peach iced tea, [open]

[diantha fontaine]

she knows what it takes. she knows what it takes to get better, because she's gone through it and it's all happened to her before. sometimes you have to fight. sometimes you have to scream and shout and cry and argue and insult to defeat your demons or solve the riddle. but that's ok, it's worth it, in the end. when you can relax for a moment, feel the wind and sun for just a moment.

(but sometimes it doesn't work, sometimes no matter how hard you argue with yourself, or how long you cry, you will never relief. and when the arguing and crying and shouting stops...the passion is gone, the problem, is gone, yes, but so is he.)

she tries to do everything she can for her region. she really does. and if it's not enough, then diantha will offer more. she's a host, offering herself up to the parasite. but it's ok, the relief will be worth it. the relief will be worth it. right?

"war is only necessary, i think. sometimes we have to fight before we can understand someone's point of view..." she says, trailing off. she offers cynthia a smile again. "but no. disagreeing will not ruin a friendly lunch. debates are always enjoyable, at least i think so."

and then she hears a voice, and diantha looks up. she sees a man, but it takes her a moment to recognize him, and with the sun filtering in his face she just...can't put a name to the face. so she grins like an idiot, unsure of what to say.

cynthia steven stone (this one's not great, sorry, diantha just doesn't want to be written today)

NETTE OF GS

[cynthia]

these days, cynthia is a wanderer, drifting to her heart's content. she sways here and there in the wind, and goes places that her research takes her. it means that she travels the various regions, but it also means that she sees the various effects of war.

what she has seen only further convinces her that war is not necessary -- that war is a thing that should never be resorted to, even when heated words come to blows.

(the stench of burned bodies is still in her nose, in her mind, as fresh as it had been the day that she had seen the massacre.)

cynthia had been a guardian, once. a champion for her people.

(but what is the purpose of a guardian who does not guard?)

"debates are lovely," she says, and returns diantha's smile. it is true; she prefers lively jousting of words, as much as she loves battling dearly. both are dear to her heart, no matter that she indulges in the one and not the other these days.

a voice speaks, and cynthia looks to where diantha turns her gaze towards. tussled silver hair, files in hand -- it creates an image that she is well-familiar with, and she gives the man a smile. "hello, steven," she says easily, though not with little surprise.

a champion in their region is nothing to blink at. a visiting champion these days, not as much as it would have been two years ago. three?

coincidence, or not?

still, she knows of steven's allegiance -- at least, in passing, in rumor. cynthia doesn't feel like testing any theories, at the moment. "i wasn't aware you were in kalos as well."

steven stone diantha fontaine muse is horrible, please excuse /dies

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[steven stone]

The weight of the conversation seemed to lessen. Steven picked up on the general tension lessening between the two of them, but even as he peered between both ladies he wasn't exactly sure what direction the conversation would have gone if the debate continued. From the way that both women spoke, the debate could have continued had he not intervened in some light. Though the darker haired woman hadn't spoken to him, only smiled, he recognized her immediately the moment that he approached. He knew that she was highly famous around the Kalos region, and he recognized her as someone who was once Champion. He'd both read about her and seen her on the television, but never in person, and never formally. He only smiled in return before his blue eyes leveled with Cynthia's own when she greeted him. A genuine smile pulled at the corner of his lips due to the respect that he'd harbored for the blonde haired woman. Her reign of championship within Sinnoh was without a doubt astounding. She was a woman to be reckoned with. He sometimes regrets having not been able to battle her himself. When she finished speaking, Steven's smile faded somewhat, though not in a disheartening way.. but more in thought. “Business calls unfortunately. I've been here for a few months now. I'm here to conduct research on the secrets of Mega Evolution..” And to take care of a mission for Kopec, though he did well keeping a great deal of his thoughts to himself. His primary reasoning was to study Mega Evolution. The moment that he learned of pokémon being able to transcend their final evolution for a brief period of time had called to his inner desire to understand the process and to unlock the potential of even his own pokémon. When his eyes traveled to the darker haired woman again, he felt his smile return. He understood that the Champion had unlocked the potential of one of her partners, and the part of him that yearned for competitive battling was interested in asking her for a battle, to test the strength of her strongest pokémon. If the times were different, he was certain that he would have challenged her. “And you're.. Diantha Fontaine? My name is Steven Stone.. I come from the Hoenn Region.” A polite tone as he lifted his right hand, palm upwards to shake her own. It was almost a noble gesture, one that was probably forgotten with time, but was a factor of how he was raised. He failed to mention that, he too, was a former Champion of his region. But it wasn't exactly a title that he felt the need to pride himself on. The title of Champion belonged to two warring radical groups that were the cause of this war. It was something that he was reminded of when he thought about the title of 'Champion'. What it truly meant to be one was lost to the times. It was one reason he did not address Diantha as the former Champion. He was content with knowing the woman solely and not the person that she once was prior to the wartorn era that the world was slowly but surely slipping into. ----

-tag- diantha fontaine cynthia -notes- Such a gentleman. c:

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[diantha fontaine]

sometimes she feels as though time is a line- past, present, future. kalos is somewhere on that timeline, edging it's way along an infinite journey to the end, and it stops. someone's put a wedge between the klinklangs, or the engine's died. kalos is frozen in time but war is still raging on- sometimes she feels as though her efforts are nothingness. time is so large.

