I had soooo many papers due the past few weeks with two more in two weeks plus two speeches and two midterms (good things come in twos?), so since I have a chance to breathe for a few days (sigh), I decided to update. Twee.
Apparently twee is a word. Fwee? There. I can't wait 'til spring break.
Enjoy!
...
Friday – May 4th, 2012 (3:13 P.M.)
...
"So ... What's the plan?"
It was simple questions like the one Wally asked that boggled Brendan's mind. What was he planning to do and how would he be able to pull off whatever plan it was without alerting anyone's attention – or looking like a fool?
"Well," Wally began for him, "I suppose we do got to figure out if Sean – or Dean – is actually planning something. I'm going to assume so since May said he's working at his father's 'business', but it wouldn't be fair to jump to conclusions. I can research and look around a bit, I suppose."
"And what do I do?"
"Well, whatever you're doing now with May. It was being stupid, right?" Wally laughed to himself as Brendan glared daggers at him. He abruptly stopped, confused. "I was kidding. You weren't actually stupid, were you? I mean, I guess I shouldn't be surprised."
"Oh, hush," Brendan muttered, twiddling his fingers and looking up toward the ceiling. "I wouldn't necessarily say I was stupid. I was just ... honest."
"... You did the 'why did you leave meeee?' ramble didn't you?"
"Yep," answered Brendan simply.
"God, I hate that ramble." Wally sighed. "Whatever. What's done is done, and I suppose it's good you got it out now before you were in too deep."
Brendan raised an eyebrow, smirking. "In too deep of ... what?"
"Don't think dirty, pervert."
"I wasn't. Well, now I am, but I wasn't before. You started it. It's your fault."
"You're thinking dirty because of me?"
"... Dirty thoughts gone."
"Works like a charm," Wally said with a satisfied smile, turning back toward his keyboard. He opened up a game of solitaire and played it absentmindedly. "Anyway, I meant in too deep like being too far in with your relationship with May. You just rekindled your friendship with her after all, so maybe she'll be able to get over it faster ..." He trailed off thoughtfully, concentrating on his game.
"I hope," Brendan replied, sighing after.
Wally then added in a light tone, "Or it could mean that she'll never forgive you since she doesn't care about you that much."
"Great."
"Don't give up. Anyway, maybe you should apologize for ... going off on her whenever you see her again. Are you seeing her again?"
Brendan pulled Wally's wedding invitation for May's wedding closer toward him and picked it up, feeling the smooth silk of the envelope. He then carefully slid the invitation out of its holder, whiffing in the sweet scent of lavender. "I'm not sure. Hunting her down to talk would probably get her madder, don't you think?" His eyes scanned over the gold lettering of the invitation, his finger twirling around the lace ribbon that decorated the paper.
"Probably." Wally nodded, starting another game of solitaire on the laptop, muttering something about not getting aces in the first go. "Eh, I'm sure if you stick around town, you're bound to run into her. Then you can apologize, and you'll laugh and then she'll laugh, and everything will be ... swell ..." He trailed off again, opening a game of minesweeper after he got bored of solitaire. "Anyway, once you do find her and she forgives you – hopefully – I think you should ... How do I put this? Have her ... pursue you again."
"You want me to ... woo her actually?" asked Brendan in disbelief, dropping the invitation. "After all that crap you gave me? 'Brendan, leave her alone! Brendan, go after someone else! Brendan, I want you to be alone forever!' Does not compute, Wally, does not compute."
Wally rolled his eyes, shutting down his computer and clicking it shut. "Well, this guy is kind of lying to her," he muttered, tapping his fingers on the desk. "He's using another name for a reason even if it is only to hide his identity as the heir of Team Aqua. Good husbands-to-be don't do that."
"But what about that 'don't steal a girl from the guy she's happy with' rant? You were a strong believer in that."
"I know, I know." Another eye roll from the green-haired trainer. "You just want me to eat my words, don't you?"
Brendan nodded, looking awfully smug.
"Well I'm not, so you can wipe that smug look off your face." Wally watched amusedly as Brendan's smug smile vanished and was replaced with a twisted frown of annoyance. "I still think I'm right, and I still think it's bad, and stupid, to steal some happily engaged girl. In this case though – well, I mean he is lying – yet she doesn't – ugh, then again ... Eh, okay, fine. I'll take it back. For this case. Only this case."
