Chapter 8 – A pair of wanderers
Silver woke up the next morning with the suns early rays tickling his eyelids. He opened them and was greeted by Sneasel, who was sitting on the bed by his side, watching him curiously.
"Oh, Sneasel, good to see you're up and well." Silver said, letting out a sigh of relief and sitting up to hug Sneasel. The Pokémon purred happily and hugged him back. "You must be hungry…"
Silver got out of bed and picked up his boxers from the floor, putting them on. Rowena was probably still out on her morning round, as both she and Khali were gone. Seeing a note on the table, Silver went over and read it. It said:
Sneasel has eaten breakfast with Khali. Feel free to make yourself coffee and sandwiches, the fire we lit should still be going. I'll be back around 8.
Looking at the time, Silver decided to wash himself and get dressed and then made a whole kettle of coffee, since Rowena would be back soon. Sneasel was sitting on the kitchen table and watching him make sandwiches, having fun blowing cold air at the candle beside it, making it flicker.
Soon enough Rowena got back with Khali in tow, both of them carrying fire wood.
"Good morning." She greeted, striding in with her boots on to place the wood by the fireplace.
"Good morning." Silver responded. He gestured to the coffee kettle above the fire. "I thought you might be back soon, so I made coffee for you too. It should be ready any minute now."
"Thanks, much appreciated." Rowena panted, taking off her turtleneck jacket and sitting down by the table. Khali came to sit by her side and she proceeded to stroke the Pokémon's fur, to which the Absol purred in satisfaction. Rowena smiled slightly, as she was obviously happy that Khali was fully recovered.
"I got new orders." She said, turning her gaze to Silver. "I need to pack my bags and head for Ilex Forest again tonight."
"I'll go with you." Silver said simply, chewing on a sandwich. "You can't stop me. I'm a wandering trainer, and I go wherever I want."
"I thought you were going to challenge Blackthorn Gym again?"
"I'd rather go back to Ilex Forest with you." Rowena sighed, but a small smile was playing on her lips.
"We're leaving after the evening rounds around ten."
"So it's 'we' now? I like the sound of that." Silver said mockingly, but couldn't hide a small smile of his own.
"I told you not to get cocky. Now hand me that coffee kettle." Still half smirking, half smiling, Silver took the kettle from the fire and handed it to Rowena.
"Is that what you're going to do? Follow me around like a puppy?"
"For now. But as I said, I'm a wandering trainer, and just like you, I can't stand still for long. I will challenge all the gyms in Johto again at some point, and since you're now going to be stationed in Ilex Forest, I might just start on that project."
"So, here we are; two wanderers unable to sit still…" Rowena murmured, sipping her coffee. Silver got up from his chair, walked behind her and bent down, putting his arms around her and kissing her neck and cheek, before reaching her mouth. Grazing her ear with his warm coffee-breath, he murmured:
"Let's wander together." Rowena felt a wave of pleasant warmth fill her and a smile broke free on her lips. She turned her head to kiss Silver's lips as he held her close. When they broke apart she looked up at him, still smiling.
"I'd love to, Silver."