#and laughed more about magikarp in the same conversation | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rhnuzlocke · 5 years

Photo

Chapter Six: Can You Hear the Music?

Rustboro was a dense little city but lacked the skyscrapers of a metropolis like Kogane. Even with all the traffic and bustle, the streets felt wide and comfortable to Ren. There was something almost charmingly quaint about the downtown. Perhaps it was the varied stone facades and carved pokemon adoring the top edge of every building. Or maybe it was the profuse rooftop gardens and street trees full of Beautifly, Dustox, and Taillow.

Ren and Kai walked through the busy streets with their pokemon around them. Jay was now a Combusken, and Tāraki bounded excitedly by her side, burbling away, while Māia flitted above them both, twittering into any pauses in the conversation. A few people gave them looks for having so many pokemon out—most people had only one—but Ren ignored them, steps bouncing from heel to toe while Kai smiled shyly at her.

“Are you sure about treating us?”

“Of course! Your first badge deserves some celebration! Especially after a match like that! I can’t believe you picked the Rock Gym first. You’re braver than I thought!”

“It was just because I have to survey Mt. Rose. I have my whole route worked out and I have to stick to the schedule to get every location I picked. I only want to take one gap year before college.”

“I’m still impressed, dude. It’s so cool that you know what you want to study and everything already. And taking the Gym Challenge on top of that? I couldn’t do it.”

“You have a full team already!”

“Only because I’m a sap.”

Kai took a few bigger steps to catch up. “I know your dad is a Gym Leader,” he persisted, “but it’s supposed to take months to build up that kind of stamina.”

“What can I say? I run hot.” Run shrugged. “But if we could back up to that badge match, you and Jay pulled off a mid-battle evolution! That’s so rare!”

They found a native restaurant with an open patio and claimed a table. Jay sat down gingerly in one of the chairs and carefully slid her tail through a hole at the back. Tāraki hopped up to stand in another empty seat, while Panahi and Māia landed on the table. Māia puffed herself up and chirped at Jay, who clucked back, fiddling with her long claws on the table. Kai stifled a chuckle.

Ren chuckled too. “You can battle Jay next time we have a match, I promise.”

“Hell yeah!” Māia crowed. Ren stared at her, not quite believing it.

“Oh, can you understand her already?” Kai asked.

“Not until just now!” Ren squealed. “Shiawasedaaaaaaaaaaaa! Kimi no himitsu wa kyousou-ryoku o kanjiru kotodesu!”

Māia puffed up again with joy and Ren grinned for a moment before clearing her throat awkwardly when she realized she had slipped into Kantogo. Thankfully, a waitress came to her rescue and handed them menus.

“We serve pokemon dishes here if your teams are hungry,” she informed them before leaving them to make their selections.

“That’s so cool!” Ren exclaimed, looking it over. “Do you all want anything?”

“Well, what do they have?” asked Panahi.

“There are a few pokebean-based dishes, but you’ve all basically been eating that as chow since we left. There’s mushrooms and some vegetables.” Panahi stuck out her tongue in disgust. “There’s a nectar drink.” Tāraki gasped and started bouncing up and down in his chair, hands pressed to the table. Ren laughed at him. “As if you need the sugar! But I’ll order you one.” He crowed in delight. “They have some meat options too. Oh, braised Magikarp!”

“Yes please, Honey!” cried Panahi, and Māia nodded.

“Akahana?” Ren asked.

“Never had it,” Akahana mumbled, not lifting her head off her paws.

“Oh it’s a treat! You’ll love it!” Panahi crooned down at her, and Akahana grunted what could be construed as an affirmative.

“I’ll have a little,” Iki piped from under Ren’s chair.

“Shroomish wants berries,” Akahana added in response to her new teammate’s clicking.

“Done!”

They put in their order, and Tāraki continued to bounce in place from sheer anticipation.

“You never really introduced me to the newbies,” said Kai.

“Right! Well this ace battler of a Taillow is Māia.” The tiny bird stood her very tallest on the tabletop, flashing her red chest in Kai’s direction. “And I actually don’t have a name for this clever creature yet.” She gestured down to the Shroomish. “I’ve just been calling her Aragekikurage. It’s a mushroom,” she explained when Kai looked confused. “I don’t know if it grows here, and it doesn’t actually look much like her. It’s just the same brown as her underneath. It’s not even a cap—more wrinkly and it feels like velvet.”

Kai thought about it for a few seconds. “Oh! we have that! It’s called a wood ear!”

“Pfff! I see it.”

“The Hoenni name is hakeka, I think.”

“I like that much better! Thanks, Kai.”

His cheeks reddened. “No problem.”

“Right! That reminds me! I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t want to distract you from your match, but I have another little present for you.” She pulled out her nav and slid it over to him. He took it, looking adorably puzzled, then his mouth fell open, and his eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. Ren smiled fondly at him, her own jaw propped up on one hand in a way that failed to conceal a self-satisfied smirk.

“There must be at least ten variants.” He was breathless. “Holy—holy shit.”

“I marked the location for you~”

Kai’s eyes went glassy, and Ren couldn’t hold back a laugh anymore. He reddened and buried his face in his napkin, which made Panahi snicker behind a wing.

“I went a little overboard, didn’t I?”

You were nervous.

“I guess… Yeah, I was. I think an even younger me would have been fine on my own, just me and my team, but after… everything, I missed my friends. I missed people— more than I was willing to admit to myself.”

Kai was still a bit red and could barely even thank the waitress when she returned with their cart of food. Tāraki sipped his nectar through a straw, eyes closed in absolute bliss, and Jay seemed nearly as pleased with her taro and Wurmple hash browns. Akahana took a rather delicate first bite of her Magikarp but was wolfing it down seconds later.

“So, I’ve been thinking,” said Ren in her best attempt at nonchalance. “Since we’re both traveling now, maybe we could do it together?” Kai nearly choked on his boil-up. “We don’t have to! I know you have all your stuff going on. I just thought… Well, it was really nice having you to show me around.”

Ren glanced away in embarrassment, and it was her turn to blush all the way to the tips of her ears. When she forced herself to look back up, Kai was staring at his plate, and the motion of his shoulders indicated he was wringing his hands under the table. Ren’s gut gave a horrible lurch, but before she could make herself say anything, Kai started.

“It’s a good idea!” he blurted.

Ren’s face settled into a huge toothy grin, and a terrible weight lifted off her shoulders. Kai finally looked up at her and sagged in relief, matching her smile with a far more tentative one.

Panahi shuffled her wings, looking immensely satisfied, and probably not entirely from the meal she had just finished. Ren was about to shoot her a glare when she noticed a private little smirk on Jay’s face as well that made her think Kai finally finding his voice was probably her doing somehow.

Ren resolved to thank Jay later—but not now. She didn’t want to push her luck.

“Great! Then we’ll do it.”

...

The next day Ren and Kai headed out east on Route 116 towards the picturesque Mt. Rose. It was the sort of Mountain range one might find in a fanciful painting and was all the more breathtaking in reality. Ren kept finding herself craning her neck back to look at the peak, though that was more due to proximity than sheer height.

Akahana went abruptly still ahead of them and picked up her ears.

“Something’s not right,” she murmured.

Everyone else stopped to listen, and after nearly a minute of straining at silence, the wind changed, and Ren finally heard faint wailing that grew louder and more instant.

“What is that?”

“Hunting,” said Akahana.

Then another sound, low and lilting, almost like music, drifted over it.

“Is that singing?” Ren wondered.

“It’s pokemon, not human,” Akahana answered

“Let’s check it out!” Tāraki cheered and bounded off.

Jay took off after him, followed swiftly by Māia and Panahi. Ren shook her head before leading the rest of them. Akahana walked tall and stiffly, ruff raised all along her back and Iki stayed close behind her.

As they approached the singing became more distinct and musical but wordless, while the growling and wailing faded altogether. Finally they found half a dozen Cloaked Poochyena asleep on the ground around a stately old tree. A fluffy Skitty sat on one of the branches, singing clearly and gently, and Ren began to feel a bit drowsy. Fortunately, the song drew to a close, and the Skitty slipped easily back down out of the tree with the grace of regular practice. It gave a low, dramatic bow to its slumbering audience and sighed.

Ren whistled, and it looked up at them all in surprise. Rather than being intimidated by their number, it smiled and trilled a sweet greeting at them. Kai already had his dex out.

“Looks like an Angora variant, but they aren’t wild.”

“Those Poochyena are out cold. That’s one powerful Sing,” said Ren. “Hello Skitty! That was pretty cool. Do you only sing lullabies or do you put on other performances as well?”

Akahana stepped up to translate, and the Skitty looked very pleased indeed by the interest and complement. It sauntered over to answer and settled its plume-like tail primly over its paws.

“He says he mostly only sings lullabies to avoid being eaten, but that’s more or less a full-time job. He prefers singing dance tunes but he’s happy to take requests.”

“That’s nice of him. And I’m sure Kai wants an interview. But maybe we should move this somewhere else?”

They all retreated a ways and found a clearing to have lunch in. Kai and Jay talked to the Skitty while the others ate. Tāraki, Hakeka, and Māia finished quickly and wanted to train, so Ren had the plant-types work together while Māia tried out some aerial maneuvers on her own.

Akahana listened passively to the various goings on, head on her paws and one eye closed. But as soon as the interview was over, the Skitty sauntered over to her, and Akahana raised her head to talk with him. Ren watched more curiously the longer their conversation went on. It was rare to get more than a few laconic remarks from Akahana. And for having nearly been eaten by a pack of Poochyena earlier, the Skitty’s posture was easy and confident beside her. He even leaned in and crooned now and again, a cheeky grin on his face, which Akahana tolerated with her usual stoicism.

Finally, Panahi called him over for something to eat, and he went with dip of his head and friendly brush of his tail. Ren went to sit by Akahana.

“Anything interesting?”

“He was born out here. His father was a pet, his mother was wild. He says it’s tough because his fur isn’t really suited for the weather. He goes into the city sometimes but hasn’t had much luck there… And he’s a flirt.”

“Oooh?” said Ren with a barely suppressed grin.

Akahana snorted. “Not my type.”

“Only other dark-types or—”

Suddenly a commotion erupted from where Tāraki and Hakeka had been practicing.

