Double Mast[e]ry

we burn in fire.
we burn in blood.
we burn in dreams.

It was a relaxing place, the Amity Square that is. It was a place that the amber haired female was not unfamiliar with when it came to her duties as a ranger. Be sure to maintain order, everyone is following the rules, and no one is doing anything stupid. It was easier said than done sometimes when most of the time the visitors of Amity Square were kids, but when it got to the more later hours it got better. When all was said and done the park wasn't so bad. Even someone like Adrian could find some solace there when she wasn't working patrol duty. Thus being stuck in hearthome city rather than mingling in the busy streets the redhead went for working out at the park.

Since she was not working at that moment there were rules that applied that stated she had to bring along a pokemon to walk with. As much as the woman disliked this rule, she did comply. Her Skitty was out of its ball meowing at whatever little things passed the duo as Adrian herself was stretching by the fountain that stood in the middle of the courtyard area. The woman was wearing some yoga pants and a track jacket with the mentality of doing some exercise.

And she did... for an entirety of ten minutes.

The great thing about jogging was that with the speed and the rush it was hard to pay much attention to what was around you for too long, only what was in front of you. Which was completely acceptable as Adrian could not have cared less about what everyone else was doing around her. Skitty was running alongside her and able to keep up with the ranger, however the kitten was a tad more aware of the surroundings. Thus when the flaming stick of doom came flying over the brush the normal type meowed loudly to warn his trainer. Unfortunately, that didn’t get through to her on time. Those dreaded moments as time slowed for the kitten watching the amber haired woman running as the burning piece of wood was falling. In moments the hazardous stick fell onto Adrian’s arm, covered by the jacket, to which the woman finally took notice.

First was the initial shock as the heat burned through the material on top of the light that brought attention to it. “OH SHIT!” she bellowed as the jacket was promptly removed as quickly as she could which revealed the white t-shirt underneath. It was thrown onto the ground and stomped on angrily as the sharp burning pain seared onto her flesh. Next was the anger as Adrian promptly looked around the nearby surroundings to find the culprit. “WHO IN THE FUCK IS CAUSING FIRES?”

So much for a relaxing jog.

we burn in fire.
we burn in blood.
we burn in dreams.

There it was. Part of her didn't think that the perpetrator was even going to show their face. Knowing people's tendencies, no one really took much responsibilities for their fuck up. Yet as the unknown man showed himself with some concern in his tone, the woman's eyes narrowed as they locked onto him. She did not respond to the initial question of whether she was alright because it might have been quite obvious from the burn mark on her arm that she was not. There was no evidence yet to accuse him of anything, he could have been a bystander that heard her yelling.

That changed when the admission came in the form of an apology though. Smoke and nauseous fumes were the only things left of the fire as it filled the otherwise clear air from the crumpled pieces of ash and tattered polyester. The expression on her face remained in a scowl, not only because of the anger that coursed in her veins but also the pain that was ingrained in her skin. "How the fuck was lighting me on fire an accident?" she questioned with her previous tone lingering. It was not as if Adrian was not understanding per say... but she needed to have something valid to understand. Only an idiot would immediately accept an apology with no purpose. Especially when you saw a Volcarona behind a person that obviously did not belong in a park setting.

In any case as Adrian looked over the male, there was caution towards anything else he was doing. Based on the clothes he was no ordinary visitor of Amity Square. There were a few more thoughts that crossed her mind but they were abruptly interrupted from the feeling of the man touching her hand. Instinctively her arm reacted by pulling back defensively which caused a jolt of pain to surge through her body from the injury. "The hell!?" The woman winced from the movement as she took a step backwards to create more space between them. She was not expecting him to reach out for her and that felt unnatural to her. There wasn't enough trust to warrant that and who could blame her? "Haven't you done enough? Who do you think you are, bringing a Volcarona and starting fires in a place like this?" Her looks developed more into glares with each minute.

we burn in fire.
we burn in blood.
we burn in dreams.

Adrian bit her tongue when she was told to calm down. It was as if she was being treated like a child when she was a full grown adult at this point of her life. Sure she was being loud and angry - and oh was she angry - yet in her mind she had every right to be. She very much did not appreciate being treated like a nuisance, seeing as she was the one injured and not the one starting fires. Still, even so, calling more attention to the duo would have been more trouble than it was worth in such a peaceful park. Thus, she obliged for the moment. Taking note of his responses, or lack thereof, for later; she watched as the fire type was retrieved back into its pokeball only to be replaced by the more daunting ghost type.

Now the sight of the Dusknoir did not cause her any alarm but she bit down on her tongue further to keep from lashing out. How was that supposed to make her feel safer? How was that supposed to make anyone feel safer? By this point her Skitty had returned to Adrian's side and showed concern for the ranger. The sight of the small kitten pokemon made her relax a bit more but it did not neutralize the anger swelling in her throat. It was enough for her to lose sight of what the strange male was doing for the moment. The shattering of ice was what brought her attention back as her now tattered jacket was used as part of a makeshift ice pack.

The ranger said nothing as she was being offered the ice. Reluctantly she accepted it with her right hand if only due to how much stinging the burn was causing. Taking it to her opposite arm, she allowed the silence to fill the air before eyeing the other. He was smiling apologetically but it did not help his case.

"So you think helping me treat the burn is adequate compensation for the trouble and that I would forgive you?" She was seething but she was no longer yelling. Despite herself, she knew it wouldn't have helped anything. Instead she was just internalizing her rage and since he didn't answer some of her previous questions she saw no reason to accept any apology. "You must live a blissful life."

we burn in fire.
we burn in blood.
we burn in dreams.

