Spitfire, Chapter 19: Pillow Talk and Rivalries
Misty wasn't entirely sure what time she finally stumbled into the Ketchum residence. Her head was spinning, though not as violently as one of her normal drinking binges. Circles danced around her feet, the ground turned concave and falling was a presented issue, but she still managed to pull herself around the bend, and through the ill-lit front porch. The door was unlocked, so she gingerly let herself inside. Full of drunkard's intuition and excitement, she couldn't stop thinking about her bed. Slipping her shoes off, she giggled to herself while touching her long pony tail.
However, there was still the issue that all of the female visitors were supposed to share a room, and she questioned if it was possible that someone separated her and Serena. And possibly Serena and May, if that wasn't sorted out. She hiccuped while passing the kitchen, taking just enough time to peek in to check the time.
2:17 glared back at her in bright green numbers, and she shielded her eyes from it while focusing on getting up the stairs. Maybe she should have taken Gary up on his offer to stay at the Lab. Tracey, who bunked in the apprentice wing of the lab probably wouldn't have cared if Misty crashed there for the night, because trying to maneuver in the darkened residence was a nightmare. She bumped her knee going up, and cursed quietly while sitting down on the step. Perhaps getting drunk on one of Ash's most important nights of his life wasn't the best idea, but his party did a 180 degree crash and burn for her, so she didn't think her absence was missed at all. Painfully, she rubbed her face while looking up at the top stair. It seemed so far away that she collapsed forward, listening to the sound of water running in the bathroom below her. She inhaled, taking in the sharp scent of vanilla that waft through the Ketchum household, and then dipped her head to the middle stair.
On a normal day she hated stairs, but climbing them while intoxicated was much, much worse... she would just rest for a minute and then crawl to her futon in the guest bedroom. But first, a short, little nap. She yawned, tucking her arms underneath her head, she had taken Gary's jacket again for her walk home, and laid tiredly on the scratchy fabric as sleep tugged at her heart strings.
Only moments after falling asleep, Misty could have sworn that she heard the pattering of small feet, the snip of something, and then the shuffling of the feet returning upstairs. Had she been less influenced by alcohol, she might have said something, or done something, but her eyes were practically glued shut. Besides, she wasn't entirely sure that she wasn't just hallucinating the whole thing. She inhaled sharply as the deep cross hairs of sleep called to her.
Not even thirty minutes later, Mr. Mime and Delia poked at the red-head to wake her up. Misty was very hesitant, the darkness that flooded the staircase fooled her into believing that it was later than it was, and she put her head down.
"It's night night." she grumbled tiredly, but Delia called to her again.
"Misty, wake up, you can't sleep on the staircase." She whispered easily, making Misty nod her head traditionally. She looked up to see Delia only a few inches from her face, and so she sprung up from her sleeping position quickly. That was a sight to see.
"Sorry. I was on my way to.." Misty stammered, trying to cover her mouth so the smell of alcohol wouldn't protrude itself to Delia's nostrils, it already had, however, as the mother grabbed Misty's shoulders and lowered her eyebrows sympathetically.
"Oh dear, come with me. Let's get you cleaned up." The mother spoke softly. Misty stirred slightly, trying to wave Delia off by standing, but nearly fell ass-over tea-kettle down the stairs. Thankfully, Mr. Mime was there to latch onto.
"Really, I'm fine." She hissed staggering up the stairs. Delia followed her closely, not wanting to smother the red-head, but also not able to let her alone. While Misty made her way to the shared guest bedroom, Delia snatched her by the arm, and guided her to the bathroom instead. Misty stared, flabbergasted.
"Bed is that way." She crooned, pointing at the room that was beside Ash's bedroom, which was also being used as the girl's guest bedroom.
"Get showered and changed. You can sleep in my room tonight, okay?" Delia spoke calmy while pulling out a fresh towel for the red head. "I'll grab you a spare set of pajamas." She said sweetly, making Misty shake her head and narrow her eyes while she leaned on the bathroom sink.
