Last edited on: 2021/12/26


"I'm afraid of you. That's true, but I still got something to say."

Something's different. Mesprit sensed his fear, but there's another emotion behind it that differed from their 'first' meetings…

Resolution? Determination?

Was this it? Has he… matured?

"What… do you mean? I don't follow…"

"I mean, it's like this you see," he scratched his head before he continued.

"You got scary and all, but you also nursed my cuts! I'm afraid of you, yeah, but this the first time we're met. Mom's told me to be careful with strangers or weird folks and all, so I'm just following what she said. But, but, you're also different, Mes. I feel like you're one of a kind! I think you're fun and kinda a ditz too. Also it's kinda like you're a big sister and mother mixed in." He chuckled at the last part. "Look, you got all that cool psychic stuff that I wished I'd have! I think, if we continue hanging out together, we'd be the best-est friends ever!" He paused for a moment. "Maybe second best-est friends 'cause of that airhead genius Barry… but you get me, right Mes — gwaagh!"

Out of utmost happiness, she flew to him and embraced him like tomorrow never existed as she tackled him onto the flower bed and repeatedly brushed her head around his neck while wrapping her tails around his torso. Good thing her colleague's ointment's doing its thing and nullifying his pain.

Dammit, she could just claim him as hers right now! But no, she had to control her psyche lest everything she's worked for be jeopardised.

"Thank you-thank you-thank you-thank you-thank you so much Lucas!"

All those trying for six years, and the wait's slowly paying off!

"Y-you're welcome, Mes. Oh boy, this is really awkward…"

She couldn't help but tear up from this wonderful achievement. After a moment, she released her newest friend from her embrace and then sat on the flower bed, where he followed suit, too. He could see her teary, amber eyes before she shut and wiped both with her thumb, smiling gratefully and warmly. She let out a squeaky 'kyun' from her lips as well.

"A-are you okay, Mes?"

"Oh, this? I get too emotional sometimes," she lied, "and thanks for your concern, too. Don't worry about me, Lucas." She smiled to relax him.

Now's not the time for him to know… yet, but how I wish I could tell you the truth immediately. Though if that's going to happen, I'll risk losing his trust, again.

Anyways, there's always the right date for everything, and speaking of dates, it's finally time she gave her would-be mate her reserved pet-name. She's been dying to call him that name in a long time.

"Since you've started calling me 'Mes' just recently," she started and resumed floating, "I think it'd be unfair if I don't return the favour. Don't 'cha think so, Lukey?"

She playfully winked and cutely stuck her tongue out, and she saw her Lukey cutely blushing at that.

Finally, I can call him my Lukey without any constraints. Besides, I do deserve this after years of trying, she thought and chortled.

"Uh, 'Lukey' sounds nice, but that's the first time someone called me that."

"What, don't you like it?" She pouted and crossed her arms. Hmph, being cute probably has a few downsides.

"No, no! It's fine, honest!" He waved both hands at that moment.

Good grief, talk about a give-and-take… she thought and then mentally slapped herself in the face.

He nervously laughed. "Oh well."

It's just so amazing that everything's slowly going into place. Looking at her would-be mate, Lukey, she just wondered how long was left before he became hers. Sure, he's relatively matured a lot, but he's still got a long way to go before he becomes a ripe fruit for the picking. Just imagine all those things she'll do to make him into the 'man he dreams of becoming'. Thinking of that, she couldn't help but quietly squeal and blush. Good thing her face masked the colour of her blushing in some way.

Oh, Lukey~ I'll make sure you grow up to be that man you desire~

She still wanted to talk with him, but she decided to let him do his thing. Besides, she's curious to see how he'll play everything out since it's always her who's been initiating the flow of their meetings.

Then again, she's been growing quite hungry. Hell, her stomach rumbled pretty loudly, and it appeared that he heard it, making him chuckle. She quickly covered her already-blushing face with her tail-tips. Crap, talk about embarrassing!

"Oh, uh, seems like someone's hungry."

"S-shut up, Lukey…"

"If you want, I think I got something for you, but I'm not sure if you're gonna like it."

