Chapter 16: Somebody To Lean On
With his body splayed out on a cushion, Lumi stared at the ceiling with a blank look on his face. Numerous thoughts floated through his mind like a fine mist. Clearly present, but unable to be grasped no matter how hard he tried.
A few feet away from him, Van whistled a tuneless song as he tinkered away at something on his workbench, and the din of voices and various testing could be heard muffled through the tent flap. The Meowstic curled a tail over his body and clenched it in his paw.
The morning cheer rung out as loud as it could without the fireworks, held in the main room with the noticeboard, but he recalled the weight of eyes on him. His fellow apprentices weren't cold or hostile, but the news of his Legendary relation had caused a shift in their perception of him.
He could tell.
He caught them speaking with each other with glances thrown his way, or how some would take a few steps away from where he stood, as if he was something to be admired from a distance. Perhaps things would change in time, but he felt more self conscious than he was expecting, and it caused his already too-occupied mind to become more burdened than it already was. In an effort to alleviate it, he took out his notepad and wrote down some of the more pressing things that took up real estate in his head.
To-Do's
Figure out how Dialga's blessing works and help save the world (simple)
Figure out what this weird pearl around my neck is
Meet/interrogate/confront speak with the crazy Weavile and find out what they want
Sit down and talk with Mom and Dad
Come up with an idea for an item. Anything. Anything at all (Note:talk with Vert about Resonance)
He tapped the pen on his chin and let out a silent scoff. Well, the list had put his thoughts in some kind of order, but now he had to face the fact that he didn't have a real plan to accomplish any of it. He set the notebook down and rubbed his eyes. A weight bore down on his shoulders, and it seemed to get heavier with every breath.
"It's just...stuff. Stuff you have to deal with. It's fine, just one step at a time. You've taken steps before," he told himself in his head. "Just one step, and you join the guild of your dreams. Another, and you fight terrorists. Another, and a god of time apparently wants you to take his power and use it to save the world because your parents decided not to tell you that they were important and also the world is ending how does that even what the fu-"
"Hey, you good mon? I get nervous when you go all quiet," Van's voice wrenched him from his thoughts. He met the Scrafty's gaze, who leaned on the side of his workbench with a grin. "Can only imagine what goes on in that head of yours."
"I'm not that bad. And I'm fine, just a little tired," he defended.
"Uh-huh. You're sure?"
"Yup."
"Nothin' on your mind? About yesterday? Or maybe now?"
"I mean, yeah I'm thinking about some things, but it's not that big a deal..." even he couldn't take that statement seriously, and his ears flattened at the blank look Van gave him, arms crossed. Lumi bit his lip and gave a weak laugh.
"Um, okay. I guess it has all just been...alot," he said. Van barked out a laugh and shook his head.
"Arceus, yeah that's one word for it! Was that so hard to say?" he exclaimed, and then sauntered over to fall on a cushion next to the Meowstic. Lumi rolled his eyes at the smirk on Van's face.
"So, what's up?"
"Van, I'll be fine, I don't want to distract you from what you-"
"Okay, pause," Van held up his hand. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, they were more stern than Lumi had ever seen on him.
"Bro, let me be real with you. None of what you've gone through in the past week is normal. At all. You're a kid from the sticks we picked up, and got caught up in all of our mess. We're all criminals, have needed to fight actual villains, and then you just find out yesterday you're some kinda son of Dialga? I can't even..." he lost words for a moment, but he shook his head and kept going.
"Look, I know you like to take things as they go, but it's not healthy to just keep it all to yourself. Not this stuff. If nothing else, I need you to know that you can at least trust me to carry that stuff with you. You're not a distraction, you're my Partner, and I want to know what's up with you."
Lumi had listened intently to what he was saying, but his heart lurched at a specific word.
"...Did you say Partner?" he asked with both paws grasped tight around a tail. Van's eyes widened, and he leaned back.
"Uh...I mean...damn, my bad," he rubbed his mohawk down and tried to save face with an embarrassed chuckle. "I just thought...but it's only been like a week so, sorry. Uh, you know what they say about Scraftys, we bond easy with members of the turf and-"
"You wanna be my Partner!?" Lumi barreled ahead, all introspection erased from his face in favor of a wide, almost manic smile. He leaned forward until there only an inch separated their faces
"Uh...yeah? Only if you want to, obviously."
"Yes! Hell yes!" exclaimed Lumi. He embraced Van openly and began to nuzzle the lizard under the chin. Van returned the hug and chuckled.
"I was actually thinking the same thing for a while now, but I didn't know how to bring it up," admitted Lumi.
"Well, no more wondering. Where you go, I go. Your goals are my goals, and all that. And..." in a sudden moment of clarity, Van looked down at the Meowstic who he just declared to be his Partner. The same Meowstic whose idea of fun was to jump off buildings, make things blow up, seemed to lack basic self preservation skills, and could maybe control time?
He sighed and sent a quick prayer to Arceus.
"Do me a favor and try not to get us killed? I still got a long life ahead of me."
"Goal one of our partnership: Don't die. I am seventy-six percent sure we can do that." commented Lumi with a proud smirk.
"Might be a bit optimistic, but I'll take it. Anything else we're trying to accomplish together?"
"How about we save the world?"
"Is that all?" asked Van with clear sarcasm. To his surprise, Lumi shook his head steadily.
"Nope, there's more," Lumi leaned back and sat crossed legged in front of Van. "Ever since I was little and understood what the Absol guild does, I knew I wanted to make things that could make the world a better place. The Dungeons are wild, yeah, but we owe a lot of our technology, and hell, even the basis of our society, to their existence. Things that are integral to life now..."
He went quiet as he seemed to think about something, before nodding resolutely.
"Yeah, saving the world is just a stepping stone. I want to make something that will shake it forever. Are you in?"
Lumi's golden eyes seemed to shine as bright as the wild smile on his face. Van had a bewildered look on his face for a second, but a hearty laugh brightened his features. He threw an arm around the Meowstic's shoulders and pulled him into a one-armed hug.
"Hell yeah. I just came here because I wanted to do something more exciting than repair broken wheels all day. But with you? I feel like I could do a helluva lot more. We'll rock the world, I know it."
They pulled away, and Van gestured at the Meowstic.
"And look at you, all that glum melted right off. Feeling any better?" he asked.
"Yeah, I am. The only problem is," Lumi spread his arms as wide as he could. "I have no idea what the hell I'm doing!" he exclaimed, with no shame. His grin lessened when it wasn't shared by Van, who had his arms crossed with an unimpressed glare.
"Mon, I'm a little disappointed."
"Uh...well I-" Van's hand on his shoulder shut him up.
