The next morning, the door creaking open jolts Serena out of her sleep. She sits upright in bed, ready to throw a pillow when she spots Lance stepping in, looking dressed to leave and holding a plate of food. He snickers as though her stance is normal and sets the plate on the coffee table in front of the tv. He plops down on his bed and waits for her to relax.
"Morning," he greets in an oddly chipper tone.
Serena settles her pillow in its place and mutters an apology to Ty before addressing Lance. "What's got you so peppy this morning?"
"You're really going to ask me that question?" he raises a brow, offering her a suggestive look.
She considers it before remembering what (or whom) he went off to do the night before and blushes. "Oh, right. How was it?"
"Standard," he shrugs and lays back on his bed. "She wanted to go all night an-"
"I don't want details," she shakes her head and raises her hand to stave off his story. "I was just wondering how it went is all."
"Oh come on," he turns over to stare at her. "You don't have any stories of your own?"
"No," she replies with a roll of her eyes. "I have other things on my mind."
"That's true, but you've gotta at least feel the urge to have sex some of the time, right?" he frowns.
"I mean, I have a sex drive," she pauses to think about it and sits back on the bed. "But I don't have one night stands about it."
"You just...?" he trails off and lifts his hands.
Serena giggles. This talk is usually reserved for her and Clair only. Normally, she would be embarrassed to talk like this with a guy, but it's Lance. "Yes."
"That's hot," he blurts and then flushes. "Not like that, I mean. We're best friends."
"Yeah. I know," she rolls her eyes. "Anyways, before this gets weirder, I'm going to change and eat what you brought me."
Lance grunts an affirmative before flopping on his back and closing his eyes. He listens to her rustle her bag while grabbing clothes and shut the bathroom door. A puff of air escapes his mouth as he runs over the last words he said and curses himself for not thinking first. He hadn't meant it like he thought she was hot, just the act that she was doing and he definitely didn't picture Serena touching herself to the point of...
"Okay," he sits up and busies himself with his things. "Serena?"
"Mmm?" she hums from the bathroom.
"Since we have plenty of time to get to Celadon, how about we train along the way?" he suggests. "Sygna could get caught up and Wynn can learn things from Ryu."
"Sounds great!" she pops out of the bathroom with a smile on her face. She ties up her scarf to hang loosely down her front while securing the back to cover her scars. Her thick hair is back in a ponytail. She adjusts her t-shirt, a little loose for comfort, and skinny jeans before heading to the table to eat.
"Should we tell our parents about Lila's Garden?" Serena speaks between mouthfuls of eggs and toast.
Lance considers it with a bite of his lip. "I'm not sure. If we do then we'll have to explain what happened last night and what we were doing."
"But if we don't and then something even worse happens, we'll have to explain last night and why we didn't just call them," she retorts while finishing off her food. She pushes the plate aside and reaches for the bowl of berries he put together too. "We're not G-men, Lance."
"No. But if they show up and he's not there, he'll get word and disappear," he takes a seat across from her.
"I'm not even sure I want this guy to have Espeon," she admits. "He'll just get rid of her again."
"Have you told her?" he leans back.
She pops a bit of oran in her mouth. "No. I haven't seen her since we admitted her last night."
"I think you should discuss it with her before we move forward."
The finality in his voice is him urging her to do so, knowing full well she wants to avoid the conversation altogether. A cold ball of dread plops into Serena's stomach, ending her appetite, as she thinks about having to tell Espeon that her owner didn't care for her as much as she thought they did. It's going to break her heart, if she'll even believe Serena. The pokemon would sooner attack her than believe something so terrible.
"Okay, okay. Let's go," Serena sighs, sliding the bowl of berries for Lance to finish.
He picks it up and drops them all into his mouth before they both get up to pack their things. The two, and Ty, stride down the hallway in silence. Lance wondering what kind of training they will do later and if Serena is going to need help with Espeon, while Serena debates the different ways to inform her pokemon her trainer was a real jerk and to stay with her rather than still try to go home. A stab of guilt joins the ball of dread in Serena's stomach, she's relieved he bet Espeon, it's more reasons for the pokemon to stay with her.
"Hi, I'm Serena Lockwood," she tells Nurse Joy at the front desk. "I'm here to pick up Espeon."
"Okay," Joy types into a computer Serena's details before scanning her ID to ensure she is who she says she is. "She did really well last night, the bruising is gone and she is good to start training once again."
"Great, thank you."