“What does it even matter anyway?” Tāraki yelled. “I’m still a better battler than you even without my ‘strongest move’! You’re just jealous!”

Hakeka railed something back at him, and Ren was already running over. “Whoa! Break it up! What happened?”

“She started it!” Tāraki shrilled. “She always—”

“Don’t give me that!” Ren cut him off sternly. “Just tell me what happened as straightforwardly as possible. You know I can’t understand her that well yet, so I’m trusting you to be as fair as possible.”

Tāraki grumbled and crossed his arms, taking a few breaths to calm himself down a little. “She got annoyed because I wasn’t doing well. She said I was lazy and stupid for not working as much on my special moves as on my physical ones.” He took another breath and muttered, “and I called her jealous for not being as good a battler as me.”

“Well, first of all, she is definitely not jealous. You know that right? If she has a problem with you, it’s for something else.” Tāraki nodded, tail still twitching in agitation. “And she does have a point, even if she should have said it more kindly. All of the strongest moves in your pool are special attacks, so if you really want to be a battler, it’s worth it to work on them—especially if you want to fight in this Gym.” He accepted this without objection but looked far from happy, and Ren turned her attention to Hakeka. “That being said, we are a team and we should all treat each other with respect. Special attacks are more difficult for Tāraki than they are for you, and you shouldn’t put him down for something he can’t control. Understood?” Hakeka nodded. “Good.”

Hakeka left, and Tāraki lay down on the ground, looking tired and dejected.

“What’s the matter, Shima?”

“She said I wasn’t trying, but I do. It’s not just that I don’t like special moves. I can’t focus on them. It makes my head hurt. I just… can’t.”

Ren laid a hand gently on his back. “You know that’s okay, right?”

“But—”

“It makes things harder, but there’s nothing wrong with you, okay?”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. We all have different strengths and weaknesses. That’s normal. And we’re partners. I’m your trainer. I’m here to help you. If special moves are really that difficult for you, we’ll find a way to make them easier. And we’ll find a way for you to battle that plays to your strengths. You don’t have to be like everyone else to be strong and cool, because you already are.”

Tāraki launched himself at Ren and hugged her tightly, and she squeezed him back just as hard. He rubbed his head against her collarbone, and she laughed at the affection.

Then a wail sounded from nearby followed by voices and caws of distress. Everyone stopped.

“Peeko! Give her back! Please!”

A moment later an old man stumbled past the edge of the clearing and tripped. Ren ran to him and carefully helped him up.

“Are you okay, sir?” Kai fretted.

“What’s going on?” said Ren.

“My Peeko, my darling Wingull! He took her!”

“Who—”

“Which way did he go?” Ren asked urgently.

“He’ll head for the tunnel. Only good escape route.”

Ren turned to go, but Kai caught her arm. “Wait!”

“He stole something from Devon, a briefcase. That’s why Peeko and I were confronting him. I’ll go with you.”

“No. Please just sit down, sir. I’ll get your pokemon.”

“But Ren—”

“I have more pokemon, and someone should stay with him. I’ll be careful, I promise.”

Kai wrung his hands for a moment, face twisted up with nerves. “Okay,” he said finally.

“Be right back!”

She took off, and her team followed, while Kai and Jay guided the old man to a rock to sit down on.

“Thank ye, lass!” he called after her.

It didn’t take long for Ren to find the route again and the tunnel under the mountain that it led to. The larger car entrance was blocked off, but the footpath looked open, and the lights were on. Just as she reached it, a horrible cacophony of sound struck her, stopping her dead. Ren clamped her hands over her ears and stepped to the side to escape the blast range.

“Whismur,” Akahata growled, ears pinned to her head. “And Loudred,” she added as a deep throbbing bass hummed up through their feet. “Tons of them.”

“I’ve never heard an Uproar like this,” Panahi whined, head between her wings.

“Shit shit shit!” Ren yelled, barely audible. “We can take one guy but not a whole army of wilds.”

It was then Ren noticed that the Skitty had followed them. The sound from the tunnel grew louder again before tapering off, and he mewed.

“He says he might be able to calm them,” said Panahi. “Apparently he sings for them sometimes.”

“Please. You can name your price afterward.”

The Skitty nodded and puffed out his chest before stepping in front of the tunnel as another swell of sound bloomed out of it. He projected his voice in a way that defied all probability, one clear note cutting through the disorienting chaos until it split and softened. Then he began his lullaby.

Ren withdrew her team before they could be ensnared and covered her ears, following behind as the Skitty walked calmly forward into the underground. It wasn’t enough to block him out completely but it did keep her from getting too drowsy. The Whismur faded to almost nothing for a while, but then there was a yell and the glimmer of what might have been Water Gun ahead of them, and the Whismur voices swelled again.

Ren and the Skitty raced forward, and he sang as loud as he could until suddenly nothing came out. Ren looked and saw that his mouth was still open and his ribs still heaving, and she was baffled for a moment until she realized the Whismur must be canceling him.

The whole tunnel began to resonate, and Ren had to stop as the ground became unstable. Then the rock around them cracked like thunder, and the ceiling above them trembled and fractured. She sent out Akahana.

“Get the Skitty out of here!”

She looked Ren in the eyes for a moment, then grabbed the Skitty by his scruff and ran back towards the entrance. Ren sent out Tāraki, and they ran deeper in. The figure was just ahead of them now, struggling with a Wingull.

Stones began to fall all around them, most of them small but increasing in size as the rock groaned and crackled. As they closed on the thief, she realized he was the same gangly teen from the woods with his red hoodie and Brown Poochyena. The Wingull wrested her beak free as he stared at the shaking rocks all around him and blasted him in the face with Water Gun. Spluttering, he lost his grip, and the Wingull soared over their heads straight for the entrance. As Ren’s eyes followed, she noticed the ceiling buckling.

“Look out!” yelled Tāraki, and she withdrew him.

The teen had followed her gaze and fumbled for his own pokeball.

“MOVE!” Ren bellowed, charging towards him.

But he didn’t. Instead he just stared at the rocks about to crush him as his pokemon flowed safely back into her ball.

Ren tackled him, and they went skidding back across the floor. She landed on top of him, hands on his chest, face almost hitting his shoulder, as a cascade of rocks fell with a shaking rumble. They both remained still for a moment, eyes squeezed shut, waiting for it to be over.

Nothing hit them.

They cracked their eyes open, and she released her death grip on his hoodie. It was darker. The ceiling lights must have gone out—been destroyed—but the emergency lights along the floor were still working, casting everything in a soft, warm glow.

The thief looked up at her, eyes like saucers until something above her caught his attention. Before she could turn her head, He grabbed her around the shoulders with one arm and threw up the other. She flinched as a rock struck his arm just above her head and rolled off onto the floor with a thunk. It was larger than his fist.

“Ow,” he said, and his arm fell across her back. He let out a long breath, and his head lolled, but she could hear his heart thundering through his chest. Everything else was quiet. Then he finally seemed to register that Ren was on top of him, that he was holding her there, and he threw his arms off.

Ren glared down at him as she pushed herself up.

“I’m sorry!—I mean, thank you!—I mean—” he stammered and then covered his face to stop himself. “Oh, fuck.”

Ren stepped off, but stayed looming over him and scowled. “That’s more like it. Believe it or not, I didn’t come in here to save your pathetic ass from being crushed by rocks.” He sat up. “R-r-right. Yeah… B-but, um, th-thanks anyway.”

“You just stole an old man’s Wingull and nearly got us killed! I don’t want your fucking gratitude!”

He nodded sheepishly and got to his feet.

“Give me the Devon package!” she demanded, and her eyes bored angrily into him as he turned and picked the silver briefcase off the floor behind him, arms trembling.

Ren only glanced to make sure it looked right before snatching it from him. She glared at him as he wiped his face and patted the dust off his uniform. For a moment, Ren thought he split his lip, but she soon realized it was a scar, much like his nose had healed slightly crooked. He made to touch the back of his head, which must have hit the floor when they fell, but he stopped, sucking in breath, and clutched at his injured arm. He had rather intricate black tattoo sleeves that were difficult to make out against his brown skin in the dim of the emergency lights. The trembling was probably mostly adrenaline, but he was soaking wet, and his cropped hair was matted up with dust.

“Just go,” she told him.

He looked at her. “What?”

“I’m not gonna keep you here or drag you in. Just tell me your name, and you can go.”

“You’ll t-tell the p-p-police and get m-me arrested.”

“No I won’t. I have six pokemon with me to help haul you in if that was what I wanted.”

“B-b-b-b—” He couldn’t get it out and swallowed before trying again. “Why?”

“So I know what to call you.”

He opened his mouth, then closed it again, chewing over several different things while she waited. “It’s J-Josh,” he said finally, “Josh Takamoana.”

“Alright Josh, I hope we never see each other again but I have a feeling we will. You better hurry. All that noise is bound to draw some attention.”

He gave her one last lingering glance before turning and stumbling towards the other side. Ren watched him until he disappeared. Then something at her waist gave a tug. Red light sprang from one of her pokeballs and formed into Tāraki.

“Are you okay? You scared me!”

“Yeah. Sorry, Shima. I’m okay.”

He climbed up her and looked at the rubble all around them. She turned back to the way they had come. It was dim, and there were a lot of rocks to climb over, but she could see daylight beyond.

“What happened?” Tāraki asked as they started to pick their way through.

“I saved that guy from getting squished and got the Devon thing back but I let him go.”

“Why?”

“Just a feeling.”

And what feeling was that?

“Pity mostly. He was younger than me—still just a kid really—and already so beaten and desperate.”

Very sentimental.

“I didn’t feel right punishing him any more, especially not when he banged up his arm protecting me.”

And what else? What did you see?

“I don’t… Even then, when he saw that rock coming down, his first instinct was to shield my head and not his.”

You saw someone like you.

“I suppose I did.”

They stumbled out of the tunnel, and Ren’s eyes had barely adjusted to the light when something bumped into her and nearly knocked her off her feet.

“You’re okay!” Kai exclaimed and held her tight just to be sure “We heard the sound, and I was worried so we ran over, but then the tunnel collapsed, and I thought you were dead!”

She felt a trembling and squeezed him back. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”

“You’re shaking,” he said into her ear. He was right.

“Oh. It’s just the adrenaline. Don’t worry.”