"...We have no idea what the hell we're doing." A teasing grin wormed onto the Scrafty's face. "Seriously, I'm still processing what all happened yesterday. Kinda running with the wind here, and I don't even know where to start with your whole deal with Dialga."
"Between the million other things going on in my head, that's one thing I'd like a little help with," admitted Lumi with his ears flat against his head. Van looked at him with a thoughtful frown, a hand rubbing his chin, before he shrugged.
"...Well, that doesn't mean we can't try a thing or two. C'mon," He got up from the pillow and made his way to a large bag up against the wall. Lumi hopped up and saw him pull out a few dud orbs from the bag, then place them on the work table after sliding some spikes to the side. Lumi came over and peered onto the table.
"Did you think of something?"
"Maybe. So, you said Dialga gave you his blessing, right?" Lumi nodded. "Are you able to tell me how they did it?"
"It was kind of like...he said something along the lines of 'adding his energy to mine' or something."
"And you could feel it?"
"Yeah. I think I was able to actually see the energy move and stuff when..." He glanced at the dud orbs, and a lightbulb went off in his head. "Oh, I see what you're saying."
"I mean, worth a shot, right? You see your own energy when you make orbs, so maybe we can find something out?"
"Sounds good enough to me."
Lumi grabbed one of the rainbow dud orbs in a paw and closed his eyes, as he would normally do when attempting to mix Aether and energy. As usual, the mindscape opened up, and he saw the swirling, multicolored lake of raw Aether. On the outskirts of this lake, he saw his own Psychic Energy, ready to mold the Aether however he wanted.
Now that he was in a focused state, he honed in on his own Energy, to see if there was any difference. Dialga had said that a power inside of him had awakened, and he could definitely sense that something inside had shifted, but it was difficult to describe. With a visual representation of Energy in front of him, the change became clear.
Where before was the pure pink of Psychic energy, now its surface was tinted with a steel blue.
"You see anything?" Van's voice came.
"Yeah. There's...something else. In my own Energy. It feels faint but, uh, different" he tried, unsure how to verbalize the feeling.
"Different how? What's it feel like when you focus on it?"
He took a moment to ponder the sensation of this novel change in his being. He learned early on that the manifestation of Type Energy was correlated with something drawn from a pokemon's being, whether physical, mental, spiritual, or through intention.
Fire Energy from intense feelings of passion, Ground and Rock from one's connection to the earth, Fairy from the intention to be both playful and undermining, and so on. Psychic Energy originated in the mind, and with more complex thoughts about the world around oneself; the sensation he was most familiar with as he investigated the feeling of his own Energy.
Then he delved deeper to engage that new blue tint and-
He screamed.
"Oh shi-fuck!" The orb tumbled out of his paw as he backed up, another paw on his chest as he breathed heavily. He heard Van come to his side and say something, but he was too focused on the acute sensation of being exposed.
"Talk to me, what happened? Lumi!"
"I-I'm...there's..." he tried to get something out, but words escaped him. His thoughts were frazzled as he tried to calm himself down. As he tried to understand what just happened, his eyes widened when he came to an understanding.
Whatever that was, it came from outside of him.
"That's...that wasn't..." Van knelt down in front of him and squeezed his shoulders, mouth opened in worry.
"What? Are you okay?"
"I'm...okay. That wasn't normal." Lumi closed his eyes and breathed deeply, before he exhaled slowly. Having settled himself, he met Van's worried frown with a resolute look.
"I'm gonna try that again, but without the orb. I need to just...sit in it for a second."
"Sit in what?"
"...I don't know. There was so much, it was...everything...always? Or, it was all...now?," he muttered with a bewildered look on his face. Van shook his head.
"That's crazy. What you just said is crazy."
"I know. Gimme a second."
Lumi stood on his feet, and after a thought unfurled his ears fully, allowing the eyes within to be opened to the world. He shared one look with Van before he closed his eyes and welled up Energy within himself as if he were to use a move, but willed himself to exercise that new part of him.
A current like that from a raging river threatened to push him off his feet.
Every hair on his body raised at the sheer presence that pushed against him. He gasped at how small he felt, a speck in some endless ocean that he knew intrinsically would never, could never, stop for anything.
Through some sense he didn't know he had, he perceived the force as it flowed over, under, and through his body. His form was weightless, all but adrift except for what felt like a small tether that kept him anchored to what he knew was now. He could hardly tell if he was moving his limbs, each wave of his arm brought with it phantom movements he did not recall making.
After a few moments, a burning crept up. Some strain on the part of him that allowed access to all of this, but an urge pushed him forward. A desire.
He wanted to open his eyes. He had to.
Slowly, he allowed an eye to open just a fraction of the way to allow a sliver of sight in and...
He saw Van to his right but he also saw Van across the room but Van was sitting on the cushion at the same time Van entered the room but Van entered the room but Van entered the room but Van ran into the room carrying orbs no wands no he dropped a bag no he was asleep on the table that a Van was hammering into with sparks and to the right Van was sitting with Clara who was hugging who was laughing who was readingsleepingtheroomwasn'taroomitwas a workshop storageroom closettherewasn'taroomitwasclothit wasthe ground the earththedirt it was the warehouse outside but it was rubblebrickbuilt from the ground and he stood the on earth with the town in the distance but there were no homes there was grass there was no grass there was sand there was no sand there was water therewasnothingtherewasall-
Soft, gentle hands, light as a feather, placed themselves on his face and shut his eyes. They wiped away the tears that began to form, and settled themselves around his shaking shoulders to embrace him.
"Shhhhhhh..." the voice held him, and murmured soft nothings into his ears so tenderly he thought it was a dream.
"It's okay," whispered the voice, feminine. "It's okay, it's too much for you now, but that's okay. When the time comes, it will be yours. Just give it time."
"...What's...who?" his voice trembled, and cracked as soon as he spoke. The voice giggled, and something pecked his cheek.
"You're so cute. We'll talk later, you're worrying your partner," she said.
The weight of the force began to subside, and his head became more grounded in the now. The strength of the stranger's embrace on him lessened, until it was only a remnant like the wind on his form. He could only offer a subdued mewl at the sudden lack of closeness, but grueling exhaustion soon occupied his mind. A new grip, more insistent than the prior one, took its place around his shoulder.
He registered the fact that he was being shaken.
"-ey. Hey! Come on mon, what's going on? Your eyes are glowing, why are they glowing!?" Van's voice gradually came into focus, and he blinked open his eyes to see his partner's face.
"You look...damn, alright let's get you to the infirmary, think you need-"
"M'fine..." he whispered as his eyes scanned the room. There was only one Van, and things weren't layered on top of eachother. That was good.
