The rain continued for the next four days. Usually, I'd spend the time inside, writing or playing on the small (and rather crappy) computer in the house.

But now I had company, and that definitely put a wrench in my routines. Leo was so energetic. He never seemed to run out of things to say, and we had too many conversations to count.

And we also had a sick Fennekin to care of. At first she would growl and threaten us, only to run out of energy, and then let us do whatever we wanted.

"Move."

Leo ignored the command and pushed the soup bowl closer to her. "Drink up!"

"No."

"Come on! It's deliiiiciouuus!" he trilled. He dipped a spoon in and lifted it out. He then began moving it closer to her face slowly. "Here come the Dragoniiiiite!"

She stared at him incredulously for a moment before scowling again.

"Soren." She turned to me as I spoke. "No one's forcing you-"

"Except for me." Leo added.

"Except for Leo." I agreed. "But it would help you feel better if you have this."

"Yeah!" Leo chirped before she could answer. "Dragonite used Extremespeed!" When she opened her mouth to snap her response, he shoved it in, nearly causing her to choke. "It's super effective! Wild Soren swallowed!"

When she spat the spoon out and began coughing. I became worried, right until she spoke again. "Leonith! Never do that again!" She paused to cough again.

"Duuuude, chillax, it's all good." he said languidly. He yelped when she spat flames at him and jumped away from her (currently weak) wrath. "Soren, I'm just trying to help!"

"Stop trying then!" she hissed sourly.

"No! How else are you going to get better?"

She began coughing again and slumped, seemingly running out of energy. "Just let me die here. Please."

"No." I said quickly. When she glanced at me, I got up and took the bowl myself. "No one's dying here." I picked up the spoon and beckoned Leo to come back. I refilled the utensil. "Now, either you swallow this yourself, or we force-feed you. And I don't think you'd like to try that again."

She stared at me with raised eyebrows. "You're joking." I shook my head and she growled again. "No. I'm not doing anything."

"Okie-dokie then, we'll just shove it down your throat." I raised it, ready to pounce. "Leo, hold her still!"

… I still have burns from that. Leo seemed to recover quicker, despite being a grass-type. Either it's because he's a Pokémon, or he's used to them.

Though thankfully, the rain cleared up by Wednesday. I wouldn't have liked to go out in all of that water pouring from the sky.

"So a job, huh?" Leo asked as I told him Tuesday night.

"Yeah." I said, looking out of the window at the blackness. Despite not seeing anything, I knew it was still raining from the pitter-pattering noises coming in. "I'm hoping it clears up by tomorrow morning."

He glanced at the window too. "I'm sure it will." He messed around with the Rubik Cube (My uncle's actually. I gave it to him.) In front of him for a minute more before speaking again. "You said it was summer?"

I nodded. "Yeah?"

"It was summer in Kalos too. And is it supposed to rain this much?" he asked.

I noted the anxious look on his face and frowned too. "Why? You don't like the rain?"

"Well, if it usually rains this much, then Soren isn't gonna get out much, is she?"

I smiled at his open concern for his friend. He had an absolutely huge heart. He showed it to me too, despite knowing me for less than a week. "It usually doesn't rain that much around here, though it's definitely wetter than my home country."

He nodded and frowned at the Rubik cube. He messed with it a second longer. "It's like a desert where you're from, right?"

"Yeah."

"Soren should like that."

Lots of the things he said were like that. Speaking like they were going to stick with me for at least a while. I couldn't tell what Soren was thinking because she wouldn't really speak too much, even to Leo.

I hoped that they'd stay. The initial shock had worn off and I couldn't be happier that they were here, even if it was obvious that the Fennekin didn't want to be. Less than a week had passed, and I had already gotten used to their company.

… I hope they stay.

I jerked awake at the blaring piano music. I rubbed my eyes and groaned. "What?" I refocused my vision and it latched onto my cell phone, sitting innocently on the bedside table, playing my chosen alarm. I glared at it. "Stupid phone."