Ren disentangled herself and saw the old man was standing there, cuddling with his Wingull. Akahata even wagged her tail a little when Ren looked down at her. The Skitty walked up and put a paw on her foot, mewing sweetly.

“He’s glad you’re okay. Also he’s been saying that he owes me for saving his life and wants to come with us so he can pay me back somehow.”

Ren’s smile turned to a frown. “I promised him but I don’t have a slot left. I’d have to leave one of you with Otōsan…” She sat down on the ground so she didn’t have to stand on her unsteady legs as she thought about it. “Kai, how would you feel about adding the Skitty to your team?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t mind. Jay?”

She nodded.

“We’re traveling together, so this way you’ll still get to see Akahana. Is that okay?” The explanation was satisfactory, and he happily went into Kai’s offered pokeball.

Kai sent him right back out, and he weaved through Kai’s legs and settled on Ren’s lap, purring loudly. His vibrations seemed to calm her own, and she pet his soft fur.

Then a Whismur hopped out of the cave and cautiously approached them. It was rather large and light gray in color with yellow markings. It called out to them with a surprisingly deep voice for its size and the Skitty answered.

“Uh, so the Whismur heard the Skitty try to stop the Uproar,” Kai said as they went back and forth, and Jay twittered a translation. “And he’s heard him sing before and always liked his voice. So he wanted to thank him. And now with the tunnel collapsed and everything else. He wants to know if I’d be willing to take him too.”

“Well are you?”

“Yeah. A Bass Whismur would be perfect.”

As he got out another ball, the old man approached with the Wingull on his shoulder.

“Thank ye so much, lass. Can I know your name?”

“It’s Kosugi,” she answered and offered her hand to shake.

“Oh, this is Captain Briney,” said Kai.

“You saved my dear Peeko. If there is ever anything we can do for you, please let us know. We have a good boat, so if you ever want to get to any of the isles, we’ll be happy to take ya.”

“That’s very kind of you. I’m sure I’ll take you up on it at some point.”

“Do,” he said with another firm shake.

Kai sent his new Whismur back out, which made Ren realize the rest of her team was still in their balls, and she released them.

They had barely finished the introductions and explanations when the Rustboro police arrived.

“I didn’t tell them about Josh's scar or his nose or his tattoos or anything else useful. I said it was too dark, and I didn’t actually catch him, that he dropped the briefcase in the panic. I couldn’t have told anyone why I did it at the time.”

But you understand now?

“Yes. I do.”

#ORAS #nuzlocke #storylocke #Ren #Kai #Josh #Taraki #Jay #Akahana #Iki #Panahi #Maia #Hakeka #Mele #Horu #Fang #Capt. Briney #Peeko #lgbtq #chapter

5 notes · View notes

seecarrun · 5 years

Text

Pokeshipping Week - Day 5

Maiden’s Peak revisited - Years after his first trip Maiden’s Peak, Ash returns with May and Max as they pass through while challenging the Battle Frontier. But strangely, it’s not the same as he remembers...

-Car

oOo

"Wow, Maiden's Peak is beautiful!"

"What a cool festival!"

Ash beamed, walking just a step behind May and Max as they took in the sights of the Summer's End Festival. "Didn't I tell ya? And the food is great too!"

"I can't wait!" May squealed, her eyes already scanning over the lines of food tents along the road.

Max rolled his eyes at his sister and grinned up at Ash. "I want to go see that shrine you were telling us about! It's too bad Brock didn't want to come with us, though."

"Yeeeah," Ash drawled with a chuckle. "He didn't exactly have the best experience here last time. I had a blast though! Misty and I got to check out all the cool shops, and we released lanterns into the sea to guide the spirits, and then we got to go the the party at the end to dance and listen to music!"

"Oh, I can't wait even one more second!" May cried in excitement, grabbing Max's hand and dragging him along behind her. "Let's go!"

"Wah, May! Slow down!"

Ash chuckled, letting Pikachu hop on his shoulder, and taking off after his friends to the festival.

oOo

The food was delicious, the games were fun, the lanterns were pretty, the shrine was still creepy (he was fairly certain he saw the rock wink at him at one point when May and Max weren't looking, but nothing too freaky happened this time, so that was good at least), and the music was catchy. All in all, it was a great evening, and the siblings seemed to be having a great time.

So why wasn't Ash?

Out of the dance floor, his younger companions were dancing along to the music, both looking dressed up in their traditional festival garb, as was he. It was all very reminiscent of the time he spent here a few years ago, but something felt...different? Lacking? He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it just wasn't the same.

"Ash, are you okay?" May asked, clearly noticing his quiet contemplation.

He smiled, waving off her concern. "Uh, yeah! Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"

She tilted her head. "I dunno, you just seem quiet."

Max nodded, joining the conversation. "Yeah, you've been kinda quiet all night, actually."

"I have?" Ash asked, scratching his cheek. "Huh. I didn't notice."

May narrowed her eyes, getting close to his face and scrutinizing him, much to Ash's chagrin. "Are you sick?" she asked. "You did eat a lot of those magikarp cakes."

"May," Max whispered, pulling at her shirt. "What if Ash got possessed by that gastly he was telling us about?!"

"Oh no!" she gasped, but Ash was quick to jump in and calm their fears.

"I'm not possessed!" he sighed heavily.

"That's exactly what someone who was possessed would say," May said with a glare. Ash rolled his eyes.

"Guys! I'm serious! I just-" he cut himself off, blushing slightly.

May and Max raised their eyebrows. "Just what?" Max asked.

He bit his lip. "I'm just... disappointed I guess."

May blinked. "Disappointed? You aren't having fun?"

"It's not that I'm not having fun," Ash said with a sigh, "It's just...not like I remember. I mean, everything is how I remember, but it's...different."

Max adjusted his glasses, scrunching together his eyebrows and eyeing Ash critically. "Well, what's different from last time?" he asked.

Ash shrugged. "Uh, well, nothing that I can think of. Everything has been pretty much the same as last time. I mean, except for the stuff with Gastly. But I definitely don't miss that."

Very slowly, a smile started forming on May's lips. "Well, there is one thing," she said knowingly. The boys turned to her in confusion. She smirked. "You were with Misty last time."

Ash's frown deepened. "What does she have to do with anything?"

"Yeah May, why would..." Max trailed off, suddenly understanding. "Ooooh," he said with a grin. "Now it makes sense."

Ash pouted. "What are you guys talking about?"

May beamed, her eyes twinkling in a way that Ash really didn't appreciate. "Isn't it obvious?" she asked. "You like Misty!"

Immediately, Ash's face turned bright red. "I do not!" he exclaimed, but May wasn't having it.

"You're blushing!" she squealed. "I can't believe I didn't notice it before! You're always talking about her and when you traveled together, and how good she is at training water pokemon. It makes sense you would have had more fun with her at the festival!" She clutched her hands together under her chin, tilting her head at him affectionately. "Aww, you should have told us, we could have invited her!"

"I don't like Misty!"

Max chuckled, shaking his head. "I dunno Ash, it sure sounds like you do."

"Well, I don't! So let it go, would ya?!"

May and Max shared a smirk, much to Ash's annoyance, but May cleared her throat and did her best impression of 'letting it go'. "Okay, okay, fine. Just one thing?"

Ash eyed her distrustfully. "What?"

"You'll invite me to the wedding right?"

"I don't like Misty!!"

Giggling, May grabbed her (also laughing) brother's hand and dragged him back out to the dance floor, leaving Ash to his pouting, blushing self.

May was crazy, he decided. Just because he had an amazing time hanging out with Misty at the festival, and really liked how she looked that night all dressed up, and okay yeah, maybe he did talk about her more than was entirely necessary, and thought about her and how she was doing at the gym every night before he went to sleep, but that... didn't...

Oh.

Oh no.

He liked Misty.

oOo

Read the Others: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7

#Pokeshipping Week #pokeshipping week 2018 #pokeshipping #Ash and Misty #pokemon #car's fanfiction

46 notes · View notes

themurphyzone · 5 years

Text

Absolutely Disastrous Ch 9

Ch 9: Bonding Over Brunch! The Man Who Stepped Out of the 70s!

It took another hour and a lot of twisting, turning, and five narrowly averted disastrous fates before they stumbled out of Petalburg Woods alive. In hindsight, taking directions from a businessman who almost tripped face-first into Cascoon evolution grounds hadn’t been the best idea.

The path led to a long bridge that appeared to be a popular fishing spot for both fishermen and novice trainers. A fisherman yanked up a Magikarp, and Melissa had to grab Zack’s arm to stop him from retreating into the forest.

Zack gulped, eyeing the bridge suspiciously. “There aren’t guard rails on that thing! What’s stopping a Magikarp from feasting on the bones of a helpless passerby?”

“Don’t worry, bones aren’t in a Magikarp diet!” Milo exclaimed. “In Hoenn, Carvanha is the only unevolved fish Pokémon with enough jaw strength to even break a bone.”

Zack made a strange noise in the back of his throat.

“You’re great at this reassurance business,” Melissa drawled.

Milo smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, I’ll leave the unnecessary horrifying details out next time.”

“We’re good,” Zack said. “I’m just gonna dip into my happy place for a moment and forget about the existence of fish Pokémon.”

“Can’t ignore them forever,” Melissa said. “Eastern Hoenn, remember?”

“Still a long way off. There’s plenty of time for me to procrastinate on confronting my fears.”

“Guys, I know you’re both a little cranky, but there’s nothing a little food won’t fix!” Milo pointed to a building labeled ‘Pretty Petal Flower Shop and Café’. A brilliant red flower framed the entrance, and several berry trees were lined up perfectly in a dirt field next to the pond.

“This isn’t over, Underwood,” Melissa growled. “I’m only dropping it cause food takes precedence.”

Zack crossed his arms. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Chase.”

A worker greeted them at the entrance. She gave them a dainty bow, her bright red hair bouncing with the motion. “Hello, welcome to Pretty Petal! My name’s Rita, and I’ll be helping you out today! We have a ton of great selections for traveling trainers, but first we ask that you either recall or release your Pokémon into the field. We also have outdoor seating if you need to keep a close eye on them.”

“I say field,” Melissa said. “Poochyena hasn’t really gotten acquainted with everyone else yet.”

“Field,” Milo agreed, knowing that Diogee would never willingly go into a Poké Ball.

