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rogue-durin-16 · 3 years

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THINGS NEVER GO AS PLANNED (Part VI/VII)

"the downfall"

Summary: After Fred's death, George and Y/n lean on each other to carry on. This wasn't the most brilliant idea, though; George was pretty much in love with the girl, and Y/n— well, she had been dating Fred prior to the Battle of Hogwarts.

Pairing: George Weasley x Reader

Genre: angst mostly

Tags:

Suggested by: @crispykittywitch

Things never go as planned: @just-here-to-escape-from-reality @beautyschoo1dropout @s1ut4georgeweasley @sunshineandshadows @missmulti @accioweaslcy @andreaareynoso @georgeweasley16 @dianarte @skarlettmikaelson

Permanent taglist: @elia-the-bibliophile @randomparanoid @karlthecat15722 @thebutchersdaughtersblog @amourtentiaa @just-here-to-escape-from-reality

Warnings: language, allusions to sex

A/N: my apologies for keeping y'all waiting for this one darlings, but here comes the next part YAYY! Enjoy <3

Prologue: the aftermath

Part I: sleepless nights

Part II: candy floss

Part III: shock therapy

Part IV: wrong name

Part V: the perfect excuse

Part VII: apart

Epilogue: I still love you

Rogue-durin-16 masterlist

He had left me in the room that morning, alone, with regret and guilt straining my chest, with embarrassment and panic heaving over me, my only company being a terrible headache and a sore body.

I was still waiting for him to come back. Of course, he still lived in the apartment, but the day after, he slept at Shell Cottage because Bill needed help with the chores, and the next night at the Burrow because Molly had asked to keep an eye on 'the kids' —the kids being Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione— while she and Arthur were off to visit Andromeda, and at Lee's because Angelina was away and they were going to have a boys' weekend; in summary, he managed to avoid stepping into the flat while I was in there for an entire week.

I would be lying if I said the idea of moving out hadn't crossed my mind, but I knew I was being dramatic— we were being dramatic; we were adults, even if we forgot about it more often than not, and adults talk things out, so I decided to confront him at the only place I would manage to corner him; the shop.

When I descended from the office on the second floor, I spotted the ginger turning the 'CLOSED' to face the glass door. "Oi!" His head snapped to me as I climbed downstairs and he instantly walked to the shelves on the opposite side. "Can I have a word?" I requested, following him, only for George to move on to another shelf.

"Right now I'm quite busy." He replied, seemingly absent-minded as he pretended to check the products in front of him.

"This is important." I insisted, moving to stand besides him.

Not fast enough, though, because he was off to yet another part of the shop as soon as I got close. "I'm sure it can wait."

"You know it can't," I assured intently, stalking after him, only for him to speed up his own pace, moving from product to product without stopping too long in front of him. "George I'm- Oi, stop! We need to talk about this!"

"Well maybe I don't wanna talk about this!" He exclaimed, taking big steps under one of the stairs in order to shamelessly dodge the hand with which I had reached out to stop him.

"George Weasley don't run away from me!"

"I'm not running away from you!"

"You're literally RUNNING AWAY!"

He stopped circling the counter and stood across from me, slamming his palms over the till. "ALRIGHT, LOVE!" for the first time, I didn't like the way the name dripped off his tongue. "Let's talk about how we accidentally FUCKED! That's what you want so badly, isn't it?!" Flush crept up his neck and ears, and I couldn't tell if it was from anger or from timidness. "Go on, darling, lead the bloody way!"

I felt my own cheeks going red, partly because of his straightforward statement but also because I genuinely had never heard George raise his voice like he had just done.

"Cat's got your tongue now?!" My stuttering seemed to fuel his anger more. "C'mon, Y/n, talk! You wanted to talk!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP, GEORGE!" He clenched his jaw as his freckles drowned in a sea of pinkish red. "Yeah I want to talk! 'Cause that's what grown-ups do! We don't know how to act around each other so we just don't spend time together anymore— Fuck, I've barely seen you! AND WE. LIVE. TOGETHER!" I emphasised each word with stomps. "We can either pretend it didn't happen or talk it out to make sure we're on the same page, you choose but for Merlin's sake, don't avoid me!"

"OKAY!" His eyes widened, surprised at his own tone, and then he repeated in a softer, self-conscious one, "Okay." He breathed deeply and then added. "We're on the same page, right?" His eyebrows raised as he looked into my eyes. "It was... A mistake."

I should have noticed the uncertainty and hope in his voice, but I panicked and was too quick to respond, "Yeah! A massive mistake." My words stung my heart and, to my dismay, his own just as much. "Can we go back to being friends? Because I'm going crazy without you." I blamed our watery eyes to the argument we had had, and not to the fact that it had been a mistake.

He circled the counter and walked to me, hesitating before pulling me into a hug. "Can I...?" I tugged him closer, wrapping my arms around his middle. It took a moment for him to ease into my embrace, and I could tell we had fucked up our friendship for good. "It's alright, we'll make it right again." His words made me squeeze him tighter, as if he was about to vanish from my side.

And from then, we tried to make it right, we tried so hard, because it seemed so easy to make it wrong again.

Everytime we stood too close, everytime he leaned on to whisper something, everytime I helped him with his tie, our eyes would fall on each other's lips; I would sometimes drift off the conversation, staring too much at his mouth and hands, wandering if they would feel just as amazing as they had done while we were drunk.

"Y/n are you listening?"

"Uh yeah- I mean, no- sorry, what?"

I was so focused on trying to hide it that I didn't notice George was in the exact same situation, meaning that neither of us could give in, because we would go down together. In all honesty, it was doomed to happen at some point, we were just delaying the inevitable.

The moment came the last night of January, when George showed up in my room due to a really rough nightmare, and I, as always, invited him in so we could lay down together.

"Isn't this... Weird?" He murmured as we scooted closer. We had kept physical contact at bay for obvious reasons, and cuddling had been off the table since New Year.

"It doesn't have to be." I replied, my voice as quiet as his. "We've done this a thousand times."

"Right." He cleared his throat, averting his eyes from mines as we shifted in our places ever so slightly, trying to find a position where the situation turned less awkward.

And it happened, my mind got lost on the way his neck tensed, on the damp locks hanging over his forehead, sweaty due to the nightmare; on his plump lips, which he had just wetted with his tongue in the most subtle way. It was a nervous habit of him, something he would usually do, but that didn't make it any less hot.

"George..." I called his name without noticing, my heart hammering violently against my chest when his gaze landed on my eyes, quickly falling on my lips.

The next thing I knew was that he was holding my thigh over his hip, his other hand on the back of my neck while we shared a hungry kiss that, as soon as my hips involuntarily rocked against his, turned into something more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

GEORGE'S P. O. V.

The next morning we swore to each other that it was just another accident, that it would happen again.

And the next one too.

And the following.

The fifth time that happened, we agreed to call the situation a 'friends with benefits' kind of thing, well aware that it was an euphemism for the downfall of our friendship.

I had longed to be hers for so long, and it that moment, as I lay by her side in her bed, that wish seemed so close yet so far; I could reach out and my fingertips would touch her skin, yet I had never felt that distant towards her.

The moment my eyes were averted from her form, her gaze was laid on me. "You don't have to go."

"I know." I replied in a mumble, already sitting up and reaching for my pants. "But soon we'll have to get up, so I might as well do that and let you sleep." I didn't want to turn around, I didn't want to see her beautiful irises pleading for me to stay by her side, because I knew I would.

I saw on my peripheral vision her fingers attempting to carefully wrap around my wrist, and I was quick to stand up and walk to the door; sadly, I did not miss Y/n burying her face into the pillow, her hands fisting on the fabric ever so subtly.

She tried to hide her tears like that, and I agressively wiped mines as soon as I reached the corridor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Morning, lady!" I light-heartedly greeted Y/n without turning my back to the making of our breakfast when I heard the steps approaching the kitchen.

In the morning it was easier to pretend everything was back to normal; usually, the refreshing sunlight and the drowsiness provided by a night of sleep were enough to wash away the sad truth of our relationship.

"Good morning, sir." She responded with a yawn, rubbing her eyes as she walked to stand besides me, leaning against the counter with her arms folded. "Smells good." She commented, leaning on to take a peek at the scrambled eggs.

I was about to make a cocky, playful comment when it dawned on me what she was wearing; it was my jumper, one of the old ones that I exclusively used for pyjamas.

I knew she didn't do it intently; I had left it on the floor the previous night, and it was probably the first thing she grabbed, but it struck a nerve.

I had seen a similar scene way too many times before; a sleepy, dishevelled Y/n entering the kitchen with an ugly Weasley jumper as only clothing, ready to start the bickering with an almost identical version of me who would be making breakfast.

My head then travelled to the thought that lately crossed my mind more often than not and my heart clenched; In Y/n's eyes, I was, most likely, just a poor replacement for Fred.

"You alright?" That worried furrow appeared between her brows too often lately. We were both walking on eggshells, and it got me on my nerves.

"You don't have to ask if I'm alright every time I'm quiet." I hadn't meant it to come out harsh or curt, but it definitely did.

"You're not quiet, you're overthinking." She responded with a tinge of hostility.

"What's to overthink?" I fought the need to raise my voice.

"Dunno, you tell me." She squinted her eyes with a scrutinising gaze directed to me.

"Can we not do this?" I almost pleaded; heated arguments had become a usual thing between us —yet another sign of the unfixable problem we refused to address.

Y/n was about to reply something that would lead us into a fight when the doorbell rung. "Mister Weasley?" I took that as a cue to go open the door to Verity, already dressed on her uniform. "The Valentine's Day products arrived, should I unpack them or..." Her eyes flickered behind me and her cheeks heated up. "Y/n—" When I looked over my shoulder, I felt my own face flushing out of embarrassment. Y/n was still my employee and Fred's ex, so Verity catching a glimpse of her dressed in my jumper wasn't the best thing for any of us. "I— am I— sorry, am I interrupting?"

"You're not interrupting." I assured her with a reassuring smile. "Leave the boxes on the puking pastries section, we'll be down in ten."

"Alright, sir." Her curious gaze travelled to Y/n one last time, and with that, she was rushing back down to the shop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

READER'S P. O. V.

The ache that had appeared on my chest the day after New Year would end up killing me, or at least it felt like that.

I had a dreadful gut feeling of knowing what caused that pain, but my mind refused to believe it was that, and kept pushing the sensation back into my heart day by day.

George had gone to relocate the puking pastries in the upper level of the shop so I could prepare the section with the Valentine's Day products.

My eyes dawned on the small packages of Amortentia. I knew it was a terrible idea but I needed to know.

I took a look around, making sure Verity wasn't near and George was up still, and brought one of the Amortentias under my nose. It didn't take long for the scents to besot me, and I had to put all my will on not to fall under the potion's spell.

The first smell to reach my nostrils was gunpowder; my heart skipped a bit when the next scent was vanilla.

Then strawberry and chocolate; candy floss cupcakes and George's cologne.

The tiny, heart-shaped bottle fell from my hands, scattering all over the shop's floor. "Shit!" I rapidly kneeled to pick the shattered glass when I realized it had echoed in the empty establishment.

"Oi! What was that?" George descended from the second floor, using the ladder. "Oh shit—" his hands took a hold on my bicep and pulled me away from the pool of pinkish pearl liquid that seemed to be attracting me. "Don't!" He warned Verity, who had attempted to jog in the potion's direction too. "Verity, can you bring me my wand?" The girl complied running up to the office.