It takes a moment for the nurse to head to the back and bring out the psychic type's ball. Serena accepts it and feels a sense of relief that it's back in her hands, as if someone would have switched it for a fake. With the ball in hand, she joins Lance and the two exit the center heading towards Route 6. Lance doesn't pressure her, knowing that she would argue if he did, and allows them to walk in silence as the city disappears behind them and they're surrounded by an expanse of hills and forest.
The sounds of wind through the trees, pokemon flying over head and the crunch of gravel beneath their feet calms her. When they've come to a good sized pond, she touches Lance's shoulder in a silent message. Wait here. He does so without a second thought, kneeling down to play with Ty as she heads towards a lone, flat rock next to the water.
With a deep breath, Serena tosses the pokeball into the air and waits as Espeon forms in front of her.
What happened? Espeon demands once she's stretched out on the grass. She glances around, her eyes stopping on Lance and Ty on the dirt path. Why are we not in the city?
Lance and I found one of the guys from the battle yesterday, Serena starts and bites her lip. You're not going to like what he said.
Tell me!
Serena takes another deep breath and relays everything the man repeated from yesterday. She keeps her mind open so the pokemon knows she is not lying to her. Espeon's face does not change, but her tail goes from stiff to flicking angrily in seconds. The pokemon doesn't move after Serena has finished and seems to take time to absorb everything said.
She remains silent, warranting Serena to glance over at Lance to find him watching them with a tense look on his face. He raises a brow at her, in their own form of silent communication, what did she say? She shakes her head back, nothing. And turns back to the psychic type just as she sits down on the grass.
I don't believe it.
"How?" Serena blurts out in a sudden burst of anger. "Why would he lie?"
How do we know he's telling the truth? The pokemon retorts with another angry flick.
Serena stops at the statement and curses. "Then we'll have to go to Celadon and find out then."
I suppose so, Espeon gets up and begins to strut towards Lance. She glances back at Serena. I'm going to need more training, that battle was an embarrassment.
"You don't get to order me around. I offered to train you, remember?" Serena crosses her arms, her temper flaring.
And now I'm accepting it, Espeon stops, still looking back at her. How am I supposed to find my trainer when I can barely fight?
"You'll get training after the others," Serena pulls out Espeon's ball. "I'll call you out when it's your turn."
Espeon doesn't seem to understand, even looks hurt, as the red light from the ball zips out and pulls her back in. With a sigh, Serena places the ball on her belt and jogs over to Lance and Ty. The fire type rubs against her legs in welcome. She leans over to pat him on the head before turning to walk with them at her side.
"What happened?" Lance questions.
"She doesn't believe us," she announces and then nods at Lance's confused look. "Despite all the proof I showed her, she doesn't think we're right. She said the guy could have lied to us and now we have to prove her wrong."
"So, are we going to tell our parents?" Lance brings it up.
"I think we should," she responds. "Espeon just needs proof and we can get that if the G-men bust the place down."
"Or we could go in on our own, gather evidence and then bring it to our parents," he offers instead.
She frowns. "Why do you want to do it that way?"
"Imagine the excitement," he raises his hands in a blowing up motion, fingers all splayed. "Two teens bust an illegal gambling ring in the middle of the big city."
"More ways for you to get girls to sleep with you?" she raises a brow at him.
He pauses. "Well, yeah. Guys, or girls, will be eating out of your hands too!"
"I'm not sure that's what I want," she grimaces at the thought.
"Don't knock it until you try it," he nudges her with a laugh. "Come on, where's the danger in your journey."
"Not here, that's for sure."
"We can change that," he steps in front of her. "Look. Someday, I'm going to be Champion of these regions and that means I'm going to be part of the G-men. What's a better way to get a head start than to shut down illegal matters along the way? I'll get plenty of votes in my favor of being Champion after the battle."
Serena stares into his golden brown eyes. Confidence oozes off him as he states he'll be champion. So much so, she can practically see it now. Lance, older and much more handsome, standing in front of a crowd, cape and all with the title of Champion before his name. It's his dream and she wants to support him in it. He's going to charge in there on his own, she might as well be there when he gets in trouble too.
"Ok. Fine."
Lance fist pumps. "Besides, we've got Ryu. We will be totally fine."
She eyes him wondering just how powerful Ryu is. She wonders when Wynn will evolve and just how different she'll be once she's at the second stage. Ty didn't change too much, he doesn't cuddle as much, he likes to sleep on the bed but touch isn't a big thing for him.