“What they said,” Zack replied.

Rita beamed, leading them around the building and into a large enclosure. The gate was high and looked strong enough to withstand an entire herd of Lairon.

“Here we are!” Rita declared, sweeping her arm to a line of Pokémon bowls filled to the brim with kibble and berries. “Pokémon food is complimentary so they can chow down to their heart’s content!”

Diogee immediately dug into a bowl of sliced Pecha berries.

“Diogee!” Milo scolded. “Wait for your friends!”

Rita laughed. “Hungry little guy.”

Mudkip, Poochyena, Torchic, and Treecko were released, and they wasted no time in claiming a bowl for themselves.

“Okay, we’re going into the restaurant to eat, so behave yourselves,” Milo lectured. “We’ll come back for you in an hour or two.”

Only Treecko gave any indication that he heard Milo, since the others were too engrossed in an eating contest.

Rita playfully shooed them into the restaurant, gathering up menus as she passed by a podium. A large archway separated the café from the floral shop, though in terms of decorations the two areas were indistinguishable.

Milo noticed every customer in the restaurant had a glass filled with a colorful smoothie.

“Smoothies are a specialty here,” Rita explained when she caught him looking. “We raise the berries that go into them with a whole lotta TLC!”

She led them in a booth that had a huge metallic sunflower dangling precariously above their heads.

“Um, Rita?” Melissa said nervously, pointing up at the decoration. “Do you think we could be seated somewhere that doesn’t have an object with the potential to cause a concussion?”

Before Rita could respond, the ropes holding the sunflower snapped. The resulting crash drew everyone’s attention.

“Nothing to see here!” Melissa snapped at the curious onlookers. “Please return to your food!”

Several people quickly reseated themselves in tables without dangling objects.

“Sorry about that!” Rita quickly chirped. “Guess we got check that structural integrity, huh? How about over here?”

Zack moved a potentially breakable vase out of the way while Milo and Melissa settled in.

“Could you give us a few minutes?” Milo asked.

Rita put down the menus and hurried off to greet a family who’d just entered.

Melissa flipped to the smoothie section and pointed at one with a wicked smirk. “I dare somebody to try this one.”

Try our Super Spicy Kiss Your Taste Buds Goodbye Smoothie!

Blended with hand-picked Tamato, Cheri, Razz, and Figy Berries!

Special note: We at Pretty Petal Flower Shop and Café will not be held liable for burning eyes and lips. Read the menu yourself before complaining, okay?

“With our luck, I wouldn’t be surprised if it burned the flesh off our bones,” Zack said.

Melissa rolled her eyes. “What is with you and bones today?”

“He’s got a bone appetit,” Milo claimed. He earned a punch to the shoulder for that.

Zack shrugged. “Can you really blame a guy for wanting to keep their insides on the inside?”

Even with Melissa and Zack bickering over the subject of bones at the lunch table, they all managed to find something on the menu by the time Rita came back to take their orders.

“Sitrus Berries are more acidic than Oran,” Rita said helpfully to Zack, who was having trouble deciding on his smoothie. “The Tropical Punch smoothie is all the rage these days. Nanab and Pinap Berries pair really well together, and-oh, Dakota, it’s been a while! How’ve you been?”

Dakota grinned lazily, slipping his hands into the pockets of his red and yellow tracksuit which reminded Milo heavily of ketchup and mustard. “Eh, same old thing. Just realized I left my other tracksuit in our…my old apartment. Had some important stuff in that one.”

“Aw, that’s too bad,” Rita said sympathetically.

“Yeah,” Dakota agreed. “First time this week I had a chance to slip out from the rest of the team and this happens. These new trainers? Don’t think I’ve seen them around before.”

“This is our first time here. We really wanna try the smoothies,” Milo said.

Dakota nodded in approval. “Yeah, the smoothies are great. Especially the Tropical Punch one.”

“That’s what I ordered!” Milo exclaimed.

“You got good taste, kiddo,” Dakota said. Something buzzed in his pocket, and he ran his hand through his brown curls with a heavy sigh. “Sorry, I gotta take a call.”

“You wanna join us when you get back?” Zack offered.

Dakota agreed to the invitation rather quickly, then he headed to the bathroom to answer his cell phone.

“You kids are so nice,” Rita sighed. She lowered her voice so she could barely be heard above the bustle of the restaurant. “He went through a messy breakup recently. He and his partner were a bit of an odd couple, but they were so cute together. And lately he’s been working on a Pokémon habitat restoration project, but he’s been so distracted that he can’t focus on it. Just don’t tell him I told you all this, okay? Oh, and we already know what he likes to order so we’ll be fixing that up. I’ll go ahead and get these to the kitchen! Be back with your drinks soon!”

Once Rita left them alone, Melissa placed a finger on her lips. “Don’t mention the breakup to Dakota. We need to be sensitive.”

“Since when are you-“ Zack cut himself off when Melissa started cracking her knuckles. “Okay, sensitive! Got it!”

“He’s better than Sara,” Melissa said. “When Dr. Magnezone and Time Infernape broke off their partnership, she was sobbing on the floor with a gallon of double fudge ice cream.”

“Then she obsessively read angst fanfics for the next two weeks,” Milo added. “I think she was just making it harder on herself.”

Dakota came back in five minutes, and Rita dropped off their smoothies not long after that.

Milo, Melissa, and Zack glanced at each other awkwardly, waiting for someone to broach a topic of conversation. Dakota seemed oblivious to the atmosphere and sipped at his own smoothie.

Eventually, it was Milo who broke the silence. “Do you have any Pokémon?” he asked, figuring that talking about Pokémon was safe enough.

“Yeah, Sharpedo and Swalot. They’re good loyal partners,” Dakota said. There was a touch of bitterness in his tone though, one that made Milo wonder if inviting him to their table had been a good idea after all. “Huh. I can’t believe I forgot to ask your names. I would’ve been scolded for sure by-well, never mind.”

Milo pointed to each of his friends in turn. “I’m Milo, that’s Melissa, and the worrywart over there is Zack.”

Zack scowled. “I am not a worrywart.”

Melissa and Dakota snickered into their napkins.

“Melissa and I are childhood friends,” Milo continued. “We met Zack at the beginning of our journey. His dad was stuck in the middle of a lake cause this Patchy guy was releasing way too many Magikarp into the water, so we fought him off with Diogee and the Hoenn starters. It was so cool.”

“So you met Patchy then,” Dakota said casually. “Guy’s a real nutcase. He took initiation into the group way too seriously. Talking like a pirate was only required for the first three hours of membership.”

Melissa almost choked on her smoothie. “You know Patchy?”

Dakota shrugged, taking a bite of his sandwich as soon as Rita set his plate on the table. “I’m his boss. We banned him from taking part in karaoke night. Couldn’t carry a tune. And he always insists on sea shanties.”

“So…what’s your occupation?” Zack asked, sounding like he’d prefer not to hear their answer.

“Boss of Team Aqua,” Dakota said.

Everyone stared at him blankly.

“Okay, so you’ve never heard of us. S’cool. We’re just trying to revive the ancient Pokémon Kyogre and make it rain enough to provide new habitats for Pokémon. Nothing more to it than that,” Dakota continued to eat his sandwich as if he hadn’t said he’d planned on disrupting the delicate balance of nature. “And between you and me, water’s a ton cooler than magma.”

“Obviously,” Zack muttered.

“So, uh, good luck with that?” Milo said.

“Thanks,” Dakota grinned. His phone buzzed frantically this time. He checked the caller ID. “Sav again. Sorry she keeps interrupting like this.”

He headed for the bathroom.

“Does he look like someone who’s trying to revive a legendary?” Zack asked.

“No, he looks like a displaced time traveler from the ‘70s,” Melissa said. “If I were trying to revive Kyogre, I’d at least wear blue to match.”

“He has more of a warm color aesthetic, I think. Fall colors,” Milo added.

They finished their meal without Dakota, and Milo signaled Rita over for their check.

“Dakota said you’d offered to pay for his meal,” Rita smiled as Melissa studied the receipt closely. “That’s really sweet, you know.”

The receipt crinkled in Melissa’s hand. “Where is he right now?” she asked pleasantly, though there was a dangerous edge in her voice.

Milo hauled Zack away from the table and towards the side door that led to the outdoor enclosure.

“Oh, he left a few minutes ago.”

“HE DINED AND DASHED ON US?”

Rita tapped her chin in thought. “Ah, I remember now! His partner used to have these really loud arguments with him outside cause he always forgot his wallet! Dakota must have a lot of tracksuits if he can never remember which one he put his wallet in!”

She laughed, completely oblivious to Melissa’s irritated glare.

Melissa slammed a wad of Pokédollars onto the table and stomped past Milo and Zack.

“Dakota owes me for the sandwich and smoothie, plus taxes and interest.”

#milo murphy's law #absolutely disastrous #oras au #vinnie dakota #melissa chase #zack underwood

7 notes · View notes

itshaejinju · 7 years

Text

Unrequited Feelings | Attack on Titan Ficlet | Jean x Reader |

ANGST so much ANGST. Like yup. So beware.

“Hey!” You were day dreaming but all the sudden a cell phone was shoved into your face and a loud voice knocked you out of your day dreams.

All the sudden your (e/c) eyes focused on a picture that was sent by Eren Jeager via text message to your roommate's phone. Your eyes went wide as you took in the picture, it was from the recent game Pokemon Go. It was a horse one – Rapidash you knew the Pokemon-verse fairly well so you recognized the creature easily. But what you didn't notice at first was that Eren had changed the nickname of the Pokemon to Jean-Boy. It took a lot for you not to bust out with a laugh, biting your lower lip you glanced your large eyes up at him.

“It's not funny, (name)!” He shouted his face was red with anger, he was gripping the cell-phone tightly, quickly you pried the phone free from his grasp before he broke yet another phone screen.

Eren had the effect on Jean no matter where the guy was to piss him off to no ends. The phone buzzed in your hands you looked down reading the message from Eren.

“It's all over Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram oh and the school's site as well. Enjoy ~~” Read the text, Jean grabbed the phone from you and read it.

“FUCK HIM!”

“Calm down Jean. Just make one for him. I'm sure you can catch a magikarp somewhere nearby, it's the one of the most useless ones around. Label it Suicidal Idiot then send it to him.” You said giving him a broad smile, it was fun to pit them against each other sometimes.

