#...instead of leaving the store feeling drained and dazed

[neon-moon-beam]

The irony of stores selling "stim toys" or "sensory toys" and then blasting pop music really loudly and having bright, fluorescent lights, or even flashing lights...Really seems they think "stim/sensory" means "'satisfying' to watch on the video app du jour" and not what it actually means.

[pokeexehasstoppedworking]

Applin Of My Eye Ch5 The Battle Tower

"W-W-Will you b-b-b-be my date t-t-t-to the tornam-m-ment?"

"No! Are you kidding me? After what happened? You said you just wanted to be friends so why would you even ask me that!?"

That's totally what he was bracing himself for when he walked up to the door and couldn't stop the words from leaving his mouth and he had froze standing there like he was a movie and someone pressed pause on it. You had also froze at the shocked face you gave Before your face went neutral and you slowly asked him.

"Milo," you voice dropped to a low and serious level, "A-Are you...a-asking me on a d-date?" Your face went red and so did his.

A..date? As in like an actually romantic date?! NO! Absolutely not- Or was it? NO! What was he thinking!? Having you on his arm, smiling, and making him feel better about being there himself. Keeping his attention on you while you him. Maybe getting closer- He shook his head hard enough to shake his hat. He opened his mouth to say 'No' and 'As just a friend' kinda deal but instead his mouth said something else. 

"Yes."

And then his hands shot up to his mouth making a light slap noise as they collided with his lips. Red immediately flooding his face and feeling as if his soul left his body when you blinked..and then chuckled at him. Making his heart skip a beat and humiliation flood over him. You were laughing at him. You must've thought he was ridiculous-

Y nodded shy smile and eyes looking around. "Sure! It might be fun...I've never been on a d-date before."...When you didn't get an answer back you looked up to see Milo pale and staring at you. "Um...Milo?" you held up a hand. "Are you ok? You look pale."

His answer? He didn't give you one. He silently stared at you or nothing?? You couldn't tell. His arms had long since hung back to his sides and it was almost like he was a mannequin in a store window. Kinda creepy but this was more concerning than creepy the more he stood there pale faced and looking ready to drop- !?

"MILO?!" You shouted as the farmer tilted sideways to the right and with a loud thud sound collided with the porch front . You immediately dropped to your knees next to the dazed man sprawled on the ground blankly staring at the blue sky. Your hands immediately went under his head and chest pulling his shocked form up towards your concerned face. "Are you ok!? Speak to me!"

He continued staring up at the sky in a daze. "...You're...g-gonna be my...date?"

"I..Y-Yeah." You blinked. "But are you ok? GAH!?"

You were sat up really quickly by a blur and Milo was all of a sudden sat up clutching your arms looking serious and lost at the same time. "Did you mean it!?" He looked at you wide eyed. "You'll go with me? A-And ya don't mind? Y-You.." His hands slowly let go of your arms staring like he didn't believe you. "You said you w-wouldn't mind going with me?..Really?" You slowly nodded. "....Why?"

 You smiled pink rising to your cheeks. "Um..Because you asked me nicely? A-And it does genuinely sound like a fun time if you'd be there with me." You spoke truthfully looking down and clasping your hands. "You're a really nice guy and I consider you a f-friend so ...W-Why not go together? I m-mean for all you did for me it's t-the least I can do right?"

MILO stared at you longer as the realization wound it's arm back and with all it's force smacked him across the face with reality. He...Had. A. DATE. With. YOU!! That part replayed over and over in his mind. He had a date. He had a date. He had a date. He had a REAL and LEGIT date with YOU and in one month he'd be taking you out on your first ever official date with him to this high class party being hosted. Green eyes widened as any remaining blood drained from his face. He had a date with you in one month and he hadn't even gotten ready for the trip. Nothing packed. He didn't tell Felix yet. And no plans for this outcome....

Oh no

OH NO OH NO OH NO!!!

"Um. Milo?" You waved a hand in front of his glassy eyed expression. "You still with me, Farmer?"

"OH SWEET WOOLOO KNITTED SWEATERS!!" He answered you making you pause and blink as the farmer stumbled over himself to stand on two feet, once in a standing position, hands grabbing onto his hat and gripping them with enough force to crack a diamond if he tried hard enough. "I gotta start packing!"

You blinked as the next moment he turned and shit back down the dirt pathway back up to his home redder than a strawberry and clutching his hat....You giggled again.

One month flew past in the blink of an eye when you were busy..or in his case really, really stressed out. Felix was both happy and slightly concerned seeing his brother so eager to now go to Wyndon and take on this tournament with him but his slight concern to him going over every single detail with him was a little overboard. He sat on his floor countless times helping him go over everything as he ran between packing and making arrangements with his more reliable farm hands to take care of Turrffield in their absence. And one such event happened to be now as he was shifting through his suitcase once again as calculating as a ninja but he could see his hands slightly shaking in nerves. 

"T-Tell me what's going on again there," he said while pulling out a perfectly folded shirt for the fifth time out of his packed traveling suitcase.

Felix would've rolled his eyes if he wasn't so patient and understanding of his big bro's nerves, so he instead decided to repeat himself from his spot lounged against the wall scrolling through his phone. "We were both invited to Wyndon's first ever Battle Of The Leaders Tournament to show the world Galar's strongest pokemon trainers. It's in honor of Prince Lear from the Pasio Region."

"Right, right." He continued fumbling to fold the shirt back and place it back down. "..Who's that again?"

"The special guest that we need to impress. He's coming all the way from Pasio to pick and chose who gets a chance to compete in the ultimate Pokemon Masters League with other Gym leaders, trainers, and people from all over the world. It's a big deal that the Chairwoman thinks will help Galar's reputation back on track. ....This could be a good chance to show off Turrffield's power too."

