And now for another blast to the past before we return to the current timeline...
June, 1963…
Marcellus half-heartedly listens to his kindly older boss, who has been droning on for the past few minutes about his and the wife's newest investment idea. The entire point behind the coffee/tea house's design is that it is comfy and meant to make customers feel at home. Rather than wait to be served or having to flag someone down, it is their idea to provide customers who are enjoying warm tea a press at their table. This way they can more easily control when they want a refill, and they can make the taste suitable to their individual preferences. They would charge by leaf amount, not by cup. This way they could also buy tea unpacked and in bulk, which would cost less money. If it all works out, they could go further and use coffee presses as well.
While all of this would normally be interesting to the man who has been leaning towards studying business, the young server has his attention on something else. He's probably completely obvious, but she hasn't said anything. Then again, finals week is upon them all, and that means even the laziest of students has his or her nose buried in textbooks. That's what he would be doing if he didn't have to take this extra shift. The young woman he works with had to rush out to take her little brother to get medical treatment after he was attacked by a small group of spearows. Marcellus has met the boy before, and although he does not like to see children injured, he can picture exactly what happened to set the Pokémon off. Regardless, he answered the call of his generous employer, packed his books for his lunch break, and headed down.
When he got here, he realized it was going to be a slow day. The place was nearly deserted, and when he walks into the shop like that, it always seems to stay that way. While school may still be in session for another week, many people have fled the city in this second week of June due to the Indigo League. People either attend in person or go stay with friends and family to view on the latest technology of the time. Sometimes his manager will let him sit and do schoolwork on days like this, but today he is excited about that business plan. Besides, Marcellus wouldn't get much done anyway.
Two months ago, Samuel made only his second new friend since entering Celadon University. He was evasive about it at first, not wanting to tell his best friend what was up. Marcellus only found out by accident when Sam slipped up and said her name. After much grilling, he was forced to tell. Immediately he was teased about it, which is exactly why he didn't want to say anything. Marcellus insisted on being introduced, which Sam said was a bad idea. When he inquired, it was revealed that she had no interest in meeting or ever talking to him.
His pride wounded, Marcellus asked why that was, and it of course had to do with his family and background. Many people avoided his friendship because of his father's business, but her rejection of him was extra stinging, even though he had never met her himself. The only time he saw her was that moment in the quad when he half-heartedly said she must have entitlement issues. He vowed to himself to get her to like him so they could be a trio of sorts. If Sam found something redeeming about her, then Marcellus wanted to know what it was. So far, though, he has been unsuccessful.
"My boy, are you even listening?" Marcellus is suddenly snapped out of his thoughts, and he looks at Edgar. The graying man is frowning, something unusual for him. The expression highlights his age lines, especially around his gray eyes.
"Yeah, sorry." Just as suddenly as the older one getting harsh does he let it go and smile softly. Marcellus has no idea why.
"Go give her a refill. It'll give you an excuse to talk to her." And now he gets it.
"No, no, you have it wrong-"
"I'm sure I do." With that, he turns on his heels and walks around the counter, heading into the back room. Marcellus watches for a few seconds, kind of annoyed at being pegged that way. He just wants to prove he is a likable guy to someone with a reputation for hating everyone. Even still, he decides to listen to the old man.
After preparing another simple cup of coffee, he takes it over and sets it down. He knows it will be satisfactory (as with many customers, he has memorized her usual- the darkest roast they have that day with exactly one and a half ounces of whole milk and two teaspoons of unprocessed sugar). He could take the empty cup and just walk away, but he wants to stick to his original plan.
"So what's your next final?" he starts simply.
"Why do you care?"
"I'm just curious, that's all. Can't I make casual conversation?"
"Not with me."
"Someone's grouchy."
"Go away."
It being obvious he isn't going to get anywhere right now, he decides to listen to her. He grabs the empty cup and heads back to the counter to set it with the other dishes that need to be cleaned. He could start on those and save himself from the work later on after the place is closed, but he would rather sit and plot some more. There has to be some way he can find an in with her. Everyone else likes him. He has a reputation for being charming and approachable. Ever since he was a boy, he had no trouble making friends. Aside from his family's wealth being a motivating factor for some, people are just drawn to his personality. But not her. And it bugs him though he wishes it didn't. Because it bothers him so much, he will keep trying.
