pokebox | LOCKED TO istheindustry

LOCKED TO istheindustry

Summer was coming to Johto, and quite frankly, Logan was glad it was nearly here. He had been spending his time up north with Reaver, travelling to Mahogany Town, a remote little town that housed one of the Gym Badges they were in the process of collecting. Logan hadn't expected it to be so cold, even in spring. Finally it was beginning to feel like that awkward transition phase between spring and summer, and the heat was a welcome change.

They had arrived in Mahogany last night and had spent the better part of the day travelling to the Lake of Rage. Both of them had seen it on the map, but Logan hadn't expressed any desire to visit it until they had stopped in Mahogany. Yes, he understood that the badge challenge was important (he was the one who had been so determined to start collecting the badges anyway), but the badge wasn't going anywhere. Neither was the lake, but that didn't change the fact that he wanted to see it for himself.

Logan had always loved the water. The royal family had a small place in Millfields that they visited during the summers when the Hero Queen simply couldn't stand the heat anymore. Logan had loved exploring Bower Lake as a child, and it was something that never really left him even after all this time. He had only been to Bower Lake a couple of times since he took the throne, and had only brought his sister with him once. They had both been a bit too old to frolic in the ocean like children - at least, that was what they said until night fell and they were certain they wouldn't be spotted by any of the nobles that lived in the area. He remembered that evening fondly; but there were very few things about his sister he didn't remember fondly.

He brushed that thought aside, not interested in dwelling on the past. It never ended well. He was here in Johto now; he had to look out for himself - and only himself - though it was still something he was in the process of learning how to do. He was getting used to not having control over people, but taking care of himself was still something Logan hadn't really adapted to.

That said, he did look quite a lot healthier than he had in Albion. The darkness was still present around his eyes - and likely would always be, he was tainted, after all - but he had put on a bit of weight and the constant travel was doing some good for him physically. Of course, it didn't help that he was travelling with Reaver who would run on ahead if he was allowed. Logan still had difficulties keeping up with the ever-energetic industrialist, but he hadn't reached his breaking point yet.

The travelling today had been relatively light and easy; there were trainers to fight and plenty of grass to wade through, so speeding to their destination was out of the question. He was thankful for that. It did put them a bit behind schedule though; they would have to spend the night up at the Lake of Rage and return to Mahogany in the morning, but Logan really couldn't say he minded that any. If the lake was anything like Bower Lake, then he doubted he'd want to leave so soon anyway.

Speaking of the lake, it finally came into view amid the trees and Logan stopped short, staring. It was huge, possibly even larger than Bower Lake. The water looked clean and clear from where he was standing (though admittedly, it was still a bit hard to judge and it could just be wistful thinking on his part) and the shores were completely clear, no people anywhere in sight. Apparently this wasn't a very popular tourist destination for whatever reason. Logan found himself releasing a breath he didn't realize he was holding, glancing side-long at Reaver for some sort of confirmation that the industrialist was as pleased with this as he was.

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"The circumstances are a bit different this time."

It wasn't a pointed comment, and his tone was surprisingly devoid of cruelty; there was still the usual dry sense behind his words that he never quite seemed to be rid of, but all in all it was more or less a comment and nothing more.

Reaver never had been one to empathize, and this wasn't much of an exception. At the same time, Logan wasn't the only one not under full ownership of his own fate; the onset of summer wasn't something that Reaver was looking forward to.

But for now, the water was calming, and summer with all its unfortunate implications wasn't anything he wanted to focus on.

"You're still troubled by it. Understandably so, really." Again, not so much judgement as commentary, but still.

"Not just by it. The entire situation in Albion." He finally admitted with a sigh. Logan lowered his hands to trail through the water again. They were still shaking a bit, but somehow or other, Reaver's words had helped. He didn't understand how, what with that tone of Reaver's and the words themselves were hardly comforting, but it had relaxed him some anyway.

Maybe it was just the fact that Reaver was here and he understood, at least to some extent.

"My sister... she should have never gotten involved with all this. Perhaps it's my own fault, but I didn't anticipate her overreacting..."