.he nodded. He hated to admi itt. Loathed it even. But Felix had a point. He'd do anything to help Turrffield and this seemed like a good idea to get more attention towards the town. "R-Right." He pulled out a small traveling blanket. "So what's the main events we're doing there anyways?"

"The Battle Tower event's first," Felix explained holding up something made of paper towards him. "Leon sent you all the details in the letter if you just wanna read it?" Daisy baaed in agreement at his feet.

"Felix please."

"*Sigh* Basically the battle tower is gonna be for all the new pupils the gym leaders have taken on. We're going to battle our way up Rose tower until there's only one last person standing, and that person's going to have the chance to battle Leon himself. I think it's to show off Galar's future leaders."

"Ah..And you plan on beating them to the top?"

"Of Course. I ain't losing a chance to battle the Champion again. This time I'll make sure he gets to taste how I do battles."

A small smile and chuckle escaped him despite his nerves. "That's the spirit. And uh what's the second one?"

"Dunno. It only says that one's staying a surprise until we get there but there's gonna be a couple guests battlers joining us for whatever it is."

That's what interested him most in their one week leave. A week passed by within a blink of an eye and soon it was time to go. He and Felix had everything they needed packed in their bags, and arranged for some local farmers to care for the farm while they were away. The flying taxi Leon had called in advance to tell them that would be their transport was there, and when he got there, you were already there backpack thrown over your shoulder and Silver and Mary at your heels. He would not let you go by yourself it seemed as the little drizzlie literally clung to your leg like a toddler not caring if he embarrassed you. You were staring at the flying taxi with an uncomfortable look but when the sounds of cheering from the crowd picked up you turned your head and smiled upon seeing the two siblings walking towards you.

"Milo! Felix!," you greeted with a wave and smile.

Ba-bump. Oh..Arceus. He could feel his own cheeks light up a bright pink at her beautiful smile. If Felix hadn't pulled him by the wrist towards the taxi then he might've tripped over in front of the crowd gathered behind him. Stopping in front of you.

"I thought you guys weren't going to make it. I was waiting here for a bit and then this.." You gave the taxi another unenthusiastic look. "..ride showed up."

Felix gave a quick kick to his brother's leg making him jump. "Huh!? Oh. Uh- *ahem* Y-Yeah. D-Didn't Leon tell you in the letter that'd we'd be going by taxi?"

You nodded not noticing his slip up much to his relief. "Yeah..I'm not too fond of flying. Why is it always flying?"

"Well if we wanna get there on time we gotta take the fastest transport to get there." He gave a look back up to the giant corviknight and it's driver perched high and mighty above the sturdy metal taxi cabin. "And this is it. We'll be there in no time."

You  groaned but nodded. "Yeah. I guess so. But I don't understand why we couldn't just take the train?"

"Well Leon was kind enough to arrange this for us and it's already paid for. It'd be rude to turn it down. But don't worry. Flying is quick so it'll be over before you know it."

He could almost chuckle when you groaned and let your arms flop to the sides. But since you wanted to go, and you felt obligated being formally invited by the Champion and Chairwoman, you would have to travel with Milo and Felix Inside the flying taxi. Needless to say you had sadly gotten used to this kind of travel even if you didn't like it. The trip over there was a blur to Milo. He remembered the cheers the crowd had given you all as you stepped into the taxi, him letting you go first. Ladies first as they say, and waving to the crowd before he himself sat on the seat, next to you, and watched as you gripped the seat just before he gave the taxi driver the go ahead to take off and the lunge into the air made you grip tighter onto the seat despite you had buckled yourself in. The mighty strength of the corviknight easily taking off into the air and thus the traveling began. With you sitting next to him and Felix in the seat in front of you both. Things weren't as bad on the trip to Wyndon as he thought it'd be. It was silence for a bit and Felix had to give him a few nudges and start talking herself to get him to talk to you. And it was...easy. You smiled at him like there was nothing awkward between you two and you both chattered about anything and everything like old friends and it gave you a good chance to chat with Felix more and get to know him. And you found it easy to talk to him about as much as Milo. It was nice to get to know him. Milo however watched with a soft expression seeing you and his little brother get along as one day turned to two and two turned into three and so on. It was..nice seeing someone he liked getting along so well with his little brother. The easy going atmosphere helped to calm him but he still turned a shade of red whenever you leaned against him in your sleep at night. On your way to Wyndon you all sometimes stopped at small towns to recharge for the night or restock on supplies before continuing onward. Until the day arrived. It was early in the morning that you were woken up by someone shaking your shoulder and with a snort you woke up with a groggy look blinking towards Milo who just smiled and pointed out the window.<

"Look. We're here."

Blurry eyed you turned to the window. The sun was just starting to come over the sky so it was still fairly dark, and down below you could see the world lit up in lights and that's when you all saw it. You all looked out at the sight of a GIANT brick wall going as far as the eye could see. The horizon blocked off my what must've been hundreds of skyscrapers and Rose Tower. From your place, you could see all the shiny buildings lit up in the early morning light making it look almost heavenly. It was beautiful. Your smile widened and eyes lit up immediately reflecting all the pretty lights like stars in a mirror. It made Milo mesmerized just looking at that beautiful scene in your beautiful eyes-

"So where are we landing? Not just somewhere in the middle of the city I hope."

"What- OH!" He cleared his throat as his green eyes averted from your starry nightfall ones sadly. Pink rising on his face. "*ahem* L-Leon said everyone's meeting' at the Rose o' Rondelands and to wait for them there. Says he wants to go over everything with us before the Battle Tower two days from now, and whatever else he has planned. We can check in our luggage and take a small break from flying."

"That sounds like a good idea," you agreed.

