this time i might just disappear. [capture]

A soft, quiet hiss stopped Zenzi in her tracks; paranoid for a moment, the fox turned her head towards the source of the noise, fur raising and hackles lifting aggressively. Blaire paused for a moment as well, brows furrowing in concern; clearly, they weren’t alone here.

+Get out. Now.+ came the hiss again, low and insistent. It was a threat if Blaire had ever heard one, and the man straightened up with a frown, golden gaze shifting to seek out the source of the sound. The wiser thing to do would probably have been to listen to a strange, seemingly-disembodied voice, but there was nothing wise about Blaire’s decision to snoop around in a supposedly-haunted mansion. Curiosity often led to stupid decisions, and even Blaire wasn’t immune to erring here and there for the sake of discovery.

A step in the direction the noise had come from elicited another hiss, and Zenzi crept forward as well, sharp eyes settling upon an old, run-down chest of drawers that seemed to be the source of the sound. The Fennekin could offer no threatening retort of her own save for a soundless snarl and a chuff of air, but she was sure to keep those teeth on display.

A purple-and-blue carapace emerged from the dresser, arcing a long, twin-spined tail at the bristling Fennekin as it shifted defensively against its perch. At once relieved and disappointed to discover something familiar, Blaire noted the Skorupi’s appearance the protective way it seemed to shift and move around its location, as though it were guarding something. There was certainly nothing friendly or welcoming in the look it was fixing them with, and the quiver of its barbed tail sent an unspoken warning that Blaire wasn’t eager to press.

“… Let’s keep moving, Zen.”

The fox’s gaze snapped to him incredulously; she seemed more agitated than frightened now that the threat had revealed itself. +What?! I can take him.+

“I didn’t come here for us to start unnecessary battles,” came the firm response. Skorupi was an intriguing Pokemon in its own right, but this one didn’t seem terribly receptive to the idea of leaving its current location, and keeping an eye out for other Pokemon seemed like a better solution for everyone involved.

Besides, he didn’t want to risk anyone getting poisoned while they were out here.

Shooting a glare as venomous as the spines on the scorpion’s tail at the Skorupi, Zenzi snapped her teeth before slinking after Blaire’s retreating figure, fluffy tail lashing in agitation.

NOTES ; blaire chooses to pass up an encounter with a poisonous scorpion!

+… Wouldn’t keep heading that way if I were you, dolls. Baddies up ahead, y’know?+ A lazy purr sounded above Blaire’s head, and both man and Fennekin paused in their stride, shifting to find the source of what could only be described as a smarmy, smart-assed tone. The Purrloin lounged upon the top of an old, dust-laden bookshelf, eying the pair of intruders without much care.

Blaire ignored the faintly-creepy grin plastered upon the Dark-type’s face, fixing him with an expression as deadpan as the Purrloin’s was amused. If this crafty cat considered itself creepy, Blaire wasn’t going to give him the pleasure of rattling him. “… What’s waiting for us if we keep heading this way?” came his retort, thick brows lofting curiously. The skeptic in him was inclined to write off the apparent ‘warning’ as a mere attempt at fright, but there was enough strangeness in this place for him to believe that something more sinister might be lurking ahead.

The Purrloin, however, hardly seemed inclined to offer a direct response to his pondering. Instead, the feline rose to his paws, stretching long, slender limbs and opening its jaws in a wide, sharp-toothed yawn. He paused, pondering, +Well… Letting you in on the secret would spoil the surprise, wouldn’t it?~ Curiosity’s said to kill the cat – I wonder what it’d do to a human and his little pet doggy?+ The Fennekin at the foot of the bookshelf snapped her teeth and bristled, and the feline offered a smug purr of amusement. The little Fire-type was offering a far more enjoyable experience than its troubling, boring human.

Blaire frowned at the silently-growling fox at his heels, before turning a scowl back towards the Purrloin. “… I suppose we’ll both have to find out, won’t we? Are you planning to actually tell me anything of use? Or would it be best for all involved if I just carry on so that none of us need to keep this up?”