"Why? I can share a guest bedroom, that was the plan, wasn't it?" She hiccuped, unable to keep her focus long enough to stare at herself in the mirror. She had no idea what kind of train wreck she looked like, but Delia didn't seem to care. She smiled all the same at Misty. Like she always did. Misty loved that about the older woman.
"I'm not that gullible. I know that incident wasn't a reenactment of some show." Misty snorted at Delia's comments.
"That's news to me, too." Misty laughed while grabbing at her hair tie, only to find that it wasn't there. She shrugged while Delia also shrugged her shoulders slightly, sadly.
"When Ash is ready to tell me what's going on; he will. I just want to make sure that you're okay." Delia paused and then pointed at Misty's hair. "Also, I love what you did with your hair." She added and brushed a hand through her own auburn hair while shutting the door. Delia went to grab a set of clean pajamas for Misty, and the red-head could only thump her head on the wall. Upset at herself for getting drunk, Delia had to find her like that. What was she thinking, sleeping on the stairs? Misty didn't think much about Delia's remark. Misty got a lot of compliments for her long hair over the years, mostly from people referring to her as "one of the sensational sisters, finally". What ever that meant.
Without much thought having gone into it; not that she could really think in her current state; Misty stripped down, struggled through a cold shower, and then dried off. Somewhere in the middle, Delia had cracked the door and slipped a pair of clean clothes onto the counter top so that when Misty wrapped a towel around her body to dry herself, she could change right away.
There was so much that needed to get done the next morning, and if tomorrow was like any normal day in the Ketchum residence, Misty would be up early; everyone would have breakfast together, and she internally groaned while slipping on the baggy pants and night-gown. Since her pack was down stairs, she didn't think to brush her hair, instead; she tugged open the bathroom door, and made a B-line for Delia's bedroom, where she flopped into the neatly made up couch beneath the window.
When morning came, Misty wasn't just exhausted, she was hungover. Her entire body ached like she had been kicked a couple of times, and she wanted to break Mr. Mime in half for even disturbing her. The mime pokemon took off after waking her though, and Misty usually never needed to be told twice. Slowly, Misty sat up, grabbing her head while also feeling a strange wave of deja-vu. In her life, small hang-overs weren't uncommon with how many formal parties she was forced to attend because of her sisters and the pokemon league. Today was no different. There was enough of a hangover to disturb what could have been a great morning, but not enough of one to cripple her. By noon and after a couple glasses of water, she would be right as rain. She thanked her lucky stars that at the very least, the world was no longer spinning.
While she kicked her feet over the edge of the couch she had been sleeping on; she stretched her arms, hearing her back crack a few times as she extended her arms high into the air. She smacked her dry lips together while looking at the end table beside the couch. It had a set of spare clothes for Misty to change into. Good, because Misty wasn't sure where she left the old ones. Probably the bathroom floor. She hoped that no one used them to soak up water drips.
Crawling out of her sitting position, she tossed off the old-lady night-gown, and then pulled on instead the baby-pink, button-up, short sleeved, collared blouse with yellow flowers and a pocket over the right chest...and then died inside. She looked down at herself, terrified of even putting the skirt that was left for her on. It was in traditional Delia fashion, a navy blue, pencil skirt staring back at her. After pulling on the skirt, she noticed right away that her hips didn't quite fill it out, and as a result, the fabric sagged off her body. Misty's chest wasn't able to fill out the shirt either, causing them both to look a size too large, and make Misty look like a frequent visitor to hand-me down stores. Nothing like what the gym leader had pampered herself into over the years.
Misty glanced downward at her set of clothes, and sighed while trying to tuck the shirt in. Awkwardly stepping around Delia's furniture, she ducked in front of the full-length mirror to glance once-over at herself, deciding to un-tuck the shirt, and tie it instead. The shirt ended right around her belly button; where the skirt was supposed to end; but hung lower to her waist—like she was trying to wear it over a swimsuit. She sighed dramatically, finally looking at herself fully in the mirror.
She looked like a mother trying to look like a teenager; reliving the glory days. Her face fell flat.
Wonderful.