After another rough landing ensued when you all descended through the air and ended up landing right in front of the giant famous hot in Wyndon and you all piled out leaving the taxi behind. Felt good to stretch your legs. And you looked up and up at the tall building that shadow loomed over you. Ah. This brings back memories. Good thing the invite said all the rooms would be paid for in advance. Couldn't imagine how much one of these much costs. But what really caught your attention was the giant crowd gathered in front of the hotel, you didn't see them until you stepped out of the flying taxi and onto the ground..And then the large amount of cheers filled the air. One look behind you told you where it was coming from. People. What must've been hundreds upon hundreds of people backed up against each other at the front of the Rose of Rondelands, blocked by barriers and police officers much like last year when the Champion Cup took place at the stadium. You were steered away by Milo towards the hotel's entrance and all three of you entered. The shimmering gold interiors shining brightly again like you had remembered and there was an even bigger surprise waiting for you inside because when you walked the three of you were met with yet again another sight. It. Was. EVERYONE!! All the gym leaders you had ever seen were right there!! Lounging and sitting in fancy armchairs and couches. A whole long table was set up with delicious looking food that your f/c eyes laser focused on and made your stomach growl just seeing it everyone was eating from. A few like Melony and Gordie looked up to glance your way as the door was opened and the three of you walked in to which Milo received some waves and greetings.

"Milo!" "Hey, Milo!" "Where have you guys been?" 

"So the country folk has arrived," Raihan greeted standing and leaning against a wall, punch cup in his hand from the giant table of food and that familiar smile on his face. Knowingly looking between him and you. "And here I thought you wouldn't make it."

"You guys know I wouldn't miss this!" Milo looked around. "where's Leon?''

"Dunno," Bea answered Milo from her spot on the couch next to Allister looking boredly at a magazine in her hands. "I've been waiting here since we arrived three days ago."

"Hey now. Lee prolly just wanted to wait until everyone arrived. Now that the whole gang's here, I'm sure he'll be here any second...Unless of course he got lost. Or ended up on top of the Wyndon Stadium again."

Well Raihan was half right. Someone else did arrive. A few somebodies actually but they weren't Leon. Because Leon wouldn't have nearly tackled you to the floor or shouted your name. A flurry of 'Y/N!' flew through the air and before you could even turn around three small things tackled you one after another and you tilted backwards. Your backpack falling to the ground and your arms coming out on instinct to help keep your balance as Silver chirped in surprise. You blinked and looked down at yourself at the clinging creatures attached to you.

"What the-"

"Y/N!" A familiar voice and face beamed up at you and you stared at her smiling face until it suddenly clicked. 

"Gloria!?" Your voice happily shouted as your mouth forced itself up in a smile before noticing the other two right next to her. "Victor! Hop!" It was them. The original trio. And they were all here again. You hadn't seen them in forever! "Where have you guys been!?"

"Do you mean outside or in general?," Victor asked raising a brow. "If ye mean jus' now, Hop wanted ta show us his wooloo's new evolution. If ya mean anywhere else...Eh. It's a long story we need ta share with ya later." He sighed before rubbing his face. "Let's just say a LOT has happened with our training."

You chuckled and slowly got the three to release you from their hug. "I'm sure there's gonna be plenty of time to tell me what happened since we're still waiting for Leon-"

"In the meantime," Piers interrupted your happy reunion, "You should go get your room keys 'n put your luggage away so we can get some grub. M' sure you're starvin'."

That was actually a good point. As much as you were happy at seeing the guys again, you were looking forward to a shower and some food from the long trip over here. In just an hour you all were able to get your separate room keys and escorted to said rooms by one of the helpful wait staff where you were able to drop off your bags and take a quick shower before heading back down to the lobby along with Silver tailing after you. Back down in the lobby you were able to grab some food (after giving Silver some so you wouldn't have to worry about making a mess trying to get to the food ) and sit down with the guys who were practically begging you too. Once you sat down on the couch, you were bombarded with tales of what they were up to. Hard to follow along ultimately what came down to it was that Gloria had one heck of a hard time being trained by whoever this Mustard character was before returning. Which including plenty of push ups, made to battle in front of a crowd of other students, chasing slowpokes, mushroom and diglett hunting, finishing her pokedex journal, her new rivals, being gifted more pokemon- 

"An' then Hop dropped by to surprise me n' we went out ta find this honey for Urshifu," Gloria continued babbling along happily and a record scratch went off in your mind. 

"Wha- Wait, wait, wait. Stop." They looked at you and between holding your plate of food, pointed at her. "Hop was there?" Gloria nodded. "...How? I thought he was training with Sonia to become a Professor?"

Gloria turned to Hop who coughed and reached a hand up to rub his neck pink tinting his cheeks. "S-Sonia and I split up places to survey. And she opted for the cold and snow and all. The Isle of Armor was t-t-the only other option." You weren't totally believing that based off his bashful reaction but you'd let him have it. "I-It was great to see Glory again tho. I had lots of fun until we both caught a ride back here with Lee when he delivered some invites to some people on the island."

Gloria giggled and poked Hop playfully. "Ya shoulda seen this cute lil petilil grab a hold 'o 'em. Hehe. It was so cute! The wee babe wouldn't let go of him until we found it's mother." Hop quickly flushed a deeper red at her words.

"What were you doing on the Isle of Armor anyways?"

"Huh? OH! *ahem* I-I was taking some samples of different pokemon nector f-for Sonia," he explained with a stutter, "A-And some max mushrooms and m-max honey so w-we can study it's connections to dynamaxing."

"Oh." That certainly sounded like something Sonia would have him do. "You said you came back with Leon right? Where's he?"

He shook his head. "Dunno. He dropped us both off here a while ago and said to wait for Sonia and Kabu to arrive. Y'know since we're kinda studying under them and all that."