She lit up when he said that. She hoped it's gonna be something sweet, like those confections and berries he used to give her.

And, she's right. He took out a small transparent wrapper with deep red-brown outlines and a '2x the flavour' inscription, revealing a scarlet confection within the plastic. "I have some bittersweet chocolates if you want, but I don't think you'll like its — woah!"

Before he could even finish, she impatiently leapt towards his right hand and nabbed it from him. Damn, he really should work on his reflexes more!

"Ha-ha! Too slow, Lukey!" She proudly flashed the snatched candy in front of his cute little face while floating off from him. "Also, thank you for your kind offering to the Lake Guardian, humble one. I'll make sure you'll be extra blessed by me~" she added with a wink.

He blushed and pouted. Ah~, seeing his cute little expressions really made her day complete. Plus, she could tease him playfully all day now that he's slowly warming up to her.

A bit far, but nonetheless, I'm inching closer to becoming yours, Lukey~

"Oh boy, you're really one of a kind, Mes." he shrugged at his ignorance and continued, "Anyway, enjoy, Mes. I'll dig in mine."

He proceeded to get his own. It seemed like he had more, but judging by the look of his worried face while going through his pocket, the rest were either lost during his escape or when he tumbled down. Well, looked like he's successfully retrieved one more left.

These human confections were something else. It's not really at par with the Hall's meals or the berries around her lake, but she's admitted that those humans could craft delicious foods. Hmph, maybe that's all they're worthy of but when it's any food from him, it'd always taste so~ good.

When she tore the wrapper open and made it disappear, she caught him staring at her, probably out of curiousity. Maybe he was still amazed at her psychic prowess?

Hm~ I can tease him a bit, she planned, smiling.

"Like what you see~?" she asked while winking and sticking her tongue out, to which he replied with a puzzled look. She giggled at his soon-to-be-ruined innocence and commented, "You really look funny and cute when you make that face, Lukey~ Let's snack now, alright?"

Just as she put the entire confection in her mouth, he spoke up.

"W-wait, Mes! Don't eat the… oh no."

"Whaff?" Mesprit squeaked while chewing and tasting the gooey goodness of his gift before swallowing it. Just what's he getting worked up for? He's even muttering something over and over again.

"What's wrong, Lukey? Is—"

H-hang on… There's something slowly burning in her throat and tongue. It's like it's pricking every spot there with small spikes. Crap, she's feeling blazed from inside out like in the seen flames of a slow-heating furnace! D-dammit, it's spicy! what the hell's with that spicy human confection?!

She coughed dryly and rubbed her throat, but for some reason, she felt weird pleasure from the spiciness of his gift. Unable concentrate on her telepathy, Mesprit relied on her voice. "What… the hell… L-Lukey… y-you… little…!" she said in between deep breaths.

S-shit! I forgot you can't understand our tongue!

A series of short coughs and reddened cheeks followed until she let out a loud and ear-piercing…

"KYA—RGH!"

She panted heavily, letting her tongue loose. Face as red as a tamato berry, her tearily furrowed eyes momentarily shot daggers towards him. Scanning hurriedly left and right in a desperate search or water, her eyes were locked on the nearby lakeside straight ahead. "W-water, water!"

She huffed and puffed as she made her way hovering towards the lakeside, shoving him off her path.

She laid her body on the grassy soil, took a deep breath, then dunked her entire head inside the water. She pulled her head back up to catch some before repeating the whole thing to ease the spiciness. Shit, good thing the water's cool on this summer day!

While she's at it, she heard him slowly walking towards her. "Uh, M-Mes? Y-you okay…?"

A few more repeats passed before she pulled her head out of the water just to get a good look at his worrywart face. Her angry expression still didn't leave her face, and she could sense he even enjoyed looking at her at her most helpless!

"Just what the fuck was that for, Lukey?!" She grumbled at him and coughed at him before returning her head back underwater.

"Oh crud…" he mumbled. Hmph, at least he somehow got her message.

Slowly, the spiciness was leaving her tongue and throat with the coolness of the water replacing it. Also, when the hell was spicy AND sweet a good combination? Fucking humans and their sick tastes! Maybe she ought to steal one for that pompous Yux and make her feel the it!