"Wait," Serena stops in her tracks with her finger held up. "How are we even going to go inside? We're only sixteen."
"You're sixteen, I'm seventeen," he corrects with a grin. At her rolled eyes, he laughs. "I'm kidding, I'm sure we can find a way to sneak in. Or just barge in with our dragon types."
"Dragon types aren't indestructible, you know that right?" she points out.
"I know, but there aren't many ice types in this area to take them out and definitely not any dragon types to worry about," he boasts and she rolls her eyes again. "Relax, Rena. We will be fine."
"I know, I know."
They continue for most of the day talking about training. With Celadon being at least a three days walk, they decide to pause half way and set up camp.
Wynn and Ryu start with training first. While her pokemon is still much smaller, Serena has to keep herself from gaping at Ryu. His body winds up beneath him and he still towers over her and Wynn standing next to him.
Differences in strength makes for a rough training session between Ryu and Wynn, but the pokemon is good at teaching. Using Wynn's attacks against her and being able to pull back a bit to keep her going. She manages to strengthen the power of her twister move as well as learn Slam in the midst of a nice practice battle against the other dragon type. Once she's feeling tired, Serena opts to give her some time to rest with some food and water off by another pond.
Next up is Ty. He's already used to training with powerful dragon types so he puts up a good fight against Ryu. Much to Lance's surprise he's able to stave off a powerful Thunderbolt called down from above. Hit after hit Ty begins to burnout, unable to spit more than some bits of fire until he gets going with Quick Attack and it suddenly turns into Flame Wheel. Eyes bulging at the transition, Serena does a victory dance as he zooms across the field.
Once he's done, it's Sygna's turn. The two move over to the pond, big enough to fit Lance's Horsea, Kai as well her own. The two start off slow with Sygna managing to get the upper hand with his speed. After a few hours of practice, he learns twister and Serena calls it for the new guy. She sets out some food for him and gives him time off.
"Now Espeon," Lance announces with a bit of a bounce in his step as he returns to Ryu waiting in a nice patch of grass.
The dragon type rights himself immediately and glances at his trainer as if waiting for his next order. Serena wonders if they're always serious like this or if Ryu is just showing how excited he is like that. She shakes off the thought and pulls out her last pokeball, she stares at it hard before tossing it in the air.
I'm ready, Espeon announces taking a fighting stance with her legs spread on the ground and her body huddled as if she's going to burst forward.
"She's ready," Serena shrugs at Lance.
"Let's go slow," he nods. "You can attack us and we'll try to work on making her attacks stronger."
"Okay, quick attack," Serena says without much emotion.
Lance frowns at her, wondering what's wrong, but focusses as Espeon lunges forward in a flash. She zig zags across the small space before slamming her body into Ryu and falling back with a small cry. Ryu stands there, looking as though nothing happened at all. Serena calls for it a second time, telling her pokemon to focus less on the running and more on the hitting. Espeon huffs before backing up and trying again. This time the hit manages to make Ryu move his upper body back, but he shoves her and the psychic type rolls towards Serena.
"Confusion."
Espeon's jewel glows faintly, the same glow outlining Ryu as the dragon type lifts off the ground and falls back towards the trees. Impressed, Lance manages a thumbs up at them before he's ordering Twister in retaliation. Ryu rears up, and back before swinging his bottom half around with some energy and air with it.
The twister tears across the small field and slams into Espeon. The psychic type tumbles back into a tree, the leaves tremble with the impact. Serena moves to call it when the quadruped takes a fighting stance once more. Her eyes are fierce and the trainer gives her a nod of encouragement before turning to Lance and calling out more attacks.
The session turns out to be good for Espeon in more ways than one. Her Confusion gets a bit stronger, not yet Psychic but Serena is hopeful. And her speed gets much better, able to move along the field dodging multiple attacks and dealing her own at the same time. Lance notes their ability to work together after just a few hours of practice. The two may fall out of line when one wants to attack but Serena knows it's a trap. Once Espeon trusts her a bit more, more successful hits are made and it seems as though she's starting to be aware of it.
"I don't know why you're so worried about battling," Lance admits over some sandwiches.
Serena chews thoughtfully. "I guess it's because it's so different than you and Clair. You guys are straightforward with your strengths, mine show over time."
"It's because you get more comfortable as the battle goes on," he replies and takes another large bite. "You have to be comfortable as soon as the battle starts, that's when your opponent will really be at a disadvantage."
