January, 2010

Love is mundane.

"Shit."

The smell of burnt dough permeated his senses, making his face scrunch up in disgust. The smoke wafting in his face made his eyes water, and the shrill ring of the smoke detector made his ears ache. It was a cornucopia of unpleasant sensations all at once. Not how he'd meant to start dinner.

"Peeks, open the window! Keshet, the smoke detector."

"Roger!" Pikachu called out, abandoning his station at the kitchen counter to hop up to the window overlooking the sink. His ears pinned to the back of his head to tune out the awful alarm, as he pushed up the window with his stubby little paws. A rush of cool air bellowed over his fur, and the smoke gathering over the stove found an escape. "Hurry it up, Keshet! This sound is awful."

~Quit your whining, and I will.~ From the other end of the living room of their high rise apartment, an Espeon sat on the aquamarine couch stationed opposite of the television. Her ruby gem, fractured and misshapen from a prior accident, took on a bright red glow, as she exerted her telekinesis.

The smoke detector's cap popped off, and its switch was flipped, finally bringing that awful ringing to an end.

"Thanks, Keshet. You're a lifesaver," Ash huffed.

"What was that!?" Dawn shouted, opening the bathroom door to let out a blanket of steam. She was wrapped up in a towel, with her eyeliner and makeup halfway finished. "Is everything okay, Ash?"

"It's fine! It's fine. I just burnt the appetizer," Ash huffed. "Babe, we had to air out the kitchen. You're going to catch a cold."

"Huh? So what? A little cold air out of the shower never killed anybody," she replied, blinking.

Dawn was definitively wrong, but Ash shook his head and didn't challenge it. "Sorry, everyone… Looks like I can't even handle the appetizer."

"Awww, no takoyaki?" A honey-haired youth whined, leaning over the arm of the couch beside Espeon. She pouted, just on the cusp of putting her hearing aids back into place after the smoke alarm debacle. "Shit. I was really looking forward to that!"

"Now, Elaine, where did you pick up that language?" Dawn chided. "I've told you that's not ladylike."

"I'm not a lady, I'm a girl," Elaine countered, before poking a thumb over her shoulder. "And, I got it from Dad."

"Ash!" Dawn pouted. "We've hardly had her for any time at all, and you're already giving her that habit."

Now, Dawn herself hadn't been with them in Kanto for all that long, either. After obtaining her business degree months prior, though, she'd decided Elaine's entry to the family was the perfect time to pull herself out of Sinnoh and settle in Indigo Village with Ash. She was in the midst of establishing her very own Poké Styling business; Dizzie Boutique. Until that was settled, though, and she could join Ash as a breadwinner, having her creative touch and company would be enough.

"That's not true!" Ash denied, as he toggled with the grill, scraping off any burnt food scraps to drop into the garbage. "I've been swearing around Elaine for years. But, you know the rules, don't you?"

"I sure do!" Elaine piped up, flashing a grin missing several adult teeth. "As long as I don't repeat any bad words in school, right?"

"That's the spirit, sport!" Ash flashed a toothy smile in return, which he also turned on Dawn.

Dawn rolled her eyes, but dropped the topic, as she returned to her beauty routine in front of the bathroom mirror. Her voice echoed across the high rise. "I guess dinner's a bust, though, huh?"

"Afraid so…" Ash set down his kitchenware, and leaned on the dining room table. "I'm really sorry, you guys. No matter how much I try…"

"Dad still can't cook for beans!" Elaine finished.

"Thanks, kiddo," Ash said dryly, hanging his head in defeat. "If only cooking ran in the family… I'd really like to do right by you."

"Aw, don't say that!" Elaine frowned, nimbly pulling herself over the back of the couch to shuffle on over, throwing her arms around her adoptive father's waist to hug his side. "So what if you can't cook? I'm still the only kid in class who gets picked up by the Champion on his Dragonite!"

~Yeah, listen to her. You make up for your failures with nepotism.~ Keshet quipped from the couch.

Ash had half a mind to call his Espeon a smartass, but he just couldn't keep the goofy smile from blooming on his face, with his very own child lauding him with her approval. Her amber eyes were so bright. Radiant pools of warmth, compared to the dull, empty look she'd carried, years prior.