Having literally cooled down, Mesprit withdrew her head from the water and shot an infuriated look towards her cute little prankster. Water dripped from her damp face and her appendages drooped from being soaked. Growls escaped her mouth, causing him to emanate uneasiness.

He slowly approached her and said, "Um, Mes? I'll help dry you up—"

I am NOT gonna fall for your tricks again, Lukey!

She raised her left hand to him as he stopped on his heels, surprising him. She proceeded to wring her appendages and shake her head back and forth to force the water out of her head. With her psychic powers, the remaining wetness was removed, as if her head was never soaked in the first place.

"H-hey, that was pretty hot. Right, Mes?" he nervously joked with a forced laugh.

She gave him an exasperated look. Was he really saving it up for this moment?

"Oh, yes. That was pretty hot, Lukey…" Mesprit replied with a series of slow claps and an annoyed look.

"D-did it taste good?"

"But of course! It was so~ so~ good and tasty, not to mention fiery in its sweet goodness…"

"That's… neat!"

"Yeah. Neat."

You corny little cutie~!

A short pause ensued between the two. She took this time to return to her hovering position and crossed her arms. Her annoyed expression never left, and she stared coldly at him.

"A-are you mad or something, Mes?"

Now's her chance. She planned to make him feel bad for a moment. "Mad? No, no! Of course not. How could I stay mad after eating some sweet candy that tasted like cheri berries on a sugar rush? Hm~?" She raised an eyelid at the last statement. He looked like he could sweat out an ocean with his unease. "Is it my turn to speak now?"

"Y-yeah, Mes. G-go on…"

Brace yourself, my dearest Lukey…

In a flash, she zoomed in his face and hammered the top of his head, without much force to hurt him, while gluing her forehead to his. The boy just shut his eyes to get an earful, or 'mindful' in this case.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT DOING IN YOUR POCKET?!"

She let her furious voice boom in his mind while hammering his head with her small clenched fist, not much to cause pain.

"Argh! I'm sorry! To be honest, it was a bit funny — yahck!"

"Wrong answer!"

She pinched his nose with her free hand and wrapped his arms with her tails. Just what the hell does her little Lukey even eat for snacks? That's an overkill for the tongue!

"Ow-ow-ow-ow! I'ym beingk hohnesht!"

"So, it's some pleasure for you to enjoy, huh, Lukey?!" she chided with glowing eyes.

"W-wait! Iy cahn engshplain, Mesh! Pleangshe shtop squeezingk mhy noshe!"

"Oh, you'd better!" she demanded as she backed away from him.

He began by explaining the gist of his plan: buying the extra spicy chocolate, pranking Barry by letting him eat the 'deadly' sweet after doing their business, rolling-on-the-ground-laughing at his would-be pokémon-like behaviour while searching for water, and consuming his own chocolate if there was no opportunity to execute his prank.

Realising this, Mesprit cooled down and began to contemplate why she just came and snatched his candy away from him when she could have just waited for him. Then again, her sweet tooth overpowered her senses, so she simply got embarrassed at that. Damn, she really made a fool of herself in front of him!

"I never wanna prank you in first place, honest! I mean, I didn't even know I'd end up like this or something!"

Mesprit was shocked at that daffy excuse of a plan, and she felt stupid to be the one to take the fall instead of that thick-skulled human. This really piqued her curiousity as to what the two have been up to for their recreation since then. Like, what the hell's with human children nowadays?!

"W-what kind of sick kicks do you two have up your sleeves to have fun?"

"You know Barry's disrespectful 'genius plans' I talked about? Those crazy stuff!" Those 'genius plans'? There's nothing 'ingenious' about stirring up chaos, agitating the peaceful pokémon, and endangering her Lukey's safety under her watch! That fucking yellow-haired devil, she made sure to punish him when the time's right, and he's really going to feel her wrath! "B-but, I swear! I didn't plan on kidnapping an innocent baby pokémon!"

She sighed, calming down before she lost control of herself. "No, no. It's okay. Didn't we resolve that moments ago?"

