[PRP] Uh... Not breaking anything this time, promise.

[Tori Honoo]

She sighed a little. This wasn't going where she had expected it to, though she guessed maybe that was for the best. She agreed with his words, in any case.

"Maybe this is just a wake up call... Fate's decided I need them every few days, apparently..." she told him, before turning back to actually look at him. "If it counts, I'm glad someone convinced you to stay, again. As horrible as it sounds in this context, I almost wish someone had done the same for me when I decided to leave Sinnoh, though I guess I wasn't exactly honest with them at the time..." She hadn't even been honest to herself, let alone those around her that might have kept her there.

She frowned. These instances were worlds apart, and as she realized it, she looked away again. "I guess having the ability does give a good sense of purpose..."
A pause.

"Your team is building, then? And I'm going to reason you're talking about your sword, right?"  

[Suudonym]

"No one could blame you for wishing you hadn't come," he said with a shrug. "No one could really blame you for wanting to leave, either. This region is a battlefield; if they don't want to, no one should have to confront the dangers and fears we face almost on a daily basis." A pause, and he laced his fingers in his lap. "That said, I'm glad you're here, and I hope you decide to stay. Every ally is important. I don't even want to think about losing friends at a time like this." It was probably audacious of him to say; he felt as though he was just parroting words he had heard before, but they were words he had come to believe in.

He nodded faintly at the questions she posed. "Sometimes I think I'm not training them properly," he admitted, "but I can only do what feels right, I guess…" His thoughts went to the sword that he was still unwilling to carry except to and from the practiced with it every day. "I like to think that eventually I'll work up the courage to hold a gun outside of the shooting range," he said, wearing a slight, disparaged smile. "I like to think it's just a matter of time, but, well… we'll see."  

[Tori Honoo]

A slight shrug, though she mostly agreed with him; very few people could blame her for wishing she hadn't come, but the few who could at least wouldn't understand why she had. Her brows furrowed a little, and she looked down to Lovey in her lap again, moving her fingers across the eevee's fur as she listened. The region had become a battle field for her before she had even actually had a run in with Team Rocket. Everything about leaving home had become something of a battle field, but had now been heavily overshadowed as she had found herself caught up in the Island's own struggle. His understanding, the assurrance that no one could blame her, was disheartening, though, as though he truly didn't expect her to want to take part in any of it, and therefore didn't expect her to even try.

It took what he said next to make her realize he wasn't attempting to goad her back to Sinnoh, even as gentle as it had sounded, and she looked to him again this time with a look of slight disbelief and confusion. He wanted her to stay? Luke had been the absolute last person she would have expected to hear those words from. Glad you're here. What? Though he hadn't shown any ill will toward her while he had been the one with the most reason--and it would have been completely justified, she knew-- to never want to see her again, she couldn't accept it so easily. His best friend had even come after her, after her second failed attempt to console him in any way after her performance in the nightmare he had been forced through. Even as she had come down the beach today and realized it was him, she had been wary, and yet here he was, calling her a friend...? An ally was closer... they were fighting for the same team, that was for sure, but friend was such a strange word now...a hard word. The people at home that she had considered friends were people she thought had known her, had cared, but now, looking back at things--especially with Akira's influence, and the abrupt turn that had proven to be-- it was hard for her to believe she had ever had the right definition at all, and even under that criteria, things hadn't been quick to develop.

Blinking as she realized she had likely been staring, she looked back to Lovey. "Well... I can't really go back now anyway. Even if I thought I could leave all of this behind and walk away--" which she really couldn't "--I don't think home would really be home anymore," she finally offered, her voice quieter. "So I guess I'll be around for a little while longer, at least."

Forcing herself to 'recover', she looked to him again with a small smile, but only briefly. "I'm sure you're doing a great job, Luke. Rem looks like she's happy with things as they are," she said, brushing her hair from her neck to lift it over her shoulder. "And yeah... I looked into customs the other day, for one that I might actually carry, but I can understand not wanting to have one on you at all times." A weak laugh. "Especially not right off." She, however, was resolved to do what she had to do, even if it meant being armed at almost all times.  

[Suudonym]

"That sounds familiar," he said, wearing empathy in his features. It was almost uncanny how alien and unwelcoming his home in Grande Ile always felt after spending time in Kodo. "Well," he stretched his legs, digging his heels into the sand, "there's that old cliche, you know? 'Home is where the heart is.' I'm sure there's a place for you here in Kodo if you want it."

Rem, her paws folded neatly in front of her and her eyes closed despite the upright positioning of her head, snapped to attention at the sound of her name. Mention of her drew Luke's attention towards the Jolteon, and he regarded her thoughtfully. Happy… maybe? His team seemed to trust him, at least, and they didn't protest his style of training. They were healthy and cared for, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was so much he could be doing better. He made a sound in acknowledgment but couldn't find confidence enough to respond in words.

"Even carrying one," he said - or perhaps, more accurately, thought aloud, "how do you determine when to use it? When has a problem escalated to the point that the only means of dealing with it is to disable someone with a critical wound?" In Kanto, that moment was clear: As soon as Faleen's intent to shoot had been confirmed, it was reasonable to respond with equal force. But what about, for instance, the day Emil had been taken hostage right in front of him, or in the first week of his stay in Kodo when a stranger pinned him against an alley wall and confessed to being a Rocket? Where was the line between preempting an attack and preempting the possibility of an attack?

Or moreover, why, after reviewing everything that he could have prevented, was it still so difficult to convince himself that it was justifiable to carry a weapon?  

[Tori Honoo]

Dove offered a failing smile, and lifted her head to look out at the ocean again, her eyes drawn to the horizon. "So where do you call home if you don't have much of a heart left?" Luke was grounded... he had friends, close friends. He had been here a while. She hadn't, and wasn't at all sure what she wanted, and if she did know what her heart desired, she surely wasn't prepared to admit it...

Lovey watched as the Jolteon 'woke', staying in her girl's lap. The other did seem happy with him... content, at the very least. As Luke's response was weak, the model chose not to continue the topic, as the other was clearly more pressing to both of them.

His questions were rewarded with silence for a long few moments, before she shook her head and risked another look at him.. "I don't know... But at this point it's better safe than sorry..." Another pause. "I think... for myself, I just... It would be nice to have something just in case. Like in Kanto, when they..." A sigh. "If any of us had had any means of protection aside from our pokemon, it might have gone differently." She pulled Lovey closer to her, shifting the sweater more 'comfortably' over her scars from the incident. "...I don't think I would have hesitated..." she admitted, her voice dropping to a tense, almost whisper.