"Alysa is committing to her Tera!"
The announcer called out, as the girl in question raised her Tera Orb. Somewhat flinching at the gathered energy, she tossed it above the head of her...Clefairy. The light burst, encasing the little fairy, before breaking away to reveal-
"Clefairy's Tera Type is Grass! What a choice!"
She could hear various people in the stands react. On the other side of the court, her opponent reacted with shock. It only caused a little smile of confidence to spread on her face, as she looked at what her opponent had that was now shut down by this Tera choice. His Amoongus.
"With Clefairy being Grass-type and having Follow Me, the Spore moves from Alex's Amoongus are now useless!"
And she took full advantage of that. Lulu protected Sally from any further Spores, allowing the Salamence to attack and safely KO her opponents Tera'ed Swampert. Alex tried to have his Amoongus KO Lulu with Sludge Bomb, which didn't work, but if it had - the entire point was to protect her team's offensive pressure on the field. Sally KO'ed Amoongus next, resulting in she being the victor of the battle and of the entire tournament for the second time in a row.
She thanked her pokemon for their hard work and recalled them, as people in the bleachers applauded her. Genuinely feeling good in the moment, Alysa accepted her rewards as the audience began to disperse.
"That Tera on Clefairy caught me off guard." Alex commented to her as he stepped closer. To her relief, he didn't seem upset over losing. If anything, he looked impressed.
"Yeah. Tera Grass is a decent alternative to Safety Goggles, especially in my Clefairy's case." Alysa stated, bashfully rubbing her arm. "So, I guess you know to watch out for it in the future, hm...?"
"For sure. Thanks for teaching me that."
Alex's smile caused her to feel warm, as did his polite wave as he walked away.
"Great job on another win Alysa!" Some more students from the League Club, judging on their uniforms, approached her.
"Your Salamence and Clefairy work together so well!"
"Yeah," another chimed in with a grin. "They're an iconic duo at this point. Like...peanut butter and jelly!"
She giggled. It seems like her team truly was establishing a name for themselves. "Thanks."
They walked away, and for the first time, Alysa felt as if she wasn't an outsider to this pokemon battling deal. She did her homework, she studied strategies and trained her team based on their individual strengths plus their weaknesses, but there was a part of her that had always felt as if she didn't actually know what she was doing. This day was solid proof that she in fact did, and the girl frankly needed that.
"Alysa!" A familiar high-pitched voice called out. Lacey skipped up to her, and the happy look on her face was infectious. She was followed by the other Elite Four members, and Alysa once again felt her pulse immediately quicken as she met the golden gaze and impish smile of the tallest in the group.
He's been on her mind on and off, more so on, ever since their picnic outing. It was so nice to talk more with him, learn a little bit more about him. He reacting so positively to her team, and to the backstories she has with them all, meant more to her than she could've predicted.
"Another big victory for you! Forget climbing, you've been shooting up the ladder!"
"Indeed. As Alex was Rank 9, and you defeated the Rank 8 trainer in the tournament as well, I believe you may have attained Rank 7." Amarys's words were concise and smoothly articulated, as per usual. Additionally, either Alysa was hallucinating, or was Amarys...actually smiling? It honestly made her a little happier.
"So close to the top! Just think if you hit Rank 6, you'll be primed and ready to challenge US!" It was clear for all to see that Crispin was amped, amber eyes glowing with the intensity of smoldering coals. He saying that did made her realize that yes, she was approaching the top of the ladder. Where they, the elites, all stood.
Kieran was at the absolute peak just above them. She recalled the conversion she had with Drayton what felt like ages ago at this point, and automatically looked towards the Dragon Tamer. He had not taken his eyes off of her, tilting his head and expression taking on curiosity. He was likely wondering on what was going on in her head.
"Yeah...I guess so, huh?" She responded to Crispin, averting her gaze. She originally thought attempting to reach the top to battle Kieran would be a worthwhile goal to strive for, and while she hadn't changed her mind per se, she was being reminded of everything she'd have to accomplish prior to getting that opportunity.
