Chapter 10

Leaving Verdant Cavern behind, we make our way back to the gates of Hau'oli City. The streets damp and cold with the freshly fallen rain. And with my now newly caught cold, I couldn't stop sneezing or sniffling. Even while making our way home, Quil kept me wrapped in his wings, trying to keep me warm while we scurried home. Then at the Beachfront, I could spot Lucario and Hayner searching frantically around the city. Lucario is the first to spot us, and power walks his way in our direction. I try to suppress all the sneezing and sniffling I was doing while he stomped his way over. "Ethan, I told you! Grab some damn warm clothing!" I open my mouth, but Quil interjects before I could say something.

"Hey, no worries, Lucario, he's fine. We just hung out at Verdant Cavern until the rain died down."
"Yeah, it wasn't anything serious Luca-... Luca… AH-CHOO!" I rub my nose and sniffle once more. Then Lucario gives me a furious glare. He takes his paw, yanks me from Quil's wings, and takes me home. "Wha- Hey! Lucario!" Quil exclaims. I try to get him to release my arm, but his grip is rather firm. I probably should've expected that from my strongest fighting type. "You're getting home, getting in warm clothing, and drinking some tea and medicine. No TV either."

"Lucario, I get it. But I'm 19, and you're a Pokemon, you can't ground me."

"Watch me."

We made it home, and all Lucario did was set me down on the couch, and pointed at me. "Stay. Quil, go fetch him some medicine while I make him the tea." He nods, and sits down by me, rubbing my back. "When did he become such a dad…?"

"Beats me, but hey, it just means he cares for you exactly like your parents do!" Quil followed that up with a smile. "Anyway, let me go fetch the medicine."
"For what it's worth, don't you DARE get the cherry-flavored one. That one tastes awful…"

"No prob, Ethan!" He hops out of the couch, and up the stairs he goes. I turn back and stare at him as he leaves. So, after that kiss, and all that… Does that mean we're finally together? Or should I wait until I tell him about- "Swampert?" I practically jump off of the couch, with a sudden feeling of my heart bolting in heart-beat. I look behind me, and it was Raichu. "RAICHU! I swear to God, stop popping in and out of things!" She just chuckled, and sat right next to me.

"So you two kissed… Ain't that sweet, huh?"

"Yeah, it was."

"How'd it feel kissing something with a beak, dude?"

"Oddly satisfying. And warm…"

"I mean, technically, beaks are just hard lips, man."
"Raichu." I say with a sarcastic expression.

"You know it's true, brah. Anyway, I'm gonna leave you two be with each other Catch ya later!"

"Yeah, be good Raichu." She then walks off to the kitchen, and Lucario comes back out with a hot mug of tea. I cover myself up in the blanket, and sit down.

"It's Sitrus Berry tea, drink it up, all of it."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Lucario." He sets down the cup on the coffee table and walks upstairs. A couple of seconds pass, and he comes back down with some thick clothing. Pajama pants, and a sweatshirt. I sigh and shake my head. Before I could talk, he sets it all down next to me and crosses his arms. "Change."

"You know, a simple, 'please' would do wonders, Lucario." Despite saying this, I take off what I had on, and slip on the warm clothing. Needless to say, it was all quite comfortable, apart from the rapid build-up of heat. Quil then comes back downstairs with the Cherry-flavored cough syrup. I give him an expression of pure distress. "Quil, I just said…"
"The others were expired, Ethan… I'm sorry, really."
"Quil, mind giving that to me?" Asked Lucario.

"NO! Quil, don't gi-" Lucario then shoots me a glare, with one of his red eyes almost looking like they were glowing. I was too intimidated to keep going. Defeated, I slump back onto the couch and sigh. "You know what, Lucario, I can handle this. Thanks for your help." Said Quil. I smile and let out a quiet sigh of relief. Lucario nods and walks off. Quil jumps right over the couch, and lands beside me, taking the medicine and pouring it in the transparent cup. "Open wide!"

"Ugh, do I have to…?"

"Ethan, you're 19, act your age, would ya?"

"Low blow, Quil. Low blow."

