"I could just stay like this all day," is the first thing Leon says to her when she wakes up the next morning, and Gloria nearly jumps before she remembers that, oh yeah, he spent the night with her. Because this is still a thing that's really happening, despite how unbelievable it may seem. "But we've both got places to be, huh?"

"Good morning," she mumbles in response. "What time is it?"

"About time we start getting ready for the opening ceremony," he replies. "Wouldn't look good if either of us was late, and probably even worse if both of us are late. I haven't been awake for very long, but I wanted to let you sleep in a little bit longer."

"Nah, I should get up too," she says, though she wishes she didn't have to. She wishes that they could stay like this all day, but it's a big day for him, and an even bigger day for her, so that's not an option. After getting to spend so much time with him after only knowing him for a short time, she's gotten spoiled, but she knows that she'll probably have less opportunities to see him once her journey is underway. There is a part of her that wishes she could just stay at his side, but she'd never admit something like that to him.

She's lucky that she's gotten this much, she reminds herself as she gets up to start getting dressed. Leon is completely out of her league, and probably never would have noticed her if she didn't have the benefit of hanging out at his family's house for years before they met. One night with him is nothing short of a miracle, let alone two. Let alone whatever might happen if they do cross paths on their journey, but she's still trying not to get her hopes up that he will want to see her again.

Once the two of them are dressed and cleaned up, Leon decides he'll leave her room first, and give her some time before she leaves as well, so that they can make sure no one notices them leaving from the same room. Just a precaution, he assures her, but he's pretty sure that they should be good to go.

"Don't be nervous or anything, you're gonna look great out there!" is the last thing he says before taking his leave.

Gloria sits by herself for a moment, making sure that she has everything properly packed. After she checks out, she's going to be on the road for a while, relying on the camping kit her mother gave her before departing. Whenever she can find lodging, she's sure she'll take it, but in the meantime, she needs to make sure that she's properly prepared.

Finally satisfied, she stands up and puts on her bag, heading out so that she can meet up with Hop and go to the stadium. It's still weird looking him in the eye after what she's done with his brother, but it's getting slightly easier, and still, he remains oblivious.

~X~

Everyone in the stadium has their reasons to be excited, and being announced in front of the crowd like that is a surreal experience, but Gloria can only curse her single-mindedness, as she continuously finds her thoughts drifting back to Leon. There isn't a single person in this massive stadium that doesn't know who he is, and probably countless who would give anything for just one night with him, but she's actually lived it, and she and Leon are the only two people who know that. It's a pretty wild thing to think about it, which is why it's hard to stop thinking about it, until the ceremony is over.

She's able to see Leon briefly before she leaves, but it's public, and they behave just like a man and his little brother's best friend should.

~X~

After that, it's traveling and training, preparing for the first gym in the challenge. It isn't hard to find her way to Turffield, so most of her time along the way is spent getting her team prepared for it, after she's caught a few things to give her an advantage over Milo. Leon will text her, and whenever she has signal, they'll sometimes go back and forth for a while, until his messages have her so flustered that training is the last thing on her mind.

But the training gets done, until her first gym badge comes to her easily, and she sets up camp just outside of town that night, secluded enough that she feels like she has some privacy. She texts Leon to tell him that she got her first badge, and her phone is ringing less than a minute later. They didn't discuss or plan this, but she's so turned on before he even calls her that she feels like some part of her knew this was coming.

"Congratulations, kid," he says, as soon as she picks up. "Of course, I knew you could do it!"

"Thanks," she breathes, internally cursing the way her voice sounds as soon as Leon chuckles.

"Already, huh? Well, I was getting to that," he says, and she squirms in her sleeping bag, a hand already drifting past the waistband of her pajama pants. "Did you let yourself get pent-up again? Even though I can't be there with you, I can try and help you."

"I'm sorry," she mumbles.

"Don't start apologizing again, baby. I thought we were already past that," he says, his voice reassuring, almost gentle. "Are you touching yourself already?"

"I...yeah, mostly," she says with a whimper, and he chuckles again.

"Your voice sounds so cute. I really wish I could be there to see that! But if I was there, I wouldn't be able to just watch, you know?" She can tell by his tone that he's doing all of this on purpose, that he knows exactly what affect his words are having on her. Already, she's fingering herself, arching her back as she listens to him, imagining that he's the one touching her.

"O-oh yeah?" she asks, barely able to speak.

"You know exactly what I would do to you. I'd be right on top of you, pinning you to the ground- you're camping right now, right?" When she whimpers her response, he says, "Right, so I'd pin you to the ground and fuck you till you couldn't keep quiet anymore. You're already pretty bad at keeping quiet, so I guess that wouldn't be too hard."

"I-I'm…"

"Don't say you're sorry, Gloria, I like it. It's cute, even if it is risky. And out in the middle of nowhere, if anyone came across us, well... they'd just have to mind their business," he says. "Since there's no way I'd be able to stop fucking you, you'd be too good for me to be able to stop."

"A-ah!" she cries. The sound of his voice, the way he praises her and tells her how much he wants it, it's all too much for her to handle. Even without him physically there, his presence is known, and masturbating while on the phone with him is nothing like those lonely nights before she met him. There's no doubt in her mind that she's his, fully and completely, and that, no matter where this is going, she's never going to feel this good again, not without him.

"Such a good girl," he murmurs, "are you going to come for me soon? I knew you let yourself get too pent-up, you really need to call me if you need it. I told you before that I would take responsibility, so if it's getting bad, I've got to help you out, right?"

He keeps talking to her just to help her get off, and she knows that it won't take much longer. She manages to find her voice just to say, "I-I'm real...I'm really close, I...ah, Leon!"

"Mm, I think that's the first time you've called out my name like that," he groans. "I'm really close too, Gloria, ya nearly pushed me right over the edge with that one, kid, really…"

She never noticed before, but now that he's said it, she can hear it, faintly, and then she can imagine it, his free hand around his cock, jerking himself off while his other hand holds the phone and he tells her everything that he wants to do to her. The mental image is so unbearably hot to her that she's there in no time, coming with a sharp gasp, trying to call out his name again, though it's mostly incoherent.

He gets the message, though, and groans again, longer and lower this time, and she knows that he's just finished as well. His breathing is heavy and loud through the phone, but she doesn't mind listening to it as she attempts to catch her own breath. Neither of them speak for a bit, until he says, "Do you feel better now?"

"Yeah, I...I do," she replies, glad that he can't see how hard she's blushing.

"Do you think you can fall asleep now, or do you need to go again?"

Now, her face is probably completely red as she stammers, "N-no, I'm fine! That was enough!"

"Good girl. Alright, then get some sleep. You've got to get up bright and early to start preparing for the next gym. Nessa's gonna be a little tougher than Milo, but I'm sure you can do it!" he says. "And after that, you're going to head back to Motostoke, so, you know. If you let me know when you're in town, we could spend another night in the hotel."

"I'll let you know, definitely!" she says, hoping that she doesn't sound too eager even though she knows she does. She and Leon say their goodnights, and still it's a while before she's able to sleep, because she's already so excited about seeing him again.