There was always a glimpse of that light, when he appeared in Pallet Town. But, it'd always start to fade when he had to leave. He promised himself that he'd never let that light leave her, again.

He reached down, ruffling her hair that was pulled into a ponytail. "Only the coolest exit for the coolest, newest Ketchum! But, that still leaves the issue of what we're going to do for dinner…"

"Everyone, be ready in twenty," Dawn called out. "We're gonna get some Bewendy's."

"Oooh, we're getting Bewendy's!?" Elaine let go of Ash, hopping in place. "I want large fries! Can I get a large?"

"You can get a large," Ash chuckled. "Why don'tcha get your shoes, and watch TV with Keshet until we're ready? Maybe there's a good battle on."

"You've got it, Dad!" The youth saluted him, before running off.

Pikachu watched her, shaking his head in amusement.

While that commotion was settled, Ash whistled, and crossed the room, opening the door to the bathroom before closing it behind him. He leaned against the doorframe in a slump.

"Hm? What's the matter, Ash?" Dawn asked, without even bothering to look over while she applied her eyeliner. She had a sense for reading him, without so much as a word.

"It's just… I wanna be good, y'know?" He gave his wording a moment of thought. "Wanna be good for us. Good for you, good for her."

"What makes you think you aren't?" Dawn asked. Ever the fountain of self-confidence.

"We can't always fall back on going out to eat, or ordering in." He couldn't cook, yet. Dawn sure as hell couldn't, either.

"Well, why not? You're on a Champion's salary," Dawn reminded him, "and you get this apartment cheap. We can afford it."

"It's not about the money. I just… Remember mom giving her all, every day, making sure I had something good to eat. Breakfast, lunch, dinner… Hell, when I brought home Pikachu and the others, that didn't change. We never worried if we'd go hungry for a second." Ash rubbed his neck. "I wanna do what she did for me."

"And you're trying," Dawn reminded him.

"I've been trying," Ash huffed. "And I still manage to fuck it up. Elaine's leaving in April."

"You want to do what your mom did, right?" Dawn asked. "She's still going to need us, when she comes back from her journeys. I remember the meals we'd get to come back to, when we were still traveling together," she giggled. Her cheeks tinted pink, thinking back on the days where they'd just started dating. Delia had welcomed her so quickly.

"...Dawn, you're a fuckin' genius!" Ash exclaimed, walking over to throw his arms around her… or, he got halfway there at least, before freezing. "You done with your makeup?" She could never stand when her personal grooming was thrown off.

"I'm done with it," she giggled, throwing her arms around him. He returned the gesture, and buried her face in her voluminous locks. They smelled of the fruity, high-quality conditioner she always used. "And, tell me something I don't know."

Ash laughed to himself. "Love that confidence of yours. I think it's starting to show in her."

Elaine was more talkative, now. More prone to boasting. He wasn't sure how much of it was him, how much of it was Dawn. It didn't really matter which, as long as it made her happier.

"Every woman ought to have a healthy self-esteem."

"She's not exactly a woman, yet."

"Well, she's on her way! It can never hurt to start early."

"Heh. Yeah." Ash laughed. He found himself wrapped up in Dawn, still. He didn't want to move.

Neither did, clearly, as they lingered for minutes at a time.

"Moooom! Daaaad! Are we going, or what?" Elaine's muffled voice could be heard from outside.

"We better get going," Ash said.

"Yeah," Dawn agreed. Neither had budged.

Ash shook his head and pulled back, patting Dawn on the shoulder. "C'mon. Go on and get dressed."

"Yes sir," Dawn replied, with a hint of playfulness. "Now, you go and keep them occupied until I am."

"Yes, ma'am." Ash snorted, opening the bathroom door to leave his girlfriend behind. He ended up lingering in the doorway, though, staring off into space.

He felt a weight on his shoulder. "Careful. Someone besides me could've caught you staring." Pikachu quipped. The cattish, know-it-all smirk on his muzzle said it all.

Ash snorted, closing the door behind him with a click. "I was not. C'mon, you little shit. I've still gotta get my sneakers on, if we're ever gonna get out of here."

"I want extra ketchup with mine."

"When don't you?"

He was lucky, to have this job. To have his Pokémon. To have Dawn. To have Serena, even if she wasn't quite here, yet. To have Elaine.

So, so lucky.