Hello, everybody!

I like this chapter a lot! I miss chapters like these. I'm stuck writing the dramatic ones right now... Not as fun but more important to the story to write.

Hope you enjoy!

The Espeon

"Carry," Austin said, crossing his arms and raising his eyebrows at me expectantly. He nodded in the direction of Manaphy. Manaphy caught Austin's look and crossed his arms and tilted his head up, also waiting.

"What?" I asked innocently, smirking just a little.

Manaphy twitched his right eye. "An apology, of course!"

"You, too," Austin said, nodding at Manaphy. "Both of you."

"What?" Manaphy demanded, his arms dropping to his side in shock. "Why?"

Austin shifted his crossed arms and continued to wait.

"I'm very sorry for making fun of you," I said, giving in. I felt a little bad because I hurt his feelings, but not so for rolling my eyes at him when he let me tick him off so easily. Plus I wasn't particularly interested in Austin being pissed at me.

Manaphy drooped his head in defeat. "I'm sorry for thinking myself above you," he said, not sounding terribly sorry but not not. Either way, the moment he was finished with his apology he immediately crossed his arms, picked his head back up, and stared at Dark. "So. Austin. He's your brother Chosen, is he not?"

"Brother Chosen?" Austin wondered, taking on a look of confusion.

"You two are both Celebi's Chosens, though Chosens usually never meet considering they're born in different worlds. I call you two brothers based on your similar powers," Manaphy explained.

"I see," Austin said, nodding. "Well, yes, in that case, he is."

"Interesting. Than what's with the other ones? Why are you keeping them around?" Manaphy wondered, completely ignoring the fact that us "other ones" were actually sentient beings sitting within striking distance of him.

Austin sweat-dropped and said, "You know they're right here listening."

"Yeah, and?" Manaphy asked rudely, raising an eyebrow.

"Why do you keep yourself around?" I muttered to myself, looking away to hide the fact that I was rolling my eyes at him.

"What was that?" Manaphy demanded, instantly turning to me with narrowed eyes and a set jaw.

"She was wondering why you keep yourself around. Frankly, so am I," Heather said, tilting her chin up at him. She had a slight smirk on her face. My respect for her bumped up a little because she would say such a thing to him.

"Very good, Heather," I said, smiling. "That was great."

"Thank you," Heather glanced at me and said, then turned back to Manaphy and remarked, "You deserved it."

"Why don't we go home and check on Wylie?" Austin asked abruptly, bending over to pick Dark up off the ground. The lucario was trying to hide a smile of amusement from watching this.

"Good idea," Manaphy said dryly, narrowing his eyes further.

As we turned to walk out, I stuck my tongue out at him. I waited just long enough to see his eyes brighten with angry fire, teeth clench, and face scrunch up. I bolted once he started forming a ball of water in between his paws.

Once the five of us were a good floor away, I said, "What a bastard."

"Carry," Austin said, his voice not showing whether he was accusing me or something.

"What? You don't think so?" I asked, rolling my eyes again. "I'm not entitled to my opinion here, either?"

Austin smirked. "You forgot 'narcissistic midget.'"

"And arrogant," Jared snorted.

"And conceited," Heather added.

I smiled, my lips curving up to my ears. "Maybe you guys do pay attention."

(Aww, bonding moment between folks! So cute :D)

The Buizel

A FewMinutes AfterThe OthersHad Left

After everyone else left I followed Ashy into the medical department, curious as to how far she was in her training. She padded into her office, hopped up onto a chair, and started looking at the files on her desk, me standing next to her, peering down at them.

"So what are you doing?" I wondered.

"So what are you doing?" Ashy countered with a playful smile.

"I'm curious," I told Ashy.

Ashy closed the folder she was looking in and walked over to a file cabinet. She stuffed the one in and pulled out another. As she came over and laid it back on her desk, I noticed it had today's date on it.

"Curiosity killed the cat," Ashy said as she started leafing through it.

"If you hadn't noticed, I'm a weasel," I smiled. "And I've almost been dead more times than I can count."

"I know," Ashy said, nodding towards my chest. "I saw, remember?"

Feeling sensitive though the scars were invisible beneath my fur, I crossed my arms over the spot where most of them criss-crossed. "I know."

Ashy smiled once more. "A patient is supposed to be here. I'm double-checking to make sure it was now."

"Doctor's appointment?" I wondered, tilting my head in curiosity.

"Nope," she said. "I'm also a therapist."

"You really are replacing me," I said, then laughed.

"I am?" Ashy asked, eyebrows up in surprise and mouth slightly agape.

"Most certainly!" I agreed. "You're taking both my jobs."

"Oh," Ashy said, looking sheepishly back down at her files. "I'm sorry."

I laughed again. "Ashy, both were only temporary. I'm mainly a member of a rescue team and I only ever did it when I wasn't on a mission."

"Oh," Ashy said, glancing apologetically up at me. "No one told me that!"

"No one told me that you were here, either," I responded. "It's good to know that Chimecho will has someone to help her out full time, though, so I'm glad you're here."

"Good to know," Ashy said, eyes quickly scanning the papers.

"And I'm not sitting in my room all day, either," I said happily. "So thanks for that."

"Chimecho wouldn't let you help her?" Ashy asked, glancing up at me.

"No, she'd have me strictly lying down. One time when I was here sick she wouldn't even let me keep my eyes open," I told her.

"Really?" Ashy wondered, taking a moment to look up at me and read my facial expression to see if I was joking or not.

"Seriously," I confirmed, nodding.

"Wow," she said, raising her eyebrows in surprise. "Chimecho's never been that strict with anyone else."

"Then again," I put a finger to my chin thoughtfully, reconsidering. "Austin and I had caught the stomach flu twice in three weeks, and when we finally got out on a mission we went to steam cave and Austin ended up badly burned and I got hypothermia and we were stuck in the guild for another two weeks. The members were pretty sick of us by then."

Ashy laughed fairly hard, her shoulders shaking with it and face lit up with joy. "When and how was this?"

"Two years ago when we were still goofy apprentices," I explained, beaming in the fact I'd made her laugh so hard. "It's a very long story, but in short the boiling cave water burned Austin but not me because I was used to hot water, then only I got hypothermia when we walked back because he was used to cold and I wasn't."

"Walked? What happened to badges?" Ashy wondered.

"Uh..." I pulled a sheepish smile onto my face. "Left them at home, under Austin's bed."

Ashy snorted. "You two were goofy little apprentices."

"Oh, yeah," I agreed, and we laughed.

There was a small silence between us, though not one of awkwardness. It was one of her doing her work and me not distracting her.

I enjoyed it despite myself.

Author Note:

MORE BONDING MOMENTS! Yay for bonding :D

Hope you enjoyed!