"But I could always lose and what's the use of all that confidence?" she retorts, her face scrunched up at his mouthful of food.
"But you're giving it your all from the get go. Who cares if you lose?"
"Have you lost?"
"Oh yeah, plenty of times," he snorts. "I'm not perfect, but I am always giving my all."
She hums in response, chewing in silence as the dragon types and water types splash in the water. Ty sleeps curled up in the sun, drinking in its warmth while he can. Espeon's next to him resting her head on her paws, watching the two trainers converse. She was quiet after their training, except to thank Serena for her food afterward.
Lance watches her watch the psychic type. It's been strange between the two of them since this morning's fight. He wonders if it has to do with Serena wanting to keep the pokemon and there being little stopping her but Espeon's own stubbornness. He remembers she felt bad for wanting to keep her before, but knowing now that her old trainer didn't want her and would more than likely pawn her off again doesn't help.
"Hey," he says in a gentle voice. When she looks up her blue eyes are murky and he can't help but feel bad for her. "Let's take a walk, you and me."
She agrees without a word, just a nod, and cleans up her food and drink.
Once everything is secured and the pokemon understand to stay put, the two take a walk into a small clearing of grass and flowers. The afternoon air is warming, clouds drift by blotting out the sun to offer some breaks from its heat. It's quaint as they walk up to the side of the pond and take a seat on some boulders.
"What's wrong?" he starts.
"What do you mean?" she deflects standing behind him with her arms crossed.
He pats the spot next to him. "You've been acting off since your talk with Espeon, what's bugging you?"
She doesn't respond.
He patiently waits for her, knowing that she's struggling to come to terms with her own emotions before she can share them with him. Eventually, she settles on the log next to him and lets out a stressed sigh. He smiles knowing he's got her and turns to listen.
"I hate that I'm still worried about wanting to keep her," she confesses while staring at the sky. "It's even worse after learning about what her trainer did to her. Like I'm relieved he didn't want to keep her and gave her away like that. But that's terrible! I'm a terrible person for feeling that way."
"My mom used to say that it's okay to feel emotions and that it's your second reaction to your feelings that count," Lance speaks after a short moment of silence.
"What?"
He keeps his eyes to the sky while answering her. "You felt relieved and instead of overlooking it, you know it's bad to feel that way. You're not a bad person for having emotions, Serena. You're not bad for wanting something either. What happened to Espeon is terrible, I want to punch the people that do this to pokemon like they're things instead of living beings. You're coming from a place of caring."
"I just wish my uncle stayed out of my life," she mutters, drawing her feet in to lay her head on her knees. "I wouldn't be so confused... or in pain."
At that last part, Lance can't help but turn to her. "But then I wouldn't have met you. No matter how much I hate your uncle for putting you through that, a little part of me is glad." Serena sits up and frowns at him. He half smiles. "See? Now, I'm the jerk. I'd never want that to happen to you, but it's the only way we would have met."
She drinks this in, turning it over in her mind. It's true, there would have been no reason to move back to Blackthorn. Her mother and grandparents aren't on the best of terms so she wouldn't have gotten a cape from them, or even a dratini. The circumstances weren't good, but the outcomes outweigh that side of it.
She grins and leans on him. "I am glad I know you."
"Me too," he murmurs leaning his head on hers.
They stay like that for several minutes, taking in the view and neither of them wanting to move away from the warmth emanating from the other. Eventually, the pokemon begin to tire out and gather at the edge of the clearing, alerting them to head over. They clean up the pokemon food and such before pitching a medium sized tent and getting a fire going.
The two work in unison with Serena taking the lead and guiding Lance on where to put what and a way to keep the fire going for part of the night. Serena feels her scars begin to ache as some thunder rumbles in the distance. The two hastily put together a tarp to keep the rain off the tent before cooking a quick dinner earlier than planned. Just some soup to squeeze in after those sandwiches as the storm rolls in.
The two watch and eat in silence as lightning lights up the sky.
Near the end of their meal, rain starts to drip on them. In a rush, they clear up their mess and retreat to the tent before the downpour starts.
"Hopefully this isn't like the one that got me trapped at Tech for a few days," Serena mutters taking her pajamas out of her bag. Lance watches the storm from the entrance.
"Nah, I was checking the weather before we left," he shakes his head. "Just a simple storm."
