• milieu •
—
where was i when the rockets came to life?
and carried you away into the alligator sky?
—
They meet when she's fourteen.
Volkner, who's tall and gangly and easily one of the prettiest boys she's seen, is nearly sixteen.
All the faces that come up to Snowpoint, weary hikers and hopeful trainers and fickle tourists alike; she remembers everyone that leaves. It's not hard to do, when each day stretches onto the next in even blankets of suffocating pallor.
(maybe, she thinks, that's why her own mother, in showy pinks and yellows and violets, wasn't cut out to live here in this little snowstormy town)
"Do you know why snow is white?" A backpacker tells her long ago, standing in front of the Lake with kind tolerance, when she was still silly and cute and small, "Snow is only white because it's forgotten what color it once was."
Candice promises never to forget because she doesn't want to end up blank and white and pale as the rest of Snowpoint. However, it's only a matter of time her blushing cheeks tinged with red from the cold become bleached with the cold.
Still she tries, and that's about good enough it gets in their lifeless town where the carnival never comes.
He, that boy with the sculpted jaw and such lovely hair that just taints with age, is just another traveling trainer, coming all the way up to snowy Snowpoint for a badge, and immediately, she's jealous of his freedom.
She already has four Icicle Badges, one for each year she's tried, but ice is all Candice knows and she's beginning to fear that's all she'll ever get to know. Every night before bed, she shines them until they glitter and gleam like the diamond dust that use to fall, telling herself she will make something out of herself one day.
But he loses, of course, for she already knows, to the gymleader's slashing attacks and the artlessly flawless sculpting of his brave Pikachu. She knows, because she's the little girl in the bleachers waiting for her teacher. With steel eyes and quiet defeat, Candice thinks he isn't meant to be the loser.
And that is that, she thinks, watching him leave through the front entrance.
They will meet again, the gymleader tells her offhandedly, and they do.
She clumsily runs into him in front of the Academy, where Candice is just finished helping the little ones (wrapped up to stay warm, teeth chattering like heels on marble, they look a bit like marshmallows) with their classes.
He smells like peppermint—and things being fried, but that's not the point.
His frozen hands are shoved, fisted deep in his pockets, that navy army coat is far too thin for this kind of weather; he catches her by the shoulders. Volkner doesn't smile or blink or even regard her, he still doesn't (not really), but he caught her and so she is in love.
Like, truthfully, but at just-turned-fourteen both lines are hazy and Candice is no wiser than the next girl with a scented love letter fisted in her fingertips.
Either way, her cheeks begin to flush and before she can stop herself, "I can help you!" It's mortifying, and he lets go of her shoulder quickly after. "I can help you." She repeats softer this time, twiddling with the ends of her scarf while he looks on impatiently. And she doesn't stop there, naming every mistake she caught during his battle and exactly why he is all wrong. A few words about how he tries too hard looking cool slip out too, Candice doesn't think he minds though. Volkner is embarrassed, and it's adorable.
"Help me then." He tells solemnly her after she runs out of steam, her breath coming out in small poofs. He's already walking away when she calls out a time and promptly falls over from shock. Candice spends the rest of the night on the phone with Zoey, squealing and giggling like girls. Instead of planning an outfit however, she's strategizing her movesets.
Without a doubt, he wins his rematch with her back in the bleachers, cheering her head off even when he so kindly tells her to shut the fuck up.
They are friends now, and the way his dark eyes flicker over to her when he doesn't think she's looking is enough to make Candice stop breathing completely. He stays awhile too, training with her for his eighth badge, the last one he needs before challenging the Elite Four. To be honest, Candice can tell he doesn't really want to be champion; it's simply that he's bored. She doesn't care, since she's happy that he's still here.
But he does leave eventually, thanking her in that quiet way of his and promising to call if he wins.
He doesn't, but only because no one is there to pick up anymore.
Candice is already on her third badge in Veilstone.
—
She's almost sixteen when she sees his familiar half-smile again.
This time, she challenges him, nearly one year and a half later. Candice isn't surprised, but Volkner is. She's wet from the thunderstorm, pounding on the gym door while untangling her braids when he finds her, arms filled with groceries. Flint is besides him, and the redhead doesn't stop from commenting on the fact her lacy bra can be seen under the white shirt. Not surprising, she takes one look at them together, and all she does is ask if they're gay.
Sunyshore's gym leader splutters some more.
Flint and Candice will become fast friends; he likes this little pixie with a mischievous smile already. Even if she's plotting to steal his best friend away.
She stays the night; all three of them sprawled out on Volkner's apartment floor in sleeping bags. It's not a bad memory, mock scary stories and sexual innuendo and popcorn in the microwave. The next morning, she's hitting pots and pans and demanding a battle with only a towel on. Bleary and completely stunned, Volkner manages to convince her no one wants to battle at three in the morning. She calls him a lazy ass, proceeding to rummage through his closet for something to wear instead. Flint only laughs and goes back to snoring.
This girl is absolutely insane, yet he can't find the will to mind. Instead, he crawls up and goes to order pizza for breakfast—right after checking if she's looking under his bed.
She is.
—
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