"Just...need..." His arms were made of cotton, and his legs were weighed down with sand. The cushions a few steps away were a gift from Arceus right then, and he pushed off of Van to shuffle on exhausted feet towards them.
"Lumi? Talk to me mon," urged Van.
Lumi could only wrench up a paw in acknowledgment, before he crashed face first into the pillow.
The page in front of her remained blank, no matter how much she glared at it. A pen held in her large claw tapped relentlessly on her desk, as it had for the past thirty minutes. Damia held her head in her other claw, and wrestled with the unfortunate reality she now found herself in.
She was distracted.
And she hated it.
"...playing with all those toys instead of..."
Tap. Tap. Tap.
"You really haven't changed."
.
"Why the hell won't you just...come home?"
Taptaptaptaptaptap.
"Fine. Run away then, and spit on your mother's legacy with your weakness."
Snap.
She glanced down at the pen split in two between her digits, and a heavy, draconic growl began to build in her throat. The tent flap to her office whipped open right then, and Clara backed in with a big box in her paws. She set it off to the side with a loud grunt.
"Phew. Okay, that's the duds rationed out for today. We should probably do something about getting more because..."
Her ears perked at the sound of Damia's audible frustration. The Dragonite attempted to stifle it by massaging her forehead and passing it off as just mild annoyance, but the damage had already been done.
"Uh-oh. I know that sound. Something on your mind?" asked Clara. Damia kept her focus on the blank sheet in front of her.
"No. I'm just...doing paperwork."
"Paperwork. Riiiiight." The Spinda walked over and hopped right onto her desk with her paws on her hips. She took one look at the piece of paper and scoffed.
"Oh yeah. Really killing it in the paperwork department. You go girl."
"Now is really not the time," muttered Damia, body hunched over the desk and both claws supporting her head. She still hadn't made eye contact with Clara. She felt soft paws wrench her arms away from her head, and force her to look into her partner's swirls.
"You only growl like that when there's something really heavy on your mind. I'd say now is the perfect time."
"Clara, you know what's going on, what's at stake. We don't have time to waste talking about me when we need to prepare for what's coming up."
"Yeah, because you're doing so much sitting in an empty room, staring at a piece of paper."
"I know." Damia leaned forward until her head bowled over the smaller bear, and she bared her fangs as the growl returned. The display of aggression didn't sway Clara, who began to rub Damia's snout slowly.
"...Who was that Charizard, Damia?" asked Clara. She winced.
She so badly wanted to respond with 'none of your business,' but that would just spit on their partnership. If there was anyone here who had a right to know anything, it was Clara.
"That was someone from...before," she admitted with a sigh.
"Someone close?"
"...My brother."
"...Oh."
"Yeah."
Clara pushed the Dragonite's snout off of her form just enough to be able to sit in front of her. She still held on though. At this point, Damia's head leaned entirely onto the desk, so Clara cradled her head as she thought.
"Well. That's awkward. What are the, uh, odds of running into him there?" She added a small chuckle in an attempt at levity, but Damia just shook her head.
"He's one of Haxorus' most skilled apprentices. It's no wonder he would have been promoted to lieutenant. Rowshore is a high profile area, so of course we would catch sight of him there. I just didn't know..."
She grunted, but then rolled her eyes.
"Even if he did get promoted, he's still the same overconfident dumbass I remember."
"Must run in the family."
"Shut up." Her mouth twitched a bit, and Clara giggled.
"And why would my big, confident partner care what her dumbass brother has to say?"
"I don't…I mean, it's…" she huffed and took a second to organize her thoughts.
"…I know I made the right decision, it was good of me to leave. But to see him again and hear him call me a coward just threw me off. I thought if anyone would get it, it would be him…"
"Well, did you ever tell him why you left?"
"…Kind of?"
"Okay. When was the last time you sat down and talked with your brother? Like, had an actual, real conversation. About…anything?"
"…"
"Damia?"
"Our family didn't really do…talking."
"I think I'm starting to see the problem."
"Dammit, what's there to talk about?!" Damia reared up and gestured with her claws. "We disagreed, we fought, I won. End of story. I won, so why don't I feel like anything changed?"
"Maybe because all you did was beat up your brother?" Helpfully supplied Clara. Damia gave her a dry look.
"It was self defense. I can't tell if you're trying to make me feel better or criticize me."
"I'm trying to get you to see that the solution to your problem is easy." Clara stood up and spread her arms wide.
"Just sit down and talk wi-Ow! Why do you always do that!?" Clara rubbed her ear where she had been flicked.
"Give me a real solution," stated Damia, unimpressed.
"That's the realest solution there is. The next time you see your brother, don't growl, or yell, or get all punchy like you normally do. Just talk it out."
"We are wanted criminals."
"The power of familial love will overcome such meaningless labels."
Damia groaned.
"I'm serious! We'll figure something out."
"…You really think it's that easy?"
"Nope. But I think it's worth it," she asserted with a confident, brash smile. Damia hated that smile. It made her go against her better judgment. Lumi had that smile too. She shuddered at the thought of two Pokémon who could make her feel like that. Thinking about the Meowstic brought something else to the forefront of her mind.
"If we're on the subject of love," she started, an uncharacteristically sly grin forming on her face. "How about we give 'you know who' a call?"
"Who?" asked Clara, genuinely confused. Damia just stared at her, and she squinted her eyes until she gasped in realization.
"Oh!...oh. Uh, I mean..."
"Something the matter?" asked the Dragonite, leaned forward with her chin in a claw. Her partner began to stammer, so she took matters into her own claws and reached over to her own bag to pull out an Echo orb. Clara gave a valiant effort to try and snatch it away, but was easily pushed back by a claw pushed against her. Damia held the orb up in the light, purposefully ignoring the cries from her partner.
"Hmm. So you managed to get a Legendary to hop onto the orb network? I've always said you were too nice, but maybe there are some benefits after all."
"D-Damia please! We can't just call him! What if he's busy, or-"
At that moment, the flap to the office flew open, and Van rushed in with wide eyes. The two girls couldn't get a word in before he slammed his hands on the desk.
"It's Lumi. We were tryna figure out the blessing thing, and somethin' happened, his eyes started glowing, and now the mon's knocked out cold!" He attempted to keep his voice down so as to not alert anyone outside, but the urgency still came through in his voice.
"Did you check his breathing? Is he injured in any way?" asked Damia, previous joking forgotten. Van nodded, then shrugged.
"As far as I can tell, he's just sleeping right now. But, I don't know if there's something else going on. For a split second he was looking like he'd seen some shit like an Espurr."
"Clara," Damia addressed the Spinda, who had a paw over her mouth in surprise. "Give us something to work with. You said something like this happened when you met with Dialga."