Brendan nodded again happily. "I knew you'd see it my way eventually."
"Yeah, yeah." Wally waved it off with a motion of his hand. "Besides ... what word did you use? Woo? God, you're old. Besides 'wooing' May, try getting some more information on Sean – Dean, but call him Sean around her – from her. Like where he works, what he does for a living, and so on. If you can figure that out, we can check out that area and see if Team Aqua is alive and kicking." He then stood up, stretching before checking the clock on the wall. "Anyway, I'm going to the new gym in Verdanturf to see how I want to decorate it then have dinner with my cousin. Want to come?"
Brendan slid May's wedding invitation off the table again and stood up, walking toward his bed and flopping onto his back, kicking off his shoes. "Nah," he finally answered, lifting his arms up so he could read over the gold print again. "I need to think how I'm going to pull this off, and that contest from earlier made me sleepy so I think I'm going to nap for a bit. I'll meet you for dinner though. Wanda's right?"
Wally carefully placed his laptop inside his backpack and then swung the backpack around his shoulder, staring at Brendan's sprawled out position with disdain. "Of course you must take advantage of a free dinner."
"Paying for your lunch a couple of days ago wasn't exactly cheap."
"Says the guy that has nothing to do with his fifth place winnings from the Indigo League. Or so he states."
"FOURTH! DAMMIT, IT WAS FOURTH!"
Wally chucked and headed toward the door, opening it and closing it with a small slam, leaving behind a fuming Brendan. Managing to calm down his flustered self, Brendan raised the invitation over his head, contemplating. This ... getting with May idea ... It was serious now – not that he wasn't serious before or anything. He hoped that he would be able to get with May before he learned about Sean's true identity, and sure he'd be heartbroken if he didn't, but he'd eventually get over it. But now he had to win back May for the sake of, well, May.
It felt like taboo though – actually, he was sure it was taboo – about what he was doing. Wally's words about leaving May and Sean alone kept sinking deeper and deeper and contorting his thoughts.
This is bad. What you're going to do is bad, he thought, closing his eyes and dropping the invitation on the bed. No. You have to do this. For May. It's not all about you.
"She wanted to forget you," he muttered out loud, his eyes still closed. Of all the advice and words Wally had told him over the past few years – and there were a lot – those five words were the most memorable ... and painful. "Is it even worth it? I don't even think she forgave me for being dumb all those years ago." He sat up, scratching his head. "What are you saying, Brendan? Of course it is. Y-you like her still – love maybe. I think. Ugh."
As he fell backward again, the springs of the bed making him bounce around a bit, he began to think. Truth be told, he never really had any serious girlfriends besides May, and even then, the one with May only lasted a couple of months. And he was fifteen. Do fifteen year olds really fall in love? He sure it was possible.
That was besides the point though. He wasn't even sure how to kick off this entire plan. He certainly couldn't jump into it and profess her love for her; that would scare her away. He couldn't be too slow either otherwise it'd be too late.
Brendan pulled out his pokénav and checked the date. He had twenty seven days. Twenty seven days to figure out what that Sean guy was up to. Twenty seven days, as corny as it sounded, to win back May's heart.
It was going to be a long month.
...
Sunday – May 6th, 2012
...
"... We can fish?"
"No."
"We can go to the casino?"
"No."
"We can juggle fruit as street performers?"
"Wha – no!" Frustrated, Brendan slapped his forehead and groaned in annoyance as his friend looked sheepishly forward. "Sunday afternoons are nice and peaceful and all, but latios they are boring."
"Only because you make them boring," muttered Wally as he put his hands behind his head and leaned back a bit to relax on the hard, wooden bench the two sat upon in Mauville's bustling square. Rays of sunlight danced across his face. "I gave plenty of suggestions, but you rejected them all. So we're going to sit here and reflect, dammit."
"Shouldn't you be, like, you know, researching? Like you said you would?" suggested Brendan dully, watching a couple holding hands walk by. A small smile tugged at his lips for a bit but boredom dragged him down again. "Who knows how long it is going to take to find stuff on Dean."
