the phoenician singer [r]

[curtis fox]

“ GIMMIE THE BOOTY I WANT THE BOOTY ”

The clock hit 9:00 when Curtis collapsed on the white couches of his dressing room. His right arm laid limp off the edge of the couch cushions, his fingers tracing absentminded circles on the ground. They smelled like lemons and a spot of wetness remained on one of the corners, but he cared little.

Mossdeep did not have its own concert hall, but his dressing room had been constructed by means of quick assemblage behind the mess of lights and stage fixtures. People milled around: volunteers, security, tech crew, but he was the only one in the room—aside from a bodyguard who stood silently with the furniture.

"Done for tonighhhbhhtlththh," he groaned into the couch before reaching for a water bottle. The plastic crinkled under his needy fingers as he flipped onto his back.

He twisted the cap open and angled it towards his face. 

TAGGED tate & liza
NOTES

MADE BY ★MEULK FOR SHIV <3

[tate & liza]

It wasn't every day that interesting things happen in Mossdeep -- or, well, it wasn't every that things in general happened in Mossdeep. Tourists came and went, of course, Wailmer-watching and taking tours of the space center and whatever else it was tourists did, but the island in general was fairly peaceful.

(And, quite frankly, the halcyon days were driving Tate up a wall.)

That was why, despite Liza's indignant protests, the teenager-slash-boy was crouched down on the back of a speedy Metagross (his own personal hovercraft), making a beeline for the impromptu concert venue. The twins had both watched Curtis' performance with no small amount of awe -- but that didn't stop Tate from planning a welcome for the idol, Mossdeep-style.

Or Tate style, as Liza called it; she liked to think their Mossdeep wasn't nearly as childish as her twin.

The security guards didn't -- or couldn't -- stop the boy before he slammed straight through the wall of the dressing room, an irate Aggron lumbering in after them with a booming bellow. "Hey there!" he chirped cheerily, waving from his spot atop the Metagross. "How're you doing?"

He grinned widely, glancing at the large pokemon behind him. "A friend of mine decided to tag along and say hello -- hope you don't mind!"

(tate is a shit i'm sorry. also, ps, that aggron is actually just his zorua ahah)

curtis fox

[curtis fox]

“ GIMMIE THE BOOTY I WANT THE BOOTY ”

As Mother Theresa once said that "we ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."

However, Curtis realized that what he was doing was not just a simple drop in the ocean, but an entire water bottle full and as an eighteen-year-old parading on top of an immense Metagross burst through one of the walls of his dressing room, he spilled the bottled ocean over his face. Water dribbled over his cringing features and as he almost drowned for a second or two, the bottle began to slide off before diving to the ground.

He jolted from his couch, water dripping from his startled face. The parade wasn't over after the Aggron made its presence known with its resonant cry, he had an inkling of a suspicion that he was going to die. Right here. Right now.

Though, the boy's face was familiar—he was one of the gym leaders here after all. Before Curtis could say anything, the bodyguard who had blended in with the room's assorted furnishings catapulted from his position and tackled the singer to the ground.

"What the-!"

Curtis smacked the man's back, squirming to pull himself out like a toppled turtle. Tate, that was his name, appeared to be cordial after all despite the... violence of his greeting and with a plea or two the bodyguard's looming body withdrew. The man quickly muttered some things with a finger to his ear and the encroaching security members had ceased their zombie-like approach.

"Pbhlhhhl," he blew again as he wiped the water off his face, "there we go."
  
Without moving from the ground and with a winking eyelid—presumably from the pain the bodyguard had inflicted upon him—he waved weakly to Tate.

"Hey, hey! I'm... fine! Didn't realize I had VIP passes given out for this one," Curtis said, "Sorry but, I don't think this room's big enough for," he eyed the Aggron, "everyone."

TAGGED tate & liza
NOTES LOOOOOL TATE IS A BEAST

MADE BY ★MEULK FOR SHIV <3

[tate & liza]

Tate watches interestedly as the bodyguard tackles the idol to the ground, casually sitting down and crossing his legs atop Orion. He makes no move to help Curtis out, instead finding great amusement in his struggle to remove himself from under the guard. The psychic had only meant the prank to be a 'minor' scare, of course, but this was turning out to be better than he could have hoped.

Then, for good measure, the boy flashes a reassuring thumbs up at the rest of the now-cautious security staff.

"Aw, don't sweat the details," Tate laughs, hopping off of the Metagross. "I'm sure we can all squish together. Get comfy, and everything -- didn't anyone tell you that's how you make friends?" The gym leader is making everything up on the spot, but it sounds reasonable enough to him. "By the way, my name is --"

-- TATE!

