White had already gotten her cart and had crumpled her list in her hand for easy access when her cell phone rang obnoxiously. Though tech savvy, she wasn't really one to be on her phone constantly, and grimaced as she fished it out of her bag and held it to her ear. "Hello?" she said as she started off into the store, feeling much like a hunter tracking down her haul.

"Prez?" said the person on the other end of the call, in an almost breathy tone. She wondered if she could have recognised the voice if not for caller ID.

"Hey, Black! I haven't seen you in a couple days. Is something wrong?"

"Um…"

She tugged some teabags into her cart as she passed through an aisle of coffee beans and hot chocolate powders. "Oh, you missed the funniest thing in the theatre today; Lenora-sensei had to leave for a few minutes to help another teacher, so she told us to do that acting game where we improvise a scene written on a card, and Bianca came up with this entire dramatic monologue about a dream she had about trees uprooting and tap dancing—"

"Prez…" (He was trying to tell her something, clearly, but honestly, she was in the middle of talking. Did he expect her to stop?)

"—and then of course Ruby-senpai had to join in and start dancing—"

"Prez."

"—and I really do not understand why that boy is so weirdly graceful—"

"Prez!" (This came out as a throaty, ugly croak.)

"What?"

His gruff voice through the phone: "I'm sick."

"Oh! Sorry! That's why you weren't there." She felt utterly dim; she hadn't even thought about asking why he was whispering. "You've lost your voice?"

A disgruntled sigh: "Yes."

White couldn't disguise her giggle. She had been Lenora-sensei's assistant for the musicals since she had started high school and she had always known of Black's notorious shouting. He was only on the crew and his voice could carry sound far more impressively than any of the actors (Lenora had tried to recruit him many times, but he had no interest in performing.) Somehow she'd gotten past his boisterous personality and those super-powered lungs to become his friend—as she'd befriended other members of the cast and crew, such as Bianca and Cheren, who were both in their grade and some of their classes.

"Oh, what?" he barked, hearing her snicker.

"The all-powerful Black Touya has been defeated by a mere illness. What a brave downfall. Your comrades shall remember your valiant fight until the very end, for certain."

He tried to bellow, "I have not been defeated!" but it came out as more of a painful rasp. He inwardly groaned when he could hear snatches of her laughter. "Maybe if you answered your messages every now and then, you'd know when something was wrong."

White bristled. "Alright, so I admit I'm not the best at keeping up with people! What's it to you? I answered now didn't I?"

Black dropped the subject. "Anyways, I called because I have work that I've missed. It's confusing and you're smart. Help?" he asked, taking his voice down to a whisper.

Ever eager to assist, White replied, "Sure, no problem. Need anything else? I'm in the supermarket right now, so tell me if I can get you something." Ever since she'd learned to drive it seemed only natural that she take care of some errands herself. After all, that was the most efficient way to get things done.

"That's convenient. Cough drops, then."

She whipped out her list and grabbed the pen from behind her ear, scrawling things down before she forgot. "Hm…cough drops, and if I need to help you, I'll need cookies."

"Why?"

"For inspiration in times of dire frustration!" Down the section of baked goods she went for some cookies and scones.

"Is it really that difficult to help me with schoolwork?"

"Actually, yes. You probably belong in clown school."

"Gee, thanks."

She passed some sandals which always seemed really pretty and really useless to her. They were on racks with out-of-place sunhats and other things you wouldn't think to find in a food store. Still, there they were with their cheap material. Though strangely charming, the sandals probably couldn't handle much wear and tear.

Sometimes White thought people were like that. Sometimes she would watch people try their hands at things and find that they couldn't handle it. But she wasn't like that—no, not at all. If she was one thing, she was useful, but it made her stop and think for a moment. Was being useful really something valuable, or something you just could be if you only chose to?

"What's wrong? Ogling at a boy or something?"

She shook herself and swept past the sandals. "Yes, I've just spotted my long-lost love in the supermarket." She snorted. "I was just deep in philosophical thought."

"Well, then the sarcasm was unnecessary."

"Like you're a ray of sunshine all the time."

"I'm a lovely boy. I'm not sure why you torment me so." At least his hoarse voice was tinged with humour now.

"Eh. You have your moments," she admitted.

"What's this? The all-powerful White Touko is stooping down to complimenting me?"

"Don't get your hopes up. Like a lunar eclipse, this will only happen up to three times in a year."

"This is why you're helping me with my science homework."

Almost reluctantly, she located the cough drops. She was about to ask what flavour he wanted, but just picked strawberry (her favourite—he could deal with it.) "Don't forget, you're indebted to me now that I'm doing this for you." She found herself getting self-conscious of her phone conversation now that she was nearing the end of her list. She had been on her phone for a while; was anyone finding this odd? Or did the funny feeling she had just come from talking to Black for so long?

"Do you ever get tired of just helping people?" he asked. "Don't you want to be in the spotlight for a change?"

White hesitated before she answered, thinking back to those rotten sandals. Black wouldn't have to think about that sort of thing. He was his own strange, special person, and she liked him for that. He could have purpose when he chose to, and he wasn't hard on the eyes. White was thinking in circles about it so much that she hardly thought the two were even connected anymore. She said, "I have ulterior motives; I'm efficient and I like to be in charge of things. Also, I'm a horrible actress. I can't just twirl around three times and then jump into some fictional characters' shoes. I can't deal with their problems and ignore mine. Plus, certain scenes would get awkward. Like, what if I had to kiss somebody? I've never kissed anyone before; I would be too nervous."

"I'll kiss you first, if you want."

"That was just an example, and don't you go trying anything with me while you're still sick!" She didn't say anything about after he was sick, though, and was glad he couldn't see her burning face through the phone. His offer was so sincere, and it seemed as though something was hidden behind it, poking its head out cautiously, like a shy secret. Feeling self-conscious of both being on the phone for so long and the topic of the conversation, she explained, "I'm checking out now, so I'm going to hang up, but I'll be right over to help you."

"Fine. I'll see you then."

She gave herself a moment to calm down and hit the end button.

Click!

The next day, Black was feeling decidedly better.

"YES! I HAVE DEFEATED THE HORRID DISEASE THAT WRECKED MY CORDS OF STEAL!"

White shook her head, but couldn't keep the smile from her face.

A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIGER!
So, this probably isn't as impressive as what I whipped up last year, but we haven't really had too many absurd conversations to inspire me (and that's my fault XD ) so I just sort of sprinkled things in where I could. I mean, I'm pretty sure the story I wrote you last year was completely comprised of our jokes. And again, I really was going to write something about Mirai Nikki, or maybe something not cliché about Franticshipping, but the next thing I knew I had like eight lines of Agency dialogue and I just went with it. I honestly do not know why this is about a grocery store, or set in a high school AU. It just sort of happened.

But I hope this was okay! Maybe not the longest, most moving story ever, but a bit of fluff for you all (probably not. Again, I really don't know what I was thinking when I wrote this XD )

So, um, rant over! Thanks for reading!

-Silvia

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokespe or anything else