"Sean," Wally corrected. "And I could, but eh. It's Sunday. No one works on Sunday." A couple of chirping taillow carefully hopped their way toward the duo on the bench, their heads cocked to the side, and Wally picked up the crust of the sandwich he placed next to him, ripping it into pieces and feeding it to the birds. "I need you to initiate it anyway. You got to talk to May again for this to work, Brendan, otherwise I'm going to be wandering in the dark about where to look for Sean. You got to ask her about him and then relay that information to me."
"Lazy."
Wally halfheartedly threw the remains of the crust toward the taillow. "It's true. Though yeah, lazy indeed."
Brendan stood up abruptly, sending the taillow flying in alarm and slapped his jeans, brushing off dirt. "Well, that's enough of that," he remarked, looking up toward the sky dotted with puffy white clouds. The sun was heading toward the west near the peak of Verdanturf's rolling green hills – sunset was just around the corner. "Let's go visit Wattson or something, Wally. Can't stand sitting around here for so – "
A hurried man brushed past Brendan, knocking into his shoulder and interrupting him. Reacting quickly, Brendan snapped his head to the left, his eyes narrowing into a glare but stopped when he noticed the man bowing profusely in apology.
"I'm so sorry," said the man, bowing once more before standing up straight. With a quick sweep up and down, Brendan noticed the man was immaculate, the sleeves of his dark jacket unwrinkled and his dark slacks creased finely. He was balding yet the man had no wrinkles or other obvious signs of aging. "I'm in a rush to find some decent pokémon trainers, but apparently all the trainers around here are rookies."
"Why?" asked Brendan as Wally got up and stood next to him, his arms crossed.
"A few zigzagoon have been pestering my missus' home, and I can't seem to shoo them away myself. You see, I'm a butler in one of the Verdanturf Hills homes, so I was sent here in hopes of finding some trainer with decent pokémon to scare those damn zigzagoon away, but alas ..." He trailed off, noticing the full set of pokéballs clipped on both Brendan and Wally's belts. "Say, you two wouldn't happen to be trainers?"
"I suppose," Brendan answered. Wally gave him the side eye, obviously not wanting to help the man.
"Please, you must help me then," the butler pleaded, clasping his hands together. "Everyone here seems to be rookie trainers and incapable of dealing with such a huge ... infestation. You're my last hope."
"Really?" muttered Wally. "We're really the last trainers that have more than three gym badges here?"
The butler nodded. "We'll pay you even!"
Wally paced back and forth, his hands behind his head. He then stopped, looking at the humble butler. "I don't know, sir. Living in Verdanturf Town for quite some time has taught me never, and I mean never, enter that snobbish, secluded little piece of snob land," he paused and promptly shrugged as Brendan looked at him oddly, "that is Verdanturf Hills. And why should we help some snobby rich snobs take care of something so small as a zigzagoon anyway?"
"We really need to get you a word-of-the-day calendar again, Wally," muttered Brendan.
"That's besides the point. And I stand my my point whatever that point was when I mentioned said point a few seconds ago."
"We'll pay," the butler repeated, "in cash."
Wally looked at the man with wide eyes. "Then what are we waiting around here for?" he asked cheerfully, grabbing hold of Brendan's shirt sleeve and dragging him backward toward Verdanturf. "Let's go wrangle us some zigzagoons!"
"How easily persuadable your point is," remarked Brendan with a sigh, pulling his shirt sleeve out of Wally's grip and turning around so he could walk forward, the butler quickly following behind. Concrete turned into dust and dust into grass as the three entered Verdanturf Town.
Brendan never noticed the huge, steely-silver gates that bordered several smaller hills or if he did, he never cared. Yet past the small, quaint homes and sweeping grass was a winding asphalt road that lead toward the gate, and past that gate were luxurious homes, wide as they were tall. They were dotted along the hill up ahead, their tall, glass windows gleaming in the sunlight, each home complete with a well-kept rose garden and white marble fountain with pictures of various water pokémon carved into it. A beeping to his right caught his attention, and he turned his head, noticing the butler inputting a code to open the gate. The gate shuddered to life, creaking on its metal hinges before swinging forward, allowing the three to enter.