In Verity's absence, George took the chance and cupped my cheeks, tilting my head up to check my eyes. "You alright?" I managed to give him a slow nod, my mind buzzing with the newly acquired information. "Getting the Amortentias was a bad idea, wasn't it?" I nodded again, producing a frown between his eyebrows. "No 'told you so'? Are you sure you're alright?" He chuckled nervously, his hands falling to his sides right in time for Verity to rush back to us.

"Here, Mister Weasley!"

"Thank you, darling." He politely replied, taking the wand and restoring the potion bottle in a swift movement. His eyes peeked at me again; I could see the worry growing on him. "Y/n-"

"I'm gonna go wash my face." The words hastily left my mouth before I dashed off to the restroom.

I closed the door behind me and took a look at the mirror; my pupils were blown and my cheeks pink. I ran the tab and splashed the water on my face a few times until the potion's mild effect was gone and my mind clear.

It was in that moment that it dawned on me that I was in love with George Weasley.

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uas-fics · 3 years

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Chapter 1 -Chapter 2 -Chapter 3

AO3

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Chapter 2:

With only a little help from Mr. Rime, Leon made his way back to the training area three days after his first visit. Both he and his pokemon nearly skipped with excitement towards Piers. Perfecting their appeal performance had become a highlight of their evenings. With Mr. Rime's enthusiasm, Leon knew they had a fighting chance to win the contest.

"Good evening, everyone!" Leon called, waving his arm over his head.

Piers lifted his head in a curt nod to greet them. Skuntank yawned, still unimpressed with both Leon and Mr. Rime. Aegislash waved at his trainer but ignored Mr. Rime.

After Aegislash's night at Spikemuth, he was still upset that Mr. Rime would be in the contest and not him. He glared at Mr. Rime and refused to be in the same room when Leon took him home.

So Leon asked Piers if he would mind letting Aegislash stay a few extra days with him and Skuntank. Ten years of training his team taught Leon that Aegislash would forgive Mr. Rime or be tolerant of his presence in time. It wasn't so different from the time Haxorus and Seismatoad were at odds after Seismatoad accidentally flooding Haxorus' favorite napping spot.

Aegislash just needed a few days away.

As Leon neared Piers, something shook in the tree at the edge of the training area. He winced, praying it wasn't that skwovet Piers picked on earlier in the week. That little critter still chattered and lashed its tail when they walked past. The last thing Leon wanted was to knock out a weak pokemon for throwing berries at him.

With a ground-shaking thud, an obstagoon landed on his back. He blinked up a few times, dazed, before rolling onto all fours. Like a spring, he jumped up, landing next to Piers.

"Ah, so that's where you wandered off to." Piers patted Obstagoon's shoulder. "Should have known." To Leon, he explained, "When he was a wee zigzagoon, he used to climb up there for naps when he didn't want to train. I'd join him sometimes. I say we're a bit too big now."

In response, Obstagoon opened his jaws wide in a yawn. His long tongue curled. He smacked his lips. Piers simply nodded in understanding.

Piers and Obstogoon's closeness sparked a flame in Leon's chest. He wanted everyone to know what it's like to be friends with pokemon and fight alongside them. Everyone should have the opportunity to feel the connection and strength that only comes with befriending a pokemon.

"You're never too big for naps." Leon chuckled. "You two just need to find a bigger tree."

Piers ran his finger and thumb along his jawline in thought.

"That sqwovet had a pretty big tree." He smiled wickedly at Obstagoon. "How about we go see if we can make enough room for us in it?"

Slobber flew from Obstagoon's tongue as he nodded. He punched his fist into the palm of his other paw, his smile mimicking his trainer's.

Seeing the wince on Leon's face, Piers rolled his eyes. "I'm jokin'— mostly." He added the last word with a sideways glance at Obstagoon.

"Anyway," he walked around Leon, "let's stop wastin' time. How do you feel you and Mr. Rime's performance is goin'?"

Thankful for the change in topic, Leon put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest. Mr. Rime mimicked him.

"Mr. Rime is a natural. You've seen how much we've improved. I think we can win." Leon crouched to put a hand on Mr. Rime's shoulder. Mr. Rime nodded in agreement. Aegislash scoffed, earning a glare from his teammate.

"You're confident in your performance stage, but what about the battle stage?" Piers smirked. "Let's see how confident you are against a proper opponent."

He tapped Leon on the back of the head as he strode past. Leon nearly fell forward, taking Mr. Rime with him.

"W-wait!" Leon scrambled to his feet. "Do you mean we get to battle now?" His heart skipped a beat. Contest performing might be new, but battling was old hat to Leon.

Piers snorted with a smile. "Arceus, you're like a puppy with battles, aren't you? Yeah, we're going to battle. Get to your side."

Leon hurried to his spot. His mind raced through what he knew about Piers and Skuntank. Skuntank was dark and poison, so he had a type advantage over Mr. Rime, but Piers announced his tactics. If Leon acted fast on Piers' announcements, he could easily counter.

In the last tournament, Piers used Skuntank to inflict toxic on the opponents. Mr. Rime would need to avoid that or risk putting an even tighter time limit on their battle.

He had to counter status with status--teeter dance, then. Confusion, and maybe he could paralyze Skuntank with a thunderbolt.

Piers put his hands on his hips. "This is a contest battle. The time limit is five minutes. We each start with ten points. Every failed move loses a point. If you impress the judges, I lose a point and vice versa. A knockout is an auto-win, but those are borin' as hell. Are you ready?"

"Bring it on," Leon called back. "You and Skuntank are going to lose—in style."

Piers scoffed. "Who said I was usin' Skuntank? Someone's gotta be our judge, and Skuntank has the most experience."

Skuntank trotted to a backpack beside the tree Obstagoon fell from. He rooted around in it. With a flip scoreboard in his mouth, he came back to the edge of the battlefield. He dropped and fiddled with it until both sides showed 10 before settling beside it.

Of course, Leon realized, that's why Piers brought Obstagoon with him, to use in battle.

Leon quickly readjusted his strategy for a fight with Obstagoon. Dark and normal, still a type advantage, but the toxic risk was gone. Obstruct, though, could be tricky to deal with if—-

"Let's rock, Aegislash!"

Leon's mouth fell open as his own Pokemon floated in front of his opponent. Aegislash tossed his shield up. He snatched it from the air in his sword form, ready to battle.

"Wait, but..."

"Aegislash spent some time practicin’ with Skuntank while they were together. He deserves to show off the work he's done, don't he?" Piers smirked at Leon's shocked expression. "What's wrong? Worried you'll lose? Well, you probably will."

Leon shook off his shock. "I don't think so. Aegislash is strong, but Mr. Rime and I know all his tricks."

Mr. Rime stamped his cane in agreement. This was no longer a matter of practice to him. Now, it was a matter of pride. Leon knew Mr. Rime would give it his all to show Aegislash he deserved to be in the contest.

Aegislash rolled his eye and Piers snorted.

"If that's what you wanna think, I 'ppose."

Piers took out his phone. He pressed a few buttons then whistled to Obstagoon. Obstagoon took the phone carefully in his paws. He jogged to Skuntank's side and set it in front of Skuntank. The two dark-types nodded to each other. Obstagoon raised his paw.

"Obs? Goon?" He looked between the combatants. "STA!" He threw his paw down, beginning the battle, as Skuntank pressed a button on the phone.

"We're going to cut you to ribbons!" Piers threw out his arm, his leg bouncing to an unheard rhythm. "Use air slash!"

Aegislash jumped into the air. With blinding speed, he repeatedly slashed an X until a ball of blue energy grew from the middle of the X. Aegislash jerked back then slammed the tip of his blade into the ball.

The air slash ball burst into spinning blades and raced towards Mr. Rime.

Mr. Rime danced back, expertly dodging the blades, except for one.

The blade slammed into Mr. Rime's shoulder. He stumbled but regained his balance with ease.

Skuntank flipped the scoreboard so it said 9 to 10.

"Mr. Rime, teeter dance! Confuse Aegislash!"

Leon winced. It felt wrong telling his pokemon to attack each other.

Mr. Rime tapped his heels together then wavered from side to side, spinning his cane hypnotically.

Aegislash tried to look away, but his gaze kept returning to the dance. Aegislash swayed side to side before tottering around, confused and lost as his trainer on Route 2.

Piers swore, "Shit! Aegislash, snap out of it! Shadow Sneak, like when you and Skuntank practiced!"

Aegislash wobbled to the left, then wobbled to the right, then flopped face down into the dirt.

Obstagoon laughed. Leon flinched. Piers groaned. Skuntank sighed.

9 to 9.

"Sorry, Aegislash, but Freeze-dry, Mr. Rime!"

Mr. Rime held his cane to the sky. Blue energy swirled into a ball at the top. With a flourish, Mr. Rime threw the ball at Aegislash.

An icy wind blew out from the collision, burning Leon's eyes and cheeks. A thin layer of frost coated the battlefield.

Aegislash shook. Shards of ice clung to his hilt. He attempted to push himself up, but his ribbony arms gave out on him.

9 - 8.

Mr. Rime bowed to Piers, the turn to bow to Leon. As he turned to bow to Skuntank and Obstagoon, Aegislash melted into his shadow.

Piers smirked. "Of course the undefeated champ's pokemon would be a bragger. Looks like we have to teach him how to lose. Like we practiced, Aegislash!"

Aegislash's shadow circled Mr. Rime. Mr. Rime jumped back, but the shadow circle kept under him no matter where he went.

Shadowy tendrils raised out of the circle. The ends of the tendrils divided into fingers. The hands waved in a mesmerizing dance of their own.

"Wow, he's gained a few new tricks," Leon muttered then shouted, "Uh, Mr. Rime, use thunderbolt! See if we can drive away that shadow!"

Before Mr. Rime could gather the electric energy for the thunderbolt, Aegislash burst from the ground behind Mr. Rime and slammed the edge of his shield into Mr. Rime's back.

"The dark is just as fast as the light," Piers remarked.

Skuntank hollered, stamping his paws. Obstagoon flipped the board, 7 to 8. Aegislash's move landed and was impressive. Piers had to tell Leon how he taught Aegislash to do that with his shadow sleek attack after the battle.

Mr. Rime rolled head over feet. He skidded on his stomach to a stop. With a groan, Mr. Rime pushed himself back up.

"Prepare to be pushed back into defeat!" Piers yelled, "Now, sacred sword!"

Aegislash's blade glowed with a mysterious energy. The blade doubled in size. With a clattering cry, Aegislash rushed at Mr. Rime.

Mr. Rime's eyes widened. He tried to move but fell to his knee with a wince.

The collision of the attack threw dust into the air, obscuring the trainers' view.

"Mr. Rime!" Leon cried.

His heart pounded. He heard Skuntank shouting, Obstagoon cheering at the power of the attack, and Piers calling out in approval, but he couldn't focus on them. His eyes straining, he tried to pick out Mr. Rime from the settling dust.

A shocked silence fell over the trainers and spectators.

Mr. Rime sat back on his rump, holding himself up with his arms. Between his legs was Aegislash stuck deep into the earth.

Aegislash struggled to push himself out of the ground to no avail.

Skuntank hurried to flip the score, but Leon didn't check the numbers. He couldn't risk letting this opportunity slip away.

"Mr. Rime! Shadow Ball!"

Shadow energy pooled in front of Mr. Rime's nose-like belly. Aegislash's eye widened. He braced his arms on the ground, trying and trying to pull himself out in time to dodge, but he wasn't fast enough.

The force of the shadow ball dislodged Aegislash. Spinning in the air, Aegislash flew across the field. He crashed to the ground. His shield rolled away out of reach.

Leon took a breath to order a second shadow ball when Obstagoon let out an ear-splitting cry. Behind the ringing in his ears, Leon faintly heard a beeping. Mr. Rime hobbled to his feet, glaring at Obstagoon. Aegislash flopped down, holding his arm over his eye.