Ah. You supposed Leon was still preparing everything else that needed to be prepared before these special events happened. Made sense you supposed. In the mean time you were having fun eating the absolutely delicious food and listen to the three's adventures in the Crown Tundra and on the Isle of Armor. Victor was proud to show you his pictures of the ancient pokemon and Reggie-pokemon shrines and the giant tree he had discovered while there mentioning them to Leon who mentioned it to the Chairwoman and lo and behold...Victor had unintentionally saved the Town of Crown Tundra from dwindling away by giving the Chairwoman chances to set up tourist attractions for the locals to sell galarian twig crowns and sweaters. That's Victor for you. His determination for preserving nature one way or another came through again. Nessa was sure proud of her pupil's accomplishments. ...In fact..Both twins seemed to be fairing..MUCH better than before. Gloria didn't seem to be bothered all that much anymore by the thought of battling in front of a large crowd, and Victor seemed confident enough in his battling skills to give it a try himself. 

....But that also brought other questions.

You know Gloria trained under a Mr. Mustard who trained her up before she continued being trained under Kabu, so who helped Victor? Well you asked and he told you who it was. Nessa of course since she was training with him constantly since they got back, but there was someone else. A man who sent Victor on a couple fun adventures and helped him build confidence in himself through having fun like he never had before. Going on Dynamax Adventures in a place called the Max Lair-

"Hey! I know that place!," Hop piped up as soon as Victor mentioned it, "It's like a maze of underground tunnels under the tundra that's just chalk FULL of natural dynamax particles! Sonia was checking it out for the Chairwoman along with some other things. Sometimes you can find rare pokemon in there. They think it'll be a huge hit for the Special Guests we got over here...Whoever he is?"

Yeah. You were wondering that too. You knew there would be some special guests but you didn't know who. The time passed some more until FINALLY the man of the hour arrived. You were all sitting there as Champion Leon himself walked in through the door with an older woman beside him. A flurry of 'Leon!' left a couple peoples' mouths and your face lit up in a smile as he arrived.

"Leon! Where have you been?!"

"Sorry everyone," he apologized giving a guilty look and holding up his hand. "I uh...Kinda got lost on my way here. Luckily I ran into the Chairwoman on the way here. Speaking of which." He gestured to the woman next to him who you all know gazed at. She looked around Kabu's age with grey hair and wearing a blue business suit. She was smaller than Leon too, about Nessa's height. "Allow me to introduce Ms. Dahlia. The Chairwoman of Galar and the creator of the games that'll be taking place."

"Welcome Everyone," she greeted with a smile and nod. "I want to thank you all for coming and on such short notice. I'm well aware you all must be wondering what I had Leon call you all here for." She said gesturing to everyone. "Some information you were already given in your invitations such as the first event, but the more important bits I wanted to save until I was able to speak to you all face to face." She began gesturing with her hands. "As many of you are aware the Battle Tower will be taking place the day after tomorrow at Rose tower. The lucky gym leader in training that wins will have the honor of battling against the Champion himself at the top of the tower. That trainer and their three runner ups will also be allowed to perform along with others in the final grand tournament."

"Um..Yes. About that. Forgive me if sound a little rude here, but what exactly IS this whole second half is?," Bede asked raising a brow, "I believe we have the right to know considering we'll be a very important part of it I'm assuming."

The Chairwoman nodded. "Yes. You'd be right about that. That is the thing I wanted to discuss most. All of you are here to battle it out in the first ever Galarian Star Tournament for none other than Price Lear of the Pasio Region in hopes he'll chose some of Galar's finest trainers to compete in Pasio's own Master League and get a chance to take home the title of world's strongest pokemon trainer." By the surprised looks and raised brows she got, that certainly was a surprised. She held up her hands. "I know it must be a shock to receive such news so late, but I assure you I didn't plan this. Prince Lear will be arriving tomorrow morning if nothing goes wrong, and the day after will be the Battle Tower. And then at the end of the week, the Galarian Star Tournament shall take place with everyone here as well as a few honored guests that will fighting alongside you and afterwards They shall be arriving later this week closer to the second event. I expect all of you to be on your best behavior during Prince Lear's stay with us. For now you all are dismissed back to your rooms until then. Be sure to arrive at Rose Tower first thing in the morning. We'll have much to discuss then."

And that was it. More words were exchanged by the Chairwoman and Leon but most were words of encouragement before they departed again and you all were dismissed. With nothing further to do you all went back to your rooms for the night bidding everyone good bye. The first thing you did was faceplant face first into the soft bed when you got back inside. It was nice to lay on a bed for once instead of a sleeping bag. Now only if the image of Milo smiling didn't plague your heart for the night. 

-Small Time Skip-

The time had come.

Two days had gone past in a blink of an eye and by the second day you had woken up early because of the commotion going on outside your room forcing you to get up and get dressed before walking out the door only to nearly bump into Ms. Opal as she was passing your room towards the elevator along with everyone else. So you apologized before scooting to the side and following the crowd of gym leaders to the elevator, down to the lobby, out the front of the hotel, and out towards your rides there-..And you groaned. Flying taxies. Why was it ALWAYS flying taxies? There was at least somewhere between eight to ten of them. Enough to take everyone to Rose Tower. And you could BARELY hear over the noise. LOTS more people than there were yesterday. All cheering and holding up signs with different gym logos or peoples' faces on them all showing their support for their favorite gym leaders. You had to grab Silver and Mary carrying him in your arms in order to keep them from keeping trampled and ended up climbing into the last taxi before it could take off...Blinking when four people were already sat down inside. It looked a little cramped-

 "Y/n! Here. Ye can seat by me. There should be 'nough room if I scoot over some."

