Poom-poomf.

A Pikachu bounces against oak-flooring, smacking heavily into the ground. Slowly, Meira gets up, shaking off the attack with a irritated grunt. Her attacker cackles at her endurance.

"You call that a Thunder Punch?! There's nothing a girly weakling like you could do to beat me."

"Hah! Ya think some kiddie trash talk's take me down? I'm tougher than ten Tauros together, just wait an' see!" Meira flashes a smirk.

Meira charges iridescent energy into a paw, engulfing it in sparks as she clenches her fist. She rushes the villain, throwing her entire body behind a good left hook. The villain reacts accordingly, clashing a pair of fierce kicks against the calamitous punch. Both mons recoil away from one another, attacking limbs trailing off smoke.

Meira flexes her paw muscles, releasing built up electricity back into her core. "This ain't nothin' at all. Nothin', y'hear?!"

The villain clears their throat before giving a dry chuckle. "Oh? I bet book-boy back at home would be proud, huh."

"Who're you callin' 'book-boy'?" Meira grits her teeth.

"Touched a nerve, huh? Heheheheh, I'm sure that homebody fox would be ashamed, knowing he has to live with a whelp. That his heart belongs to such a loser. Heeeeey, ya know what? I bet book-boy's getting sweet with the new girl, while you're chasing a dream that's quickly becoming a nightmare." The villain stands tall, glaring.

Meira feels her teeth shatter to dust with the rage swelling up inside her. Nobody talks about Flint that way without a couple bruises soon after. Meira's scarf began to glow harshly as her body began to shake, her breathing becoming erratic. Her roots shoot into the ground, reducing the battlefield to a jagged mess. "Shut yer trap, you stupid-"

The villain steps back, tilting their head. "So that's how it works, huh? Well, c'mon, girlie, show me that so-called toughness you got. I think I'll pay book-boy a little visit, maybe even kick his teeth in too! What do yo—"

Doomp! Goes a sizable book.

"Golly, what a read!" Flint bounces his tail against the couch in excitement. "You should try checkin' out somethin' at the library, Sia. They got books that'll fit anyone's fancy!"

Sia sits at the table, engorging in a chocolatey heaven. "Not my style. I'd rather hear it than read it."

Flint hops from the couch, prancing to the kitchen. He retrieves a small box, opening it to reveal a slice of Granny's apple pie! After removing it from the packaging, Flint gives the pastry a light flambé with Ember. The warm aroma of apples and sweet dough made Flint's ears droop in relaxation. He makes his way to the table, sitting across from Sia. "That ain't a problem. Meira gets all giddy when her and I read together aloud. If you're willin' to give it a try, I'm your mon!"

"Uh…sure, I guess."

Flint chuckles as he sinks his teeth into pie. "Don't mean to be ugly, but I reckon we can't get anything goin' from a 'I guess', y'know?"

Sia curls her tail back and forth, crossing her arms. "Ugh! Whatever, I think it would be fun to try out."

"Much better! Well, mostly," He smiles as she groans. Flint felt a lump in his throat as he thought about Sia's situation. "So, er, it's been two weeks since you've moved in with Meira and me. How are ya feelin' with less weight on your shoulders?"

"It's been...hard, thinking about what happened that day, but I feel pretty okay. It's nice to have friends I don't have to baby, heh." Sia sighs.

"Th-that's great, I think...? 'Least you're doin' a little better." Some talking's got her in a sorta better mood, Flint thought.

"Yeah, I could be worse so no complaints here." Sia's tail flops as she picks at her pastry. "When I first came to Twiligleam city, I thought all the dungeon stuff was something mons did every day. I got so caught up in it that I barely had time to myself. I didn't eat or sleep much, it was always 'doing the right thing', until I couldn't. It's just...nice to feel okay."