"..." The response was straightforward. Adrian couldn't get mad at it yet at the same time she very much felt like she should. It was strange as the woman tried to gauge how to react. Her brows furrowed initially as her instincts told her to as her eyes squinted to find some additional information that must have been presented that she missed. He looked away and looked amused with himself, which led her to believe he was making fun of her until he visibly looked to try to smooth over the situation. The woman sighed, thinking herself done with this conversation up to the point he spoke again.

Stopping abruptly what she was doing, her emerald eyes sought eye contact to try to distinguish if he was joking. The proper words somehow found themselves stuck at the throat for the moment as Adrian looked him over once again. Thus rather than speaking she boldly took a step forward and reached her uninjured hand outwards, palm upwards as she moved to brush her fingertips against the stranger's cheek gingerly (if allowed to do so). It was only in that moment that the ranger could then suddenly shift her grip and turn that tender touch into a pinch of the cheek to wake him up from whatever lucid dream he was having. "... are you serious? Who would actually agree to that?" Oh hey, those words from before unstuck themselves somehow. "You don't even know my name."

we burn in fire.
we burn in blood.
we burn in dreams.

Adrian shook her head. By Arceus he was easy. Did he really expect for her to agree to a kiss based on what had happened minutes prior? He had flinched if only briefly, that feeling lingering on her fingertips, which indicated to her that physical contact might not have been something the other was used to. That was fine. It made her believe that there was no way he believe the encounter was going to end well. Regardless they were at this point where the ginger was pinching harder which was getting more information out of the male.

No one liked cheek pinches.

He answered the question effortlessly, albeit a tad garbled from her grip. "So this isn't your first time asking?" she questioned though already assumed the answer to be yes. This man probably has no shame whatsoever. The only positive trait was that he was being honest, even about his harlotry. For a moment the woman wondered what female would have agreed to that offer. Then she realized, likely the ones with no self-respect and left it at that. While this was a grown man, Adrian figured she would do the civic duty as a human being, not even as a ranger, to teach him to be a better person. Her lips parted to ask more questions however he spoke first and what he said shocked her.

The amber haired woman was visibly stunned. So much so that she unconsciously let go of the man’s cheek as she thought everything over. Her emerald eyes glanced over herself to make sure she was not wearing a name tag or something that had her name written on it before turning them back to where they were. “The fuck?” she began in a disbelieving tone as she stared at Adrien. There was no possible way. “How did you know my name?”

we burn in fire.
we burn in blood.
we burn in dreams.

No matter what she said, no matter what she did, it looked as if the male was not going to take her seriously. Was it because he was a girl that he could not stop flirting and joking around? Whatever the case may have been it did not change Adrian's view on the silver haired man. Adrian took a step backwards to readjust herself after all was said and done. She flinched momentarily at the burn and tried to hide that fact to keep up appearances so she did not look weak. That said it looked as if the other understood more the situation better than she had in a matter of seconds.

Despite her nature the woman listened to him. He chuckled, to which she took as laughing at her, as he began to hash out details. Information that the ginger somehow missed when she was pinching his cheek. It was not as if the name was not a common one, but what were the chances of running into someone with such a similar name in such a situation? For now the woman withheld any further insults as the man continued with his full name while fishing for her's. "Oh. An Arkwright. I guess that explains a few things," she said mostly to herself. It was loud enough that the Arkwright could hear it no doubt and Adrian didn't care to hide it. She herself was a native to Kalos so had minimum interaction with the companies owned by that family. As a ranger however she knew some stuff about the Arkwright family and their influence in Sinnoh but she cared little for it.

Thinking back, maybe the females he was referring to before were gold diggers.

The thought made her sigh in exasperation. Anyway, normally Adrian would not have considered giving up her name to such a stranger. The single things that gave him the edge here was he had introduced himself and already had her first name. She would also notice the extended hand offered to her that she overlooked previously, looking at it skeptically. With some general reluctance she responded, "Adrian Mastry…" she still didn’t want to shake his hand but did so out of some obligation for being a responsible adult. Of course she didn’t move much due to her injury as she didn’t want to aggravate it further. “And no I didn’t change my mind,” she was referring to the kiss comment from earlier.

we burn in fire.
we burn in blood.
we burn in dreams.

Initially she did notice the expression change on the male's face, following his gaze to her arm. Instinctively she tried to cover it up with the makeshift ice pack to obscure it from view and feign less of severity of it. In reality it was not too serious of a burn but due to the material it melted through she did need to have it medically checked. Alas the confrontation developed further and now it looked as if they were both growing tired. It looks like the woman struck a nerve. Not that she cared one way or another considering the injury, however the mood did shift accordingly. Another apology came yet this one somehow stuck better than the previous ones. There actually looked to be genuine concern for her this time. Did that mean he actually did feel guilty and was hiding it? Mentally reeling back from another potential backlash, she listened to the other Adrien's words.

Now she knew there were some... flaws to her communication tactics. That said she merely shrugged this time and spoke with less anger fueling her words. Rather than saying something akin to blame or pushing people away, she merely looked away to the distance at nothing. "I can handle it," she began though would not make eye contact here. If it looked like she was ceding too much then it would look bad in her eyes. After all it was still his fault. The acknowledgement of guilt was what changed things as well as the change in demeanor. Closing her eyes she continued, "I'll go to a hospital and get checked up as long as you give your word that you don't set anyone else on fire." At this point it was up to the other Adrien if he wanted to go along with her. She did not bar him from that choice, though she doubted that he would considering she was letting him off the hook. Out of all things Adrian did not want to give strangers the wrong idea hanging around him too long but there must have been a speck of remorse for making this end up about herself.

Adrian could have thrown in an insulting quip about him being unable to handle promises however the ranger believed he got the point.