The walk back the the apartment had been pretty relaxing. Gardevoir had held on to Brennan the whole way there. He wasn't bothered by it. He was just glad she was starting to feel more comfortable around him and his Pokémon.
The group got to the outside of the apartment and Brennan had to break away from Gardevoir's hand to unlock the door. She didn't really like that too much.
"It's okay, Gardevoir, I'm just unlocking the door." Brennan said, trying to reassure her. Gardevoir nodded.
Brennan unlocked the door and pushed it open before stepping aside.
"Home sweet home." Brennan said, motioning for his Pokémon to enter. They did, leaving Brennan and Gardevoir standing outside. "Come on, I'll show you around." He said. Gardevoir nodded again before slowing stepping inside, looking around as she did.
Brennan followed her in and shut the door behind them.
"So... it's not much, but we make do, right guys?" Brennan said as he looked towards his Pokémon, who were already lounging around.
"Blaziken." Blaziken replied absentmindedly as he flipped the tv on, the others just nodded. Brennan rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, they're...uh-unique." Brennan said with an embarrassed chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck. Gardevoir looked at the group, before looking back at Brennan. He could tell she felt somewhat uncomfortable, so he knew he had to change that. "Anyway, why don't I show you around." He said.
"Gardevoir." Gardevoir replied. Brennan smiled.
"Alright, so this is the living room. Obviously. Pretty much if you want to be lazy, this is the room to do it in. Just ask Blaziken." Brennan said.
"Blaziken..." Blaziken said, again absentmindedly.
Gardevoir stood there looking around. The one thing that caught her eyes was the tv. Of course. Brennan couldn't help but chuckle as she hovered there watching whatever cartoon the others had on.
"Yeah, trying to get the remote away from them is kinda tough, but it is possible." Brennan said, once again getting Gardevoir's attention.
"Gardevoir." Gardevoir said before turning and focusing on the others. Brennan was confused by what she was doing, but she quickly made him understand.
Using her psychic engery, Gardevoir lifted the remote out of Blaziken's hand and pulled it over to her and Brennan.
"Blaziken?!" Blaziken exclaimed. Brennan broke out into laughter once Gardevoir caught the remote and went to hand it to him.
"You make it look so easy." Brennan said through laughter as he took the remote from her.
"Gardevoir." Gardevoir said, a small smile creeping onto her face. She didn't really see the humor that Brennan did, but seeing him happy made it up to her.
While Brennan stood there laughing, Blaziken got up, stormed over to him, and yanked the remote out of his hand.
"Blaziken." Blaziken said, before flashing Gardevoir an annoyed glance, and making his way back over to the couch.
Brennan watched him drop back down on it, this time sitting on the remote before be did.
"Champ?!" Machamp exclaimed, as he threw his arms out. He was mad that the remote was going to smell like Blaziken butt now.
"Blaziken!" Blaziken exclaimed as he pointed at Gardevoir.
Brennan just chuckled again as he shook his head.
"How about we move on with the tour?" He said curiously, as he looked back at Gardevoir. She nodded.
Brennan motioned for her to follow, and led her into the kitchen. When they walked into the room, she started looking around.
"This is the kitchen. Uh... we aren't stacked with food... but we have enough to keep us going." Brennan said. "Plates, cups, and bowls are in the cabinets. Canned stuff is in the pantry over there. And whatever we have that needs to stay frozen is obviously in the fridge and freezer." He explained, as he watched Gardevoir observantly walk around the kitchen.
She pulled open one of the cabinets and looked at the stack of plates and lines of cups and bowls. She wasn't so far away from standard living that she didn't know what they were, she had just never used any herself before.
She carefully closed the cabinet back and continued looking around at everything. Brennan stood in the doorway watching, not wanting to interrupt her. He was going to give her as much time as she needed to get used to everything.
"Gardevoir?" Gardevoir asked as she pointed to a door in the back of the room.
"Oh, that's the laundry room... Or uh... laundry closet." Brennan replied as he walked past her and opened the set of sliding doors, revealing a set of white washer and dryers, along with some laundry soap and an ironing board Brennan had never even used. "Nothing too special, but hey, they wash my clothes." He continued as he shrugged. Gardevoir nodded in understandment.
Brennan pushed the white sliding doors closed, before walking back to the doorway of the kitchen. He turned back around to face Gardevoir.
"Wanna continue the tour?" He asked. Gardevoir nodded before following him out of the kitchen.
Brennan led her back through the living room, before taking her down the small hallway that connected the rest of the rooms.
"Okay, this room right her is Sandslash and Roserade's room." Brennan said as he pointed towards the first door on the right. "It's pretty small, so that's why they took it." He explained. Gardevoir nodded. "And the room right here is the bathroom." He said as he pushed the door open, revealing his somewhat small bathroom.
