they were inclined to do, and he paid little mind as he dug out the rum and juice to hand over to Cy, trading her for one of the cups, into which he poured some of the extra things he'd brought for mai tais, which were not usually his favorite but suited this setting very well.
The cheap version of this activity was done with cans of beer, but he'd figured Cy had a bit more class than him, so he'd sprung for the best stuff the little local grocery had. Parking himself on the sand, Kas mixed his drink by swirling it around inside the glass and took a swallow, stretching his legs out in front of him. "Now this—this is the life." He grinned sideways at Cy, as if inviting her to agree, though he didn't seriously expect her to think so. They were sitting on the sand with no chairs or blankets, drinking supermarket alcohol on a sweaty night. But for Kasimir, it was nostalgic, in a way.
“Is it, now?" she asked, arching a brow in his direction as she pulled the pokéballs from her own belt, and gave them a toss. Noctis immediately made his way towards the water, jumping straight into it, perhaps, to enjoy the cool waters. Zephyr, however, climbed into Cyrilla's lap when she'd taken a seat next to Kas, crossing her legs so that the meowth could be more comfortable, it seemed. Siri made her way towards Princess, though, and stared up at her. There was something like wonder that crossed the noibat's expression before she made a small chirping noise. Cyrilla huffed lightly.
“Seems Siri's fond of Cinders," Cyrilla stated softly, a small grin on her face. Diva huffed lightly as the lycanroc sat on Cyrilla's other side, occasionally glancing in Kas's direction, though the reason wasn't clear. She seemed to be narrowing her eyes, if anything. Zero curled up behind Cyrilla, though, and she leaned back into his side, using him to prop herself up.
“I'll give you that it is nice, especially the way the colors reflect on the water," she stated, taking a drink from her cup.
They were mostly gone now, as it happened, the evening passing past sunset and into full dusk, but there were still some purples and indigos remaining, and they were pretty on the water, it was true. Kas flopped partly backwards, propping himself up with one forearm and elbow, keeping hold of his glass with the other. He huffed a little when Princess blinked back at the noibat, as if trying to decide what to make of this smaller creature that chirped at her, but in the end she made sort of a grumbling snort that Kas recognized as allowing the other pokémon's presence. He hadn't named her that for nothing.
"Ocean's my favorite thing in the world," he replied simply. "Always has been." He didn't feel any particular need to push his instinctive love of the sea on anyone else; he figured it was probably partly in his blood and partly in his upbringing, and that was fine. But he was going to enjoy being assigned to an island for as long as he possibly could.
Taking another swallow of his drink, he changed the subject. "Dodgeball went pretty well, I think. As nefarious schemes go."
Cyrilla snorted slightly, shaking her head. “Hm, well I think it did the job," she replied, taking another drink from her cup. She sighed, though, and pursed her lips together as if she were thinking of something. She didn't speak for a few minutes, and instead, seemed to be either enjoying the silence, or lost in thought.
“Speaking of nefarious schemes, though," she finally spoke, turning her attention towards Kas. “I may have another one that might... well," she paused, her brows furrowing lightly. She was either a bit uncomfortable with the idea, or she didn't know how to put it into words. She pushed a sigh through her nose before she glanced back towards the water.
“I may have found a way to speed things up like the boss wants," she finally answered, keeping her gaze out at the ocean, and throwing back the rest of her drink.
Kas lifted an eyebrow, unsure whether he was more intrigued by the idea itself or the fact that he was sensing some reluctance about it. "Care to let me in on your brilliance?"
Her brows furrowed as she swirled her empty cup in her hand. “Well, you know how Ana has that large facility, right?" she began, finally glancing back towards Kas. “I was talking with her the other day when I went to visit, and... well, she's thinking about renting out one of the rooms she has. She needs the income; we all know that, and as much as I'd like to help with that, she won't accept it without being rightly suspicious. And I don't want to foist anything upon her that she won't accept or will make her uncomfortable."
“We also both know how uncomfortable Ryk is at the apartment. It has nothing to do with the both of us, but..." she hesitated, there, her eyes narrowing at Kas as if she were trying to read something off of him. If she found it, she didn't say, but she did continue, “I know he doesn't like being in places like the Cloyster. They make him uncomfortable and it stresses him out more than he lets on."