“This phone can't play the game. . .” He said in defeat looking at the cheap prepaid phone.

“Use mine then. I play, just don't catch any more pidgeys.” You said handing your phone over to him, opening up the program.

“How do I play?” He asked as the screen loaded, servers up and running smoothly for once.

You spent the next five minutes giving him a run down on the game play showing him how to catch a random Meowth that entered into the apartment. He had a knack for catching the Pokemon with one toss of the Poke-ball, which was good you were low on poke-balls. You slacked on the poke-stop rounds for the last two days, being stuck inside with all the rain. There was some kids around the campus playing that wore special gear to keep themselves from getting drenched and waterproofing their phones and such. You weren't that big into the game.

“Where would I find that fish?” He asked, once Jean had it in his mind to do something he generally stuck with it to the end, though sometimes that could be bad.

“Well since it's been raining like no tomorrow any spot with a lot of water should do the ticket. So behind the apartments with that sloping parking lot that floods all the time, probably will catch a few.”

“You coming with me (name)?” He asked, slipping on a coat intense brown eyes staring at you.

“I trust you not to break my phone, Eren doesn't text me. I am tired.” You said shrugging your shoulders, waving at him to leave.

“Well did you find those poems and stuff for me?” He asked as he lit up a cigarette, opening the front door.

“Working on it.” You said softly as he closed the door.

In front of you at the desk was a pile of books, papers, sticky-notes and a laptop that was covered with otaku related stickers. You had been working on a project for Jean not a school project you couldn't fathom half of his engineering homework – though he couldn't fathom a inch of your biology work. This was something you minored in before you dropped the class – English so to him you were the closest thing to a professor he could con in for the price of a ice coffee from Starbucks.

You have known Jean Kirstein since high school along with Marco Bott and during college you met a bunch of the others in your strange gang at Kyojin University. You, Jean and Marco were like the Three Musketeers, inseparable all of high school. For your Junior year Eren Jeager and Mikasa Ackerman moved into the neighborhood and became school mates. Marco got along with everyone so new people was great for him, he showed them around the school grounds and all the tricks of the place. Jean and Eren butted heads the second them met – it was like they were fated to never get along. Perhaps they were a lot alike in many ways that they just clashed? You could never really understand it. The dynamic between them provided a lot of laughs for you though some heartache as Jean would come back to your hang out in your tree house looking bruised or bloodied from a physical fight. You would calmly clean up the wounds and chastise him for the fights while trying not to laugh over it as sometimes it was funny no matter how much it bothered you. It wasn't until science class you were given partners normally being the top student in that class you got to pick your partners and whatever you wanted. But for some reason Professor Zoe was in a bad mood and assigned partners on their own. You normally did odds and evens to pick between Marco and Jean for the assignment if it was for pairs. Though to be honest if it was really hard you picked Jean because he struggled greatly in science, you swear he cried during your first dissection.

But Professor Zoe picked the new girl as your partner, Mikasa Ackerman – that caused her step brother Eren to pout angrily as he expected to be paired with her. It was then you noticed that your friendship with Jean change, the look he gave Mikasa made your chest tighten up painfully. It was such a envious look and for some odd reason you couldn't pin on why it bothered you so. Did he want to be with you that bad for this assignment? That was your first foolish thought – a innocent teenager. The assignment was going to take several weeks, so about five minutes after class ended for the day you were attacked by Jean. He wanted to know everything and anything about Mikasa from the half an hour you spent with her going over science related stuff not life stuff. He pressed you all the way home, on the bus, the short walk down your road and glared at Marco who laughed as you glared at the ground before your feet. Jean wouldn't take, “we just talked about science! Go talk to her yourself!” for a good enough answer. He wanted to know more. It started to irk you – what was so awe inspiring about her? She was silent, covered most of herself up in a large scarf muttered her answers only when necessary making you do all the taking for the class.

It became bothersome as Jean wanted you to become best friends with her so he could learn more about her. He was infatuated with her it took Marco teasing him about it for you to really realize it. Jean smacked Marco playfully saying that she was a classy beauty and there was just something about her that struck him as wonderful. You slammed the door to your room loudly Jean slamming his face into the door as he was following you into your room to talk more about Mikasa. Locking your door and turning up the music you ignored Jean as he fought with the door and Marco who dragged him out of the house to their own respective homes.

Regardless to say Jean never made it with Mikasa due to her strange loyalty to Eren which made you wonder if she didn't actually have romantic feelings for him. Her cold personality made it sort of hard for you to be friends with her beyond the little togetherness you need to do your science project. It turned out that she and Eren made it to the same college as the three of you so Jean's pursuit of Mikasa continued. He was set that she never dated anyone so that meant he had a chance no matter what, even with some others saying that she might not like men. The thing is he always tried out his “get her to say yes” scenarios on you, Marco flat out right refused this when Jean had asked for his help saying that he would always say yes to him so it wouldn't be realistic. So you were the only other person Jean trusted enough for this most important project. So ever since his Senior year when he decided he needed help to get Mikasa to say yes you've been in silent torture.

Yes, you had feelings for him. With every scenario he brought up to test on you to see if it would work on Mikasa you felt yourself falling more in love with him than the time before. But he had only eyes for Mikasa. Mikasa, Mikasa, Mikasa. . .it was all you ever heard when he was thinking about love. There was a time when you banned the “M” word from conversations it made you a bit bitter but being Jean's best friend you did your best to mask it. Knowing that things couldn't be anything more than friends with him you decided as long as he was happy you would be happy.

Once you went to college Jean had hit a wall with Mikasa and cried to you one drunken night that he would never find anyone as wonderful as she. You felt like your heart was being stabbed so many times – you a female as well was being brushed off because you couldn't stand a light to wonderful Mikasa. You began to resent the female with all of your being. But your mask of being friendly with her to help your best friend try and date her remain steadfast. One would suspect you going to school to be a actress. You wished you could create a serum that would eliminate your feelings for Jean – well any feelings in general because then maybe things would be okay.

Your current project surrounded the fact that Armin told Jean that he saw Mikasa reading poetry the other day in the library. Of course the timid boy didn't say that willingly Jean scared it out of him when he mentioned that he had gone to pick up Mikasa from the library so they could go grocery shopping together. The egghead didn't think it through that saying the “M” word would make Jean become a blood hound for information. So Jean wanted you to find some loving poetry for him to learn and recite to her outside her bedroom window. You were a fan of poetry as well but more of the darker stuff like Edgar Allen Poe – not Shakespeare. So getting in the mindset for this was a bit harder and you didn't have the heart for it. In your hopes to clear your head of your feelings for Jean you asked Reiner out for a date and got rejected so fast it wasn't even funny. So you were feeling a lot bitter towards love right now. Your music play list was all angry and loud music that channeled your inner spirit of rage towards the problems of loves.

“You are death gripping that stress ball again. . .” Marco said, as he tugged gently on your (h/c) hair.

“Oh. . .Hey Marco – Jean's out hunting Pokemon.” You said absentmindedly, clicking open a few tabs on the computer screen attempting to work on your project.

“Yeah, he's chasing around some horse Pokemon.” Marco said fondly a smile playing on his lips as he peered over the computer screen. “Love poems?”

“Mikasa.” You said shortly, it was all Marco needed to know for him to understand you were on a Jean project.

“Love poems aren't your thing really. Aren't you ever going to say anything?” He asked, the midday's sunlight playing off his freckled face making him look more saintly.

“Tell him what?” You questioned, you had worked hard to keep all your loving emotions out of view from everybody even from the very perceptible Marco.

“That you are done playing his test subject – you've been doing this since Senior year of high school, (name). We have one more year of college left – so you are either more of a saint than I am or you are a masochist.”

“Well I am not a saint. . .” You mused under your breath as you clicked through a various pile of links on tumblr.

“Well we then know the answer.” He replied, placing a large hand on your narrow shoulders squeezing gently conveying a sense of understanding and warmth through them.

Had you been looking at Marco you would have noticed the look on his face though if you had he would have wiped that look clean of his beautiful freckled face and gone a deep shade of red and walked off. It was a pleased, happy look a calm at peace with everything look it often graced his face when he looked at you. It was hard for Marco to know when he actually developed feelings for you that went beyond friends, perhaps it was during prom when Jean and Eren ruined your seven layer cake. You rushed over to Marco in tears over the cake that the two ruined after having a dance-off contest ending them up falling off the stage and knocking over the cake that you labored hours over. It was a birthday cake for Sasha, she was in the hospital for her birthday and no one was able to celebrate it properly so you went out of your way to make the most wonderful cake for your food loving friend. The fact that you had gone out of your way to make this cake for someone touched him, how you got upset that Jean ruined the suit you had picked out for him to impress Mikasa with. That you spent extra time in making it look good on him, well it wasn't hard to make anything look good on him as clothes just seem to mold themselves on him. You often teased Jean he should be a model because of his looks. But Marco didn't want to ruin what the three of you had so he quelled his feelings for you just letting those smiles show when you weren't looking.

There was several others that found you attractive and endearing. You excelled in track during high school, played league soccer on the weekends during college and high marks on the majority of your schooling. Sure you weren't going to this semester's classes due to having not enough money to pay for it, your favorite game came out and a bunch of new movies came out and you had a PMS induced shopping spree. Then when it came time to sign up for next semester your bank account said, “fuck no” and you ate ramen. Then working like a slave at the grocery store as night shift manager – going to college to become a biologist and you work as a night shift manager at the local grocery store. Yeah that big degree came into help a lot there. Your parents believed in working during school and no help from them as character building, why weren't your parents like Jean's or Marco's? The both of them got supplement money all the time for school and stuff they were strong in character with the help!

“I caught it!” Jean shouted as he ran back into the house carrying your cell phone high above his head in a victorious look, a small smile graced your lips.

“Hand it here.” You said taking the phone noticing that the battery had dropped down by half, so much for being on battery saver mode.