"Gardevoir?" Gardevoir asked. Brennan flipped the light on so she could see in the small room better.
"Yeah, it has a shower, a sink, and a toilet. The usual things you'd expect a standard bathroom of any kind to have." He replied. "You're welcome to use it whenever you need to." He said, wanting to make sure she knew she didn't have to ask permission. Gardevoir nodded again, something she had grown used to doing on this 'tour.'
After Brennan felt Gardevoir saw everything she needed to in the bathroom, he flipped the light off and led her the rest of the way down the small hallway to the back bedroom.
"And this is the master bedroom, or what my landlord calls the master bedroom." Brennan explained as he opened the door. "It's my room." He continued as he walked into the room. Gardevoir followed. "I guess it's Mightyena's room too, seeing as how he sleeps in here." He continued.
Gardevoir listened to him as she looked around the small room. She looked at his bed, and the first thing that came to her mind was "Comfy."
Brennan stood still, watching her as she slowly made her way around the room. Just like before, she was trying to take everything in, and the last thing he wanted to do was rush her and make her feel more uncomfortable than she probably already did.
"So... that pretty much everything. You can just go ahead and make yourself at home... uh- if you want to." Brennan said, before letting out a slight chuckle. Gardevoir turned to him, a smile on her face.
"Gardevoir." She said happily. Brennan couldn't help but give her a slight smile. She was obviously happy, so that was good. "Gardevoir. Gardevoir. Garde?" She asked.
She wanted to test out "The Shower", as Brennan called it. She needed the bathe.
When Gardevoir realized Brennan was a little confused by what she had asked, she floated past him and out into the hallway, where she stopped by the bathroom.
"Gardevoir?" She asked, as she pointed into the room.
"Ohhhh, the bathroom." Brennan replied, a slightly embarrassed chuckle escaping him. "Yeah, you can use it." He continued.
"Gardevoir. Garde?" Gardevoir asked. Brennan realized she probably needed help figuring something out, so he finally joined her out in the hallway.
"Sure, what's up?" He asked. Gardevoir walked into the room and pointed at the shower. "You need help turning it on?" He asked. Gardevoir nodded. "Sure, no problem." He replied as he walked into the room, flicking the light on as he did, and made his way over to the bathtub. "Alright, so here's how to get it working. The handle with the red circle on it is the hot water, the one with the blue circle on it is the cold water, and the one in the middle is to turn the shower on. To get the water to your preferred liking, you just have to mess around with it a little bit." He explained, as he showed her how to use the faucet.
He turned the water on for her, before stepping out of the way to let her mess around with it.
Gardevoir looked at him, not sure of what to do. Brennan smiled and gave her a single nod, telling her to try it.
Gardevoir understood Brennan's nod, and grabbed the knob with the red circle on it and twisted it. She slowly stuck her hand under the water that was pouring out of the faucet, quickly realizing just how hot it was.
She pulled her hand back before grabbing and twisting the knob with the blue circle on it. After, she stuck her hand back under the running water, where the perfect temperature of water was coming out. She smiled, before looking back at Brennan.
"Now, if the water is the way you want it, twist the knob in the middle to turn the shower on." Brennan explained. Gardevoir nodded, before grabbing the knob in the middle and twisting it. She was somewhat caught off guard when the water started raining down. She backed up out of the shower, as the water fell down into the tub. Brennan couldn't help but chuckle. "Are you alright?" He asked.
"Voir." Gardevoir replied, as she nodded.
"So, if you have everything the way you want it, that's pretty much it. The towel on that rack behind is clean, but if you need another one, there are some in the cabinet under the sink." Brennan said, before pointing to the sink. "Now um... can you remove your dress?! N-not like that... I m-mean do you shower naked?! W-what I'm trying to s-say is... If its possible... I c-c-can wash your dress for you." He said, stammering over his words in an uncomfortable embarrassment. He could tell that Gardevoir was slightly embarrassed by the situation too.
"Gardevoir. Garde." Gardevoir said, slightly blushing and looking down at her dress as she did. He figured that she meant she didn't have any other clothes.
"I-if you want me t-to wash it... I-I can find you something else to wear in the m-mean time." Brennan said. At this point, he was wanting to get out of there as fast as he could, to hopefully prevent embarrassing himself further. "J-just let me know." He said, before turning to quickly exit the bathroom.
He had somehow forgotten that he had left the door open, so he ended up running into it. He grabbed his forehead and stumbled backwards.
"Gardevoir?!" Gardevoir asked.
"Y-yeah, I'm good." Brennan replied with a smile as he looked back at her. He quickly turned around to exit again, but once again ended up running into the door.
"Voir?!" Gardevoir asked.
"Yeah, p-pesky door." Brennan said, before letting out an embarrassed chuckle. He was trying his best to play it off. Again, he tried to exit, and this time, ended up doing so. "I-if you need anything just holler." He said, before finally pulling the door closed.
