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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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That nearly got a smile out of Logan before he reconsidered. He was fully aware that smiling wasn't exactly a thing he did. It always looked horribly awkward and forced when he tried. "Thank you. That means so much to me. I've really enjoyed our time together as well. As much as I miss Albion, I am grateful this place gave us more time to get to know one another without all the stress we were under back home."

Reaver was well used to the sheer strangeness of Logan's expressions by now; it had been something of an annoyance at first, especially when they had first been brought to Johto and he had had to get used to dealing with Logan more or less full-time - Reaver had always thrived off of emotional feedback from others, and receiving cues that were contradictory or generally absent tended to annoy and frustrate him more than anything. However, he had come to acknowledge that sometimes Logan just...kind of malfunctioned on the "displaying generally human expressions" front, and it could more or less be assumed that his words meant more than whatever dissonant look he had on his face.

"I'm glad to hear it, darling." He closed their proximity a bit then, reaching for one of Logan's hands as he did so; it wasn't anything that was intended to lead into something else, simply establishing contact.

Physical contact had always been a bit of an odd thing for Logan. Prior to arriving in Johto, the most physical contact he had had been with a maid he had been interested in, and that had ended horribly. Outside of that one time, he rarely touched anyone or was touched by anyone. It wasn't that his parents hadn't known how to show affection, it was just that affection was mostly verbal rather than physical.

His personal bubble had been popped fairly early on here in Johto, but he really couldn't say he minded. He had learned to adapt to it and there was something oddly nice about physical contact. It was something he had difficulty sleeping without now, which he supposed was probably a bad thing, but it helped him get through the night with fewer nightmares, so he wasn't going to complain.

He seized Reaver's hand as soon as it was offered, gripping it a bit too tightly at first and forcing himself to relax a bit. He knew better than to think that Reaver would leave him so suddenly, but for some reason that fear was still there. As long as he could hold on to Reaver, Reaver wouldn't leave. It was a ridiculously childish thought, he acknowledged that, but there was something comforting about it anyway. Logan didn't offer any words, instead glancing away once he realized he had been focused on their hands for a bit too long.

That sudden, almost desperate grip on his hand startled him a bit, but Reaver didn't pull away or move to discourage it; Logan remedied it quickly enough. That didn't prevent the touch itself from being strange, however; all of their physical affections up until now had been administered with their gloves on, and direct skin contact like this felt more than a bit odd. Decidedly nicer than through all the fabric, of course; just...odd.

He was aware of Logan's awkwardness, however, if it could be called that. "You can relax a bit, you know." It was something he said to Logan often; the man had yet to actually listen.

"I know." This time wouldn't be any different. Relaxing wasn't something he really knew how to do anymore. It seemed there was always some reason to be worked up, even if it was something as simple as not knowing what to do.

This was more complex than that, though. Logan had never been good at dealing with feelings; most were ignored until he reached the breaking point, and if for whatever reason he couldn't ignore them, they were channeled into either rage or awkwardness. This was going in the direction of the latter, of course.

"...Thank you." The words were soft, uncertain. He wasn't entirely sure what he was thanking Reaver for; agreeing to come up here in the first place, remaining his friend even after their relationship failed, being his friend in the first place, or even the hand-holding they were currently doing - it really could have been any one of those things, if not something else entirely. Emotions were just confusing.

Reaver was aware, on some level at least, that Logan was having a hard time; while he wasn't exactly inclined to be helpful with such things, he didn't seem to mind, either - at the very least, he didn't feel nearly as strong a desire to bolt from the situation as he had upon their first arriving in Johto. This was something to be dealt with, or at the very least it was something that could be dealt with; as such, he remained where he was, shifting his hand a bit to entwine their fingers.

"As I said before, my dear," he replied, his voice quiet, though that smirk still hadn't quite gone anywhere. "It's what I'm here for."

"You're very good at what you do." The easiest way to stumble through emotions was to seize on one thing and hold on for dear life until things returned to normal. Reaver was providing comfort both physically and verbally, and Logan was more grateful than he could possibly put into words. He figured compliments would work just fine, considering how Reaver seemed to enjoy them.

Logan glanced back at their hands, nearly smiling as he returned Reaver's grip. There was something very comforting, very familiar, very safe about this. It was a bittersweet sort of feeling though, it was a reminder of what they once had and that hurt, but it was also something they could have again in the future. He found that was enough for him.

While he was aware that it was likely a sign that All Was Not Well - Logan was never this willing to stroke his ego, after all, not without prompting or very good reason - Reaver certainly did enjoy compliments, and he had never been one to turn them down; he offered Logan a quiet noise of assent, clearly pleased with the remark, before falling into silence again.