"Oh, hush and just take your medicine." Reluctantly, I take the cup filled with dark red liquid, and stare at it. My nose starts scrunching up the moment I bring it close to my lips. I open my mouth and swig it all down. With a little gag, and disgusted exclamation, it was all over. I groan and lie down on the couch. "Remind me later to buy a different flavor next time we go to the pharmacy…"
"Heh, of course, Ethan. Oh! Let me get something to wash out the taste a little."

"Oh, thanks, Quil…" He nods, gives me a peck on the cheek, and heads off toward the kitchen. As I start dozing off, Nokto approaches me, his arms crossed, and with an expression of unamusement on his face. I look him right in the eye, and sigh.

"Hey, Nokto…"

"You two look like you have something special, was I right about you two being f-"
"No, Nokto. We didn't do anything of the sort. Now do me a favor, and for your own good, keep your idiotic accusations in your head. They aren't helping your character." He crouches down, and his snout almost touches my nose. I can almost feel the anger in his eyes, as he growled.

"I'll do whatever the FUCK I want, Ethan. You are not the boss-"

"Hey, Nokto, back off," Quil demanded.

"What are you going to do? You're a ghost type, I'm a dark type. You can't touch me."

"No, rock is weak to grass. No get out before we have problems. Leave. Ethan. Alone." I sat up from the couch, and groaned.

"Both of you stop. That's enough. Nokto, I'm being serious, quit being such a jerk. With this attitude, you're just being toxic. Either you fix yourself up, or you're being released. We don't tolerate that type of behavior here. And Quil, no offense, but I'm not delicate, I can handle this situation." Quil nods, and sighs. Nokto promptly then huffs and leaves the living room. Quil walks back to my side and hands me a biscuit from the Kalos region. I grab it, and smile, taking a small bite out of it. "Thanks, Quil… Could you also pass the TV remote…?"
"I thought Lucario said-"
"He won't mind, he's just a little butt-hurt that I got sick." Quil shrugs and hands me the TV remote. I get comfortable on the couch and switch on the TV. While I kept flicking through channels, I saw one of my favorite childhood shows, iKrabby. Man, what a blast from the past, they're actually doing re-runs now! Quil snickers, and covers his beak. "What?"

"Didn't I just say to act your age, Ethan?" He starts cracking up, while iKrabby simultaneously plays a laugh track. Wow, what are the odds of that? I couldn't help but smile and roll my eyes. "Well, I'm still gonna keep watching, because this show was the best growing up, and no amount of age shaming is gonna stop me!"

"So be it, Ethan." He follows that up with a small chuckle, and I start watching.

While I do, my own mind begins thinking about this whole relationship business. I'm already quite happy with Quil, I wonder if he is too. Or if we are a thing by now. I shouldn't worry about it, we've already had our first move. After that, things shouldn't be too hard to engage. Then, one thought led to another, and my eyes began getting curious. Subtly, I move my eyes from the TV to the jeans Quil was wearing; up to his legs, and right to his crotch. I can feel my face start to flush as I start staring. "What're you lookin', at, perv?" Stated Quil. I made my head zip right back up the TV without a second thought. "N-nothing, just coughed a bit!"

"Sure, Ethan." And there he goes, chuckling again. Great, I hope he starts thinking that I'm a creep… Wait, did he ever find out that I looked in on him while he jerked off? Now, I was getting myself anxious for now reason. "Just thought those jeans looked good on you, Quil."
"You think so? They're yours after all."
"Quil… C'mon."
"What? They fit perfectly!" While I was eating my cookie, distracted by the TV, I dropped it right on Quil's package. Crap! I make one quick movement, and snatch it without making contact with him. He didn't even notice… Lucky me! Then, my stomach started rumbling a lot more without warning. I cover my tummy with my arms and chuckle nervously. "L-looks like I'm going to need a lot more than a cookie to eat, heh…"
"Speaking of, I had an idea." Said Quil.

"Oh?" I tilted my head.

"Now that we're finally dating, how about we have some dinner?" And that finally confirms my thoughts. His smile beamed, as I couldn't help but smile back.

"Sounds like a blast! How about I make dinner? Maybe some pasta?"

"Oooh! I've never tried your pasta, I'd love some! But before that, you feeling any better? Is your cold gone?"
"Well, my nose could lose a bit more congestion, but otherwise, I am feeling better."

"Then yeah, pasta it is!" He gives me another kiss on the cheek, and I stand up, making my way to the kitchen.