"Bah, this is why I hate these snobs," murmured Wally as the three began their ascent up the hill toward the mansions. "Separating themselves from the rest of the Verdanturf community – and making everyone walk up a steep incline."
"God, do you need chocolate or something?" replied a frustrated Brendan, slapping his forehead and turning his head to look at Wally. "Why are you so ... so ... complainy today?"
"Is that even a word?"
"At least I make up my own words instead of repeating the same five like someone I know."
"Well, you have smelly feet. I smelled them."
"... Why?"
"Okay, okay." The butler from behind the bickering duo clasped both hands on each of their shoulders to stop their fight. "When we both get to the mansion, I'll get you both chocolate."
"Sweet. I hoped that would work," said Wally with a smile as the butler guided them toward the end of the road where a mansion with a shiny white paint job stood. Rows of finely trimmed shrubs bordered the outside of the house below the windows and in front of each individual shrub was its own rose bush, their red roses dappled with drops of water. The black asphalt road met the curved concrete driveway of the mansion, leading toward the tall double doors. The three walked up the curved path toward the door, and the butler grabbed hold of the polished gold doorknobs and pushed the door open, the cool breath of the air conditioned house greeting them. The butler urged the two men in with a motion of his hand.
Brendan almost felt bad that his muddy sneakers would be dirtying the plush white carpet of the home, but that regret soon vanished when he realized that whoever owned this house had enough money and then some to carpet every single house in Verdanturf anyway. The hallway, long but wide, had various paintings of pokémon on its white walls, signed by some of Hoenn's best artists. There was a wooden staircase, finely polished and carpeted with a red ornate rug, that lead toward the second floor, a floor with many rooms as far as Brendan could see. The butler lead them down the hallway as he began to talk.
"Now the zigzagoon," he began as Wally and Brendan looked around with wide eyes, "are scattered around the house, though they should be relatively close together – I don't think I've seen them stray too far apart. They're not necessarily hard to battle, of course, but there's so many it's hard to control them all. Now if you come here ..."
The butler's voice trailed off. Well, rather it was Brendan could not hear him as he stopped in an archway that lead to some sort of living room where a group of woman were gathered, sipping tea and nibbling on finger food. He leaned against the archway nonchalantly, crossing his arms and smirking a bit, watching the backs of the unaware women. His eye caught the weary, almost frustrated, eye of Wally's who turned around a bit, noticing his friend had stopped walking, and he smirked wider as his friend rolled his eyes as he and the butler continued forward.
"Oh, open this one next, May!" said a lady, putting down her teacup and saucer on the glass table in front of her and picking up a neatly wrapped pink present tied with a white silk ribbon.
Brendan watched as May, sitting across from the lady handing her the gift, took the gift in her delicate hands and pulled on the ribbon, untying it. She then turned the gift on its side and carefully unloosened the tape, shifting the gift left and right to pull off the wrapping paper in a neat manner. Confusion darted over her eyes.
"A toaster?" she remarked questionably, looking at the picture on the box. She moved it a bit, hearing the toaster thunk against its cardboard box. "Why a toaster?"
"Don't all newlyweds get toasters or something?" replied the lady that handed her the gift with a shrug. "I thought it would be appropriate."
"Please, Laura," replied another lady sitting next to the puzzled May on the stiff looking couch. "Like this lady is going to ever cook for herself once she marries Sean. He already treats her like a queen – imagine what it's going to be like when they're married, for latias' sake."
"Oh, I'm sure I'll use it," muttered May, setting down the toaster next to her other opened presents. "I'm not going to be waited on hand and foot."
The four women sitting with May all let out a small laugh until one of them turned her head toward Brendan leaning in the archway. "Speaking of which," she said, "I think one of your gardeners needs to talk to you, May."
He was offended as the women turned toward Brendan, eyes looking at him in both question and disdain. He looked down at his appearance. Since he hadn't planned on doing anything important, he dressed pretty plainly, clad in nothing but a loose black t-shirt adorned with the Indigo League symbol on the back and wrinkly denim shorts. He gave them a slight eye roll, causing the women to gasp in shock, before turning his eyes toward May, a pretty, little thing wearing a white springtime dress, a hat resting upon her soft, brown hair and cocked over her eyes a bit.
