"Feels weird using this…"
"Don't worry. You'll get used to it."
Alex held Sorrel, feeding her with the bottle and formula that Tracey bought, whom is beside her. She looked down at Sorrel, admiring her for what she is and who she is. Alex turned to Tracey.
"Ever thought of breast-feeding her?" he asked. Tracey's smile faded away quickly and jabbed him on the shoulder. Alex barely flinched; Sorrel looked up at the two, still drinking from her new bottle. "Kidding…just kidding…"
"Next time I won't 'kid around' with the next offense…"
"Don't worry, I get it…"
The group was outside on the bench at the park, and so were several other Pokémon out there. It was the day after the "confession" Luxray (and Alex) had with Luke at the house, so things seemed to ease a bit away from Luke (and only Luke).
Only several minutes have passed by and Sorrel finished a little more than half the bottle. Even then, she still seemed to enjoy the meal.
"…So exactly how much do they need?" Alex asked.
"I'm not sure," Tracey responded.
"Okay…" Alex looked down, Sorrel still drinking up the formula. "…Exactly how much milk does a Nin—"
"Please stop asking those questions."
Alex kept silent as they both watched Sorrel finish her bottle. After a while, trying to suck out the few little drops, she moved away from the bottle and tried to roll her way out of Alex's arms. Alex lowered his arms as she tried to get away from his caring hold. After a moment, she was free from his arms and ran around happily as ever.
"So much I've missed…" Tracey said, looking at Sorrel run around near them. "Even if it had only been nearly a few weeks…"
"You didn't miss a lot," Alex refuted, "You have her whole life for you to see." Sorrel came around and jumped at Tracey's lap, giving a bright smile in front of her, a first for Tracey up close, a first to dissolve the obscure mind she had before the smile. She picked her up, the smile on Sorrel brightening up even more at the height of the rise. Lowering her down, she held her close to her, eye to eye. Tracey leaned in closer to Sorrel, kissing her on the forehead.
Alex smiled at the soft moment, remembering the times she had with her. "Almost done with school, right?" he asked. Tracey turned to her, still holding Sorrel; both of them were looking at him.
"Yep," Tracey responded, "Only about a month and a half left. Well…really a month left…" She looked at Sorrel and smiled at her, touching noses. Sorrel smiled and giggled a bit. "…The rest is just testing. But other than that, we have the weekend together."
"Together!" Sorrel yelled out happily; it sounded like she said 'togeder'. Tracey gasped a bit, smiling more than ever.
"One of her first words…" Tracey lowly said.
"Yeah," Alex responded. "…She already spoke out a few words before…"
"She has?" Tracey asked, turning to him. After asking, she looked at Sorrel.
"Yes!" Sorrel responded. "Tracey…?" Tracey gasped at her next word.
"…She remembered my name…" she said. Alex only nodded, looking at the two together. "How long ago did she say her first words?"
"A few weeks ago…" Sorrel answered the question. Tracey gazed at Sorrel in amazement.
"…Yeah…she catches on pretty fast…" Alex added in. He looked around at the park, seeing the norm of the outside. One thing he noticed was that there was a pair of Pokémon within a distance sitting, one bigger than the other, but both four-legged. They did talk once in a while and look around, but more than once in a while turned to them. Alex didn't want to conclude that they were on to them, nor did he want to say they were talking them. He looked away from the group, scratching his ear, trying to forget about them.
"You…happy?" asked Sorrel, looking at Tracey. She tilted her head in a bit of confusion. Tracey didn't respond right at the second, but sniffled a bit.
"Yes," she responded, a little tear coming out of her eye. Alex looked at the two and looked away from them, particularly at the patch of grass nearby. Some conversations as he tried to ignore the pair grew louder, as if they were coming closer…
"…really her?"
"…don't know…looks…it."
"…too easy…t…'m…now."
"No…-ait…not un…then."
Alex slightly moved his head up and looked up; the group at the distance was still there, not changing their position. Right when he looked up, one of them looked down as the other looked away right after the other turned down.
What the hell are they trying to get at…? Alex wondered. He looked back at his group; nothing has changed. "Sorrel, you hungry?" he asked. She turned to him.
"No," she responded. Alex slightly grinned at her, enjoying the sound of her light and soft voice.
"Well, I guess we'll wait on that then," he responded. He pushed the long sleeves of his sweater up to his elbow, exposing his forearms. "C'mon, let's go take a walk."
"Okay!" Sorrel jumped out from Tracey's lap, running around in circles. Alex stretched for a bit, cracking his knuckles, and looked around. He may have been loosening up, but he was still cautious…
"…is her…"
"…Let's go…"
He noticed the group left away. He still didn't know what kind of Pokémon they were, just that they walked on all fours. It bothered Alex a bit, wondering if they, him, Tracey, and Sorrel, had anything to do with they were talking about. He tried to ignore the situation, waited for Tracey to stand up, and walked on.
Meanwhile…
Luxray
"He just doesn't like you, does he?"
"I thought you didn't like me."
"I don't. But this is just hilarious."
Luxray was patched up, lying on the bed of Glaceon's room; Glaceon on his chair.
"If only you weren't on my bed…"
"Sorry…can't help it."
"Where's that Full Restore? Why don't you use that?"
"Can't you just relax? Damn, you can never wait."
"While you were partially stitched up, I was shoved in harshly in a straitjacket!"
"Oh yeah…forgot about that."
Glaceon eyes narrowed at Luxray, slowly losing his smile he once had only a moment ago. Luxray looked eye-to-eye at him, a small smirk in his face.
"If only you would've been shoved in to Luke's…"
"He's great, isn't he? Having a friend who failed at an attempt on stitching up, a beater-on-theory on his guardian child, and a beater-for-real for another alike… How the hell could you be friends with him? Why did you decide to live together? Aren't you gay with him?"
"It's a long story to say… and if you say that again, I swear to God, I will split you open."
"I get it, I get it… Why don't you tell me your backstory with him? I don't think I'll move out from this seat for a while now…"
"I guess…seeing I have nothing else to do…"