"Uh, yeah! He needed time to rest after the infusion. I wouldn't know all the details though..."
"We know who would," stated Damia. She held up the Echo orb. Clara sighed and held her paw out to grab it.
"I set him up to go on the network, so...Call Dialga," she spoke into the orb. Van's eyes bugged out and he made to question what was going on, but Damia silenced him with a claw. Clara bit her lip as a cheerful tune rang out from the orb, and her feet tapped on the ground.
"This is stupid..." she muttered to herself. "Why would he answer? We're a dimension apart. Maybe we should just-"
"You may speak." a deep dual-toned voice emanated from the orb. Everyone jolted at the sound, and Van had both hands on his head and mouthed to Damia 'what the hell?' to which she simply shook her head with a wide-eyed stare.
Clara's face went beet red, and it took her a second to find her voice before she responded.
"Uh, hey! Hi!" she winced at how high pitched her voice came out, and cleared her throat to try and make it lower. "G-good morning, uh, Dialga. It's me, Clara? From yesterday?"
"Clara? It is good to hear your voice. I was actually about to contact you."
"Wh-Huh?" she responded intelligently.
"However it seems the orb you gave me was actually your own, and so I did not have a way to contact you directly. It is fortunate you decided to call now."
"...Heh. Oops. Silly me..." she gave a weak laugh. "So, uh, something came up. I think Lumi tried to do something with his blessing, and it knocked him out? How worried should we be right now?"
"That is what I wanted to discuss. I felt a brief tug on the power of time, and recognized it as an attempt of dominion over it. It seems my kin was over-zealous in his attempt to master his birthright. Although my influence has been present since his inception, it will take his body and soul some time yet before he is fully acclimated to the full realization of my energy. Before that point, any attempt to practice melding with the time stream will be met with unprotected glimpses into all there ever was and will be, as well as severe exhaustion afterward."
"Okay. I understood half of that."
"He overexerted himself because his body isn't used to my power yet. The weight of time is heavy, and he has never used this new muscle before. Give him time to rest and rejuvenate himself, then tell him to refrain from using it until later."
"So...he's fine? Just tired?"
"Yes. There is no cause for alarm. I just wanted to convey that information to you so you are aware of how to care for him while he develops."
"Okay. Great. I'll let the others know. Knowing Lumi, he'll try again as soon as he wakes up, so we'll make sure to bolt him down or something."
"I appreciate your concern. My kin is curious, perhaps to a fault."
"You're tellin' me…" muttered Van under his breath. Clara stifled a giggle, but straightened up.
"Weeeell, thanks for picking up and clearing that up for us. I did want to…uh…" she cringed then, and began to beat a fist on her head, mouthing obscenities under her breath.
"Yes? Are you alright?"
"Um! Just want to ask how your…day is going?"
Van looked at her dumbfounded, and the smirk reappeared on Damia's face as she shook her head at Clara. The cringing Spinda could only mouth 'I'm sorry' in response.
"My…day?"
"…Yup." She replied, voice shrill. The line went quiet for a moment before they came back.
"My apologies. Are you referring to 'day' in the sense of the sun dawning on the earth? Or perhaps when one awakens from their slumber."
"I don't…I guess you don't have the sun where you are. Alright, when you woke up."
"I do not require slumber as mortals do. Although occasionally I engage in deep meditation to prepare for my tasks around the tower. I will say, one of my servants accidentally spilled hot coffee on my body as I began my routine rounds, which was unfortunate."
"Aw, I hope you didn't like, smite the servant or anything. And omigosh you like coffee? I love coffee, which brand?"
"It was only a little spill. And I prefer Emolgers"
"Ooh, that one's not bad, but I gotta tell you about this one I found a while ago that I can't get enough of. You see, my Partner, Damia, you'd like her, she likes to work out like super early in the morning, so I went out one day to find-"
To Van's surprise and Damia's bemusement, Clara began to speak animatedly over the orb with Dialga, who responded in their straightforward manner. The Spinda leaned up against the wall, a smile on her face as she chatted.
Van slumped over to Damia's desk and leaned one arm on it as he watched the scene in front of him. He turned his head up to look at her, and she met his gaze. For the first time in probably ever, the two shared a laugh, and shook their heads at a shared realization.
They were both paired with crazy.
"Alright, you said you made something important? Show me!" exclaimed Purl. Off to the side of the Crafting floor, Purl stood in front of a Zorua and the Audino, Bell. In her hands, she held a dark bracelet, and held it up for the Sylveon to see.
"So, I was thinking about easy ways we could disguise ourselves when outside so we wouldn't have to worry about being caught in public. I was drawing a blank, but then I took one look at Glint here trying to sneak seconds from the kitchen and it hit me."
She held up the band with some pride, and the Zorua preened next to her.
"Why not just use an illusion to disguise ourselves? I call it the Glamour Band."
"Ooh, yes~" Purl sat on his haunches and clapped loudly with his paws. "Great idea! Lemme guess, you put it on, and it makes you look like another type of Pokémon?"
"Erm, well close? Transcribing the Illusion ability would be almost impossible, that would mean trying to give each individual member a brand new pokemon to disguise themselves as, so we tried for something more subtle..."
Bell took the Glamour Band and put it on her wrist. Once it was on her arm, her form wavered, and the pink fur of her body glimmered and bled away. A wave of purple followed the pink as it retreated, and in a couple seconds a shiny Audino stood in front of Purl. He gasped and began to applaud, but paused as the surface of her form warbled and undulated between pink and purple, until it glimmered again and reverted back to pink. The Zorua whined with his ears flat against his head, and Bell palmed the bracelet with a disappointed huff.
"Dammit..."
"You went shiny! Is that supposed to happen?" asked Purl with an inquisitive tilt of his head.
"Yes, but even with Glint's help, we haven't been able to get it to stick for any useful amount of time. I was sure we had gotten the stitching right but.."
"It's still tricky manipulating that ability onto an accessory, that's typically how it goes. It seems you got the groundwork for the infused ability, we just need to tweak the pattern or material so it stays easier."
"Do you have any ideas? I really wanted to get this finished for us."
"Hmm..." He rubbed his chin for a second, bows furrowed. "I agree with the general idea, I just don't know if-"
At that moment, he felt a cool chill on his head, and a dark hand plucked the bracelet from the Audino's outstretched hand. He didn't need to look to know who lounged on top of him.
"Perhaps a bracelet isn't the best vessel for this kind of effect. Leave this project to me, you wouldn't want to trust Purl with something this delicate anyway," came Esther's voice, along with an airy chuckle.
Before anyone could say anything else, she hopped off his head and floated with some speed toward her workshop, the flap entrance whipping up in her wake. Purl stayed silent, but gave the apprentices under his watch a mostly forced smile.