“I was thinking that, we convince him to see if Ana will rent out a room to him. I think he might be comfortable there. You've seen how relaxed he is when he's helping out there, how he doesn't seem so stressed, right?" she questioned, arching a brow in his direction. It was obvious these were things that she wouldn't necessarily be saying about Eryk unless she was at least comfortable enough. And she seemed to be enough so with Kas at the moment. That or she was a light drinker despite all of her bravado, and she was already being influenced by it, a bit.
Kas considered this. It was definitely true that Ryk didn't seem totally comfortable in a swish, modern place like their apartment, and even though neither of them had really brought their lifestyles home, so to speak, they had a certain... busy way of being that he recognized probably wasn't ideal for a total introvert like Eryk was. Kas didn't think that was a flaw with any of them, just a personality difference. He'd sort of figured they'd all muddle through it doing the best they could not to complain or make things worth complaining about, since that was what they'd been told to do.
But... if Ana was really looking to rent out space in her place, that might actually work out. From a mission perspective, which Cy seemed to barely be paying lip service to at the moment, it'd be a hell of a gamble if they made it happen. There was a chance the simple closeness afforded by domesticity would give them the answers they were after much faster—hell, he knew way more about Cy and Ryk both than he would have if he hadn't been sharing housing with them. Even just incidental shit could be useful, but some important things he'd learned that way, too.
In a way, it would make his mission harder, since he still wasn't sure what his in was going to be with all this Project Nebula stuff and as his technical superior, Ryk was a good angle to have cultivated, but... it probably wouldn't hurt if the guy loosened up a little, either.
Humming, Kas drained the rest of his drink and picked up the rum bottle stuck in the sand between them, amused when Diva tracked the motion, as though she were waiting for him to try pouncing on Cy or something. Some pokémon were like that, though; he could hardly be offended. He didn't bother to mix his drink this time, just drinking the rum straight instead.
"That would either work really well or completely blow up in our faces," he noted with a trace of amusement. "It does make you sound a bit like a matchmaker, though." He knew, of course, that this wasn't Cy's primary intention, but he did wonder, sometimes, if she might not have the seed of a thought in the back of her mind shaped that way.
She barked a short laugh, then, surprising Diva a bit as the lycanroc stood almost ready to fight. She tapped the lycanroc's nose lightly, causing Diva to twitch her nose. “Behave, Diva. He's not going to do anything. It's Kas," she spoke, as if to reassure Diva that he wasn't going to do anything. Diva rolled her eyes, but obliged, and curled up on the other side of Zero, perhaps to be out of sight.
“If it blows up in our faces, I'll take the blame for it and say it was my idea. It technically is, after all," she muttered softly, her brows furrowing as her lips pursed. She seemed to shake some thought from her mind, though, and a light smile at least planted itself on her lips. “But I think it might be worth it. They're both so awkward that they just might mesh well together. And I don't mean from a matchmaker's perspective. She said she's never really had friends before, and neither has Ryk. I'm... basically the only one he has," she muttered the last part softly that Kas almost missed it.
“I think it'll work really well in that sense. They compliment each other and I think they can both appreciate that about each other. They might even become..." she paused there, her eyes widening for a fraction before she shook her head. “It might achieve the effect the boss wants."
"Would it be so bad?" he asked quietly, quite confident he knew what she'd been about to say there. "Don't get me wrong; Ryk's mentioned some stuff about your family and I think I've guessed some other things, so I don't say this lightly." He wasn't an idiot—he knew the signs of an abusive childhood when he saw one, and he was willing to bet theirs had been particularly hellish. Was probably still ongoing, in some ways. But he hadn't made it through a bunch of law enforcement and analysis training not to pick up on what it meant, when they trailed off at certain times, maintained a certain level of distance with people who weren't each other. They were trying to protect everyone involved, likely because they really believed their family would interfere if anyone got close.
Hell, for all he knew, it would happen that way. And in any case he had no intention to push. Only to try and understand as well as he could. "But to just... have a friend or two, you know? It doesn't have to be a big production—you could pass it off to the family as coworkers, or a mission, or whatever. But I really don't think human beings can live as alone as you two seem to be trying. Not anything worth calling a life, anyway."
Kas was aware that might sound harsh, so he used a soft tone to say it. He wasn't trying to crticize or offend, after all, and the last thing he wanted was to make her feel bad.