After he was safely back in the hallway, he leaned up against the door, covered his face with his hands, and sighed. Now he felt like a perverted idiot.
•••
•••
•••
Gardevoir had stood there and watched him leave. After he was gone, she looked down at herself. She knew her dress probably did need to be washed, it hadn't been as white as it should have been in a long time.
She grabbed the shoulders of her dress and started sliding it down her body until it finally dropped to the floor. She was now standing in the trainer she had just met a week ago's bathroom completely naked.
She bent down and picked the dress up off of the floor, before folding it up, and setting it down on the toilet.
She was about to step into the shower, when she noticed her reflection in the mirror. She slowly walked over to it, and started looking herself over.
She was very petite. A whole lot more thin than a regular women. But, she also had breasts like a regular women. That's something no other Gardevoir had.
She saw the same reflection of herself that she saw in the lake. A reflection that she wasn't all too proud of.
She ran her three-fingered hands down her slender body, making sure she felt over all of her curves.
She just... didn't see beauty in herself.
Tall, slender, pale, green hair, a red spike protruding through her body, three fingers stumps for feet... what did she have to feel beautiful about?
She shook her head, wanting to push this negative attitude against herself to the back of her mind. She wanted to take a shower. Maybe she would feel better afterwards.
She stepped into the shower, and almost immediately let a soft moan escape her lips. The warm water running down her body was the best feeling she had felt in a long time. It was amazing.
She just stood there for several minutes, letting the water soak her. Relax her.
All the negative thoughts she had previously had on her mind had subsequently been forgotten.
•••
•••
•••
After Gardevoir's shower, she had dried herself and found Brennan. She wanted him to wash her dress for her.
Luckily he was in his room, so the others didn't see her walking around wrapped in nothing but a towel.
After Brennan got over his mad blushing, he took Gardevoir's dress and threw it in the washer for her.
Gardevoir sat on Brennan's bed, waiting for him to come back with something she could wear in the mean time.
"I don't have anything quite your size, but you can wear these. They'll keep you covered until your dress is clean." Brennan said as he walked back into the room and tossed Gardevoir a large shirt and a pair of basketball shorts.
Brennan left the room as she got dressed.
Gardevoir slipped into the clothes she had been given. The shirt was almost like a dress on her anyways, it went down to just above her knees. She slipped into the shorts next, but couldn't get them to stay up.
"Voir." Gardevoir called. After she did, Brennan walked back into the room. He saw she was having trouble keeping the shorts up.
He walked over to her and grabbed the white strings hanging down from them and pulled them tight, before tying them together.
"How's that?" He asked, observing the newly dressed Gardevoir.
Gardevoir looked down at herself, before slightly wiggling just to see if the shorts would stay up, they did.
"Good." Brennan said with a smile. Gardevoir smiled back and nodded.
"Gardevoir." She said, happily.
"Your dress is in the washer, it probably won't be ready for awhile." Brennan said. Gardevoir didn't really mind that, the clothes he had given her were actually pretty comfortable. "So, now if you want we can go-" he had continued, but was cut off when Gardevoir quickly moved forward and wrapped her arms around him, catching him off guard.
"Gardevoir. Garde." She said in an almost inaudible tone. She was thankful. She truly was. Brennan slowly lifted his arms around her and patted her back.
"You're welcome." He said, ignoring the fact that Gardevoir's chest spike was digging into his skin.
Gardevoir pulled away from the hug, a small blush had formed on her face, one that thankfully Brennan hadn't noticed.
"So... wanna go watch tv with the others?" Brennan asked. Gardevoir nodded. "Cool, I'll let you pick what we watch." He said with a smile. Gardevoir smiled back, before the two headed towards the living room.
•••
•••
•••
Gardevoir was still somewhat uncomfortable around the others. They didn't seem to mind her, though.
Brennan and Gardevoir had joined them in the living room, forcing Blaziken to have to sit up so they could sit down on the couch. He wasn't too thrilled about that. He was even less thrilled when Brennan told him to fork over the remote, but he obliged.
Brennan handed Gardevoir the remote and showed her how to use it.
Gardevoir started slowing surfing through the channels, getting used to using the remote as she did.
She eventually stopped on some sort of fashion show. She was sitting there watching it, mesmerized by it. The others weren't too into the show, however.
Gardevoir sat there watching, as beautiful lady after beautiful lady walked down the catwalk. Those are the women she dreamed about looking like. They were perfect.
A beautiful, tall, thin blonde woman was next on the catwalk. She wore a very tight to the body strapless silk red dress that dropped down just below her knees, and had her flowing blonde hair running like a waterfall about halfway down her back.
Brennan took a glance at Gardevoir and saw she was now somehow more invested in the show than she had been previously.
