Shadow really had no idea when to expect Frost or Blizzard to return, seeing as the female Glaceon had decided to follow after Frost, which meant that in the meantime, he had the responsibility of looking after both of the kits. Normally, this might not have been an issue to Shadow, but Leaf adamantly wanted to continue playing outside with Glacia, insisting that Frost usurped their playing field to have his sparring match, and that if Shadow forced them to go back inside, they would have been cheated out of valuable playtime.
This sparked a small argument between the two brothers, with the Leafeon stubbornly pointing out that there was an extremely limited window of time in which he could interact with a Pokemon his own age, since Blizzard was only visiting A/C for a few days, and Shadow expressing concern for his own ability to look after both of them at once.
The area just outside of A/C's den was mostly open field, with Solaceon Town a short walk away. There was precious little cover or shelter aside from the occasional tree or shrub, and it would not do for Shadow to forget that during daylight hours, his fur stood out like a sore thumb. The Espeon's training with Renard back at their former home had done wonders for boosting his confidence enough to travel out to Solaceon again, but sitting around and looking after two young Pokemon was a different issue altogether.
Shadow's biggest concern was actually the fear that if something happened, whether it be a human trainer or a hostile Pokemon, the young Eevee might not trust her present caretaker enough to stay close if frightened. There was the hope that Leaf could provide some aid in that regard, but it remained a task the Espeon was uncomfortable tackling on his own.
Thankfully, the argument only lasted a couple of minutes before Astrid interrupted with the suggestion that she and Shadow both supervise the kits' playtime, so that in the unlikely event something did come up, they would be better equipped to handle it. She earned an enthusiastic and grateful nuzzle from the young Leafeon for this suggestion, much to her surprise, and the four of them went back outside.
The Kadabra's den was situated on a grassy ledge overlooking the road leading into the human settlement, with a slope leading downwards. Shadow was pleasantly surprised to note that, in spite of her young age, Glacia seemed appropriately cautious when going down the incline, compared to Leaf, who blatantly enjoyed the extra speed and momentum the downwards slope provided to his descent.
"Have fun, but please stay in this section," Shadow instructed the two, gesturing to a large area of the field contained within an imaginary perimeter. The last thing he wanted was to have to run back and forth along the entire meadow just to keep an eye on the two little ones.
"But what if we want to go over there?" Leaf protested, pointing vaguely to an unremarkable spot unquestionably outside the boundaries Shadow had indicated. Shadow exchanged an exasperated look with Astrid, who seemed genuinely amused that the Grass-type's immediate impulse was to try and undermine the rules.
"Well, then we go back inside," Shadow answered firmly.
"What if she goes over there?" Leaf persisted, pointing at his Eevee playmate. Glacia responded with a confused squeaking sound, visibly baffled by the Leafeon's attempt to shift blame to her prior to either of them misbehaving.
"Then we go back inside," Shadow repeated, just as firmly as before. "Don't let her go out of bounds."
"Aww, that's no fair. She moves so fast," Leaf complained. Shadow rolled his eyes, but made no comment. He had no real intention of strictly enforcing the boundaries for Glacia; he just wanted to communicate to Leaf that it was not in his best interest to encourage the Eevee into obliviously breaking the rules.
Shadow was mercifully spared more of his brother's complaints by Glacia cutely swatting the Leafeon's leg, baiting him to engage her in a playful scuffle. Leaf took the bait without so much as a second thought, growling playfully and crouching down to the Eevee's level, his leaf-like tail flicking enthusiastically. Shadow smiled to himself, remembering how Leaf used to try and get his attention the same way when they were younger. Complaining to his parents about Leaf being a nuisance usually resulted in them explaining that Leaf just wanted to play with him.
The Espeon sat down, watching them tussle, momentarily lost in self-reflection. He had been an only child for the first two years of his life, so Leaf had been an experience he had never been prepared for. Some things seemed stupidly obvious in retrospect, such as the young Eevee wanting to play and being annoying to get his older brother's attention, but Shadow hadn't really understood that at first, and it always felt odd or childish to engage his younger brother in whatever little games the younger Eevee had wanted to play.
Little wonder, really, that Leaf had taken to Glacia so swiftly. Having someone close to your own age to play with, and engage with at their level, would come far more naturally to the Leafeon than it had for Shadow. In a way, Glacia was like a little sister for Leaf.