There was a wry smile on her face, then. “A life?" she stated, huffing almost as if she were in slight disbelief. “I don't think we've ever really had one, Kas. Don't think we've ever had a choice," she murmured softly, taking a deep breath as she did. “But... I think you're right. It wouldn't be so bad for him. He's... Eryk's the kind of person who thrives when he's allowed to actually care about people. It's part of who he is, but..." she trailed off, her lips pursing into a fine line.
“He doesn't have very many people to care about except for me. And even that hasn't been good for him, all things considered. I think I've just made things worse for him by being his fiancée," she stated, turning her attention to Kas for a moment. She was regarding him with a strange look, something almost melancholy and hopeful before it disappeared. She seemed to drop the subject, though, when she next spoke.
“So, if the plan succeeds, and Eryk manages to rent one of Ana's rooms, what should we do with his?"
Kas accepted the change in topic, even as he noted that she hadn't included herself in all the talk of friends being good for a person. He'd decided he wouldn't be pushy, and he meant to stick to it. None of this was really the kind of thing he should be getting involved with anyway.
"Jungle gym," he declared jokingly. "Oh, or we can get one of those inflatable bounce houses in there."
She arched an eyebrow at him in what seemed to be disbelief, but there was also some humor behind it if the smile on her face was anything to go by. “You do realize that if we did get an inflatable bounce house in there, you wouldn't fit, right? You're too big," she stated, chuckling lightly.
“And I don't want to be the one to explain to the firefighters why my friend is stuck inside of the bouncy house. Or why we even have one," she stated, clearly joking with him.
Kasimir harrumphed with false offense, entirely ruined by his grin. "I might be part palm tree, but I'm flexible, you know. I could fit into a room-sized bounce castle. I'd be more concerned that Diva here would chew on it while I was inside, deflating it on purpose and leaving me to suffocate." He waggled his eyebrows at both trainer and pokémon.
"And that'd be tragic. I'm too pretty to die so young, you know." Tsking, he shook his head mournfully, as if imagining the prospect.
Cyrilla's cheeks puffed lightly as if she were trying to hold back a laugh, but ended up failing. She was laughing, perhaps a bit too hard, that she snorted a few times, bringing a hand to her face as it turned a bit pink in embarrassment. Diva merely nodded her head as if agreeing with Kas about the deflating it on purpose part.
“I can almost see the headlines now, Genius pretty boy dies by suffocation in a bouncy house. It is pretty tragic when you think about it," she stated, grinning lightly in his direction.
Kas nodded, trying for solemnity but failing. Rolling over onto his stomach, he refilled his glass again, this time offering the bottle over to Cy as well. Taking a sip, he added: "Kasimir Rheinallt, 25, noted local philanderer, died Tuesday when an overenthusiastic pokémon owned by his roommate and coworker, the sly and charming Cyrilla Niav, 23, chewed through the side of the bounce castle they'd recently had installed at their apartment. Local authorities believe the death to be accidental, saying Mr. Rheinallt, who was a spectacular idiot, though also spectacularly handsome, suffocated after attempting to exit the castle through an opening he really had no business crawling through in the first place. When asked to offer comment, the stunning-yet-merciless Ms. Niav only said: 'I told him he was too big for bouncy houses.' More at 10."
He winked, adding to the ridiculousness of his fake news report, and knocked back another swallow of rum. "Must've missed my calling in journalism, you think?"
Cyrilla was laughing through most of his fake news report. She took a deep breath once she was able to, and shook her head. “I don't know about that; I think you still have a chance," she stated, taking the bottle of rum and pouring herself another drink. Diva made a light huffing noise, though, looking slightly displeased, but was interrupted when Zero dragged his tongue across her face. She growled at him, causing Cyrilla to shake her head softly at the two.
“But I did tell you, you were too big for bouncy houses. We should definitely get one." She offered up her cup, though, as if toasting him. “To us, always scheming with or against each other."
He clinked his against it with a soft ha. "For my sake, I'm hoping it's mostly with."
"Thanks, Gabby; you too." He wasn't the kind to make a pass at someone on the clock; they were paid to be friendly and even if she was into him she couldn't escape the situation if she changed her mind and he didn't want to harass anyone even if purely by accident. He was conscious of stuff like that, and frankly thought everyone should be. It was basic courtesy, but pretty rare as far as he could tell.