At such close proximity, the scarring on Logan's body couldn't exactly be ignored, at least not easily; Reaver found his gaze drifting toward it more often than he would have liked. They didn't look like the sort of injuries inflicted by Shadows, though he admittedly wouldn't have much to judge that off of personally; the sort he fought off in the catacombs of Wraithmarsh did tend to brandish weapons, but the scars Logan was bearing across his chest were far different to the sort that had marred his face and hands - as though they'd been made by two separate means, almost.

As it stood, however, he still wasn't too inclined to ask; at the same time, the fact that he was staring was likely telling, to some degree.

It took Logan a bit longer than it really should have to realize that Reaver was staring at the scars, but it was quite obvious just when he noticed it. He shifted a bit, suddenly finding their belongings on the shore to be absolutely fascinating, expression quickly shifting back to the usual frown. He had known this was coming, hadn't he? Was he really surprised by it?

Yes, he was. Because even if he had seen it coming, it hadn't actually happened, and some part of him had hoped that it wouldn't happen. Reaver hadn't said anything about them before, so he had hoped he wouldn't draw attention to them.

"...I don't remember receiving most of these." He said softly after a moment, keeping his eyes firmly locked on the shoreline rather than Reaver.

"That incident in the desert, then." It wasn't a question.

Reaver knew, of course, about Logan's encounter with the Crawler; he had been the only other person who had any idea back in Albion, and he also knew better than most about the sort of devastation Shadows were capable of causing. He had his own theories, regarding what had happened to Logan's men; he didn't feel the need to voice them now.

He wasn't quite sure when he decided to reach out with his free hand, to set it against Logan's chest and feel those scars for himself, but he found himself doing so anyway. He'd always made a practice of keeping his distance unless invited, regarding touch, but with Logan that barrier had been crossed months ago; just the same, he was aware there was a difference between casual touch and something like this - after all, anyone trying to examine his hands without being granted some sort of permission would get at least a sharp slap to the face, if he didn't have his weapons (it was odd to default to thinking of himself as not having his weapons, to simply assume that he wouldn't have them) - and if Logan obviously wanted him to back off, he wasn't going to press the matter, either.

Touch was something Logan had gotten used to here in Johto. It was still a bit odd for him, and occasionally he would have moments where he never wanted to be touched again, but for the most part he was perfectly fine with it.

That didn't stop him from flinching at Reaver's touch, glancing back over at him immediately. Logan's expression was unguarded and open for a moment, eyes wide. He looked almost scared, though the expression was a bit subdued; all of his expressions usually were.

He didn't relax, but he didn't pull away either. After a moment of silence (in which he told himself that everything was fine and he had no reason to worry about Reaver's touch), Logan finally replied to Reaver's remark.

"Yes. The Crawler." It wasn't a necessary answer; he was sure Reaver knew well enough anyway. It did give him something to focus on though, and he seized on that. "The people of Aurora found me in the desert. They said I was lucky to have survived."

In some ways he did consider himself lucky. If he hadn't survived, no one would have been able to warn Albion of the coming threat. Still, to have been scarred and tainted by that thing... Well, he had had his fair share of dark days where he wondered if things wouldn't have been better if the Aurorans had left him to die.

Reaver was well aware of that strange, almost frightened look Logan was giving him; he couldn't say he understood why, but he left his hand where it was for the time being, not moving until Logan began speaking again. At that point he allowed his fingers to trail along the length of the marks, his touch light but strangely clinical, especially given the source; there was nothing erotic about it, simply curiosity.

"Really, my dear, I can't say I disagree with them any." The statement was a bit blunt, perhaps, but at least it was honest; the scarring was morbidly fascinating, but outside of that it was fairly obvious that most wouldn't have lived through such an assault.

It took Logan a bit longer than it should have to come up with a response, and even when he did come up with one, it was just a simple nod. He understood that the extent of his injuries should have killed him. He didn't know how he hadn't bled to death after escaping the Crawler, much less how he managed to escape in the first place. He didn't remember anything after the battle started. The Aurorans couldn't help him with that, but perhaps it was best if he never remembered exactly what had happened.

Logan's sister was a Hero, that much was common knowledge throughout Albion. His mother had been a Hero as well, and they were descended from the Heroes of old. Logan himself wasn't one, but perhaps being related to Heroes had helped him live through the Crawler's attack. He would never know, but it wasn't something that bothered him any. He had been in good health when the Crawler attacked then; he wouldn't stand a chance against it now.