Marco leaned over your left shoulder as Jean leaned over the right shoulder, watching you rename the magikarp to Suicidal Idiot. That nickname was given to Eren during high school due to him always being the first idiot to jump in for any test or assignment before listening to the rules and getting into trouble. You weren't sure where the nickname came from you just heard Eren bitch about it one day and then you heard it everywhere. Changing the name and then saving the picture you sent it to Jean in a text his phone buzzing in his pocket beside you. Checking your index you noticed he had caught a few other Pokemon for you, the journal saying he hit a few poke-stops as well. That was sweet of him to do that, he really didn't need to walk the extra while to do that for you.

“Okay thanks, (name). Now it's on tumblr, Facebook and the school's site.” Jean -brayed- laughed as he sent all the messages out.

“Uhuh.” You muttered as you printed out a few random files you found on tumblr, you were grabbing at straws.

Jean was pacing around the spare room that served as the study for the three of you and laughed at the remarks being made on the various social media platforms. Marco had left the room to get some coffee he had to get ready for work in a few hours working a night shift he needed to pep up a bit before hand, he wasn't a night owl like you.

“So you find anything yet?” Jean asked as he finished laughing at comments about magikarp-eren.

“Yeah a few things, look through them pick whatever out of them.” You said a little offhandedly your mask faltering a little as you wanted more than anything just to hide in your room for the rest of the day.

Jean didn't pick up on the small crack in your mask – he eagerly took the sheets and started to read through them. You sat back down at the desk grabbing at a comb and started to comb at your hair, slowly braiding parts of it. You would hear Jean mutter parts of poems under his breath as he read them over, he had such a strong reinforcing voice that could build you up or tear you right down.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” You heard Jean say, it snapped you out of your thoughts as he walked over to you.

'That's not a poem. . .' You thought as you knew exactly the whole entire psalm and it's meaning burned into your soul.

You weren't exactly religious but this psalm coming from Corinthians, was a favorite of your mother's and it somehow struck a chord with you and became very meaningful.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” Jean said in his passionate voice, staring into your (e/c) eyes a hand placed over his heart as he closed the distance between the two of you.

He was playing this out as if you were Mikasa, that familiar glazed over look his light brown eyes got, the coppery hair getting into his eyes giving him a dashing look engulfed your vision. His voice was meant to build up all the feeling of the psalm towards Mikasa and make her say yes. With every breath Jean took leaving teasing pauses in the speech, was a stab in your heart it was tearing you down to small little pieces. You felt like your being was being pushed through a rather violent wood chipper – then the remains through a paper shredder. Your (e/c) eyes stared at him wide eyed, this was the most meaningful set of words you've ever heard.

Stab – stab – stab. With every beat your stupid heart made the knife stabbed into your heart making you feel like you were going to pass out right there. You had paled then flushed to a deep red he had said that even more passionately than any other love stories, songs or pick up lines he has come across so far. Why? Why did it have to be this? Your breath caught up in your lungs not moving you started to feel a bit light headed why did this always feel like he was confessing to you every time? Damn your feelings!

Crack.

This was for her – not you. It hit you like a dead parrot right to the face your stomach tightened in pain as your brain filed away all the emotions and thoughts in their proper spot. It hurts, this isn't for me, he doesn't love me, he doesn't care what I think, he doesn't care that I want him to say that to me and mean it. It's for Mikasa. This is for my best friend to be happy. . .I just want him happy. All you could hear was you heart beating in your ears, everything around you started to become fuzzy – why was this painful?

“I guess this is a yes.” Jean said breaking the silence, not really picking up the flood of emotions running through your body.

You shoved yourself past Jean knocking him to the side some as you rushed to your room, taking your phone with you. You shocked yourself on how you managed not to tear up in his presence a few drops dropping down your cheek as you grabbed for your jacket and purse. Grabbing a mophi charger you plugged it in to your phone, taking the keys to your car you rushed out of the house.

“Hey (name) where are you going? What is wrong? I need your help here!” Jean called out to you rushing to the door.

“I gotta go.” Was all you could say, holding back a sob that want to jump from your throat at the shocked look he gave you as he noticed a few tears that went down your face.

“Good going, Jean.” Marco said as you roughly put your car in reverse leaving the parking lot heading out of the apartment complex.

“What happened?” Jean asked, running his hand through his coppery hair, completely confused.

“1 Corinthians 13:4-7? That's her most favorite saying ever, she has 'Love It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.' tattooed on her shoulder. Don't your remember when we all went with her to get it done?” Marco asked, he remembered it clearly you were nervous but you wanted to get the tattoo done in memorial to your mother after her loosing battle with cancer.

“I briefly remember it. . .” Jean said as his mind flashed to bits and pieces of your naked back being tattooed by a close friend of Eren's.

He had spent a lot of the time flirting with a female friend of Mikasa's in hope to make her jealous. It was fruitless and caused a lot of headache because the poor girl Christa thought he was into her seriously when he was just using her to get at Mikasa. (Name) hadn't talked to him much during that week long flirtation they had gotten into a fight she told him to never treat a woman like that. He was desperate! It took him forever to cover up the bruises he got from (name) and Christa's best friend Ymir, he didn't even receive one glance from Mikasa. Hell he would have taken a smack if it meant that he was breaking down at that wall of hers! So needless to say he was avoiding you some during your tattoo session despite you had temporarily forgiven him to join on this life goal of yours.

Pulling into the parking lot turning the music down as you got out of the car, had you noticed your phone you would have seen all the missed calls from Jean and Marco. But the phone was at the bottom of your purse with the volume on low from earlier when Jean was playing Pokemon. Entering the dark lit bar you went to the counter sitting on a stool, the place didn't have a lot of people in it at this time of day in about a hour it would pick up and be busy. Sasha worked as a line cook their and Bertl as a bartender, he originally signed on as a bouncer but his personality just didn't sit well as a bouncer.

“Hey (name), you okay?” Bertl asked as he walked up to you plucking a glass from the counter, “usual?”

“Uhuh.” You grunted as you spotted Connie joking with Sasha as he leaned over the counter staring at her as she was washing a few dishes.

“Jean?” Bertl asked, placing a double shot of whiskey for you.

“He's not coming. . .” You said automatically, not picking up that he was questioning you if your problem was due to Jean and not if he was going to show up for the night.

“Did he say something rude or do something boorish?” Bertl persisted, he was using his therapist training on you.

Bertl always admired how well you put up with Jean specially with his constant bickering with Eren and his desires for Mikasa.

“I really don't want to talk about it Bertl.” You said as Connie sidled up next to you a broad grin on his face.

“Hey (name) guess what?” Connie said excitedly you could smell the booze on his breath and the faint scent of cigarettes.

“What?” You said derisively, normally with Connie you would joke back at him like 'chicken butt', but you weren't feeling it.

He noticed that pausing for a second but he was in such a good mood that your bad mood wasn't going to affect him for too long.

“Sasha said she would go on a date with me! It's been like a year! I just gotta cook for her.” He said proudly, he had been wanting to date Sasha for a while now.

In fact he had the gall to ask you for help since you were just so wonderful in your help with Jean and Mikasa. You smirked told him some lame thing that you knew Sasha would fall for as long as good food was involved he would win. A lot asked for your opinion on love as you are a fairly approachable girl, some compared you to as Marco's twin.

“Wonderful.” You said downing the shot, letting the burning alcohol numb you some, signaling with your index finger to Bertl for another.

By the time Bertl had given you a total of eight shots of whiskey you started to feel the numbness you wanted. Lips started to feel numb, your vision blurred a little, hearing became a bit distorted, depth perception was off and your self control gone. Taking the cigarette from Connie's mouth you took a drag off it, glad that he smoked menthol – Jean and his love of non-menthol made it easier for you to quit since you only really smoked when drinking. But you did have requirements of the cigarette it needed menthol. Had you known that Jean had switched to non-menthol so you would quit it would have made you love him more than you already did.

“Hey easy on those, they aren't regular cigarettes.” Connie warned you as you took another log drag, letting out a large plume of smoke his way.

“Good.” You muttered, taking another drag, not really caring on whatever it was laced with.

A plate of nachos landed in front of you with a smiling look from Sasha who took a nacho off the plate, normally she would refrain from eating in front of customers but it was you. You were the coolest person she knew and adored you for your cooking talents. Honestly who would make a seven layer cake for a huge group of people for a late birthday?!

“On the house!” Sasha said cheerfully, ignoring your sour look and drunken aura.

You were hungry, and craved cheese when fully drunk she knew that weakness. You dug into the extra-cheesy nachos chugging the watered down whiskey. Finally feeling a little better your head not swimming so much as the nachos soaked up some of the booze in your system.

“I hate love.” You stated it caught the attention of your friends, you never really stated your feelings to that emotion either way before so this was odd.

That mask of yours involved never really talking about it the less you talked about your personal thoughts on it the better. Despite being asked about it often you talked about the general things on the subject nothing heartfelt. But the stabbing pain was bothering you too much not to say it, being drunk broke a lot of that mask allowing you to stupidly say what you thought.

“Hmm?” Connie murmured as he handed you another cigarette lighting one up for himself.

Taking a swig you felt the wave of fire burn through you as your body shook a little as the liquid went down your throat, numb again. 'It's better this way', you thought as you took another drag on the cigarette.

“What did Horse-face say this time?” Connie asked, leaning forward looking into your dazed eyes.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” You repeated the earlier phrase, slurred and sluggishly as your brain was in slow-motion as it was fighting against the alcohol.

“Oh that's sweet.” Sasha said, a happy smile on her face as she took another nacho.

“Wasn't that your quote in the yearbook? Love is patient, love is kind?” Bertl asked as he remembered thinking that your quote would be something sarcastic like Jean's.

“Yes it's sweet! It's perfect and he said it in that sexy voice and his eyes so intense. It felt like a fucking knife was being stabbed in my heart because it's all for Mikasa!” You shouted taking the last swig of the alcohol, clasping a hand to your aching head it was rivaling in pain with your heart.

“Oh.” Was the collective sound, the other shoe dropped they finally figured out your feelings towards Jean.

You noticed Bertl was texting someone looking rather upset, it irked you for some reason it was nothing wrong but for some reason it bothered you. Leaning over the counter you tipsily stared at the message.

'Please come and pick up (name) she's in a lot of pain.' It was to Marco and Jean as a group text.

“DON'T HIT SEND I AM FINE!” You shouted angrily knocking over the shot glass and bottle sending them to the floor as you tried for the phone in Bertl's grip.

Connie grabbed you as you almost toppled over head first on the other side of the counter, Sasha helped tip you back up right.