Challenging and defeating her friends. They all were fantastic trainers in their own rights, with powerful pokemon in their teams. Losing to them would...sting. Massively. Alysa didn't believe any of them would rub losses in her face at least, but her own mind and the insecurities it harbored was a different story.
Especially if she lost to Drayton, who was apparently the strongest among the elites with the highest win rate. She remembered the conversation they had at their picnic. Despite his encouraging words, it was hard for her to truly feel confident about a victory against him. And still, the idea of facing him on opposite sides of the battle court was...nauseating...
"That'll come in time though. We need to check the rankings and see where exactly you stand." Lacey hummed. "You SHOULD be at Rank 7 though."
"So, how much BP did you get this time?" Crispin questioned Alysa, pulling her from her thoughts.
"Uh...one thousand."
"Nice! That reminds me..." Crispin laid his frying pan against his shoulder. "I've been running kinda low..."
"How? You get paid tons like the rest of us." Drayton spoke up, sounding quite amused.
"Ingredients are expensive man! It takes my entire elite paycheck to stock up my fridge." Crispin sighed. The other boy laughed.
"How big is your fridge?" Alysa asked, feeling genuinely curious. The fridges in the dorms were tiny, at least hers was.
"I had a full size one installed a long time ago! Since I love cooking, I love having a lot of ingredients to work with." The red head grinned. "I keep my cabinets stocked too."
This made Alysa realize that she's never actually been to any of their dorms. Which wasn't weird, it just never came up naturally, but now she was highly curious...
"I use like...a lot of my stocks every week. It's cool we get paid BP every week for just being in the Elite Four, but it's not enough for what I need. BBQs are a life saver there."
"Speaking of BBQs-"
A voice cut in. Carmine walked up towards them all, naturally shooting a scowl at Drayton, which in response he just fluttered his eyelashes.
"I've been running low on BP too. Do you guys want to have a group BBQ session?"
"Oh! That sounds like a good idea." Lacey pressed her hands together. "I'm currently not in need of more BP, but gaining more never hurts."
"My schedule is open for the next two hours, so I am open to partaking." Amarys nodded.
"How about you, Alysa?"
Pointedly ignoring Drayton, Carmine's eyes landed on her and she stood straighter. She didn't have to take long to think about it.
"Ah- sure! I don't have anything else planned today." Heat played at her face. "And...I don't think I've ever done BBQs with other people before. Could be fun."
"Really? Well, now's the perfect time." Carmine nodded. "Let's head to the Terarium."
The others agreed, but Alysa's pulse quickened yet again when Drayton promptly slid by Carmine to stand right by her side. The taller girl squinted.
"What're you doing, bozo?"
"I'm joining you all, of course." He says, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Nostrils flaring, Carmine clenched her fists.
"Why? So you can laze around and benefit from our work?"
"You know it!"
Alysa swore she could see a vein pop out against the skin on Carmine's forehead. Sensing an immediate argument, Lacey stepped forward and put her hands on her hips.
"Ok ok, let's settle down! Drayton-" She turned towards him. "If you're going to be joining us, then you're doing some of the quests! No slacking."
"Ugh. Fiiiiiine." He whined in an exaggerated way, and Alysa couldn't help but laugh. Her body temperature climbed when he looked at her out of the corner of his eye with a wide smirk.
"We can decide on what to do once we get to the Terarium."
Mostly everyone fell in line with one another as they started walking back into the school, though Alysa deliberately fell behind. Not to her surprise, Drayton stuck close by, content to match her slower pace. She couldn't shake these rather strong feelings of shyness he was making her feel, and she knew that the weirdness in their dynamic was to blame. Either Drayton was oblivious or intentionally muddying the waters, but she being unable to tell just what he truly felt about her was still a hurdle she couldn't get past.
Maybe this little outing would at least give her decipherable signs.
"You've never done BBQs with other students, you said?" He spoke to her.
"No. It's never occurred to me."
"It can be annoying, having to work with other people n' whatnot, but it's worth it. Groups of two people or more can get sent quests that pay a lot of BP – more than you can get from any quest solo."
"I see. Sounds like the school's way of incentivizing people to make connections..."