The name resounds within the heads of everyone in the concert venue (and likely through the minds of half of Mossdeep, the residents of which are used to it at this point) from the sheer magnitude of Liza's rage. If you don't stop what you're doing right now -- so help me Arceus -- There's the sound of loud crashing before the front door slams open, revealing an incensed girl almost identical to Tate -- "I will hurt you, little brother."

The threats shouldn't have been as threatening as they were, considering the fact that she stood well under five feet, but the anger emanating from her mind is enough to make Tate blanch slightly. Liza storms over to the Aggron and yanks on the small, black tail sticking out of its behind with no small amount of force. The Zorua transforms back with a poof, hanging sheepishly from Liza's hand.

Her face still red, she levels a withering glare at her twin before turning to Curtis and bowing hastily in apology. "I'm really sorry for what my stupid brother's done," she says breathlessly. "I couldn't stop him in time." Liza smiles apologetically. "Don't worry, I'll get him out of your hair soon enough."

With another glare at Tate that means 'follow me,' Liza turns on her heel and begins to walk away.

(forgive the tense change aksjfhsdg. and to make it easier to see, teal italics are liza's telepathy. this would be tate's.)

curtis fox

[curtis fox]

“ GIMMIE THE BOOTY I WANT THE BOOTY ”

"I don't mind being in close-quarters, but it feels like we could be getting into close-quarters combat instead, you feel me?" Curtis laughed, eyes thinning into crescents as he shrugged, exposing both palms as his shoulders rolled and fell, anchored by the weight of a subsiding bewilderment.

But Tate's laugh did much to lighten his heavy lungs and so he pulled himself up from the ground. Curtis grinned at the notion of friends; his blind trust won once more and he stumbled over to match his greeting—which never happened. 

No compass could have navigated him to the source of that voice. It had sounded so clear, so marked that he swore the girl's cry had echoed within the unknown recesses of his mind. His arms shot out on either side, as if to balance him in response to the tidal wave of anger that threatened to knock him over again, but it was just a voice. Then again, Curtis knew very well the strength of words.

And in came her and he half-expected to see a fleet behind her, sails at full-mast, cannons armed but she was only a girl of eighteen. However, her rage boiled the waters, blanched Tate and even though he had jested before about there being close-quarters combat, the possibility swelled and surged dangerously against the threshold of reality.

"Wh-what?" He blurted as the Aggron vacuumed into a swirl of black and red fur. Curtis rubbed his face and smiled into his hand—he should have known. 

She had bowed, whispered apologetics, but Curtis maintained his hold over his flubbering lips.

"Phbbllhlhhhhhfaahahahaha!" His lips gave away before his hands snatched his sides. He howled in laughter, doubling over in an animated tour de force of an entertained boy. "Don't, don't go! No, seriously!"

Curtis hooked Tate with the crook of his elbow before reaching Liza and draping his arm over her shoulder. Beaming in between them he tried to swivel them away from the door, "Come, come! Sit down! I have some time," he pointed to the other couches. "That wall can be replaced anyway! You don't need to worry about compensation." 

His voice lowered to a confident lull, "I can pay for it anyway," he fell back onto his couch, "You guys saw the show? What'd you think of it!?" 

TAGGED tate & liza
NOTES YOU TENSE CHANGE ALL YOU WANT GRRRRRRRRL. Also, thanks for the head's up! You RP the twins so well wtf yo

MADE BY ★MEULK FOR SHIV <3

[tate & liza]

Liza stops in her tracks at the sudden outburst of -- laughter? Her eyebrows come together in confusion and she turns around as Tate's still-pale face breaks into a wide grin. She can't quite understand why the boy is laughing, of all things, let alone why he wants them to stay after the debacle Tate's caused -- it's because he has a sense of humor, her brother interjects unhelpfully -- but Curtis' words have the intended effect of preventing her exit, at least.

Her ears heat up wonderfully when his arm slings around her shoulder, which her twin files away in the mental storage cabinet named 'Ammo Against Liza' without comment. All the girl can manage is a semi-incoherent, "Uh, yeah, sure. Okay."

Taking pity on her, Tate casually shoves her into a seated position on the couch before plopping down on Curtis' other side. "What she means is yeah, we saw the show." The boy reaches over to lightly punch Curtis in the arm. "It was incredible!" And despite the boy's penchant for tricks and falsities, there's nothing but honestly gleaming in his eyes.

Liza nods in agreement. "You performed very well. You must have practiced a lot," she comments quietly. Her cheeks are still slightly flushed, but the girl is fairly sure it's from the lingering remnants of Tate's daily quota of 'piss Liza off.' "We're really glad you came to Mossdeep." Not many people did.

