[FIN] Who Will it Be?

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran grunted agreement and crossed the room to grab his and Abel's coats. "We will just have to work it out as we go," he said as he pulled on his coat and then passed Abel's to him.

"Work it out? Work what out?" Taavi asked, his voice edged with panic. "I mean- what can you do?"

Zevran shrugged. "A lot can happen in a night. Perhaps we follow her, see where she is going? What is the worst that can happen if we do?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel was still fumbling with his hoodie when Zevran passed him his jacket; he took it obediently nonetheless and dropped his hoodie in favor of the warmer garment. Not that he had much thought for it other than 'this is what I'm being given, I should wear it.' "Yeah," he agreed somewhat vaguely once he'd pulled his coat on, grabbed his keys and box of cigarettes and shoved them into his pockets, "I don't know what I can do but I have to try, I have to do something. I can't just not do anything," he said with mounting panic and stress.

As he turned to Sonia he lifted his hand to gesture for her but paused before doing so, and instead aimed a baffled look at Zevran. "Wait, 'we?'"  

[TawnyAngel]

"We," Zevran repeated as he pulled on his boots and then straightened again to look up at Abel, his face set tight with controlled anger. "She has gone far too far; I am coming with you, you might need me."

Taavi looked down at the cast on his arm and then back over at the blonds. "I... I guess I should stay here." He didn't know what good he could have done even if he didn't have a broken arm but he could have... tried? And probably made things worse somehow but he could have stood up and said to Abel that he'd go with him, help him with whatever he was going to do.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Zevran's had been a very determined, forceful response; Abel struggled to think of how to counter it in his distressed state. "You shouldn't though; it's my problem, I should be the one to deal with it." He paused to finish the gesture to Sonia to accompany him, and to a few of his other pokemon that seemed to come out of the woodwork to see what was going on or if they could go too, he offered an apologetic, vaguely distressed shake of his head.

At Taavi's words, he immediately rounded on him with a mixture of concern and more concern on his face. "Of course you should," he said quickly, thought better of what he'd said and added, "and I should go by myself. Your arm's not quite better yet... And besides you were drinking. I don't know how much because I wasn't paying attention, but I know it was more than a little. I don't know what we're -- what I'm going to be doing, but I don't want you getting hurt again because of me. And besides," his expression and tone softened, "I need someone to stay here and let me know if Alyssa comes back or tries to do something here, or drops by earlier than 6:30 or.. I don't know," he finished lamely, fretfully, as he pushed his fingers through his hair. He was rapidly approaching his wit's end and he didn't know what to do. What could he do?  

[TawnyAngel]

The anger in Zevran's expression faded and gave way to concern at Abel's distress, but when he spoke his voice retained its conviction. "No you should not go alone, this is precisely when you should not go alone," Zevran replied, fetching his hat and gloves out of the pockets of his coat. "Friends help each other in times of need, isn't that what you told me?"

"I... I guess, yeah," Taavi agreed reluctantly as he reached up to fiddle anxiously with a braid of hair. It didn't feel all that useful but if Alyssa did come back here Abel ought to know, and the pokemon shouldn't be left without a human to protect them from humany things like being sucked back into your pokeball and stolen.

"Um... Just be careful okay?" Taavi addressed this to both Abel and Zevran, it seemed like the tattooed man was set on going and he really hoped Abel didn't try to stop him or lose him or something. "Look after each other," he added, which was as close as he could get to telling Abel that he ought to taken Zevran along.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Zevran was making it really difficult to tell him no. "Well yes, but I..." He trailed off, frowning as he glanced between both of his friends. He had to hurry or he'd lose her before even starting to follow her. He had to hurry, he didn't have time to stand there and argue with them, he didn't have enough time, there wasn't enough time, what was he going to do--

He expelled a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding as he relented. "Fine, just-- hurry, we have to hurry," he said as he yanked the door open and stepped out. He paused there for a second before gesturing to his Growlithe, "Caleb you come too, just in case."