The model got to the end of the catwalk, did a few poses, and turned to walk back up it. After she had made it to the back, all of the other models made their way back down the catwalk one last time, together and then the show ended, to Gardevoir's disappointment.
"Gardevoir?" She said somewhat saddened by this.
"It's over, Gardevoir. Maybe they'll be another one on." Brennan said. Blaziken groaned, getting Brennan to give him the stink eye. Blaziken gave him an annoyed look, before crossing his arms.
Even though they dealt with Blaziken's annoyed moans and groans the whole time, the group just ended up hanging around the apartment watching tv all day.
Brennan made hot dogs for dinner. Nothing too fancy, but it worked.
And it was pretty funny seeing Gardevoir's reaction to them, considering she had never eaten one before.
And soon it came time for him to shut down for the night.
Gardevoir lay back against the couch, she let out the most adorable yawn Brennan had ever heard.
"Are you tired?" He asked. Gardevoir looked at him and nodded.
"Voir." She replied.
Brennan stood up, before stretching and yawning.
"Alright, follow me." He said. Gardevoir stood and followed him into his room.
Brennan flicked the light on before looking at his bed.
"Okay, we're kinda tight on sleeping space, so you and Mightyena can take my bed, and I have a sleeping bag I can use on the floor." Brennan said, before walking to his closet for his sleeping bag.
Brennan had a queen sized bed, so him, Gardevoir, and Mightyena could have all slept on it, and Gardevoir took notice.
"Gardevoir." She said, getting Brennan's attention.
"What's wrong?" Brennan asked, as he turned around.
"Gardevoir. Gardevoir. Garde." Gardevoir said, as she pointed to the bed. "Gardevoir. Garde." She continued, as she pointed at Brennan's sleeping bag and shaking her head.
Brennan quickly realized what she meant, he slightly blushed, but managed to keep it under control.
"I just suggested what I did because its your first night here and I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable by suggesting we sleep in the same bed." Brennan explained.
"Gardevoir. Garde. Voir." Gardevoir said.
Gardevoir wasn't going to let Brennan sleep on the floor instead of in his own bed just because he's worried about her feeling uncomfortable. Not that she was.
She already realized the bed was big enough for them both. So they were both going to sleep in it.
"Gardevoir. Garde." Gardevoir said, once again pointing at the bed.
"Are you sure you're alright with us both sleeping in the same bed?" Brennan asked. Gardevoir nodded. "Alright then. I'm going to go hop in the shower real quick. You can get comfortable if you want." He continued, before heading out of the room, leaving Gardevoir alone.
Gardevoir looked around the room before walking towards the bed and climbing into it. She crawled to the middle and sat down, once again looking around the room.
For the first time in her entire life, she was about to find out what it was like to sleep inside of an actual apartment, in an actual bed. She couldn't believe it.
After finally being able to take everything in, she crawled over to the far side of the bed and pulled the covers back. She slid her legs underneath them and sat there. It was pretty comfortable.
She was getting ready to lay down, when Mightyena walked into the room and jumped up onto the bed. Both he and Gardevoir made eye contact.
Mightyena slowly approached Gardevoir, before taking in her scent. Gardevoir sat there watching him, wondering what he was going to do.
After Mightyena took in her scent, he rubbed his head up against her arm. Gardevoir was somewhat surprised by this.
A small smile crossed her face as she started rubbing him. He seemed to be getting enjoyment out of it, because his tail started wagging. Gardevoir giggled when she noticed.
Gardevoir had seen her fair share of wild Mightyena during her years out in the wild, but none of them were as friendly as this one.
"I see you two are getting aquatinted." A voice said, getting the two Pokémon's attention.
"Gardevoir." Gardevoir said with a smile, as she continued to rub Mightyena's head.
Brennan had been leaned up against the doorway watching. He was now washed up and wearing a pair of pajama bottoms and a t-shirt with the Pokémon Center logo on it.
"You ready for bed too, Mightyena?" Brennan asked. Mightyena replied with a somewhat joyful purr, as Gardevoir continued to rub his head. "You keep that up for too long, he won't let you stop." He continued jokingly, looking at Gardevoir as he did.
"Gardevoir." Gardevoir replied.
Brennan flipped the light off and walked over to the bed, before climbing into it.
He heard Mightyena let out a disappointed whine, meaning Gardevoir had probably stopped rubbing him.
Once Brennan was settled, he felt the bed shift towards his feet and figured Mightyena was probably trying to get comfortable.
Gardevoir had finally laid back, too, and she had never been so comfortable in her entire life.
Once everything went still and quiet, Brennan spoke up.
"You good, Gardevoir?" He asked. He didn't get a response. "Gardevoir?" He said again, looking over as he did. He could just make out Gardevoir and her sleeping form as he did. He smiled. "Goodnight, Gardevoir." He said quietly, before closing his own eyes and drifting off to sleep.