Piers groaned and fell to his knees. He threw his head back and slumped his shoulders.

"Piers! Are you hurt? What's wrong?" Leon gasped, about to rush over.

Without moving from his dramatic pose, he lifted his arm and pointed. Leon followed his finger to the scoreboard.

7 - 6.

Leon won.

Besides the scoreboard, Obstagoon fiddled with Piers' beeping phone. With a huff, he marched over to his trainer and dropped the phone in his lap. Piers' head rolled forward. With a sigh, he turned off the alarm.

Leon walked over to Mr. Rime. He patted his back.

"You took that shadow sleek right on the chin," Leon squeezed his shoulder, "like a proper champ. Take a rest." Mr. Rime leaned against Leon's side as Leon took out his pokeball to return him.

Mr. Rime shook his head at his trainer. He pushed himself to his feet and slowly hobbled across the field. He picked up Aegislash's shield and brought it to his teammate.

"Rime, rime?" He asked, holding up the shield.

Aegislash lifted his arm to eye Mr. Rime, then slowly got up. Aegislash slowly took the shield back. He turned it over so it faced whatever way Aegislash considered upright. Mr. Rime held out his hand.

"Aegi. Aegislash," Aegislash said, shaking Mr. Rime's hand.

Leon smiled--The status quo of his team finally regained.

With each of their pokeballs in his hands, Leon asked, "Are you two ready for a rest? That battle was something to see. My heart pounded the whole five minutes. I'm proud of both of you."

Mr. Rime and Aegislash bowed, still holding hands, as Leon returned them to their balls.

"That was sickenly sweet display of affection," Piers remarked when Leon came towards him. "If Aegislash hadn't missed that last attack, we would have won. You got lucky."

"If that's what you want to think, I suppose." Leon laughed. "But that was a brilliant battle, Piers. When was the last time you and I had a battle?"

When he was champion, Leon battled all the gym leaders at some point or another, but he couldn't remember exactly when he and Piers had a battle last. In his defense, though, some gym leaders battled him more than others.

It felt like Rehain challenged him at least once a month. How many times had he been woken up at five in the morning by Bea banging at his flat's door challenging him? If Melony came close to beating him, Gordie would take a shot. Kabu, Nessa, Milo, Allister, Opal, Leon remembered his most recent battle with each of them, but his memory of his last battle with Piers was fuzzy.

Piers shrugged. "When did the My Little Ponyta movie come out?" At Leon’s bemused look, he explained, "Marnie dragged me to the premier the day before our battle. Had that fuckin' theme song stuck in my head all day."

Leon swallowed a laugh. He imagined Piers in a theatre showing a movie about the magic of teamwork and flying ponyta. Piers would tower over all the little kids. If he sat close to the front, children probably threw popcorn at him.

"I wasn't the only grown up there. The show is pretty popular with adults, too, you know." Piers rolled his eyes as if he could read Leon's mind.

"Of course," Leon placated. "I think I remember it now. It was close."

Piers smiled towards Obstagoon. "We nearly clobbered him. 'member that, Obstagoon? If Charizard hadn't Gigatanmax before you landed that hit, I'd be the champion right now and every child in Galar would have dollies of you."

His memory sharpened at Piers' comment. It hadn't been as close as he implied. Piers had only a half-beaten Leon's team and had a paralyzed Obstagoon left while Leon still had Charizard and Haxorus, and each was completely healthy.

Leon bit his tongue from correcting Piers. What did it matter? He had beaten four out of six of his team. Raihan didn't even get that far half the time. Besides, Leon didn't want to change Piers' cheerful expression as he reminisced with his partner. The pink flush of pride across Piers' pale face made Leon's heart skip in his chest.

"Do you want to have a rematch sometime?" Leon asked instead. "Not of our contest battle, but the first battle, err, the champion title battle, but without the title."

Piers raised an eyebrow. An amused expression crossed his face as if he just watched a growlithe puppy tumble over itself while chasing its tail.

Leon chuckled nervously. He hadn't meant to babble like that, but his tongue just kept tripping over itself.

"I mean, we could battle at the Battle Tower. Have you been there since it's been the Battle Tower? I'd be more than happy to give you a tour. I won't get lost there. I promise it'll be fun. What do you say?"

Piers' lips twitched upwards with a sharp snort of amusement. Leon's stomach tightened. Was Piers going to deny his offer?

"I'd be honored."

---

Piers whistled, craning his head to look at the Battle Tower.

"Battles are goin’ on every floor of this place?"

Leon bobbed his head. "More or less. Some floors are dedicated to research or resting up. It turned out better than I could have ever imagined."

"Impressive," Piers conceded. "Now, explain to me why you're dressed like a silver spoon aristocrat?"

Leon looked down at his outfit, a maroon double-breasted tailcoat, white undershirt, ascot, and dark trousers. The only clothing that wasn't professional was his hat.

"It's my business outfit," he stated simply. "I have to look professional as the league chairman."

He'd gotten reprimanded for wearing 'unprofessional' clothing when he started attending meetings as the chairman. He had several meetings earlier that day, so he had to have on his business outfit.

Piers opened his mouth, then slowly shut it with a shake of his head.

"Don't worry." Leon slapped Piers on the back, "You're not underdressed."

Piers glared. He straightened up and pulled on the hem of his leather jacket before readjusting the messenger bag strap across his chest.

"You are a wild card of a human bein’," he muttered. Louder, Piers said, "Let's head in. We have more to do today than just a tour."

Excited to show off the Battle Tower, Leon ushered Piers inside. The reception area of the Battle Tower bustled with activity. People and pokemon chatted and compared strategies. Two trainers argued over the best rental team at the rental counter. An abra played tag with a pichu under the careful watch of a clefable.

Leon's chest swelled with pride. The people of Galar would be the strongest in the world with the deepest bonds with their pokemon.

Piers tapped the heel of his thick-soled boot against the shiny tile. His gaze wandered the room.

Did he like it? Leon hoped he did.

"More lively than when it was the Rose Tower," Piers commented. "More useful too."

Leon released a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"Thanks. Come on, I'll show you--"

"Mr. Leon!"

Leon winced as one of the attendants of the Battle Tower rushed towards him. She doubled over, panting.

"We have a problem."

"What's wrong?"

"Mrs. Melony is here, and so is Mr. Gordie, and it's not going well," the attendant explained, wringing her hands together.

Leon wrinkled his nose. He'd thought Melony and Gordie were getting along now. They seemed to put their differences aside after the Darkest Day.

Before then, the two barely handled sharing gym leader responsibilities. More than once Rose had to go to the Circhester to settle an argument before an all-out battle broke out in the lobby of the stadium.

With no other choice, Leon told the attendant to lead the way.

"Sorry, Piers, you can wait--"

Piers strolled past him behind the attendant. When Leon caught up to them, Piers shrugged.

"You might need help when this goes," Piers put his closed fists together then flared out his fingers, "ka-boom."

---

"Seriously? Can't you drop it?"

"No, I cannot."

Gordie threw his hands up. Melony wagged a finger at him. The attendants of the tower pressed against the walls, eyes wide. One hid behind a pokemon recovery machine.

Shuckle wrapped his tentacles around Gordie's leg. Frosmoth tugged at Melony's hair. The tension in the air could choke a snorlax.

All in all, it wasn’t so bad.

Leon took a breath, bracing himself.

"What seems to be the trouble here?" Leon bellowed out, interrupting whatever Gordie was going to say. The attendants' faces lit up.

"Oh, Leon, dear, nothing is the trouble at all," Melony assured with a fake smile.

Gordie clenched his hands into fists. "There won't be trouble if you drop the matter."

Melony's smile fell to a frown. Frosmoth landed on her trainer to lower a wing in front of Melony's face. Shuckle dropped his full weight to the ground, attempting to stop Gordie from stepping forward.

Leon sent a question glance at the attendant that brought them up. The attendant shook her head with a shrug. She didn't know what they were fighting over.

Holding his hands up, Leon stepped between the gym leaders.

"Well, what's the matter? What is causing the trouble?" Leon asked.

Gordie tsked his tongue and scowled towards the wall. Melony waved back Frosmoth's wing, huffed, and looked towards the other wall. Neither answered.

Leon sighed. He couldn't force them to tell him what was the matter if it didn't involve their gym. Given their silence, it probably didn't.

From the door, Piers snorted loudly, gaining everyone's attention.

"If you're gonna fight over personal matters, do it at home, why don't you?" Piers rolled his eyes dramatically. "Or at least tell us what the fight's over so we can enjoy it properly. Just seein’ you bicker isn’t any fun at all."

Melony covered her mouth, a little ashamed. Gordie crossed his arms.

"You want to know? Fine! Mum is prying, like an old biddy." Gordie glared. Shuckle slipped into his shell and shook.

Melony gasped. "I am not prying! I deserve to know!"

"No, you don't!" Gordie snapped. "Who I'm seeing is my business, not yours!"

Leon's hands fell to his side. They were fighting about whom Gordie was dating? That wasn't something Leon wanted to deal with. Why couldn't it have been about the gym's paint color or whose name should go on the sign first? He could solve that problem. Personal matters like this were well out of his domain.

The attendants, still scared out of their wits, started to scoot along the walls towards the door. The one behind the recovery machine crawled on hands and knees.

"I just want to make sure she's not using you. You sometimes make bad decisions," Melony responded coldly, "like forgoing ice-types for stubborn pebbles."

Piers set a hand on Gordie's shoulder, stopping him from surging forward to confront his mother.

To Melony, he said, "Believe me, I am a supporter of cruel jabs, dark-types and all that, but I think you're takin’ this a bit far."

Thankful for the support, Leon agreed, "Yes. Piers is right. Gordie is an adult, after all."

"He a teenager!"

"I'm twenty!"

"You're still a child."

"I am not!"

"Just let me meet her!"

"No!"

Melony waved Frostmoth off her head. Frosmoth fluttered just above Melony, close enough to dive down again if she needed to.

The tension built. If Leon didn't do something soon, he might have a disaster on his hands. At least Mr. Rime and Aegislash could fight out their differences. Melony and Gordie couldn't--

"How about a bet?" Leon offered. "We are in the Battle Tower. You two battle it out. The bet is if Gordie wins, Melony, you have to leave him alone about his girlfriend for three months, or until he's ready to introduce you. If Melony wins, Gordie has to tell Melony his girlfriend's name and show her a picture." Melony started to oppose the idea, so Leon quickly added, “That way you can look her up on social media or ask people about her. You can see if she is up to your standards before you meet her.”

Gordie glowered but held out his hand. Melony took the offered hand and shook.

"Deal."

---

Eiscue flipper-slapped Shuckle's shell to no avail. One of Shuckle's tentacles whipped out and smacked Eiscue across the beak before hiding back in his shell.

Piers leaned back in his seat. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Leon lifted a shoulder. "It was better than letting them keep shouting like loudred."

"Guess so."

Melony recalled Eiscue, throwing out her Frostmoth. Frosmoth sent a blizzard at Shuckle, leaving him half-frozen with only two openings in his shell to attack from.

When Shuckle peeked out of one of the openings, Frosmoth hit him with a hurricane. The pillar of wind tossed a crying Shuckle into the air. The pillar vanished and Shuckle crashed to the ground. The ice encasing him shattered and freed him, but it didn't matter. Shuckle was out.

Leon leaned forward in his chair as Gordie sent his stonjournor.

As the battle raged, Leon couldn't help grow more excited. A smile spread across his face. Two top-tier opponents throwing their all at each other! It made his heart raced. Any other circumstance, he'd ask for a match with the winner right after the final bell. Maybe he could find a good excuse to visit Circhester and talk one or both of them into a battle.