"Yeah. For better or worse."
As we walked, Drayton briefly gazed at me with such obvious warmth, lighting up golden hues, my heart skipped a beat.
"Normally I don't bother and just do solo quests, but since you're joining in this, I had to as well."
She swallowed, attempting to get rid the dryness in her throat. "Do you...like being around me, that much?"
"Yep."
Was his casual answer, and it brought back all of her confusion and doubts up to the surface. A distraction came in the form of Carmine glancing back with a look of utter disgust, but it ended up being one Alysa could've gone without.
"Must you two flirt in public like this? It's gross!"
"Gross? That's a strong word." Drayton countered, lips pulling back to show more of his teeth as his smirk grew. Alysa almost stopped in her tracks.
"Are you some kind of 'love Grinch' Carmine? That actually would make sense."
"No! I'm just a Grinch of you!"
Giving him one last glare, she faced forward. Next to her, Lacey shook her head. Alysa paid them no mind, instead mentally reeling over what she had just noticed about the Dragon Tamer in that split second. His teeth...either the light in the halls cast the illusion at the angle she saw them, or Drayton had some sharp canines.
Legit sharp, not just pointed like the average human's. She tried to think back to all the other times she saw his teeth, but all of them were fleeing moments where she wasn't paying much attention. Not to mention that normally Drayton didn't show teeth in his smiles, keeping them simple either out of his lax nature or to amp up their mocking vibes.
She'd have to get a closer look of them somehow...
Drayton, sensing her focus on him, craned his head to her.
"What?"
It was then and there that terror flared at what crossed her mind.
Why did she care about that? What was wrong with her?
"N-Nothing." She murmured, forcing her eyes to the ground quickly. All her behavior did was cause him to quirk a brow, before a knowing look leveled out his lips into a line.
"Hold on, I just realized..."
Lacey stopped the group just as they entered the Coastal Biome from its Terarium entrance.
"We should add Alysa to the group chat! So she has an easier time communicating with us."
"I can send her an invite. I have her number already." Drayton immediately interjected, pulling out his black-cased Rotom phone. Alysa did her best to not meet Carmine's pointed stare, and thankfully the girl made no verbal comment. After what she was thinking about earlier, she didn't have much resilience for the taller girl's animosity at the moment.
Feeling a vibration from her pocket, she pulled her phone out to see the notification that she had been invited to join a text conversation with five other users from Drayton's number. Accepting it, she was whisked to a chat room displaying various messages. At that same instant she heard a chime from Drayton's phone, alongside more coming from the others. They all pulled their phones out.
"Wonderful! Now, we should pick which quests we'll each be tackling..."
Now that they all were in the Terarium, the feed the academy sent to their phones came live, but was directed into the chat room. A long list displaying various tasks appeared. As everyone begins reading off their choices, Alysa chose to briefly scroll through the recent text logs out of curiosity. As she expected, there were messages of the elites all conversing with one another.
Crispin posted pictures of what she assumed were dishes he made, and there were a few...memes from Drayton. Followed by Carmine telling him in all caps that he's not funny. She suppressed a laugh.
Something else that caught her attention where the listed members of the room. The elites and Carmine were normal, but there was also Kieran. However, even scrolling back to last month, there wasn't a single message from him. Did he ignore the room entirely?
Re-focusing on the matter at hand, Alysa picked two more quests that just rolled in.
"I can take photos of a pokemon swimming, and in the Canyon Biome."
"Sounds good. Alright then, let's all move out! We can get a lot accomplished before it gets too late."
Lacey shooed everyone away. Just as she was reaching for her Salamence's pokeball, Alysa caught Drayton giving her a half-lidded smile. It looked so...devious almost, especially when he paired a playful wink with it. It was more enough to have her experience a sharp pang of anticipation. Face burning, she promptly sent out her largest dragon to fly her to the Canyon Biome.
Being at a great distance from the boy now for sure dominating her thoughts gave her some respite. Drayton had to be forming some kind of plan involving her, and there was no telling what it could be.