He stopped, shook his head with the realization that Reaver probably had no idea what he was going on about. He couldn't remember if he had even mentioned what started all this to Reaver.

"There were a group of protesters outside the castle. It really wasn't any different from any ordinary day, but Sir Walter and my sister noticed. Sir Walter attempted to reason with me - his advice was once useful, but circumstances have changed. My sister barged in with her friend and attempted to tell me that I couldn't kill the protesters. She didn't understand; but I shouldn't have expected her to.

"I overreacted. I forced her to choose between saving the protesters or her friend. The other party would be killed."

Logan's eyes remained downcast at the water. He didn't seem overly bothered by it until he reached that point, when suddenly his expression twisted and it became very obvious he was just trying to reign in his anger.

"It was a stupid and rash decision on my part. That is why she left the castle and formed this rebellion. That is how she got involved in all of this. If I hadn't--!"

But he stopped himself there, taking a deep breath and returning to moving his hands through the water, clearly trying to calm himself.

"...I never wanted her to face any of this. I've failed her, both as her king and as her brother." He didn't sound upset with that little revelation though, merely resigned. "I apologize. I suppose I needed to get that off my chest." And he did seem a bit bothered by unloading all that on Reaver. He knew Reaver couldn't care less about things like this, but he did feel a bit better getting all that out in the open.

That honestly got a bit of a derisive noise from Reaver's direction, along with a fair amount of eyerolling. "And I suppose you believe rebellions like this happen overnight? Please. Do keep in mind that I've met your charming younger sister, and with all due respect to her and her station, somehow I doubt she would have been able to formulate anything near as elaborate a plan as this without outside assistance. I daresay she didn't even come up with the majority of all of this herself."

While his voice was, again, not terribly cruel, and that odd smirk still lingered about his features, it was rather plain that he wasn't exactly going to back down on these points, either. "There have been numerous attempts on my own life since I've taken up my position; many of them have come from Page and her little faction. Given that I've never even mentioned such things to you and they weren't terribly common knowledge, and given that our little revolutionary hardly left the castle to begin with, where do you think she even heard of Page to begin with? Or any of the others that were laying siege to Bowerstone, for that matter?

"I won't argue with you if you try to claim you accelerated the process, but somehow I doubt your actions were the direct cause of it, because - again, with all due respect to your sister and her station - somehow I doubt a spoiled brat who's never known the outside of the castle would have even thought to do half of this on her own."

For a long moment Logan couldn't come up with anything to say in response to that. Reaver was right, of course; rebellions don't get started overnight. That just raised the question of who was planning this all along? It must have been Sir Walter, though Logan found himself rather hurt by the idea that Walter would do that without trying to discuss anything with him. That wasn't exactly right though, was it? Walter had done everything he could to change Logan's mind in the beginning. Walter had known just how terrible things were getting before everyone else. He would have had plenty of time to formulate a plan and work on preparing the princess for her role in it.

"You should have told me about what the resistance was doing. I know you can handle it on your own, but I would have at least sent more soldiers into Industrial in an attempt to discover their location." Not that it really mattered now, he supposed.

There was another long moment of pause before Logan spoke again. "Thank you. You're right; my sister couldn't have started all this on her own." He couldn't argue that she was a spoiled brat who had never seen life outside the castle (hell, he was a spoiled brat who had seen very little of life outside the castle), nor did he care to try.

"It... does mean a lot, to hear that I'm not entirely at fault for putting her in this situation."

"I said nothing to you regarding the resistance because they were hardly any sort of threat, at least not as they were; really, if I came to you about every little uprising that occurred in Bowerstone Industrial, then you'd tire of me rather quickly - and I certainly can't have that, can I?"

And judging by his tone, that was quite simply going to be that on the matter; there was very little sense in arguing, unless Logan wanted him to be stubborn. "As for the rest, I've been your friend and advisor for years - I'd think you'd know that that's what I'm here for by this point."

Reaver's words stunned Logan into silence again, but for an entirely different reason this time. The emotional reaction was quick; he felt genuinely happy to hear Reaver refer to him as a friend, even after everything they had gone through. Maybe it didn't mean as much to Reaver as it did to him, but friendship was something Logan hadn't had much experience with. If one didn't count his sister, it was something he didn't have any experience with.