"Um. Good work! We'll handle the rest of that item ourselves, this will be really useful."
The Zorua, Glint, shrugged and walked off, but Bell stood there and stared at where Esther flew off to. She crossed her arms.
"That was weird. Is she alright?"
"Weird? Whatever could you mean?" he tried. Bell raised an eyebrow at him.
"Weird as in, I didn't see you two anywhere near each other last night. Or this morning. And she didn't even look at you just now."
"Oh, you know how Esther is…"
"Yeah, and I know that normally it takes you guys two minutes to make up after you piss each other off. That looked like something else, what'd you do?"
Purl gasped theatrically at the insinuation and was about to respond, but the Galvantula, Garland, spoke up from the background.
"It's obvious. She's unsatisfied with the Partnership the way it is now," he stated plainly. Bell heard that and put a paw to her mouth, then looked to Purl with pity in her eyes. Purl rolled his eyes at the spider.
"Thank you for your unsolicited advice Garland!"
"No problem."
"That's rough, Purl. Maybe it's time to renegotiate your terms and goals?" offered Bell. Purl recoiled at the notion.
"No! Maybe? I don't know!" He sighed and brought him and the Audino to the side of the room, then dropped his voice to a hush.
"Look, I'm about to tell you something that might be surprising, but don't freak out! It's sort of on the down low."
He looked left and right, and then leaned in towards one of her ears.
"I may be trying to get Esther interested in me in…that way," he said in a conspiratorial whisper. Bell gave an exaggerated gasp.
"No!" She hissed back with faux surprise. The Sylveon nodded with grim certainty.
"But, I don't know where this new silent treatment is coming from. I've been wracking my brain for anything I could have done, but I just don't know what's wrong!"
"You want my advice? Walk in there, and apologize."
"For what though?"
"Doesn't matter. You might not even be in the wrong, but you gotta apologize anyway. She'll tell you what you did."
"But-" his face was grabbed in the Audino's hands, and his cheeks squished together as she held him right in front of her face. Her normally dead and lackadaisical eyes held an unusual intensity to them.
"Beg, grovel, offer candy, wear the lingerie, doesn't matter. Do what you gotta do to get her talking to you." She squinted her eyes at him. "The Branch, and the world, depends on it."
Purl fell silent as he digested what she said. He looked down in thought, but after he registered the wisdom in her words, he looked up with a determined look and nodded, pulling away from her grip.
"You're right. What kind of Partner would I be if I let this go on for longer than it already has? I'll get to the bottom of this, and our relationship will be all the stronger for it! Thank you Bell, you're a great listener. Just do me a favor and keep everything you heard a secret for me, 'kay?"
"Of course."
He nodded and jogged off towards Esther's workshop. Bell waited a few seconds after he disappeared behind the flap, then she turned to face the rest of the room and cupped her paws around her mouth.
"Alright, I need all the doubters to pay up! It's official, they're a thing. He told me himself."
A chorus of groans and cheers alike echoed throughout the room, and Bell had a devious grin on her face as she went around to collect her winnings.
Inside Esther's workshop, Purl stood a few meters away from the Banette, who had her back turned to him as she focused on the bracelet. He took one confident step, saw her turn her head at the noise, then all his bravado left him in an instant. With a loud whine, he threw himself forward and landed on his stomach, his paws clamped around one of her legs. She looked down, surprised at the whimpering Sylveon stuck to her leg.
"I-I'm soooooory!" He cried. Esther was so caught off guard that teleporting away barely crossed her mind.
"Sorry? For what?" She asked. Purl sniffled and thought for a split second, before committing.
"I'm sorry for laughing at you in front of your sister."
"I made all the pictures in her house tilt slightly to one side in revenge, so I'm not mad about that."
"Um, I'm sorry for making fun of how you got knocked out in one hit by the monster Duskmoir?" He tried. She pouted at the memory.
"That was my fault for not reacting in time. Embarrassing, but I know you were mostly joking."
"Then…I'm sorry for…dancing with you?" He said, more confused than apologetic. She averted her gaze.
"You don't need to be sorry for that."
"Then, what's wrong? I just want to know why you're upset with me." He got up from his prostrated position and sat on his haunches.
"What makes you think I'm-"
"Esther, please." He stated with a raised brow. She turned to face him and sat on a nearby cushion with crossed arms, not wholly meeting his eyes.
"Do I seriously need to spell it out for you?" she said with a huff.
"Spell what out?"
"You know what you did. You did it on purpose, because you knew it would get on my nerves," she asserted. Her voice started calm, but began to grow more accusatory, and she leaned forward off her cushion.
"Well, it worked. Are you happy? You can stop playing dumb now."
"I seriously don't know what you're talking about!" exclaimed Purl, his bafflement at the situation coming through in his voice. Esther scowled at him with frustrated eyes.
"I said stop playing games."
"You're not making sense!"
"Oh shut up, you're being immature." she floated fully off the cushion, and stalked towards him. He balked at that, and the confusion wiped off his face to be replaced with indignation.
"I'm immature!? You're the one playing the pronoun game and giving me the silent treatment! "
"Maybe I just don't want to talk to you. Did you think about that? Maybe I just want one day to myself instead of giving you all the attention!"
"If that's what the problem is then tell me that's the problem!"
"That's not the problem!"
"Then what the fu-"
"You're the problem, you...puffed up monchild!" she stepped right up to his face at the insult. His eyes hardened and he pressed forward until their heads were knocked together.
"Oh, big words coming from a broody sack cloth."
"Dainty diva!"
"Crusty doll!"
"Pink twink!"
"Argh! Dammit!" he groaned in frustration, then gripped her by her shoulders to yell in her face.
"Tell me why you're angry!"
"The kiss!"
Once the words left her mouth, there was a drastic change in their expressions. Purl's frustration reverted back to utter confusion, while Esther's mounting anger lost its edge, and she became unable to meet his gaze, as if uncertain about her own words.
"The what?"
"The...the...with the Thievul!" she pushed away from him, and her words were hurried and spoken as if rehearsed. "You did it! You planned all along to lure me in with the dance, and then to save me so I think you're my hero or something, only to reveal the whole ruse by kissing that ingrate in front of me. Because you were just making a big joke, weren't you?"
She pointed at him with a look he had never seen before on her. Her eyes had a pleading to them, and her smile became more strained than ever before. He sat down and shook his head, shoulders slumped helplessly.
"I don't...what? Draining Kiss is a move, not a...I've even done it before." he said. Esther winced and turned away. He rubbed his forehead with a feeler.
"Okay so, let me get this straight. You think that during a sensitive and dangerous mission, I actively planned to dance with you and then save you from a monster that suddenly came out of nowhere, all to lure you into some false sense of security before I defeat our enemy with a move that just so happens to take the form of a kiss. All as a sort of...joke?"
