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Description
WARNING - From now on, if you haven't read the rest of the chapters yet,
I strongly suggest reading those first. There are important things happening/coming up in the story,
and reading those before the rest of the story just isn't as much fun as the other way around.

Counterbalanced - Chapter 47

Alex quietly watched Zigzagoon dig a hole in the sand, curiously sticking its nose in it, before moving on to the next patch of sand. There was a pile of small treasures at her feet, that Zigzagoon had found for her, consisting mostly of seashells and old soda cans.

…Footsteps.

"Can I join you...?"

Alex glanced over her shoulder, as she heard Quinn approach.
Zigzagoon hadn't even bothered warning her about him coming closer anymore, as he usually did with just about everyone else. Seemed like her most beloved Pokémon had put its full trust in Quinn, already.

She turned her head back, to look at Zigzagoon again.
A half-hearted shrug, and Quinn sat down next to her.

He had found her sitting on the last few steps between Caitlin's villa and the beach.
The view was simply breathtaking – the color of the sky was somewhere between orange and pink.
In the distance, there was the soft sound of waves rolling onto the beach.
It was a perfect place to calm down.

Quinn had brought two bottles of water.
He put one down at her side, and opened the other, taking a small sip.

"…Are you feeling better?"

Alex winced lightly at his question.
She knew she'd been acting like an absolute idiot again.
After her initial shock, she'd furiously stormed out of the hypnosis-room, to find Caitlin.
…How did that woman dare to ask questions on the most private of subjects?
Or to make her confess the deepest of feelings, ones that she had hardly even figured out for herself…?

…But the dining room had been empty, when Alex got there.
She'd randomly dashed into the next room, practically kicking in the door.

…The kitchen.

Darach had been there.

…After looking at the frantic girl for a moment, he had simply offered her a chair at the solid, wooden kitchen table – normally used by only him and other, usually temporary, members of the staff.

…The calm butler reminded her of Chase.

That subconscious thought made Alex respond to his silent, gentle gesture.
Without him even saying a word, she abruptly sank down on the chair.
And then she'd started crying.

…The tears had taken her by surprise.
Angrily whiping them from her face with her hand and breathing heavily, she'd started to loudly complain at Darach about Caitlin, generously swearing throughout her story, and wildly gesturing. From how the unreasonable woman had hated her from the start, to where Caitlin had thrown Alex' feelings for Quinn on the table as if they were nothing.

Darach had listened, and when she was done, he had offered her soup.
The smell and taste of it had drawn her back into reality, and by the time she'd finished it, Alex was feeling much better.

Tired from crying, she'd watched Darach doing his daily chores in the kitchen, her legs pulled up to the chair she was sitting on. Darach washed plates, cleaned the kitchen table, and methodically put the herbs and spices he'd used in the soup back on their shelf. His routinist way of moving around calmed Alex down even further.

And when he sat down at the other end of the table, and spoke up, she was ready to listen.
He carefully chose his words, and his tone of voice was calm.

"…I understand that, what Lady Caitlin took away, was a chance.
The chance for you to tell him about your feelings, on your own terms."

Relieved that someone seemed to get it, Alex nodded, and he continued.

"That's truly unfortunate. But there are some things that you must understand.
Lady Caitlin's clients are usually convicts, already found guilty. Murderers, thieves.
Sometimes, she needs to pry the location of their victims from them, or where they hid their stolen goods.
They're all rugged, rough people."

His gloved hand gestured at Alex.

"…You don't fit that description. Which could explain why Lady Caitlin has difficulties understanding you."

The butler seemed uneasy for a moment.

"It's not easy. The burden of her Psychic powers is always pressing down on her.
Lady Caitlin… doesn't get to see a lot of love.
Maybe she's even given up on ever finding it for herself…"

He mused on that statement for a moment, then concluded:

"…I presume that both jealousy and curiosity made her ask that last crucial, delicate question."

Alex sighed shakily.

"Well… That's just peachy. I always wanted to be a research subject."

Darach smiled at her comment, then got up from his chair.

Alex looked up to him, still slightly desperate.

"Darach… what am I supposed to do now?"

Darach adjusted his bowtie.

"I am flattered that you would ask me that, of all people."

As he made his way to the kitchen door, he continued:

"…But this is between you and Mr. Quinn. I can assure you, though…"

He's turned around to her again, his hand on the doorknob.