While he is spacing out again watching her, the phone rings in the background. Normally he would rush to answer it, but he is so lost in his own head that his boss has to emerge from the back to pick it up. The person on the other end asks for Marcellus himself, so the older man sets the phone, walks over to his spaced-out employee, and lets him know he has a call. Shaking his head, he snaps himself out of it and goes to answer the phone.
The person on the other side doesn't sound familiar when he asks if he is speaking to Marcellus Hakubi. After an affirmative, the man gets to the point. He is listed as one Samuel Oak's main contact in case of emergency (despite the man coming from a strong family), and something has happened. The breath caught in his throat, he remembers that while all of the undergrads and even some grad students are frantically preparing for finals, Sam went off on a short four-day expedition to the Seafoam Islands to meet with one Professor Westwood IV. As it is June, the weather was predicted to be calm if a bit warm. So when the unforeseen storm swept over the small island, Samuel jumped to the aid of the professor and any Pokémon who were in harm's way. That move, though noble, has resulted in him being injured to such an extent that an emergency call has been made on his behalf.
The man on the other end repeats his questions again forcing the young man to once again draw air. He wants to know if Marcellus will come as per the request of the injured researcher. He agrees right away and promises to leave as soon as possible. He also declares he will call the man's father himself and not let the news come from a stranger out of courtesy.
With the conversation over, both hang up promptly. Marcellus begins to untie his apron, and by the look of things, his kindly older boss knows something has happened to the man's best friend. He tells him simply to go and that he and his wife can handle the rest of the day. If need be, they can close up. They probably won't miss much business, anyway. He thanks him quickly and is about to bolt out the door when he remembers the young woman sitting alone and studying. Despite her disdain for him, he knows she cares about Sam, at least a little bit. He has to let her know what's going on if nothing else.
When he goes to change directions for her table, however, he finds her no longer buried in her book. Instead, she has turned around and is staring at him. She must have heard some snippets of the conversation. He comes closer, slowly now, unsure of what to say. Normally he is a man of many words so he feels useless and out of place.
"What happened, Hakubi?" she demands.
"Sam was in an accident." Although her expression does not seem to change very much, he can still see something. "A weak hurricane swept across the island, and when he was trying to help batten down the outside research station, the structure collapsed on him."
"Is he okay?"
"He's stable for now, but they're not sure of all of his injuries,"
"How can they not be sure?" she starts to get angry. He lets her stress get to him and becomes defensive.
"How should I know? I'm not a doctor. I'm barely passing my general science class." Normally, when such an opportune chance for an attack presents itself, she would not hesitate to take it. Now, though, she lets it go with nothing.
"Are you going to see him?"
"Yeah, of course. He listed me as his emergency contact for some reason."
"You're his best friend, you idiot. Of course he would list you."
"Well, I guess-"
"I'm coming," she suddenly declares. He blinks a few times.
"What?" She clenches her teeth and tries not to let out an annoyed growl.
"Did I stutter?"
"No. sorry. I just didn't expect you to want that."
"Why? He's my friend, too. Just because you've known him longer-"
"Okay, I get it," he interrupts, not wanting her to get carried away with being angry at him. "Let's go. It would be best if he woke up to friends over strangers." To speed up the process, he helps gather her things, and she actually lets him. They leave less than a minute after. Marcellus thinks about calling Sam's father as they exit through the door but decides against it until he knows more about his friend's condition. Hopefully it won't take too long to get there.
Five long and stressful hours later (much to both of their chagrin and thanks in large part to a series of unfortunate events), the not-friends are finally by Samuel's unconscious side. According to the only human doctor on the island, he did not suffer much internal trauma during the accident due to sheer luck although he was knocked out and has remained so. That is what troubles the man the most. With head injuries, it is so hard to tell until the patient wakes up, and even then, effects may not surface for some time. Aside from that, diagnosing serious brain injuries is a branch of medicine still being developed due to the lack of technology and knowledge. For now, all anyone can do is sit and wait before predicting a more set outcome.
