Three Months Later…
"Finally," Volkner moaned as the meeting ended. Gym leader conferences were so boring. He half listened to the others' conversations.
"My Cranidos has gotten so much stronger!"
"I saw the cutest, most adorable grass-type pokémon yesterday Fantina!"
"My Floatzel is the strongest water-type pokémon there is!"
"Me and Abomasnow just cooked up a killer strategy for the next trainer who decides to challenge us with a fire-type!"
"Yeah, I'm kinda worried about Riley." Volkner looked up when he heard that name. It was Byron talking to Maylene.
"What caused the landslide? Was it a pokémon?" Volkner's eyes widened. Was Riley okay? What happened? Was he in the hospital? How bad was he hurt?
"I don't know, but it's going to take months to rebuild his house, poor guy."
"Where's he staying until then? At your house?"
"No, he refused any kind of help, and even if he would be willing to stay with me, I've got no room."
"What? Then where's he going to sleep?"
"He said he'll be fine sleeping outside. He's a big kid, he can take care of himself. I wish he'd give up some of that pride for once and let someone help him."
"You said no one would take him?"
"He'd never accept. Too much pride or independence or something, I don't know." Byron felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Volkner, who looked pissed off about something.
"Where is he?" Volkner demanded.
Volkner circled around Iron Island on his Staraptor, searching for an idiotic man dressed in blue. It was raining, which made it even more difficult to see. Despite this, he found Riley after only a few minutes, sitting in the rain.
"Staraptor, land over there," Volkner instructed, pointing to an area next to Riley. Staraptor called out noisily and swooped down for a graceful landing. Volkner jumped off and Ran over to Riley, who didn't even notice him. He was hugging himself tightly and shivering. He sneezed and rubbed his nose miserably.
"Riley!" Volkner shouted, grabbing his shoulder. Riley looked up in shock at the blonde man he hadn't seen in months.
"Volkner!?" Then he sneezed again.
"C'mon, you're coming with me," Volkner said, scooping Riley up easily. Volkner was surprised and shot Riley a look that showed it. "Damn, you're light." He ran back to Staraptor who scooped them up on her back before taking off.
Volkner put a hand on Riley's forehead. He was running a fever, and a high one at that. Riley was shaking and sneezing, which wasn't good either.
"You are officially the most idiotic person I've ever met. Possibly even more than Flint." Volkner decided.
"Volkner, I'll be fine, you can leave me there. I can take care of myself." He tried to squirm away, but Volkner wasn't about to put up with that.
"You really expect me to leave you out here?" Volkner asked raising an eyebrow. He snorted at the thought. "Riley, let me explain something to you. When it rains, and people stay out in that rain for a really long time, they get sick. Most often with a cold or pneumonia.
"Volkner, I'm not an idiot. Now put me back!"
"This is your definition of fine? I'd hate to see what your 'not fine' looks like."
"I'm not kidding! Put me back!" Then he sneezed again, but somehow still managed to glare at Volkner.
"Look, whether you like it or not, you're staying with me, and until you get better, you're going to let me take care of you!"
"Fine," Riley gave in. He couldn't think straight and he didn't feel like arguing. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he felt miserable. He sneezed again and sniffled. Yes, he felt miserable and disgusting. He couldn't see why anyone would want to be around him like this.
Volkner kept talking or ranting about something, but his brain was too foggy to bother figuring out what. Still lecturing him, probably. He didn't notice when they were out of the storm because he was already soaked. Time was kind of hazy for him. It felt like only seconds had passed when they landed in front of a house.
"Is this your house?" Riley asked before sneezing again.
"No Riley, I'm breaking into this random house I found," Volkner responded sarcastically.
"I was just asking," Riley said in almost a whisper. Volkner heard him though, and felt a little guilty. He pushed the feeling away. He used his foot to open the door and walked inside. Luxray came downstairs just as Volkner laid Riley on the couch.
"Wait here, I'll be right back," Volkner said. "Luxray, zap him if he tries to leave." Luxray nodded and jumped up on the couch. It growled warningly at Riley before laying down by his feet, still watching him closely.
"Great," Riley said to himself. How did Volkner know he was going to leave? He really didn't like having people try and help him, even though he liked to help other people.
Luxray's eyes closed after a few seconds. Riley assumed it was going to sleep. He waited another minute to make sure it wouldn't wake up. Then he cautiously sat up and turned his body so he could stand. He checked on Luxray again once he was up, and sure enough, Luxray was sleeping.
So he turned and walked as quietly as he could away from the couch. He could see the door not too far away. He just needed to get out, and then he could ride Salamance back to Iron Island.
Suddenly, something tackled him from behind, knocking him flat on the floor, face-down. The weight remained on his back. Luxray was sitting on him, looking very pleased with itself. Riley wanted to glare at it for foiling his escape, but he couldn't, so he pouted instead.
He tried to squirm out from under Luxray, but Luxray held him down easily and added a little thunder shock to discourage further struggling. So Riley pouted and gave up on trying to get away. He sneezed again, which startled Luxray into thunder shocking him a second time.
