"I'm betting you guys that it was a sort of government experiment."
Cynthia's eyes didn't even left the day's duties, scanning for anything she may have missed, but her voice still held exasperation and slight annoyance.
"...Flint, please, it's been two months since I returned, nothing happened, I'm fine, can't you just let it go? I'd like to return to my normal life."
"No no, hear me out!" continued the fire specialist, energetically putting his hands on the table to lean on it: "They experimented with your brain, maybe some whacky stuff like long-distance mind control, so that they can keep an eye on you and use you as their pawn in politics! Next thing we know, you'll be ruling Sinnoh with an iron fist….or maybe you'll just turn into a Kadabra. Who knows?"
"Whoah, you serious man?!" chimed in Aaron, gaping at the colleague.
Cynthia stifled a groan, rolling her eyes, and finally put her papers down to throw a killer look at Flint. Ever since the man had read Kanto's articles about a kid having turned into a Kadabra and finding out about the government being manipulated by Team Rocket to committ all sorts of crimes and scientific experiments, he wouldn't stop pestering her with his "theories".
She made a mental note to never talk about international affairs with him ever again.
Or maybe to not even talk to him at all, if he kept at it.
Luckily, Bertha walked in with her delicious home-made cookies, and immediately Aaron and Flint raced to claim dibs.
"Cynthia, dear," Bertha's voice called, and the Champion turned to her with a smile.
"Today's been pretty slow, and there's nothing left to do, why don't you go home a bit early?"
The blonde woman glanced around the room, as if to make sure everything was alright: "...You sure?"
"Very sure," smiled the older lady: "plus, it's only 40 minutes to closing time, so it's not a big deal darling."
"Don't worry, Cynthia, if an unscheduled challenger comes by we'll make sure they won't manage to get to your room." added Lucian, still immersed in a novel.
Cynthia nodded, mostly to herself: "Well then...if you're so sure, I'll be on my way. See you tomorrow!"
If there was a thing the Sinnoh Champion didn't do often, was leaving work early; if anything, as duty-driven as she was, she left later than others. Her heels clacked awkwardly in the still semi-populated hallways, and she left a last glance at the League building before grabbing Garchomp's Pokeball.
...those four were still worrying too much. She wondered when things would completely go back to normalcy. But the young woman didn't have time to ponder on it, that she heard someone calling her name in the distance.
Squinting her eyes, she could make out a formally-dressed man with steel-blue hair.
Oh.
"Steven," she greeted him with a smile, half surprised, half amused, but overall very happy, as he finally reached her and rested his hands on his knees, still panting from the run.
"I...phew...thought you wouldn't be done for at least half an hour…!" started Steven between ragged breaths.
"Oh, and why would Hoenn's Champion grace Sinnoh, and specifically me, with his presence~?" playfully inquired Cynthia, crossing her arms and cocking her head in amusement.
"Ah, please, now you're starting to mock me like Wallace does!" remarked the man equally playfully.
"Dear Arceus, how could dare I plagiarize that most glorious Sootopolitan…!"
The two looked at each other for a second, and burst out laughing.
"But, in all seriousness Steven, why are you here? Why looking for me? It's not like Hoenn is just around the corner..."
Steven looked at her with fond eyes.
"Well, I was hoping to walk you home, have a nice chat while we were at it."
Cynthia sighed. She had hoped he'd stop worrying about her...she almost felt guilt coming back with a vengeance.
"...and then, last time I visited Sinnoh I was in quite a hurry, I was hoping you'd give me a tour~?"
Almost.
"And what about your job as Champion, Steven?"
"Nah, left Wallace in temporary charge as usual, no worries!"
"As usual."
Cynthia dearly cared for Steven and liked him, sure, he was one of her best friends -and maybe your special someone, Mars seemed to giggle in her head- but Arceus knew how much it annoyed her how absolutely carefree the guy could be.
Maybe it was her fault to think so, as duty-immersed as she had always been -why, you have every right, you had to mature up so prematurely, while he always had daddy to back him up, seethed Jupiter this time, but she was quick to shush her into oblivion. She loved her friend and respected him. The bad gossip about him was none of her concern. And she definetely wasn't jealous.