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that…" An awkward silence breezed past their embarrassed selves yet again until he decided to break the ice. "M-Mes?"

"Y-yeah?"

"I think… this wouldn't happen if you didn't swipe my chocolate," he voiced out while scratching his head.

"I, uh… You see… I like sweets, so…" She cheekily smiled and tugged her pigtails lightly out of embarrassment. Shit, he's got a point!

"And you're not that mad at me, right Mes?"

"That's just me, Lukey. I'm not really mad, just very annoyed. That's all!"

"Oh boy, if that's it," he gave her a look of victory, "it's still your fault though," he snarked in a jesting tone.

"U-um… About that…"

Mesprit began waving her tails like a human windmill with her hands at that remark out of her embarrassment. She had already conceded to his logic, silently at least. All she could do was let out an ashamed giggle. Though, she was adamant not to admit to him. Hell, her pride's not gonna be crushed by her cute little Lukey anytime soon!

And then, an idea pinged onto her. A mischievous one, to add. To compensate for her blunder, she would have to challenge him, with her own fair terms. Even though she felt empty before meeting him, she had a penchant for stirring up fun through the form of mischief. It was her opinion that doing so could be a nice escape from insanity.

I got it: a little game of tag ought to do the trick, she thought and snickered.

"Hey, Lukey!" she called out unto him.

"Yeah, Mes? Finally admit defeat?" he gloated.

"Hm~ Maybe after a game. You in?"

"Heck yeah, you bet I'm in!" He flashed a thumbs-up at her.

"You sure about this? You seem to go for settling the score in times like these."

"Just so you know, I've only lost to people better than me in these kinds of stuff."

That's… not really something to be boastful about, Lukey. But still… Mesprit let out an exasperated sigh. You've never won against me, so I wanna see you try!

"Hm~ Interesting… And your other friends?"

"Never. Lost."

"Ooh~ Quite a resolute one now, aren't 'cha?" Mesprit smiled. Kinda reminds me of that keldeo…

"Uh, doesn't that mean something courageous…?"

"Something like that. 'Determined' is a closer one, though."

"Really? Then, thanks!"

"Oh, Lukey~ Aren't you a cute one…" she mused.

"All right!" she punched her palm. "The bet's as follows—"

"If I win," he intruded, "you're the fool for not checking out my chocolate and eating it, fool! Only clumsy people and pokémon do that! Then, you're gonna do anything I'll say!"

"'Anything'? Aw~, isn't that a bit harsh?"

Well, I DO want you to claim me as yours right here and now if you can, she thought with a snicker.

"Not at all!" he said. Suddenly, he clasped both hands and rapped, "I-don't-really-mean-it-though-please-don't-kill-me!" She laughed at his cute little outburst and revolved around him.

"Relax! I'm no meanie; I'm your friend now! So, I can take a few teases from you," she explained and winked at him. He replied with a sour face, probably thinking he's made a fool of himself. "You sure did, Lukey~" she said without reading his mind.

"H-hey! I thought you said no mind-reading!"

"But I didn't. Your face just spoke a thousand words! Ha!"

He grumbled. "When… when this is done, I'll make you whatever you say, you little pixie!"

Feisty~ I just hope you'll pleasure me while you're at it~

"Hey now, Lukey. It's my turn. If I win," she shot a naughty look to him, "it's going to be your fault for pranking me with that God-forsaken spicy sweet, so you'll have to tell me who you're crushing on as payback!"

"Wha… M-Mes, I don't—"

She silenced him short with a hush and placed her palm on his red lips. Her tail tips alighted on both of his cheeks.

Hah! I got him now, she gloated in her mind. That'll give me an idea as to who I need to observe.

"Now, now Lukey~ Your outburst and blushing alone proves it."

"I—"

"A-tut-tut-tut-tut. You're telling me you aren't man enough to share me a bit of tidbit? It's just a crush, or is it something more~?"

He gasped and struggled off of her grasp.

"It's nothing like that!" he declared while blushing. "Fine! I'll prove it to you the 'manly' way: by settling the score and by winning it fair 'n square!"

He pointed his index finger with gusto at her, who giggled at his gesture.