"This is honestly really precious," Astrid giggled, sitting down beside Shadow. He glanced briefly in her direction, taking note of the minimal space between them, but deciding not to comment. He didn't really pick up a threatening or otherwise uncomfortable vibe from the Absol, and while he definitely preferred more personal space, her presence wasn't overly intrusive.
"It is," Shadow agreed quietly, his forked tail twitching. "They met just a day ago, but already get along so well."
"Makes sense to me," Astrid murmured, her tail wagging, and Shadow glanced towards her inquisitively. "They're the kits of two close friends. A lot of times, when old friends start their own families, their children are introduced at a young age, and become close friends to mirror the friendship of their parents."
The Absol sighed quietly, her mood abruptly shifting from cheerful to melancholy. Shadow was about to ask what was wrong, but before the question could even form on his tongue, he felt like he already knew what Astrid was thinking. Echo's untimely death cast a shadow over what otherwise might have been a fond occasion. The Vaporeon had never learned one of his past teammates had started raising a kit of her own.
"At least they did get introduced," he noted, in a weak attempt to find the silver lining.
"That's true," Astrid admitted, pawing absently at the grass underfoot. "It's just not quite the same as old friends meeting up again, and introducing their kits to one another. Echo was the first to settle down and start a family when the team retired, and it just sucks that the only opportunity was lost like that."
"Why is it the only opportunity?" Shadow wondered, taking his eyes off of the kits to give the Dark-type a puzzled glance. "The first, maybe, but I don't think it's the only one."
Astrid shrugged. "I don't see anyone else from the team starting a family or whatever," she noted.
Shadow frowned thoughtfully. "There's not really a 'rush' for that, so maybe give it some more time. I'm almost three, so it's been about three years between when Echo started his family and when Blizzard started hers."
Astrid giggled, and looked over at him, amused. "I think you misunderstood me. I meant that I don't see it happening, like...ever, for anyone else from the team."
The Espeon scrunched up his face in confusion, trying to decide whether the Absol was exaggerating, because her tone didn't match the words she said, but she was no longer acting so pessimistic for him to assume she was letting a depressed state of mind affect her statements.
"I don't understand," he said finally.
Astrid turned her attention back to the tussling kits, remaining silent for what felt like a very long time, to the point Shadow assumed she was dropping the subject entirely.
"A/C's never been the romantic type," the Absol stated suddenly, and Shadow jumped a little, his silver eyes flicking towards her. "She's got a kind heart, and finds fulfillment in looking after others, but attachment has been difficult for her since...well, since the team retired. I think the fear of losing someone else dear to her prevents her from considering the prospect. Don't tell her I said that, please."
"Er...you realize I came here to get more tutoring from her, right?" Shadow ventured uncomfortably. "And that she's previously linked our minds to do that?"
"Well, then I hope she teaches you how to resist psychic intrusion," Astrid said nonchalantly. "As for the rest of us, I just can't picture Thresher having children, and Renard is like two hundred years old, and still probably going to outlive all of us by six hundred years, or whatever. I'd think, with that kind of lifespan, it's pretty safe to say he's not in a rush to settle down and have a family any time soon."
"Fair enough," Shadow conceded with a shrug. "For all we know, he has had a family sometime during the past hundred years or so. I can't even imagine living that long."
"I can," Astrid giggled, her tail wagging cheerfully. "Absol are also said to live about a hundred years or so," she explained.
"How old are you?" Shadow wondered. Astrid cast him a piercing look, and he instinctively recoiled a pace, his body tensing. Then she averted her gaze with a thoughtful expression, leaving the ebony Espeon thoroughly confused as to whether the question offended her or not.
"I dunno, seven, maybe eight?" Astrid answered finally, and she shrugged. "Never had a reason to keep track of my age."
"I guess that's still young, relative to your lifespan," Shadow mused. Probably explained a lot, but he wasn't about to say that out loud. "Don't you think you have the chance of settling down and having a family of your own?" he wondered.
"Many young males already worry about long-term commitments being the death of their independence and freedom," Astrid noted. "Wanting to live life on the edge doesn't necessarily mean they'll eagerly court a disaster omen. They'd already be risking life and limb just by courting a Dark-type predator."
Shadow rolled his eyes, but he was struggling to keep a straight face. There was just something about the Absol's delivery that struck him as incredibly humorous. She was being flippant and self-depreciating, yet at the same time, the implied insult was directed more at the hypothetical males than herself.