"Oh come on," Riley said. "That wasn't even my fault!" Luxray made a noise that sounded like it was laughing at him. Riley sighed and waited for Luxray to get off him. He could hardly breathe thanks to his stuffy nose.
"Okay, I've got some dry clothes," Volkner said, walking down the stairs. Riley couldn't see him, but he heard his voice, and the laughter that soon followed.
"Please get him off me," Riley moaned.
"Your fault for trying to leave. Maybe I should just let Luxray keep you down there. He seems to be having fun." Luxray purred loudly.
"Ugh," Riley moaned, letting his head fall and hit the floor with a dull thud. Volkner smirked and laughed at him.
"Luxray," he called. Luxray immediately understood what he was being asked and jumped off. Riley sat up in time for something to hit him in the face.
"Go put those on. I've got some cold medicine somewhere around here," Volkner said looking around. Riley pulled the clothes off his face and stood up.
"Where should I change?" Riley asked resignedly.
"Bathroom's upstairs if you need it, but I don't see why you can't just change here. I mean we're both guys. Unless…" Volkner looked at Riley with a smirk. Riley groaned.
"Volkner, I am not, and will never be, a girl. Maybe I just don't like stripping in front of people." Riley started walking upstairs to get changed.
"You sure about that?" Volkner called after him. "I'm pretty sure 'Riley' is a girl's name. And you sure seem fond of that gold necklace there. Not hiding anything under that turtleneck, are you?" Riley finally got annoyed enough to pick up a nearby book and throw it at Volkner's head. The book hit its mark, and Volkner went down. Then he quickly ran upstairs before Volkner could figure out what happened. He found the bathroom and shut the door behind him to change.
He neatly folded his wet clothes, then put his necklace and his hat on top. He shivered and sneezed again before turning to the clothes Volkner gave him. A T-shirt and jeans? Not what he usually wore, but he didn't mind. He pulled on the boxers, jeans, and shirt, then walked back out to the hall.
He was absently nibbling on his thumbnail, a bad habit he had developed. Hopefully, he hadn't hurt Volkner too bad. He was kind of worried about him. So he quietly walked down the stairs to find Volkner. He was in the kitchen, going through he cabinets for something. He seemed alright. Riley felt relieved.
"Oh, hey Riley. By the way, has anyone ever told you that you throw hard? And accurately?" Riley blushed embarrassedly. Then he sneezed.
"Well, no. I don't usually go around throwing books at people. I make an exception for you," Riley said with a huge smile.
"I feel honored," Volkner said sarcastically. He turned and shoved a spoon full of some kind of liquid into Riley's mouth. Riley gagged and nearly choked on it. Once Riley swallowed the liquid, Volkner pulled the spoon back out. Riley coughed and tried to recover while Volkner got ready to give him another spoonful.
"Well, I don't usually shove medicine down people's throats with a spoon, but I'll make an exception for you." He waited for Riley to stop coughing so he could give him a second dose.
"I guess I kind of deserved that," Riley said, wincing a little. He braced himself for the next spoonful, but Volkner was nicer this time. He pushed the spoon into Riley's mouth, waited a second, then pulled it back out.
"Yes you did. Now go sit on the couch while I make some hot chocolate."
"Yes, mom." Riley walked out and sat on the couch beside Luxray. Luxray looked like he was sleeping, but Riley didn't know for sure. With nothing to do, Riley started observing the place a little more closely. It wasn't a dump, but it wasn't clean either. Clothes, papers, and various objects were scattered around the floor or carelessly tossed aside. There was a huge TV in front of the couch, but it wasn't on and Riley didn't watch much TV anyways
"What are you so smiley about?" Volkner asked, sitting down beside him with a cup of hot chocolate. Riley was startled by his question. He'd been too busy thinking to notice Volkner approaching.
"Nothing," Riley said, still smiling. He sneezed again, and Volkner handed him the hot chocolate.
"Here," he said. Riley accepted it, but then realized something.
"Aren't you going to get some as well?"
"No duh. Just gimme a second. I gotta order some pizza." Volkner left to go do that and make his hot chocolate. He came back with a bag of Doritos and sat on the couch next to Riley.
"What do you want to watch, Riley?" Volkner asked, sounding bored. Riley shrugged.
"I don't know. How about a movie?" Riley suggested.
"Why not. Pick one," he pulled up another list, probably Movies on Demand. Riley wasn't familiar with any of them, so he picked the first one he saw.
"How about Cinderella?"
"How about not? Never mind, I'll just use the random movie option." It ended up on some old black-and-white movie. Volkner skipped that one, and the one after that, but he let the third one play out. Riley caught something about the Mafia, but he was too tired to really follow the storyline.
He yawned, and without thinking, he let himself lean into Volkner. Volkner tensed up at first, then relaxed when he saw what it was. That guy was tired already? It was only, like, 10.
A few hours later, Riley was asleep. Even with his stuffy nose, he just couldn't stay awake. Volkner just watched the movies and let Riley sleep on him. There was no reason to wake him up after all. When it was around 2 in the morning, he finally turned the TV off. All the movies were boring anyways. And he'd seen them all before.
Since he couldn't move too much without waking Riley, he pulled a blanket out from behind the couch. He pulled it over both Riley and himself so he could go to sleep.