"So you do have a crush then… Ah~, you truly are fun to mess with…"

At least our previous dispute's over with, she thought. Meanwhile, he blushed at being teased back at. Though, this crush of his, she made a pause with a frown before continuing, I just wonder who it is. She closed her eyes to hide her dilating pupils. Well, whoever this human is, they won't get in our way.

Finally, a playdate with her soon-to-be mate. This was no different to their previous playdates, but this one was the most special among all. Having her Lukey accept her as an open friend gave her a sense of accomplishment. This minigame she brought up would seal the deal of their friendship, win or lose. But of course, she shouldn't lose to him, even though he had his feisty terms. If she was going to learn more about him, and his crush, then she had to do it hands-on.

As for his crush, she had a feeling it was one of his human friends. Whoever it was, she needed to know. She's kinda bothered as to who his crush was, but if it was unknowingly mutual, she had to step in before she'd lose her Lukey almost indefinitely. That, he'll only have her in his life, and no human would ever dare come close to their happy life.

"Alright! As our first-ever, friendly, honorary bet-off, we're gonna settle it over…"

She sped up to him, but before she could even lay a tap on him, a familiar and disgusting voice froze her movement.

"Lu—cas!"

The blond human. That damn troublemaker.

This voice screeching over the distance annoyed her more than it did startle. Dammit, it sounded like he could arrive here in a few minutes.

"B-Barry?" he said and turned to the direction of the voice.

"Shit…!" she cussed out loud. Good thing he didn't understand a lick of it. "Lukey… it seems like our little playdate will have to be postponed to another date…"

"What? Why?"

"'Cause your airhead friend has just entered the lake," she replied, broodily.

"Do you have something with him, though?"

"It's nothing like that!" She shook her hands in her defence. "It's just… I thought we could've played our little game and stayed a bit longer."

"Wait, I know! Maybe I can let him know you, then we can play our little bet with him together. A 1-v-1-v-1 game!"

"Y-you mean introduce? No thanks, Lukey. I'll pass this one."

"What's the matter, Mes? Torchic?" he added with a joking sneer.

"H-hey! I'll have you known I'm braver than you think!"

"So? Why couldn't you just introduce yourself to him? I bet he's here to apologise."

"Yeah, he'd better. Anyway, Lukey, I just can't. Alright?"

"Oh fine, party-pooper…"

She could sense his disappointment, but all she could do was frown. She also felt that he found her reasoning a bit lacking. Well, it's unreasonable for him that she'd just plainly call off a little introduction just to continue their game.

But then, she'll just inch closer to losing him, even if it's just by a particle size. She wouldn't want that after coming this far. She sighed and hovered a little closer to him and spoke up.

"Oh alright. Listen up, Lukey… I know you're thinking that I'm being irrational and all, so I'll fill you in. We still have some time left."

"Pinky-swear that's gonna be true?"

"Pinky-what?" she asked and stared at him with confusion. It's the first time she's ever heard of this 'swearing' from him.

"A pinky-swear. Something that'll make us know that what we'll be saying is true. It's like this. Here, I'll show you how to do it."

He beckoned for her right hand. He raised his pinky finger and asked her to raise her finger too, only to see that she was bi-fingered.

"Dangit, how's this gonna work?"

He seemed to be deep in thought for this 'swearing' to be executed.

W-wait, were they going to h-hold hands? Thinking about that, her breathing quickened.

N-no. Relax, Mesprit. Don't let your colours show just yet. You'll have all the time in the future.

His snapping pulled her back to reality. "Got it. First, I wrap my pinky finger," he waggled his pinky for her, "and then you give me your, uh, thumb."

"You mean this?"

She gave her own version of a thumbs-up and then neared it to his petite pinky.

"Yeah. Next we twirl each other's fingers like this," he explained as they both twirled their fingers and looked at each other's eyes.

Lukey's fingers are just so~ so~ smooth and firm, but

"Nothing's happening, Lukey," Mesprit impatiently remarked.

"That's the thing. It's kinda a personal thing for it to work once I say something," he replied.

"Oh! So it's kinda like a physical and verbal way of ensuring an honourable and honest thing, right?" he nodded, with her giggling.