While Charizard could melt any of Melony's ice-types, her Lapras was not only part water type but incredibly strong. One G-Max Resonance would cause problems for his team. He'd have to prepare with electric moves if he wanted to stand a chance.

Gordie liked to set up stealth rock, and that would hurt Charizard, but Aegislash proved how powerful his sacred sword could be. Gordie's Coalassol, though, knew fire moves. That could be a problem. Seismatoad, then, would be a good pokemon to have on the ready.

Leon nearly bounced in his seat as Melony and Gordie sent out their last pokemon. This was it, the climax of the battle.

Suddenly, Leon felt someone's eyes on him. He turned abruptly to the side to find Piers staring intently at him. The heat rose up his cheeks when they locked eyes.

"I like your enthusiasm," Piers commented with a half-smile. "It's earnest."

Unlike the last time, his tongue couldn't even make any words to trip over.

Piers raised his eyebrows as if he realized something. He opened his mouth but an explosion from the battlefield stole their attention from each other.

Melony's darmanitan fell backward, fainted. Gordie's tyranitar bellowed a victory shout.

Melony sighed as she returned her pokemon. Gordie ran to Tyranitar. Trainer and pokemon shared a high five.

"I knew you could do it," Gordie proclaimed. Tyranitar puffed out his chest. A slab of ice fell from his back. Tyranitar raised his tail and smacked the slab, shattering it. Gordie patted him on the shoulder with a wide grin.

"Gordie..." Melony straightened her back. She took a few careful steps closer.

Her son tensed.

"Gordie, I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'll wait until you're ready to introduce me to your girlfriend. I won't pry into it anymore."

Gordie patted Tyranitar again. He looked at his pokemon then at his mother. Tyranitar rumbled reassuringly.

"I don't have a girlfriend. Alex isn't a girl. They're nonbinary. They work at a cafe, and maybe, sometime, I can take you there to meet them," Gordie offered. “Sometime. In the future. Not right now.”

Melony's eyes brighten. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. His glasses clattered to the ground, exposing his beet-red face. Tyranitar chuckled, picking up the glasses as his trainer struggled against his mother’s tight grip.

Leon let out a breath. That could have been much, much worse. He stood but didn’t go over to the mother and son. Gordie had his phone out, showing a picture to Melony. Melony cooed approvingly.

Leon wouldn’t dare interrupt the two finally getting along.

From his seat, Piers asked, “You ever jump through hoops like a trick ponyta? For a person you’re datin’, I mean. A girlfriend or whatever?” He fixed his icy blue eyes on him as if Leon was a puzzle Piers was trying to solve.

Leon’s stomach twisted. For someone with constant bags under his eyes, Piers had a nice face. Leon’s heart skipped. He’d been trying to avoid thinking about that since he noticed it during their contest training. The first day, after he’d wiped the sweat from his face, he noticed Piers looking at him intently, and the overwhelming urge to walk over and brush his fringe aside rose in him.

Luckily, Piers didn’t notice Leon tense. Unluckily, Piers turned his face away so his fringe hid his face from view.

Instead of looking into his eyes, Leon focused on a wall panel just beyond Piers’ face.

“No, I haven’t.” Leon’s tongue felt limp in his mouth.

“Huh. I had a few times. Nothing like battlin’ my mum, though." He turned his head with an aloof expression. The urge to brush his fringe back crept down Leon’s arm. He clasped his hands behind his back.

Leon swallowed, thankful his limp tongue didn't go down his throat. "Yeah, but I'm raring for a battle myself now."

"I can help you with that, but don't you owe me a tour first?"

Leon grinned. "Tour first, then a battle."

---

Leon laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling. It was nearly eleven and he hadn't left his blankets. His mind spun from the day before. After everything with Melony and Gordie, then the tour, he and Piers had no time for a battle, let alone the other plans they'd made to work on Leon's contest disguise.

Though Leon refused to admit it, it was for the best. With his luck, he would have fumbled calling out moves. He barely got through the tour without sounding like he'd been hit with a confuse ray.

When he was champion, he was too busy to focus on guys. He needed time for training his team: Haxorus' defenses to endure a dragon tail or Rypherior's speed to dodge a power whip. The time off he did have usually, he went to visit his family.

Dating ended up very low on the priorities list.

As chairman, he didn't have to constantly train his team every day--though he still trained more days than not. He more or less made his own hours and visited his family at least once a week, so he could date if he wanted. Nothing stopped him now--nothing but himself.

And Piers was an attractive guy in more ways than one. He was nice enough to help Leon with the contest. He cared about his sister. He had a great relationship with his pokemon. He was a strong battler, a good leader, and...

...he probably didn't know Leon was interested in him at all.

"Mixing politics and your career is a messy business," Rose warned Leon once when he was about thirteen. "I think it's best to keep your focus on training and let romance stay to the sidelines, hmm?"

At the time, Leon deferred to Rose's judgment. Rose was chairman and the person who sponsored him in the gym challenge, so he had to know what was proper for a champion.

That’s what he’d thought for nearly ten years.

After all that happened during the Darkest Day, Leon had been picking through all of Rose's advice to decide what was worth listening to, and as far as Leon could tell, that particular piece of advice could be flushed down the john.

Times had changed since he was a kid. Fewer and fewer people cared about who was gay or straight. Why keep himself a secret anymore?

Piers sure didn’t care who knew what he liked.

Once, Piers wandered into a gym leader meeting a half-hour late. To Rose's less than pleased inquiries on why he was late, Piers shrugged and replied in a deadpan, "Makin' out with my boyfriend sounded more interestin' that whatever you're going to ramble on about."

Two meetings later, Leon saw Piers kiss a lady square on the lips before heading in, leaving her swooning. He didn't much care what people thought of him and whom he dated.

Leon had to admit, he was a little jealous.

"Piers is so cool..." Blushing, Leon groaned. "I sound like a schoolboy. Arceus."

He should give Sonia a call. She knew more about dating and romance than he did. She'd been telling Leon since they were preteens that she would be his wing gal if he ever had a crush.

"You're a little too, you know," Sonia had spun her ponytail with her finger, "blockheaded in matters of the heart. You need my help. I bet you wouldn't even know what to do with a man if one threw himself at you."

"I would so!" Leon had retorted, sticking out his tongue. "I just don't have time. Some of us have important jobs to do."

Having grown into a still romantically blockheaded adult, Leon would one-hundred percent swallow his pride if Sonia would come to give him advice and help.

The door creaked open and Charizard poked his nose in. He tilted his head at Leon before wandering over. Leon patted Charizard's neck.

"I'm alright, don't fret." He sighed. "I just have a little crush on my contest teacher and he doesn't even know I'm gay. Even if he did, I don’t know if I’m brave enough to ask him on a date."

Charizard rumbled as Leon scratched his scales.

"Luckily, he's not supposed to be here until five tonight. I'll give Sonia a call," Leon continued. "I have plenty of time, after all."

From the bedside table, Leon's phone buzzed. Scratching Charizard with one hand, he picked up the phone with the other.

"open your door. let me in. i think your neighbors are gonna call the cops on me soon. :\" The text message from Piers read.

Leon jolted.

"What?" He gasped. Charizard craned his head to look at the screen as if it could explain his trainer's distress.

Swearing, Leon jumped to his feet. He darted past Charizard to the closet. Changing quickly, he then rushed out his flat door and down the steps. He threw open the door to find Piers fiddling with his messenger bag strap.

"You're here early," Leon leaned against the door frame, trying to look nonchalant.

"I figured you'd be awake." Piers pointed to Leon's feet. "Clearly not."

Pink dusted Leon's cheeks as he realized he wasn't wearing any shoes. He wiggled his toes.

"If you need me to come back, I--"

"No, no, it's fine, come on in." Leon gestured for Piers to follow him. Piers eyed him but followed without complaint.

Back in his kitchen, Leon filled the electric kettle. Piers rifled through his bag at the table. Charizard dropped his head on top of Leon's. He rumbled, attempting to comfort Leon's nerves.

"You allowed to have him in here?" Piers asked. "Open flame and all?"

Charizard huffed out a puff of smoke. Leon opened a drawer and took a lava cookie to wave in front of Charizard's nose. Charizard crossed his eyes at the cookie. Tenderly as possible, he bit the cookie in half.

"What the landlord doesn't know won't hurt her," Leon replied, nibbling on the remaining half. "Besides, Charizard hasn't set anything on fire in the house in nearly six years. Tea?"

Charizard lifted his head at the praise.

The last time Charizard accidentally set the drapes on fire, Leon put it out before much damage could be done. Having four fire extinguishers hidden around proved to be a wise decision.

"I had to pay off a landlord once to let Skuntank stay, and nah, I'm fine." Piers set a star-print zipper bag on the table. "Jokes on him, I would have let Skuntank out of his ball no matter what he said."

After Leon set a cup of steeping tea on the table, Piers grabbed his arm. From the zipper bag, he took out three small glass containers. He held one against Leon's arm and shook his head, then another.

"What are you doing?" Leon asked, trying not to focus too much on Piers' cool palm against his skin. His hands were calloused. Leon prayed the calluses were thick enough he couldn’t feel his pounding pulse.

"My foundation won't work for you, so I'm trying to figure out which of these will," Piers explained.

"Why won't it work?"

Piers looked up at him with a face that made Leon think he just asked if the sky was blue.

"I'm white, Leon," Piers deadpanned. "You're brown. My makeup will make you look like death."

"Oh, right, that makes sense." Leon didn't look Piers in the face. "My mistake. Ah, I'll pay you back?"

"No," Piers took the last bottle and held it against his arm, "I think I got lucky." Dropping Leon's arm, he held up two of the bottles. "I need one darker than your skin and one lighter."

"Really? That's interesting." Leon laughed a little too quickly. Behind him, Charizard snorted at him. It took all his willpower not to turn and acknowledge Charizard's mocking.

He took his cup of tea and sat across the table. Thankful for something in his hands, he took a sip. The tea burned his tongue, but he swallowed anyway. Charizard took a second lava cookie from the drawer — even though he knew he wasn't supposed to have more than one. He nibbled on it, watching his trainer make a fool of himself. His laughing eyes dared Leon to scold him for the second cookie.

"You're jumpy," Piers observed. "What's the matter?" A smirk crossed his face and he leaned across the table. "Got a lady friend hidin' in your closet?"

Leon nearly choked on his tea.

"What? No! No, no no!" He coughed into his hand. "I mean the only person who's ever been in a closet here was me."

Piers reacted with a slight lift of his eyebrows but his face remained the same otherwise. He took a few brushes from the zipper pouch without replying.

Leon shifted uncomfortably in his seat. That was the wrong thing to say, but it just slipped out. How'd he come out to his family? He just told them flat out, right? Hadn't most of them siad they already kind of knew? It wasn't this awkward, was it? He didn’t think so, but he couldn't remember clearly just then.

His brain spun with embarrassment.

"I know it's not a funny joke, but you're not going to ask about that?" Leon ventured. Charizard rolled his eyes and tossed his cookie into his jaws. Leon did glare at him this time.

After a moment, Piers looked up from organizing his makeup brushes. "No. Wasn't plannin' on it." He took a brush and spun it between his fingers. "In Spikemuth, you learn not to stick your nose in other people's business, unless you wanna lose your nose. " He looked to the side and mumbled, more to himself than to Leon, "‘Sides, you sounded like you didn’t mean to say it anyway."

"Oh." Leon chewed his lip. Charizard hid his face in his claws from second-hand embarrassment.

Piers tapped the brush against the tabletop. The steady rhythm filled the heavy silence between the two.