“Come here, drunkie.” Sasha said as she went around the counter to your side, wrapping a arm around you she brought you to the back room.

“Why does he love her so much? She has never – ever shown any signs of liking him in the least.” You said angrily allowing all the emotions to break through.

“Hey your phone is ringing off the hook.” Connie said as he brought your purse to the back room, handing it over to you.

It was barely audible but you could hear the ring tone belong to Jean, Uptown Funk. You really wanted to throw your phone at the wall then again you wanted to hold the phone close to your heart pressing the comical picture of Jean close to you. This freaking hurt! Taking a deep breath running fingers through your semi braided hair, you slid the bar open to answer the phone.

“(Name) you really shouldn't. . .” Sasha gently warned knowing this wouldn't be good.

“Hey Jean.” You said stiffly, pressing the phone tightly against your ear wishing he was standing beside you instead of wherever he was, probably standing at the steps of Mikasa's driveway doing his normal prep call.

“Stay where you are I'm coming for you.” He said, softly knowing that your head was hurting because of how bad you slurred his name despite feeling like you said it clearly.

“I'm fine just go to Mikasa – that – that will work. Just be happy okay?” You said weakly sounding bitter and tired.

“No you need me.” He said firmly, your heart stopped in your chest as he said that.

“No. . .”

“(Name) listen to me, just stay put don't even walk anywhere okay? Play Pokemon or show off that picture of Pokemon-eren.”

“Please. . .just go to her.” You cried, the phone line went dead as he hung up focusing on driving.

“It's okay, here have a glass of water.” Sasha said calmly, she was use to dealing with drunks at the bar but it did hurt to see her best friend in tears like this.

“Why does he have to be like this? So charming and wonderful but then direct it all at her? I just wish he would see me. But I guess I'm not aloof enough or should I dye my hair? He talks about her hair often. . .perhaps I should dye it black.” You said grabbing at your hair pulling on it roughly, hating it's existence.

“Your hair is perfectly fine! And stay the lovable teddy bear you are, the world needs more people like you!” Sasha encouraged you wrapping a arm around you hugging you tightly.

“Jean is just a idiot.” Connie said from the entry way.

“He's smart. . .” You slurred defensively.

“He's a idiot that he can't see that you love him dearly that you put your own happiness away for his happiness. How long has he been such a idiot for the Ice Queen? Like four years?” Connie said looked at your crying form, anger bubbling up in him.

“You two are cute together.” Bertl said as he entered in the back room, he handing you a few napkins to dry your eyes on.

“Yeah a horse and her trainer.” Sasha laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

“Haha, did you see the picture Eren posted?” Connie asked as he plucked out his phone.

“I did. . .we posted the fish one about Eren.” You remarked taking a sip of the water finally, allowing the cool water ease your pained head.

Nothing could heal your breaking heart.

He would never see reason.

“(Name)!” Hearing your name shouted out loud interrupting the casual silence in the bar as Jean busted through the place.

Connie and Bertl made room for the well built male to get into the back room of the bar to see you. His light brown eyes went wide as he saw you sitting next to Sasha, the cold cup of water pressed against your aching head, eyes red with tears. Marco came in behind him, his brown eyes equally wide in shock at your appearance. Jean knelt down in front of you placing his hands on your knees gripping them tight as he stared at you, the look of shock felt like a stab to the heart.

“Go.” You muttered.

“No.” He answered.

“Hey let's move on out of here, okay?” Marco said reading the temperature of the room, guiding the others out of the place.

Sasha closed the door behind her as she gave you a soft smile.

The two of you sat there in silence for a few moments, he was trying to figure out what was going on while you were just ignoring him. Dabbing at your eyes, smearing eye shadow and mascara some it didn't matter why did you wear makeup anyway, he never complimented it. Sure you wore the makeup for your own enjoyment but you did also wear to impress Jean with your long lashes, big (e/c) eyes, nice full red lips and nice clear skin tone. But he never said a thing about it, sure a lot of others did but you wanted to know how it would feel if he said something. Sure it felt nice when Marco said the eye shadow was a nice shade but how much better would it feel coming from the person you love? So now that your makeup was a mess and your hair looked rough, it would be the time he would remark on it to say you look like crap. You felt his head rest on your lap, looking down at him he was looking up at you a handsome look playing on his face.

“You are a horse.” You muttered, sourly trying to be mean.

“I know. I secretly eat hay and oats, I like to gallop when I chase Pokemon.” He joked smiling up at you, reaching a hand up brushing away a few tear drops.

“I should correct that – you are a ass.” You tried again to sound rude, aloof like Mikasa.

It sounded weak, sad, miserable – lost.

“But I'm your ass.” He countered.

“I wish.” You said bitterly, eyes going wide as you said that - that was like a practical confession.

“So is it true what Bertl said?” He asked after a few minutes of silence watching the strangled expression on your face.

“Depends what did he say?” You replied, shaking a little would you have to go to jail for killing the gentle giant?

“You love me.”

Jail time. . .by Bertl.

“I want you to be happy – that will make me. . .h-h – fine.” You choked out, as he placed a hand back to your face caressing your cheek gently.

“No I want you happy too.” He said locking eyes with you.

“But what I really what I can't have. . .so I will just settle. Perhaps I will get over you and fall in love with someone who would actually love a idiot like me. A pathetic loser.” You said stabbing at yourself, hating yourself for stepping all over your self confidence.

“(Name) you are not a idiot and you are not a pathetic loser. You are a wonderful, magnificent, sexy woman.” He said as he sat up, sitting down next to you wrapping a arm around you gently.

“It hurts.”

“What hurts?” He asked stupidly, thinking you had harmed yourself some how as he thought he hugged fairly gently.

“When you touch me, when you talk to me, when you spout those love things to me thinking of Mikasa looking at me as if I was her. It hurts me, Jean. It feels like I am being stabbed, I can't do it anymore. I can't live with you anymore I can't help you with her anymore.” You said decisively, you had to break away from this toxic feeling.

“No, please don't go, (Name) I can't go on without you.”

“You will have to.”

“No, you don't understand.”

“I do perfectly well, all the time I did understand I just didn't want to accept it I wanted to be your friend until the end. But I can't keep on doing this Jean. I love you.”

All the sudden your blurred vision was blocked all you could see was bright brown eyes staring at you intensely, they burned into your soul. You wanted to cry more. A hand snaked behind your head pulling you forward warm, smooth slightly damp lips pressed against yours kissing you passionately.

“Perhaps I love you too.” Jean whispered as he broke away from the kiss staring into your eyes.

“Perhaps?”

“Maybe I've been blind to it all these years because I go so stubborn on that bone I'll never get.” He said brushing a few of your tears away, leaning into you a little. “Maybe some of those times I read those poems, stories, sung those songs I was doing them for you.”

“But Mikasa. . .”

“(Name) I have been stupid for too long. Can we try this? I can't stand the thought of loosing someone who has been part of my life since I practically form coherent sentences in front of the opposite sex. Someone that gets my humor who doesn't freak out when I argue with Eren but enjoys my humor and my odd personality. Someone who has a wonderful smile like yours.”

“I don't have pretty black hair. . .”

“So? I have two-toned hair!” He said playfully tugging on his hair.

“I like your hair.” You said gently running your fingers through the coarse hair, admiring the color.

He leaned closer again kissing you briefly, nipping on your lower lip wrapping his arms around you pulling you close.

“Jean.” You whispered against his kiss.

“(Name) – I love you.” He said deepening the kiss, your heart started to beat like mad as he slipped his tongue inside your mouth.

Moving your right hand through his hair pulling on it a little caused him to kiss you harder and wrap his arms around you tighter. After a few moments the need for air beckoned for the both of you to break free, resting foreheads against each other staring longingly at each other.

“Jean I love you – I want to try this with you.”

“Good I'm happy. Let's go home okay? I'm sure you want to sober up at home where I can attend to your needs.”

“Can we hit up the gas station by the apartment? It's a poke-stop. . .” You said a soft smile playing on your lips as he helped you to your feet, a arm firm against your waist.

“Okay, Marco is driving though, I want to sit in the back with you.” He said kissing the side of your face, placing your purse in your hands.

“Well – I guess I'm the third wheel.” Marco said as his heart dropped, noticing how the two of you were holding each other as you exited the back room.

'At least she's happy – he's happy – so I'm happy.' Marco thought as he put up another layer of the mask, putting on a saintly smile paying the tab for (Name).

#snk #fanfiction #snk fanfiction #attack on titan #attack on titan fanfiction #jean kirschstein x reader #jean kirschstein #fanfic #angst #so much angst #aot #aot fanfiction

22 notes · View notes

kalosstarters · 7 years

Text

Valentine’s day drabble 2

Happy (already belated) friends’ day to @bleubudgie whose idea the pun cards were ♥

In which Mairin and Ash are doing some Valentine’s day card shopping (Mairin is 14, Ash and Misty 16ish, Alain 19. These events happen during Mairin’s Kanto quest. Still (sorta) platonic Marisson, but Mairin has a major crush and Alain isn’t totally oblivious anymore either. Minor pokeshipping too)

”Ash, is there a place where I can buy post cards nearby?” Mairin asked her friend with whom she was traveling through the Kanto region. A few months earlier Mairin had decided that exploring Kanto and its Pokémon would be just what she needed to become a stronger trainer. Since Ash, who had recently returned from Alola, was still trying to figure out what to do next, he and Mairin had decided they could travel together for a bit, because she didn’t know the region at all. Now they were near Celadon City, where Mairin would challenge the gym leader Erika soon. She was excited about it, knowing Erika was also a grass type specialist, but at the moment the girl seemed to have something other than the gym battle in her mind.

“Yes, there is a huge Pokémart in Celadon City, Kanto’s biggest! I think they sell everything.” Ash replied to Mairin’s question.

“Great! You see, Valentine’s Day is coming…” she blushed a bit, thinking of a specific person in her mind when mentioning the Valentine’s Day.

“What is that?” Ash asked, not completely familiar with the silly traditions of the Kalosians.

“Oh, you don’t know? Well, it’s the day when you let your loved ones know they are important to you… And I was thinking of sending a card to someone…”

“Alain? Isn’t he important to you?” Ash asked innocently, not understanding the deeper meaning of her words.