Sharp, green eyes narrowed as they appraised the human, though there was nothing but disdain in the feline’s expression. Coyly, he turned to lick one delicate paw, tossing a parting remark over his shoulder. +If you have some sort of death wish… By all means, carry on. Your funeral, not mine, human.+ With a contemptuous snort and a flick of his tail, the feline sprang down to the ground and slunk back the way Blaire and Zenzi had come, disappearing into the dark depths of the hallway with an eerie easiness.

“… Don’t pay him any mind, Zenzi,” Blaire murmured, aware of the fox, tense and bristling, at his feet. “No matter what’s up ahead, we’ll be able to handle it. If not – well, I am better at getting out of situations than most other people.” If worst came to worst, he was relatively confident about his ability to bail – even if it tended to result in a nasty headache at best for him.

And so, with a bit more careful, gentle nudging, he coerced Zenzi into continuing down the long, dark hallway.

NOTES ; passing on this fellow as well!

Everything was quiet, at least for a while, though the sinking feeling in the pit of Blaire’s stomach – and, oddly enough, his excitement as well – continued to grow. Despite her typical bravado and grandeur, Zenzi seemed to be sticking to him more than ever, and none of her usual, telepathic chastising was present. Were he not so focused upon the task at hand, he might have even poked fun at her – as it stood, however, he could hardly blame her for the lack of conversation.

The more realistic, rational part of him was beginning to think that a sole Psychic and his level five Fennekin weren’t exactly well-equipped to deal with whatever was responsible for such a feeling. That same part of him concluded that, the deeper they went into the estate, the more likely they were to come face-to-face with something they definitely were not prepared to face. His more curious side wanted to ignore the risk altogether – no risk, no reward, that’s what people said, right? … Sometimes the risk can outweigh the reward, though.

Though he was insatiably curious about whatever mysteries laid within, rationality would win out in the end. He decided that they would only spend a little while longer within the estate, and that delving too far deeper would have to wait for another day. … If we don’t find much soon, I’m going to call it, I think. Drawing in a breath, he shifted to take the lead once more.

He hardly gave the strange, bluish object hanging upon the wall much of a glance at first – it was only when he saw wide, yellow eyes blink slowly that he did a double-take, realizing that the fixture upon the wall wasn’t quite as inanimate as he’d assumed. Closer, second inspection revealed the Pokemon to be a Bronzor – a Steel/Psychic-type that Blaire was vaguely familiar with, if only through texts and readings. Its evolution, Bronzong, had been heralded as a rain god of sorts by ancient peoples, and it had supposed been able to open portals to other worlds or dimensions to bring the rains forth. He wasn’t sure whether such stories were mere myth or if there was a grain of truth within them, but it was still enough to give him pause and cause him to eye the Bronzor. The steel shield eyed him back slightly, face predictably expressionless.

Though a pair of him was drawn to the Pokemon and its strange history, he shook his head, forcing himself onwards after a moment’s hesitation. He didn’t want to spend much more time here, that was undeniably true, but a part of him was still insistent that, if he pushed himself just a hair further, he might uncover something of even greater interest.

NOTES ; blaire passes one final time, for better or for worse (sorry he's so picky, r-rip)

Blaire was prepared for a number of things, by that point. He was, perhaps expecting the worst, thoroughly prepared to grab Zenzi and attempt to port out of there if they suddenly came face-to-face with something impossible for either of them to handle. He had a great many queries about death – and an unhealthy obsession with it, by most normal peoples’ standards – but he wasn’t intent on having them answered through his own personal experience.

He was even prepared to go home empty-handed without having found anything of interest, as unpleasant and unfulfilling a conclusion that might have been. Though some part of him thirsted for that brush with danger and the unknown, other parts of him were far more concerned with the continued nature of their existence. He’d played out all the best- and worst-case scenarios in his head, plotted potential courses and solutions for each and every one, and made a number of emergency stipulations in case something highly unlikely, but still possible, came up.

.. He’d probably overdone it a bit, but he never did anything halfway.