"It's not something to worry about here." He wasn't entirely aware he had spoken aloud. "It isn't here. It won't come here." There was no proof of that. People came and went without any sort of rhyme or reason. The Crawler could very easily show up here. There was one consolation to that, though: if it did arrive in Johto, it wouldn't have its powers or the ability to summon the Children, Minions, or Sentinels. It wasn't much, but knowing that it couldn't do anything to him here was a welcome relief.

Reaver paused for a moment, then allowed his hand to fall away from Logan's chest, shifting to rest against his hip.

"Of course not." There was nothing soothing or comforting about Reaver's tone; if anything, the words were perfectly straightforward, confident and matter-of-fact. Coddling people was never something he'd done, and he often couldn't be bothered to comfort them properly, but self-assured confidence and an ability to keep up at least the image of control in the face of adversity were things he had in spades. "Even if - and that's a highly improbable if, from what I understand of this place - it were to arrive here, it wouldn't be in nearly the same way. Given that this place likes to make everyone miserable upon arrival, it would show up in the form of human with a level five rat or somesuch; we're far more powerful than that thing is here, and even if it were to attempt anything - anything at all - it wouldn't just be dealing with us, as there are a fairly large amount of altruistic-types that it would be facing down. Honestly, darling, we're perfectly safe here whether it shows its hideous face or not; our own power aside, somehow I doubt those people you know - such as Kimblee, or perhaps that Tohsaka individual - would simply stand by and do nothing."

For a moment, all Logan could do was stare. Reaver did have a very valid point; the Crawler's strongest weapons would not arrive here with it. The only thing it would really have to prey on was Logan's fear, and even then he had friends here, people and Pokémon who would protect him and defeat the Crawler, if he was incapable of doing so himself.

The very idea was mind-boggling, possibly because he hadn't had very many allies back home (his soldiers were loyal to him, but they knew nothing of the coming threat; Reaver knew of the threat but wasn't likely to stay and fight it), but more likely because he hadn't realized just how many people here would care if something like the Crawler targeted him. At the very least he would have his Pokémon team and Reaver, but he had made a few friends along the way as well.

"You're... you're right." He sounded far more surprised than he looked. "There isn't anything it can do to me here." A pause. "I needed to hear that. Thank you."

Of course Reaver had a valid point; making valid points was something he was exceedingly good at. Whether other people acknowledged them as valid points or not was often another issue entirely, but that was really neither here nor there for the time being, was it?

"I'm well aware that I'm right; I know these things. Now don't let any more thoughts of that thing coming here disturb you, hm?" He tightened his grip on Logan's hand momentarily before relaxing again. "There's quite literally nothing to worry about here."

Logan finally allowed himself to relax, something that took a concentrated effort to achieve. "You're right. There's nothing to worry about here." He echoed, sounding a bit pleased.

The Crawler wouldn't show up here, and if it did, it wouldn't have the power to do anything to him. He was safe here. He wouldn't be safe when he returned home, but he had a year to worry about the next encounter with it. His sister would surely help work things out. They would be fine. Albion would survive its attack. He hoped.

There wasn't any sense in worrying about what might happen back home in a year's time though, he knew that much. Logan pushed the thought aside and focused on returning Reaver's grip. "Thank you. I don't say it enough, but you've been such a great help to me."

"You say that as though I'm not aware." Again, however, it was clear that he was teasing; he couldn't say that he didn't enjoy flattery like this. At the same time, however, there was something sort of awkward about it that he couldn't quite place; it took him perhaps longer than it should have to realize that there really wasn't anything he was gaining from doing this. Yes, keeping Logan calm would certainly be less annoying, but if he was going to be perfectly blunt, it wasn't as though Logan could really do anything for him here that Reaver couldn't do for himself. He was no longer in a position of power; it wasn't as though Reaver needed to stay in his good graces for any reason.

He shook it off after a moment, however, deciding that it was something to be dealt with later, if it needed to be dealt with at all.

"I did tell you back in Albion that I would do all within my power to provide whatever you required, bar flat-out miracles." It isn't quite what Logan is talking about, he suspects, but focusing on Albion and his work there is far easier than focusing on anything that's happened here. "And it would have been senseless not to ally with you, besides."

"Sometimes I wonder about that," Logan teased, though he didn't elaborate any. Reaver had worked out a way to calm Logan down; that itself was a near miracle.

"I'm pleased you agree." Honestly, Reaver had been his second choice of alliances, but it was probably for the best that Faraday hadn't agreed to work with him in the first place. He would have lost precious time if Faraday ditched while they were in the middle of building those Collins. Reaver was (somehow) more reliable. He might be a dreadful person, but he could make money, that much was for certain.

