A/N: Whew! Needed a break from final projects, so I hope you enjoy the very fluffy and rather hilarious misadventures of the Father/Daughter picnic~ I know that the past two chapters has been just Team Dad and May but later chapters will have more Brendan. In fact one is almost entirely centered him and another centers May and Shelly and Courtney.
Next chapter: Maxie is left to look after May, but when a hurtful mistake causes her to run off can he save her before it's too late? Or is there no going back from the words you say?
"Little scamp?" Archie knocked gently on the door when morning rose. At this time May would normally be up already, feeding the wailmers or exploring around the region if not skipping around the breakfast table. The room remained dead silent. He didn't even hear the child tell him to go away.
"Little scamp?" Archie lightly flicked on the lights. His heart broke when he saw the normally bubbly child balled up and turned to the wall. Her pikachu laid on her chest and her Swellow had its wing curled around her comfortingly. The girl didn't even act like she acknowledged their presence.
Archie made a move towards the bed but her Swampert straightened itself in front of him with a scowl. "Swampert!"
He huffed. "Move aside, Tadpole."
"Swampert!"
"I know the kid wants to be alone...but just...trust me on this." He pushed aside the large creature and gently shook May's shoulder. "Hey little scamp..." She didn't even lift her head. "Little scamp..." Archie tried again.
Finally, the child uncurled slightly from the wall. Archie's heart broke from the sight of her. Her eyes were puffy and red from her most recent cry and her clothing was wrinkled and unkempt. Her pillow looked like it had been drenched by a raincloud. She had the most lost and abandoned look in her eyes, and Archie solemnly swore to himself he'd make sure this child never felt unloved again.
"I know you don't feel like being around anyone right now," he began awkwardly. "But I think some time out of the base will do you some good!" The girl turned away but he was undeterred. "Actually Shelly's done some scouting and it looks like there's a lot of deep sea treasure! It's just off of where Kyogre is too!" He still didn't get a response. "We can get some ice cream, go out to eat—do anything you want."
"Go away," May murmured. Archie's shoulders fell a little but he firmly yanked the covers off the girl's form. She blinked in anger and shock at this rough display.
"I'm not gonna let you sit here and brood all day!" the man told her and tossed her casual wear onto the bed, keeping the covers away from her snatching fingers.
"Why won't you just leave me alone?" May gave the man the most hateful glare she could muster but Archie had to hold back a smile. She had no idea what was really going on.
"I expect you up and dressed in an hour, tops, little scamp!" He called to the angry girl as he shut her door off. "If you aren't I'm dragging you out of the bed!" He didn't miss the lethal looking stare she shot at him and the moment she turned his head he grabbed and tucked away her new dress. She was going to need it later.
"Perfect day for an ocean expedition, huh Nerd Boy?" Archie asked his mate, elbowing the man in the side. Maxie swatted him away and rolled his eyes. Archie was so subtle ,it was a wonder how May hadn't figured out what was going on yet. For the most part she had avoided talking to either of them and ignored almost everything said to her. Right now instead of leaning over the railing in anticipation, she was balled up quietly at the very back of the boat, scowling at the ground.
"Such a cheerful face," Maxie laughed lightly, gazing over at the brooding child.
"It'll be bright and smiling and adorable as usual in a moment," Archie told him, checking the map to make sure they were going in the right direction. "Hey May, come here for a second?" The child trudged over and shot daggers out of her eyes all the while. Archie pulled off his bandana suddenly and wrapped it around her eyes.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
"Uhhh..." He pressed his hand against the fabric as she tried to rip it off, steering as he did so. A large blue banner waved in the wind approaching the horizon. "The sunlight is really strong here! We don't want you to hurt your eyes."
"Then why didn't you bring sunglasses?" May snapped and ripped off the cloth. It fell from her fingers in shock as her eyes went as wide as dinner plates. Archie's grin nearly split his face, and even Maxie was smirking playfully at her. "Wha..."
"Surprise Little scamp!"
"Yes...surprise, child."
May just stared, taking in the sight she was certain she wouldn't see this year. The happy laughter of children and adults echoed from the beach. Multicolored blankets were already laid in the sand and grass. Pokemon and children alike were at play. It was just like when she was young...
The child threw her hand to her mouth and spun to both adults. They smiled warmly down at her and their soft expression melted behind her wall of tears. She opened her mouth to speak, but all that squeaked out was an overwhelmed sob. Archie just grinned at her and gently patted her hair.
"You're gonna need this!" he told her and pulled out the green dress. "Well, actually, you don't need it, but Maxie will kill me if I don't make you wear it. You can change when we get to the docks!"