Still, as the door to a larger, lavish room – the library, judging by the rows and rows of bookshelves and piles of well-loved, oft-red books – creaked open, he found himself startling slightly at the pair of wide, startled eyes that immediately snapped to him. A small, lilac-furred cat was perched atop a pile of books made into an impromptu chair, looking positively mortified at the sight of Blaire and Zenzi. Perhaps it was the surprise of visitors in general, or perhaps it was the sorry, sad state the Espurr’s immediate habitat was in – white powder littered the Espurr’s paws and the area around the cat’s mouth, and one or two books in front of the cat seemed to have gotten the worst of what could only be described as a powdered sugar atomic bomb.

It wasn’t hard to deduce the culprit of the untidy situation – the Espurr’s paws, frozen midway to his mouth in his surprise, held a powdered doughnut. The messiest embodiment of pure joy and decadence that existed in the world. A danger even in the hands of the world’s politest, neatest eater, but a disaster in the wrong hands (or paws, in this instance).

Golden eyes continued to stare blankly at wide, purple eyes, before Blaire blinked slowly, lifting a hand in an awkward, hesitant greeting. “… Uh. I can just…” He gestured back towards the door, brows furrowing slightly. “… If you’d like.” Clearly, he’d intruded upon some ritual that should not have been witnessed.

A second later, a loud, anxious caterwaul split his ears and he was forced to duck as the Espurr stood in a sudden rush, nearly toppling books in his frenzy. That delicious, powdery bomb was, accidentally or purposefully, suddenly making a beeline directly for his head, and the man only narrowly avoided confectionary chaos.

The offending doughnut ‘poffed’ harmlessly against the doorframe, leaving white echoes of itself on the wood as it plunked sadly to the floor.

The Espurr, if anything, looked even more mortified. The flustered flush that spread over his features turned his face a deep crimson, and he yelped out a sharp, flurried apology that Blaire found a bit of difficulty keeping up with. +No! Ahhhhh! Sorry, sorry, I just—no one said there would be visitors—need a warning for these things—such a mess – I just… WAIT OUT THERE, PLEASE! I will be with you shortly!+

Blaire, opening his mouth to ask the upset kitten just what the issue was, was rather unceremoniously pushed right out of the library – and the door even less ceremoniously slammed inches from his face. Frowning, he stared blankly at the doorframe, but stayed put. Though the Espurr had seemed a nervous wreck – Blaire’s fault for entering without knocking, he supposed – he had asked Blaire to stay put, and common courtesy was enough to dissuade Blaire from simply leaving. Besides, spooky, ancient libraries with spooky, ancient books made dealing with the strange cat worthwhile, in his experience, especially if he was going to allow Blaire into the library.

Crunch.

“… Please tell me you didn’t just eat that doughnut off the floor.”

+… Don’t you fucking judge me, Beckenbauer.+

As Zenzi neatly cleaned her whiskers of powdery residue, Blaire allowed himself to focus back upon the library; occasionally, loud thuds or even louder, exasperated +Filthy!+s were heard, and Blaire could only imagine the frenzied Espurr darting about inside, blasting books into place or destroying any evidence of food mess with psychic prowess.

Finally – after how long, he wasn’t entirely sure, but he was glad his phone was mysteriously dysfunctional in this place – the door was pulled open once more, and a less-disheveled, less-panicked Espurr blinked sheepishly up at the tall man. He seemed genuinely pleased to see that Blaire had remained as told, and seemed to straighten up a little. Almost none of that awkward, anxious cat was recognizable in the sudden, beaming smile he flashed at Blaire, as though the man had made his day by deigning to stick around.

+Still here? Wonderful!! Right this way, sir—I know why you’ve come all this way!+ Tail wagging excitedly, the little cat tugged at Blaire’s pants leg with now-clean paws, beaming up at him.

If Blaire had been expecting anything, it certainly wasn’t this.

“I—uh. You do?” was all he could offer, allowing himself to be drawn farther into the library. Zenzi prowled after him more suspiciously, though a part of her remained alert for the possibility of more doughnuts. The library, against all odds, was all but immaculate once more – any stacked books were now arranged nearly, rather than strewn all about, and no traces of shameful powdered confections remained.