So that is exactly what the duo does: they sit by his side in silence and wait. They wait as the afternoon wanes into the evening. They wait as the moon completely takes the sun's place. They wait as the deep night turns into the very early morning. Once it reaches 1:30 in the am, Marcellus realizes that his sort-of companion has finally given way and fallen asleep while still sitting in the same type of chair he is in. He decides to let her get the rest (he tries telling himself it's just to lessen the chances of a bad mood though this is untrue). He even wraps his coat around her shoulders loosely, noting how cold it seems in here despite them being on a tropical island in June.
Once that is done, he gets up and walks around the room to stretch his legs a bit. He never was someone who could sit still for too long. It surprises him that he has actually lasted this long in university without getting bored and wanting to skip to something new. He credits part of that to his friend, who has managed to ground him somewhat without meaning to. He even is finally considering a major in business with a side course of studies dealing with Pokémon medicine. He doesn't want to be a healer, but healthcare of any sort is always a growing field. Human medicine is what has made his family their fortune, after all. He figures he could specialize in developing or at least paying others to come up with new treatments. Maybe he could eventually rival that chain of 'woo' shops in Johto that have hoodwinked many into people things like homeopathic treatments are worthwhile. Even as a man who struggled with science, he recognizes that line of thinking to be nonsense. He's heard her make fun of the same stuff, too, when talking to Sam. He always wants to jump in and add his two cents though he has held back. She makes it no secret how much he annoys her. He'll find an in, but that's not it.
Eventually, he tires himself out of pacing and staring out the window or watching over Sam. He even sneaks some furtive glances at her, knowing that sleep is the only time she would allow such a thing. Three months ago, when he and Sam were sitting by the bell tower in between classes and they spotted her loudly making her way through the crowd of university students, he joked about her being one of those entitled jerks who thinks the world owes them everything. He doesn't think that anymore. At times, he is not sure what to think. Sam obviously sees something good about her, and Marcellus is trying though she rebuffs him at almost every turn.
With a small sigh, he looks back at his unconscious friend. His head is bandaged, making it hard to tell who is lying there, but his vital signs are all normal. At least, they don't sound any different than when the doctor told them that earlier. Perhaps that is a good sign, and he will be awake again sometime later on today. Marcellus suddenly remembers Sam's father and realizes it is too late to call. How it slipped his mind he is unsure of considering the importance, but he vows to do it when the sun rises again. Until then, he'll watch over them both. (At least, that is his intention, but he soon falls into a dreamless sleep.)
The next thing he knows, someone is shoving him awake. It startles him because it feels like he just nodded off, and he jumps from his chair in defense mode. It takes a few seconds of staring for his brain to wake up some more and process his surroundings. Sam got hurt yesterday. They called him because he was the contact. He and Minerva came down here, but the doctor had nothing to give them in terms of recovery. They both fell asleep. And now she's staring at him after having pushed his shoulder. He rubs the sleep from his eyes with his forearm.
"What time is it?"
"Almost eight." He finally notices she has something in her hand when she holds the cup out to him. He knows right away it is the stuff he usually serves to her. Grateful for the caffeine, he takes it right away and downs a big drink.
"Thanks," he says when he's done.
"You're welcome," she says simply out of manners.
"Hey, that's the first nice thing you've said to me."
"Don't get used to it." He watches her cross her arms before taking another drink and turning to check on their friend.
"Any news?"
"No. He said it might be a while." He takes in the news solemnly, wishing there was something else he could do. He remembers again that he needs to call the man's father, which he will get right on after he finishes waking up. That wasn't the only thing he said while Marcellus was still asleep, however. "He also admitted he doesn't have the expertise to deal with this nor is this place equipped to handle long-term care."