"…From what I can see, the situation is far from hopeless. In fact… For a man to know that his lady loves him back… It doesn't get much better than that. You might as well treat it as a happy accident, if you're truly asking me. Now, if you wish, I'll prepare a nice, relaxing bath for you."

He had almost turned around to the door, when the butler suddenly tilted his head as he thought of something, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Oh…! Or maybe I should not…! Maybe… I think… Yes!
I know exactly what you need, to get into better spirits. I think I have some…"

His voice trailed off, as he hurried out the kitchen door.

…Alex sat at the kitchen table for a moment, before deciding to get some fresh air.
For all she knew, Darach was getting her pills to calm down, and she had no desire to take those.

And so she'd ended up on the steps, near the villa, looking out on the sea with Zigzagoon.
…Until Quinn found her.

---

Alex turned her head to Quinn.

"Yeah. I'm okay now. It was all just a bit… too much."

He slowly nodded.

"Should I have kept what happened a secret?"

She managed a small smile.

"Doesn't matter. I would've beat it out of you, if necessary."

Quinn snorted.

"…That's reassuring."

Alex watched Zigzagoon sniff at a piece of seaweed. The Pokémon tried chewing on it, before deciding he didn't like the salty taste of it, making a funny face, and finally settled on rolling around in the plant, instead.

Alex would've been amused by it, but now, she was too busy fussing over what to say next.

"…It seems like… there's always something going wrong.
I just wish it wasn't all so… complicated, Quinn."

Quinn looked at her for a moment, pondering.
Then he moved closer, and slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her to him.
Without saying a thing, he gently kissed her forehead, hoping to remove her frown.

His remaining hand caressed the side of her face, before pulling her head against his shoulder, knowing that it would calm her down.

"…Then let's just make things real simple, Alex.
I love you, and you love me.
And we don't care about Caitlin and her provocative questions.
…Let's just be happy that we found eachother, no matter what the circumstances were, and enjoy every moment that we get."

Savoring his words, Alex' fingers dug into the front of his shirt, and her head rested heavily on his shoulder.

Her voice was soft, when she finally spoke up.

"…You make it sound so easy.
But I seem to do everything wrong, Quinn.
We're okay now, but just watch me. I'll go back to insulting or injuring you within a week."

He grinned.

"I can take it. Besides, I guess I deserve being put back into place, from time to time.
…Though I'd appreciate it if you stayed clear of my face, next time."

She snorted.

"…You're so vain."

Quinn shrugged admittedly, before lowering his head, and kissing her.
And again. And again. And again.
Until her eyes had lit up, her face had gone red, and the traumatic hypnosis-session had disappeared into the far back of her mind.
…
…
…

---

"Oh, I almost forgot…"

They were looking out over the sea, where the sun had just disappeared behind the horizon.
Zigzagoon had fallen asleep, his small head on Alex' left foot, and his coat full of sand.

One of his arms tightly around Alex, Quinn looked down on the pale girl.
She was plucking at his shirt without giving it much thought, and staring at a Wingull near the shoreline, that was diving down to catch a small, fish-like Pokémon. But she turned her head, as Quinn didn't finish his sentence.

"What…?"

"…Darach talked to me and Yena, about you."

Alex frowned, not liking the idea of that.

"…He did?"

"Yep. He seems to have thought out a plan of some sort."

Alex' frown deepened.

"A plan…? He did seem to have an idea when I last saw him.
…Did he get anti-stress pills for me, or something?"

The thought disgusted her, and it showed on her face.

Quinn chuckled.

"Not exactly. I don't think we could get you to take those, anyway.
His plan was actually not bad at all. Are you curious yet…?"

Alex impatiently poked him between the ribs with her index finger.

"…The tension is killing me."

But his reply surprised her.

"Fun."

She pulled up an eyebrow.

"…Fun."

He nodded.

"And training. After every afternoon session, we should give you something to do."

Alex wasn't sure what to think.

"…To keep me busy."

Quinn shrugged, as that way of putting it wasn't exactly right.
He reformulated:

"…To keep your mind off Caitlyn's sessions."

Alex let it sink in for a moment.
Quinn had a way of making things sound reasonable.

She stared at the darkening horizon, as she asked:

"So what kind of things did he have in mind…?
Darach seemed to be in a hurry, when he left the kitchen."

Even without looking at him, Alex could tell Quinn was grinning.

"Water."

That caught Alex slightly off-guard.
Down at her feet, Zigzagoon's ears moved, and he looked up.

"A water game…?"

