golisolation | 💀 MoM IC INBOX 💀

[ ... Hmm...

Finn feels the sudden righteous anger and doesn't exactly flinch away. He's felt it before in himself, something striving towards hope and independence by any means necessary. It's the same drumbeat of his heart during that TIE Fighter escape, the march of the Resistance, all of that...

He sits back up, pausing his pets to talks seriously for a moment. ]

Aegis could use someone like you. Or maybe the Justice League if you feel better there. We all need people with that mindset to work together more. The only thing we imPorts have is each other... That's why I joined up.

[ After pouring a thousand questions onto Jacob's shoulders, anyway. He had to know they weren't a government weapon and has been pleased so far.

Anyway, he doesn't expect Guzma to jump on the offer. More like he wanted him to think a little about it. They could use more people like him. They all could. ]

[At the suggestion, Guzma just shoots Finn a disgusted stare, as if he just suggested something far more foul in nature, than merely joining up with Aegis.]

Nah.

[He shakes his head before looking back out at the lake, watching Golisopod as he lazes about in the water.]

A dude like me ain't gonna fit in with neither of those teams. I ain't nothin' but trouble, and a good deal of Aegis ain't fond of me, and I sure ain't caring to associate with a group so up their own ass to name themselves something like "The Justice League."

Me and them high-and-mighty types don't get on. And I don't answer to no one or nobody—'sides, got my own team.

[ Okay. He can't help a little snort at the dig. Finn thought the same thing when he first heard of "The Justice League." ]

Then don't. But if we all stay separate, then they'll be able to pick us off that much quicker if they ever decide to.

[ Actually, that reminds him that The Heal Squad exists... Should probably check in on that but later, later- ]

Yeah? What do you guys do?

Yeah, I know all about divide and conquerin', yo.

[He's a strategist, after all, but he's also stubborn as hell. Thus he doesn't seem willing to budge on this.]

Whatever we want. We ain't heroes. Ain't tryin' to front as 'em.

[They're a bunch of misfit criminals.]

[ Whatever they want? Yeah, Finn catches the implications. At the same time, he doesn't picture Guzma as a bad person. Not that he knows him very well but that was pretty clear so far, at least. ]

Was this back in your home or is the team here?

[ He's pretty sure Guzma's kind of new here, at least by a few months. Or maybe Archie just has all these close friends that Finn never heard of before. One of those. ]

Both.

[He offers a little too casually. Finn would be right in assuming that Guzma's fairly new, having arrived roughly two months ago. Despite that, he's been able to net himself quite a crew in that short amount of time. Lets just say things fell right into place for him from the gate. Honestly, he couldn't have hoped for a better set up.

Him? A counselor at a bootcamp for troubled youths? It was like a joke, and for once he wasn't the punchline.]

Why? Got a problem with that?

Nah.

[ He flops back down and resumes his pets with Mightyena. ]

Just don't break the law too much or we might end up on opposite sides of the argument.

[ And he likes Guzma so far and still isn't as loyal to Aegis as Jacob would probably like him to be. His friends came first. ]

[Guzma glances at Finn as he flops back, a little surprised by his answer, yet at the same time he isn't. Finn seemed like a chill dude, with a pretty decent head on his shoulders.]

Yeah, no promises there. [After all, most the crime they did were pretty damn petty, and Aegis had bigger Wishiwashi to fry, Guzma figured.] 'Sides, I'm pretty sure Darin would be first to come after me, so you ain't gotta worry about that.

[Finally, Guzma moves from his place, crossing the distance to actually be a little closer to Finn, popping a squat to join him, before reaching out and giving Mightyena a well deserved pat. Why is it well deserved? Because Mightyena, that's why. Scizor, however, glances at the two as if making a decision, before taking a seat himself. Visibly relaxing and closing his eyes, seemingly meditating.

If Guzma's comfortable enough to approach Finn, then Scizor's comfortable enough to get his Zen on.]

Edited 2019-09-17 03:19 (UTC)

[ Finn's surprised when Guzma comes closer but very pleasantly surprised when Scizor relaxes. He smiles over at the Pokémon even though the other's eyes are closed before remembering what he was going to ask. ]

What's going on between you two, anyway?

[ So much for it being none of his business. Also, this gives him a little bit of stalling time before he asks to see Muk. ]

Tch, nothin' really.

[He says, having beaten Darin to a pulp, broadcasted it on the network as a warning, and then had a huge blow out fight with him after he returned in early August after being ported out. Hmm.]

Dude just thinks he knows what I'm about, thinks he can fix what ain't broken. Just a battle of egos, really.

[Guzma shrugs.]

Think he's just mad 'cos I ain't bitin' his moral-based bait, is all.

[Lets ignore the fact that Guzma has been the main instigator in these fights because he feels threatened by Darin. Useless details!]

[ Good thing Finn very rarely checks out the network, but he still frowns about all that. ]

Some people mean well but they really miss the mark. [ Not that Finn's come in contact with very many people who were Like That towards him. The only difference between himself and Guzma was that he managed to use polite manners to run away from those conversations. He gets the anger all the same, though. ]

If he hasn't figured it out by now, fighting him more won't help. He'll just keep coming.