I sighed and picked it up. I tapped the screen and the sound stopped. "God, why does the stupid bus have to come so early?" I stretched my arms over my head and yawned. Six o'clock a.m., what an ungodly hour.

Coffee. I need coffee.

I got up and shuffled slowly out of the room, being careful not to rouse the two Pokémon snoozing on the sofa when I passed through.

Ten minutes later, I was mixing eggs together and heating milk on the stove. I turned to the sink and groaned. Where was the frying pan?!

I placed the egg-filled bowl on the table and swiveled around. I ran a hand through my long dark hair, and bit down a groan when it got tangled in the locks. 'Hair care later, Felix. Coffee comes before all.'

Oh there it is. Why the hell is it under the table? I vaguely remembered a clang during the night. I'm fairly certain that it was Leo. Aaaand, I also remember knocking something with my foot on the way in a couple minutes ago, but I hadn't paid attention due to drowsiness.

I picked it up and inspected it. No dents, fortunately, and it was clean.

I banged onto the stovetop and coated it with oil. After another ten minutes, I had eggs, bread, toast, jam, and my coffee~!

I slurped down my first cup and refilled the mug without even glancing at the eggs. Ahh, this stuff…

I heard quiet, stumbling footsteps and I didn't have to look up to know that Leo had walked in.

"Mornin'" he mumbled sleepily.

"Good Morning." I replied.

He padded over, hopped onto a chair and climbed onto the tabletop. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. "So." he began.

"So." I repeated.

"Work."

"Yeah." I took another swig from my mug. "Work."

"What time you st-st-starrrr…?" He attempted to stifle a yawn but failed.

"I gotta be there by eight." I told him.

"Why so early then?" He picked up a piece of toast.

I automatically passed him the jam. "Mmm." I hummed. "There's a bus that comes three times a day around here." I stopped then continued at his confused stare. "A ten minute walk down the road from here is the bus stop. The driver comes at seven thirty exactly." I felt my eyes go half-lidded at the thought if my routine. "It takes about half an hour to get to town, and I'm usually the only one who gets on in the morning. I spend the entire day in town, working, buying stuff, seeing people. Then I take the six thirty bus home, and I repeat it for three days."

He didn't look up from spreading a very thick layer of strawberry jam on his toast slice. "Grocery store, right?" He inspected the piece and bit into it. "What do you do in there, exactly?"

I shrugged and took a bite of egg. "A whole mish-mash of things. I'm usually at the counter, bagging products for customers, and manning the register. Or I switch with one of the other employees and sweep the aisles, do inventory, restock shelves, and make sure kids don't steal candy." A small smirk crept onto my face. "I'm fairly certain that the last one is my most important duty."

He snorted and gulped down the rest of the toast. "Yeah, I can see the headline now. 'Young grocery store employee stops robbery!' 'Felicia 'Felix' Adams, age fifteen-"

"Fifteen and a half." I added quickly.

He steamrollered on, all traces of drowsiness now gone. "-age fifteen and a half, saved the livelihood of her workplace when she caught a child stealing lollipops from the front counter. No one expected the young, baby-faced kid to be capable of causing any harm, but under that mask of innocence actually laid a face of pure evil'-"

I snorted and he continued the 'article' for the next few minutes, finally ending with;

"-and also while saving the world from evil brain aliens coming in robot suits of armor, disguised as humans who actually wanted to mutate all intelligent life on earth to make it fit for them to live on! And kidnap some red-head on the way.' Now that's a scoop!"

"What's a scoop?" a voice asked sarcastically from the doorway.

"Morning, Soren." I said, noticing the Fennekin in the doorway.

She padded to the table. I asked whether she wanted to come up or not, but she declined, saying no rather quickly and bluntly.

I noted that she seemed to have stopped shivering. Her cold/condition/sickness looked like it was mostly gone by now. "Feeling better?"