Quinn's eyes twinkled, and it took Alex a moment to switch her state of mind.

"…Really?"

Quinn threw his head back as he laughed.

"Really, Alex. This is serious stuff, lady. The man wants us to have a waterballoon-fight.
He found some in the basement, and Yena is filling them as we speak, back in the villa."

It must've been ages since Alex had last participated in a waterballoon-fight.
One of her friends from Nimbasa City had thrown a summer-themed party, and Alex remembered the day to be filled with icecream, water guns, sunbathing and splashing around in the swimming pool. It had been years before the fire, when everything was still normal and good.

Alex looked back at the villa, and a grin started to form on her face.
The chance to get back in the carefree mood of that day, appealed to her.

She wanted to get up, but Quinn had slowly tightened his grip around her shoulders.

"And you know what…?
Since I don't like losing much, I'll go ahead and get myself a good head start."

It was then, that Alex noticed the open waterbottle in his free hand.
Her eyes widened as she realised what he was about to do.
She put both hands against his chest as she tried to push him away.

"Q-Quinn…!"

But the agility that she usually relied on, didn't do her any good in this situation.
Alex tried to back away, but there was no way for her to escape from his strong grip.
She nervously laughed as he held the waterbottle over her head, threatening to tip it over.
A few, single drops landed in her hair as she tried to slap it out of his hand.

"You wouldn't…!"

But he would. She could see it on his face.
So she swore loudly, doubled her efforts to get away from him, wildly struggling and laughing at the same time, until…

She gave a short, shocked scream as Quinn emptied the whole bottle over her head.
Cold water streamed mercilessly down her back, making her throw her head back and gasp loudly.

Finally, Quinn let her go, and she jumped up.
Her hair was soaking wet, and the sudden cold made her teeth chatter.

"Y-y-you…! I'll get you back for t-that…!"

Quinn got up as well, his expression both triumphant and challenging.

"I'd love to see you try."

Then, he abruptly grabbed the second waterbottle from the ground, that had been meant for Alex to drink, and opened it fast. He splashed the water in Alex' direction, but she had already jumped back.

"That won't work a second time...!"

The girl was now wildly grinning, and he was pleased to see some fire back in her eyes.
…She was already feeling better.
Yena had predicted that Alex would love a game like this, and she'd been right on the mark.

He made a short, charging dash towards the girl.

"Go on, get Yena!"

By the time he'd said it, Alex was already halfway.

"You just wait right there!"

"Sure thing!"

…As if he was going to wait around to get struck by a rain of waterballoons.
But then again, there was no place to hide on the beach.

---

Standing at a window on the second floor, Darach smiled, as he watched Alex sprint towards the villa, closely followed by her enthusiastic Zigzagoon. The Pokémon, reflecting his owner's mood as always, barked loudly, impatiently dancing around Alex until she'd pushed the villa's door open with her shoulder.

Darach closed his eyes, listening to the noises downstairs.
He heard her running through the hall, her raw voice calling out to Yena.
Then… a lively, clear laugh from the blond girl as her friend reached her.
Loud and excited voices moved through the villa, and Yena yelped and laughing as a waterballoon slipped from her hand, and burst open when it hit the bathroom floor.

Zigzagoon barked, and was replied to by Oshawott's light cry.
Yena must've summoned him to help with the waterballoons.

More running footsteps, going back to the front door.

As they passed the stairs, he caught a fragment of their conversation:

"…I'll show him, that…"

"…maybe Oshawott can…"

Darach opened his eyes, when he heard the front door open again, and looked out the window.
Quinn had taken on a challenging fighting stance, close to where Alex had left him.
He called out to the girls in the door opening, taunting them.

…A bright green waterballoon was hurled at him, missing his head by half a meter.
Must've been Alex.

Quinn threw back his head, laughing mockingly, but was quickly silenced by a yellow waterballoon, thrown against his chest by Yena, with a surprising show of accuracy.

Darach smiled as Quinn roared, and charged forwards to steal some waterballoons, causing both girls to scream wildly and run away with as much waterballoons as they could carry. As the game unfolded below, Darach turned his head to the woman standing a few feet behind him.

"You see, lady Caitlin…? She's not just a liar and a rebel, but also a loving, playful young woman.
You could consider treating her with more leniency."

"…Hmm."

With the sound of laughter and battle cries still on the background, Caitlin gestured Darach to leave the room.
But as the butler shut the door behind him, he could see Caitlin cast another curious look outside, before closing the curtain.