"I'm sure that if you made yourself available to the idea, you could find someone who isn't fazed by your species' negative reputation," he suggested. Astrid tilted her head thoughtfully at him. Shadow honestly didn't know why he was even talking about this subject. He was at the age where no one would really take his opinions on relationships seriously, seeing as he had never really been IN one. "Besides," he continued hastily. "Renard and other Pokemon that know you have insisted you're very likeable once someone gets used to your tone. I just think you're selling yourself short."
"Aww, you're sweet," Astrid purred, her tail wagging. "You take after Echo in that sense."
"What do you mean?" Shadow wondered, a little taken aback by the sudden shift in subject. The only time he could recall ever being compared to his father was by his mother, playfully lamenting Shadow's impulsive and stubborn streak, back when they were just a family of three. More recently, those who had known Echo in the past spoke of him with reverence and sorrow, but it left Shadow uncertain of what traits the Vaporeon embodied that made him deserving of such respect from his peers.
Astrid smiled with just a hint of sadness. "Echo was a wonderful friend," she told him quietly. "Possibly the best friend I could ever ask for, even counting Renard," she added, stifling a giggle. Shadow grimaced, and the Absol sobered quickly. "He was very sweet and compassionate, and accepted me for the way I am...maybe even easier than the rest of the group. I mean...I still pissed him off now and then, but what friends don't get into little squabbles or whatever?"
"So how am I like him?" Shadow wondered, getting the sense that Astrid was dangerously close to veering off-topic entirely.
"In a lot of ways, actually," Astrid answered brightly. "You don't judge me as harshly as others do, and restrict your annoyance to little snarky jabs that I can shrug off with ease. Echo approached my manner the same way, and I could always tell he was teasing, even when he was seriously reminding the rest of the team that my bedside manner sucked, so I should never be the messenger for delicate subjects."
"Ironically, you spread the news of his death," Shadow noted. "Well, Renard told Thresher," he amended, remembering the Ninetales' interaction with the Scizor at Eterna Forest.
"Phew, dodged a Bullet Punch with that one," Astrid murmured, and her green eyes sparkled mischievously. "That's not a pun, either. Thresher would try and Bullet Punch me as an excuse to 'test my reflexes', or whatever."
"How else am I like Echo?" Shadow wondered, his forked tail twitching again, even as he kept a close eye on the nearby kits. They had already escalated to nipping at each other's ears and attempting to tackle one another, which meant that the need to intervene could crop up at any moment. Leaf was significantly larger than Glacia, and more experienced from his battle training, so he had an unfair advantage. Even when holding back, there was still the possibility of the Leafeon unintentionally injuring the smaller quadruped.
"Oh, he was very supportive and sympathetic, not just to me, but to everyone on the team. Even if he didn't have an answer to a problem, he was willing to lend an ear," Astrid said, the sad smile returning to her face. "Kind of like what you just did, by saying I have as good a chance as anyone of finding someone to settle down with. Although you might be hitting on me...you did ask my age first, so maybe you have a thing for older females," she mused with a predatory smirk. "That is a pretty common fantasy for males your age."
"Uh...n-no," Shadow stammered, his face growing hot. He should have known that sticking his nose into someone else's personal life had the risk of backfiring like this.
"Relax, I'm just teasing you," Astrid giggled, her tail wagging playfully. "Although, if you ever change your mind, I'm probably free."
"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," Shadow deadpanned. "I'm guessing my dad used to give you romantic advice, too?"
"No, not really," Astrid answered with a shrug. "Back then, most of us were closer to your age now, so finding a soul mate wasn't really a priority. Shallow attraction and boldness is the name of the game at that age, but I'm sure I don't have to tell you that."
"H-huh?" Shadow stuttered, almost convinced that his cheeks had just caught fire, even if the black fur wouldn't expose the blush.
"I mean because of your fur," Astrid explained, covering her mouth with her paw to stifle her giggles, her green eyes glittering knowingly. "It turns heads, and at a young age, that's enough of a starting point. Maybe you'll find a gem by virtue of being a fem magnet, but you'll also find duds."
"Could we change the subject, please?" Shadow pleaded, too flustered to look the Absol in the eye. It was one thing to discuss things from a general standpoint, when his opinion on the subject amounted to little more than naive optimism, but the conversation was getting a little too personal for his tastes. He was well-aware of how often his physical appearance drew the attention of females, but being back near Solaceon Town again reminded him of Cecilia, and how they had severed their potential romance and parted ways following her providing the crucial information about Diablos and the death of his parents.