Leon wasn't sure what to say. He couldn't just out and say he wanted to ask Piers on a date. Well, maybe he could, but what would that make him look like? Piers would think he was desperate! Why couldn’t Piers have come later? Sonia would know what he should have done.

Piers broke the silence. "D’you want me to ask?"

Charizard sent him a thumbs up and a grin.

Leon blew up his fringe. He could do this. He could handle this. He was the Champion--the undefeated Champion--for nearly a decade. This was as easy as catching a rookidee compared to that. He could ask a man out on a date!

"I want to ask you on--"

Piers stood abruptly. He walked around the table to tower over Leon. He put his hand on the back of the chair, boxing Leon in. He took Leon's chin between his thumb and finger.

Lifting his chin, Piers smirked down at him. "D’you want to make a bet?"

"A bet?" Leon croaked, embarrassed by the cracking at the end. How badly had he messed up his date inquiry?! He should have consulted Sonia about all this.

"Yeah, a bet," Piers met his eyes. "The bet is if you place in the contest, I promise to take you on a date."

His heart pounded in his ears. "And if I don't?"

Piers dropped his chin. "Then you have to take me." He held out his hand. "Deal?"

Leon's smile nearly split his face. He took hold of Piers' hand.

"Deal."

---

"You look like a grade-A douchebag." Piers adjusted Leon's headband once more.

"I thought you said we were going with a 'hipster'?"

"Same thing far as I'm concerned."

They stood behind the Bellonea pokemon center after leaving the flying taxi that brought them.

Leon had to say Piers outdone himself with the disguise.

Piers brushed Leon’s fringe back, held them with a clip and headband then brushed back some of the top layers of Leon's hair back into a bun. He contoured Leon's face to look rounder and his nose narrower. White eyeliner made his eyes seem bigger, particularly when contrasted with dark lashes. Piers even added a touch of color in a light dusting of mauve to his eyelids.

He'd nearly talked Leon into colored contacts, but Leon could barely handle Piers coming close to his eyes with the eyeliner. The thought of having contacts on all day made him shudder. Instead, Piers found a pair of thin square glasses with dark frames and slipped them on his face.

Considering Leon's fashion was, as Piers put it, like a smeargle waltzed in and painted everything in different shades of clashing and tacky, it took more time finding an outfit than the entire makeup process. Finally, Piers settled on a striped button-up, vest, and slacks.

Leon took nearly two hours the next day to reorganize everything. Luckily, Sonia came to help, though most of her help ended up sitting on his bed teasing him.

“You should have told me you had a crush,” she had laughed, “then I could have been your wing gal like I promised. You really are a blockhead, sometimes, Leon. And why Piers? He's kind of... Why?"

He had thrown a plaid shirt at her in response, knowing too well he would how he would sound if he tried to explain his attraction.

Piers rubbed his chin. "I still think we should have done more with the beard."

Leon covered his facial hair protectively. He worked hard to grow it, and he refused to cut it off. Besides, Leon had a meeting the day before and the next day, and he couldn’t regrow it back overnight.

"No one will know it's me," Leon promised. He paused, coughed, and lowered his voice to repeat, "No one will know."

Piers sniffed, unimpressed with the vocal tone shift. He reached into his pocket and took out a plastic case.

"Lemme see Mr. Rime's pokeball."

Leon handed the ball to him.

"Still doin’ the lightnin’-ice thing?"

Leon nodded.

"Alright. This should work then."

Piers opened the case. He took out a clear, round ball with a line down the middle, then a sticker. He popped open the clear ball to set Mr. Rime's ball inside then stuck the sticker on the outside.

"Here you go." He handed back the ball.

"What is this?"

"That's a seal case and seal. I won them back in my contest days," Piers explained. "They're really popular in Sinnoh. When you throw out Mr. Rime, it'll be more interestin' than just a flash of light."

Leon turned the ball over in his hand. "Wow. Thank you. You want me to win this, don't you?"

“‘Course. I worked too hard trainin’ you for this for you to lose.” Piers shrugged. “‘Sides, there is a nice cafe in Spikemuth I wanna take you to on our date when you win.”

Leon grinned. He didn’t even care about the limited edition hat now. He had a better prize to aim for.

"Shii?"

From the side of the center, a shiinotic stared at them. It tilted its massive mushroom head to the side. Its expression remained blank until it held thin, viny fingers to its mouth. It smiled a little too broadly, giggling.

Piers shuddered. "I hate fairy-types." He waved his hands to shoo it away. "With dark-types, you can see if they're being mean or not in their eyes. Can't tell a lick with fairies. Little devils."

The shintonic's smile fell. It huffed, spun around, and marched off at Piers' comments.

Leon chuckled. Absentmindedly, he brushed Piers’ fringe back. Piers stiffened and Leon jerked back.

“Ah, sorry.” Leon laughed nervously, thankful for the privacy behind the center.

“No, it’s nothin’,” Piers lifted his hands placatingly, “but we should get goin’ towards the stadium. Why don’t you go first? I’ll wait a bit. I need to call Marnie about somethin’ anyway.”

Leon nodded. “Right. I’ll see you after the contest.”

Piers winked. “Good luck.”

----

AN: while writing this chapter I learned that we Americans call them ‘bangs’ instead of fringe because of a type of haircut for horses.

Etymology is so cool

#fanfiction #pokemon #dnnz #champion leon #gym leader piers #multi-chapter

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anextraordinarymuse · 3 years

Text

Head vs Heart: Part 2

Part 1 can be found here.

(@jonesgirl88 GET SOME WATER KATIE

STAY HYDRATED FOR THIS MARATHON)

Okay so we left off on part one talking about the end of The Treasure Box. We already discussed the moments when Oliver and Shane are locked in the vault, and now we're on to the moments after that. I mentioned that when Holly's letter falls out of Oliver's pocket Shane is the one to bring it back to him. Funny how Oliver hasn't tried to address his wife's absence in years, but as soon as Shane shows up she either encourages him or pushes him toward a resolution. In more ways than one, Shane is Oliver's catalyst. You mentioned the blizzard theory, Katie, and I totally agree with that. Shane showed up and is literally guiding or pushing Oliver down off that frozen mountain by turns.

Anyway, look at this: even after Shane has returned Holly's letter to Oliver, she exits the vault by passing Oliver on his left side, which you can kind of see here (again, this gif is from the Alameda and Downing blog):

And I didn't gif it, but when Oliver and Shane are reunited with Norman and Rita in the bank lobby, Shane is on his left. Now, something I found interesting is that when Oliver and Shane deliver the letters to the living Jonathan, Shane is seated to Oliver's right. Considering that Oliver gives something away in this moment by telling Jonathan to read the love letters out loud, with his wife (the way that he and Shane did), and the way Shane reacts to his saying it, I find it interesting that she's not on Oliver's left side. But, he is leaning toward Shane with his left hand pointed at her (and he's tapping the fingers of his left hand against the chair).

But then we get to the pageant, where Shane is once again seated to Oliver's left. But that's not the big takeaway in this sequence. This is:

If memory serves, this is the first time we see Shane take Oliver's hand like this - and it's his left hand. They're not dancing, and considering what they've been through recently, it's really not even that intense of a moment. She just does it by instinct because that connection has already been established. At this point, I'm making the case for the left side of Oliver's body (and, by extension, his heart) being Shane's side. That's her territory; Oliver has given it to her, perhaps unwittingly at first, and she's claimed it. Also, both times we've seen Oliver draw Shane's hand into the space over his heart he's been holding her hand in his left hand. Just a note. We don't see a lot of this physical or physically present connection in A Hope and A Future except in this small, blink-and-you-miss-it moment (that I absolutely adore anyway!):

Look at all of those points of connection. Not only is Shane's head on Oliver's left shoulder, his left cheek is almost pressed into her hair, and her hand is almost resting on his left arm. Also, once again, Shane is turned into Oliver (whose body is facing straight forward despite his head being turned in Shane's direction). Did I mention that I love this moment? Don't think about the fact that Shane is literally laying there listening to the sound of Oliver's heartbeat, because then you'll get all mushy like me and this will devolve into a feels fest because isn't that just the sweetest, most tender thi ... okay, getting back on track.

Anyway. This propensity for Shane to connect with the area directly over or around Oliver's heart is well established at this point, I think, even if it's been rather subtle until this point. I say until this point because once that hand hold is established at the end of The Treasure Box, Shane claiming (if you will) that area becomes more blatant - especially in times of vulnerability.

Let's look at the Christmas movie. Now, I love that this is the first time we get to see Oliver jealous. Another man is on the scene, and he gets a decent amount of Shane's attention in moments where Oliver is present to witness that. We get to see pretty early on that Oliver really isn't a fan of that, and that's never more apparent than at the Christmas ball when Shane not only dances with Jordan, but teaches him steps to the dance that, until now, has been strictly Oliver and Shane's. But that's not really what I want to talk about

It's the moments after Oliver delivers Shane's letters that reveal more of this Shane = Oliver's heart connection. Also worth noting at this point, however, is that this is when I also started to pick up on some interesting left-sided details on Shane's behalf. Let's take a look.

Oliver has just delivered some very emotional news that Shane may have finally been ready to receive, but still definitely shook her to her core. When Oliver reaches for her, what side of her dress does he rip? Her left sleeve. Almost like he's (accidentally) ripping the band-aid off her wounded heart and exposing the injury in order to administer first aid. This is really the first big moment of anything left-oriented on Shane's behalf. She's usually the all-in type, as indicated in previous gifs by the fact that she's often turned to face Oliver head on in important moments. But I make the case that the gravity of this moment is supported by the fact that Oliver reaches for her left side, and connects in a way that he wasn't expecting - that neither of them were. And now that he has her attention, they share another foundational moment, which is followed by this:

... Shane once again leaving her imprint on Oliver's heart. This moment of connection has now visibly gone both ways. The love and concern and tenderness that passes between Oliver and Shane in this moment is ... undeniable. Oliver has sought to soothe that hurt in Shane's heart by once again offering something of himself - and offering it to Shane in the only way he can at this moment - and Shane is reaffirming both their connection and her place by once again engaging with the left side of Oliver's body, directly over his heart. Actually she claims everything from the middle of his chest to his shoulder, lol. She's staking an even bigger claim than before and she does so after Oliver expresses that he has failed to find someone to share his life with until this point. Coincidence? No way.

And now we get to From Paris With Love. The only actual, visible comparisons we get to the way Oliver interacts with Holly vs how he interacts with Shane. And oh boy, there's some interesting stuff here.

