Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way.
A/N: Posted from the Pokemon Fanfiction Challenges Forum.
FEEDBACK
the cave is empty, and he is not angry.
When he slips in through the ragged hole in the rock, past the thundering crash of water over the falls, the cave is empty. He forgets, for a moment, that Ethan is bouncing on his toes behind him, full of the frenetic energy that Silver has grown too tired to hate.
There's a radio, old and scuffed, shoved into the corner, its antenna twisted into painful angles, giving off a weak crackle. "I know," Ethan says, "that there's nothing here. But I thought that you might want to see."
Silver nods, and he stays silent, because he doesn't trust his mouth at the best of times, let alone in these tenuous moments, the moments where he wonders if he could maybe be friends with this boy. Silver pulls his hands out of his pockets, tucks his long hair behind his ears, and kneels beside the radio. He twists a knob, and it screeches in protest, firing feedback to every wall; it echoes back, and Ethan winces, curling his fingers into his palm. "Try not to do that again," he says, weakly.
"Sorry," Silver replies. He returns to the radio, playing around with the antenna. The crackle lessens as he angles it just so. Ethan drops to a crouch beside him, tilts his head with his childish curiosity, and watches Silver battle with the metal.
"I didn't know you could do that," he says.
Silver raises an eyebrow. "Why would you?" he asks. "Why on earth would I be messing with radios around you?"
Ethan shrugs. "It's cool, that you can do this stuff. I can barely work my pokégear. Not everything's an insult, Silver."
The second eyebrow joins the first. "That's rich," Silver says, "coming from you, who I used to verbally vomit on at every opportunity."
"Did I ever tell you how I glad I am that you stopped that?"
Silver smirks, and he looks at the sad, little radio, crackling away, clearly on its last legs. "Why'd you bring me here?" he asks, quietly.
Ethan sobers. "Your – Giovanni was here," he says. "So, I don't know. I thought that you might want to see it. Lyra says closure is good."
"You're taking Lyra's word for something."
He splutters, hitting Silver on the shoulder. Silver grabs at his hands, pushing him away, eventually just pinning Ethan's wrists down to save him the trouble. "Why did you bring me here, Ethan," he asks. "What was in it for you?"
Ethan looks at him like he's sprouted wings. "Nothing," he says, blinking. "I just thought you might want to see. That's all."
The waterfalls rumble away, oblivious to anything but their own crashing, and the radio loses itself in its own static. Silver drops Ethan's wrists and climbs to his feet. "Alright," he says. "I've seen it. Let's go."
"You're sure?"
Silver tucks his hands into his pockets and takes in the dank cave. "That's what I said, you idiot," he lowers an almost sharp look at Ethan. "Let's go."
end.