"I getcha, Sia. The city's a place where a lotta mons come with big dreams. It can be mighty frightenin' when things don't go right, and maybe you start thinkin' it's your fault. Even then, you did all you could. But the world's gonna always have problems, ain't no use in shrivelin' like a prune in the sun. Hopefully, these past few days helped you feel better about it."

A wrinkly smile wiggles across Sia's face. "Y-yeah! Thanks, Flint."

"You're very much welcome, Sia!"

Sia and Flint's relationship as team members is slowly growing into a lasting friendship. Flint often treats Sia like a younger sibling, somebody to watch over and give advice to when needed. He hopes the best for her in anything she wants to do, and tries to steer her in the right direction. While Sia doesn't mind Flint's big brother-ness, she does think he can be a bit much at times. Still, being able to enjoy the long silences between their conversations helps Sia feel like can trust Flint with her thoughts. I wonder what's in those books Flint reads. Maybe I should get into it after all. Seems like he has an answer for everything, Sia thought.

Sia lets out a small yawn, ruffling her fur as sleepiness escapes her snoot. "Hey, uh, where's Meira? Does she always leave so early in the morning?" Sia furls a brow.

"Mm, pay no mind, Sia! She's just gettin' out the wiggles over at Juiced Gym, is all. She'll be back before lunchtime, I reckon."

"Oh, okay."

Flint pauses, backing his mouth away from the pie. "I don't like fussin' about mons when they aren't around, but Meira doesn't like sitting still. She gets all ugly and mean, grumpy-like. I'm not too big on sweatin' before I've even yawned, so she usually goes on her own."

Clunk, clunk, clunk, goes the door.

"Ohh, 'cuse me, Sia." Said Flint, making sure he didn't have on pie on his face before answering. "Howd-" He covers his mouth with his paws as he gasps. "What the…? Meira, what in the heck happened!?" he glances at every bit of her, her swollen shut eye, her tattered fur, and the trickling saliva across her cheek.

"How-howdy, Flint," Meira mumbles as she stumbles.

Flint awkwardly stands on his back legs, catching her bruised body. "C'mon inside, let's get you patched up, mmk?" He gently pulls Meira into the flat. "Sia, could ya gimme a hand?"

Sia rises from her seat, carefully approaching the duo. "Oof, what happened, Meira?"

But Meira didn't make a peep as Sia and Flint help her onto the couch. She sits up with a scrunched frown, remembering her wounds as Flint quickly scuttles to his room. What am I gonna do? Flint can't know about what happened today, he'll fly off the handle, Meira thought. Sia digs through the flat's cabinets, and as she searched, Flint returned carrying a stack of slimy leaves piled upon small dry ones. The slimy leaves wafted a soft, genuine smell into the living room, while the smaller leaves added a pinch of a sweet aroma. Flint places them on the coffee table, separating each leaf by type.

"Sia, could I bug you for some water? Meira's lookin' like she's been staring at the sun."

"Oww! Uh, sure," In her haste to answer, she knocked over several jars with her snoot.

Flint grabs one of the slimy leaves and begins rubbing his paws into it with large circular motions. Before long, his paws became damp with the leaf's liquid, ready to apply. Meira simply watches her best friend's gentle movements in a dazed awe. Knowing he would need to touch Meira's fur delicately, Flint felt his nerves tensing up. He takes a deep breath, shaking out any sudden anxiety brewing within him alongside a few twigs across the floor. With a quick swipe of his tail, the twigs get caught in his fur.

"N-now, I'll do my best to be gentle here. Let me know if I'm pressing too hard, mmk?" Flint frowns nervously.

"Alrighty," is all Meira could muster. She didn't know how to react. Never before has something as simple as wound care feel so unusual.

Slowly, Flint raised his paws to Meira, first reaching for her black eye. With the touch of an angel, Flint rubs her eyelid, careful to not get any of the gel where it would sting. Then, he moved on to her scuffed cheek, a scrape on her arm, even a chip out of her tummy fur. And with each transition, Flint became less nervous. Meira recoils with every touch, the plant's gel cold as ice on her battered body. Eventually, Sia joins the duo's therapy, bringing a glass of water and placing it near the leaves.