Another thing I didn't gif but is worth mentioning in this movie are the ways that each women understands Oliver, and how they connect with him in moments when he isn't there. When Holly first arrives in the DLO she's alone, and we see her interacting with specific objects that belong to Oliver. What she chooses is interesting. The first thing she picks is Oliver's hat, which is arguably the only thing that belongs solely to and represents only Oliver. But even then, we know that Oliver's hat is outdated: we haven't seen him wear it since the pilot. Holly seems to recognize it, though, which makes me think that Oliver probably wore it at least somewhat regularly in the past. So, Holly is visually connecting with a past Oliver and not the man we know. Holly then interacts with two things that belong to Oliver, but are more about Holly then Oliver: the postage stamp tin which Holly had engraved and gave him, and the small statue of the Eiffel tower. These things don't really connect to Oliver as a person - they connect to Holly and her presence in his life. We're meant to see that Holly isn't really connecting with him, she's connecting with the parts of her (and him) that she's left behind. The only other thing that Holly interacts with that can be considered distinctly Oliver is the Yoo-Hoo that she takes without asking - and then leaves mostly untouched on the desk when she leaves. Every moment that Holly spends in the DLO is about disconnection and abandonment - memories and echoes. Very little establishes her as a part of the present (or future) - and she pointedly does not encroach on Shane's territory (which Shane neither notices or witnesses). Check it out:

In the first moment that Oliver sees Holly, he does so in the context of Shane's presence. Not only that, but look at how Shane and Holly are standing: Shane is off to Oliver's left and Holly literally steps out from Shane's shadow - I mean, steps out from behind her and is oriented more to Oliver's middle/right. Now, it's natural for Shane to be physically present around the left side of Oliver's body, and we see this again as Shane leaves. She follows what is basically her natural course and passes him on his left in a smooth motion (despite the awkwardness she feels):

And Oliver is still looking at Holly, but he turns his body toward Shane as she passes (exposing more of his left side to her as she goes while also accommodating her presence and departure). Now, we're going to talk about how Holly chooses to leave in just a second. There's something else I want to talk about in the scene where Shane and Holly meet. Remember how I said that we start to see more left-oriented visual cues from Shane? This is one of those moments. This is Shane when she returns to the DLO:

Now, totally disregarding that I think this sequence of scenes is one of the moments when Shane looks the most beautiful (seriously, I don't know what it is, but she looks stunning), the way that Shane is wearing her hair caught my eye. She doesn't usually tuck her hair behind her ears, and in these moments she only has one side tucked: the left. Her left ear and shoulder are exposed, whereas her right ear and shoulder are "hidden" or "protected" by the veil of her hair. Shane's heart is vulnerable and exposed in these moments with Holly, and whether she knows it or not Holly lands several blows. Not only is Holly's presence a blow to Shane and her place in Oliver's life (and heart), Holly then goes on to show that she does know Oliver - and that she knows him in ways that Shane doesn't, and might never get to at this point. It's not just the revelation of Oliver's habit of eating clams and red wine when he's angry, it's also the secret-sharing of the fact that apparently Oliver is such a good kisser that Holly had to stop kissing him altogether in order to follow through on her promises to herself. Shane's vulnerability and heartache in these moments isn't just visible in her expression. The fact that only the left side of her hair is tucked is meant to show us that she's vulnerable and exposed, and she stays like that (and so does her hair) for the entirety of this exchange.

Here's another one from a few moments later that gives you a better look. (Another side note: SHANE IS FREAKING SUNSHINE. LOOK AT HER. SHE'S BEAUTIFUL AND GLOWING AND HER HAIR IS LIQUID GOLD. If you don't love Shane McInerney then I literally can't even).

Now, for the moment Holly leaves the DLO. I've already mentioned how smoothly Shane exited and that she followed a natural path past Oliver. That's not how Holly leaves.

oFirst things first: Holly chooses to pass Oliver on his right as she leaves. But there's also no natural flow here since Holly wasn't moving before this, so her departure looks more abrupt. And Oliver doesn't move at all as she leaves: he doesn't turn toward her at all or accommodate/allow for her to pass. In fact, he looks frozen. Holly seems to have a natural propensity for either angering Oliver, or making him freeze.

Notably, Holly and Oliver barely touch. Not just in this moment, but at all in this moment. The only time they do seem to touch is when they're dancing, which I will talk about in a minute.

Despite Holly's arrival and presence, the symbolism of Shane on Oliver's left and being synonymous with his heart doesn't let up.

But, since I've once again hit the limit of ten gifs per post (oops? Is this getting out of hand? Oh well.) we're moving on to part 3.

#oliver x shane #shane x oliver #sholiver #shane mcinerney #oliver o'toole #POstables #Jess' thoughts #the ten gif limit is a pain but they are just so helpful for analyzing #and they're so pretty #so I'm going to use them dang it

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fromni-blog · 5 years

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下書き引用元 https://www.netflix.com/watch/70273997