And that's how you ended up sitting between the taxi wall and Victor with Silver on your lap. Next to Victor's other side was Nessa and across from all three of you was Kabu and Gloria. Both twins with both their mentors with opposite elements but both fit the twins personalities. Gloria's fiery spirit and Victor flowing patience. Looked right they were already ready to do battle as well. Gloria wore an all red shirt with Kabu's logo on the front with the rest of her attire matching and the same with Victor wearing Nessa's gym logo and wearing a matching outfit of blue and white. And it was then that it hit you. Gloria and Victor were both gym leaders in training now. That by itself wasn't a bad thing but now..they were going to be battling against one another in the Battle Tower. Victor and Gloria had never battled against one another before not when you were with them and they must've realized at one point but neither of them seemed to give it much mind as the two siblings just sat there smiling and chatting away excited like nothing was wrong as you sat there frozen with Silver on your lap. The whole ride there wasn't anything special except when you all arrived and got out of the taxi there were more blockaids and police to control the cheering crowds and a reporter woman who was speaking to a camera pointed directly at all the gym leaders and Rose Tower itself. You stood there for a moment looking around before spotting the twins start to walk towards the Rose Tower and you went to start following them- Someone tapped your shoulder and with a jolt you snapped around to Kabu who shook his head. 

"Not there," he clarified to you raising his voice to let you hear you over the large crowd cheering and instead pointing towards other gym leaders and everyone else who was walking towards a different entrance into the building. "That is only for the children who'll be participating in this event. You and I must go that way."

"Oh..Ok! Thanks!"

The older man nodded before turning around and jogging off towards the other entrance and you followed still carrying a bored looking Silver. How was he able to keep up a pace like that so easily? Once inside you were greeted to the same lobby like room you first saw when storming Rose Tower to find Leon last year. Only this time chairs had been set up alongside a giant TV on the wall, obviously for everyone to watch the spectial and as you looked around you noticed something. There was an extremely fancy wooden chair away from the plastic ones almost as if it was a throne for someone important. That was odd. Was that for Leon? You had seen him and the Chairwoman greet everyone at the hotel before coming here so maybe. Silver had spotted something amiss and his pink hand collided with your cheek. Blinking you threw a scowl at the pokemon in your arms before he chirped and pointed over at something..Or should I say someone. A FEW someones in fact because you blinked at them. There was Leon and the Chairwoman...and three other NEW people that you had never seen before. But the two of them were smiling and introducing these three to everyone as they walked in and sat down. There were two bodyguard like people. A man and woman. The woman was about Nessa's height with dark purpel hair that was in a spiral pigtail haircut and purple-magenta eyes. She wore a giant pair of square sunglasses on her head, grey coat with very long sleeves, and red and black attire underneath. The man was much taller than both the woman and other shorter man in front of them with dark grey eyes. He wore a grey-white suit with a black undershirt and red tie, gold rings on his fingers, and a pair of black sunglasses sat upon his own head. But it was the third person in front of them that seemed the most important. He wore a suit similar to the first man but more fancy looking. Grey-white all the way from his shoes to the silk gloves he wore with a black undershirt and red tie. His grey-white coat had a black fur collar and red sunglasses were over his eyes so you couldn't tell what color they were but he did have grey-white hair matching his suit. He stood by Leon with his presumed bodyguards at his sides as the Champion smiled and introduced him to everyone. This stranger's expression neutral. Kabu bowed in front of him as you slowly walked in.

"It is an honor to be able to have you in Galar, Your Highness," the older man greeted with a deep bow.

"Very charmed," the man replied back in also a neutral tone. Neither happy or bored but it was enough to also not come off as rude either.

"I think that's everyone. The only ones you haven't met are the gym leaders successor's who'll you'll be able to watch from here." The man hummed at Leon's words. You slowly walked forward and Leon turned his friendly gaze to you, lit up, and waved his hand in a 'come here' motion. "Hey! Y/n! Right on time." The man next to Leon turned to you, did a double take, and raised his brows staring at the pokemon cradled in your arms like a child as you walked over. "Just the person I wanna see." Once you stopped right in front of him his hand gestured to the man beside him again. "I'm glad you can make it. Y/n, it's my pleasure to introduce you to his highness, Prince Lear. He's come all the way from the Pasio Region for the events." His smile became even wider. "He's also asked to meet you personally."

"He...did?" You stared at the new man in front of you blinking. So he was a prince huh? You remembered the Chairwoman mentioning a Prince Lear coming two days ago, and this man could certainly pass off for a prince easily even if he didn't wear a crown. But he asked to see YOU? Why? You didn't have any fancy titles like a Champion or Gym Leader or Chairwoman?

"Um..Well not exactly by name," Leon explained with a nervous smile, "He's heard about the heroes who averted Galar's crisis twice in a row and was interested to meet the people involved." 

Ah. Well that made more sense.

Prince Lear stared in your direction and even though you couldn't see his eyes, you could tell he was looking you over...before a smile finally graced his face. "I've...read the books. Your Professor Sonia took great detail in documenting your region's history."

You nodded. "Yeah. I haven't been able to read her books yet, but I have no doubt Sonia's books are as good as her science. But I didn't expect anyone not from Galar to read them."

The man chuckled amused smiling a bit wider now and both his bodyguards gave a look at each other behind him. "On the contrary. If I'm going to be choosing people from a region to compete in MY Master League's I must do my own research on top of meeting them in person to form my own opinions. Don't I? Your region's current troubles just happened to peek my interest."

You hummed thinking a moment before agreeing. "Well I guess so. I'd want to know about someone too before I invited them to anything."

"Hehe. My thinking exactly. ...Hm. You are Ms. Y/n L/n correct?" You nodded and that seemed to peek his interest more. "So you are the one I've read about. Hmhmhm. Saving the Champion and the rest of the region. Twice...That's not an easy feat." He complimented looking at his gloved hand.

"Well. Actually I didn't save Galar."