"Yes." she replied, with confidence that was betrayed by her body language.
"That's stupid," he stated, face deadpan. Esther heaved a sigh, and looked at the ground.
"...I know."
"You don't really believe that. Do you?"
Rather than reply, Esther floated back towards the cushion and sat with her back faced toward him, little legs curled to her body. Purl's confusion softened as he looked at her.
She had never looked as small as right then. With tentative steps, he walked up and laid himself down against her side. Unsure of what to say, he leaned part of his weight against her, and was relieved when she brushed minutely against his fur.
They stayed quiet for some time. Purl attempted to digest the bizarre interaction, and came to some idea of what was going on, but waited for Esther to say something. He resigned himself to light nuzzles on her head, which she accepted without complaint.
Eventually, she spoke again.
"...I didn't mean it when I called you a monchild. Or a diva," she mumbled. Purl snorted at the statement.
"But I am a twink?" he asked. She shrugged.
"You looked very nice in the lace."
"I can put it on for you, if you like." he leaned in and wiggled his eyebrows at her. She cut her eyes at him, but returned to staring at the floor.
"I'm not mad at you. I've just been...upset with myself."
"But why?" she groaned at his question, and flopped backwards on the pillow.
"Of course it was just a move. I know you were just fighting. But I still got so bothered when I saw it happen, that I could barely talk to you without thinking about it. Stupid..."
"Well, I can think of a few reasons why you'd feel like that." he responded, with a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. He shifted his position to lay down on his back right next to her, and the two stared up at the ceiling.
"I think we need to have a talk~" he sang, mostly to distract from the butterflies that started to well up in his chest. It was strange. He knew this moment was coming sooner or later, but now that it was happening, he couldn't help how hard his heart thumped in his chest. He felt Esther shuffle beside him.
"Do we?" she responded.
"I think so. I'm pretty sure we both want something else out of this partnership. More than just to make the world beautiful." He turned his head and was unsurprised to meet her gaze.
"I think we could be beautiful too."
"I accused you of doing something out of a fantasy I created in my head because I was jealous. I don't think I'm cut out for being beautiful," she said, and curled in on herself. "That's your job."
"I forgive you! And if that wasn't one of the most self deprecating things I've ever heard you say, I would thank you for the compliment."
He turned his body on its side to fully face her, and wrapped an arm around her to pull her closer. She grimaced, but it slid away at the earnest smile on his face.
"Look. This is something that I want. With you. Do you want it too?"
She looked at him and, slowly, nodded her head once.
"But, I don't know how to be all..romantic and sappy like you."
"That's fine, things don't have to change too much. Honestly, I like you how you are. It would be weird if you woke me up with flowers and chocolates every morning."
"What if I started calling you pet names, like my little Sweeteon?" she chuckled at the lame pun, expecting him to groan.
She did not expect the warm pair of lips to peck her on the cheek.
A very un-Esther-like squeak escaped her mouth, and she teleported to sit on the desk, a hand on her blushing cheek. From where he laid, Purl grinned.
"I wouldn't be averse to it. Oh! Idea~" he righted himself onto all fours and sauntered over to her. He stopped and stared down at the Glamour Band with an eager smile.
"Let's work together to get this glamour going, that way we can head out and go somewhere nice for our first official date. What do you think?" He asked. He slid the bracelet over to her, and she looked at him before turning her attention to the bracelet.
She sighed, and put her claw over his paw.
"Wherever we go, you're paying," she replied.
Nobody in Tailor saw them come out of that workshop for the rest of the day.
With a grunt, Brook dug his spade into the ground, enough to wedge it between the ground and the roots of the bush. He used the blade of the tool to cut the roots and separate them from the dirt, not too short to harm the plant, and set the spade aside to grasp it by the leaves and hoist it up. He puffed out a breath as he carried it over to a bin that almost overflowed with similar bushes, seeds of various kinds grown in their leaves, and set his current bush on top.
With an arm, he wiped the sweat that began to coat his forehead, and looked back at the plot of land he and a few other apprentices had spent the past few hours clearing in the Growth floor.
What had once been a dense patch of lush greenery and small trees had become a sizable patch of land, pockmarked by holes and divots where he had uprooted the plants. Bins around the perimeter were full of plants that needed to be relocated, and he spotted a Furret who put the last stray growths in a bin. Now that space was clear, it was time to refill the holes and begin seeding.
He bent over to pick up one of the sacks of fertile dirt stacked off to the side, but he heard the labored breaths of his apprentices. Several of them leaned against trees, hungry for shade under the warm light of Luminous orbs above. A Staravia and Trumbeak were too tired to flap their wings to fly up to the branches, and so slumped together as a tired pile of feathers against the side of a Bayleaf. Everyone had stains of dirt and other greenery stuck to their bodies.
He cupped his hands around his mouth and called out.
"A-alright everyone! Thank you for your help! We've cleared out most of the east side, so we can start seeding Orans here later. I'll have a group replant these in the center once I decide which ones we should continue growing, but for now everyone can go wash up and h-head out to lunch."
A wave of relieved breaths rang out around the area, and one by one his apprentices walked off to go enjoy a meal.
He didn't follow.
Alone amongst the trees and upturned earth, the Wartortle went right back to work and picked up a heavy sack of dirt to lug over to a hole, and cut open an opening for the dirt to spill out. He set himself to levelling out the land for the seeds.
Brook stayed mindful of the dirt that caked his arms and shell. He enjoyed the burning tingle in his arms, and how the simple work of caring for plants and the earth bore fruit. Sometimes he wondered if he wasn't secretly part Grass type, but he supposed it was in his nature to nurture plants anyway.
They put him at ease, much more than Pokemon.
The language of plants was much simpler than that of Pokemon, and twice as rewarding. He could tell when he did right by a plant, but with Pokemon, it could be akin to walking on eggshells. A plant did not speak, nor did it judge. A flower never got curious or asked questions he wasn't prepared for. Bushes were gracious enough to listen first before offering their opinion. He had never been accused by a tree, or accosted and verbally twisted in roots of confusion and accusations and others trying to take advantage of him and tell him who he was when he didn't know; he was just trying to do what he was good at and he knew it was wrong but he was sorry so sorry and he promised to change and he was trying but what if-
A clump of grass ripped from the earth in his iron tight grip. He stared blankly at his shaking claws, and sucked in a heavy, shaky breath.
A measure of self loathing welled up in his chest, but he tried to quash it with the knowledge that what he was doing was surely, definitely good. The future demanded preparation, which was difficult given their lack of knowledge of the situation, but he knew he had some time before villages and towns would be affected by the spread of Dungeons.
