[right][color=F3EC54][img]https://i.imgur.com/dQurhHe.png[/img][/color]
[h1]Felix[/h1]
Mentions: @all y'all
Location: Around[/right]
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Of course. [i]Of course[/i] the moment Felix's mood had made a slight upswing, Ferris had had to speak up again. Venus cringed, seeing Felix's expression immediately darken.

Was he doing this on purpose? If he was so insistent that letting the wind guide them was fine, then why did he care enough to argue? The only conclusion Felix could come to at the moment was that it was out of spite. Suddenly Ferris cared to discuss things only when it meant contradicting him.

Whether it was real or just a cynical assumption made in the heat of the moment wasn't something Felix currently had the emotional capacity to consider. It was too late, and he was already incensed.

[color=F3EC54]"Oh look who suddenly wants to discuss things ahead of time!"[/color] He snapped back at the man. If he was gonna complain about Felix "lashing out" regardless, then Felix might as well just speak his mind. He wasn't exactly yelling, yet, but he was clearly past the point of polite conversation. [color=F3EC54]"So what is it, huh? You want to wander in circles or play it safe? I'm getting sick of your wishy-washy crap!"[/color] It was hard [i]not[/i] to take it personally when he repeatedly vetoed all of Felix's ideas and the one time he'd made a concrete decision... it was STILL vetoing one of Felix's ideas. [color=F3EC54]"Because [i]I[/i] know what I'm doing! I'm trying to take this seriously! If you want to screw around, do it on your own time!"[/color] 

[color=F3EC54]"People like you are how-"[/color] Felix looked like his next order of business was to get right in Ferris's face, but he never made it. He tried to take one step, but was halted. He looked down to see his mawile blocking his path, arms outstretched to hold him back. The concerned pout on his pokemon's face immediately gave him pause. The anger in Felix's eyes cooled, but his expression was still overtly hostile. [color=F3EC54]"I'll be waiting outside the camp."[/color] It was a whiplash inducing change of pace, but perhaps it was one for the better.

He turned on his heel and marched away, Venus remining behind to bow her head apologetically at the rest of the group a few times before scurrying off after him. When her stubby legs caught up to her trainer, she found him sitting at the base of a tree, knees tucked up against his chest, with his bag dropped on the ground beside him.

The mawile quietly patted him on the shoulder until he finally spoke, [color=F3EC54]"I did it again, didn't I?"[/color] She nodded. [color=F3EC54]"Not my finest moment, I suppose."[/color] She nodded again. [color=F3EC54]"I'm not apologizing to him. I don't care if he does either."[/color] Venus averted her eyes at that. [color=F3EC54]"What? You think I'm the one in the wrong?"[/color]

The mawile could only shrug. The intricacies of what they'd been discussing were lost on the pokemon, but what she fully understood is that Felix had seemed to be doing better up until Ferris's latest remarks. She also fully understood that Felix's response hadn't been pleasant to witness, and likely seemed twice as bad to a stranger. Right and wrong weren't something Venus felt comfortable judging.

[color=F3EC54]"I'm just... gonna ignore him as much as I can."[/color] So far the common denominator to everything unpleasant had been Ferris. Maybe Felix was part of the problem, but at the end of the day if interacting with the man caused problems, he'd just remove himself from the situation, then [i]neither[/i] of them could cause an issue.

It was an inelegant plan, but the best he could promise to uphold for the time being.

[center][b]. . . Back at Camp . . .[/b][/center]

"Well... that was ugly." Isla watched Felix storm away with a pout. They'd not even begun and already the group was threatening to fracture to pieces. In that case... she'd have no choice but to hold it together herself!

"Excuse me! Are you Professor Isla Gavins?!" An out of breath man skidded to a halt next to her.

"Err, the title might be a wee bit much, but... yes?" she blinked in confusion.

"Oh thank gosh, I'd already gotten it wrong twice."

"Was the red hair that hard to pick out of a crowd?" Isla had to raise an eyebrow at that one.

"Y-you'd be surprised." He stood up straight and cleared his throat. "I'll just get straight to the point. The research team is short-handed, so we're hoping to pull talent from the exploration groups."

"What, and work in an actual field lab?" Isla glanced between her group and the man. "Do... do you have soil analyzers?"

"Errr, p-probably?"

"Good enough for me!" She spun the man around before glancing back at the rest of her former group. "Sorry, but you understand right? Can't pass up somethin' like this!" She then pushed the man into the distance. "Just know if there aren't any analyzers, I'll sic my slowbrow on you! Galarian ones are poison types, you realize."

. . . [color=92278f]"Bruh?"[/color] About 10 seconds later, said slowbro registered the departure of his trainer and [s]quickly[/s] trundled off after her.

And just like that, Isla had left the group.