She looked back up at Steven with an amused smile: "You know, I really hope Wallace ends up painting the Champion Room blue again like that time, maybe that'll make you learn."
The young man's face was suddenly flooded with embarassment, and Cynthia laughed lightly, giving him a playful pat on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'll be happy to show you around! Not to brag, but I'm quite sure to be one of the people who knows Sinnoh very well." finally nodded Cynthia, sincerely smiling at him: "Say, where have you booked an hotel room? Or did you buy a private villa for as long as you'll stay here? It would be my pleasure to fly you there."
"Well," started Steven, suddenly a bit nervous: "I do admit this visit of mine has been quite in haste, I haven't...thoroughly planned my stay." He was looking down in embarassment as he said so, slightly scratching the back of his head, and shyly met her gaze again only as he went silent, smiling in that adorable yet charming way that sent Butterfrees wild in Cynthia's stomach.
She reassuringly put a hand on his shoulder, smiling while blurting out of insticting an offer she didn't really think about: "Forget about finding a hotel, you can stay at my home for tonight, the sun is already setting. We'll think of the place most suitable to you tomorrow. And then, I'd love to have you around some."
Steven seemingly found some confidence back, as he grinned at her, holding her hand: "Thanks Cynthia, I'd love that."
But, as it turned out, Cynthia definitely didn't think about what she had just offered.
After a stop with Steven at a restaurant for dinner and a short stroll, the Champion of Sinnoh barely had time to open the door that she could hear the voice of a certain irked vampire: "It was about time Cynthia, where were you gone? Jupiter told me you were going off work earlier, and you should have expected I'd be here today, seeing yesterday I didn't-"
"Sorry if I have a life," hastily cut him off Cynthia: "and tell Jupiter to stop being a stalker, for Arceus' sake!"
"Is everything ok, Cyn? If you were expecting someone else already, I can just go find a hotel..." chimed in Steven, torn between stepping back and trying to peek inside Cynthia's house.
Cynthia opened the entrance door as wide as possible, so that Cyrus and Steven could look at each other: "No, no, it's everything alright Steven, Cyrus was just about to go."
The two men stared at each other, both feeling a tinge of jealousy at each other's presence; but only one of them cared enough to acknowledge the feeling and admit it.
It was Steven the first to move, stepping towards the other man while holding out his hand: "I'm Steven Stone, a close friend of Cynthia. Pleased to meet you."
Cyrus narrowed his eyes at him, but completely ignored the younger man and turned to Cynthia instead: "You'll hear of me later. But know I am not pleased by this, Cynthia."
"Oh well, too bad, because it's my house and I decide who comes in and who doesn't, you didn't have the right to come in without telling me to begin with." remarked her, harshly posing her hands on her hips.
Cyrus was about to get out, and lingered to the young woman's side just a moment enough to faintly whisper: "Then lock better your windows, it's as if you always leave them open for me."
Cynthia slightly blushed, feeling her blood rushing because of his presence -dearArceushe'ssonearmyneck, justhavehimbitemealready-, but she steeled herself, dryly bidding him a good night.
With a sigh and trying to compose herself, the young woman closed the door. Maybe, she didn't have to be so harsh; afterall, Cyrus was right, he had freedom to come and go just because she allowed him so. Heck, she felt awful about it, but many times it was even Cynthia herself to demand him to visit more, her own thirst for his bites becoming unbearable. But no, she mentally scolded herself, that doesn't mean he can be so arrogant about the matter, as if he owned the place. Yes, she was right to be that clear with him. ...Maybe.
The Champion snapped back to reality, realizing her colleague and friend was awkwardly looking at her, unsure on what to say or do. She knew Steven would have probably wanted to ask about Cyrus, but he was too polite to do so.