May got up and straightened out her dress, looking at Brendan in bewilderment. "That's not my gardener," she muttered, walking forward toward him, shifting her head toward the side. "That's my ... old friend. Excuse me for a minute, ladies." Stepping over gifts awkwardly since she was wearing a pair of sandals, she made her way toward the archway and grabbed Brendan by the forearm, dragging him into the hallway.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed, releasing Brendan's arm.
"Your butler – I'm going to get back to that by the way – was having trouble containing some zigzagoon family that is roaming around here, so he asked for Wally's and my help," answered Brendan simply, crossing his arms and smirking a bit. "I didn't know that you would be here though, honest."
"So why aren't you doing your job?" she asked with a huff.
"Well, I saw a pretty lady sitting in the living room and got distracted," he replied in the same simple tone. "Besides, you weren't returning my phone calls, and I think we need to talk about last Friday."
"What's there to talk about? You were a jerk and that's that," May remarked haughtily. She peeked her head back into the living room where the four ladies were sipping tea and sighed, giving in. "All right. We'll talk seeing as I'm not in the mood to deal with those ladies." She grabbed Brendan by the forearm again and dragged him toward another room across the hall, a room basked in warm daylight from the spotless windows and two huge armchairs. Behind the armchairs were bookcases that reached the ceiling, each shelf stuffed with thick books. May kicked off her sandals and threw her hat off her head, walking over toward one of the armchairs and plopping herself into it.
"Close the door, will you?" she said, running a hand through her hair, making it more loose and wild. Brendan obliged and closed the door behind him, walking across the thick, white carpet and sitting in the armchair next to May, sinking into the soft exterior and gripping the armrests, running his thumb across the felt. He watched as May grabbed hold of the remote control that sat on the small coffee table between the two armchairs, pointing it at the flat screen ahead, turning it on.
"Talk," she demanded, not taking her eyes away from the television.
Brendan was taken aback at the sudden demand and licked his lips. "Well, I wanted to apologize."
"For ...?"
"For ... breaking down on you like that. You didn't deserve to be treated in such a way, and I'm sorry if I hurt or offended you."
May nodded firmly, still watching the television playing a sitcom. "Apology accepted, Brendan. I'm glad you see how you were wrong about what you said."
Brendan blinked and shook his head. "I'm not apologizing about what I said, May, but the way I said it."
May huffed in annoyance again, crossing her arms and folding her legs underneath her body, picking up the remote to channel surf.
"Listen," he pleaded. "I get why you didn't really get what I was saying Friday because I said it in such a rushed and almost offensive way, but when you get to the heart of it, you really did hurt me, May." He noticed May's eyes slowly creep toward his. "I just wanted to be friends at least all those years ago, and it really hurt when you stopped trying to contact me without giving me a reason why. And I know; I hurt you, too, by dating other girls when you were trying to figure out if we stood a chance as a couple. But that's in the past, and this is now. I'm not saying we forget about it, of course, but I would like to move on. I'd like to be friends again."
May didn't respond for a bit, biting her lip. "Nothing more?" she finally asked, turning in toward Brendan, gripping the arm of her chair.
Brendan raised an eyebrow. "Do you want more?"
"Well, no. I just want to make sure you know that I'm not looking for a relationship with you and that I'm happily engaged."
"I know. Likewise, I'm not going to lie and say that I'm not attracted to you. Far from it, in fact. I know there's chemistry between us still." Brendan held up a hand to stop May's protest. "I'm not going to try and 'steal' you away, if that's what you're worried about. I know you're not free, and I know you're happy with Sean, and as long as you're happy, that's all that matters. I'm not going to hide how I feel though. Our lack of communication was what caused this conversation in the first place, and I want to avoid doing that again."
So he lied. Kind of. "Steal" was such an ugly word. Persuaded sounded so much better. Oh, sweet connotation.
A look of thoughtfulness crossed May's face. "And how do you feel about me?" she asked curiously.
Brendan smiled a bit, sat up and turned toward her, leaning in her direction. Gently licking his lips, he leaned forward even more until his lips were right next to her ear. "I think you already know," he whispered almost seductively.
Brendan's hot breath pricked up the skin on May's neck, a swarm of butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Nervousness. Uneasiness.