Grinning, May wiped the tears from her eyes and clutched the dress like it was a sacred treasure. "Okay!"
They approached a small booth where a man was handing out tickets for the father and daughters that passed through. He raised an eyebrow, staring up waywardly at a large, burly pirate and the smaller, red headed man in a trench coat and glasses. "Can I help you?"
"Tickets for the Father-Daughter picnic!" Archie told him, shoving a wadful of bills at the ticket man.
"You're both the fathers?" he asked dubiously, and yelped as Archie grabbed his collar and jerked him towards him. "Yeah we're both the fathers! So what?!"
"Okay, okay!" the ticket man squeaked, fumbling with the larger, solid fist around the fabric. "You're both the fathers, that's fine! You can go right in!" He shoved the three tickets towards them and Archie pushed him away.
"Archie you cannot just threaten everyone at this thing to get what you want," Maxie scolded the man and Archie just shrugged. "Don't see why not!"
"Hey look at these tickets," Archie grinned as he stared down at the papers. They had the word "Dad" scribbled on them with a little heart. May's said "daughter." "What a cute idea!"
"Clever," Maxie said dryly. "Where to first?"
May's head was positively reeling with possibilities and you could see it in her eyes. She wasn't even sure where to turn, there was just so much to do. "I don't know, I'm so excited! There's the picnic, and the scavenger hunt, and-!"
"What about that table over there that just got set up?" Archie asked, pointing over to a small table with an assortment of different craft materials: macaroni, glitter, and paper plates. "Boy that looks like fun doesn't it Maxie?" Archie smirked and shoved the man towards the table.
"What?!"
"You go first, Dad number 1!"
"Absolutely not!" Maxie spluttered at the man, but he was already being dragged against his will. "I refuse to subject myself to such a demeaning activity!" He struggled, but it was to no avail and the child tugged him eagerly over to the table.
"For Arceus' sake...this is simply humiliating," Maxie growled under his breath, but every time he felt like ditching the game or insulting it he saw May's happy face and quickly changed his mind.
"Are the fathers and daughters ready?" the judge asked and every child at the table took a macaroni bottle into their hands in anticipation. Inwardly smashing a rock against his face, Maxie rose a degrading bottle of glitter.
"Go!"
"What are we supposed to be doing here?" he hissed at the girl as the rest of the children and parents dove into the projects.
"We make macaroni art of..." The child pointed over to a posing bulbasaur on the table. "That Bulbasaur! The team that makes it the most accurate wins!"
"Bulbasaur!" the creature chirped, wagging its tail happily.
"Oh that's all?" Maxie pushed up his glasses and sneered at the other children and fathers. "Then this will be a simple task. First, we have to roughly sketch out the pokemon, and of course the areas where we're going to place the macaroni and their positions..."
"Maxie, we have less than three minutes."
"What?!" he spluttered, and sure enough found the other teams farther along then they were. "Alright fine, just take the... " He grabbed the glue and smeared it in a pattern to get the outline of the pokemon's shape. May started to decorate the outline with pieces of macaroni. In just a minute their piece was already really starting to come together. Maxie smiled at the girl. "Fabulous, child. Perhaps we'll win this thing after all!"
A competitive father and son beside them looked down at their work and then at May and Maxie's. Both the girl and man were too absorbed in the project to notice, but at his father's signal the boy harshly elbowed May's arm, causing the glue to leak out onto the paper.
"Oh!" May cried in dismay. Maxie's head shot up like a viper, his eyes as sharp as could be and flaming as much as his team name.
"Why you impertinent child!" the man seethed at the smug boy, a rather juvenile anger taking hold of him as he looked down at the little girl's sad face, and he reacted in the way he seldom did: with vengeance. Maxie's boot lifted and slammed the bottom of the table as subtly as he could, causing a bunch of jars to tumble across the table. Five different projects were ruined but Maxie just gave a smug, smug smile to the crying boy beside them, who not only had glitter and glue all over his art, but all over him.
A shrill whistle blew and the judge pointed an accusing finger at the two of them. "Disqualified!" he growled and May quickly rose from the table with Maxie as they were ushered away. She blinked, blindsided, and then scowled at the man. "Maxie!"
"The insufferable and meddling thing ruined our project!"
The girl sighed and threw up her hands as Archie came over.
"Wow Maxie," Archie laughed, patting his partner on the back. "Great job! I bet that team will think again before they cross you, eh lad?" Maxie just glared back. "That was my chance, now it's your turn to participate in an event Archie."
