 Hope is getting dressed after a nice and refreshing shower after her dinner with Saru, her wet hair wrapped in a towel. It doesn't take her long to get ready.
<Damien> Manaphy is just sitting in his ball for now.
 Hope frowns once she's fully dressed, looking at the ball as it sits on the nearby nightstand. She can't help but feel concerned for him, but she also trusts him to approach her when he's ready. She won't bother him at the moment, and instead grabs one of the books she bought for some reading.
<Damien> Manaphy eventually lets himself out.
<Hope> "...Hey." she closes Oceans, Hella Wet.
<Damien> "Hey..."
<Hope> "Are you okay, Manaphy? What happened?"
<Damien> "Well we kind of got in... it wasn't really a fight but..."
<Damien> "I don't think she wants to see me right now."
<Hope> D=
<Hope> "How did that happen...?"
<Damien> "Turns out... she didn't really understand that we were married."
<Hope> "Is that what that contract signified? Oh dear... I can understand how that'd be a shock."
<Damien> "I mean... not like officially but that's pretty much the easiest way of saying it."
<Hope> "And she had a problem with it?"
<Hope> "I mean, I have to admit, I kinda thought you two were dating anyway."
<Damien> "I sort of thought so too... I mean I thought she had feelings for me."
<Damien> "I love her... but I just don't think she really feels the same way."
<Hope> "Mira... she's a hard girl to read. She's extremely shy, Manaphy. We've known her for a long time, and she still hasn't opened up to us yet."
<Damien> "She said I was more like family, like you or saru."
<Hope> "Mm..."
<Damien> "I think it might be because I'm a pokemon..."
<Hope> "I think Byakko might have had some hand in setting Mira against that kind of thing. I honestly don't have anything against human pokemon relations, as long as they're both intelligent to understand it and it's consensual... but I'm getting off the point."
<Damien> "I mean I'm immortal and very intelligent. If it's wrong for anyone it's me." :I
<Damien> "But you're right, it's not important right now."
<Hope> "That's a little insulting to humans, but it's okay."
<Damien> "No, I mean... I'm not trying to insult humans or anything, it's just... I mean we're sort of kiiind of god-like."
<Hope> "I honestly think you two make a cute couple, I just imagine... well, if she didn't even know you felt that way until today, and she found out you and her were the equivalent of married? I bet that overwhelmed her. She's EXTREMELY shy, Manaphy. And I'm willing to bet it's outside her comfort zone for now. Not to mention everything she must be dealing with as a result of her link to the Beast..."
<Hope> "I think if you gave it some time, and don't push her too hard, it could work out."
<Damien> "I dunno, I think she's kind of mad at me..."
<Hope> :I "I can't see Mira staying angry at anyone... she tried to keep Kirin for dying, after all."
<Hope> *from dying
<Hope> "By the way, I meant to ask. You CAN'T turn into a human, like Latios and Latias?"
<Hope> "I don't mean any offense, but that part's confusing."
<Damien> "No, not until I become king..."
<Hope> "Aw. Well..."
<Hope> "Either way, this... hm."
<Damien> "Do you really think it would help?"
<Hope> "Maybe, but apart from that, this might have just been too much for her all at once."
<Hope> "Let me try to put it as an analogy..."
<Hope> "Well, I imagine Mira is like a Clampearl in some ways. Sitting in her shell where no one can touch her. Inside that shell is her heart, a delicate pearl. There's two ways of getting that pearl. You can break open the shell... or you can wait for the shell to open on its own."
<Hope> "And all of this at once on her probably felt more like the former..."
<Hope> "But you obviously love her, I can understand that. You don't want to hurt her. It's the very last thing you want to do."
<Hope> "Right?"
<Damien> "Right, I do love her..."
<Damien> "It's hard, I guess. Us legendary pokemon see things so differently from Humans sometimes..."
<Hope> "Do you? Talk to me about it."
<Damien> "I've lived for hundreds and hundreds of years..."
<Damien> "A lot of us have. Honestly, a year doesn't make a whole lot of difference from a day to us."
<Damien> "It's sort of..."
<Damien> "It's hard to describe, really."
<Hope> "The sense of scale is different for humans. Most prefer waiting several months, even years before considering something like marriage... Saru and I, well, we decided to go out, and now I'm having his kid. There's no guarantee I'll even end up staying with him in the future, but I do care a lot about him, and I do want to stay with him, even though we've not known each other that long. That
<Hope> doesn't mean it's typical, though."
<Hope> "Especially for someone as shy as Mira."
<Damien> "For us... one meaningful day together would mean as much as a lifetime for you."
<Hope> "I see..."
<Hope> "Well..." She thinks.
<Damien> "This marraige... it wasn't meant for me, it was meant for her. I thought it was what she wanted."
<Hope> "That said, she still agreed to it."
<Hope> "She cares for you enough to agree to devoting a fourth of the rest of her life to spending with you."
<Damien> "I know, I thought... I guess I just assumed that meant she loved me."
<Damien> "And I'm just not sure what she feels about me at all."