"Better at least put my hair down if this is what I'm wearing this morning." She grumbled while reaching up to tug at her hair. Her shorter bangs had fallen out of their pony tail while she was sleeping, which wasn't uncommon; but when she felt around her head for the long trails of her red hair and felt nothing but wavy-bed hair chopped brisk above her shoulders, her entire face paled.
"What...what the?" She whimpered while turning around to look at the damage in the mirror. The front was longer than the back, but also lopsided on both sides. It looked like someone, or maybe Misty in her drunken stupor, had chopped her hair off at the pony-tail, causing it to have a messy, clunky inverted bob look. She raked her fingers through the left side of her head, forcing her hair to part there so that the uneven sides looked a little more natural, but her hands shook while she tried to address the situation.
A reverse, butchered, bob style. The question she asked now was who in their right mind would do such a thing?! Misty almost threw her fist into the mirror before she remembered where she was.
On her way out of the bedroom, Misty gripped at it again, feeling her normally straight hair fall down in curls from sleeping on wet hair. She tugged on the strands, trying to pull it into a pony tail but it was a little more bouncy than before, so it wouldn't even sit in the hair tie. She whimpered aloud before exhaling very calmly.
It's just hair. It's just hair...
XOXOXOXOXXOXOXOXXOXOXOX
Ash sat at the kitchen table, sipping his orange juice gregariously while simultaneously picking at his breakfast rolls. His back ached, and he hadn't slept much last night due to Brock's insistent snoring, among other things. Unlike Drew, Max, and Clemont; Brock and Ash were stuck down stairs in the living room to sleep. His mother insisted that the girls should have their own space, and Brock was like a son, so they should sacrifice their own beds to make room for the guests. Therefore, Ash and Brock slept on a couch. Normally, that wouldn't have been a problem if around 5:00am his mother didn't start banging pans together in the kitchen to start breakfast. It took all of his effort to keep his head under a pillow to drown out the noise. Even Pikachu had decided to curl himself under Ash's pillow to avoid the noise. Pikachu gave up much earlier than Ash did, however; deciding to go wait for breakfast instead of curling up in a ball.
Ash didn't feel like getting up right away, however. He had way too much stuff on his mind; and regret for not taking Tracey's offer to sleep in his spare bedroom. The problem? Gary slept on the same floor as Tracey, and Ash wanted to attack Gary right now—so it probably wasn't the best idea.
On top of that, this morning brought new and exciting things to the table! Ash and Serena were sort of not dating? So he didn't have to worry about that anymore; with that relief off of his shoulders, he wanted to do a tap dance. However that joy was shrouded by the feeling that he had no idea what to expect. More specifically, what Serena was going to be like. Would she be more lovey-dovey to make a point, or would things return to normal? A part of him bet on the first thing, so he tried to avoid contact for as long as possible.
The second situation he found himself in, was not being able to sleep until 2:00am because he was instinctively up waiting for Misty to walk through the door—going so far as to leave the porch light on for her, as well as the door unlocked. When she didn't stumble in, though, he mentally swore that he would find Gary in the morning, beat the information out of him; and then go patch things up with Misty. Thus, resulting in a lack of sleep disrupted by clanking pans at too-fucking-early-o-clock.
Sitting at the table now, he rubbed his temples. He and Brock were still in their pajamas, while the rest of their friends were dressed and ready to take on the day. The joy of sleeping near a bathroom and clothes vs sleeping in the living room, Ash supposed.
On a happy note, Ash was blessed to see that even after last night's events, everyone was still as chatty as normal. Max talked mostly with Bonnie and Drew, while Clemont had taken a liking to Brock. Dawn and May chat about competitions, and Serena, as usual, helped Delia cook. Ash talked when he was spoken to, but made little to no effort otherwise. Serena was...weird, and he was doing his best not to let it distract him.
She went out of her way to touch him when she placed food on the table, going so far as to lean over to press her chest against his shoulder; thus, resulting in Ash spilling his orange juice, and a loss of appetite. Among other things.