To hopefully calm her racing heart, Alysa got to work on her tasks. It was always best to do two photo requests at once for the sake of time, and there was plenty of fresh water sources in the Canyon Biome to host some pokemon that would be naturally in it. Sally carried her to the lake, where she instantly spotted a Chinchou idly drifting close to the water's surface.
It only looked up at her in curiosity as she approached to snap a photo of it. Two notifications went off of the two quests being completed, and Alysa could see her BP account update in real time. Others had already completed and had just completed more quests, bumping the number up higher. She already saw the appeal of doing BBQs with others, you could get so many more quests done faster than just on your own.
The Chinchou floated closer to the surface just to stare at her, and its genuinely precious face had her smiling. Just then, Alysa remembered something important...if she were to pursue the champion title, she would have to eventually catch and train up at least two pokemon from the Terarium. It was mandatory, to go through and complete a certain someone's Elite Trial.
It would surely be the greatest challenge for her, but not specifically the trial itself; just that prep work. With the kind of trainer she was, just catching pokemon and using them wasn't her style. None of her current and only team members were acquired in such a way. She would much rather befriend the pokemon before catching them, but that was the second step of the issue. The first step is to figure out what pokemon she even wants to add to her team. They'd have to form synergy as a pair themselves, bare minimum...
Waving bye to the Chinchou, Alysa stood and walked away to her waiting Salamence as more quests rolled in on the feed. One of which was to catch a Bug-type pokemon, and she posted in the room that she'd handle that one. Ideas went to the Savanna Biome, and the Venonat or Venomoth commonly seen there. As per usual, with these sort of quests she would battle and catch the pokemon but would release them right afterwards, since no quest required them to keep any forced catches.
Flying to the nearby biome on Sally's back, Alysa sees two Venomoth fluttering about near a small area of trees and bushes in no time. One gets startled by her Salamence's descent and flies away, the other stays in place and stares. She couldn't help but feel bad about this, some of the BBQs required to basically attack wild pokemon just for the sake of it. So many of them were only minding their own business, and here she comes to ruin their day...
Or maybe, she was thinking too deep about it. Overstepping her own boundaries, Alysa gave a simple command for Sally to engage the Venomoth in battle. The fluttering of its wings intensified, and a hostile warble came from it as it correctly identified Sally's threatening stance. Her pokemon were overall stronger than the wild ones in the Terarium of course, so the Bug/Poison-type was subdued in the next minute from just two attacks from her dragon.
An empty pokeball was tossed, and the Venomoth was captured. She held the capsule up to her phone, so its scanner could register the pokemon and trigger the quest as being complete. Once it did, she held down the deactivation button on the pokeball as she sent the Venomoth back out. It took to the skies right away as a result of it being properly released and free of the capsule's active hold.
Just then, she heard rustling in the bushes. Squinting, Alysa spotted what was no doubt a Fennekin peering out past the leaves and intently staring at her. One noteworthy detail about its appearance was how its left ear had a large nick in it, surely an old injury that had healed. But that didn't hold her interest for long, instead she found herself smiling.
She had always loved the Fennekin line. When she was much younger, she had even dreamed of meeting Professor Sycamore back home so she could get one. Alas, that never came to be, but her fondness for the line still remained. How lucky, that the Terarium hosted many starter pokemon from different regions as part of the native wildlife...
The Fennekin pulled itself back into the safety of the bushes, disappearing from sight. Maybe she could try to befriend one of the little foxes, fulfill that childhood dream. Alysa's daydreaming was halted by the sudden rush of new BBQs coming in, and all of them being a higher grade of difficulty – yet they bestowed higher amounts of BP to compensate. A lot of them involved battling unsurprisingly, and Alysa chose one that required the defeat of thirty wild pokemon in quick succession. Luckily, just combatting and making them flee counted as defeating them; she didn't have to go around to KO and leave unconscious wild pokemon all over the place.