+Of course!+ the Espurr purred, tail still wagging as he released Blaire’s leg and shifted forward to lead the way. +A lot of capable, self-respecting Psychics come here to investigate the strange energies and happenings – and I can hardly blame them! It’s absolutely fascinating, and even I, having lived here so long, haven’t been able to uncover even a fraction of the mysteries!+

“Oh.” For a second, he seemed content with that answer. Clearly, the cat did know what he was talking about. “… Wait. Hold on a second. You know I’m a—“

+Psychic? Of course – and one of the better-practiced ones I’ve seen, if first impressions are anything to go off of!+ the Espurr interjected excitedly, almost out-of-breath from how quickly he spoke. +People with your gift are absolutely fascinating, you know! I’ve read so much about you! Not you particularly, but I’m sure you understand! Psychic Pokemon aren’t odd, of course – unless they’re psychic without being Psychic-types – but psychic humans? No one’s quite sure why they exist, especially if they aren’t Morphs!+

Speechless for once, Blaire squinted at the Espurr, who sounded even more well-versed on the subject than Blaire himself. The Espurr seemed more than content to fill the silence Blaire and his mute partner left, at least.

+That’s not the only thing I know, mind you – I spend almost all of my time in here, reading about all sorts of odd happenings! Did you know that there have been disappearances around here before that no one’s ever been able to explain? I’ve looked for clues myself, and I haven’t been able to find much – though if I had a death wish, I’d probably check some of the forbidden rooms! But I’m not crazy, so!+ He giggled as though he’d made the funniest joke in the world, wiping a tear from one eye.

“… Right. So you’re… interested in this sort of thing? The supernatural, I mean.”

+Of course! Who wouldn’t be? The unknown is a lot more interesting than the known, you know? … That’s a bit of a tongue twister!+

“I—wholeheartedly agree, actually. I consider myself a, uh, paranormal researcher myself,” he dared to interject, curiosity beginning to override some of the awkwardness he felt talking with such an energetic, cheerful thing.

The Espurr paused, expression brightening. +Is that so?! Kindred spirits and brothers in our pursuit of knowledge, then, how fabulous!+

“I’m… not sure there’s anything, er, ‘fabulous’ about me.”

+Don’t be so humble! Your very existence is fabulous! But, if you’re a researcher as well—well, I have reading material you’d love!+ Without warning, books began zooming off shelves, flying into Blaire’s arms as he struggled to catch them all. Books about everything from cryptozoology to historical accounts of unexplainable events to alien abductions teetered in the man’s arms as he stumbled after the Espurr.

“I—don’t think I can carry any more,” he finally gasped, setting the books heavily upon the nearest desk with a wheeze. “… I’ve never seen any of these, before, though. Fascinating.” He began to sort through them carefully, placing them into piles from most interesting to least interesting.

+Oh! Then you’ll have to come back for more, won’t you? Anything for a fellow man of knowledge!+

Blaire paused, an idea striking him suddenly. … Perhaps, in some odd way, things had worked out in the end. “… Or you could come with me, and we could return here to research along the way. Zenzi’s on a legendary ‘quest’ of sorts, you see, and we could certainly use another intelligent mind, well-versed in such things, to help us along.”

The Espurr’s wide, excited gaze snapped from Blaire to Zenzi; the Fennekin shot Blaire a mutinous look, edging away from the energized cat. +I would be happy to aid such a request! As long as you don’t mind me pursuing my own research as well!+

“Your area of interest seems to overlap almost entirely with my own. I would be more than happy to investigate the strange and unknown with you. I… think it would be in everyone’s best interest if we all became stronger along the way, as well. As it stands, I doubt even you can stand up against the more dangerous mysteries of the world."

Ears perking slightly, the Espurr’s tail wagged hard enough to vibrate his entire, fluffy frame. Clearly, Blaire’s idea had struck a chord. +Training the body to be as powerful as the mind! Truly, you are a genius, my friend.+ The Espurr shifted to face Blaire more fully, offering a tiny paw enthusiastically forward for the man to shake.

Taking the paw cautiously in his much larger hand, Blaire returned the gesture, the rarest of smiles gracing his features for only a moment. His other hand plucked a Moon Ball gently from his bag before extending it to the Espurr. “… Glad to have you aboard, in that case. Partners?"