A/N: Woo, thank you all for the reviews and the follows and the favorites! It really makes me very happy and it motivates me to write more. Keep them coming :P I hope you enjoy this chapter!

To Guest: Thank you very much for your review! I'm glad you seem to like Paul in my story here :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover (though I did edit it).

Days

The day Cilan is late

Cilan

Thursday, December 19th

"Thank you, Cilan, I daresay that this was a very informative meeting," his new client said, pompously shaking his hand.

Cilan smiled politely and nodded. "Certainly, sir, and I am hopeful that our next meeting will be just as fruitful."

"I am certain it will be," he said with a decisive nod. The man's name was Ken Parrish, a business man well into his fifties, who lived on the outskirts of Striaton City in the sort of house that showed his success.

He let go of Cilan's hand and walked him to the hallway, and Cilan mentally gave him a point for manners. While mister Parrish's sharp brown eyes, proud nose and obvious interest in talking about himself spoke of arrogance, the man's words and manners were friendly and his Pokémon obviously adored him.

Well, except for the newest one, which was why Cilan had been hired to help.

Cilan put on his coat and after a last goodbye to mister Parrish, he left the residence and hurried through the rain into his car. As he drove away, he could see the silhouettes of mister Parrish's Pokémon moving behind the living room window.

He turned his attention to the road while mulling over the case. He had met his other Pokémon, which were a kind Skiddo, a playful Vibrava and a quiet Yamask. They obviously loved their trainer, which was Cilan's only bright spot in this difficult problem.

His newest Pokémon was a Salamence. It was a stubborn and disobedient Pokémon, sometimes almost bordering on aggressive. Mister Parrish had bought it from some seedy figure, wanting to give it a better home, as well as that he had always wanted an intimidating Pokémon and one that could fly him places.

Cilan had only seen the Salamence for some moments, as it had immediately gone off in an attempt to reduce the house to ashes. Fortunately, mister Parrish had managed to recall it before it could do some real damage.

His first thought had been that this Salamence with its unhappy past would be better off in the hands of an experienced trainer with a strong team – someone like Iris. But since he had to make do with the ingredients he had…

They were going to need an almost indestructible place where they could let Salamence out so it could tire itself out, he thought to himself, and then they could attempt to talk with it and explain the situation. Hopefully.

The streets got busier as he neared the center of the city, and there were quite some last-minute Christmas shoppers hurrying through the rain with umbrellas. At least he had already gotten that done.

Cilan glanced at the small digital clock of the radio and he pressed his lips together. He was late. He had not expected that this first meeting would take so long, just like he had not expected that his first client would pose such a difficult problem.

But on the bright side, it wouldn't be boring, as he had been afraid being a personal Connoisseur of the rich and wealthy would be.

He parked the car and entered the Gym through the backdoor. He glanced into the kitchen, seeing Cress's back as he stood by the stove, and then quickly hurried on upstairs, to their actual living quarters.

Cilan quickly prepared a sandwich and then ate it quicker, which showed just how much of a hurry he was in, for one didn't eat food quickly. But today, he had to, he was late and he had work to do.

He dressed in his waiter's uniform and then joined his brothers in the restaurant. Cress was on kitchen duty this evening, while Chili was balancing several trays of food as he served their guests. They both gave him relieved smiles when they saw him, but Chili's frown promised a talk about his tardiness later.

"Good to see you," Cress said as Cilan took his place in the kitchen.

"Sorry I was late," he apologized, and Cress hummed in response. They didn't have much time to talk after that, because dishes had to be prepared and meals had to be cooked. When later in the evening Cress had the cooking under control again, Cilan joined Chili in serving, and then later helped with the dishes.

Around closing time Cress and Cilan found themselves cleaning up the kitchen in companionable silence while Chili was letting out the last of the guests. Cilan enjoyed the quiet while it lasted, because Chili would soon return and then-

"So, how was your first day as a private Connoisseur?" Chili asked as he strode back in the kitchen. It seemed that his temper had cooled after an evening of working and Cilan smiled at his youngest brother.