In the distance was a herd of Rhyhorn with a few Rhydon. Recalling Sally due to the unfavorable type matchup, Alysa sent out Rei in her place. Informing on what she and the others were currently doing, he understood and flew forward to pick a fight with the herd. The timid Hydreigon was very strong of course, and many of the wild pokemon ran away just after taking one attack or even just by a half-hearted roar from the dragon. The herd didn't have very many individuals though, so Alysa had to turn her sights elsewhere.
There weren't any large groups anywhere nearby, so she requested Rei to carry her to the Costal Biome not too far away. It would be a short trip, which was all Rei could manage while toting her. His lower physical strength overall is what made Sally her default choice as a transporter. The only other flier at all was Tari, and her dear boy was much too small to comfortably carry her through the skies.
Arriving back in the Coastal Biome, there was a huge flock of Pa'u Style Oricorio loitering near dozens of flower patches. They were spooked by Rei swooping in, and Alysa finally had the quest completed in the next minute. She took a breather to observe the others in the group fulfilling more quests. The last message that came in was of Crispin saying that he'd naturally handle making a sandwich for one, when Rei reacted to something behind her with a head tilt.
Seconds later, Alysa was startled by arms enveloping her midsection, and an extremely familiar voice crooning in her ear.
"Hellooo~. You've been doing great." She could hear Drayton's smile, and pulse yet again skyrocketed. Rei just watched with a particular sparkle in his eyes, letting her understand that he was feeling a little amused. Of course. He must've saw Drayton coming up from behind her and thusly didn't react negatively, like she knew he would've if it was...anyone else.
"Uh, thanks...?" He had pulled her so her back rested against his chest, and she could feel him shift to rest his chin on her head. She was so caught off guard, that she about went limp.
Drayton was hugging her. From behind.
"The BP's been rolling in. I know I won't have to worry about buying more snacks for a good while." He chuckled, the vibration passing through her from her head. As a type of physical reaction, one of her arms moved so she could hold onto one of his arms, reduced to staring out blankly as her brain struggled to cope with what was happening right now.
Both of their phones chimed from a new BBQ activating, but this one was a gold-colored team specific quest.
'Find [3-5] Ditto Blocks in the Polar Biome!'
"Oof. This'll probably be a doozy for the others." Drayton whistled, and Alysa could feel herself recoiling. She's never done a team quest like this, but she knew about what the Ditto blocks were, and having to travel about in the freezing cold to search for them sounded like a miserable time. Who even conceptualized this quest?
She wasn't the only one displeased. Crispin texted a distraught emoji and a message on he having forgotten to bring a better jacket than just his chef's coat. Thankfully for him, Lacey responds that she had a spare jacket in her bag that he could use. It reminded her that she had a jacket in her own bag; it wasn't as insulated as her parka, but it would be better than nothing in the biome.
"Ugh...this could take a year." Alysa grumbled, causing the boy to chuckle again. "So, we should get started now. Hopefully I won't get frostbite..."
A genuine concern of hers, and a reasonable one as many students in the academy have actually gotten frostbite or hypothermia, at worse a combination of both in the Polar Biome. It was the least frequented area for a reason.
Before she could say another word, Drayton moved. He loosened his arms from around her, but Alysa was frozen in utter shock when she felt a pair of lips come into contact with her left cheek.
"I'll keep a close watch out." Was all Drayton said after he pulled away. Alysa gaped with wide eyes and an open mouth at his back, as he walked towards his Flygon waiting nearby. She just knew he had a massive smirk on his face.
Closing her mouth, she faced her Hydreigon, hearing the rather easy-to-miss sound of the Ground/Dragon-type flying away. His lips pulled back to form a crude smile, and a sound reminiscent of snickering entered her ears. The heat in her spiked, and her cheeks puffed out.
"D-Don't laugh! I'm going through a crisis here!"
Drayton just kissed her cheek, and she had no idea what that meant.
Everyone agreed in the chat that this Ditto block quest would be the last one they'd complete before they called it quits today. As soon as the biome's cold air hit her face as Sally flew her in, Alysa knew she wouldn't have the energy for more quests anyway.
Unfortunately, her mind was not at all dedicated to the tedious job. All she could think about was Drayton. The feeling of his arms around her. The warmth of his chest on her back. His lips brushing against her skin.
