Chapter Five
Complications
"Where the hell is my passport?" Adam asked, more angry than worried. He finished rummaging in one suitcase and walked to a different one and began opening it.
"It's in the same place it was when you asked yesterday," answered Tea diffidently from the couch.
Beside her, Minilla pointed at the screen. "Why doesn't anyone trust magic Harry!"
Godzilla held up both his and Adam's passports and waggled them in the air, making sure Adam saw them and relaxed.
Tommy, also on the couch, chimed in, overly upset. "It drives me crazy! He's done so much for them! And Draco Malfoy's dad was a friggin' Death Eater! The only person with any sense is Ron's dad!"
Around a mouthful of popcorn grabbed from the giant bucket in her lap, Svetlana managed from her giant Dany 28'' Wide Tufted Barrel Chair, "Oh my god, what are you two, five years old?"
She shrugged off the dirty looks she got in return.
Adam wandered over to Godzilla and put his head on Godzilla's stomach.
"It's gonna be fine," Godzilla reassured him, stroking the raven-haired pop star.
"I'm like this before every tour," Adam quietly replied. "Sure you can put up with my neuroses?"
Godzilla whispered, "Have you met my only friend over there?"
"I heard that!" Svetlana replied. "I have very good hearing!" She fisted more popcorn into her mouth intently.
"Could YOU beat a Death Eater?" Minilla asked Tommy, their eyes open wide.
Godzilla broke away from Adam and poured himself a cup of coffee. As he began drinking, Adam asked, "I thought you didn't drink coffee?"
"I don't," Godzilla replied, "I'm quitting today."
"He's said that every day for the past seven years!" Svetlana yelled.
"You don't know that!" Godzilla yelled back. "You don't see me EVERY DAY."
"I have VERY GOOD HEARING," Svetlana replied, giving him a look.
Tommy nodded at Minilla. "Yeah, of course, buddy. But not alone. It takes all of the Rangers to take down someone that bad. Also, see, the Death Eaters are different than the evils that we usually take down. You see, they usually operate through an insidious sociopolitical–"
The doorbell sounded, and everyone looked quizzically towards the door, because no one else was expected. Everyone looked around at each other. Eventually Tea stood, but it opened before she'd reached full verticality.
Pikachu stood in the doorway with a deferential look on his face. "Pi pikapi pika-pi pi-ka-chu, Chu pi pikaa chu Pi pi-i. pi kachu pi'pi Pika pi Pika pi."
"Uh …. Yeah. Yeah, sure," Adam responded.
Godzilla's posture stiffened.
"Pi-i … Chu pi Chuu chu pi-i?" Pika asked Adam.
"Okaaaaaay," Adam responded.
"Pi-i-piikaa?"
Adam glanced up at Godzilla, who shrugged in response. "Up to you," he said.
Adam sighed. "Sure. Let's go in my room."
"Chuuuu," Pikachu responded. They walked slowly into the bedroom and shut the door.
Silence descended as everyone stared at each other bewildered.
"I'm sure it's fine," Godzilla said unconvincingly.
On the 65" Class S95B OLED 4K Smart TV, Harry bemoaned that nothing could ever be the same again.
"So you finally showed up," Adam began, putting his hands in his pockets, which felt wrong, so he crossed his arms, which felt more wrong. Everything felt wrong. He felt like a cat that'd entered a room to find that physics weren't what they used to be, and also there was an ex-lover there and the cat didn't know why.
"Kachu, pi'chu pika pika-pika Pipi kachu Pii Kaa Piii piikaa pi Piii, Pi-ka-chu kaa'chu chu pika-chu pii pipi, kaa pi pika-pika Pipi'Pi Piika pi'Pi kachu pi kaa Pikachu chu chuu Pi, chu … Kachu pi Kachu … kaa pi chuuuu Pi Pika-pi Pika-pika chuu pi chu pikaa," Pika said, slowly pacing, mostly looking at the floor, only now and then glancing over to make eye contact with Adam.
"Uh huh …" Adam replied, not sure where this was going.
"Pi Pipi," Pikachu said, stopping, wringing his paws, moving his head from side to side, "Pi kaaa pi pikachu chu … pi Chuu pi kaa …"
"You don't have to say ANYTHING if you don't want to," countered Adam.
"Pi kaaa ka! pikachu, pi pi, Chu'pi chuu …" Pikachu sighed. "Kachu chu Chuuu-pika."
"Oh, really?" Adam replied. "I wouldn't know anything about difficult."
"Pika, chuu, Pi chu chu. pi pii kaa pikachu. pi Pii pika. Pi'Pi Pika-pi ka Pi-pika-pika Kachu, kaa chuuu pi-ka-chu. pikaa pipi'pi pikachu-ka, pi Pii'Pi Pipi. pii Pi kachu … pi Pika-chu-pi kaa kaa Pikachu pika pi-pi-kaaa-chu Ka."
"You're back in therapy?"
"piii, pi-i Pi. pikachu pipi pi Piikachu pi-i kaa chuuu. pi chuu Pi'pi Pika-pi pi. Ka chu Chu Pika-pi …"
"Uh huh …" Adam said, unwilling to give an inch emotionally to this yellow rat.