"I..." But he couldn't come up with anything to say in response, merely shaking his head and focusing back on the water. He knew he should express just how pleased he was with hearing that, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out how to do it without sounding like a child.

"...Thank you." It wasn't the best, but it would have to do. He didn't speak for a moment, still trying to find something to say. "You've been an excellent adviser." At least he knew Reaver was partial to compliments.

Reaver just laughed a bit at that, softly. "But of course; you only hired the finest possible." Despite the shameless egotism, however, it was clear that the compliment had pleased him.

"That said, however, there's no reason to be so shy about it."

"I am not--" But he didn't even bother to finish that, since it would be a bit of a blatant lie. Instead, he finished that thought with a rather undignified noise of frustration and rolled his eyes. Fine, fine, he was shy. Happy?

"...Yes, well. I did need the very best to ensure the survival of our country. You did an excellent job serving me."

...Yes, he was even willing to stroke Reaver's ego a bit more.

And Reaver certainly wasn't going to complain about that, though he did arch an eyebrow a bit at that non-admission before Logan continued on.

"Of course, my dear. And naturally, the same services will be extended to your sister, when the time comes for that."

...although the sheer thickness of the sarcasm there was likely more than enough to make it plain what he thought about that. Not looking forward to it, Logan...

Despite the seriousness of the topic, Logan found himself smirking.

"She's not going to let you build that whorehouse either, you know."

And all that Logan received for his effort was the most dismissive gesture.

"Oh, we'll see about that."

"You didn't stand a chance with me. There's no way she will let you get away with that. She's far more moral than I am."

He didn't seem bothered by that any though, still smirking instead.

"She's also far less of a prude, given what she was wearing at the point that she and our dear friend Page decided to force entry into my mansion."

Ahahahaha what.

"Reaver..."

You heard him.

Despite that, however, he just laughs again. "All right, all right. Consider it retracted, if it offends you so."

"Good. I suggest you don't talk about my sister that way again."

She is far too young for you anyway!!

...honestly, everyone managed to be too young for him, if you were going to look at it that way.

"If you insist, darling."

Yes, well. Her especially.

"I do." But he wasn't as uptight about it as he could have been, and soon enough, Logan was smirking again.

"You really ought to know better than to attempt to say such things about my sister in front of me, Reaver." And with that, he oh-so-maturely splashed water at the industrialist.

"Or you'll - "

...all right, wow, or apparently you'd do that - that oh-so-mature response managed to get a completely indignant noise in response, complete with an equally mature retaliation.

"Oh, come now, she's quite capable of handling herself by now, and she's not even here besides."

Ladies and gentlemen, the most mature men in Johto.

"Of course she is. That doesn't mean I'm not going to protect her. And since she isn't here, who else will defend her?"

That splash was returned quickly enough, Logan's smirk widening a bit with it.

Well, look what you've done, you've gone and made him competitive - so quick to return that, damn you.

Never mind that he was obviously very amused by all of this; it wasn't anything he was really bothering to hide.

"Don't think of it as insulting her honor, think of it as offering her an opportunity."

Oh please, as though Reaver is the only one who's competitive here? That's going to be returned just as quick!

"An opportunity."

...Okay, that got him to frown quickly enough, clearly not pleased with that at all. "Reaver." There were some topics that were just off-limits. His sister and sex were certainly two he didn't want to discuss.

So obviously the solution was to splash Reaver again.

Oh, that was hardly fair -

At the same time, it does seem to have entertained him a good amount; such a vehement reaction, Logan.

"And I suppose that you're going to make me swear up and down to not proposition her, should I be in a position to do so."

"Of course. You won't lay a hand on my sister."

His sister always had meant a lot to him, after all...

And it certainly wasn't as though he would rather keep Reaver to himself. That had absolutely nothing to do with it, thank you very much.

That just got more eyerolling, really. "If you're going to be so insistent about it, I suppose I can humor you for the time being, at least."

LOCKED TO istheindustry

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