Sia eyes the weird, rapidly smooth motion of Flint's movement. "Uhh...what're you doing?"

Flint places his paws into the plant's gel again. "Applying some Aloe Vera to her injuries. It'll make her bumps and such heal quicker. Learned it from my father back home."

Meira reels with another cold touch. "Eeek! Don't...don't talk about yer pa, Flint."

Sia tilts her head. "What's wrong with that? Sounds like his dad's pretty dependable."

"Err...It's a story for another time. I'll just say my father wasn't always the best of judgement, for now." Flint's fur grows damp as he unconsciously rubs the gel on himself. For a moment, his emerald and juniper scarf faintly glows. "H-hey Sia, why don't you try applying some of this on Meira? That is, if Meira doesn't mind, 'course."

Meira eyes grow wide before she winces in pain. "Ow, ow, ow! Hey, a mighty fine idea, Flint! I think it's good to pass on some healing expertise to our third member!"

"Alrighty then! I'll leave y'all to it," Flint smiles, before shaking his body. "I need to find somethin' to clean my fur and scarf, be back soon!" He walks to his room, gently closing his door behind him.

Carefully, Sia grabbed a smaller Aloe Vera leaf, cringing at the slimy texture in her paws. She lightly squishes a paw into the leaf, watching as it oozes. Meira chuckles at the sight.

"It won't bite, Sia."

"I-I know! I just…I've never touched something like this before, it's weird."

"Well, Flint's practically drownin' me in the stuff, so you don't gotta do much of anything," Meira carefully hops from the couch, taking a paw-ful of the gel and licking it, to Sia's surprise. "You can even eat it if you want!"

Sia winces at the notion, instead opting to rub some of the gel on her cheeks. It's cold and weird, but also kind of nice. She thought back to her own injuries that finally healed. "I'm good. So, uh, you gonna tell us what happened to you today?"

Meira grabs a few of the dry leaves and begins patching them onto her wounds. She gives a long sigh to Sia. "I…don't think I should, not until Flint's here too. It's not that I don't trust you or anything of the sort. It's uh, about F-Flint." A ripple in Meira's fur went through her body. "I don't want him worryin' about me is all. I mean, you heard how loud he hollered about how I looked today."

Sia frowns. "Anybody would! You look like you've been in a monster house!"

"Yeah, but Flint's just afraid I'mma go and get myself hurt worse than this. He's been worryin' like that since forever." Meira glances at Sia, smirking. "And hey! Maybe I have been."

"Uhh, whatever you did, why'd you go by yourself? Flint and I could've helped."

Meira waggles a finger. "Ah, ah! Hush up, Sia! What's done is done, so no need to worry 'bout it." She sits back on the couch, beckoning Sia to do the same. "Now, I've been meaning to ask you something."

Sia adjusts her scarf, making sure she didn't sit on it. "Yeah? What's up?"

Meira grows apple red. "What do y-you think about Flint? Seeing as we're all uh, roomies now, of course!!"

Sia made a thinking face, with her snoot scrunching up and her eyes meeting the ceiling. "It feels like he's trying his best to make others happy. He even offered to read me a story just before you came in, just to try to get me into reading. He's a little dorky, but it's nice to be around people who are nice, y'know?"

Meira felt her fur become stiff. "Dorky?"

"You gotta admit, he can be, right? Nothing wrong with that, of course. Starting to feel like I have a thoughtful brother, the way he checks on me," Sia's nose twitches. "As long as he doesn't start calling me 'Big Sis' or something, I don't mind it."

Meira flattens, and smiles. "Yeah, I get you. Flint always means well, whether he realizes it or not," Suddenly, Meira's face droops into a frown. Her tone becomes dry as her scarf faintly glows. "One last question. Do you think Flint's adorable?"

"…Whuh? Why would you ask that? Don't you have a crush on him?"