Amassing medical supplies to distribute to the Rescue Guild, such as Oran and Heal berries, Elixirs, and Reviver seeds was all they could do at this stage. The sooner they began cultivation, the more they could give away, and he didn't want to wait.
Pokemon needed this, so he would do it. Because it was good. Definitely good.
"...Do no harm..." he muttered to himself as he smoothed over another hole with dirt. He repeated the mantra as he kneeled over and worked.
Some time later, a rustling of leaves behind him interrupted his focus, and he turned to see Willow emerge from the brush and slither towards him. Her scales were also muddied with dirt, but as usual, her face betrayed no hint of exertion beyond a neutral frown.
"As you requested, I've gotten the west field cleared out," she started. "I see you were successful here, and also sent the others out to lunch."
"That's...good," he huffed, breath strained as he lugged another sack of dirt, "They were working hard, so I had them t-take a break."
"And you aren't?"
"Th-there's a lot to do...don't want to spend time eating in the Mess Hall..."
"Predictable. Thankfully, I secured provisions in anticipation of this." She pushed forward and reached out with her vines. Brook felt them wrap around his body, but only struggled half heartedly as he was lifted into the air and brought underneath the shade of a nearby tree. The Serperior coiled her body at its base, and Brook was deposited against her stomach.
Well aware that any attempts to escape were futile, he leaned back against her body and groaned.
"Willow! The seeds need to be...planted," he rasped, breath still heavy. His stomach chose that moment to growl in hunger, and a second later an apple slice was shoved into his mouth. He chewed with a glare sent Willow's way, but she paid it no mind, setting out a small box lunch of fruits and crackers in front of them.
Once the food was out, she bowed her head down to be level with his own. She looked at him for a second, before nudging her head forward and booping his forehead with her snoot.
"Proper nutrition is recommended before any strenuous activity, as well as seven to eight hours of sleep. You have neglected both of these things," she responded, using a pair of vines to spread some cream cheese on a cracker.
"L-look who's talking! I have to tear you away from your workshop three times a week just to remind you t-to eat."
"And I am applying what you have taught me. What a terrible teacher you are, to not practice what you teach."
"And what a h-horrible student, to never practice at all," he snarked. He glanced to the side and noted the slight upward turn of her mouth, as well as the almost imperceptible squint of her large ruby eyes. It was difficult to tell when she was being serious, but a part of him took pride in being one of the few Pokemon on this earth who knew what signs to look for.
"I approve of this banter, it will help alleviate your clear agitation," she stated. The pride was swiftly replaced with shame, as by comparison, finding out what he thought was not hard at all. Rather than respond, he just took another bite of an apple and rested his head on her body, knowing that denying it was pointless.
"What is on your mind?" she asked. He shrugged his shoulders.
"What isn't? There's a lot we need to p-prepare for, and we only have so much time. Pokemon will need a safety net when things get worse, and I've just been thinking of ways we can be there to h-help." He leaned forward and let out a loud sigh. "Well, that's not even going into how one of our n-number is apparently a Legendary. Or something..."
"Ah, yes. As agreed, I am allowing him one day to prepare before I avail myself of the boundless scientific discovery he offers." She looked off to the side with a glint in her eye that made him retreat partway into his shell on instinct.
"He's a walking marvel..." she mused.
"Whatever you're thinking about, no! Y-you can't do it!" he exclaimed, pointing a claw at her.
She opened her mouth.
"No! Not that either!"
She closed her mouth, tilted her head in thought for a minute, then began to resp-
"Nope! Definitely not that," he asserted, and crossed his arms in certainty. She rolled her eyes and huffed.
"I was only considering light exercises to determine any noticeable changes in his physiology. I am capable of restraint, you know."
"And after the light exercise?"
"We increase the difficulty, perhaps introduce Blast Seeds into the regimen to-"
"No."
"...I will go back to the drawing board, then," she remarked. He chuckled at her pouty expression, but before long it returned to a thoughtful frown. A few moments passed before he spoke up again with a hesitant tilt in his voice.
"H-how are you f-feeling? About the...um..." It took him a few minutes to find the words, but he started again, more confident this time.
"During the i-interrogation, they brought up my file, and if they did it for me, they p-probably also did it for you. If that bothered you at all, you can let me know."
"It did not," she responded. Brook looked at her empathetically.
"Are you sure? I know we haven't been able to make a lot of p-progress on your memories. I-I'm sorry about that, we can-"
"We have discussed this. My past is of no consequence to me."
"...How can you say that? Wouldn't knowing who you were make you f-feel better?" he asked. She looked at him in confusion, as if the question he asked was fundamentally strange.
"Why would you think that?"
"W-well, your past is part of who you are, right? Y-you can't just ignore it, you'd be g-giving up something really...um...important," he managed, brows furrowed as he attempted to explain. Willow averted her gaze and looked at the ground in silence, a frown on her face as her mind processed her answer. Brook waited patiently, but he felt a tendril curl around his shell and drag him closer to her head. He didn't fight it, and allowed himself to be brought next to her.
Her red eyes returned to his, and he felt rooted in place by their intensity.
"I cannot validate if your words are true, but I can say that I believe my past can stay where it is. I am thankful for it, inasmuch as it led me to be found by you that day. I love the life I have now, just as much as I love the world that Arceus has given us, and all of its wonderful curiosities. I am fulfilled, because I have the freedom to learn and explore this world as much as I like. Well, perhaps not as free as before, but the point stands."
She went quiet, and then her mouth tilted upward in one of her soft smiles.
"Your line of questioning on this subject is similar to Basil's. Although, I sense there is something else that motivates his curiosity about my memories. I can only hope to reassure him as much as I can you in regards to both of your insecurities."
"M-my...insecurities?" He asked, already knowing what she meant. Her words made something in his chest ache, and he found it difficult to keep eye contact once she nodded.
"You keep insinuating that your behavior today is because you wish to prepare, but there is something else, isn't there? You are trying to convince yourself of something."
"...W-well..."
"I find this behavior odd, given your natural proclivity towards ethical and moral decisions. Leave the past behind. You have a beautiful mind, and it is only through unfortunate circumstances that it was used the way it was. Your choices moving forward determine who you are, not the ones you made before."
"But I still made them!" he argued, lips trembling as his heart began to pound in his chest. He abruptly stood up and began to pace in front of her, and her head followed his movements with an impartial stare.
"Th-that was still me! I w-was selfish, and stupid and I didn't care who got hurt as long as I got r-recognized for...how smart I was! Good P-pokemon don't think like that!"
"A valid point."