"I'm not discussing Albion though. You've been very good to me here too." It wasn't something he thought about often, but Reaver really had no reason to be as good to him as he was. At least, there wasn't any reason for him to do it here. Back home, yes, he was the king and staying in his good graces would benefit Reaver. Here? He didn't have any more power than Reaver did and as far as Logan could figure, Reaver wasn't really gaining anything from this relationship. Maybe Reaver was like he was, and genuinely wanted to keep an eye on his fellow countrymen. It was a bit of a ridiculous thought though, and Logan nearly smirked.

"I do have to ask though; what are you getting out of this? You don't have any reason to look out for me here, at least, no reason I can see."

...well, that was downright uncanny, wasn't it...

At any rate, however, Reaver was quick to brush off the question with a bit of an eyeroll and a dismissive gesture from his free hand. "Believe me, my dear, I'm no one's keeper; if this were a matter of glorified guard duty or making some sort of caretaker of myself, I wouldn't bother."

His gaze darted away then, focusing on the water somewhere to Logan's left; it wasn't anything too out of the ordinary - Reaver often didn't maintain eye contact, after all - but that didn't change the part where the subject in question was still a bit awkward. "And besides, I doubt you'll find it very flattering, but at the start it was a matter of...well, I'm sure you're familiar with the adage 'Any port in a storm'? If I'm being thrown into some sort of hideous abduction situation, best to do so with one from Albion than a complete stranger - as you've said, this world is rather different from our own. So it was a matter of familiarity and convenience, really."

"I can't say I'm surprised. That's why I remained with you and Barry." For the most part. But that wasn't something he wanted to get into. The mere topic of Barry was unpleasant and not something he wanted to discuss.

But he did understand and didn't have any hard feelings about it. It occurred to him that throughout Reaver's (incredibly long) life, he had almost certainly never been in a situation like this before. How often was he put in situations where he had no idea what to do? It was an interesting thought, but not one he was going to focus on now.

"I suppose you continue to keep me company because it is familiar? Or is it just my charming personality?" The remark was as openly sarcastic as Logan got, which wasn't very much, but the smirk should have made it plain that he was teasing. As far as he was concerned, it didn't really matter why Reaver stuck around; what mattered was that he chose to remain with Logan.

Barry was always a bit of a strange subject with Logan, for reasons that Reaver would likely never understand; it was unusual that Logan would even acknowledge that Barry existed, much less had been in Johto - though that was admittedly a choice that Reaver could comprehend, given how utterly acerbic Barry tended to be. His butler had never been one to show much respect to any authority that wasn't Reaver's; just the same, he didn't believe that warranted quite the level of oddness Logan tended to bring to the table every time the man came up.

But then Logan moved on, and there were other things to focus on; the sarcasm was unexpected but not unwelcome, and Reaver's response was an easy one.

"I'm rather enjoying myself and my current company is attractive; why wouldn't I stay?"

That certainly shut Logan up quickly enough. It wasn't something he ever really thought about; the scars certainly detracted from his appearance, but otherwise he'd never stopped to consider whether he was attractive or not. The compliment went unacknowledged, and Logan glanced away immediately, finding that his instinct was to get defensive of all things. Reaver wasn't mocking him, he knew that much; Reaver certainly seemed to be an incredibly shallow person and Logan doubted he would hang around someone he didn't find attractive for very long.

But Reaver's definition of "attractive" was hardly the norm. See: Barry.

"Yes, well." He finally said after a moment. "Thank you for the compliment, I suppose." The defensive tone really wasn't helping any, but he couldn't quite get it out of his voice.

Reaver was well aware of the defensiveness; it only really seemed to amuse him, a bit of a laugh behind his words, though there wasn't any cruelty behind it.

"Again with the shyness! As adorable as that may be, however, I don't see why you seem so surprised - I'd think my thoughts on the matter would be fairly obvious by now."

"Yes, well." That wasn't helping the defensiveness any. The shyness wasn't adorable at all. It was embarrassing to be so easily caught off-guard, especially after knowing Reaver for so long.

Unfortunately for Logan, Reaver's thoughts on the matter weren't obvious at all. Perhaps it was just inexperience, but Logan had absolutely no idea what Reaver thought of him when it came to attractiveness and interest. The former wasn't as important as the latter, but neither of them really mattered now anyway. He tightened his grip on Reaver's hand momentarily and forced the thought away. He had spent more than enough time today thinking about their failed relationship; he was not going to continue to dwell on it now.

"I'm flattered." The remark was the most deadpan thing, but Logan really was flattered. Reaver's opinion was rather important to him, after all.

LOCKED TO istheindustry

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