"Alright!" He clapped the girl on the back and she looked up at him apprehensively. "What's the next event then?"
May tried looking around for an activity that couldn't be sabotaged and pointed over to a series of tug of war rope and a bunch of kids and adults that were starting to line up for it. There was a large pile of sand between both parents and children as opposed to a mound of mud. At least Maxie wouldn't get too angry at her for her dress. Maybe the event holders that of the clothes too when they chose it.
Man and child positioned themselves at either sides of the rope, feet planted firmly in the dirt as a safety precaution.
"Get ready to be taken down little sprout!" Archie hissed playfully at May, poised with the rope and eager as could be. "Gonna show you the wrath of Archie!"
"I already met that wrath in the form of your sharpedo and crobat—and ugly bandana!"
"Why you cheeky brat!"
"Go!" the announcer shouted. The war began. It was a valiant effort from both parents and children as the ropes were yanked back on either side and surprisingly many teams turned out to be equally strong. Many teams still had little ones that tumbled into the sand giggling the moment the rope was tugged.
"Get ready, scamp—you're gonna be eating my sand in a minute!"
"That line is cheesier than the macaroni we had last Tuesday!" the child teased back. The smile morphed into a concentrating grimace as the force of the rope became even stronger on the other side. May and Archie were the only ones still attempting to speak. May gasped when she felt her feet skid into the dirt. "No!"
Archie's expression couldn't be anymore smug if he tried. "Told you kid—you're better off challenging Maxie at this! Then maybe you'd actually win!"
May's smoldering blue eyes darted about desperately for an ounce of last minute redemption ,and she smirked when she saw it: a rock imbedded in the sand in front of Archie. "And your pride is your downfall, sea man!"
"What? OOMPH!" With a violent tug, the man's toe grazed against the rock and he lost his balance, tumbling into the sand before him. May pumped her fist up laughing as a dryly clapping Maxie walked over.
The child tutted playfully at the man. "Well look at that! I guess the great Archie has lost his kick! Beaten by a little girl!" she giggled. Archie's expression of shock remained before his eyes narrowed into beady little slits of wrath.
"Why you little runt!" he grunted playfully and hefted at the rope. May yelped as she stumbled and sprawled onto the man, who caught her and head locked her. "No one gets to make a fool out of me!"
Maxie strode over to the struggling and laughing duo on the ground, livid when he realized the state of May's dress. "May that was three hundred dollars!"
"I told you we'd be going to an outdoor event!" May managed through her laughter, wriggling her mouth up past Archie's arm so she could breathe. "And I won this one!"
"Just you wait, I'll get you back someday!"
Maxie tipped his glasses towards them both with a slightly distasteful look on his face. "Well at the risk of you both getting even more muddy, what is the next event?" He looked at his watch, but the clock only read an hour before lunch. This thing wasn't over until four.
May wiped the mud off her face with the back of her hand. "The trivia event," she told them and instantly Maxie's eyes flashed with interest for the first time since coming here. He shoved his glasses up to his nose. "A trivia event you say?"
"Yeah," May told him, brushing the dirt off her dress. She was relieved that the mention of the trivia took his mind off chastising her for the dress. "Pokemon trivia!" She didn't even have time to finish her sentence as the man abruptly grabbed her arm and tugged her along, almost cheerfully.
"Well we don't want to be late!"
May was stunned by the slimmer man's sudden burst of enthusiasm and yelped as her feet tripped in the dirt. "Maxie! You don't even know what the game is about!" Since when did the science man get excited about...remotely anything?
"It's a trivia event, that's all I need to know." His glasses glinted in the sunlight, somehow giving him even more of a know-it-all appearance. "A trivia event that's likely at the comprehension level of a fifth grader. How could we not win this?"
"Yeah but..."
They swung the doors open to the the center and a theatre inside. Different desks had been set up on the stage, with a large screen hanging above them and children and parents already lined up at each podium with buzzers on every podium. May hopped to a stand right up next to the red headed man as a title flashed across the screen. Poke-Trivia!
"Hey Maxie!" May whispered, nudging the man in the side. "Look, it's that bratty kid and his Dad from earlier!" Maxie lowered his glasses and pierced the opposing team with a deadly glower. They glared right back. "Easy..." May murmured, feeling like she was trying to calm a provoked dog.
The host of the game was busy passing out points cards to each team after conversing with them a little. He reached May and Maxie. "Are you the father?" the man asked Maxie.
Maxie paused and stared at the host, and then at May. He opened his mouth to rebuke the question, but he slowly shut it. "I..." He pushed up his glasses. "Yes I suppose I am." May looked softly up at the man and Maxie flushed as he tried to avert his eyes.