Serena hums while changing, Lance turns at the rustling noise out of curiosity and catches the sight of Serena pulling off her shirt. Her arms stretched over her head, giving him full view of her upper body and bra, her hair falls down her back as she tosses the shirt to the side. She reaches back to try and unlatch her bra. Her fingers drift over her scars, he notices in the dim light of the electric lantern that they're redder than before.
Without thinking twice, he leans over and runs a gentle finger down the side of her scars on her soft skin. She freezes, and turns her head to watch him study her back. To her surprise his face shows fascination rather than pity or disgust. It feels as though lightning is inside the tent with the pressure building between them. Lance forgets himself and Serena welcomes his soothing touch. He swallows the lump in his throat and presses his finger to the edge of the raised scar. It's warmer than expected and she shivers at the touch of his cold finger. Her deep sigh as he drags his fingers down her back releases them from their spell.
His face flushes and he turns away. "Sorry."
Trying to stop her own face from flushing, Serena takes a deep breath to right her whirling thoughts and wild heart beat. His touch on her sensitive skin was so... nice. The sigh that escaped her wasn't conscious, she couldn't have stopped it if she wanted to. Without another thought, she finishes changing and takes his place at the entrance so he can do the same.
For once, she feels herself having to resist the urge to turn and look at him.
It would only be fair, she says to herself but remains forward-facing.
Once he's done, he takes a seat next to her, sitting cross legged as they watch the storm around them. The two sit in silence, even move into their sleeping bags in silence as the storm lights up their tent. Serena lays on her back, staring at the ceiling without latching on to a single thought.
"Good night," Lance murmurs in the dark.
"Good night," Serena turns to him and smiles before flipping onto her other side.
XxXxXxX
May 8th
Training with Lance proved to be helpful. Before we traveled the rest of the way to Celadon I got into some battles with random trainers on the way and won easily. It was an amazing feeling to see my pokemon so powerful and quick. It must be what he and Clair feel when starting a battle.
We got to Celadon about an hour ago, so 10pm and decided that was too late to go out and investigate. We're going to look around tomorrow for Lily's Garden and make a plan for how to get in during the game. I still think we should let Dad know, but I want to see for myself the trainer that did this to Espeon. It's going to be worth it to see the surprise on his face when I bring her back. To be honest, I'm not sure if he'd do it again for if he'll even take her back...
Serena tosses her pen down after that sentence, she's through discussing it multiple times, and rubs her temples. Her emotions roll around in her stomach as she reads through her entry. She closes the entry with something else before tossing her writing stuff away in her bag. She flops back onto the bed with a groan and stares at the ceiling with whirling thoughts of Espeon.
Ty crawls over to sniff her face trying to figure out what's got her angry. When she shakes her head, he trots off to the end of the bed and curls up with a huff.
"I'm sorry, Ty," she sighs sliding off the bed and crumples to the ground. In a dramatic turn, she crawls over to the mini fridge. "I'm frustrated... and I don't know why."
She turns to Lance's bed and remembers he's off with another girl for the night.
She remembers seeing the girl wander up to Lance while they were waiting on their pokemon to get checked over by Nurse Joy. She was pretty and even nice to Serena. The two whispered and giggled, and within minutes Lance was asking Serena to take his pokemon back to their room. She didn't understand how they just knew they were going to be having sex together. She never heard them introduce each other, just general questions about what they're doing here and how long they'll be here and off they went.
Serena imagined herself in that same situation, finding a cute guy in the lobby of the pokemon center, which is not too hard. There are plenty of handsome trainers around, she saw some nice looking ones too. She focuses again, trying to think of what they would say to each other and shudders at the thought of just heading back to the room to have sex.
The thought isn't exciting, instead it makes her anxious.
"Whatever. I'm off to bed," she sighs, slamming shut the fridge.
Changing into pajamas, shutting off the lights and snuggling with a non-responsive Ty, Serena closes her eyes and eases herself into a deep slumber.
It's a bright day out. Serena feels happy as she walks with her mother back to their apartment. They spend dinner with their father, talking about school and what she's going to do next. All the while Serena feels as though something is off, something is wrong and she can't quite place it.
Her mother speaks in soft tones while putting a young Serena to bed, talking about their plans for the next day and how much fun it would be. Serena watches with a smile that turns into a scream when her mother transforms into a hooded man and grabs her from the bed. She feels something pinch her and suddenly it all goes dark.
Stabbing pains replace the pinch, all over her back, while she can't move from her spot on the ground. The world is spinning and she's not sure if it's because she's being taken somewhere else or it's the pain.
"Stop!"