"It won't be a long term thing," he says adamantly. "Sam's a fighter though he probably doesn't look like it. When you get to know him better, you'll see." The man's optimism is secretly nice though she'll never tell him that. She is the opposite, always looking at the worst case scenario. It's better to prepare for the absolute worst than get your hopes up, only to have them crushed. "Besides, I would find the best expert I could and take him away from here."
"But that would mean taking money from your parents. I thought you hated doing that."
"That's true," he acknowledges. "But Sam's practically family. I'll do anything for the people I care about, even if that means groveling back to my parents and taking their money. I'll have to endure the same old speech about not needing a formal education here in Kanto when I can just learn the family business and take it over when my mother retires, but oh well. I learned to tune it out when I was fifteen. One more time hearing the spiel won't kill me."
"So you really don't want anything to do with the family business and money?" The concept seems so odd. Usually people of his position ride the coattails of their parents and let their lives be given to them. Why work hard if you don't have to? People like her, however, have to constantly work at it, and even then, they don't always get ahead.
"I really don't. I want to carve out my own path. It's not really living if things are so easy." He looks back at her. "Plus I appreciate that not everyone is born into the privilege I was. Why shouldn't I have to work hard alongside them?" There is not a hint of pity or condescension in his words or on his face. He is being sincere. This flies right in the face of her preconceived notions about him. Perhaps she should give him more credit.
Before either of them can say anything more, a scratchy voice tries to say his name. This immediately draws them back to their friend's side. Sam looks like he's still struggling to wake up and make sense of things.
"Hey, Sammy. How are you feeling?"
"Been better," he struggles to get out, mostly due to a really dry mouth. Marcellus realizes he should probably help the man out, but he is beaten to the act by her. The doctor left a pitcher, a couple of cups, and some straws in the event any of them wanted water. She brings it close enough for him to take a few small sips. This helps tremendously, and he manages to get out a thank you. He also tries to sit up a bit, but Marcellus protests.
"Don't try and move too much there. You were hurt kind of bad yesterday."
"It was just yesterday?"
"Yeah. What were you thinking, not taking cover when things started to get rough?"
"I was thinking about the Pokémon."
"Yeah, well, you could have been hurt a lot worse," she adds, finally chiming into the conversation.
"Didn't know you cared so much," he teases, already feeling a little better. She rolls her eyes, causing him to chuckle lightly, which then causes him to wince in pain.
"Serves you right."
"Oh, come on, be nice to me. I could have died." The looks he gets from both of them clearly says 'not funny', and he feels bad for joking about that. They've probably been very worried about him. He decides to cool it with the jokes about his misfortune although he does suddenly realize he woke up to them not arguing for once. He can at least tease them about that. "Guess it took me getting hurt to finally get you two in the same room without her tearing you to shreds." Marcellus appreciates the humor and decides to joke back, but she is not amused.
"You're right. Maybe you should get into dire situations more often. I kind of like spending time with her as long as she's being a normal human being."
"Idiot," she says, shoving him to try and play off the embarrassment. "Since you two are being stupid, I'll go get the doctor."
With that, she leaves the two guys alone. They share an amused glance with each other but quickly get serious again.
"Seriously, though, Sam. You need to be more careful. I can't lose my best friend, and even though she won't admit anything, it would bad for her, too." He agrees quietly. "Besides, you still have to show up your brothers and make your dad proud. Then there's all of that research you need to do and people you have to teach. You have a long road ahead, buddy. Wouldn't want to disappoint anyone."
"Alright, point taken."
"Good."
"Speaking of my dad, does he know?" Marcellus' good humor bursts when he realizes he still has not called the man.
"Shoot, no. I'll be right back." He scurries out of the room quickly, leaving his prized coffee and friend behind. Even though it hurts, Sam lets himself laugh again. Yes, he suffered injuries that he'll likely spend at least the next few weeks recovering from, but it's also shown him something else. He has good friends, and that means more to him in this moment than any of the things Marcellus was listing off. Yes, he's driven to reach his goals, but sometimes, he needs to be reminded that the most important measurement in one's life are the connections you make with people and the ways your life touches theirs. Hopefully they have many years to come together, he thinks as he closes his eyes and relaxes into the pillow.
TBC...
