I turned around at the voice. It was the Steven guy from before, the one who had creepy fan girls.
"I have indeed." I smiled at the Pokemon and held out my hand. Hazel nodded and ran up my arm to my shoulder.
The guy advanced his hand. "I'm Steven." I took in his outfit. He was wearing dark shoes that were purple in colour, with black dress trousers, a purple vest with a white dress shirt underneath, a red cravat and a stunning black and purple suit jacket with chunky silver cuffs in the shape of crowns.
I shook his hand back. "I'm May. Nice to meet you. Although, I already know who you are." He looked confused. "I bumped into a couple of your fangirls near your house. I was introducing myself to people in the town. They were hanging around your house."
He rubbed the back of his neck in a sheepish manner. "I heard your comment about needing to 'rein them in' as you put it. What was that all about?"
I let out a laugh. "They told me to stay away from you, that you were as good as theirs. I hope that's not the case though, they were what, tweleve? Would be kind of illegal."
Steven chuckled at this. "Certainly not, I believe they were mistaken."
"Well, they seemed to take offence to me walking up in a bikini and had a go at me."
"That is really quite something. You got affronted by that gentleman as well."
"Gentlemen? Pfft."
Steven shrugged his shoulders and his gaze dropped to my wrist. "May, your wrist is bruised."
I lifted it up, "so it is." Hazel deftly walked down to my wrist and began licking the mark. "Aww, thanks Hazel. That's so sweet of you." I ruffled the fur at her neck.
Steven cautiously lifted a hand out to Hazel and Hazel regarded him with a neutral expression. I had no idea how Hazel was going to react to this; she doesn't seem to take kindly to strangers. Steven ruffled her head and she let out a cute noise and threw herself into his arms.
"Look like Hazel likes you." I walked to the till and paid for my shopping and Steven paid for the ready meal he had come in for.
"I got to see how cheeky your Milotic was on my way here that certainly was a sight. Made me chuckle." At my confusion, he explained. "I flew in on my Skarmory."
I couldn't help the blush that crept onto my cheek. "T-That's not even the worst of it. That Pokemon is so naughty sometimes. There've been a few times I've been riding on her back and she's deliberately shaken me off. I've usually got pretty good balance as well. Mizu loves making me look like an idiot."
Once we got outside, Hazel jumped down from Steven's arms and continued walking by my side. We continued chatting for a few more minutes before we ended up coming getting back to my place.
"It was lovely talking to you May, I'm looking forward to being more acquainted with you."
"Right back at you." I gave him a smile and bent down to pick up the normal type Pokemon. She darted out of my grasp and grabbed hold of Steven's trousers and started trying to pull him closer to the door.
"Come on Hazel, leave the poor gentlemen alone. I'm sure he has things he needs to do." Short of ripping holes in Steven's trousers, I wasn't sure how to get Hazel to let go. "It seems Hazel wants you to stick around for a bit longer." I went to stand up and Steven reached his hand out. "Thank you." I said as I placed my hand in his and he helped me up. "Want to come in for coffee or something?"
At this Hazel jumped up and down on the spot with a grin on her face. At least she let go of Steven's expensive looking clothing. I let out a small sigh of relief.
"If that would be agreeable with you, I'd like that."
"Of course it's agreeable, that's why I offered." I shot him a grin. "Happy now?" I said to Hazel and she nodded. "Excuse the mess, I only moved in today. Amber my Blaziken was helping me earlier, but it's still a mess."
"That's quite alright May."
I walked through my front door and held the door open for Steven. He nodded in thanks and walked in. As Steven got in, Hazel sat in front of him and lifted her front paws up, wanting to be picked up. Steven chuckled and scooped the evolution Pokemon up into his arms. He rubbed her head and she purred affectionately. "Have you ever thought about evolving your Eevee, May?"
I shrugged my shoulders and placed my shopping down in the kitchen. "I really like Hazel just the way she is. She seems very happy in her own skin too. She's a lot stronger than she looks as well." I picked up the satsuma from earlier. "Catch!" I called as I threw it towards Steven.