"Quite well," he answered. Cress looked up from his work and Cilan continued, "It is… a different target group than I'm used to, although I suppose I can't say that yet with just one client."

Cress hummed while Chili nodded. "But was it fun?"

"It might be more exciting than I had expected," Cilan said, inwardly hoping so. "Although I apologize for my time management, I'm sorry I was too late to help with the first rush."

"I understand," Cress said, while Chili waved his apology away.

"It's okay," the youngest brother said. "With the wedding coming up and all, we knew you'd be busy."

Cilan nodded, though his grateful smile was strained. He knew it wasn't just because of the wedding. While he shouldn't be making more hours than he used to do with his Connoisseur job, the travelling cost him more time than he had counted on beforehand.

"Yes, I'm sure that after the wedding I'll have more time," Cilan said, feeling not quite certain about that.

Chili grinned slyly. "Unless you'll be busy taking care of little Cilan?"

Cilan choked on air, and there was a loud splash as Cress dropped something in the dishwater.

"Chili!" Cress scolded, while Cilan inwardly fought to regain the ability to speak. With panic he realized that the longer he went without a witty response, the more suspicious his brothers would become.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Cilan said, flapping his hands and his laugh higher than usual. He silently cursed his pale skin as he could feel his cheeks burning with a blush.

"Fine, fine, I was just joking," Chili said, patting Cilan's shoulder, but he didn't miss the significant look his two brothers exchanged.

With a shock that he felt through his body Cilan realized that they knew. They had guessed, and he had just confirmed it for them. He opened his mouth to ask if Iris had told them, but Cress cut him off.

"Oh, Cilan, that reminds me," he said lightly, as he continued doing the dishes. "Do try to be on time tomorrow, I still want you to show the houses I've found."

"Ah- ah, of course," he stuttered out, thrown off by the topic change. Chili started to busy himself with putting away cleaned plates and Cilan was left standing there feeling rather stupefied.

After a moment of staring at his two brothers, who had truly dropped the topic and were now discussing a messy customer, Cilan forced himself into action and grabbed a wet cloth to clean the tables.

They knew. They knew and yet they weren't calling him out on it. Cilan felt torn between absolute relief for their silence and heavy guilt for having been caught lying to his brothers. In retrospect, a wedding this quick was bound to raise questions like that, and since he had asked Cress to help him look for a house-

Really, it was a small miracle that they hadn't figured it out the day he had told them, he realized. They knew him too well.

He sighed. He would talk to Iris and then they could tell his brothers the 'news.'

But Chili was right. After the wedding he would undoubtedly be busy with Iris and her pregnancy, and when the baby was there… At some point, a ball was going to drop, and Cilan was not yet sure whether that was going to be the restaurant, the Gym or his Connoisseur job.

It was a complicated question, and in the future, he would have choices to make, otherwise it would be a recipe for disaster-

"Cilan! Are you almost done?" Cress called from the kitchen.

"Almost!" he called back, and then picked up his pace. No time for daydreaming or worrying, there was a job to be done and he had already been late-

A moment later Chili and Cress emerged from the kitchen, both carrying a wet cloth. They silently joined him in cleaning the tables, and Cilan gave them a grateful smile when they were finished.

No matter what happened, he would always have his brothers by his side.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I like writing about the Striaton brothers, and I hope I did them justice here. In an earlier chapter it was pointed out that neither of them had (jokingly) asked about a pregnancy, and that made me rethink this chapter, so I hope this explains it a bit better. Reviews are very much appreciated :D

Thank you!

Recommendation

Star Wars: Tea and Deathsticks by Eirian Erisdar. FFN. A short, finished multi-chaptered story featuring a short adventure for a young Obi-Wan Kenobi, with of course some Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan bonding. Amusing and well written!

Recommendations are welcome!