He paused. Before looking back up at you. "Oh?''

"I only witnessed it and watched from the sidelines." You shook your head. "I'm no hero. The real heroes are Hop and Victor and Gloria. And of course the pokemon who helped us. I just lent a hand where I could."

"Hmm...You know. Modesty is always beautiful on a woman." You blinked as with a swift motion of his hand, he grabbed your hand in his and lifted it to his mouth. "I look forward to seeing these events." And then you froze as he raised your hand to his mouth and like in some cheesy fairytale fantasy he kissed your knuckles gently.

A cold chill ran down your spine as you could feel everyone looking at you. Along with a tense gaze you could feel glare daggers into the back of your head from..someone but you weren't too sure. You were stuck in a bit of a shell shock as he lowered your hand..but you eventually did react. Chuckling nervously and giving a forced smile before gently pulling your hand back away and grabbing Silver as an excuse. 

"Well!..I'm glad you think so! It's always nice to get a compliment," you forced out to not be rude. Arceus forbid if you were rude right now but it'd be best if you kept your anger down for now. "I'm sure you'll really enjoy watching them."

Leon sensing your OBVIOUS distress gladly took the attention from you. "Hey. The battles about to begin. Y/n why don't you go take your seat next to Milo? He seems to have saved you a spot. Prince Lear, shall we?"

"Hm? Oh. Yes let's. I look forward to seeing how well your region's gym leader's train their successors."

Leon pointed his hand and steered Prince Lear towards the fancy seat off to the left which you took as your chance to scatter like a mouse being chased by a cat back towards the crowd of other who either had confused looks from what just happened or ignored it in favor of turning their attentions towards the TV. True to Leon's word, there was in fact an open seat between Milo and Hop and you found out where the glaring at the back of your head came from. Yep. Milo was staring at Least with a strained smile. You paused staring at him for a few minutes but Hop's waving for you to come here encouraged you to walk up to them and take your seat between the two. Hop spoke first seeing your sour face as soon as you turned away from the prince.

"You ok there, Mate?," he asked raising a brow, "Haven't seen that sore of a face since we last stopped those weirdo hair duo from wreckin' Galar as a whole."

"..Yyyeeaahh." You examined your hand for a moment wincing feeling that guy kiss it before rubbing the back of your hand against your jacket. "Just don't let me forget to wash my hands the first chance I can get."

You jumped feeling a hand grab your shoulder. Looking up you caught Milo giving you a rather serious look before he asked in a low voice, "Are you alright?" He asked softly genuinely concerned before sighing as you nodded. "Oh good. It's rude to just kiss someone like that without asking "

"Hey now. He is a prince. I'm sure they do it all the time," you said wanting to steer away from the topic and gestured towards the TV as it turned on. "But I think right now we oughtta pay attention to the telly. Wouldn't wanna miss Felix's big show."

That seemed to do the trick because Milo's attention was quickly turned to the TV too as the mention of his brother was announced. And Hop gave a fist pump.

"Alright! Now we get to see Glory and Vic in action! They're gonna mop the floors with the competition!"

You admitted you were excited to see Victor's style of fighting and seeing if it differed from Gloria's or not. Gloria had already proven she could be great in battles and use her head but would that hold up? She wasn't able to defeat Raihan on one and one battles. There wasn't any sandstorms to hide behind with him and as Gloria said it. He was too strong. That's when it had really hit you. While this world was like the game this WASN'T a game and was real life, so there was the real possibility of Gloria losing to someone like Raihan and she did. If she couldn't make it past the top gym leader on a fair field then there wasn't any way she could've bested Leon. And while it did surprise you and you were a little sad for Gloria, you were also relieved. That might've been the only reason you were still here now living your own life and with your friends.

"GOOD MORNING GALAR!" You were snapped back up hearing a reporters voice and face show up on screen. The woman with the microphone smiled as the image of Rose Tower appeared behind her. "This is Marcos Cosmos Newscast with Gillian coming to all you folks at home live in front of Rose Tower where the crowds have been waiting for hours to see who'll be victorious in Galar's first ever Battle Tower competition. A true testimony to how well Gym Leaders train the future generation of Galarian gym leaders. Each contestant will go three rounds and the best one will move onto the next round and next floor eventually reaching the top where the Unbeatable Champion Leon awaits." 

What? Leon wasn't- You blinked. Looking around you couldn't spot Leon anywhere in the room. Where was he? You yelped when a hand grabbed your shoulder and you looked up only to come face to face with Nessa. You sighed in relief suddenly seeing her standing above you.

"Arceus Nessa!," you hissed at her in a whisper Silver looking up at the both of you. "What'd you have to go and scare me for?"

"No time to explain!," she whispered back pointing at Silver with a VERY worried expression, "He can battle right? You have his pokeball on you?"

You were a little taken a back at the random question but answered taking Silver's pokeball out of your pocket to show her. "Yeah. He's been in battles before. Why?"

"Victor's short one pokemon and he needs six to rotate out. You don't happen to mind if we borrow him right?" You opened your mouth but before you could speak the pokeball and Silver were snatched into her arms without warning Silver giving a loud chirp of alarm. "Thanks Y/n! I owe you one! I promise I'll make it up to you later!''

"H-Hey wait! Nessa! I didn't-" The fashionista didn't stop as she soon disappeared with a squawking pokemon under her arms out the entrance leaving you sitting there staring.....

What just happened!?

"Will this be the day the Champion finally loses a match or will his record remain unbeatable? Only time will decide. Let's go right now live as the first battle takes place on Floor One on Camera One."

Time's up. The reporter disappeared from the screen and all fell silent as the camera showed a LARGE empty metal room except for one person inside. A man wearing a black and white referee outfit as he stood there. And then two doors from either side opened and two contestants walked in. 