Cynthia warmly smiled at him: "He was just a close friend, he has a bit of a habit to come home whenever he wants. I really shouldn't have given him my keys...guess I was kind of paranoid back then about my safety that I didn't really thought that thoroughly, ahah..." she clasped her hands together, wondering if the quickly-made excuse was believable enough.
She quickly motioned to the living room: "But nevermind that! He's just a grumpy, strange friend, I'm sorry for his lack of manners. Please do come in, and make yourself at home!"
Steven simply nodded with a small smile, and followed Cynthia's gesture, the layout of her home familiar to him by now. The woman let out Garchomp from her Pokeball, the sand dragon stretching as soon as she was out and then casting a puzzled gaze on Steven.
"He'll stay for the night," explained Cynthia: "but even if you know him well, no rough play ok? I'd like this to be relaxing for Steven."
Garchomp groaned in response, and affectionately butted her head against Steven's shoulder, who laughed but still massaged the sore spot from the playful bump.
The Hoenn's Champion followed Cynthia's example, and Metagross was let out of his confinement as well, joining Garchomp on the backyard to do some friendly wrestling as usual.
Cynthia peeked at them from the sliding glass door, smiling as Metagross lifted Garchomp with his psychic powers and tickled her belly.
"Looks like they're having fun," hummed Steven, suddenly at her side. Cynthia was used to it and didn't even flinch, just nodding with a hum of her own.
"One of these days we should have a friendly match." suddenly added the blonde shooting a side glance and a grin at him: "I hope you haven't been out of practice with the whole 'I'll-leave-for-vacation-since-my-bffl-covers-me' thing, or I'll kick your ass."
Steven grinned back at her: "Such mean words from such a fine lady, but don't expect any chivalry from me then!"
The two shared a laugh, and Cynthia found herself resting her head on Steven's shoulder. The man started scratching his head, pretending not to notice, while she smiled and looked away. It was kinda cute how he acted like a schoolboy with a crush when they happened to get close. Did that mean he really had feelings for her..?
She mentally went back to her talks with Mars, and how she kept insisting they should start dating. Cynthia blushed at the thought, and pushed it away.
She couldn't afford the luxury of romance, not with her questionable relationship with a vampire. Until she sorted out things with Cyrus, she couldn't do that to Steven.
It would feel dirty, like cheating; there wasn't anything between her and Cyrus, but the bites still felt as something very intimate, something she wouldn't want to share with the vampire if she was already dating someone.
Cynthia slightly shook her head and mentally scolded herself; she was going ahead of things, overthinking as usual, and it would only harm her -no, them- now. Steven was just a close friend, and all she had to do was pushing silly, complicated thoughts aside, and just enjoy the time with him.
"Up for some ice-cream before going to sleep?" inquired the blonde with a smile.
"Only if you've got some Rocky Road," replied Steven with a smile even brighter.
Steven sighed at the phone, unable to sleep. He couldn't help it, every time he followed Wallace's relationship advices, he felt somehow bad about it. He loved his best friend, but the way to go with people was something they were so different about, they could never understand each other. Steven tried to think it as a way to 'complete each other' like every cheesy friendship says, but truth was sometimes he even resented Wallace for how he was with people.
He sent another message Wallace's way.
Steven: idk, I still feel bad about it somehow
The reply was instant.
Wallace: why?
Steven: well, it was like you said, as soon as I mentioned I forgot to find a place for the night she immediately offered her home
Wallace: ...and?
Steven: and I still feel like I pushed myself on her, idk. I shouldn't be here, and it's not believable to just set off and "forget" to book a room or smth
Wallace: my air-headed friend, it's not that unbelievable since the only thing you can focus on is OMG ROcKS
Steven: that's not true! it's just that they are fascinating, ok?
Steven: and pretty
Steven: and interesting
Wallace: ok, stop it. See what I meant?
Wallace: in any case, she was the one to offer her home, right? You didn't suggest it or anything yeah?
Steven: well, yes
Steven: she even said I can stay as long as I wish
Wallace: then, I was right again! Why worry so much?
Steven: idk, it's not how I usually act
Wallace: and that's the reason why you're still single, and I have a heap of fangirls~
Steven: you know I can screenshot this and send it to Winona, right?