Serena sits up with a gasp and then a cry of pain. Ty paws at her arm as she tries to make herself smaller, her breathing erratic and her mind whirling as she tries to right the world around her. The scars along her back burn against the thin shirt she's wearing over them. Her head hurts with the sudden force of the dream.
"It's just a dream," she tells herself over and over again.
Ty whimpers next to her, pulling her from her moment and bringing her down to earth. She sighs and picks him up, holding his heavy body close to hers as her breathing slows and the burning sensation dies down. He smells like warmth and grass, a welcoming scent in her frazzled state.
Serena falls back onto the bed, Ty bundled up in her arms, to stare at the ceiling. She figured this would happen if she were going to be here, but it still came out of nowhere. She's safe now, there's no reason for her to be scared that anything is going to happen. Her father wouldn't let it happen again.
"Ugh," she sighs, sitting up and setting Ty aside so she can get up to the phone. "I'm not sleeping anytime soon."
She dials the only number she would dare to at this time in the morning and grins when her best friend picks up on the third ring.
"What's wrong?" Clair yawns into the screen. Her hair is all over the place from sleep, her oversized Dragonair shirt is crumpled and her eyes are mostly closed.
"I had a bad dream," Serena admits with a sigh. She leans back in her chair, bringing her feet to rest on the edge.
"Oh," Clair nods in understanding. She sets down the receiver to wipe her eyes and wake up a bit more before picking it back up and continuing in a soothing tone. "Want to hear about my day?"
Serena nods and relaxes as Clair goes on to detail her training leading to exams at the end of the year and how she's ready to take on the position of Gym Leader and learn even more about the politics going on behind the scenes. The only worry she has is about the Johto League not taken as seriously as the Kanto League and that she's working hard for barely any recognition between the two regions. The only honor she gets is from Blackthorn recognizing her as a Dragon Tamer.
This is the distraction Serena is looking for.
"What if they were equal and working together?" she asks Clair after a quick moment of silence.
"It would be a uniform league, we'd be taken seriously and lead the other regions to do the same. The whole Battle Championship atmosphere is so stuck up it would be great if it was more welcoming to everyone and not just boys," she trails off with a frown of disgust.
"What do you mean?" Serena frowns.
"It's a lot easier for boys to get through because they're seen as tougher trainers. You should see how much they struggle in my class but somehow they're on par with me!"
"That's stupid," Serena laughs. "It would be great if things were equal between the two regions and you didn't have to deal with stupid boys."
"I'm honestly worried that I won't get the position because of it," Clair admits with a frown.
Serena stops laughing and stares at the screen. "No way. You're such a good trainer."
"There's not much I could do if I win and they decide to pick someone else," the blue haired girl shrugs.
"That's bullcrap, I won't let them do that to you!" Serena smacks her fist on the table.
"What can you do?" Clair raises her brow. It's not a mocking answer, she genuinely wants to hear a plan.
Serena sits back and considers it for a moment. "Well, my family was accepted back into the clan despite the rules with the help of my mom's parents and their power within the clan... I think if I can find a way into the league with the help of a powerful figure, I could make some changes."
Clair considers it with a grin. "That would be cool, but how would you do it? You'd have to win the championship battle to even get the chance to speak with the Champion and even then, would he listen?"
The thought of the current Champion, a man named Elijah, laughing in her face and turning down her offer flashes through her mind. He's a father of three kids, two boys and one girl, and happily married to his wife of fifteen years. The family is often on the front of magazines detailing their lives in the limelight of his fame as champion for the past three years. It's a lot of work and he's been known for being kind and patient through it all.
Serena can't imagine him being rude to her. Maybe he'd listen and just let it die out over time, but he wouldn't turn her down.
Is that worse than laughing in her face?
"I think he would," she states with certainty. "If not, I'll make him listen."
"Ooh," Clair gains interest. "I can see the headline now 'Girl punches Elijah, now equal opportunity for all!'."
Serena rolls her eyes. "Well, no use stressing over it if it won't happen, right?"
"Easy for you to say," Clair mumbles.
The blue haired girl continues on about her day coming to this moment. Serena describes a bit of her dream and Clair assures her of her safety. It does little to make her feel better, but she appreciates the sentiment. The two talk a bit more before deciding to head to bed.
Serena slides in next to Ty, wrapping herself tight in the blankets, her mind buzzing with all the different topics the two spoke about until she drifts off with thoughts of battles, meetings and life changing events to bring the two regions together.