Picking up on the opportunity, Tate adds -- with no small amount of pride in his voice -- "So what d'you think of the city? Pretty nice, right?"

(askfjsd thank you orz)

curtis fox

[curtis fox]

“ GIMMIE THE BOOTY I WANT THE BOOTY ”

For a moment Curtis forgot about Christoph, but he when he saw the bodyguard fidget upon Tate's fist meeting his arm, he remembered the dissonance of his person. He shot a quick glance towards the man. His suited protector remained still, one hand over the other as if they were tied. 

Curtis cheeks hurt from smiling. Drowning in compliments, the singer couldn't help but match Liza's faint blush. He rubbed the back of his head bashfully, nodding to their praise. 

"Thanks, thanks! Ah ha ha! I try my best," Curtis said, "Try my best to put on a good show for you guys, you know?" He draped his arms around them again, hugging them to his person, almost if not entirely knocking their heads in to his. 

Letting them go, he turned to Liza and said, "Thanks for noticing." 

It did not take a psychic to know how hard Curtis had practiced. Each movement to him became second nature, like the charted seas of a wave-battered captain. If became a centenarian—he hoped that he would—he was convinced that he'd still know how to move to the beat of his own drum.

"No problem! Been meaning to come to Mossdeep eventually!" Curtis raised his arms above his head and leaned against the couch's back. 

Shutting his eyes with a smirk sculpted on his lips, he waited until he heard Tate's interjection. He opened one curious eye and nodded, "First time here and I'm already loving it. Maybe I'll live here one day. Who knows?"

Checking his mental schedule he flipped through his fingers like pages. "Tomorrow I go Wailmer watching and then—Oh! Ever been to Nimbasa before?"

The bodyguard pressed a finger to his earpiece as if he was listening to something on the other side.

TAGGED tate & liza
NOTES zasda

MADE BY ★MEULK FOR SHIV <3

[tate & liza]

Neither of them are too sure on how to react to the sudden embrace -- to be quite honest, despite Tate's penchant for amused whacking, neither of them ever really hugged each other on a semi-constant basis (let alone some pop idol they'd barely met) -- but Tate is the first to respond with an encouraging, if not confused, pat on the back.

Liza opts to wait until Curtis lets them go.

She does smile, however, when he compliments their city. "Maybe one day," the girl agrees quietly. As quiet as it is (and as much as Tate complains about it), Mossdeep is almost ideal for the both of them; there isn't a constant flux of voices invading their senses at every moment, loud and soft and rough and smooth and human.

That a world-famous performer would enjoy the peace is surprising, but not incredibly so.

At his next question, Tate is the first to answer. "Nope!" He beams, as if not having been there is an accomplishment. "We don't really leave Hoenn -- or Mossdeep, usually, because for some reason telepathy can really freak people out." (Their people, at least, are accustomed to it.)

"What's it like there?"

curtis fox

[curtis fox]

“ GIMMIE THE BOOTY I WANT THE BOOTY ”

The girl's smile is enough to convince to come back. At least, some day. Although he wasn't sure if he really could live here or not. Maybe a vacation villa would suffice. But, then again, the prospects of his future were still clouded by the storms of war. How far could his ship sail? 

Suddenly, the walls of the makeshift seemed to lean in and encroach upon him. The wall with the hole shaped like a Metagross had fused with a telepathic eighteen-year-old boy was the only one unable to participate in the illusion. But, Curtis' worries eventually saw the restless waves through the rift.

"Right, right, the telepathy." Curtis nodded, "So, that voice was obviously yours, right?" He turned to her as he scratched his head. "And if he's Tate, you're obviously... Liza, yea?"

Curtis snapped his fingers and pulled out his C-Gear. He flipped through several menus before eagerly showing them pictures of his hometown. "So, this is the musical theater. You've probably heard all about it. People dress up their Pokemon and stuff and... Oh, yea! See this one?"

Like a proud father, he showed them a picture of Johnny, the Dedenne that appeared in most of his promotional advertisements. Like a mascot, the Dedenne shared Curtis' fame. The Dedenne was dressed up all dapper: top hat, cane, bow tie: certified ladykiller.

The bodyguard by the corner had crept up on them by now. Curtis almost jolted as soon as the man leaned in and whispered in his ear. Up until now, the man's thoughts had been mundane: when will I get outta here. I'm thirsty. I shouldn't have eaten that quesadilla. But now, his thoughts and words revolved around the conflict.

Curtis' smile faltered and he spoke back, "No, these guys are cool. Don't need to bring that into it. Seriously, we're just taking it chill, yea?"

The bodyguard and whoever was behind that earpiece (his boss) were concerned about this clash of ideologies.

TAGGED tate & liza
NOTES

MADE BY ★MEULK FOR SHIV <3