Wallace: ...you're right, I don't like this new Steven
Wallace: but still, good luck with Cynthia! You're Hoenn's dreamboat, I don't see why your charm wouldn't work on Sinnoh ladies as well~
Steven: because Cynthia is not one to fall just for looks?
Wallace: when you're this glorious, looks are more than enough
Steven: *facepalms
Steven: ok, you better go gloriously to sleep
Wallace: you don't appreciate real beauty and charm
Wallace: but goodnight then, I guess you need rest considering the interesting day you have ahead of you~
Steven: sTOP THAT
Wallace: I'm only cheering for you!
Steven: yeah, g'night Wall
Wallace: goodnight...I bet Cynthia's bed is very comfy ;)
Steven groaned and almost threw his phone on the nightstand. Why did Wallace have to be always so inappropriate?! Trying to think of something else to drift to sleep, he suddenly noticed something.
He could hear strange sounds from Cynthia's room.
Cynthia almost growled, as if failing to contain the growing anger she had towards him -and herself-.
"It's all your fault," whispered Cyrus as his fangs inched towards her neck: "I wasn't the one to ask for this so frequently, and now you've got me in a vicious habit."
"Why would you do this? I've told you to stay out tonight!" hissed Cynthia, trying to keep her voice low.
"Simply because, I am hungry. And..." he trailed off, looking at the wall dividing Cynthia's room from the guestroom, but didn't add anything else. The young woman was about to ask him what was he going to say, but the vampire trailed his tongue on the milky skin of her neck, and she stifled a moan.
"Don't," whispered him again, as he held her hands against the bed so that she couldn't cover her mouth or resist him: "let him hear, let him hear that you're mine and how you beg me,"
He kept nibbling and licking at those he by now knew were her weak spots, enjoying her struggle and patiently waiting for her to lose it and just plead to be bitten.
Cynthia was oversensitive by now, and everything Cyrus did to her felt overwhelming; but there was something else that kept her mouth shut, a certain darkness in his eyes. He had never been this possessive of her, and she was starting to be scared.
Was he jealous of Steven? Why?
"You're being childish now," she managed to say, not without a gasp: "let Steven out of this, he's just a friend...!"
"This is not about that imbecile" dryly replied Cyrus.
Cynthia narrowed her eyes at that, and found the strength to roll over and top him, leaving the vampire momentarily frozen by surprise.
"Stop lying to me, you never acted like this and oh, coincidentally he shows up and you go all aggressive-possessive! What's wrong with you?!" trying to keep her voice low was taking all her self-control, so she decided to avoid names just in case.
Cyrus felt something, emotions that shouldn't exist and which he tried so hard to wipe away, and he almost lost control: "You kicked me out for that idiot! One second you cuddle up to me and ask to see me more often, the other you harshly tell me to essentially fuck off, what do you even want from me?"
"That's not an excuse for you to be so aggressive!" she managed to blurt out, but in a matter of seconds the weight of his words sunk in, and she literally fell under them, lying at his side and feeling horrible about herself.
He was right. Were she in Cyrus' shoes, she would definitely have felt angry and hurt as well. Sure, she wasn't as aggressive as he showed to be -and it scared her, he had always been eerily calm-, but the way Cyrus put it definitely made it sound like she was playing around with him. It was awful, the feeling of having unintentionally hurt someone you cared for.
Wait, when did she start caring for him?
"I'm sorry," she said in a soft whisper, knowing well how cliché and pathetic she was sounding, but hoping it would still somehow convey how she felt: "I'm so sorry, you're right. I shouldn't have talked you that way, you had to go, but I told you so in the wrong way. It's just-" she paused, looking at the empty air: "you're part of my life and you're not at the same time. It's like I have a double life, one with my work, my friends and family, and then another with vampires and friendly talking bats. And I don't know, I don't know how to harmonize things together, it's just too surreal and I don't want others to know you exist- no, not you, that a vampire exists."