Shifting his purchases to one hand, he pulled his phone out of his pocket with the other, hitting the seventh number on his speed dial and bringing the device to his ear. When the other end was picked up, he grinned, even though the person on the other end wouldn't be able to see. "Hey Cy, sorry for the call, I'd have texted, but it'd have taken too long. You have plans tonight?"
He supposed this could sound like he was asking her out. But he was pretty sure she wouldn't take it that way. Cy didn't ever seem to mind flirting and goofing around, but he had the feeling he wasn't really her type—just sort of a vibe she'd given off. Honestly he doubted she'd even call him a friend, despite having lived and worked together for months now. He had to admit that one stung just a tad: he could handle not being her cup of tea no problem, but he'd figured he was at least fun enough to rate friend status. Yet he always sensed a distance with her, under the playful exterior. In any case, he was pretty confident she'd interpret it as it was meant: a casual invitation from one coworker to another.
“Ah, hey Kas," she replied easily. She seemed to shuffle around from the background noise before she spoke again. “And actually, I don't have any plans tonight. Do you?" she asked, a bit of curiousity in her voice, leaking through. He could hear her on the other side of the phone, though, speaking to someone. Or something when she mentioned Diva. Apparently the lycanroc had something she shouldn't have.
“Sorry, Diva's trying to eat my shoe."
He laughed softly; that sounded about right for the pokémon, honestly.
"Well, I dunno if I'd go so far as to call them actual plans, but I did just stop by the store and get some stuff. Including some rum and punch," He knew it to be her preferred mixed drink, so he'd picked up the ingredients—easy enough to mix on the fly. "I figure you probably hadn't done the whole 'get drunk on the beach at night' bit yet, but everyone who lives on an island has to do it eventually, so I thought if you were up for it you might be so kind as to bring a couple things to drink out of at meet me at the backisland beach?"
He paused, and then: "oh and feel free to bring your pokémon. The rules about which ones can get let out are kinda relaxed at night and I doubt there'll be much of anyone around."
He could hear her huff lightly, but it was easy to tell she was laughing, too. “Sure, Kas. Sounds like it'll be fun," she replied. More movement in the background could be heard as it seemed that she was rummaging through the cabinets. Probably to look for glasses or cups of some sort. “Alright, got what we need; I'll meet you there in a few minutes, thirty tops," she stated, the other end of the line clicking to signal the end of the call.
It took him about ten minutes ambling at his slowest to reach the spot; he took off his sandals immediately. Shoes on the beach were a crime against humanity. He'd come from a run, so he was still wearing loose athletic shorts and a brightly-colored rashguard, breathable and patterned in blue, green, yellow, and even a bit of orange. The sleeves were fitted, but only to his elbows, exposing some of his ink, especially the tribal-style black and green on his left arm. He wasn't concerned about it though—NTR wasn't really fussy about stuff like that, even in the office.
The beach was nice, even compared to walking around in town, fresh air in off the ocean helping to alleviate the thick heat of the fading summer day. It was almost like being home again.
Someday, maybe.
True to her word, it had only taken about twenty minutes for Cyrilla to arrive. She'd been perched on Zero's back, probably using him for transport. She slid off his back, and placed a hand inside of the arcanine's mane, pulling out what seemed to be a bag of sorts. It probably had the cups inside of it. She turned towards Kas's direction and waved. She was dressed for the humid weather, it seemed. A dark, hunter green short-sleeved cardigan over a white tank top and a pair of black capris that had some tears near her thighs and one in her right knee. She was wearing slip-on canvas shoes, too, that were white.
“Hey, Kas," she greeted, Zero trotting behind her before he took a seat when she stopped. His tail was wagging in an almost excited manner, and his tongue lolled out of his mouth. Cyrilla rolled her eyes at him, though, before turning back towards Kas. “Brought the cups."
"Excellent. I brought the booze." He grinned, holding up the bags in his hand. He'd been conned into the reusable ones because he was a sucker at heart. Normally he'd have just done paper, but they'd been out and plastic was an affront to someone who'd occasionally cut them loose from around the necks of ocean pokémon when he was a kid.