英語字幕書き起こし

THERE'S NOTHING TO TELL. IT'S JUST SOME GUY I WORK WITH. COME ON. YOU'RE GOING OUT WITH THE GUY. THERE'S GOT TO BE SOMETHING WRONG WITH HIM. SO, DOES HE HAVE A HUMP? A HUMP AND A HAIRPIECE? WAIT, DOES HE EAT CHALK? JUST 'CAUSE I DON'T WANT HER TO GO THROUGH WHAT I WENT THROUGH WITH CARL. OKAY, EVERYBODY RELAX. THIS IS NOT A DATE. IT'S TWO PEOPLE GOING OUT TO DINNER AND NOT HAVING SEX. SOUNDS LIKE A DATE TO ME. SO I'M BACK IN HIGH SCHOOL. I'M STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CAFETERIA AND I REALIZE I AM TOTALLY... NAKED. I'VE HAD THAT DREAM. THEN, I LOOK DOWN AND I REALIZE THERE IS A PHONE... THERE. INSTEAD OF..? THAT'S RIGHT. NEVER HAD THAT DREAM. ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE PHONE STARTS TO RING AND IT TURNS OUT IT'S MY MOTHER WHICH IS VERY, VERY WEIRD BECAUSE... SHE NEVER CALLS ME. HI. THIS GUY SAYS "HELLO. I WANT TO KILL MYSELF." ARE YOU OKAY, SWEETIE? I FEEL LIKE SOMEONE REACHED DOWN MY THROAT GRABBED MY SMALL INTESTINE, PULLED IT OUT MY MOUTH AND TIED IT AROUND MY NECK. COOKIE? CAROL MOVED HER STUFF OUT TODAY. All: OH... LET ME GET YOU SOME COFFEE. THANKS. OOH. UGH... NO. OH, NO. NO, DON'T. STOP CLEANSING MY AURA. NO, JUST LEAVE MY AURA ALONE, OKAY? I'LL BE FINE, ALL RIGHT? REALLY, EVERYONE. I HOPE SHE'LL BE VERY HAPPY. Monica: NO, YOU DON'T. NO I DON'T. TO HELL WITH HER. SHE LEFT ME. AND YOU NEVER KNEW SHE WAS A LESBIAN? NO. OKAY? WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP FIXATING ON THAT? SHE DIDN'T KNOW. HOW SHOULD I KNOW? SOMETIMES I WISH I WAS A LESBIAN. DID I SAY THAT OUT LOUD? ALL RIGHT, ROSS, LOOK YOU'RE FEELING A LOT OF PAIN RIGHT NOW. YOU'RE ANGRY. YOU'RE HURTING. CAN I TELL YOU WHAT THE ANSWER IS? STRIP JOINTS! OH, COME ON. YOU'RE SINGLE. SEE, BUT I DON'T WANT TO BE SINGLE, OKAY? I JUST, I JUST, I JUST WANT TO BE MARRIED AGAIN. AND I JUST WANT A MILLION DOLLARS. RACHEL? OH, GOD, MONICA, HI. THANK GOD. I JUST WENT TO YOUR BUILDING AND YOU WEREN'T THERE AND THEN THIS GUY WITH A BIG HAMMER SAID THAT YOU MIGHT BE HERE, AND YOU ARE. CAN I GET YOU SOME COFFEE? DECAF. OKAY, EVERYBODY, THIS IS RACHEL ANOTHER LINCOLN HIGH SURVIVOR. THIS IS EVERYBODY. THIS IS CHANDLER AND PHOEBE, AND JOEY AND YOU REMEMBER MY BROTHER ROSS? SURE. HI. OH! SO, YOU WANT TO TELL US NOW OR ARE WE WAITING FOR FOUR WET BRIDESMAIDS? OH, GOD. WELL, IT STARTED ABOUT A HALF HOUR BEFORE THE WEDDING. I WAS IN THIS ROOM WHERE WE WERE KEEPING ALL THE PRESENTS AND I WAS LOOKING AT THIS GRAVY BOAT-- THIS REALLY GORGEOUS LIMOGES GRAVY BOAT-- WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN... SWEET AND LOW? I REALIZED THAT I WAS MORE TURNED ON BY THIS GRAVY BOAT THAN BY BARRY AND THEN I GOT REALLY FREAKED OUT AND THAT'S WHEN IT HIT ME HOW MUCH BARRY LOOKS LIKE MR. POTATO HEAD. I MEAN, I ALWAYS KNEW HE LOOKED FAMILIAR, BUT... ANYWAY, I JUST HAD TO GET OUT OF THERE AND I STARTED WONDERING, "WHY AM I DOING THIS AND WHO AM I DOING THIS FOR?" SO, ANYWAY, I JUST DIDN'T KNOW WHERE TO GO AND I KNOW THAT YOU AND I HAVE DRIFTED APART BUT YOU'RE THE ONLY PERSON I KNEW WHO LIVED IN THE CITY. WHO WASN'T INVITED TO THE WEDDING. OH, I WAS KIND OF HOPING THAT WOULDN'T BE AN ISSUE. ...Elijarme la mano, aquellos criminales. Monica: NOW, I'M GUESSING THAT HE BOUGHT HER THE BIG PIPE ORGAN AND SHE'S REALLY NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT. DADDY, I JUST... I CAN'T MARRY HIM. I'M SORRY. I JUST DON'T LOVE HIM. WELL, IT MATTERS TO ME. Chandler: SHE SHOULD NOT BE WEARING THOSE PANTS. I SAY PUSH HER DOWN THE STAIRS. All: PUSH HER DOWN THE STAIRS! PUSH HER DOWN THE STAIRS! ALL RIGHT! COME ON, DADDY, LISTEN TO ME. ALL OF MY LIFE EVERYONE HAS ALWAYS TOLD ME, "YOU'RE A SHOE. "YOU'RE A SHOE. YOU'RE A SHOE. YOU'RE A SHOE." AND THEN TODAY I JUST STOPPED AND SAID "WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO BE A SHOE? "WHAT IF I WANT TO BE A PURSE? OR A HAT?" NO, I DON'T WANT YOU TO BUY ME A HAT. I'M SAYING THAT I AM A HAT... IT'S A METAPHOR, DADDY! YOU CAN SEE WHERE HE'D HAVE TROUBLE. LOOK, DADDY, IT'S MY LIFE. WELL, MAYBE I'LL JUST STAY HERE WITH MONICA. WELL, I GUESS WE'VE ESTABLISHED SHE'S STAYING HERE WITH MONICA. WELL, MAYBE THAT'S MY DECISION. WELL, MAYBE I DON'T NEED YOUR MONEY. WAIT, WAIT! I SAID MAYBE! OKAY, JUST BREATHE. THAT'S IT. JUST TRY TO THINK OF NICE, CALM THINGS. ♪ RAINDROPS ON ROSES ♪ ♪ AND WHISKERS ON KITTENS ♪ ♪ DOORBELLS AND SLEIGH BELLS ♪ ♪ AND SOMETHING WITH MITTENS ♪ ♪ LA LA LA SOMETHING ♪ ♪ WITH STRING, THESE ARE A FEW... ♪ I'M ALL BETTER NOW. I HELPED. OKAY, LOOK, THIS IS PROBABLY FOR THE BEST. INDEPENDENCE... TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE. AND HEY, YOU NEED ANYTHING YOU CAN ALWAYS COME TO JOEY. ME AND CHANDLER LIVE RIGHT ACROSS THE HALL AND HE'S AWAY A LOT. STOP HITTING ON HER. IT'S HER WEDDING DAY. LIKE THERE'S A RULE OR SOMETHING? ( intercom buzzes ) PLEASE DON'T DO THAT AGAIN. IT'S A HORRIBLE SOUND. Uh, it's-- it's Paul. BUZZ HIM IN. WHO'S PAUL? "PAUL THE WINE GUY" PAUL? MAYBE. YOUR "NOT A REAL DATE" TONIGHT IS WITH "PAUL THE WINE GUY"? HE FINALLY ASKED YOU OUT? YES. A "DEAR DIARY" MOMENT. RACH, WAIT. I CAN CANCEL. PLEASE, NO, GO. I'LL BE FINE. ROSS, ARE YOU OKAY? I MEAN, DO YOU WANT ME TO STAY? THAT WOULD BE GOOD. REALLY? NO! GO ON! IT'S "PAUL THE WINE GUY!" HI. COME IN. PAUL, THIS IS... EVERYBODY. EVERYBODY, THIS IS PAUL. All: "PAUL THE WINE GUY!" I DIDN'T CATCH YOUR NAME. PAUL, WAS IT? SIT DOWN. TWO SECONDS. I JUST PULLED OUT FOUR EYELASHES. THAT CAN'T BE GOOD. SO, RACHEL, WHAT ARE YOU UP TO TONIGHT? I WAS KIND OF SUPPOSED TO BE HEADED FOR ARUBA ON MY HONEYMOON. SO, NOTHING. RIGHT. YOU'RE NOT EVEN GETTING YOUR HONEYMOON. GOD... NO... ARUBA. THIS TIME OF YEAR, TALK ABOUT YOUR... BIG LIZARDS. ANYWAY, IF YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE BEING ALONE TONIGHT JOEY AND CHANDLER ARE HELPING ME PUT TOGETHER MY NEW FURNITURE. AND WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT IT. THANKS, BUT I'M GOING TO HANG OUT HERE TONIGHT. IT'S BEEN A LONG DAY. OH, SURE. OKAY, SURE. PHEEBS, YOU WANT TO HELP? I WISH I COULD, BUT I DON'T WANT TO. I'M SUPPOSED TO ATTACH A BRACKETY THING TO THE SIDE THINGS USING A BUNCH OF THESE LITTLE WORM GUYS. I HAVE NO BRACKETY THING. I SEE NO WORM GUYS WHATSOEVER. AND I CANNOT FEEL MY LEGS. WHAT'S THIS? I HAVE NO IDEA. DONE WITH THE BOOKCASE! ALL FINISHED! THIS WAS CAROL'S FAVORITE BEER. SHE ALWAYS DRANK IT OUT OF THE CAN. I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN. ROSS, LET ME ASK YOU A QUESTION. SHE GOT THE FURNITURE, THE STEREO, THE GOOD TV. WHAT DID YOU GET? YOU GUYS. YOU GOT SCREWED. OH, MY GOD. OH, MY GOD. I KNOW. I'M SUCH AN IDIOT. I GUESS I SHOULD HAVE CAUGHT ON WHEN SHE STARTED GOING TO THE DENTIST FOUR AND FIVE TIMES A WEEK. I MEAN, HOW CLEAN CAN TEETH GET? MY BROTHER'S GOING THROUGH THAT NOW. HE'S SUCH A MESS. HOW DID YOU GET THROUGH IT? HE MIGHT TRY ACCIDENTALLY BREAKING SOMETHING VALUABLE OF HERS-- SAY, HER... LEG? THAT'S ONE WAY OF GOING THROUGH IT. ME, I WENT FOR THE WATCH. YOU ACTUALLY BROKE HER WATCH? BARRY, I'M SORRY. I'M SO SORRY. I KNOW YOU PROBABLY THINK THIS IS ALL ABOUT WHAT I SAID THE OTHER NIGHT ABOUT YOU MAKING LOVE WITH YOUR SOCKS ON BUT IT ISN'T. IT ISN'T-- IT'S ABOUT ME. AND I DID... HI. MACHINE CUT ME OFF AGAIN. ANYWAY... YOU KNOW WHAT THE SCARIEST PART IS? WHAT IF THERE'S ONLY ONE WOMAN FOR EVERYBODY? WHAT IF YOU GET ONE WOMAN AND THAT'S IT? UNFORTUNATELY, IN MY CASE THERE WAS ONLY ONE WOMAN FOR HER. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? ONE WOMAN. THAT'S LIKE SAYING THERE'S ONLY ONE FLAVOR OF ICE CREAM FOR YOU. LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, ROSS. THERE'S LOT OF FLAVORS OUT THERE. THERE'S ROCKY ROAD AND COOKIE DOUGH AND BING CHERRY VANILLA. YOU CAN GET THEM WITH JIMMIES OR NUTS OR WHIPPED CREAM. THIS IS THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO YOU. YOU GOT MARRIED. YOU WERE LIKE, WHAT, EIGHT? WELCOME BACK TO THE WORLD. GRAB A SPOON. I HONESTLY DON'T KNOW IF I'M HUNGRY OR HORNY. THEN STAY OUT OF MY FREEZER. EVER SINCE SHE WALKED OUT ON ME, I... WHAT? WHAT, YOU WANT TO SPELL IT OUT WITH NOODLES? NO, IT'S MORE OF A FIFTH DATE KIND OF REVELATION. OH, SO, THERE'S GOING TO BE A FIFTH DATE? ISN'T THERE? YEAH, YEAH, I THINK THERE IS. WHAT WERE YOU GOING TO SAY? WELL, WELL... EVER SINCE SHE LEFT ME, UM... I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO PERFORM... SEXUALLY. OH, GOD. I'M SO SORRY. IT'S OKAY. BEING SPIT ON IS PROBABLY NOT WHAT YOU NEED RIGHT NOW. UM... OOH. HOW LONG? TWO YEARS. WOW. I-I-I'M GLAD YOU SMASHED HER WATCH. SO, YOU STILL THINK YOU, UM... MIGHT WANT THAT FIFTH DATE? YEAH. YEAH, I DO. I, Joanie, take you, Charles as my lawful husband. Do you take Joanie... SEE, BUT JOANIE LOVED CHACHI. THAT'S THE DIFFERENCE. GRAB A SPOON. DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT'S BEEN SINCE I GRABBED A SPOON? DO THE WORDS "BILLY, DON'T BE A HERO" MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU? YOU KNOW, HERE'S THE THING. EVEN IF I COULD GET IT TOGETHER ENOUGH TO ASK A WOMAN OUT WHO AM I GOING TO ASK? ISN'T THIS AMAZING? I HAVE NEVER MADE COFFEE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. THAT IS AMAZING. CONGRATULATIONS. WHILE YOU'RE ON A ROLL, IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU GOT TO MAKE A WESTERN OMELET OR SOMETHING... ACTUALLY, I'M REALLY NOT THAT HUNGRY THIS MORNING. MORNING. MORNING. MORNING. MORNING. MORNING, PAUL. HELLO, PAUL. HI. PAUL, IS IT? I HAD A GREAT TIME LAST NIGHT. Paul: THANK YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH. WE'LL TALK LATER. YEAH. THANK YOU. THAT WASN'T A REAL DATE. WHAT THE HELL DO YOU DO ON A REAL DATE? SHUT UP AND PUT MY TABLE BACK. Joey: OKAY. ALL RIGHT, KIDS, I GOT TO GET TO WORK. IF I DON'T INPUT THOSE NUMBERS... IT DOESN'T MAKE MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE. SO, LIKE, YOU GUYS ALL HAVE JOBS? YEAH, WE ALL HAVE JOBS. SEE, THAT'S HOW WE BUY STUFF. YEAH. I'M AN ACTOR. HAVE I SEEN YOU IN ANYTHING? I DOUBT IT. MOSTLY REGIONAL WORK. UNLESS YOU CAUGHT THE WEE ONES PRODUCTION OF PINOCCHIO. "LOOK, GEPETTO, I'M A REAL LIVE BOY." I WILL NOT TAKE THIS ABUSE. YOU'RE RIGHT. I'M SORRY. ♪ ONCE I WAS A WOODEN BOY, A LITTLE WOODEN BOY. ♪ SO HOW YOU DOING TODAY? DID YOU SLEEP OKAY? DID YOU TALK TO BARRY? I CAN'T STOP SMILING. I CAN SEE THAT. YOU LOOK LIKE YOU SLEPT WITH A HANGER IN YOUR MOUTH. I KNOW. HE'S JUST SO... YOU REMEMBER YOU AND TONY DEMARCO? OH, YEAH. WELL, IT'S LIKE THAT-- WITH FEELINGS. OH, WOW, ARE YOU IN TROUBLE. I AM JUST GOING TO GET UP, GO TO WORK AND NOT THINK ABOUT HIM ALL DAY. OR ELSE I'M JUST GOING TO GET UP AND GO TO WORK. WISH ME LUCK. WHAT FOR? I'M GOING TO GET ONE OF THOSE JOB THINGS. HEY, MONICA. FRANNIE, WELCOME BACK. HOW WAS FLORIDA? YOU HAD SEX, DIDN'T YOU? HOW DO YOU DO THAT? SO, WHO? YOU KNOW PAUL? PAUL, THE WINE GUY? OH, YEAH, I KNOW PAUL. YOU MEAN, YOU KNOW PAUL LIKE I KNOW PAUL? ARE YOU KIDDING? I TAKE CREDIT FOR PAUL. YOU KNOW, BEFORE ME, THERE WAS NO SNAP IN HIS TURTLE FOR TWO YEARS. OF COURSE IT WAS A LINE. WHY WOULD ANYBODY DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?! I ASSUME WE'RE LOOKING FOR AN ANSWER MORE SOPHISTICATED THAN "TO GET YOU INTO BED." IS IT ME?! IS IT LIKE I HAVE SOME SORT OF BEACON THAT ONLY DOGS AND MEN WITH SEVERE EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS CAN HEAR? GIVE ME YOUR FEET. I JUST THOUGHT HE WAS NICE, YOU KNOW? I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS A LINE. GUESS WHAT? YOU GOT A JOB? ARE YOU KIDDING? I'M TRAINED FOR NOTHING. I WAS LAUGHED OUT OF 12 INTERVIEWS. YET YOU'RE UPBEAT. YOU WOULD BE, TOO, IF YOU FOUND JOAN AND DAVID BOOTS ON SALE 50 PERCENT OFF. OH, HOW WELL YOU KNOW ME. THEY'RE MY NEW I-DON'T-NEED-A-JOB, I-DON'T-NEED-MY-PARENTS, I'VE-GOT-GREAT-BOOTS BOOTS. HOW DID YOU PAY FOR THEM? A CREDIT CARD. AND WHO PAYS FOR THAT? UM... MY FATHER. COME ON. YOU CAN'T LIVE OFF YOUR PARENTS YOUR WHOLE LIFE. I KNOW THAT. THAT'S WHY I WAS GETTING MARRIED. IT'S HARD BEING ON YOUR OWN THE FIRST TIME. THANK YOU. I REMEMBER WHEN I FIRST CAME HERE. I WAS 14, MY MOM HAD JUST KILLED HERSELF AND MY STEPDAD WAS BACK IN PRISON. I GOT HERE AND DIDN'T KNOW ANYBODY. I ENDED UP LIVING WITH THIS ALBINO GUY WHO WAS CLEANING WINDSHIELDS OUTSIDE PORT AUTHORITY AND THEN HE KILLED HIMSELF AND THEN I FOUND AROMA THERAPY. SO I KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU FEEL. THE WORD YOU'RE LOOKING FOR IS... "ANYWAY..." ALL RIGHT. YOU READY? I DON'T THINK SO. CUT. CUT. ( chanting ): CUT. CUT. CUT. CUT. CUT. ( cheering ) WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD. IT SUCKS. YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE IT. ( "Star Spangled Banner" playing ) THAT'S IT. YOU WANT TO CRASH ON THE COUCH? NO. I GOT TO GO HOME. YOU GOING TO BE OKAY? YEAH. HEY, MON, LOOK WHAT I FOUND. WHAT? THAT'S PAUL'S WATCH. PUT IT BACK WHERE YOU FOUND IT. OH, BOY. ALL RIGHT, GOOD NIGHT, EVERYBODY. Both: GOOD NIGHT. HMM. OH, SORRY. OH, NO. GO. SPLIT IT? OKAY. THANKS. YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T KNOW THIS BUT BACK IN HIGH SCHOOL I HAD A... MAJOR CRUSH ON YOU. I KNEW. YOU DID? I ALWAYS FIGURED YOU JUST THOUGHT I WAS MONICA'S GEEKY OLDER BROTHER. I DID. OH. LISTEN, DO YOU THINK-- AND TRY NOT TO LET MY INTENSE VULNERABILITY BECOME ANY KIND OF A FACTOR HERE-- BUT WOULD IT BE OKAY IF I ASKED YOU OUT SOMETIME MAYBE? YEAH. MAYBE. OKAY. OKAY, MAYBE I WILL. GOOD NIGHT. GOOD NIGHT. SEE YOU. MM-HMM. WAIT, WAIT. WHAT'S WITH YOU? I JUST GRABBED A SPOON. I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT I'M HEARING. ♪ I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT I'M HEARING. ♪ I SAID YOU HAD... ♪ I SAID YOU HAD... ♪ WOULD YOU STOP? WAS I DOING IT AGAIN? All: YES! WOULD ANYBODY LIKE MORE COFFEE? DID YOU MAKE IT OR ARE YOU JUST SERVING IT? I'M JUST SERVING IT. YEAH. YEAH. YEAH. KIDS, NEW DREAM. I'M IN LAS VEGAS. I'M LIZA MINELLI.