"I wonder if Misty will be back this morning. I was supposed to go shopping with her today..." May muttered halfheartedly to Dawn who shrugged and ate a few more bites; Ash could see Bonnie become quickly agitated upon overhearing the girls mention of Misty, but Ash decided not to make a comment about it. He could see across the table, to the counter where Serena was standing, that she, too, stiffened upon hearing Misty's name. He wasn't surprised, however; if Ash hit Misty, he would be scared of the repercussions as well... he paused for a moment, tapping his chin with his finger. Not that he would ever hit Misty. Ever.
Then, as if on cue, who should step into the kitchen other than Misty, pulling awkwardly at her clothes and cursing under her breath.
"Misty!" May cried happily lifting her arms up, leaving little time for anyone else to realize when she even came in. The table became silent as all eyes fell on the oddly dressed water-pokemon trainer and Ash looked up at her timidly. He wasn't sure what he would see there...but what he did see had him snorting with laughter to the point that he had to cover his mouth with his hands. A mixture of laughter and horror passed over the table.
"...what are you wearing?" Dawn suddenly questioned, making Ash laugh harder, choking on his spit. Dawn was wearing a purple variation of her normal clothes, without the hat at the kitchen table. May touched her own hair as reference to Misty's and looked on towards her in pure shock while Misty rounded the table, pulling up her sleeve as she did. She walked directly over to Ash, and cuffed her fist over his head.
"Stop laughing!" She hissed, but her action only forced the rest of the table to start chattering happily. Misty grinned in response, patting Ash on the back while he fought the urge to choke. He rubbed his scalp skeptically while Misty walked toward the coffee pot to pour herself a cup.
"Misty, what happened to your hair?" May said suddenly, and Misty eyed everyone at the table, and Serena especially, who wasn't at the table, and hadn't even turned around to face Misty yet. Serena looked busy with whatever she was cooking on the stove, and at least intentionally avoided the red-head for now. Misty's eyebrows quirked at that, impressed, she took a sip of the black coffee and exhaled.
"I'm not sure. I've been asking myself that." She said with a sharp tone to her voice that was only made stronger by her hangover. Brock coughed, hitting his chest while Ash looked at Misty with raised eyebrows.
"Someone else cut your hair?" Brock scampered, furrowing his eyebrows. Misty shrugged and looked over at him.
"Maybe." was all she could reply, because she wasn't sure someone else had done it. Tequila did strange things to Misty, and occasionally she did some silly things; but this time, she wasn't sure it was her fault. Ash couldn't stop staring at Misty's attire, a look of amusement crossed his eyes that when Serena turned around and saw it, she nearly dropped the plate she was holding.
"You look like my mother." He blurted out thoughtlessly and pointed at her. Brock kicked him under the table forcing him to yelp and rub his ankle while Misty's face turned a shade of red. She tapped her fingers against the mug she was holding. This moment was bound to come up at some point during this trip; only she had hoped to borrow some of Dawn's or May's clothes to lessen the blow of having not brought a spare of her own clothes. She couldn't even justify Ash's statement with an answer, instead she huffed in silence while Delia stepped in, beaming at Misty.
"Aww, I think you look cute." the older woman cooed while setting down a plate of fresh pancakes at the center of the crowded table, "Are you going to eat, dear?"
"No, better not." Misty tossed while conversation turned to a normal scale. Ash still couldn't rip his eyes away from her while she approached the table. He wondered most of all how and when Misty came in. Because he sure as hell never heard, or saw her. He also questioned her mood. Was she hostile, or friendly? For the first time since waking up, he also wished that he had changed into something other than his pajamas; though he wasn't sure why.
"Where did you go last night." he asked suddenly, catching Dawn and May's attention, whilst the rest of the group couldn't seem bothered to hear her answer. Misty shrugged and took another gulp.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Misty toyed, dejected while picking at some of the food platters left on the counter top. Fury passed through Ash's features while he wanted to scream about Gary and bad things and a lot of swear words; but he kept his composure.
"I was just asking, jeeze." he grumbled, returning to his food. He took a few bites, but more questions still nagged at him; luckily, Dawn and May were a reliable source for talking. He hadn't even noticed how close Misty was to him.
"Who cut your hair?" Dawn said, still flabbergasted and a little pale.