With his free hand, he pulled the pokéballs from his belt and let his team out, unsurprised when Lani headed immediately for the water and Widget took to the sky. Princess took her time looking around, satisfying herself that there were no challenges to be had, though she did eye Cy and Zero dubiously for a few long seconds before huffing and turning away from them. The massive charizard was taller than he was, and pitch-black by way of coloration, the flame burning on her tail casting her in deepening hues as the sun lost its last bit of grim on the horizon.
Sigrún and Meep stuck a little closer, as they were inclined to do, and he paid little mind as he dug out the rum and juice to hand over to Cy, trading her for one of the cups, into which he poured some of the extra things he'd brought for mai tais, which were not usually his favorite but suited this setting very well.
The cheap version of this activity was done with cans of beer, but he'd figured Cy had a bit more class than him, so he'd sprung for the best stuff the little local grocery had. Parking himself on the sand, Kas mixed his drink by swirling it around inside the glass and took a swallow, stretching his legs out in front of him. "Now this—this is the life." He grinned sideways at Cy, as if inviting her to agree, though he didn't seriously expect her to think so. They were sitting on the sand with no chairs or blankets, drinking supermarket alcohol on a sweaty night. But for Kasimir, it was nostalgic, in a way.
“Is it, now?" she asked, arching a brow in his direction as she pulled the pokéballs from her own belt, and gave them a toss. Noctis immediately made his way towards the water, jumping straight into it, perhaps, to enjoy the cool waters. Zephyr, however, climbed into Cyrilla's lap when she'd taken a seat next to Kas, crossing her legs so that the meowth could be more comfortable, it seemed. Siri made her way towards Princess, though, and stared up at her. There was something like wonder that crossed the noibat's expression before she made a small chirping noise. Cyrilla huffed lightly.
“Seems Siri's fond of Cinders," Cyrilla stated softly, a small grin on her face. Diva huffed lightly as the lycanroc sat on Cyrilla's other side, occasionally glancing in Kas's direction, though the reason wasn't clear. She seemed to be narrowing her eyes, if anything. Zero curled up behind Cyrilla, though, and she leaned back into his side, using him to prop herself up.
“I'll give you that it is nice, especially the way the colors reflect on the water," she stated, taking a drink from her cup.
They were mostly gone now, as it happened, the evening passing past sunset and into full dusk, but there were still some purples and indigos remaining, and they were pretty on the water, it was true. Kas flopped partly backwards, propping himself up with one forearm and elbow, keeping hold of his glass with the other. He huffed a little when Princess blinked back at the noibat, as if trying to decide what to make of this smaller creature that chirped at her, but in the end she made sort of a grumbling snort that Kas recognized as allowing the other pokémon's presence. He hadn't named her that for nothing.
"Ocean's my favorite thing in the world," he replied simply. "Always has been." He didn't feel any particular need to push his instinctive love of the sea on anyone else; he figured it was probably partly in his blood and partly in his upbringing, and that was fine. But he was going to enjoy being assigned to an island for as long as he possibly could.
Taking another swallow of his drink, he changed the subject. "Dodgeball went pretty well, I think. As nefarious schemes go."
Cyrilla snorted slightly, shaking her head. “Hm, well I think it did the job," she replied, taking another drink from her cup. She sighed, though, and pursed her lips together as if she were thinking of something. She didn't speak for a few minutes, and instead, seemed to be either enjoying the silence, or lost in thought.
“Speaking of nefarious schemes, though," she finally spoke, turning her attention towards Kas. “I may have another one that might... well," she paused, her brows furrowing lightly. She was either a bit uncomfortable with the idea, or she didn't know how to put it into words. She pushed a sigh through her nose before she glanced back towards the water.
“I may have found a way to speed things up like the boss wants," she finally answered, keeping her gaze out at the ocean, and throwing back the rest of her drink.
Kas lifted an eyebrow, unsure whether he was more intrigued by the idea itself or the fact that he was sensing some reluctance about it. "Care to let me in on your brilliance?"
Her brows furrowed as she swirled her empty cup in her hand. “Well, you know how Ana has that large facility, right?" she began, finally glancing back towards Kas. “I was talking with her the other day when I went to visit, and... well, she's thinking about renting out one of the rooms she has. She needs the income; we all know that, and as much as I'd like to help with that, she won't accept it without being rightly suspicious. And I don't want to foist anything upon her that she won't accept or will make her uncomfortable."