Cyrus blankly stared at the ceiling, and suddenly sighed, covering his face with an arm. Of course, she didn't want others to know. Just like the first time he met her, the monstrous nature of his current being hit him, but this time the force was tenfold.
He couldn't be, could never be, part of her world. And he thought it was alright, because he hated that sinful world and he had wanted, still wanted, to leave it forever and create one made of perfection; but he didn't feel alright, he felt rejected, he felt different, and remembered, remembered how people had never wanted anything to do with him even before he became a monster.
He had always been different to others, no matter if human, god or vampire, and it hurt.
It shouldn't hurt though, wouldn't it be better not to hurt? And again, in a mere matter of seconds he had remembered his whole life of hurt and reject, but also his decision to never be hurt again; yes, he had proof once again that feelings were more harm than good.
Cyrus was going to tell her how it would have been better to just never see each other again, or at least have their visits strictly for just feeding, but Cynthia was worried by his long silence, by the way he hid his face, and suddenly hugged him.
"I don't care what you are," she started, still afraid to look at him though: "but I do care about you. This world isn't ready to know you for what you are, but I am. The reason I don't want others to know of you is because, were they to know you're a vampire, they would hurt you, they wouldn't understand. But we'll make this work, I promise."
And then, looking up at him: "You're important to me now."
Cyrus was breathless, and for the first time in his life, he didn't know what to think. He was confused, now staring back at her, but his eyes were as blank as his mind.
"Stop this," he muttered, closing his eyes and tangling a hand in his hair: "stop saying such things only to fool with me later,"
"I would never," she said reassuringly, tying her hands between his to slowly let him go of his own hair, and letting her hands caress them instead.
"But you did, today." the reply was so low he almost wasn't heard.
"I would never intentionally; I know I've been wrong, and I'm sorry for it"
Cyrus looked at her again and she decided it was time to drop the sad mood, playfully saying: "And to think as soon as you were gone I told Steven you are a close friend, the only one with my house keys..!"
"You did?"
"I did."
"Only to have a non-vampire excuse on why I was here"
"It's the truth, though!"
The vampire closed his eyes. A close friend. Nobody had ever referred to him as such, not even Saturn, Mars and Jupiter.
Without a word, he softly caressed her neck, as if to wipe away the small bites he gave her earlier, and kissed its skin, finally biting into her.
A surprised moan escaped her lips, and as soon as her blood trickled inside him he felt her sincerity with it.
That blood warmed him more than anything had in his life.
When he was done shortly after, Cynthia was already sleepy, fighting to keep her eyes open. "Will you forgive me?" she muttered, her sleepy voice sounding much softer than usual, almost pleading.
"I suppose I could consider that," replied Cyrus with a slight smirk on his lips, and he shifted in the bed into a more comfortable position. Cynthia still caught notice of that, and playfully shoved him away.
"I don't let friends in my bed, sorry~"
Cyrus seemed to miss her innuendo and just nodded, starting to pull himself up.
"But," she added, stifling a yawn: "you can stay until I fall asleep, if you wish."
He laid by her side for what felt like an eternity, and only once Cynthia was deep into sleep did he caress her hair and cheek.
The vampire stared at the sleeping woman for another while, hand still cupping her cheek with what others would call fondness, before disappearing into the night.
A/N: Can you tell I'm not used to romance at all? I've got zero experience with it and it's been a looong while since I've read or watched anything primarily romantic (my favorite genre is horror), so anything I try to write about it turns out awkward and cheesy...I think I may be better at regular angst, rather than petty teens-in-love level angst xD (this is also the reason why this was 90% completed since a while and I never posted it-it was never good enough to be finalized, still isn't, but I'm sick of trying to reach perfection for a silly fanfic, I draw for a living, not write xD)
But yeah, I'm finally bringing in more of Steven to the story! Even tho I'm totally bias, this is supposed to become a love triangle afterall! *evil laugh*
Thanks to anyone reading! Your support is what keeps me trying to write faster and not end up with only one-two chapters done within an year, so thank you very much! I hope to become better so that I can give you an even more worthwhile read!