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conner-grace · 5 years

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The Detective and his Little Assistant (part 4)

(Part Index)

Chapter 3: The Plot Thickens

*Warning spoilers if you haven't gotten through 6/13 in the game*

A/N-Before the chapter starts, I want to explain a couple things. First, I chose to make Kaito a witch because I identify myself as a witch, and yes, I do mean witch, not warlock, because witch is, in fact, a gender-neutral term, also due to me being a witch, everything Kito does involved with witchcraft will be based off my own experiences, knowledge, religion and opinions, so please don't tell me I'm wrong unless you can cite a reliable source for your info. Second, for those reading this, who don't know Japanese culture very well, calling someone by their first name without an honorific (-san, -kun, -chan, ect.) unless you know them very well, or they've given you permission, is highly offensive. Please remember these for future chapters :) .

Now to the story.

~~~

Monday, June 13th, After School

*Akechi's P.O.V*

I was listening to the audio data from the pen I downloaded to my phone on the way from the station to work. I was quite happy to see that it hadn't been accidentally turned off throughout the day, despite the likelihood for it to have. I was actually skipping past a bit that seemed to be a personal conversation between her and her friends, though I seemed to be the topic of their talk. If it weren't for my current opinion of Yuno, I might've even blushed at the direction the discussion was going, however, I was disgusted and just trying to get past it.

"Finally." I sigh, getting past it, not surprised that it took up all of lunch. Listening as she head's to pe. "Hmm, who should I ask for help on my homework today?" She either wonders aloud or asks her friends, judging by the steps I heard around her. Her friends offered up names. I quickly realized all the names were all from the top 10 students in the first and second years, 'but most of those kids would never-oh, yeah, blackmail' I think, my gritting my teeth. 'Wait, thinking about it, not even Kaito-kun would've taken this lying down, so what's she got on him that he doesn't want me to know?' I knew it as a little self-centered to think I'm the only one who mattered, but it Kaito had in fact told me that my opinion was the only one that mattered to him, and the teachers would never believe any bad rumors about him since he was the star student of nearly every class he was in. He also never cared what any of the students around him thought of him, except, after we became friends, for me. In fact, a couple months after we became friends and before I knew he considered himself a witch by his religion, a kid that that seemed to a rather bad opinion of Kaito-kun and said something about my friend cursing him or something like that. Kaito-kun seemed to not have even heard him, but then froze quickly looked to me, fear flashing through his eye like lightning before he hid it. I realized later he’d been worried about my reaction and trying to hide it. I'd ended up asking if he'd cursed our fellow student, and he'd replied he never cursed anyone, I'd then asked why out of curiosity, and he'd told me it was because cause he was selfish, and since he believed in karma, he didn't want the negative energy of a curse coming back to bite him later.

I felt an earbud pulling me out of my ear, snapping me out of my small trip down memory lane. "Oh don't worry, I've got something special planned for-" I heard through the other earbud as I paused the recording, knowing I'd have to relisten to it later after, hearing an annoyed sigh next to me that I knew belonged to Sae-san.

"Oh, sorry Sae-san. I got lost in thought it seems." I say with a practiced sheepish smile, pulling out the other earbud.

"I hope you know you were so lost in thought you nearly walked into the door." She smirks teasingly. "Maybe you should keep the music for your work-outs only."

"Guess so." I chuckle, remembering the few hours of music Kaito-kun had given for my birthday as well, that I'd put on my phone and started listening to during my early morning runs, and noticing I’d been only a couple steps from walking into the door.

"Well, let's go in then, we've got cases to get to." She smiles.

"Indeed." I smile, opening the door for her.

"Always the gentleman, thank you." She sighs with a smile, walking in.

"Of course, you're welcome." I smile, following in after.

***

Deciding not to listen to the recording until I got to my apartment, considering how I nearly walked into a door the last time I listened to it on my way somewhere. I was heading back to my apartment in the evening light, hoping Kaito-kun had actually taken the advice of my pre-scheduled messages telling him to go to bed…. even if I wasn't following my own advice. I smile, remembering where my mind had wandered before Niijima-san, and how it had ended. My mind started to drift back down memory lane, remembering how after he'd explained why he didn't curse people, he told me he'd actually reported the student for harassing a female classmate. He ran off to the bathroom after telling me that and it took a little while, however, over the next three days the problem student kept having the worst luck. One of the biggest scenes that spread around the school like wildfire, was the when girl he'd been harassing, who was actually quite sweet and quiet for the most part, slapping him across the face before admitting he'd been harassing her, causing him to get suspended. When he came back, he ran towards Kaito-kun and I at lunch, nearly falling on his face in the process, and yelled about Kaito-kun cursing him again, my friend seemed completely surprised and a little lost. Though after he left a sly smirk pulled at Kaito-kun's lips.

"I don't curse people, but I can enhance one's karma." He smirked under his breath, causing me to look at him questioningly.

"So, you had something to do with this?" I asked, though not quite believing he could.

"I'd like to think so. I mean, I did use a spell to make all he's done come back to him three times three." He smirked, snapping his fingers while saying the last word, the problem student tripping over his own feet and falling at the same time, causing his smirk to grow. "I was gonna leave it at the report and try helping the girl, but...he just kept pushing." He sighs.

I learned two things that day; 1: don't piss off the witch; 2: Kaito-kun wasn't all rainbows and shy smiles like I'd seen till that point and I'd even started putting a little more stock in mysticism and such. "I could report you." I smirked, mostly curious to see how he'd react, though not quite sure how that'd go. His reaction surprised me, his face fell slightly, though he tried to hide it as he looked down to his food and started playing with it rather than actually eating it. I'd expected him to just laugh it off, as he did with most things.

"I'd like to see how that goes down, with your rep, it might actually go a bit differently than the 20 or so other accusations." He smirked, though his voice was a little harsh.

"I-I said could, not would." I quickly stated, trying to back peddle out of this point in the conversation.

He’d pinched the bridge of his nose with an annoyed sigh. "Sorry, I'm overreacting, but you wouldn't be the first to report if chose to." He murmured.

"That's a bit obvi-"

"I meant the first I considered a friend to do so." He specifies with a sigh, making me freeze, realizing what the statement meant, 'he's...used to being betrayed, so when the possibility of it happening comes up, he immediately goes on the defensive'

***

I went straight to my computer after locking my door, hooking my phone up to it so I could better analyze and actually edit the recording so I could only keep what was actually important and discard what wasn't, 'like the first disgusting 30 minutes' I think, deleting that time from the file. Starting back at the beginning of Yuno's talk with her friends. "Hmm, who should I ask for help on my homework today?" I knew whoever she asked for help, probably didn't have an actual choice They talked for a few minutes, before settling on a female student who was 2nd place to Kaito-kun in his class, however one of the other friends piped up. "What about Kaito?" I froze, my worries confirmed that he was a target. I could feel my jaw tighten at the insult of them using his first name, especially without an honorific. "Oh don't worry, I've got something special planned for Kaito today." Yuno giggles, the rest joining her. My hand starts curling into a fist 'what the hell did you do?!' I mentally growl before skipping past, and deleting most the silence of the pe class until I heard Yuno talking to the girl she chose for helping with her homework. Judging by the girl's voice, I was right in assuming her victims at least don't feel like they had a choice in helping her. While she was heading to her next her next class, she told her friends about taping notes to Kaito-kun's locker 'so that's why he seemed a little off after school' I think, feeling the leather strain around my fist. Skipping past and deleting her silent work, stopping when I heard them starting on the notes for his locker, saying what they wrote mostly stupid shit, that had me grinding my teeth and wanting to punch them like 'fag', 'looser', 'freak', then I barely stopped my fist from hitting the desk with the last one, "you're lucky we're not dealing with Salem trails stupid witch". Forcing my hand to relax as I buried my head in my hands, knowing if I hadn't been wearing my gloves, my fingernails would be digging into my scalp right now as they continued.

"If that bitch used my pen to write that." I hissed, ending with a growl that many might've described as murderous as I continued listening, not even wanting to think about what else they might’ve done to him.

"Why not just go ahead and tape a picture of a vase of flowers to his locker Yuno-chan?" One of the friends snickered. "I can't do that, Kaito might freeze long enough for Goro-kun to see, or he might actually tell." Yuno giggled.

*SLAM* my hand hits the desk hard enough I might have actually bruised it hearing that. "Do. Not. Use. My. First. Name." I growled, wishing she could hear venom dripping from every word, wishing I could throttle both of them for that considering doing something like that was a way of telling someone to kill themselves.

"Why didn't you use his pen?" One of the friends smirk, causing me to sigh in relief. "Cause if he manages to find out, he'll never forgive me." Yuno sighs.

'Oh-ho-ho, we're way past no forgiveness bitch' I think with a dark chuckle, getting the last bit of evidence and wishing I had a punching bag in my apartment, as I get up and head to the bath to try and calm myself down enough to go to sleep.

*Akira's P.O.V*

I had just got back to Lablanc after talking with everyone at the dinner, Makoto-san, third-year, and the student council president had figured out who the phantom thieves were.

"You're back-whoa, you look tired. Long day?" Sojiro-san asks from behind the counter.

'You have no idea' I think with a sigh, nodding my head to my caretaker while I was on probation. "Your day any better?" I ask, deciding to strike up some conversation.

"If slow is better, then yes." He says with a slight smirk.

"Heh, well then, guess I'll head up." I say, not having much else I could say to him.

"Actually..." Sijiro perks up slightly. "Do any students from Aoyama use the station as you?"

"Uh, yeah, Akechi Goro, we actually talked a little this morning too." I say, though figuring that wasn't who he was wondering about.

"No one else?" He asks, trying to seem disinterested...and failing.

I thought for a moment, before remembering the smaller boy that ran over to Akechi-senpai. "Yeah, actually, a boy, around my age, but a bit shorter." I answer, I definitely had Sojiro-san's attention, even if he was trying to hide it. "Akechi-senpai introduced him...Sasaki, Sasaki..." I trailed off, trying to remember his first name.

"Sasaki Kaito, he's short and rather shy?" Sojiro-san offers.

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