"WELCOME LADIES AND GENTLEMEN TO THE FIRST ROUND BATTLE OF ROUND ONE OF GALAR'S FIRST EVER BATTLE TOWER EVENT!!," an announcer spoke from no where. Must've been a speaker. "THE FIRST BATTLE IS UNDERWAY WITH OUR FIRST TWO BATTLERS!!" You heard Raihan from somewhere to your right give a small cheer as Sebastian appeared on the scene. "THE FIRST MATCH WILL BE BETWEEN THE FIRE OF HAMMERLOCKE STADIUM SEBASTIAN AND THE FANTASTICAL BEDE OF THE BELLONLEA STADIUM!!" Hop gave a grumble as Bede also proudly made his way onto the battlegrounds. "WILL SPREAD THEIR WINGS TO REACH THE NEXT ROUND OR WILL BELLONLEA TURN THAT CHANCE INTO A JUST FAIRYTALE!? WE'RE ABOUT TO SEE!! BATTLERS!! TAKE YOUR PLACES ON THE COURSE!!" Both teens did. "POKEMON READY! GET SET!! LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!!"</p>

And just like that the first battle was underway. Sebastian must've improved from the last time you saw him because he easily one the first round against Bede to which both Raihan and Hop cheered at. Raihan using his rotomi phone to take plenty of pictures of his boy winning like a proud father. But unfortunately Sebastian didn't win as Bede completely sweeped through him during the second and final round. Marking him as the clear winner. 

"FINAL ROUND OVER!! BEDE HAS BESTED TWO OUT OF THREE!! THEREFORE BELLONLEA PROUDLY MOVES ON TO THE SECOND ROUND AND FLOOR!!"

Raihan groaned which turned into a sigh as he closed his eyes. "Ah well. Can't win them all I suppose."

"That's very sportsman like of you," Opal commented back at him making the Dragon Type Gym Leader chuckle and smile.

"Well I certainly hope so. I wouldn't want to come off as a Negative Nancy."

"SECOND MATCH IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!! PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES!!" And instantly Piers's attention reached a million percent as none other than Marnie and Gloria entered next through the doors.

"ALRIGHT GLORIA!," Hop shouted next to you becoming more excited. "This is gonna be great!"

You nodded. You were excited to see how this would play out. "SECOND FIRST ROUND MATCH IS BETWEEN THE BURNING COAL OF MOTOSTOKE GLORIA AND THE SPUNKY MARNIE OF SPIKEMUTH!!" Both girls taking their places on the field. "PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES ON THE COURSE! POKEMON AT THE READY! GET SET! BATTLE BEGIN!!"

It was a glorious battle. It always was with both Marnie and Gloria. First round Gloria won. Second round Marnie. Third round now. Piers tensed next to you. Pale hand gripping his pants leg. ....Gloria won. Cheers filled the air. A sigh left Piers's nose. Eyes closing. Head looking down. Poor Piers but Marnie did her best. That's what mattered most.

"GLORIA WINS THE SECOND MATCH AND WILL PROCEED TO THE SECOND ROUND AND FLOOR!! THIRD ROUND BATTLERS PLEASE GO ONTO THE FIELD!!" Two more teens walked onto the course and all three of Milo, Gordie, and Melony cheered as both Felix and Elsa made their way onto the fields. "HE HAS THE BEST GREEN THUMB INTRODUCING FELIX OF TURRFIELD AND HIS OPPONENT THE COLD HEARTED BRAWLER ELSA OF CIRCHESTOR AS THEY READY TO FIGHT FOR MATCH THREE!! BUT WILL TURRFIELD GROW TO THE NEXT ROUND BEFORE WINTER FREEZES IT'S ROOTS!? LET'S FIND OUT! BATTLERS TO YOUR PLACES!! GET SET! BATTLE BEGIN!!" All three cheered in front of you. Milo for his little brother and Melony and Gordie for their little sister/daughter. It was a tough battle but in the end Elsa won. "CIRCHESTOR ADVANCES TO THE SECOND FLOOR AND ROUND!! WE WILL BE TAKING A FIVE MINUTE BREAK FOR THE MAINTENANCE CREW TO FIX THE FIRST FLOOR AND READY THE SECOND! PLEASE STAND BY AS WE HAVE A WORD WITH OUR SPONSORS AND FIGURE OUT THE NEXT MATCH PAIRS!"

Poor Milo. he must've been looking forward to seeing his little brother advance forward but Felix did put up a good front against Elsa's Ice type pokemon. Which means that meant Elsa, Gloria, and Bede would be advancing to Round Two and since Victor didn't have anyone to battle with he got an automatic win to advance to Round Two as well. With three of the trainers out of the running that leaves four left. Nessa returned in the time you were speaking to Hop and Piers to pass the time until the second round was announced by the announcer on the TV and a new floor and referee was shown. 

"ALRIGHT FOLKS!! NEW ROUND AND NEW FLOOR ARE NOW HERE!! THE MATCHES HAVE BEEN DECIDED! LET'S GET THE FIRST MATCH OF ROUND TWO STARTED!" Here we go. You wondered which twin would be first or if either would go first. Or maybe neither? Both entrances opened and two made their way out. "THE FIRST MATCH BETWEEN BELLONLEA AND MOTOSTOKE IS ABOUT TO COMMENCE!! BATTLERS PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES!!" Gloria and Bede took their places. "GET SET!! LET THE BATTLE COMMENCE!!" 

Bede and Gloria huh? Not a bad start to a first match..But also with an unexpected twist. Gloria won first round. Bede second...and then Bede the third? It was just one slip up by Gloria. One mistake that allowed Bede's hatterene enough access to grab Gloria's raboot and proceed to literally rear itself and literally toss the poor rabbit pokemon right out of the in boundaries and crashing into one of the tower's walls just before it could late a critical and probably final blow to the hatterene's weak point. Making Bede the winner by a small inch. 