Happiness?
No. No, she wasn't falling for this twit again. Anyone would get nervous having someone in their personal space. But she felt so ... happy. And giddy. And giggly. And confused.
And ... what was going on?
Dammit, May, she thought in her head, biting her lower lip. You're getting married soon. Y-you can't be thinking of some other guy now. That's just wrong!
Brendan only gave her a cocky little grin and leaned back in his chair, lacing his fingers together and watching the television, noticing the flushness that crept onto May's face but not commenting on it. It took him awhile to hook May in, but he finally successfully charmed her. It could only go uphill from here ... he hoped.
"Damn you, Brendan," Wally cussed, crawling underneath a table and swiping in front of him, trying to grab at a zigzagoon's tail. The zigzagoon merely dodged by jumping up, causing the green-haired trainer to miss and fall awkwardly on his arm. Groaning in pain, Wally attempted to crawl backward back into open space, hitting his head against the bottom of the table as he tried to stand up. He rubbed his head, his eyes twitching. "Damn you again, Brendan."
Once his dizzied vision came back into focus, Wally's eyes explored the dimly lit room, hunting for his prey. A tap to his shoulder caught his attention, so he turned around, noticing his dull-eyed gardevoir holding the squirming and biting zigzagoon by its tail.
"Good one, Gardevoir," Wally congratulated, plucking an empty pokéball from his backpack and holding the ball to the wriggling zigzagoon's body. The ball opened, causing the zigzagoon to vanish in a beam of red light. Wally felt the ball shake and quiver in his hand until it stopped shaking. With a slight sigh, he minimized the ball and pocketed it before pushing the black leather chair he moved out of the way back into place. "Well, that's the sixth zigzagoon today. How long have we been at this?"
The gardevoir merely shrugged and pointed at the clock on the wall. Wally squinted his eyes to focus in on it since it got dark pretty fast. "Ugh, almost two hours," he muttered, throwing his hands behind his head, sighing again. "And what the hell am I suppose to do with all these zigzagoon anyway?"
Gardevoir murmured something in a musical tone, making Wally nod.
"Yeah, I suppose I could release them later." The trainer shivered a bit, walking over toward the blind-covered windows and prying a few apart to look outside. Twilight settled over the sleepy town, darkness blanketing across the quaint homes ahead. The golden glow that streamed out the windows of each house was comforting though, beacons toward something welcoming. Playtime was long over, and Wally could hear the crickets coming out to sing their nighttime melody.
"That butler said they were six he counted, right?" he asked more to himself than the gardevoir standing behind him.
Gardevoir turned around from the bookshelf she was observing and murmured another singsong response.
"Right. I guess we better leave then. Thanks for all the help, Gardevoir." And with that, Wally pulled out his faithful pokémon's pokéball and pressed the button in the middle, returning her in a beam of light. He hooked it back on his belt and was about to step forward when something grabbed at his foot and held it tight. Confused, he looked down, noticing a seventh zigzagoon gnawing at his shoelaces.
"Oh ... kay," said Wally slowly, lifting his foot a bit to shake the rebel zigzagoon off. The creature stuck fast though, growling a bit, though it sounded more playful than angry. Again, Wally jerked his foot around until the zigzagoon flew off, colliding with the desk and sending papers flying and scattering all across the white carpet. The crash didn't seem to faze the raccoon-like creature, for he merely hopped back onto his feet and started jumping in place.
It was times like these where Wally hated his friend.
"Stupid Brendan and his stupid inability to juggle stupid fruit with me, thus leading me to this stupid situation," he grumbled. "Meh, I really do need to crack open a dictionary one of these days ..." Walking over toward the desk, Wally dropped to his knees to pick up the papers and restore them to their proper place. They were pretty boring sheets to read – just bills really as far as he could see, so Wally paid little attention to them, grabbing hold of all of them and stacking them into a neat pile. He then got up, placing them on the polished table. Another nudge to his foot caught his attention, and he looked down, noticing the wide eyed zigzagoon holding a piece of paper in his mouth.