He didn't miss a beat and caught it in his spare hand. "This is for the Eevee, isn't it?"
"Hazel." I corrected. "Yeah, she's all over you at the moment, figured maybe you could peel it for her."
"Alright then." He sat down at my kitchen table and started peeling the satsuma whilst Hazel sat on his lap, watching intently.
I flicked the kettle switch down and watched as Steven started feeding the segments to her.
My pokenav started ringing and I pulled it out of my bag and my eyes went wide as I took in the display. It's Brendan… I really, really don't want to talk to him right now. I just watched as it continued to ring.
Hazel jumped up on to the table and jumped across to the kitchen counter that I was leaning against. She climbed up my arm and checked the screen. The second she saw the familiar picture of Brendan, she started protesting angrily.
I leaned my head against the Pokémon's soft fur. "I know Hazel, I know." I put the pokenav down and Hazel seemed happier after that.
"Is everything okay, May?" Steven had stood up at this point and began walking tentatively around the table. I looked up at him; he looked kind of awkward and concerned at the same time.
"Sorry, first day you meet me and I get all upset all of a sudden." I tried my best to give him a smile. "What a brilliant host I'm being."
"May, don't worry about me. I don't mind at all."
I shook my head and busied myself with making coffee. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Steven lifting up a hand, he seemed to realise what he was doing and think better of it. He lowered his hand and took up his seat again at the table.
Hazel leaned round to look up at me and dashed to the other side of the counter. She fought with the tissue box until she was able to free one. She then bounded back to me and let out a small whimper and offered me the tissue. "Thanks Hazel." I said with a sad smile. I then dried my eyes and finished off making the coffee. "How do you take your coffee, Steven?"
"May, would it be better if I left? Something seems to be troubling you at the moment and I don't want to get in the way if you need some time to yourself."
I shook my head with my back to him. "I'll be okay, I just need a second."
"Long as you're sure. In that case, I'll just take some milk with mine please."
I took a deep breath, poured milk into both of our coffees before moving back to the table.
"So, tell me a bit about yourself." I shot him a bright smile as I pushed his coffee towards him.
He blinked a couple of times; I probably threw him off guard at how brightly I was smiling. I mean, I was just crying ten seconds ago.
"Well, I'm a trainer. I train rock and steel type Pokemon. My favourite is my Metagross I raised it from a tiny Beldum." He gestured using his hands to show how small it was when he first caught it. "I'm a bit of a stone fanatic. I was actually in a cave, researching on stones, when I caught my Beldum." He rubbed the back of his neck. "My last name is actually Stone as well. I've always found that hilarious."
"You're Steven Stone? So you're the heir to the Devon cooperation then?"
Steven averted his gaze and he frowned slightly. "Yes I am."
I cocked my head to the side. "I'm guessing you don't want to be then."
He remained quiet and still wasn't looking at me. He started tapping his rings against his coffee mug. Hazel nuzzled against his arm, trying to cheer him up. He ruffled the Pokémon's hair and the expression on his face tugged at my heart. I thought about reaching over to touch his arm but I thought better of it, he probably wouldn't appreciate it. We barely know each other after all.
He finished his coffee and stood up. "Thank you very much for having me over. I think I shall take my leave now." He began to make his way to the door.
"Steven?" I muttered vaguely as I stood up. "Did I say something wrong? If I did I'm sorry."
He paused with his hand on the door knob and I saw his other hand clench. "No, it was not you." With that, he was gone and I was left feeling pretty confused.
I found myself staring at the door after he left. Hazel pulled at my trousers and that brought me out of my daze. I walked over to the window and peeked out of it. Steven was walking towards his house with a hand thrown into his messy hair. I'm guessing he really doesn't want to take over Devon. He's a trainer who loves researching stones; I guess that means he likes to do a lot of travelling. I got the impression yesterday that he isn't around much… I'm willingly to bet he doesn't want to take over the company because he wants to be free from responsibility. As much as he can anyway, so he can travel.