Description
WARNING - From now on, if you haven't read the rest of the chapters yet,
I strongly suggest reading those first. There are important things happening/coming up in the story,
and reading those before the rest of the story just isn't as much fun as the other way around.

Counterbalanced - Chapter 47

Alex quietly watched Zigzagoon dig a hole in the sand, curiously sticking its nose in it, before moving on to the next patch of sand. There was a pile of small treasures at her feet, that Zigzagoon had found for her, consisting mostly of seashells and old soda cans.

…Footsteps.

"Can I join you...?"

Alex glanced over her shoulder, as she heard Quinn approach.
Zigzagoon hadn't even bothered warning her about him coming closer anymore, as he usually did with just about everyone else. Seemed like her most beloved Pokémon had put its full trust in Quinn, already.

She turned her head back, to look at Zigzagoon again.
A half-hearted shrug, and Quinn sat down next to her.

He had found her sitting on the last few steps between Caitlin's villa and the beach.
The view was simply breathtaking – the color of the sky was somewhere between orange and pink.
In the distance, there was the soft sound of waves rolling onto the beach.
It was a perfect place to calm down.

Quinn had brought two bottles of water.
He put one down at her side, and opened the other, taking a small sip.

"…Are you feeling better?"

Alex winced lightly at his question.
She knew she'd been acting like an absolute idiot again.
After her initial shock, she'd furiously stormed out of the hypnosis-room, to find Caitlin.
…How did that woman dare to ask questions on the most private of subjects?
Or to make her confess the deepest of feelings, ones that she had hardly even figured out for herself…?

…But the dining room had been empty, when Alex got there.
She'd randomly dashed into the next room, practically kicking in the door.

…The kitchen.

Darach had been there.

…After looking at the frantic girl for a moment, he had simply offered her a chair at the solid, wooden kitchen table – normally used by only him and other, usually temporary, members of the staff.

…The calm butler reminded her of Chase.

That subconscious thought made Alex respond to his silent, gentle gesture.
Without him even saying a word, she abruptly sank down on the chair.
And then she'd started crying.

…The tears had taken her by surprise.
Angrily whiping them from her face with her hand and breathing heavily, she'd started to loudly complain at Darach about Caitlin, generously swearing throughout her story, and wildly gesturing. From how the unreasonable woman had hated her from the start, to where Caitlin had thrown Alex' feelings for Quinn on the table as if they were nothing.

Darach had listened, and when she was done, he had offered her soup.
The smell and taste of it had drawn her back into reality, and by the time she'd finished it, Alex was feeling much better.

Tired from crying, she'd watched Darach doing his daily chores in the kitchen, her legs pulled up to the chair she was sitting on. Darach washed plates, cleaned the kitchen table, and methodically put the herbs and spices he'd used in the soup back on their shelf. His routinist way of moving around calmed Alex down even further.

And when he sat down at the other end of the table, and spoke up, she was ready to listen.
He carefully chose his words, and his tone of voice was calm.

"…I understand that, what Lady Caitlin took away, was a chance.
The chance for you to tell him about your feelings, on your own terms."

Relieved that someone seemed to get it, Alex nodded, and he continued.

"That's truly unfortunate. But there are some things that you must understand.
Lady Caitlin's clients are usually convicts, already found guilty. Murderers, thieves.
Sometimes, she needs to pry the location of their victims from them, or where they hid their stolen goods.
They're all rugged, rough people."

His gloved hand gestured at Alex.

"…You don't fit that description. Which could explain why Lady Caitlin has difficulties understanding you."

The butler seemed uneasy for a moment.

"It's not easy. The burden of her Psychic powers is always pressing down on her.
Lady Caitlin… doesn't get to see a lot of love.
Maybe she's even given up on ever finding it for herself…"

He mused on that statement for a moment, then concluded:

"…I presume that both jealousy and curiosity made her ask that last crucial, delicate question."

Alex sighed shakily.

"Well… That's just peachy. I always wanted to be a research subject."

Darach smiled at her comment, then got up from his chair.

Alex looked up to him, still slightly desperate.

"Darach… what am I supposed to do now?"

Darach adjusted his bowtie.

"I am flattered that you would ask me that, of all people."

As he made his way to the kitchen door, he continued:

"…But this is between you and Mr. Quinn. I can assure you, though…"

He's turned around to her again, his hand on the doorknob.