How insane he was making her.
What made the storm inside worse, was the glaring fact that she liked it all.
She liked the attention he gave her. She liked he pulling her close to hug her. She especially liked him kissing her.
But, what did it all mean?
This was getting too silly now. She had to find some opportunity to pull him aside so they could talk. So she could get an idea on what was going on in his head. It could help her make sense of her own inner chaos. Because, there was no way his actions there had no meaning. A friend doesn't just do that unprompted to another. Even if Drayton was a wild card who liked surprising others, Alysa refused to believe he would behave like that for funsies. Getting so up in someone's personal space didn't seem like his usual jokester style.
He had to have been trying to communicate a message to her, in a way that amuses him but still gets the point across. As Alysa walked around in the snow, eyes darting around her surroundings, she slowly formed the plan to request he meet her at the Polar Plaza when this was over.
It took almost 30 minutes, but fortunately, Amarys found the fourth and last Ditto block. At least there wasn't five. The group BBQ session now over, Alysa checked the time. 4pm. It felt like it was later, but it was beneficial that it wasn't. It made it more likely that she could get to the bottom of this matter today and not have to wait.
She pulled up Drayton's number to access her one-on-one conversation with him.
[ Can you meet me at the polar plaza asap? ]
... ... ...
The Drayster: [ Sure ]
The very casual answer and lack of questioning on his end made her gut twist. She had Sally fly her over, and recalled her as she went to lean against one of the plaza's blocky pillars – too antsy to sit on a bench. There was no one else present, helping her to muster up some needed confidence to face this head-on.
She soon spotted Flygon's silhouette against the Terarium Core's green light as it neared. Her gaze went to her clasped hands as Drayton recalled his pokemon, and walked through the snow with crunching footsteps that grew louder.
"Hey." He nonchalantly greeted as he can to a stop before her. "What'd you want to meet about?"
She looked at him. He appeared neutral, but there was a unique shine to his eyes that had her standing straighter. Just as she feared, words struggled to come out, and it worsened the fiddling of her fingers.
"I-It's about...the kiss. F-From earlier." She was stammering from a mix of nervousness nd the cold.
"Oh. That?" Drayton crossed his arms, expression staying the same. She could sense that he was going to say more, and he did after a beat of silence.
"Did you not like it?"
His tone changed. It was more...guarded. Cautious. Two things she would've never thought applied to him in anyway. It ironically made her feel more comfortable, as it hinted he would be taking this talk seriously.
"I...I liked it."
Her voice was close to a squeak. His eyes widened, like he wasn't expecting that response.
"Is...that bad?" She added on, unsure of what to believe herself. He deliberately invaded her personal space, she did have a right to be upset, but she wasn't at all. It was the total opposite. Drayton did a double take, blinking rapidly.
"No. Not at all." Whatever unease he may or may not have been feeling was now absent. He seemed lighter. His eyes brightened, matching the smile that had formed. His shoulders relaxed, his arms falling.
"I'm, I'm happy you liked it."
The slight differences to his demeanor that she had never seen before were lowering her own caution. Furthermore, his statement was like a crowbar that pried upon a door that had been stuck ajar.
She liked making Drayton happy.
...No. She loved making him happy. She always knew she did, but in this moment, it shined brighter than the Terarium Core. It made her giddy, enough to overpower her insecurity. A small smile spread.
"Then-" She started, fingers clasped tightly together. What she said next, she put little consideration into.
"You can kiss me, w-whenever you want."
"Really?" Drayton quirked a brow, but his surprise didn't last long. Warmth covered him as he took more steps to stand closer to her.
Her breathing hitched in her throat when the boy cupped her face with chilled hands, but the contact sparked a fire that blazed through her nerves. He had never been this close to her before. She could see individual flecks of darker color deep in his yellow irises, how it all blended together to form a rather beautiful painting.
His breath fanned over her lips, tightening the coil within...but he tilted his head back to place a soft kiss to her forehead. Her eyes slammed shut, consciousness swamped by repeating waves of euphoria.