"Then, don't worry. You'll be receiving the truth, and nothing but the truth from my mouth."

"I'll say it again: pinky-swear that it'll all be true?"

"Pinky-swear!"

Their entwined fingers tightened, and she quickly got an idea. She trusted him, but she had to conjure a way to prevent him from talking about their meeting if he was being pressed, especially by that disgusting human. Recalling Yux's and her superior's boring description of a concealment spell, she discreetly passed her powers to him and activated it. That spell was best transferred upon contact, and this was the best opportunity. Mesprit made it that whenever her Lukey would unintentionally or intentionally reveal anything delicate about her, he would be prevented from doing so. She didn't know how it happened, but it was said to work countless times.

Maybe that's the purpose of this 'pinky-swearing': a contract between parties or such, but how could humans… She quickly perished the thought once it came to the point of involving humans.

"I'll just make it brief since your airhead friend might be looking for you," she said after releasing their fingers. "Okay, Lukey, so, I'm a legendary pokémon. Ooh~ Wow~ Scary~" He chuckled at her when she imitated a ghostly narration. She also chuckled as a response before returning to her explanation.

"We legendary pokémon shouldn't expose ourselves much to other human beings since we're, you know, quite important in keeping the world in check. I, as well as my sisters and some others, am stationed in the eastern part of the world. I think we called it the 'Eastern Pacific Terminal 1 of the Hall' or something. There are more of me in this world, but each one of us has a ve—ry important role, like pillar-of-the-building important, and there are many more different legendary pokémon scattered throughout the rest of the Earth. We might get kidnapped, captured, 'experimented' with — whatever that means — and locked up tight. Those bad guys are gonna use us for wacky stuff, and we know it. I can handle them! But strength in numbers can be dangerous. That's why… I've gotta hide from those evil humans, and please don't tell anyone that you saw me right here and now!"

Well, I don't if you got it all, Lukey, but there's that…

"O-okay then. I'll zip my mouth, but… Barry's a good guy! Dense, but still kind! And you revealed yourself to me, in the flesh! So, why?"

Mesprit gulped at trying to answer that. She planned to let him know in the near future that she actually met him before, and that revealing herself to more humans was breaching the Hall's codes. Hell, meeting him was without permission, so she's definitely screwed!

Then again, she didn't care as long as she was with him in the end… Well, maybe spoiling him a little wouldn't hurt. He was suspicious at one point, so she had to clear up some of it in order for him to trust her and to accept her fully.

That, undoubtedly, would have occurred, had it not been for a disgusting screeching human interrupting their tête-à-tête.

"Lu—ca—s!"

The calls of his name grew louder and felt closer too.

"Aw, for the love of—!" both exclaimed in unison out of annoyance.

They then looked at themselves and burst into laughter for coinciding their outbursts. He tapped the grass bed with his hand while she rotated midair and twirled her tails.

"Hey, that's my line, Lukey!"

"First come, first served, Mes!"

Upon calming down, they faced each other once more and smiled at each other.

She used their remaining time together to look into his eyes; really, they look like they've changed over time. She wasn't a seer, but maybe this was a sign for something fated to happen. Either that, or she just can't wait to see the look on his face when she — no — they reach their ultimate goal.

"Oh Lukey…" she commented as her face grew bashful in front of him.

"Um. I guess I've gotta get going now, Mes," he excused himself and stood up.

"L-Lukey?"

"Yeah, Mes?"

"I… I look forward to our next meetup! Please, please do visit soon," she requested with a hint of a pleading tone.

"Sure thing. That's what friends do, right?" He paused for a moment while standing up, maybe he was thinking of something. "Since I don't really have anything else to give you as my thanks, think of what I'm gonna do as my thanks for patching me up."

She was a bit confused. "Huh? What are you gonna do? What do you mean, 'thanks'? Lukey, I—"

He approached Mesprit and pulled her into an embrace. Shocked and frozen for a moment, she blushed as she looked towards him bug-eyed. She didn't expect this. It took some seconds to realise he was hugging her! This was new! He's initiated it! Not her!