"H-hey, I didn't ask myself t-that, it was a yes or no question!" Meira shrieks, giving Sia her answer.

Sia smirks. "But you do have a crush on him, right?"

"I-I uh, well, that's uhhhhh...!"

Kerplunk, goes Flint's door.

Free of the gelatinous mess, he makes his way down the hall. Now, I gotta get to the bottom of all this. It's plain as day that she got into it with somebody. But why? She knows full well that we were gonna do a mission? It's not like her to break plans like this, he argues with his mind. Flint returns to Sia and Meira conversing, though a significant chunk of his Aloe Vera leaves have disappeared. He sits in front of the coffee table, across from his flatmates. He lowers his chin, emphasizing his big eyes as he stares into Meira. She returns a furled brow.

"Now, Meira. Don't you tell me any lies, y'hear?"

"You ain't my pa, Flint. Using his words ain't gonna get me to talk."

Flint sighs, relaxing his expression. "Meira…I'm just worried about you, is all. You knew we were gonna do missions today, yet here you are lookin' like you tumbled down a hill. So please, tell us what happened," his fluffy ears deflate, nearly touching the ground.

"Well I, uh," Meira begins to shrink away, the eyes of her peers burning away her confidence. "Y'see, there was this uh, buck wild mon at the gym today! He kept tryin' to tussle with everybody who dare peek at him, and I happen to be mean muggin' at the moment," Meira got up from the couch, letting her battered body carry her tale. "So, the big bully came a-runnin' at me, and we got into it. But from his first swing, I knew the bully's never had anyone tell him to never corner something meaner than him. He got a couple of good whacks on me, but I sent him runnin' with his tail between his legs! Reckon he got banned from the establishment, too!" She gives a wink and a wide smile.

Flint's jaw drops. "Golly! Wish I was there to tag team 'em, but wow! I'm proud of you, Meira! Gettin' rid of a bad seed like that's something else! …Listen, I'm sorry I got all mean-like there."

Sia glances at Flint with a raised brow, not sure how he blindly believed Meira. But she decides to play along, twirling her scarf between her paws. "Huh. You're even stronger than I thought, I guess! When you heal up, let's do some training."

"Sure, Sia! And Flint, you got nothin' to apologize for! I should have told y'all when I first came in." Meira glances away. "But, t-thanks, Flint, for the Aloe Vera. Sorry for eatin' most of it, though. I appreciate it very much," She slowly inches towards Flint.

Flint's fur stands on its ends. "Uhh, 'course Meira! But, what're you…doing?"

He got his answer as Meira absorbs Flint into a tight hug. She thought about the harsh words the villain said to her, and how their insults towards Flint caused her to lose control. She thought about the lie she made up to keep Flint's eyes off of her for a while. She knows her feelings for the fox mon have grown stronger in recent times, but she has a hard time showing it. Flint, surprised with Meira's sudden affection, lost his footing as the two of them ended up on the carpet. Meira felt the stinging soreness of her bruises as she held him close, but she didn't mind. So long as Flint is her's, at least for a while.

Notes: While revising, my biggest plans were to expand upon the interactions, while also giving Sia a little more spotlight in this chapter. Otherwise, I think this is the first revision without any story changes so far!

(Old notes) An interesting chapter, right? We're getting into the second arc of "Monster House" with the focus on Team Harmonious Hope / Harmony. Now, actually fleshing out Flint and Meira was a bit of a challenge, since in previous chapters, they were written as slight opposites that spoke pretty similarly. But when I went back to read their...everything, it sort of felt like they were just "ship tease" plot devices at times. They literally saved the day in the big chapter, and the most they had going for them was the mystery regarding their tree parts and that's about it. So, with this chapter onward, I'm writing them more as what I'm calling "Awkward Associate Acquaintances". They both have crushes on one another, and it's obvious to anyone else, but something's stopping them from fully embracing their feelings. What's stopping them? Guess we'll see!