She sat on the tiled floor and nodded without answering.

"It's only 'because you helped us, Felix." Leo told me. I didn't have to look at Soren to know that she was scowling.

I flushed slightly. "I'm sure you guys would've figured something out."

"Sure, sure." he said around another mouthful of toast. "But she wouldn't have recovered so quickly." He poked his head over the edge of the table to stare pointedly at Soren. "And she's thankful for that. Right, Soren?"

When I glanced at her, she was looking away, and seemed to be ignoring the both of us.

"Right." Leo said, answering for her. I heard a huff from her, and he rolled his eyes. "Don't mind her, she finds it hard to say thank you."

"I'd highly appreciate it if you didn't give out my personal information to everyone, Leonith." Soren said stiffly.

"She never says sorry, either." He ignored the glare she sent his way at the statement.

"I only say it when I believe I was wrong." Soren said.

"Which is, like, never."

"Because I have confidence in my actions."

"A bit too much, huh?"

"What was that?"

"Nothin'."

"It certainly sounded like something-"

I half tuned the argument and focused on my eggs in front of me. I found out pretty quickly that the two seemed to argue fairly often, and usually there wasn't much I could do other than wait it out. I probably shouldn't step in unless it gets physical, which I'm sure that Soren wouldn't do at the moment.

I glanced at the clock and got up. Six fifty-two. I'd have to get dressed, and prepare a bag. 'And do something about the bedhead.' I thought as I ran a hand through my hair and it got stuck again.

Neither of them seemed to notice me when I strode out of the kitchen with a fourth cup of coffee in my hands. I could still hear them arguing while I changed, but at some point while I was lacing up a pair of sneakers, it died down.

"Okay," I murmured to myself. "Clean underwear, yeah." Very important, that. "Deodorant. Check. Brushed hair." I ran a hand through my hair again, and was satisfied to feel no tangles. "Check. Notebook, wallet, phone?" I did a doubletake and realized that my bag was still on my bed. Oops. I went back to pick it up and double-checked on my underwear. You'd never guess what I can forget in the morning.

Once, I'd actually gotten on the bus to school while wearing a pair of bunny slippers. On the only day I'd actually worn them, too.

Thankfully my underwear had been changed. I checked the bag and found the essentials, everything but my phone. I recalled that I'd left it in the kitchen.

When I passed through the living room, I spotted Soren lying on the sofa, still looking rather miffed.

I stopped halfway through the room and her orange-eyed gaze fell on me. I gave her a small smile at the stare. "You feeling alright, Soren?"

She stared at me for a moment longer before looking away, now staring at something else. "Much better." she said quietly. Her next words were so muted that I nearly missed them. "… Thank you."

I felt my eyebrows rise in surprise. "Um, you're welcome?"

Her eyes latched back onto mine. "What for?"

"You just said-"

"I said what?" she cut me off, irritation creeping into her voice.

"… Uh, nothing." I scratched the back of my neck. Wasn't I supposed to go do something?

"… Well, you're obviously going to be staying home. You know where everything is?" I asked, hoping to skim over the awkward moment.

"Yes. Don't worry yourself." she replied shortly. "… Don't you have a job to get to?"

"Yeah, just… I'll go now." I finished when she continued staring at me. Don't blame me, that gaze was impossibly intense. I felt like she was constantly scrutinizing me. Looking for what, I don't know.

I quickly stepped into the kitchen and picked up my phone from the table and slipped it into my shoulder bag. I almost didn't notice Leo standing on the counter.

When I heard a small *ahem*, I fully realized that he was waiting for me. I turned to him, and briefly wondered if I could get away with a fifth cup of coffee. "Yeah Leo?"

"Well Felix, I was just wondering…"

A\N: If anyone can catch the reference in the second part of Leo's big scoop speech, I'll give them a cookie.

ANd stay tuned, because I feel like posting another chapter tonight.