"You know, I'm actually really glad you took a year off. It was nice having you around for a bit longer," George's voice is even, but a tightness of the chest refuses to abate as he wheels an oversized suitcase behind him through a large dirt field.
An orange roof glares bright at them under a strong sun, a neon splash of color against a mountainous green backdrop. "Pokémon Technical Institute" speeds past the pair's periphery as they make their way up to the expansive building.
"Yeah, it was nice, huh?" Evan, not toting a thing, follows behind to a set of stairs. Climbing two flights, the duo exits to a long hall, and George puffs a bit in exertion as they reach a door labeled "114".
"At least I'm still in Kanto though, right?"
"Yeah. At least there's that." The father turns a silver knob, revealing a dim, seven-by-eight dorm sporting a single extra-long twin. George flicks a switch and an ancient bulb springs to half life, providing minor illumination support to a blind-covered window. Across the cramped space a black desk scrunches in with a matching dresser, their sides touching. The chipping veneer gives away the furniture's origin as I-Cacnea.
"You might have to leave the suitcase by the door, Dad." A grimace. "I can just unpack it when you leave."
"Nonsense!" The older man ushers the younger one ahead, despite having gotten to the room first.
Evan shuffles in, crawling over the frame of the bed to settle on the plastic-sheathed mattress. Hoping for more light, he pulls a string down and right, stacking slats up with a clack-clack-clack. Sunbeams stream in, adding more clarity to the dwelling and highlighting a fog across the pane of glass.
"Aluminum! That'll leak for sure when it rains! Where the heck is tuition and board going at this 'elite school' if they can't even buy good-sealing windows?!" the man huffs, intently focused on the distraction.
"It's not so bad. I can just pull the bed back from the wall if that happens."
"Where? There's hardly any space between you and the dresser as it is." Bristling, the empty-nester lays the luggage still clasped in his hand on its back. Crouching on the floor next to it, the sleeve is unzipped with hurried, jerky motions. It catches with the haste, eliciting a soft curse from George. Tcht-tcht-tcht. The snag refuses to budge. Tcht-tcht-tcht. Nothing.TCHT-TCHT-TCHT.
A hand settles on the zipper-defiler's shoulder, stilling him as tears well up beneath grey-touched bangs.
"I thought you were supposed to drop me so that Mom wouldn't have to cry in public?" The words are lightly teasing as the son tilts his head to the side.
"And she didn't have to, now did she?" The tone is playful, if a bit broken.
Squatting next to his strongest supporter, Evan draws the emotional father into a tight hug.
"I love you too."
Chapter Notes:
-It was really hard trying to come up with reasonable schooling ideas outside of Trainer schools, since those are for young kids. I finally settled on Pokémon Technical Institute because it is a private school in the middle of nowhere and looks like a college campus.
-I could only think of Cacnea as rhyming with Ikea and still being a plant type. In a funny way though, just as Cacnea does very little plant things, it seems a great fit for a company that makes furniture that is in no way traditional.
-Yes, I know my story is all fluff. I guarantee the next one is going to be entirely different. Night and day, really.
-The chapter title references how George is very much a parent. Kangaskhan is the parent Pokemon. I thought about a bird for the empty nester syndrome, but decided against it.