"I can't just leave it behind, Willow." He kept going, not really registering her words. "I'm not...when I was going through the hunter center to look for you, a part of me was s-satisfied at how well my powder bombs were working. Them f-falling over was just part of the process. I don't want to think like that again. To just...be okay with hurting people."
"Nobody was injured."
"That's not-"
"Furthermore, your logic is faulty. If you were okay with hurting others, you would not be agonizing over it right now. To be frank, you were downright gentle with Pokemon who had every intention to harm you," she said. He crossed his arms at her words and sighed.
"I get that, but even still...I d-don't want to slip back into old thinking."
"You will not. That is a highly unlikely outcome."
"...Thanks," he muttered, and came to sit back against her to pick at his food. He could feel her eyes on the side of his head, however.
"You still seem agitated. I have an idea."
"Hmm?"
"Let's get drunk."
"Say w-what?"
He didn't even get the chance to look at her before being yanked onto her back. With deft movements, Willow's tendrils repackaged the food and dropped it in her bag, and then she sped off into the green towards his workshop. He hung onto her neck as leaves and vines blurred by.
"W-willow, you're not serious," he rasped. "It's only noon!"
"Have you made any progress on that Occa brandy? You mentioned it a while ago."
"It's still distill-that's not the point! We have work to do later!"
"I agree. That's why we will do it. Later."
"This is irresponsible..."
"And yet you haven't told me to stop."
He groaned and banged his head against the back of her neck.
"...Just a little. To take the edge off..." he muttered.
"Of course."
In no time, they arrived in front of Brook's greenroom entrance, and he hopped off onto the soft grass in front of the flap. He walked inside, and after a brief once over to check the status of the planters, walked over to a plain green rug towards the back of the room.
He heard Willow slither behind him as he pulled it to the side, to reveal a wooden floor hatch with a metal handle, and a lock for a key under it. He reached over to a desk next to the hatch, and after pushing aside some books and other instruments, found the secret compartment where he kept the key.
He unlocked the door and was about to pull the handle to open it, but a dull thumping from below caught his attention. Right as he started to open the door to see what was happening, it flew open on its own and he hopped hack with a yelp. He heard a similar exclamation from the hatch, and looked down.
Basil's small face looked up at him, with wide eyes.
"Uh. Hi?"
"Basil! What are you d-doing down there? You know that's off limits!"
"It wasn't my idea," he defended. "They asked me to open the door for them."
"Who did?" asked Willow, as Brook was still stunned.
"Oh Basil dear, have you come back with the microphone? I'm feeling a song coming on," slurred an otherwise cultured voice, giggling at the end. Brook blanched and gently pushed Basil aside to peer down a tight wooden stairway.
At the bottom, Pandora leaned against a doorway, a dopey smile on her face and a wine glass held in a paw. She noticed him gawk at her, and waved up at him with the other.
"Helloooo Brook! Mon of the hour, have you come to join the festivities?"
The Wartortle could not find words to offer a reply, and looked back at Willow for some explanation. Not only did she shrug, even her face held a small tint of confusion.
"I did not anticipate this," she mumbled.
"Come down, come down!" encouraged Pandora. Shaking his head in exasperation, Brook descended the stairs to meet her, the others close behind. Pandora tittered and put a paw behind his back, and ushered him into his own private bar.
Not so private, given the multitude of guild apprentices who cheered as he walked in. They sat at round tables spread around a small wooden floor, with pillows along the side of the room for lounging. Large barrels full of spirits and other drinks were stacked along the walls, and at the center stood a bar with more scientific equipment at the back that he used to extract the concentrated juices of aether infused berries.
That was the original intention, anyway. The bar thing just kind of happened.
The room exploded with animated chatter from the many voices that bounced around. Brook couldn't even bring himself to be upset that these were the same apprentices he had dismissed not long ago to go get lunch. It seemed he'd need to do a better job of keeping this place secure. Pandora walked with him to the bar itself, laughing and waving to the other Pokemon present.
"You wouldn't mind playing bartender would you? Nobody can mix them quite like you," she said. Brook shook his head as he stepped behind the bar and leaned against the counter. Pandora hopped on a seat and mirrored his position.
"Aren't you supposed to be doing the...you know...i-interrogation?" he questioned, already polishing a glass. She groaned loudly in response and slumped forward, both arms on the counter, with an expression on her face like that of a pouty child.
"Oh, that. It was going so well at first until Vert grounded me. I swear...you hear one too many screams and suddenly," she puffed up her chest and put on an exaggeratedly deep, monotone voice, "Oh, Pandora, it's not right to traumatize our victims and make them beg for forgiveness, even though they totally deserve it!"
She stopped the terrible Vert impression with a huff, and threw her arms in the air.
"I didn't even touch the girl! All I did was make some light threats!"
"...What kind of threats?" asked Brook with clear hesitation. He absentmindedly poured a glass of apple juice and slid it over to Basil, who sat a few seats off to the side with Willow.
"Oh, you know, the standard ones. Like, 'I will engrave my name on your back with your own claws if you don't explain everything,' or 'Would you like to help me break my record for most bones broken in under thirty seconds?" she answered. Brook gave her a concerned look as she tapped her paw on the table.
"It's forty-seven, by the way. Been trying to break that for a few years now."
"O-okay..." His mind scrambled for any other topic. "Uh, so, do we have a plan, or anything? After we interrogate the Weavile, I mean," he tried. Pandora waved her hand nonchalantly.
"We're working on it, but don't worry. It's all about information gathering right now. Although, I do have you to thank for the seeds you've planted, it's given us another avenue to consider."
"Huh?"
"Rebuilding our bridges with the other guilds will be paramount to finding a way to fight back against the current threat. Right now we have nobody, but if we can convince Beheeyem that we're allies, then the other guilds, especially Haxorus, will have to call off the monhunt. And I heard from those under you that you've already started a plan to provide them with medical supplies," she explained. A sly grin grew on her flushed face.
"And to think your orders from last night were to take the next couple days easy."
"O-oh, um. Sorry..." he said, averting his gaze. A paw on his shoulder brought his head back up to Pandora's encouraging smile.
"Don't be. You're doing marvelous, just be sure to pace yourself. I'm very proud of you."
"R-really? For what?" he asked, doubtful. She nodded with a light giggle.
"You have a kind heart. I'm glad I've gotten to see it grow over the years," she responded.
"Oh. Thanks..." he replied. He still wore an unsure frown, but his chest didn't feel as heavy as before. He set the glass he'd been polishing down in front of her. "So, what can I g-get you?"
"Do you have any scotch?"
"It is noon," he emphasized. At her blank stare, he sighed. "...on the rocks?"
"If you'd be so kind."
Writing relationships is fun. The goal of this was to make you feel all nice and warm inside. I hope it worked.