“We also both know how uncomfortable Ryk is at the apartment. It has nothing to do with the both of us, but..." she hesitated, there, her eyes narrowing at Kas as if she were trying to read something off of him. If she found it, she didn't say, but she did continue, “I know he doesn't like being in places like the Cloyster. They make him uncomfortable and it stresses him out more than he lets on."
“I was thinking that, we convince him to see if Ana will rent out a room to him. I think he might be comfortable there. You've seen how relaxed he is when he's helping out there, how he doesn't seem so stressed, right?" she questioned, arching a brow in his direction. It was obvious these were things that she wouldn't necessarily be saying about Eryk unless she was at least comfortable enough. And she seemed to be enough so with Kas at the moment. That or she was a light drinker despite all of her bravado, and she was already being influenced by it, a bit.
Kas considered this. It was definitely true that Ryk didn't seem totally comfortable in a swish, modern place like their apartment, and even though neither of them had really brought their lifestyles home, so to speak, they had a certain... busy way of being that he recognized probably wasn't ideal for a total introvert like Eryk was. Kas didn't think that was a flaw with any of them, just a personality difference. He'd sort of figured they'd all muddle through it doing the best they could not to complain or make things worth complaining about, since that was what they'd been told to do.
But... if Ana was really looking to rent out space in her place, that might actually work out. From a mission perspective, which Cy seemed to barely be paying lip service to at the moment, it'd be a hell of a gamble if they made it happen. There was a chance the simple closeness afforded by domesticity would give them the answers they were after much faster—hell, he knew way more about Cy and Ryk both than he would have if he hadn't been sharing housing with them. Even just incidental shit could be useful, but some important things he'd learned that way, too.
In a way, it would make his mission harder, since he still wasn't sure what his in was going to be with all this Project Nebula stuff and as his technical superior, Ryk was a good angle to have cultivated, but... it probably wouldn't hurt if the guy loosened up a little, either.
Humming, Kas drained the rest of his drink and picked up the rum bottle stuck in the sand between them, amused when Diva tracked the motion, as though she were waiting for him to try pouncing on Cy or something. Some pokémon were like that, though; he could hardly be offended. He didn't bother to mix his drink this time, just drinking the rum straight instead.
"That would either work really well or completely blow up in our faces," he noted with a trace of amusement. "It does make you sound a bit like a matchmaker, though." He knew, of course, that this wasn't Cy's primary intention, but he did wonder, sometimes, if she might not have the seed of a thought in the back of her mind shaped that way.
She barked a short laugh, then, surprising Diva a bit as the lycanroc stood almost ready to fight. She tapped the lycanroc's nose lightly, causing Diva to twitch her nose. “Behave, Diva. He's not going to do anything. It's Kas," she spoke, as if to reassure Diva that he wasn't going to do anything. Diva rolled her eyes, but obliged, and curled up on the other side of Zero, perhaps to be out of sight.
“If it blows up in our faces, I'll take the blame for it and say it was my idea. It technically is, after all," she muttered softly, her brows furrowing as her lips pursed. She seemed to shake some thought from her mind, though, and a light smile at least planted itself on her lips. “But I think it might be worth it. They're both so awkward that they just might mesh well together. And I don't mean from a matchmaker's perspective. She said she's never really had friends before, and neither has Ryk. I'm... basically the only one he has," she muttered the last part softly that Kas almost missed it.
“I think it'll work really well in that sense. They compliment each other and I think they can both appreciate that about each other. They might even become..." she paused there, her eyes widening for a fraction before she shook her head. “It might achieve the effect the boss wants."
"Would it be so bad?" he asked quietly, quite confident he knew what she'd been about to say there. "Don't get me wrong; Ryk's mentioned some stuff about your family and I think I've guessed some other things, so I don't say this lightly." He wasn't an idiot—he knew the signs of an abusive childhood when he saw one, and he was willing to bet theirs had been particularly hellish. Was probably still ongoing, in some ways. But he hadn't made it through a bunch of law enforcement and analysis training not to pick up on what it meant, when they trailed off at certain times, maintained a certain level of distance with people who weren't each other. They were trying to protect everyone involved, likely because they really believed their family would interfere if anyone got close.
Hell, for all he knew, it would happen that way. And in any case he had no intention to push. Only to try and understand as well as he could. "But to just... have a friend or two, you know? It doesn't have to be a big production—you could pass it off to the family as coworkers, or a mission, or whatever. But I really don't think human beings can live as alone as you two seem to be trying. Not anything worth calling a life, anyway."