"Is everyone ready?" the announcer asked and flipped open the first que card. May hopped up and down in her spot until Maxie chastised her to behave more like a lady. "Alright, question number one! What type of pokemon is a Charmander?"
"Are you serious?" Maxie laughed, looking from May to the announcer. "That kind of question is more adequate for a first grader! What kind of pokemon is a Charmander! Why, a toddler could answer that!"
The other team buzzed in. "A fire type!" The crowd clapped and Maxie blinked in shock.
"Maxie!" May hissed.
"Point goes to Chad and his father Gregory!" The smug little brat made a face at them and May balled up her fists.
"Question number two!" the announcer exclaimed and flipped through another card. "Flygon has a mega evolution, true or false!"
"The concept of mega evolution is taught to someone as young as five, surely there's questions that are more to an advanced lev-"
"It doesn't matter how smart you are, just press the stupid button!" May growled and shoved at Maxie. His hand came down on the button mile-seconds after the little brat's did and the announcer tuned to the other team.
"The answer is false!" the boy answered, straightening himself proudly and giving more of a condescending sneer then a proud smile. Maxie's blood bubbled as hot as the volcanoes he studied, but it was his next words that set the man off. "Looks like you guys are as stupid as you are clumsy!" he snickered.
"Why you arrogant little brat," the scientist seethed. "How dare you imply such a lie!" Vengeful, beady little slits targeted the power bar and May immediately knew what was going to happen next.
"No Maxie-!"
Almost casually and innocently, the man's boot swept one of the cords—the one leading directly to the buzzer of the other team. May just covered her eyes, immediately realizing it was over. She didn't dare even peek through the cracks of her fingers and tried to slink down past the podium as much as physically possible.
"Question number ten!" The event went on with both the announcer and other team oblivious to what had happened. May was just trying to hide at this point. What type of pokemon is ground pokemon immune to?"
Maxie cheerfully pressed his button as the other team pressed their button to no avail. Stunned, the kid kept pushing and nothing happened. "Hey! Hey!" he snarled. "They unplugged our buzzer!" He pointed an accusing finger over to a scowling Maxie (and a still shamefully hiding May.)
"Hey!" the announcer growled and from behind the podium May's hand shot up in surrender. "We know, we know," she said glumly and started tugging Maxie away from the podium.
"We would have won if it hadn't been for that meddling child!" Maxie growled. May stared at him incredulously and rolled her eyes.
"We didn't win because you were too busy bragging about how easy the questions were to answer them!" the child accused and Maxie's face flushed a red the shade of his coat. "Once again, your own ego was your downfall!"
"You watch your mouth, young lady!"
Archie reached them before this bickering could escalate into something worse and he patted the young one's shoulder gently. "Hey, you did good! I mean...you didn't answer any of the questions, but I'm sure you would have won if you had!" Both May and Maxie shot daggers at each other.
"What event is next?" Maxie finally asked with a sigh, knowing to stay angry was pointless. Obviously he'd never admit it, but he accepted their loss was his fault.
"Lunch thankfully," May sighed. "At least there the two of you can't...hurt people or yourselves."
"Hey!" Archie looked deeply offended. "I haven't hurt anyone yet or screwed up any events! Nerd boy is the one that's ruining the day!"
"Excuse me?" Maxie snapped, balling his fists at Archie. "I've done no such thing!"
"You already ruined two events!"
"Maybe so, but it was the fault of that impertinent little child, not myself!"
"Guys," May sighed. "How about we go eat lunch and worry about what you two will potentially do to the rest of this day after?"
"Maril! Maril Maril!" May winced through out the pokemon's furious growls, her head bowed shamefully as she was lectured by a water mouse. It beat being yelled at by the lifeguard at least. Both her and Archie's ears were still aching from the tongue lashing they received there.
The event had started innocently enough. It was always May's favorite to watch with her father (as she had been too young to participate in it until this year). So this year the child was just all the more excited about finally being able to participate. The objective was simple enough: surf through the water on a mantyke, touch the log that indicated it was the daughter's turn to do the diving portion of the race, and whoever scored enough rings won.
May should have known better, she figured. She surfed with Archie nearly every day after all and she knew how competitive the man could be. Despite how protective he was with her, she had more than one bruise from all the times he'd shove her off of Swampert just to win the race. So really, it shouldn't have been a huge surprise when he started to toss children out of the water.
And now they stood by when the race had been halted to tend to the children that nearly drowned because of Archie. Luckily, none of them had and most of the fathers were just trying to comfort their startled children.