Since then, he had been somewhat conflicted about female attention. He was at the age to naturally crave such attention and affection, and he'd be lying if he claimed not to miss the Quilava's warmth and touch, despite the brevity of their interactions. Astrid was not wrong to claim that shallow attraction and boldness were the most important aspects of early relationships. Although the Espeon caught the eyes of many, few were bold enough to approach him like Cecilia had. On the flip side, Shadow was likewise reluctant to approach attractive females, not out of fear of being rejected, as he might have been as an Eevee, but out of concern that the risk of rejection was so minimal that it could be exploited.
"So what kind of tutoring are you looking for?" Astrid wondered, and Shadow blinked, taking a moment to refocus on the Absol and consider the question.
"Mostly just an expansion on the basic abilities she taught me last time," he answered, after a brief pause. "I was recommended to her originally because I had no idea how to use my psychic abilities. I've gotten a much better grasp on them since then, but I feel like I still need another Psychic-type's help in unlocking the full potential of those abilities, and she's the only other Psychic-type I know."
"Ooh, good idea," Astrid agreed, bobbing her head thoughtfully. "Especially now that you know more about Diablos, right?"
Shadow stiffened at the mention of the Spiritomb's name, but nodded grimly. "I'm still no match for him, and Renard has insisted we not try to confront him. I'm doing this for myself, not with the intention of going after him. However, I'm sure he'll eventually come after us again, so I want to discover a way to fight back properly."
"Good thinking," Astrid said, smiling a little. Shadow nodded, then glanced at her curiously.
"What about you? What are your plans moving forward?" he wondered.
"I'm thinking of sticking around for a while," she answered promptly. "It's been a while since I've last battled seriously, so I might be a bit rusty, but I could still offer you guys pointers and advice for your training. Plus, I could use the practice."
"Hm? Practice for what?" Shadow wondered. As if to answer him, Astrid wordlessly extended one of her forepaws towards him, and he looked at it blankly for several moments before the Absol seemed to realize her mistake.
"Whoops," she giggled, withdrawing her foreleg sheepishly. "My Absolite bracer's still getting repaired. The clasp broke when I was up visiting Bliz," she explained in response to the Espeon's inquisitive look. "One of A/C's colleagues knows someone who I guess specializes in metal apparel or whatever. It's been a few days now, so I hope it's almost done...but what I was trying to say was that I need to practice using my Mega Evolution."
"I notice that's becoming a trend these days," Shadow remarked dryly. "First the stone that Force had that he couldn't use, then the skirmish in Eterna Forest over a Beedrillite, and now yours. Is Mega Evolution normally this commonly discussed?"
"Nope, not at all," Astrid replied brightly. "Most Pokemon species can't even achieve it, and the stones are really rare and valuable, and it takes a lot of training to wield one even if you have a compatible stone. Let's not even get into all the risks involved."
A cacophonous wail abruptly shattered the relative tranquility, and both adults started in alarm, Shadow focusing upon the kits themselves, and Astrid surveying the area around them in search of a threat, her green eyes narrowed and white fur bristling. The source, however, turned out to be much more benign; Glacia had inexplicably burst into tears, and Leaf was cringing away from the noisy Eevee, visibly alarmed.
"What did you do?" Shadow demanded, hurrying forward and inspecting the young Eevee for signs of injury or another obvious reason for her distress.
"Nothing!" Leaf insisted, desperately trying to hush the younger quadruped, to no avail. "We were play-wrestling, and I was just about to pin her when she started screaming."
Shadow actually paused for a moment to digest the explanation. Part of him was inclined to immediately dismiss the Leafeon's explanation and assume he was leaving out something important that would otherwise implicate him, like whether he had shoved the other Pokemon first, but the part of him that remembered what it was like to be the older brother took note of the situation's 'timing'.
"You were about to pin her?" he repeated, fixing his brother with a piercing look. Leaf himself seemed confused by Shadow's decision to focus on that aspect of his defense, but he nodded. "And you're sure you didn't accidentally hurt her?"
"Yeah, pretty sure," Leaf insisted, although he didn't look completely certain. Astrid was giving Shadow a puzzled look of her own, but the Espeon turned his attention to the Eevee at his feet. The intensity and volume of her wailing had drastically reduced after the first few notes, and Shadow silently noted how the crying continued to dwindle as she gained more and more attention. At one point, she peeked out from behind one of her paws, and when Shadow met her gaze, she squeaked and hid her face again, and began making unconvincing whimpering noises from behind her paws.