Kas was aware that might sound harsh, so he used a soft tone to say it. He wasn't trying to crticize or offend, after all, and the last thing he wanted was to make her feel bad.
There was a wry smile on her face, then. “A life?" she stated, huffing almost as if she were in slight disbelief. “I don't think we've ever really had one, Kas. Don't think we've ever had a choice," she murmured softly, taking a deep breath as she did. “But... I think you're right. It wouldn't be so bad for him. He's... Eryk's the kind of person who thrives when he's allowed to actually care about people. It's part of who he is, but..." she trailed off, her lips pursing into a fine line.
“He doesn't have very many people to care about except for me. And even that hasn't been good for him, all things considered. I think I've just made things worse for him by being his fiancée," she stated, turning her attention to Kas for a moment. She was regarding him with a strange look, something almost melancholy and hopeful before it disappeared. She seemed to drop the subject, though, when she next spoke.
“So, if the plan succeeds, and Eryk manages to rent one of Ana's rooms, what should we do with his?"
Kas accepted the change in topic, even as he noted that she hadn't included herself in all the talk of friends being good for a person. He'd decided he wouldn't be pushy, and he meant to stick to it. None of this was really the kind of thing he should be getting involved with anyway.
"Jungle gym," he declared jokingly. "Oh, or we can get one of those inflatable bounce houses in there."
She arched an eyebrow at him in what seemed to be disbelief, but there was also some humor behind it if the smile on her face was anything to go by. “You do realize that if we did get an inflatable bounce house in there, you wouldn't fit, right? You're too big," she stated, chuckling lightly.
“And I don't want to be the one to explain to the firefighters why my friend is stuck inside of the bouncy house. Or why we even have one," she stated, clearly joking with him.
Kasimir harrumphed with false offense, entirely ruined by his grin. "I might be part palm tree, but I'm flexible, you know. I could fit into a room-sized bounce castle. I'd be more concerned that Diva here would chew on it while I was inside, deflating it on purpose and leaving me to suffocate." He waggled his eyebrows at both trainer and pokémon.
"And that'd be tragic. I'm too pretty to die so young, you know." Tsking, he shook his head mournfully, as if imagining the prospect.
Cyrilla's cheeks puffed lightly as if she were trying to hold back a laugh, but ended up failing. She was laughing, perhaps a bit too hard, that she snorted a few times, bringing a hand to her face as it turned a bit pink in embarrassment. Diva merely nodded her head as if agreeing with Kas about the deflating it on purpose part.
“I can almost see the headlines now, Genius pretty boy dies by suffocation in a bouncy house. It is pretty tragic when you think about it," she stated, grinning lightly in his direction.
Kas nodded, trying for solemnity but failing. Rolling over onto his stomach, he refilled his glass again, this time offering the bottle over to Cy as well. Taking a sip, he added: "Kasimir Rheinallt, 25, noted local philanderer, died Tuesday when an overenthusiastic pokémon owned by his roommate and coworker, the sly and charming Cyrilla Niav, 23, chewed through the side of the bounce castle they'd recently had installed at their apartment. Local authorities believe the death to be accidental, saying Mr. Rheinallt, who was a spectacular idiot, though also spectacularly handsome, suffocated after attempting to exit the castle through an opening he really had no business crawling through in the first place. When asked to offer comment, the stunning-yet-merciless Ms. Niav only said: 'I told him he was too big for bouncy houses.' More at 10."
He winked, adding to the ridiculousness of his fake news report, and knocked back another swallow of rum. "Must've missed my calling in journalism, you think?"
Cyrilla was laughing through most of his fake news report. She took a deep breath once she was able to, and shook her head. “I don't know about that; I think you still have a chance," she stated, taking the bottle of rum and pouring herself another drink. Diva made a light huffing noise, though, looking slightly displeased, but was interrupted when Zero dragged his tongue across her face. She growled at him, causing Cyrilla to shake her head softly at the two.
“But I did tell you, you were too big for bouncy houses. We should definitely get one." She offered up her cup, though, as if toasting him. “To us, always scheming with or against each other."
He clinked his against it with a soft ha. "For my sake, I'm hoping it's mostly with."