"Thanks, pal," remarked Wally with a smile, bending over a bit to obtain the paper. About to set it with the rest of the stack, something unusual flashed across his eye. He took a second look and sure enough it was there. Although it was dim and the striped moonlight from the blind-bound windows barely let moonlight in, Wally could see the paper he was holding bearing the Aqua crest. The rest of the font was too small for him to read in the dim light though.
"Interesting," he muttered as the zigzagoon hopped on the table and nudged at his hand. Wally absentmindedly scratched him behind the ear, making him growl delightfully from the back of his throat.
"Mr. Wood?" A voice from the door made Wally panic, but he kept his cool and turned around, hiding the paper behind his back. It was the butler. "How are you doing finding all those zigzagoon?" he asked, not crossing the threshold.
"Um. Fine, thanks," replied Wally. He nudged his head toward his right, motioning toward the zigzagoon he was still petting. "I think this is the last one, actually. I'll be out of here in a bit; this last one caused quite a mess, so I've been busy tiding up."
"Please hurry then, Mr. Wood. Master Sidio doesn't like it when anyone enters his study," said the butler with a nod before leaving again.
"I can see why," Wally murmured to himself when he was sure the butler was out of earshot, pulling the paper around to his front, his eyes narrowing. He swung his backpack around and carefully put the paper into his backpack to read later. He then looked toward the zigzagoon playfully nipping at one of his fingers. "And what about you? What do I do with you?"
The zigzagoon merely blinked his shiny brown eyes and hopped into Wally's free arms, pawing his chest and then licking his cheek.
"Fine, fine. You can come with me," said Wally with an eye roll, though a small smile crossed his face, scratching the zigzagoon behind the ear again. He walked toward the door, stopping underneath the doorway and turned around, examining the study for one final time before exiting.
"This is Sean's vacation house?" said Brendan in awe, his eyes wide and his jaw dropped. "This place is HUGE!"
May simply smiled. "Yeah, he bought it since I spend a lot of time here for contests. His main house is in Lilycove though. That's where his work is."
"Lilycove, huh?" remarked Brendan, picking up some popcorn in the bowl settled on the table between them and throwing them up in the air, successfully catching them all in his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully before swallowing. "He's in Lilycove on business right now, right? When will he be back?"
May nodded, frowning. "The twenty-seventh," she answered sadly.
"Four days before your wedding? He has to be in Lilycove for that long?"
"He took off a lot of time already, helping me prepare for last Friday's contest. He had to go back eventually. He had more work to do than he thought." The girl sighed, picking up her drink and taking a sip of it before setting it back down. She turned her head a bit, looking outside toward the window. "Brendan, how long have we been in here?"
"Um ..." Brendan pulled out his pokénav and checked the time. "About two hours. Crap, May, didn't you have your friends over?"
May snorted. "They aren't my friends, just neighbors. They threw me that 'bridal shower' for some reason. I mean, don't get me wrong, I appreciate it and all, but I think they were hoping to see Sean instead. They all looked disappointed when I told them he left today to go back to Lilycove." She blew up the bangs that teased her forehead. "Either way, I'm pretty sure they left by now." She then jokingly said, "Why? Want to leave?"
Brendan quickly shook his head. "Of course not. I just knew I came in when you were busy, so ..."
May waved it off with a flick of her hand. "Don't worry about it, B Boy. In fact, I'm glad you came in and took me away." She winked, smiling again. "It is getting late though. Do you have plans this evening?"
The white-haired trainer shook his head.
"Then I'd love for you to stay for dinner. I think it should be ready soon. You can invite Wally over if you want."
"Wally – oh, crap! Wally! I totally forgot about him!" Brendan quickly flipped over the cover of his pokénav and started to dial his number, panic in his ruby eyes. "I was suppose to help him with those zigzagoon. He's pissed, I bet."
May got up from her seat, stretching her legs and putting her sandals back on. She patted Brendan on the arm. "Oh, I'm sure he's fine. Mind if I step out to check on the cooks real fast? I need to check if they made enough for two extra guests."
Brendan nodded again amongst the ringing of his pokénav. "Go for it."
May strode toward the door, fumbling with the doorknob before opening it, walking into the golden lit hallway. The pokénav rang for a few more times before the disgruntled Wally picked up, annoyance apparent in his bright green eyes.