<Hope> "Well... that doesn't mean she never won't."
<Hope> "It's not like you've lost your chance."
<Hope> "I imagine a lot is weighing on her mind right now..."
<Damien> "These singular moments mean a lot to us though..."
<Hope> "Just give it some time... That's one thing you have a lot of, for certain."
<Hope> "You made a mistake in assuming what her feelings were, but it doesn't have to necessarily end there, is all."
<Hope> "I guess it's kind of hard trying to encourage you like this... sorry."
<Damien> "Do you think maybe you could talk to her?"
<Hope> "I'll try my best. But like I said before, she doesn't even open up to us often."
<Damien> "But you have known her longer."
 Hope nods.
<Damien> "It might be easier for her to talk to you."
<Hope> "I get worried about her a lot because of that."
<Hope> "Arthur insists people just be blunt to her, but Arthur's a douche."
<Damien> "Heh, yeah, kind of."
<Hope> "You know he actually almost used his windy thing on her when she tried to heal Kirin? Oh boy, Cobalion was pissed."
<Damien> "Oh, he would be."
 Hope shakes her head.
<Hope> "Off the subject again. Anyway."
<Hope> "I'll talk to her, Manaphy. I care a good deal about her as her friend, and I'd like to see her happy for once."
<Hope> "She's always cooped up in her room, and now that we learned about the Beast of Death, I can't help but think it's what's preoccupied her."
<Damien> "There's something else she was kind of worried about too..."
<Hope> "Hm?"
<Damien> "She's wondering what kind of place she can have in this world."
 Hope raises an eyebrow.
<Hope> "Seriously?"
<Damien> "All she's known is how to survive... and now she doesn't need those skills anymore."
<Damien> "Yeah, I thought she was being kind of silly."
<Damien> "She's amazingly intelligent. She could write a book about all the things she's been through."
<Hope> "She knows WAY more about pokemon than any of us. She's a great photographer, too. Not to mention the whole thing where she borrows your powers and all that."
<Hope> "She'd make a great teacher, in fact."
<Damien> "She could title it, 'Dystopian Urban Cities: Shit's Pretty Fucked Up.'."
<Hope> "Ahahaha."
<Damien> "I suggested she become a marine biologist."
<Hope> "It'd be easy for her, that's for certain."
<Damien> "I could help her a lot with studying biology." >:D
<Hope> "Haha."
 Hope thinks.
<Hope> "But you know, even though my own skills are completely centered around raising strong pokemon to fight, and patching them up after fights... I've never had those kind of thoughts. I've never wondered 'what will I do after this'. I always thought I'd just do whatever came natural. And I'm not even half as talented as she is. I wonder how she got on that train of thought."
<Damien> "I don't know...  I guess she just doesn't have a lot of self-confidence..."
<Hope> "I wonder if she ever will, until we take care of the Beast."
<Damien> "Mmm..."
<Damien> "I want to help."
<Damien> "For her sake... I'd do anything. I love her."
<Hope> "I still think it's a shame we have to kill it. She hates ending lives, even if it's that of an opponent's..."
 Hope nods.
<Damien> "Maybe there is another way..."
<Hope> "You think? I had been wondering..."
<Damien> "If there is, I'm sure we'll find it."
<Damien> "If we had to kill it... I think she'd be sad."
<Damien> "I don't want to make her sad."
<Hope> "I really don't know how that legendary title stuff works, but... I couldn't help but wonder if there was a way to seperate them, or maybe flip that title somehow..."
<Damien> "It's... a fusion between two pokemon."
<Damien> "If their souls aren't completely as one..."
<Hope> "...Would Heart Swapping them DO anything?"
<Damien> "Not without a suitable vessel..."
<Damien> "Or if it didn't want to..."
<Hope> "I mean, you... I dunno, I'm assuming things. If you swapped their hearts with each other somehow, it wouldn't affect them?"
<Hope> "I mean, a Nomad of Genesis sounds waaay better than a Beast of Death, but maybe I'm being way too optimistic here."
<Damien> "I don't think that'd work..."
<Hope> "I guess it doesn't work like that."
 Hope shrugs. "It was an idea, anyway. But what could you do with a vessel?"
<Damien> "IF we had some kind of vessel for it..."
<Damien> "And we could somehow get it to want me to..."
<Damien> "I COULD try to split them apart... if they're not completely whole."
<Hope> "But... that'd still be hard. Its concentrated hate for humanity's infected the world's wild pokemon."
<Damien> "I don't know, but if there's a way."
<Damien> "Thanks for talking with me."
<Hope> "...that'd make her happy, if we could find one."
<Hope> "Yeah, sure, Manaphy."
<Damien> "And if you could try to talk to her, that'd be great."
<Hope> "Even though you love Mira and probably would have preferred the contract with her, I still intend to support you just as much as you support me."
<Damien> "Well thank you, hope."
 Hope smiles. "That's what friends do."
<Hope> "But yeah, I'll try to talk to her. Sometime tomorrow if I can, let her have the night to herself."
<Damien> "All right."