(what she fails to realize is that time is not a line, it is a circle, and the past will come again, just as the future has already happened. the past does come back. the past will haunt you, diantha.)

she remembers little of sycamore at this point. every once in a while she'll meet someone with a similar pair of glasses or someone who wears a similar cologne and she'll remember for a minute. the bliss of youth, of unknowing. the bliss of the blind. (if you can't see it, why worry about it.)

she used to live by this rule. crazy, free. she might have camped out everywhere in kalos for at least a few days. the present, the now, was good- and she had embraced it.

but war ripped such things to shreds and burned them right in front of her eyes, sparks and smoke stinging her eyes. diantha had to think about the future, what it would be like, how she could manipulate it like silly putty in her hands. because the present was not good- she didn't even want to pay attention to it. (but the present is dying, it's dying, and she needs to make sure the present doesn't bleed into the future. she needs to make sure that this ends, that all the loose ends are tied up.)

"steven," she blurts, confirming the name. she's seen him in photographs many times before, he's quite a famous man, but never in person. "yes, that's me." she says politely, shaking his hand. "it's very good to meet you, i'm glad you're here, both of you." she glances at cynthia.

"i've been meaning to travel to the many other regions myself- to check up on things- but i've been a little preoccupied. welcome, again, to both of you."

cynthia steven stone

NETTE OF GS

[cynthia]

cynthia lilburne is a woman who has grown up from a child on the road to a woman in a figurative palace to a champion that has abandoned left her people. in all of these stages if asked if there is one thing other than her pokemon that has stayed with her, then she would answer that her curiosity is something that she has never given up.

the mention of mega evolution brings a smile to her face and a memory of a triumphant roar to her ears, but she does not say a word. not out in public, not with people with ears to the ground and listening. not here.

(secrecy is a thing that she has learned and learned well, long before this war. a champion must not be fallible, have visible weaknesses, pressure points, cracks. secrecy has become a necessity and not a mere habit.)

she smiles at them both, though some might be on different sides of this conflict. "it's understandable," she repeats to diantha. her words are true, but who knows what others will think? cynthia does not care at this point -- whatever side that people fight on, the sheer courage it takes to stay when your home burns to the ground is astounding.

(much more courage than she could afford to muster these days, of course.)

"how have you been lately, then, steven?" a flick of the eyes, nothing more, towards diantha -- "have you heard anything of hoenn or the other regions? i've been here in kalos a fair bit myself, but you might have heard more recent news than i have."

steven stone diantha fontaine not really happy with this post tbh /shot

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[steven stone]

He didn't take a seat. Despite the fact that the ladies were both sitting, neither offered him to sit and he was certain that he wouldn't be here long either. His steel blue eyes traveled between both women, particularly Diantha, as the woman looked as if she was searching to place his features and where she may have known him. It was understandable, however. Steven knew that Hoenn was a far away region in distance to Kalos. It was a region that was both well respected and perhaps the most difficult to traverse through due to the hurdles that it once presented not so long ago. There wasn't much news to reach Kalos about the Hoenn region, but its champions were one to be revered. They were not weak or for the faint of heart. The thought made him reminsce on his past for a moment, taking in the countless battles that he's managed to fight in. Some were more difficult than others, and through it all he maintained his title. It was only on his choice to relinquish the title of champion to Wallace, and it was most certainly not by defeat. When he'd heard his name, he was pulled from his thoughts just in time to catch Diantha's gaze resting upon him with his name. He could see the gears turning in her head and he'd had a feeling that she was trying to place him... or perhaps figure out his disposition for being in the Kalos region. When she spoke of being glad that they were both here, Steven gave a jovial nod of his head, as a small smile fixed itself at the corner of his lips. A pleasant place, and one that was as genuine as the one he bore when he approached. The former Kalos Champion's words caused his smile to faulter just a bit as his thoughts were thrown back into the fray of reality. Traveling to the other regions, to check up on things? It was one way to say to scout foreign territory. “Hoenn would welcome you, Diantha. It's rare that trainers of Champion calibre are found roaming the wilds of Hoenn.” The words left his mouth in a rather genuine fashion, but of course, a part of his tone was specifically catering to the days of old.. days that he missed. “I haven't heard much of other regions, but I have informants within the boundaries of Hoenn. Like you, Cynthia, I have been in Kalos traveling. Searching. However, Hoenn remains a region divided by the throws of conflict. Saddening, really.” The sound of his eloquent voice had died down to all of nothing towards the tail end of his conversation. He looked between both women, a simple half smile left in the wake of what he thought. There were so many times that he thought about taking the Hoenn region over in supremacy. Giving it his own new world order without the aid of the League.. without the aid of Zemina. What the regions needed most, at the moment, were defenders... not radical groups. The people that wanted no part in this war and were forced to choose a side needed to be protected by a strong individual from each region. The moment that Steven's thoughts settled on this, his steel blue eyes traveled to Diantha and Cynthia.. two very capable women. “.... I'm actually glad that the two of you are here. I've needed the ears of two former Champions for some time now. There's much I wish to discuss.” There was something about his cold eyes that said so much without him having a need to say anything at all. If both women looked closely, they would see this. ----

-tag- diantha fontaine cynthia -notes- apologies for the wait ladies. thanksgiving break took over my soul.

MADE BY VEL OF GS