[ Though maybe Finn's comparing his own situations to Guzma's a little too much. ]

[To be fair, a lot of it was some hard fronting, because he did make sure that Darin was retrieved, and didn't bleed out or nothing. Guzma's a lot of posturing, but he'll go pretty far with it just to make sure people are intimidated and stay back.]

Dunno if I'd say that. I think more often than not people are lookin' to satisfy their own self-righteousness. They look at a dude like me and think they got some self-imposed duty to fulfill, so they can pat themselves on the back for how good they are. [Guzma tsks, shaking his head.] How heroic it is to shed some pity on a wretched and unfortunate soul.

[Again, he shrugs.]

Who knows. Some dudes only understand shit through fightin'. Him and me talkin' never did no good, so I'll beat him down at every pass. I ain't one to back down, yo.

[ Self-righteousness. Now that's something Finn's familiar with, even if it was usually from the opposite side of the war. ] Everyone does what they think is right, even if it's only right by them. [ Another, much smaller reason to dread going home, he supposed. There were going to be a lot of pitying looks on the ones that weren't afraid and resentful.

But his mind drifts back to this current situation, the on-going fight between Guzma and Darin. He rolls on to his side to better face him, though Mightyena apparently thinks it's for better hugs. ] If all you two do is fight and he's still coming after you, at least he knows what he's getting into... Hell, maybe he likes it. Some people just want to fight.

[ He's... starting to think Guzma likes it, too. ]

Ain't that the truth. Anyone who ain't on their side, who can't conform be damned. [Lets not kid ourselves, it's partially for better hugs, and Mightyena deserves the best hugs.]

Oh, the dude likes it, I know he does. [Guzma doesn't seem too bothered by this fact. He isn't, if it was just fights, he'd be less threatened, less bothered. But Guzma feels like his core, who he is, is being challenged every time. As if he thinks Darin's aim is to beat Guzma down so much he forces him to become someone he isn't, or can't be. Like Alola tried before him, and Guzma knows that won't work on him.

Yet, Darin seems determined to believe he's something he's not. That there's some good to him, when Guzma's convinced there isn't.] If that's all he wanted, that'd be one thing, but he's made it real apparent he's got ulterior motives.

[ Well, okay, the hugs are definitely a bonus.

Finn's quiet for a minute, thinking about this whole mess. Darin must see something in Guzma that makes him want to keep trying. But what's really the point? It's not like Guzma's a bad person. He doesn't need to be changed. Was it just a reason to keep fighting him? Was it a weird form of flirting?? ]

... This guy sounds weird. Maybe I should meet him sometime.

[Darin does indeed see something in Guzma, something that Guzma denies. He doesn't like to think of himself as good, or actually capable of being anything other than bad, but Darin seems set on proving him wrong.

Guzma hates it. He'd almost prefer it if it was some form of flirting, but it doesn't seem to be the case.]

He's hella weird, man. I ain't gonna tell ya not to meet him, but I dunno how much you'll get from it.

[He shrugs, smirking.]

You seem too decent of a dude to really set off his Bulushit, anyway.

Thanks. [ He says it with a little laugh and smile, pretty sure it was meant as a compliment. ]

I don't know, though. My past isn't exactly the cleanest. If he knows half of the things I told Jacob during Aegis recruitment, then I'm surprised he hasn't hunted me down already.

[ At the same time, he's aware that everything he knows about this Darin fella is coming from Guzma who isn't a big fan of the guy. There are two sides to just about everything, but Finn can at least sympathize that he sounds really annoying. Finding out if he'd treat Finn similarly is a good enough reason to meet him. ]

[It is a compliment, to most people, anyway. Decency isn't something Guzma looks upon too favorably, at least not usually. But...Finn's alright, actually. Somehow he's a decent dude who doesn't rile Guzma, and that's a very rare thing indeed. But that mention of having a seedy past gets Guzma's attention, and maybe that's the answer to the mystery.

Maybe Guzma's got a sense for people with foul beginnings.]

Oh yeah? Unless you're still followin' that dirty path he probably ain't gonna care. But seein' as you're in Aegis, I doubt that.

[A beat.]

...So, what were you a criminal or something?

[ Finn shrugs and is just quiet for a moment, petting Mightyena. In truth, he's just trying to figure out how to answer that. ]

I was a soldier for some... not good people. Been trying something different these days, so maybe he won't get uppity about it, but it's not as if the past just dies. You know?

[There's a weird pang in Guzma's chest at the end of what Finn says, his expression faltering a bit. He does indeed know that the past doesn't just die. His eyes stay on Mightyena as he's silent for a couple moments.]

Don't I ever. Well, whatever ya did, it don't matter much now, huh?

[Which...is also true for Guzma in a way.]

Either way, he ain't worth your time. [Yet he's somehow worth Guzma's? Not that he's ever been one to make total sense.] Be glad if he decides you ain't worth his.

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