"…From what I can see, the situation is far from hopeless. In fact… For a man to know that his lady loves him back… It doesn't get much better than that. You might as well treat it as a happy accident, if you're truly asking me. Now, if you wish, I'll prepare a nice, relaxing bath for you."

He had almost turned around to the door, when the butler suddenly tilted his head as he thought of something, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Oh…! Or maybe I should not…! Maybe… I think… Yes!
I know exactly what you need, to get into better spirits. I think I have some…"

His voice trailed off, as he hurried out the kitchen door.

…Alex sat at the kitchen table for a moment, before deciding to get some fresh air.
For all she knew, Darach was getting her pills to calm down, and she had no desire to take those.

And so she'd ended up on the steps, near the villa, looking out on the sea with Zigzagoon.
…Until Quinn found her.

---

Alex turned her head to Quinn.

"Yeah. I'm okay now. It was all just a bit… too much."

He slowly nodded.

"Should I have kept what happened a secret?"

She managed a small smile.

"Doesn't matter. I would've beat it out of you, if necessary."

Quinn snorted.

"…That's reassuring."

Alex watched Zigzagoon sniff at a piece of seaweed. The Pokémon tried chewing on it, before deciding he didn't like the salty taste of it, making a funny face, and finally settled on rolling around in the plant, instead.

Alex would've been amused by it, but now, she was too busy fussing over what to say next.

"…It seems like… there's always something going wrong.
I just wish it wasn't all so… complicated, Quinn."

Quinn looked at her for a moment, pondering.
Then he moved closer, and slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her to him.
Without saying a thing, he gently kissed her forehead, hoping to remove her frown.

His remaining hand caressed the side of her face, before pulling her head against his shoulder, knowing that it would calm her down.

"…Then let's just make things real simple, Alex.
I love you, and you love me.
And we don't care about Caitlin and her provocative questions.
…Let's just be happy that we found eachother, no matter what the circumstances were, and enjoy every moment that we get."

Savoring his words, Alex' fingers dug into the front of his shirt, and her head rested heavily on his shoulder.

Her voice was soft, when she finally spoke up.

"…You make it sound so easy.
But I seem to do everything wrong, Quinn.
We're okay now, but just watch me. I'll go back to insulting or injuring you within a week."

He grinned.

"I can take it. Besides, I guess I deserve being put back into place, from time to time.
…Though I'd appreciate it if you stayed clear of my face, next time."

She snorted.

"…You're so vain."

Quinn shrugged admittedly, before lowering his head, and kissing her.
And again. And again. And again.
Until her eyes had lit up, her face had gone red, and the traumatic hypnosis-session had disappeared into the far back of her mind.
…
…
…

---

"Oh, I almost forgot…"

They were looking out over the sea, where the sun had just disappeared behind the horizon.
Zigzagoon had fallen asleep, his small head on Alex' left foot, and his coat full of sand.

One of his arms tightly around Alex, Quinn looked down on the pale girl.
She was plucking at his shirt without giving it much thought, and staring at a Wingull near the shoreline, that was diving down to catch a small, fish-like Pokémon. But she turned her head, as Quinn didn't finish his sentence.

"What…?"

"…Darach talked to me and Yena, about you."

Alex frowned, not liking the idea of that.

"…He did?"

"Yep. He seems to have thought out a plan of some sort."

Alex' frown deepened.

"A plan…? He did seem to have an idea when I last saw him.
…Did he get anti-stress pills for me, or something?"

The thought disgusted her, and it showed on her face.

Quinn chuckled.

"Not exactly. I don't think we could get you to take those, anyway.
His plan was actually not bad at all. Are you curious yet…?"

Alex impatiently poked him between the ribs with her index finger.

"…The tension is killing me."

But his reply surprised her.

"Fun."

She pulled up an eyebrow.

"…Fun."

He nodded.

"And training. After every afternoon session, we should give you something to do."

Alex wasn't sure what to think.

"…To keep me busy."

Quinn shrugged, as that way of putting it wasn't exactly right.
He reformulated:

"…To keep your mind off Caitlyn's sessions."

Alex let it sink in for a moment.
Quinn had a way of making things sound reasonable.

She stared at the darkening horizon, as she asked:

"So what kind of things did he have in mind…?
Darach seemed to be in a hurry, when he left the kitchen."

Even without looking at him, Alex could tell Quinn was grinning.

"Water."

That caught Alex slightly off-guard.
Down at her feet, Zigzagoon's ears moved, and he looked up.

"A water game…?"