"Congratulations, Glacia knows Fake Tears," Shadow deadpanned.
"Ooh, that's right...Blizzard loved that technique when she was younger," Astrid marveled, her eyes lighting up. "She was the youngest member of the team, so she used moves like Fake Tears to compensate for her lack of strength and experience."
"She was faking?!" Leaf screeched indignantly, growling at his playmate with a hint too much aggression, but Shadow shot him a warning look. It was unlikely that the Leafeon would actually attack her, but it was inappropriate to address Glacia so aggressively. "You nearly got me in trouble!" he scolded her.
Glacia flashed the Grass-type a smug grin, before hiding her face with her paws again, as if she believed the adults couldn't see her facial expression while she couldn't see them. Leaf bristled and pawed at the grass with playful aggression, ready to pounce upon the Eevee and claim the victory he had been cheated out of, but Shadow shook his head firmly.
"But Shadow...!" Leaf whined.
"Don't," Shadow advised seriously. "If she knows you'll get riled up, it'll encourage her to do it again, and next time she might do it in front of Frost."
Leaf winced, but nodded, before looking up at his brother again. "Thanks for believing me," he said quietly. Shadow couldn't resist a tiny smirk in response.
"I might not have, except you used to do the same thing to me when we were younger," he reminded the Leafeon. "If I wasn't playing just the way you wanted me to, or if I was about to win, you'd whine and flop down to try and make the parents think I was being mean to you. It probably didn't help that even if they didn't fall for it, I'd get worked up enough to actually do something that'd get me in trouble."
"Ohh...so it's a good thing I used to do that...because you knowing about that sort of thing got me out of trouble later on," Leaf noted. Shadow opened his mouth to correct him, but caught sight of his brother's mischievous grin, a sure indication that Leaf had purposefully misconstrued the moral of the situation.
"Sure, Leaf," the Espeon sighed, and he glanced around. "Let's go inside now, though, because the noise might have attracted someone."
"Okay! I think Glacia's getting sleepy anyway," the Grass-type said, looking over at the Eevee, who was indeed starting to nod off a little. "Who's a sleepy little Eevee? You are! You are!" he cooed brightly, tail flicking. Shadow exchanged a look with Astrid, silently debating whether Leaf using infantile language to a Pokemon only a little younger than himself was considered condescending, but to his surprise, Glacia squeaked, seemingly to confirm her friend's designation.
"You think you can help her back to the den?" Shadow asked, and Leaf nodded, extending a small vine from one of his sprouts and gently looping it around the Eevee's shoulders before slowly leading her back towards the cave entrance. Glacia trodded along, occasionally whining in protest that she couldn't just lay down where she was, but Leaf offered an encouraging squeak or chirp in answer. Shadow followed a few paces behind them, observing the interactions with unabashed amusement.
The trickiest part of the walk was definitely the incline leading to the den itself, as Glacia didn't seem to want to put in the extra energy and effort to scale the small slope. Leaf tried to encourage her, with a mixture of normal words and kit-speak, before eventually going over to her and beginning to incessantly lick at her ears, face, and neck. While Shadow had no idea what had possessed the Leafeon to use this approach, it seemed remarkably effective, as the irritating and ticklish sensation of his tongue goaded the Eevee to swat at him, and when this proved to be an ineffective solution, she started whining and crawling up the slope. Still, Leaf continued to nag her via tongue bath until Glacia finally darted up the remaining incline and into the den. Leaf grinned triumphantly and followed the Eevee into the cave.
"Um..." Astrid said, but trailed off without saying anything further.
"Yeah, that was actually really weird," Shadow admitted.
"I mean, they're really cute, and the interactions are probably harmless, but on the other hand, I know he has that creepy split-personality or whatever," Astrid noted.
Shadow shook his head. "I don't think that's a factor right now," he said carefully. "Their interactions, even that one, reminds me more of siblings, like her being his little sister, so he's taking care of her how he thinks a parent would. Mom used to occasionally use the threat of baths or grooming to motivate us to do something we'd try to postpone. Still makes it weird for him to imitate that tactic, but no, I don't think it's concerning unless Devine's mannerisms show up."
"If you say so," Astrid said with a nonchalant shrug, stepping past Shadow and heading up the slope to enter the den herself, with Shadow hastening to follow.
