A/N: This story is the sister-fic to SPINNING (Lance/Lyra, already completed) and COUNTDOWN (the sequel to both SPINNING and this fanfic, which will be uploaded in the future)! You don't need to read SPINNING or COUNTDOWN because this fanfic is standalone, but reading the others will definitely give you a better understanding of the world and the relationship dynamics between all of the characters. Credits will be posted on the final chapter.
I believe there is only one other Morty/Clair fanfic on FF dot net called "Dragon's Dance" (I think?), but sadly I don't remember the plot or anything about it. I can't find it anymore, either. But still, I think "Hopeshipping" is a beautiful name for a pairing. And as such, I was challenged to make this story live up to the name. Does somebody out there know why Morty/Clair is known as Hopeshipping? What's the origin for it?
P.S. I don't really support Lance/Lyra or Morty/Clair, or any romantic pairing in general in the Pokemon fandom. I just think it would be really interesting to see how these two ships play out. Especially Morty/Clair. A shame that they have zero interaction in the games.
SERENDIPITOUS - The first day
Marriage is a lifetime agreement, a contract, between two parties in order to gain mutual benefit from each other.
It was a necessary sacrifice to make in order to get ahead in the race to become the next clan leader.
This was what Clair believed, so when her grandfather approached her one day out of the blue with a marriage candidate in mind, the gym leader accepted it without complaint. If her own grandfather was suggesting this then going through with it was the best way to win his favor and secure the headship.
"You are free to reject me, Clair."
"What?"
Clair blinked her way out of her thoughts and back to reality. She stared at Morty, who sat across the table from her, not really sure she heard him correctly. The blonde had set aside his menu to give Clair his undivided attention.
"I understand that your grandfather conspired with my mother on this. While this arrangement is indeed beneficial for both of our clans, we have an age difference of nine years. And on top of your gym leader and clan duties, you are currently overseeing the underground shrine restoration project at the Dragon's Den, right? You must not be thinking about marriage right now."
"Don't mock me," Clair spat, annoyed, causing Morty to flinch slightly. "I'm not so inefficient that I can't juggle multiple tasks at once."
"I never meant it that way," Morty said quickly in an attempt to keep damages to a minimum. "Marriage means you and I will be together for the rest of our lives... perhaps it would be best if we both had time to think about it carefully."
"I don't care about that. And aren't you just trying to get out of it because you don't want to be distracted from your precious projects?" Clair lashed out.
A strained silence ensued.
Luckily, the other patrons at the high-end restaurant were polite enough to not pay the odd couple any attention, but it was still so very awkward.
Morty cleared his throat. "...Shall we start again from the beginning?"
"The beginning? You mean, when we first introduced ourselves to each other? 'Good evening Morty, it's so nice to be able to finally meet you like this. It's a nice night out, isn't it? I appreciate you reserving a private table next to the windows so we could enjoy the view'? Just what would that accomplish?"
His eyebrows quirked with humor, but his tone remained solemn. "I don't want you to feel that you are obligated to go through with the arrangement, that's all."
Clair did in fact feel obligated. It was her duty to see this through for the betterment of the Blackthorn dragon clan, and it puzzled her that Morty - a well-respected member of his clan, a clan that was as old as hers - did not feel the same way. But he was being rather serious about this, and she felt that he wouldn't let the issue go without proper reassurance of some kind, so she decided to tell him the other, less important reason why she had accepted the engagement instead.
"When my grandfather first approached me with your resume, I was intrigued. Your family has had long ties with many legendary pokemon, and I respect the work you've done to uphold the Ecruteak traditions. I thought an alliance between our clans would be interesting, and I don't have anyone in particular that I'm seeing at the moment, so I accepted."
"You can be really blunt," Morty commented. His smile was both exasperated and amused.
For some reason, his smile made her pause for a split second. "...What about you? Why did you accept this engagement?" Clair asked, mentally shrugging off the unidentifiable feeling. "Surely you've had your pick of women in your thirty years."
"Ahaha, no... ever since I was twelve I focused solely on my studies and training both myself and my pokemon, and after that I was maintaining my gym and seeing to all of my other responsibilities. I was never popular with girls," he said shyly.
Not popular with girls?
Clair took a closer look at his delicate and princely facial features, his stylishly tousled blonde hair and his dark violet eyes and decided that while girls would have been drawn to him for his refreshing good looks, they were all probably turned off by how stiff he is.
"So, you're really okay with this, Clair? You're perfectly fine with marrying me, even though you don't know me that well?" Morty asked for the third time that night.
"Yes, I am," Clair responded coolly.
"Alright then." Morty nodded, accepting her firm decision. "How does a twenty-day trial period sound to you?"
"A trial-period?"
"To see how we'll fare as a couple. So starting today, and each day afterwards, we try to do something that the average couple does. And if one of us gets sick of it we can stop. What do you think?"