Quinn's eyes twinkled, and it took Alex a moment to switch her state of mind.

"…Really?"

Quinn threw his head back as he laughed.

"Really, Alex. This is serious stuff, lady. The man wants us to have a waterballoon-fight.
He found some in the basement, and Yena is filling them as we speak, back in the villa."

It must've been ages since Alex had last participated in a waterballoon-fight.
One of her friends from Nimbasa City had thrown a summer-themed party, and Alex remembered the day to be filled with icecream, water guns, sunbathing and splashing around in the swimming pool. It had been years before the fire, when everything was still normal and good.

Alex looked back at the villa, and a grin started to form on her face.
The chance to get back in the carefree mood of that day, appealed to her.

She wanted to get up, but Quinn had slowly tightened his grip around her shoulders.

"And you know what…?
Since I don't like losing much, I'll go ahead and get myself a good head start."

It was then, that Alex noticed the open waterbottle in his free hand.
Her eyes widened as she realised what he was about to do.
She put both hands against his chest as she tried to push him away.

"Q-Quinn…!"

But the agility that she usually relied on, didn't do her any good in this situation.
Alex tried to back away, but there was no way for her to escape from his strong grip.
She nervously laughed as he held the waterbottle over her head, threatening to tip it over.
A few, single drops landed in her hair as she tried to slap it out of his hand.

"You wouldn't…!"

But he would. She could see it on his face.
So she swore loudly, doubled her efforts to get away from him, wildly struggling and laughing at the same time, until…

She gave a short, shocked scream as Quinn emptied the whole bottle over her head.
Cold water streamed mercilessly down her back, making her throw her head back and gasp loudly.

Finally, Quinn let her go, and she jumped up.
Her hair was soaking wet, and the sudden cold made her teeth chatter.

"Y-y-you…! I'll get you back for t-that…!"

Quinn got up as well, his expression both triumphant and challenging.

"I'd love to see you try."

Then, he abruptly grabbed the second waterbottle from the ground, that had been meant for Alex to drink, and opened it fast. He splashed the water in Alex' direction, but she had already jumped back.

"That won't work a second time...!"

The girl was now wildly grinning, and he was pleased to see some fire back in her eyes.
…She was already feeling better.
Yena had predicted that Alex would love a game like this, and she'd been right on the mark.

He made a short, charging dash towards the girl.

"Go on, get Yena!"

By the time he'd said it, Alex was already halfway.

"You just wait right there!"

"Sure thing!"

…As if he was going to wait around to get struck by a rain of waterballoons.
But then again, there was no place to hide on the beach.

---

Standing at a window on the second floor, Darach smiled, as he watched Alex sprint towards the villa, closely followed by her enthusiastic Zigzagoon. The Pokémon, reflecting his owner's mood as always, barked loudly, impatiently dancing around Alex until she'd pushed the villa's door open with her shoulder.

Darach closed his eyes, listening to the noises downstairs.
He heard her running through the hall, her raw voice calling out to Yena.
Then… a lively, clear laugh from the blond girl as her friend reached her.
Loud and excited voices moved through the villa, and Yena yelped and laughing as a waterballoon slipped from her hand, and burst open when it hit the bathroom floor.

Zigzagoon barked, and was replied to by Oshawott's light cry.
Yena must've summoned him to help with the waterballoons.

More running footsteps, going back to the front door.

As they passed the stairs, he caught a fragment of their conversation:

"…I'll show him, that…"

"…maybe Oshawott can…"

Darach opened his eyes, when he heard the front door open again, and looked out the window.
Quinn had taken on a challenging fighting stance, close to where Alex had left him.
He called out to the girls in the door opening, taunting them.

…A bright green waterballoon was hurled at him, missing his head by half a meter.
Must've been Alex.

Quinn threw back his head, laughing mockingly, but was quickly silenced by a yellow waterballoon, thrown against his chest by Yena, with a surprising show of accuracy.

Darach smiled as Quinn roared, and charged forwards to steal some waterballoons, causing both girls to scream wildly and run away with as much waterballoons as they could carry. As the game unfolded below, Darach turned his head to the woman standing a few feet behind him.

"You see, lady Caitlin…? She's not just a liar and a rebel, but also a loving, playful young woman.
You could consider treating her with more leniency."

"…Hmm."

With the sound of laughter and battle cries still on the background, Caitlin gestured Darach to leave the room.
But as the butler shut the door behind him, he could see Caitlin cast another curious look outside, before closing the curtain.