Drayton dragged his lips downwards, leaving a trail of tingling, across the bridge of her nose until he came to a stop at the tip. He smiled against her skin, in a fashion similar to having discovered something incredible. She didn't want him to leave, her hands moved on their own accord so her fingers could hook into the fabric of his jacket sleeves.
"Man..." He whispered. "You sure are cute, 'Lys..."
Sincerity dripped from the sentence, daring her to believe in it. Had she ever been called 'cute' before? She genuinely could not remember. She herself didn't see it, but how special it was still, that the first time came from him then.
They stayed like this, shutting out the cold around them...until their phones pinged. Drayton made no move to check his, and Alysa supposed she didn't need to either. But then, there was another sound. And another one. And another. The boy sighed, and regretfully let her go, then backed away. The chill seeped into the void that his warmth left behind.
"We should see what they're blowing up the room about." His phone floated before him, and she supposed they should, even though she didn't care at all and just wanted to cling to him.
In the group chat, Lacey had announced that Alysa was definitely Rank 7 now. Not only was she in the Top 10, she was right underneath the highest ranking non-elite trainer. Crispin was thrilled, and suggested they celebrate this achievement of hers. Amarys agreed, saying it was remarkable she had climbed so high in such a realistically short amount of time. Carmine commented that it was impressive. Lacey paused the conversation by asking her directly if she would like to have a party.
"Heh. Look at them, spoiling you." Drayton chuckled. Their moment on hold for now, she felt very flattered. In her eyes though, it really didn't deserve all this ruckus. Alysa mulled over what to say, but then Crispin messaged that even if she said no, he was still going to cook her something anyway.
That got a laugh out of her.
"Well, I don't see why not..."
Throwing caution to the wind, she replied that they could throw a party for her if they really wanted to. It was agreed upon to host it tomorrow afternoon at 3pm, and Lacey would even extend the invitation to other League Club members. People other than them going to the party would dumbfound her, but she'd let it be and see what came of it.
"That's settled then." Drayton was back to her, reaching out to hold one of her hands. Her blood running hot, she eagerly reciprocated by interlocking her fingers with his own.
"So. About the kissing thing...I did step over a line just to see how you'd react, but I for sure want you to let me know if I do anything that makes you uncomfy."
"...I will...but I doubt you can make me uncomfy. I-" She breathed in deep. "I like you, a lot."
Her words passed through the air, taking with them much of the strain she was harboring inside. There was a part of her that was fearful, it could've been inappropriate to confess such a thing, but Drayton's face just softened even more. A red color flushed his skin.
"I like you a lot too." He didn't miss a beat. "I have for...a long time now. But it got stronger after our picnic."
Memories of the time they spent, chatting and hanging out with all of their pokemon, made her feel as if they weren't standing in a frozen tundra.
"You interest me. Way more than anyone else has in years." He squeezed her hand.
"With that said...are you..." Hesitation slipped into the cracks. His blush intensified.
"Are you interested in taking our friendship to a different level?"
Did. Did she hear him right? Alysa looked into his eyes, but she found no hint of deception or humor. He was being wholeheartedly serious. He did like her. More than she could've assumed, or known in its entirety. The implications of his inquiry were earth-shaking. She needed clarification.
"Do you mean...dating...?"
"Yeah."
He left nothing to the imagination, and it brought truth to her own. He implying that he's open to them becoming a couple, it was definitive proof that he carried romantic intentions. For her.
Her, of all people.
"I..." Pushing itself to stand alongside the bliss was her trusty old friend anxiety. It made her recall her total lack of experience in this area. She couldn't even sort through her emotions and put them into words.
"I've never dated anyone before." That came to her easier, and it was something he should know. Drayton showed no type of offense or disappointment, he only turned to face her fully. His head craned down, purple-marked tuff of hair bobbing in the slight breeze.
"That's ok. If you need to think it over, then take all the time you need. There's no rush."
His smile then was different. One she had never witnessed from him until now.
"I'm down for us to be together, but only if you're sure on it."
... ... ...
She was sure on one thing and one thing only, at that point...
That she'd be doing a lot of screaming into her pillow later that evening.