The fire-type barked his assent. He and Sonia darted out the door after their distressed trainer and Zevran, leaving Taavi with the rest of Abel's worried Pokemon.

Once the group raced downstairs and emerged on the street, Sonia took the lead and quickly crafted an illusion to cover them so Alyssa wouldn't notice them, rendering them invisible. Abel hastily glanced up and down the street to find their target; she wasn't hard to spot down the street and, having only gotten a bit of a head start, she wasn't more than five or ten yards ahead. She had one hand raised to her head and her hair hid her phone from view, though neither her voice nor whatever she was saying were audible over the sounds of cars or trucks passing by, either on their street or adjacent ones. Abel's hand sought Zevran's wrist before he started jogging after her, his thoughts so preoccupied with what he could possibly do with following her like this that he hadn't even considered the fact it would take quite a toll on him physically. Even if he had realized that fact, though, it wouldn't have mattered.  

[TawnyAngel]

And just like that they were gone.

Taavi pulled his knees up to his chest and allowed his forehead to rest on them. They'd be back soon, and everything would be okay.

He wished he actually believed that.

Invisibility was quite an advantage in trailing somebody, though he had little time to appreciate it as they hastened carefully after Alyssa. He really hoped she didn't get into a car, that would make things quite awkward. Did he trust Estoque enough to ride her?... If he did, and he wasn't sure that he did, the knife bird wouldn't be able to take all three of them anyway.

Rather than worry about things that he had no control over Zevran focused his attention on Alyssa. He had to confess to himself that there was a thrill to being on the hunt again, chasing the quarry - literally or figuratively - was a rush, it was the catching of it at the end that could be less pleasant. On this particular occasion however he wished they were chasing her down to kill her not to... to do whatever they were going to do instead.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Following Alyssa without her knowledge gave Abel no enjoyment whatsoever. On the contrary; it filled him with a growing sense of dread, one he couldn't shake. She'd always made it perfectly clear that he shouldn't try to escape from under her thumb. If he did he risked angering her at best, bringing ruin upon himself at worst. Now, though, he was almost definitely going to bring ruin upon himself regardless. Her finding out he followed her to learn more about her to get her to stop blackmailing would be akin to choosing the third option. Getting rid of her himself would be the same. If he didn't find anything then he wouldn't tell her about Zevran and he definitely wouldn't hurt his nieces or his sister, which meant he'd have to choose the third option... and if he was choosing the third option anyway, then he may as well kill her so she couldn't hurt anyone else, and then quietly disappear himself. Maybe neither of them would make it off the boat in Sinnoh.

No matter which option he looked at, death waited eagerly for someone involved; the knowledge twisted his stomach into tight, sickening knots and turned the blood to ice in his veins. He had a pretty good idea of who would be the one - ones - to die, and he didn't like it at all. He wasn't ready to die yet.

He made a quiet worried sound, almost a whine, in the back of his throat as he dropped Zevran's wrist and pressed his hands to the lower part of his face. "What am I going to do?" He murmured helplessly, mostly to himself, as they followed Alyssa around a corner at a reasonable distance.  

[TawnyAngel]

When Abel let go of his wrist Zevran glanced quickly over at his friend and the sight of his expression made a quick end to the excitement that had been racing through his veins. Heartache for the man who had given him so much hit him in the gut like a brass-knuckled punch and he abruptly hated himself for getting caught up in the moment.

Zevran reached up to give Abel's shoulder a firm squeeze. "We follow, we wait for an opportunity... whatever it might be. Trust me, I am good at not having plans." Zevran smiled tightly, the expression was without humour and intended only to... well, assure Abel that he was here? That he believed something could be done? Exactly what he didn't know, that was for people who planned things to worry about.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Worry, dread, fear, and hopeless pleading were painted clear as day across the face Abel turned towards Zevran. While deep down he appreciated the gesture, it didn't make him feel any better or reassure him at all; that showed plainly on his face as well, or at least the half of it that was visible over his hands. "Okay," he replied uncertainly, "right. Okay. Um.. I'm usually not this bad at it but," his hands lowered and he held them palms-up in a helpless gesture.  