"Maril! Maril!" one little girl's pokemon barked up at both the pirate and the little girl.
"Yeah, I know," May sighed at the pokemon. "Sorry..." They may have well retired their tickets the moment Maxie hit the table. "Are you okay kid?" May asked one of the children—the first one that had been thrown.
"That was so cool!" the little boy exclaimed to May and Archie's surprise. "It felt like I was flying!" A smile tilted at May's lips in relief. At least they had managed to make someone happy. "Well uh...glad you enjoyed it?" Even if it didn't look like the parents felt that way.
"Excellent job, you big brute!" Maxie praised sarcastically as he eyed them both wryly. "You've certainly made your point of who is the most irresponsible adult here today. Why, I'm sure the children you just tossed agree!You're lucky we haven't been tossed out of this thing yet!"
"Right, because your responsibility screams when you slammed a freaking table earlier!" The two men were practically nose to nose like two territorial pokemon, but through their juvenile rage they saw the sad little girl in a green dress. So they shut up.
"What's the next event?" Archie asked May quietly, rubbing her shoulder. May gave a wincing smile.
"There's none left," she laughed awkwardly. "We're...done. The events are pretty much over."
Archie and Maxie exchanged cringes. "Well is there anything else we can do?" They knew they had both pretty much destroyed the day for her. They had to make it up somehow with some sort of last second redemption.
May cast a look over to a flowered arch. The arch was covered with tropical flowers and there was a plastic palm tree in the backdrop. There was an assortment of different costumes: skirts, dresses, funny hats and glasses. "There's still the family photos to do!"
"Family photos?"
"No," Maxie deadpanned and already started to walk away. Archie harshly gripped his arm.
"We've ruined this entire day for her Nerd Boy," Archie whispered fiercely, gripping the smaller man's collar tightly and jerking him up to him. "And we're gonna do this for her, no matter how humiliating it is. And I'll pummel you if you don't!"
Maxie looked entirely unaffected but he sighed. "Well I suppose that's enough motivation for me to do this," he said dryly and begrudgingly trudged after the pirate and child. Archie chucked a large pair of fake glasses at him like a frisbee.
"Hey Little Scamp!" Archie slipped on a hula skirt and jutted out his butt. "Does this make my butt look big?" May laughed loudly and slipped on a feathered hat and an oversized pearl necklace.
"This is insulting," Maxie muttered as he folded up his real glasses and slipped on the fake ones with a mustache. Humiliated as he was, the soft girlish giggle that received made it almost worth it.
"Hey look at this!" May giggled and slipped a Pikachu hat onto Maxie's head. Archie guffawed. "It's a pikachu hat!" Maxie's arms crossed and his expression turned even more stormy.
"Ah look at this, Nerd Boy!" Archie grinned and pulled a torchic hat onto his head. "This seems more your style! Too bad there's no sharpedo hats for me..." He pulled up a magikarp hat and stared at it. "...Good enough!"
"Are we almost ready?" the photographer asked and May hastily slipped on a dragonair hat before tugging both team leaders under the arch. She threw her arms around both men. Archie wrapped his arm around her while Maxie tensed instantly.
"Loosen up nerd boy!"
"How can I? I'm wearing a pokemon hat, this is humiliating!" Maxie winced through every photo but forced himself to smile for the last photos, so not to put a damper on the girl's spirits.
"Sorry about today, Little Scamp," Archie muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.
May eyed both men quizzically. "Sorry? I've had a blast today!"
The sheepish expressions faded to shock as both Maxie and Archie exchanged looks. They looked back at the girl, wondering if she was dizzy from being under the water too long from the relay race. "A blast? It was a complete disaster!"
"Oh it was," May laughed. "But...it was still a blast!" She smiled at their confusion. "You two did for me what I never thought you could. I thought I wouldn't even be able to attend this year, and what you both did... Last year we were all enemies, and today we spent the day together at a picnic! You two have been the best...step ins for my father than anyone could ever be. I loved having you both as Dads for the day...and I'll never forget this."
Anticipating and bracing for one of May's destructive hugs, Maxie was stunned to feel a soft pair of lips kiss his cheek. It was as gentle as the wing beat of a butterfly. She then did the very same to Archie. Archie teared up and threw his arms around the child. "Aw you're welcome, Scamp!" Maxie said nothing, but he turned away and touched his cheek.
"Cute picture," the photographer chuckled and the camera snapped before anyone could blink. A photo slid out of the printer with all three in their pokemon hats, looking like a little family they were meant to be.