The green-haired trainer merely stared at the innocently smiling Brendan for a few seconds. "Well?" Wally finally murmured, the camera on his pokénav shaking a bit. Brendan assumed he was walking.
"Well ... what?" Brendan replied sheepishly.
"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?"
"I'm ... sorry?"
"You know how annoying chasing all those stupid zigzagoon were –" A slight disturbance interrupted Wally mid sentence. Brendan noticed the head of a zigzagoon pop into view before going back down. "No, not you, Chase. I meant the others. Anyway, you know how annoying chasing all those zigzagoon were? Let me tell you: It was very, very annoying. I'm going to have bruises forming everywhere! And I'm not sharing the money with you."
"I figure. I wasn't going to ask about that anyway. I am sorry though. I saw May and got distracted."
"Yeah, just a little." Wally rolled his eyes, huffing as he walked. "You better have figured stuff out about Sean if you spent more than two hours talking with her."
Brendan looked around quickly, making no one was outside the hallway, his eyes wide. "You're lucky that May stepped out of the room. Anyway, he's gone until the twenty-seventh."
"That's good. That'll give you plenty of time to do the dirty deed."
"It's not dirty. It's just ... bad."
"Whatever makes you feel better, Brendan. Anything else?"
"He works in Lilycove. He bought a home here since May spends a lot of time here for the Slateport and Verdanturf contests. They both live in Lilycove."
"Makes sense. Lilycove was near one of Team Aqua's bases all those years ago, remember? Speaking of which, I found a paper with the Team Aqua emblem on it. I took it but I didn't read it yet. I was going to do that when I got back to the motel. Maybe we should check out that old Aqua base tomorrow."
Brendan shook his head. "Can't – not during the day anyway. May and I got a date tomorrow."
Wally smirked a bit. "A date huh? And either way, I can't go tomorrow either I realized – I have some gym leader meeting tomorrow. Something about initiation or something."
"Anyway, where are you?"
Brendan watched as Wally looked around. "I just left the Verdanturf Hills area, and now I'm heading toward Mauville. Why?"
"May invited us both for dinner." He smirked as he watched Wally quickly turn around and head toward Sean's house again. "I love how you'll do anything for free food. Or money."
"Not everything." Wally looked toward the side shiftily. "I'll see you there in a bit."
"Okay. Bye." Brendan hung up the call and pocketed his pokénav as soon as May entered the room.
"Everything okay between you two?" she asked, taking her seat again, her eyes resting on the television. She noticed Brendan nod from the corner of her eye. "Good. Dinner should be ready in twenty minutes or so." She then turned toward Brendan, causing Brendan to turn toward her as well. "I'm excited for tomorrow. I'm not sure why, but I am."
"Yes, I'm sure pokédoll shopping gets every girl's panties in a twist," he replied, smirking.
"Brendan!" May exclaimed, shocked.
"What? I could have said a wholeeee lot worst."
"It wouldn't surprise me. Besides, aren't you excited too?"
He hesitated before responding. "I'm always happy to escort a pretty lady," remarked Brendan humbly but truthfully.
A blush crept onto May's face. "You really need to stop lying. You don't need to flatter me all the time."
"Who said I was lying? And who said I was trying to?"
May merely smiled, picking up the remote control and changing the channel from one sitcom to another, the laugh track from the show resounding throughout the room. "Brendan, I will admit I was a little skeptical about us becoming friends again, but after today, I realized that I've missed out on something great."
"Don't be so humble, May. I'm amazing."
She let out a small laugh. "I'm serious."
"... So am I."
"B Boy." May laughed a little louder, rolling her eyes. "I'm glad you found me again. Well, I'm glad my bandanna got loose and you happened to be the one that caught it. I'm sure we'll be the best of friends again. Just like the old days."
Brendan smiled warmly back, thoughts clouding his head. But one thought rung as clear as a bell.
Baby, we'll be much more than that.
I got tired near the end. Lulz.
And actually, Jarkes, the appeal was what I hated writing in the last chapter. I enjoyed the fight scene. :3 I always enjoy the fight/make up scenes with Brendan and May. Not just in this 'fic, but the others as well. Cough.
Thanks for reviewing, everyone!
LaTeR dAyZ!