"Are you still on that?" Misty joked while pulling up a seat between Ash and Dawn. May sat beside Dawn and Drew. Serena, who still hadn't spoken watched with a glare in her eye as Misty maneuvered around Ash like she hadn't done anything wrong. Her grip tightened on the wooden spoon she was holding while she watched Misty sit obviously close to Ash, though no one else seemed to notice.
"It's just..wow, it's really different. I mean, I like it, but, you almost never have your hair down," May said while scratching her head, "but anyways, are we still going shopping this morning?" She asked nervously, and Misty blinked while raising her eyebrows.
"Why wouldn't we?"
"Well, you know, after last night..." May said. Bringing up the incident hit Ash in the chest like a wrecking ball; reminding him that he actually needed to talk with Misty as well, but at her reply; May was stunned.
Misty pursed her lips, "What about last night?"
"Oh, uh, never mind then." May said, wanting to shuffle past as much drama as she could; May looked skeptically at Drew for only a moment before he shrugged and looked over his food again. Ash watched Misty, their shoulders bumped when he finally spoke up.
"Why are you sitting so close to me?" he suddenly asked, causing Misty to shoot him a playful look.
"Well usually people scoot over when someone else sits beside them." She mused, causing Ash to blush and instinctively move his seat over so that the red-head had more room beside them.
"I don't think we need to be worried anyways, you did just compare me to your mother."
Ash scoffed, "I didn't mean it like that." He offered helplessly while she set her mug on the table, and pulled the news paper in close, mostly skimming the headlines.
Silence filled the air between the two of them. May talked with Misty briefly about where they would go, and also asked Dawn if she wanted to go—but the blue-haired compatriot said she already had plans. While they spoke, Ash watched Misty carefully, only to be pulled out of his thoughts when Serena suddenly stood beside him. She bumped his side, causing his hand to shake so he accidentally pushed food onto the table.
"Ash," She hissed in a low, sultry voice, "Would you like more pancakes?"
Ash looked up at her, having scooped some hash browns into his mouth only seconds prior. His eyes were wide and innocent while he looked up at her. Her face so so indubitably close that he swallowed hard.
"No thank you, I can get them myself." He responded, habitually reeling backwards. Serena leaned forward regardless, practically throwing herself at Ash while leaning over to grab him a pancake, only to have her hand smacked. Serena leered her hand back, holding it close to her chest while she stood upright, allowing Ash to breath easy.
...but not for long. Serena glared at Misty.
"Why did you do that?" Misty flipped a page of the newspaper while Serena howled, uncomfortably bringing the attention back to them once again.
"He said he was fine." Misty reiterated as if it were a perfectly logical explanation, trying to hide her smug grin with a sip of coffee. Serena mentally did everything but growl at Misty.
"Of course. I'm sorry, Ash." Serena tossed skeptically while stalking off to grab her own seat, which was beside Bonnie.
Misty stared at her from across the table with a sinister smile that seemed to have gone unnoticed behind her coffee mug, because once the mug was down; she was simply Misty again. Ash blinked a few times, trying to determine what had just happened until panic swelled in his chest. Then the glaring war started. Serena piled food onto her plate without much of a second thought while Misty sipped her coffee calmly. It was a stalemate, first person to break eye contact would lose. Serena took a bite from a pancake, and Misty slowly folded her paper. The embodiment of tension could have been cut with a knife, and Ash looked between the two girls, just like everyone else did.
Finally, he cleared his throat; "Hey, did anyone see that battle on television last night?"
"Yeah, the one where a piplup defeated an electabuz!" Dawn cheered happily, ending the silence. Peace fell over the table once again while Misty smiled briefly at Serena, and then returned her attention to May.
Inwardly, Ash sighed, thankful that peace had once again been cast over his friends, but simultaneously, he did what any grown adult would do in a situation like this. He wanted to call for his mom and have her fix everything, but that was clearly not an option.
XOXOXXOXOXOXXOXOX
When breakfast was finished, Ash helped clear the table along with everyone else. As usual, his mom made too much food; an action only made worse by Serena helping her cook. Misty, while she didn't dirty any of the dishes, helped assort them into a pile on the counter so that Brock could wash them, and Max could dry them. Meanwhile, she was on her third cup of coffee, second aspirin, and first glass of water. May was 'finishing up' her attire upstairs, which conveniently consisted of having Drew's help, but once she was ready, May and Misty were supposed to go by the mall so Misty could find something different to wear; and possibly get her hair fixed.