...What was the point of doing this when they were getting bound together in holy matrimony because it was mutually beneficial for their clans? If loyalty was the problem, Clair had long ago decided that she would be faithful to whomever she married, and she instinctively felt that Morty would do the same.
Her grandfather and Morty's mother had already decided on their betrothal so why did he care? Why waste precious time?
He obviously still wanted to give her a chance to back out of the engagement, prolonging the inevitable as much as he was allowed. Clair thought that he really needed to work on his subtlety, athough she could give him props for being consistently kind and considerate to her about everything despite her slight hostility.
"...I'm fine with it," she told him.
Morty smiled at her again, and that strange feeling deep within her gurgled once more.
Dinner was more pleasant than Clair expected. They did not have much trouble finding common topics of interests, so there wasn't a single awkward silence. Once in a while, Morty would ask her light questions regarding her work as a gym leader. He seemed to be really interested in the Blackthorn city's long history with dragon-taming... so she invited him to visit the city whenever he wished. In return, Morty also suggested that she stop by Ecruteak to see his current charity project.
Meanwhile, Clair couldn't help but wonder what Morty was planning to do to court her for the next nineteen days. They were both equally tied up with their responsibilities - how were they even going to find the time for the trial period, much less find the time to schedule to meet up? Sure, they had already invited each other to stop by each others' respective cities but what else was there? Did they really need to meet for twenty days in a row? Perhaps they should address this...
"Oh, I've been wondering about this for awhile now, but the pasta that you ordered - is it good?" Morty asked curiously, peering over the decorative flowers in the center of the table at Clair's own plate. "If I'm not mistaken that's the restaurant's original Mahogany town recipe that I keep hearing about from Pryce."
"Why didn't you order that, then?" Clair asked, popping an olive into her mouth with her fork.
"I wasn't sure it were really the same dish until I saw it."
She shook her head. "You should take the initiative more often, Morty." She wasn't just referring to food - she was also referring to all of the things he did in general. She admired how meticulously he approached his passions, but she was also a bit aggravated with how placid and somewhat slow he could be. At the monthly gym leader conferences, he was always acting as a mediator and always ending up with the short end of the stick when it was over. Shouldn't a ghost-type pokemon trainer be skilled at adapting to the situation?
"I suppose I should," he conceded with a self-depreciating chuckle. "I just can't help being cautious."
Clair chewed thoughtfully for a moment before spearing the penne with her fork and lifting it out towards the male.
"Here."
Morty's gazed at the outstretched food, then at Clair's face, and then back to the food with confusion.
"Um...?"
"This way, you'll be 100 percent sure whether or not you'll order the pasta the next time you come to this restaurant," she explained. "I don't mind."
Seconds passed, and the longer Clair held that position the more impatient she felt. Sensing this, Morty gave one last look at her face before leaning forward, carefully capturing the penne on the fork with his mouth. Clair felt him tug on the utensil slightly before he quickly pulled back. She watched him chew and swallow.
"I wasn't expecting you to do that," Morty remarked nervously, bashfully looking off to one side. "I mean, I know I said that we start the trial-period today, but... you must be really determined to do this."
"What are you talking about? That wasn't for the twenty day couple simulation, that was merely the result of our mutually beneficial partnership. I simply acted in accordance with my clan's teachings."
"...Excuse me?"
Clair put down her silverware. "I am your partner and ally," she stated as if it were an obvious fact. But when she saw that Morty still did not understand, she explained, "I am your ally. And once we are married, we'll be partners for life. From the moment I accepted this engagement, I was prepared to have the whole world as my enemy." She sounded very much like she were reiterating some textbook passage.
"That's very touching of you to say, even though I'm sure you actually meant something else. But forgive me when I say I still don't understand how that's related to you feeding me."
"It means... it means you can rely on me, even if it's just a little favor like this," Clair said haltingly, unused to speaking such candid words. "You were interested in the dish I ordered, but you were unsure whether or not you would buy it so I shared some with you to help you decide. I was also doing this to help you save your money."
A short pause.
"...E-enough about that now. How was the pasta?"
Morty blinked and laughed under his breath.
"What's so funny?" Clair growled.
"No, I'm not laughing at you," Morty reassured her, his eyes twinkling with... something. "It's... I think I'm beginning to understand you."
It was her turn to be confused. "What do you mean?"
"It's nothing, don't worry about it... anyways, back to your original question. The pasta is delicious." He grinned. "Thank you for sharing it with me."
"Think nothing of it. As I've said, it's the result of our mutually beneficial partnership." Clair said, adamant about the name.
"I must say..." Morty began. "I'm quite enjoying this mutually beneficial partnership of ours. Let me return the favor. Is there anything I ordered that you want to try?"
The rest of their dinner continued on in this mutually beneficial manner.
The first day - END
A/N: Tsundere Clair is fun to write, geezus. :D
