Coquelicot
poppy red; brilliant red
#2: The World Starts With Me
…
Roxanne asks him to train with her. She tells him that she has regretfully lost to a greenhorn trainer, and that it's his job to make sure gym leaders are sharp and on their toes. Steven—rolls his eyes—agrees, and reaches Rustboro next morning. He has a mock battle with Roxanne, warns her of her weak points, tells her to strengthen her strong ones, and when she is satisfied, he makes to leave.
"Where are you going?" she asks. Her nosepass is staring at him, just as surprised.
"I am supposed to meet with my father," Steven replies.
Roxanne raises an eyebrow, questioning him quietly, but doesn't word her concerns; she shows him off to the gym door because she is polite, and lets him go on his merry way. Steven knows that look, though, and stops to analyse her. Roxanne stops at his side as well, smiling like she knows something he doesn't.
"Yes?" he asks curtly. It's his turn to raise a questioning eyebrow. "Is there something you want to tell me?"
"Well. There is something." She glances at him, lets go of her smile. In the sunlight, her features are sharper than usual, but she still manages to come across as gentle. "I was under the impression you were to train with our newest addition. Isn't that what Drake asked you to do?" Steven smiles, already aware. "Not that I would know about that, but you know news travel fast in our little circle."
"Of course. I haven't forgotten. Is your opinion of me that low, Roxanne?"
He chuckles and steps out into the city as her cheeks colour amusingly. Rustboro welcomes him with open arms, and it's not before long that he arrives into Devon's lobby; the elevator's music is the sound to a growing anxiety. His father's desk houses a scotch, on the rocks, just for him, and Steven sits down on a plush couch while he waits.
"Steven," his father greets from behind him, arriving from—certainly—a meeting with his engineers.
"Father. Is there a reason as to why you've called me here?" His voice is a little hoarse from the alcohol, but he manages not to let it turn bitter. "I have some business to take care of."
"Sorry, Steven, did I interrupt any plans?" He sits down in the couch next to his, nursing his own glass of scotch (no ice). To his father, a meeting between two men is important business; it's a matter of Cuban cigars and nice alcohol. It's something that speaks volumes of him, Steven knows. But he can't help to have been brought up this way, all smooth edges and old-fashioned glamour …
"No, not at all, I just—have somewhere I need to be in the afternoon."
They talk business and his father lets his concern drift towards alterations in the temperature all across Hoenn; that on itself is a warning for a terrible future, because a big CEO can never afford to be concerned with anything. They talk about volcanoes and the sudden destruction of coral reefs.
"The world is changing slightly," he says, setting his finished whiskey on the coffee table. Steve has barely touched his.
Afterwards it all, when he stops for coffee to get rid of the whiskey taste on his mouth, he contemplates. Around him, slowly, the world is shifting. Police reports on costumed criminals, heat waves in cold locations. And Steven only really thinks about the new addition to the gym leaders' circle. By the time he gets to Lavaridge, it's six in the afternoon, and there is an unusual cool breeze. His sight targets the red of Flannery's hair when he reaches her gym, and by the time he greets her, he realises that perhaps he's forgotten all about statistics and about concerns.
He isn't quite sure of how that makes him feel.