“Ye-yeah, he is…” Mairin stuttered, although in her mind she thought that her and Ash’s “important” meant probably very different things. Even though she wasn’t the most observant girl, she had noticed Ash was sometimes very clueless when it came to love. That’s why she had also decided to push Ash on the right track when it came to the girls of his life. Mairin was friends with Serena, who had a major crush on Ash, but she knew there was something more going on between Ash and his old traveling companion Misty, and she did her best to make them see it.

Soon the two trainers found the Pokémart, and Mairin noticed they had an entire section dedicated to Valentine’s Day cards on the card shell. Apparently some people did celebrate it in Kanto too, despite Ash not knowing about it, Mairin thought. She was amused by the texts in the cards:

You and I make a great Doduo.

How are you so Exeggcute?

There’s something Magikarp between us.

You are Absol-utely perfect for me.

You belong to Mew.

You make me so Happiny.

You light up my life like an Arcanine.

You are the most Beautifly person I know.

I hope Unown I love you.

I will melt your Steelix heart.

I just Swanna Smoochum you.

Mairin didn’t think any of them were very suitable for this specific occasion, but she did buy one with a Luvdisc on it just in case she got some use for it one day. She also made Ash buy a card for Misty (“You are my Starmie”), explaining that it was a nice gesture. When he tried picking cards for his other friends, Mairin stopped him: “Non non! You can’t buy these cards to them, they wouldn’t understand!”

Even though Mairin hadn’t found a card for Alain, the cards in the mart had given her an idea, so she got some card materials from a smaller shop. Then she asked Ash if they could stop at a PokéCenter so she could do some drafting, and Ash allowed it. She started drawing symbols on a white cardboard, and when all 18 of them were ready, Ash started asking:

“Are they…”

“… The symbols that represent all 18 Pokémon types? Yes,” the red headed trainer answered before he could finish his question. Mairin had also drawn herself with her grass type Pokémon and a huge grass type symbol in the middle of the card, and there was also some text on it, but when Ash tried reading it, she covered it with her hand.

The card was posted, and Mairin forgot about it until she got a surprise phone call from a certain Pokémon doctor student on the 14th February.

“Mairin? What the Mew do you mean with “you are my type”? Professor Sycamore brought the card in my class* because apparently he had wanted to see my reaction, and now everyone thinks I have a girlfriend.”

Mairin had not expected that kind of reaction, and her lower lip shook a bit when she answered: “I… just… You see… On the very first day when I met you... I told you I want to get to know you better because you were the ideal type… to teach me about mega evolution… And I still want to be your friend as much as I did then… that’s all.”

“Oh,” was all Alain could say. “You still remember that?”

Of course I do, Mairin answered in her mind, but instead of saying it she just nodded quietly.

Alain noticed he had accidentally made her upset, so he called Charizard out of her Pokéball, and said: “Look who wanted to tell you happy Valentine’s day!”

A smile returned on Mairin’s face when she saw the familiar fire type lizard pushing her face on the screen. Mairin released Chespie from his Pokéball and soon the two Pokémon friends seemed to have a conversation of their own. Alain turned back towards Mairin, and said:

“Look at them. They are a fire and a grass type, one super effective against the other, but still they get along so well.

“Right.”

“I guess what I’m trying to say is that you don’t have to be “someone’s type” so they can like you. Do you get what I mean?”

“I guess so,” Mairin answered, even though she was a bit confused. What did he actually mean? Did he mean he liked her? In what way?

“It was still nice of you to send that card. But did I hear you made Ash send one to Misty too?”

“Oui, you did! You can’t believe what happened then…” she started to tell him the story of how Misty had received her card and told Ash he “wasn’t too bad”, after all, but her face had told Mairin that she was really happy about it. The phone call ended with both of them laughing, and Alain made sure to wish Mairin happy Valentine’s day before he hung up. Even though it didn’t have to mean anything, Mairin’s eyes shone happily a long while after the screen had turned dark.

A/N: in case you were wondering what exactly Mairin bought, this might give you some idea (tho it definitely looked better than this)

*Sycamore works occasionally in the same building where Alain studies

#marissonshipping #bleubudgie #mairin #alain #my fics #marisson valentine

19 notes · View notes

itsareactiontosmut · 7 years

Text

Attack on Titan - Jean x Reader angst drabble

Warnings: Drug, alcohol and language usage! A/N: It's set in college, it's popular for the AU's kinda like them. Though.....you are not currently taking a class as you couldn't afford to go this semester so you are just working to be able to afford the next semester of school. You live with a horse-boy. . .I'm new to AoT so if people are out of character it's just because I'm new to them, I do try my best to make people in character for the story realm they are in. :D

“Hey!” You were day dreaming but all the sudden a cell phone was shoved into your face and a loud voice knocked you out of your day dreams.

“It's not funny, (name)!” He shouted his face was red with anger, he was gripping the cell-phone tightly, quickly you pried the phone free from his grasp before he broke yet another phone screen.

Eren had the effect on Jean no matter where the guy was to piss him off to no ends. The phone buzzed in your hands you looked down reading the message from Eren.

“It's all over Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram oh and the school's site as well. Enjoy ~~” Read the text, Jean grabbed the phone from you and read it.

“FUCK HIM!”

“This phone can't play the game. . .” He said in defeat looking at the cheap prepaid phone.

“Use mine then. I play, just don't catch any more pidgeys.” You said handing your phone over to him, opening up the program.

“How do I play?” He asked as the screen loaded, servers up and running smoothly for once.

“Where would I find that fish?” He asked, once Jean had it in his mind to do something he generally stuck with it to the end, though sometimes that could be bad.

“You coming with me (name)?” He asked, slipping on a coat intense brown eyes staring at you.

“I trust you not to break my phone, Eren doesn't text me. I am tired.” You said shrugging your shoulders, waving at him to leave.

“Well did you find those poems and stuff for me?” He asked as he lit up a cigarette, opening the front door.

“Working on it.” You said softly as he closed the door. In front of you at the desk was a pile of books, papers, sticky-notes and a laptop that was covered with otaku related stickers.

You had been working on a project for Jean not a school project you couldn't fathom half of his engineering homework – though he couldn't fathom a inch of your biology work. This was something you minored in before you dropped the class – English so to him you were the closest thing to a professor he could con in for the price of a ice coffee from Starbucks. You have known Jean Kirstein since high school along with Marco Bott and during college you met a bunch of the others in your strange gang at Kyojin University.

You, Jean and Marco were like the Three Musketeers, inseparable all of high school. For your Junior year Eren Jeager and Mikasa Ackerman moved into the neighborhood and became school mates. Marco got along with everyone so new people was great for him, he showed them around the school grounds and all the tricks of the place. Jean and Eren butted heads the second them met – it was like they were fated to never get along. Perhaps they were a lot alike in many ways that they just clashed? You could never really understand it. The dynamic between them provided a lot of laughs for you though some heartache as Jean would come back to your hang out in your tree house looking bruised or bloodied from a physical fight. You would calmly clean up the wounds and chastise him for the fights while trying not to laugh over it as sometimes it was funny no matter how much it bothered you.

It wasn't until science class you were given partners normally being the top student in that class you got to pick your partners and whatever you wanted. But for some reason Professor Zoe was in a bad mood and assigned partners on their own. You normally did odds and evens to pick between Marco and Jean for the assignment if it was for pairs. Though to be honest if it was really hard you picked Jean because he struggled greatly in science, you swear he cried during your first dissection. But Professor Zoe picked the new girl as your partner, Mikasa Ackerman – that caused her step brother Eren to pout angrily as he expected to be paired with her. It was then you noticed that your friendship with Jean change, the look he gave Mikasa made your chest tighten up painfully. It was such a envious look and for some odd reason you couldn't pin on why it bothered you so. Did he want to be with you that bad for this assignment? That was your first foolish thought – a innocent teenager. The assignment was going to take several weeks, so about five minutes after class ended for the day you were attacked by Jean.

He wanted to know everything and anything about Mikasa from the half an hour you spent with her going over science related stuff not life stuff. He pressed you all the way home, on the bus, the short walk down your road and glared at Marco who laughed as you glared at the ground before your feet. Jean wouldn't take, “we just talked about science! Go talk to her yourself!” for a good enough answer. He wanted to know more. It started to irk you – what was so awe inspiring about her? She was silent, covered most of herself up in a large scarf muttered her answers only when necessary making you do all the taking for the class. It became bothersome as Jean wanted you to become best friends with her so he could learn more about her. He was infatuated with her it took Marco teasing him about it for you to really realize it. Jean smacked Marco playfully saying that she was a classy beauty and there was just something about her that struck him as wonderful.

You slammed the door to your room loudly Jean slamming his face into the door as he was following you into your room to talk more about Mikasa. Locking your door and turning up the music you ignored Jean as he fought with the door and Marco who dragged him out of the house to their own respective homes. Regardless to say Jean never made it with Mikasa due to her strange loyalty to Eren which made you wonder if she didn't actually have romantic feelings for him. Her cold personality made it sort of hard for you to be friends with her beyond the little togetherness you need to do your science project. It turned out that she and Eren made it to the same college as the three of you so Jean's pursuit of Mikasa continued. He was set that she never dated anyone so that meant he had a chance no matter what, even with some others saying that she might not like men. The thing is he always tried out his “get her to say yes” scenarios on you, Marco flat out right refused this when Jean had asked for his help saying that he would always say yes to him so it wouldn't be realistic. So you were the only other person Jean trusted enough for this most important project.

So ever since his Senior year when he decided he needed help to get Mikasa to say yes you've been in silent torture. Yes, you had feelings for him. With every scenario he brought up to test on you to see if it would work on Mikasa you felt yourself falling more in love with him than the time before. But he had only eyes for Mikasa. Mikasa, Mikasa, Mikasa. . .it was all you ever heard when he was thinking about love. There was a time when you banned the “M” word from conversations it made you a bit bitter but being Jean's best friend you did your best to mask it. Knowing that things couldn't be anything more than friends with him you decided as long as he was happy you would be happy.

In your hopes to clear your head of your feelings for Jean you asked Reiner out for a date and got rejected so fast it wasn't even funny. So you were feeling a lot bitter towards love right now. Your music play list was all angry and loud music that channeled your inner spirit of rage towards the problems of loves.