She was nearing the sink when Serena finally interjected herself in front of Misty. She pursed her lips politely, no longer wearing the apron that she had on before. Misty blinked at Serena, watching her eyes.
"Can we talk?" Serena asked.
Ash saw this from a distance, causing his soul to leave his body; but he assured himself that Serena only wanted to apologize. Even so, their hostile nature made him question it. He went to interject, but Max and Brock grabbed him and held him back; shaking their head back and forth violently while Misty returned Serena's polite gesture.
"Sure, what's up?" Misty asked while crossing her arms. Serena pointed to the exit.
"I mean in private." Serena suggested, catching the boys attention again while they watched. Misty shrugged.
"Why not?" She spoke halfheartedly, whisking herself away with Serena in tow. Once they rounded the hallway, Serena led Misty to the back of the stairs, where she stopped suddenly, letting her one-inch heeled shoe stomp while she turned.
"Misty," Serena said, lacing her fingers together. Misty leaned against the wall across from Serena, eyes unwavering.
"Serena," Misty said, but quickly sighed to clear the air, "I really don't want to do this muk and rapidash show, so can we clear the air?" Misty suggested, but Serena already beat her to the ticket.
"I want you to know that you can't have Ash."
"I...I'm sorry, what?" Misty said, this wasn't what she expected her hear, and her face reflected that.
"I'm really sorry that I hit you, I shouldn't have acted that way; but after I realized everything...I sort of blamed you..." Serena continued, lowering her eyes and fiddling with her fingers. Misty shook her head, flabbergasted.
"Your relationship is full of holes, so you blame me? That's great." Misty added the last part sarcastically, causing Serena to fold her arms.
"That's not what I meant," She said while shaking her head, "I meant that you being here is the reason Ash is so confused. He saw you kiss Gary and freaked out. Since then he's been acting really weird."
Misty shook her head, "He was acting weird before that. But you can see what you want."
"I also know that you like Ash." Serena confirmed, causing Misty's chest to go cold. Misty tilted her head slightly, and shrugged while nodding.
"Why does that matter? It's not like he likes me." She said skeptically, causing Serena to take a step back slowly.
"...really?" Serena asked, and Misty motioned.
"Not to my knowledge." A small silence funneled between the two females until Serena looked around.
"Either way," Serena squeaked, looking more hopeful than before, "Even though things are rough right now, I'm not giving up on him!"
"That's...uh, nice.." Misty suggested with confusion lacing her voice while Serena nodded quickly.
"So I'm sorry if we can't get along, but this is my choice, and I think you should back off...For Ash's sake.." Serena said dramatically, and Misty raised her eyebrows, finally catching on.
"I'm sorry, what?" Misty grimaced, adjusting to what she was hearing by moving forward. She could hear May calling for her at the front door, but Serena didn't back down. "You have a lot of nerve..." Misty suggested, but when May approached the girls conversation, her cheery personality cut through the fog.
"...Misty?" She called whilst raising her eyebrows, "Are...you ready?" She asked, watching the glare between the two females, Misty, who was slightly taller than Serena leered at the younger blonde, and May felt genuinely worried until Misty threw up her arms and gave a chaste smile.
"Nope, I'm done here. Let's go." Misty chanted, leaving Serena behind to watch the ill-dressed female leave. Inwardly, Misty questioned what in the world she was supposed to do. She was certain that last night she would tell Ash exactly what was going on, but now felt that she would be inhibiting personal bias to her words—she inhaled sharp, getting a look from May.
"Are you alright, Misty? What did you and Serena talk about?" May asked, but wanting to change the subject, Misty looked directly at May and raised her eyebrows.
"...Tell Drew to lay off the hickies, girl." Misty said, subjectively changing the subject while May turned; fidgeting and red. At the same time, Misty tugged open the door to abandon the house, and hopefully get some peace away from this place; at least for a few hours.