I closed the curtain and made my way over to the kitchen. I looked at my shopping and started packing it away. I went to put the pasta away and Eevee tried to knock it out of my hand. The Pokemon looked up at me with a frown. "Eevee!" It pronounced angrily.
I sighed, "sorry Hazel. I'm not hungry anymore. I'll eat a good breakfast tomorrow."
She seemed a bit more satisfied at that. I made sure to feed my Pokemon before settling down in bed with my laptop to do a bit of marine biology work. Eventually, I went to sleep with the evolution Pokemon curled up next to my head.
I woke up the next morning to a new text from Brendan. I rubbed my eyes and opened up the message.
Hey May, want to go out for dinner tonight? I know you're still trying to forgive me, but I thought It'd be nice to go out for a date. Can I meet you at yours and we can decide where to go from there? Can I meet you at seven?
I let out a long sigh. I decided that it could be nice to go on a date; maybe it'll help us, it's something we haven't done in about three months. My reply was as follows: Yeah sure. I'd like that a lot. And sure, that works great with me.
I hit send and got a reply a minute later.
Great, I'll see you then.
I stretched and got ready for the day. I cooked breakfast, which made Eevee happy. Had a shower, got dressed and added a couple of coats of mascara to my eyelashes. I then spent the next couple of hours doing work. Eventually, I was finding it incredibly hard to continue concentrating. I made a flask of coffee and took a notebook outside with me.
I sat on one of the benches overlooking the ocean and continued making notes on the Pokemon and wildlife that I'd found in this area so far. I was doing a report on it as part of my online marine biology program.
I heard a racket over to the left of me. A group of three girls had gathered outside Steven's door and were knocking on it frantically. I cringed internally for the poor guy.
Eventually he opened it. I watched as he repressed a sigh as he saw who was outside the door.
"Kya~" They sang to him. "It's Steven!" A bubble of noise erupted out of their mouths.
He ran a hand through his hair and I watched him struggled to repress a sigh. "Hello young ladies. Now is really not an ideal time. Any chance you might be able to come back another time? Sorry to disappoint you. I have duties to attend to."
"You're so cool! I love the way you talk!"
He pulled his door shut behind him. "Please come back tomorrow morning."
"Okay Steven-San!" With that, they giggled and ran off.
"Does that happen often?" I called out to him as he got a bit closer.
"Good morning May." He leaned over the back of the bench I was sat on. "Yes. It seems to happen quite regularly." He glanced at me and I could only describe his expression as being rather puzzled. "Do you really not know who I am, May?"
I was confused and it was evident on my face immediately. "You're the heir to the Devon cooperation." I paused. "I don't think girls generally fangirl over businessmen though. There's got to be something else."
He nodded. "Quite right indeed." He glanced at his watch and pushed back away from the bench. "It is actually quite refreshing though, meeting someone who does not know who I am, not properly anyway. I quite like the idea of it remaining that way for a little while longer."
"Aww, don't do that. Now I really want to know. If you won't tell me, I could just ask one of your fans."
He glanced over at me and smirked. "You could indeed. But I get the feeling you are the type of person who likes to receive information first hand. You would prefer it if I told you myself. So you shall have to wait. Besides, I know you would hate to ask my 'fans' they might bite your head off for asking after me. Remember the incident from yesterday?"
I cringed. "Well, you've got me there. How did you know that I was that type of person?"
Steven smiled warmly at me. "Lucky guess, perhaps." He pulled a pokeball off his trouser belt. It has been nice talking to you, but I have business to attend to."
"Steven…" I asked. I couldn't help twiddling my thumbs. "Are you okay from last night? I can't shake the feeling that I said something to upset you."
The smile half dropped off his face and he looked out to the ocean. "You did nothing wrong May. Please, there is no need to feel at fault. You just simply… Reminded me of a… Problem I am trying to work through at current. Anyway, I need to be off." With that, he called on a really strong looking Skarmory and took off to the skies.
"Bye." I called meekly after him.
A/N Thanks a bunch for reading! Please let me know what you think of this little fanfiction so far, comments are greatly appreciated!