HER LUKEY WAS HUGGING HER FOR THE FIRST TIME!

HE-HUGGED-ME-HE-HUGGED-ME-HE-HUGGED-ME-HE-FUCKING-HUGGED-ME!

"Thanks, Mes. I just hope you won't be all that scary again," he said and chuckled while hugging her.

Calming down a bit, she also returned the favour by hugging him back around his neck and closed her eyes serenely, rubbing her head unto his. She really wanted this moment to last, but there's always a next time. If only that disgusting human wasn't here, and she'd have him and take his—

Wait-wait-wait-wait, he's only a child! I wanna wait until he grows up…

Hah! You'll ultimately give in to your desires, but very well. We can manage.

C-can I at least savour this moment?

You mean 'we', but alright. Lukey's here with us, so just shut up and enjoy this.

Stop acting like children, both of you. The brain and soul can only handle so much.

She sighed at her internal psyche. She hated arguing with herself, but that shouldn't be an issue now. She couldn't care for anything but this divine moment. Oh, just this was heaven for her: feeling his soft embrace and rather gooey body from the ointment she gave him.

"I love you, Lukey," she squeaked. "I really, really love you, my dearest Lukey~!"

"I don't know what that meant," he chuckled and released himself first. "But, you're welcome too!" He looked up to think if his reply was appropriate and then mused, "I guess?"

He scratched his head in wonder, to which she giggled. Language barriers are pretty nifty. Maybe Yux wasn't merely spewing nonsense at that time…

She hummed in false affirmation. "You guessed it right. Thank you too, Lukey!" she thanked him gleefully. "Let's hang out some more, alright?"

"Yeah, Mes. I'm gonna go—"

"Wait up!"

She zoomed in front of him as he turned away from her. She was now in front of him and had a serious face. She held up her thumb in front of his face, hoping he'd get her signal. Luckily, he looked like he understood her.

"Promise me, Lukey," she pleaded. "Promise me that you'll see me again. The sooner the better. In the same place. Also, keep our meeting and my identity a secret, please?"

Both eyes were locked onto one another. One pair looked as if it was begging for it. The other pair emanated sureness and affirmation.

"I promise and pinky-swear, Mes. If it's catching up with friends or secret-keeping, you can count on me!"

He smiled genuinely. Meanwhile, she felt the relief of his honesty and not having to be too alone when she stayed in the lake. For the first time in her life, she had made a real friend to lean unto unlike her kind.

With that, their fingers entwined the second time; both had made a promise neither would forget. She let a bit of her essence flow into him while they were at it, and his face told her that he liked it.

"For the love of—! Lucas! I know you're here!" the screech only grew louder by the passing second. Barry was already close by.

They both yelped at that. She turned invisible for a moment, too. Both knew it was time to part ways.

"Lukey, before you leave, don't you dare break our promise over something stupid!"

"C'mon, Mes. I promise!" he assured. "I really gotta go now. See you, Mes!"

"Bye-bye, Lukey~!" Mesprit cried.

With both parties retracting their hands, he immediately dashed towards the forestry and waved at her while running before disappearing from her sight. She jubilantly waved back while flying a circle around her position before she teleported back to her abode. She swore she heard a thudding sound before she did.

In her resting place, Mesprit floated over a large oddly-shaped pond within the recesses of a cavern and flew ecstatically.

Oh, Lukey~ she thought. You'd better see me again!

Droplets dripping the puddle underneath resounded within the walls of the cavern in a long time. Her heartfelt emotions gave off a soothing ambience throughout Lake Verity. If one besides her were to feel it, they'll surely feel jubilant and carefree.

Meanwhile, during Mesprit's fits of happiness, she felt a presence enter her cave, but it was a friendly one that she didn't feel the need to be wary of. Wiping her eyes, she faced towards the direction of what seemed to have teleported to her cavern.

This was an unexpected visit, but she knew for a fact that they meant no harm.

"Oh! I didn't expect you to visit me at a time like this. What's up?"

After a short talk, the Lake Guardian's joyful self quickly turned into the opposite. An upsetting message just had to turn her cheerful day around.

Fuck, just when everything seemed to go all too well.