"Pipi, pi kaaa–" Pikachu started, finally looking directly at Adam. "pi-i kachu Kachu pi Chuuuu–"
Adam threw up his arms. "Your FATHER?! Yeah, I know all about that. I thought we were PAST that!"
"Ka pi-i pi!" Pikachu hissed in return, glancing at the bedroom door. "pii Pi …" His gaze returned to the fibers of the Dodgington Oriental area rug in midnight blue. "pi pi-ka-chu pikachu chuuuu Kachu piii Chu. chu Pi pika-pi'Pi Kachu chu Pi Pi-i pika-chu Pi chuu … Pi piii chu pi-ka-chu pii pika-pika chu pii Pi chu."
"So you called Ash," Adam stated rather than asked.
"chuu," Pikachu admitted. "pi Pika pi Piikaa Pikapi Pi - pi Piii, Pi piii! Pika Kaa piii. chuu pi piii chu, pi piikaa kachu Ka Kaa Pika-pi ka pi. Pii Pi-ka-chu chuu kaa pi-kaaa-chu."
Adam blew out air and rocked on his heels, hands finally somewhat comfortable with his thumbs in the loops of his jeans. "I mean, I guess I realized you had a disease, and maybe it was wrong of me to give you an ultimatum, but I DID give you one, and you broke it."
"chuu," Pikachu replied glumly. "pi Pipi."
"So … why are you here?" Adam asked. "I'm sure it can't have escaped your notice that I'm married now, and we're making it work?"
"piika kaa pika-pika, Pi pika-pi chu pi-i kaa piii pi-i kachu." Pikachu inhaled deeply, his tiny yellow chest ballooning. "pi-i Pi pika-pi pii pi Pipi pi-i kaa pi-ka-chu kachu. kaa Pika'pi Pika pi Ka pi Chu Pika-pika pika Piii."
"I am well aware of that," Adam replied coldly.
Pikachu remained staring at the elegant floral medallion of the Dodgington Oriental area rug. "piii, Pipi," he said, choking up somewhat.
"Look," Adam said decisively, "I'm not trying to kick you when you're down or whatever here, but I don't know what you want here."
"pi Pipi," Pikachu began, "pi Pii Pi-pi-kaaa-chu, Chu pi Piii Chuuu? pi Pika pika-pika Chu chu. pi kachu pi chuu. pi piii Pi pika-pi Ka, Kaa … Pi pipi … chu Pii Pikachu pikapi kaa? chuuu'pi ka pipi pi-kaaa-chu?"
"We WERE!" Adam finally shouted. "You threw it away!"
"Pi pikaa Pi'pi pi-ka-chu pi-i pika-pika!" Pikachu yelled back. They finally began approaching each other, paradoxically, as their voices rose.
"I'm GLAD, but I don't much CARE!" Adam shouted, steeling his eyes to try not to show any emotion.
Pikachu whispered, "kaa pi-i'pi kaaa pika. Kaa chu'pi kachu chuu."
Adam only stared at him in response, his gaze as intense as a stuffed dead raven's.
"pi-i pika-chu Chu pikapi piikachu," Pikachu whispered weakly. "kachu pi-ka-chu, pika-pika kachu Chu chu kaa - ka kaa piii. piikachu."
Adam huffed resignedly. "I don't - I'm not sure. Let me think about it, okay? I'll text you an answer once I'm in South America."
"chuu," Pikachu replied meekly, unable to stop the slow fall of tears down his face.
Silence fell for a long moment.
"Pikapi pikapi pikachu piika kaa pika Chu piii chuu," Pikachu whispered. "pi kaaa pika Kaa chu pikapi ka pikapi pi kachu Pi pika." He sniffed.
All of Adam's empathy fell from his face like a precarious layer of fine sand. "Really?" he asked. "You're going to bring that up now?"
"Pi'pi chuuu," Pikachu said, crying harder now. "Pi pikachu chu."
Pikachu headed for the door and Adam didn't stop him.
Pikachu ran for the front door and shouted at everyone as he passed, "Pi'pi chuuu!"
Svetlana, who happened to be standing and moving to the kitchen, saw the state Pikachu was in and shouted after him as he moved to exit, "You okay?"
No response, and Pikachu escaped the room. "I better make sure he's okay," she muttered as she followed after him.
Adam re-entered the room. Godzilla gave him a worried, questioning look, and Adam responded with an annoyed eyeroll. "I'll explain later," he whispered.
Godzilla tried to cover up the concern in his face and did at least a passable job.
"Why did she run after him?" Tea asked.
"She's a crisis counselor, like me," Godzilla responded. "She sees someone upset and she goes into crisis response mode."
"I hope she has better luck than Harry had convincing the adults the neo-Nazis were bad!" Minilla said, very full of themselves for knowing a new term.
Tommy fist bumped them. "At least the stakes aren't as high, huh?" he said and chuckled.
"Yeah," Adam and Godzilla said at the same time, then shared a worried look.