[TawnyAngel]

"You're afraid," Zevran filled in quietly as they moved around another pedestrian. "That's fine, I would be if I had anything to lose other than-" You? "-life, limb and so on. And you of course my friend, but we are here together." Abel had come to mind rather swiftly just then but... well he was not used to people being as kind as Abel was, that was all.

"Whatever happens next I am with you, you are not alone okay?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

He hesitated. He didn't know why, but he did before he nodded his head once or twice. "Yes," he admitted quietly, his hands dropping to his sides and his fingers moving restlessly as they continued to follow her. His body had already begun begging him to stop, to take a break at least, but he paid it no mind. He couldn't afford to. "I... Thank you," the blond said abruptly, so many different emotions spilling into his voice. Just as abruptly one hand fumbled for Zevran's arm before he stopped walking and moved to pull his friend into a tight hug instead. "Thank you, I.. I don't know if I could handle this by myself. Thanks." At first he'd been so adamant about doing it alone, about handling his own business by himself like he always did, but now he found himself glad and incredibly grateful that Zevran was here.

Both pokemon stopped when their trainer did, and both continued to keep a sharp eye on their quarry so they wouldn't lose her.  

[TawnyAngel]

Getting hugged in the middle of a pursuit wasn't something that had happened to him before. A lot of things were happening in Kodo that had never happened to him before.

Zevran returned the embrace tightly, trusting Abel's pokemon to keep an eye on where Alyssa was in the moment of innocent distraction. "You are welcome Abel, always." He was very glad now that he had come over to AAbel's apartment despite his friend's earlier refusal, this definitely wasn't something he should have to face alone.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel didn't really know what else to say, so instead he ducked his head down and pressed his face into the crook of Zevran's neck, his grip on his friend tightening a bit. What else could he say? He didn't really know. Maybe--

"Zor."

The quiet sound was an alert, and Abel jerked his head up in time to see Alyssa round a corner. "Ah, s**t," he murmured as Sonia and Caleb immediately resumed their pursuit, quickly trotting after the redhead. Abel's arms dropped, though one only lowered but so far before it reached for Zevran's wrist again, both for encouragement to hurry and for moral support, and hastened to keep up lest they lose her.

They didn't; despite the various turns she made down side-streets or through alleyways on her winding route through the city, as well as one brief pause in their pursuit so Abel could empty the contents of his stomach into a nearby trashcan, the small group had little trouble keeping track of her. Eventually she slowed to a stop in front of a dubious-looking building in the shadier parts of the city and knocked out a particular rhythm on the side door; Abel took advantage of the moment to lean heavily against the brick wall behind Alyssa, breathing just as heavily but not managing to catch his breath just yet.

Promptly the door opened a couple inches and a sliver of a suspicious face was visible from the crack between the door and its frame. The suspicion faded quickly though and the door opened the rest of the way, enough to admit the redhead if she so chose. "You coming in or no?" Asked the man at the door; his black hair was scruffy and had hints of gray scattered through it, and his square face had a couple scars on it; one across his temple and one down at his chin.

Alyssa shook her head and shifted her weight onto her left foot. "No, I just need to talk to the boss for a couple minutes. Is he in?"

"Nah, you just missed him," he responded, letting the door close a bit since she wasn't coming in, and let it rest against his knee as he folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the door frame. "He just went out on business, but he'll be back in the morning."  

[TawnyAngel]

In only a moment the hunt was on again and then it went on, and on. There was no time to allow for the fact that Abel wasn't up to this much exertion yet, he was staying upright and that was good enough; wishing that all of this was different wouldn't make it so.

When Alyssa eventually stopped and rapped out her rhythm Zevran leaned against the wall beside Abel and gripped his arm for moral support, but his gaze remained keenly focused on their quarry and the man who had opened the door to her. The boss humm? Interesting.