"BEDE'S HATTERENE HAS KNOCKED RABOOT OUT OF BOUNDS!! THEREFORE BEDE ADVANCES TO THE NEXT ROUND AND FLOOR! PLEASE STAND BY AS WE WAIT FOR THE NEXT MATCH TO BEGIN!"

"WHAT!?," Hop shouted hands rushing to grab his head which was followed by many looks thrown at him and shushes from the others.

"Hop. Don't be so loud," you whispered at him. Luckily Prince Lear didn't seem to notice Hop's outburst. "We have a guest here."

"I know but-.." he stared back at the screen where Gloria and Bede now excited the floor. "HOW could've she lost against him of all people?! Glory beat him every other time they battled and she trained under the very best! It doesn't make any sense."

"Well not everyone can win against every battle they fight," you explained, "You win some. You lose some. Even Gloria. I mean she lost to Raihan in the finals didn't she?"

"Not everyone loses. Leon doesn't."

"Didn't he lose to Eternatus?" Your brow rose. "I thought that was the entire reason of you two saving him."

Hop went silent for a moment before crossing his arms and mumbling. "I guess so."

You smiled. "See? It's not so bad. Besides you have to remember Bede's going to have to fight either Elsa or Victor in the next round anyways, so it's not like he's home free yet.''

That seemed to lift Hop's spirit's a bit because he nodded with a hum. "That's true. We'll have to wait and see."

Well you all didn't have to wait long because the entrances opened again and two others made their way onto the course. "THE SECOND MATCH OF ROUND TWO WILL NOW COMMENCE BETWEEN CIRCHESTER AND HULBURY!! PLEASE GET TO YOUR PLACES!! POKEMON AT THE READY!! BATTLE BEGIN!!" Round one. Elsa wins. Round two. Victor wins. Last round...Victor wins. And no sign of Silver being used which you were a bit concerned about. "ELSA'S GLACEON IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! THEREFORE HULBURY ADVANCES TO THE THIRD ROUND AND FLOOR! BUT ONLY ONE TRAINER WILL MAKE IT TO THE TOP FLOOR TO CHALLENGE THE CHAMPION HIMSELF! WHO WILL IT BE!? FIND OUT AFTER THE COMMERCIAL BREAK SO STAY TUNED!!"

"Yeah Victor!," Hop cheered throwing a hand out and a determined face smacked onto him now. "I knew he could do it! He's gonna wipe the floor with Bede's mop head."

"Hop!," you scowled at him, "I thought we agreed to stop calling him names. And you shouldn't count your poke eggs before they hatch. We don't know who's going to win yet."

"Yeah. But if Vic doesn't ground Bede into dust then Leon sure as Arceus will."

Well...He did have a point there. As a commercial for some kind of pokemon food product came on the TV you wondered what exactly Victor was thinking. Ten minutes passed in a blink of an eye faster than expected because the TV showed a new room with both Victor and Bede making their way onto the scene and stopping. Here we go.

"THIS IS IT FOLKS! ROUND THREE IS ON THE WAY!! THE WINNER SHALL GO ON TO CHALLENGE NONE OTHER THAN GALAR'S OWN UNBEATABLE CHAMPION! BUT WHO WILL TRIUMPH AND WHO WILL LOSE!? LET THE THIRD ROUND MATCH GET UNDERWAY!! TAKE YOUR PLACES!! POKEMON READY! GO!"

And then both sent out their pokemon of choice. Bede a rapidash and Victor a vaporeon. And it didn't take long for one of them to react as Victor pointed right at Bede and shouted a command. "Vaporeon! Quick attack now! And ready your shadow ball!" In an instant the vaporeon did as it's master said. With a small battle cry of it's own, darted forward at lightning speeds. The making of a black ball forming at it's mermaid like tail.

A huff came out of Bede as he shook his head. "Don't you know dark type moves aren't that effective on fairty types? Rapidash! Show them your power with psycho cut!" The horse pokemon let out high pitched whinny. It's whole body glowing a white light as it powered itself up for the move and thrusted it's head forward. Pointing it's horn at the approaching vaporeon. Slashes of that light cutting through the air towards it-

"USE SHADOW BALL ON THE GROUND NOW!!" With a back flip the vaporeon went head over heels, slamming the shadow ball into the ground and allowing the built up momentum to send it cascading through the air and right over the Rapidash's still lowered head. "AQUA TAIL!" A glowing blue light and wave swung forth. The powerful tail absolutely SLAMMING into the poor rapidash's head. A niegh of pain coming from the horse pokemon slammed head first into the floor...and that's where it stayed.

"RAPIDASH IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! VICTOR WINS FIRST MATCH OF ROUND THREE!" Bede's expression changed to one of amusement to shock to frustration as he returned his fallen rapidash. "SECOND ROUND IS UNDERWAY!! PLEASE READY YOUR NEXT POKEMON!!" The Vaporeon stayed as Bede brought a second pokemon out. "GET SET! BATTLE BEGIN!"

"HYDRO PUMP!" Victor was quick to strike first ordering the vaporeon to shoot the geyser of water from it's mouth and it did. Which the gardevoir gracefully dodged with a large jump allowing it to get closer to Victor's pokemon. "SHADOWBALL!!"

"Gardevoir use teleport!" Just as the vaporeon shot out the shadowball the gardevoir disappeared. Only to appear in a blink of an eye behind the water type a little bit aways from it. "Psyshock!" Gardevoir obeyed. Splaying it's arms out circles of bright pink-white light before the same light circles appeared around the vaporeon and darts of lights shot down out it. Causing it to shriek as the light darts made contact with it's body. "Finish it off with shadowball!" It held it hands in front of it's chest as a black ball of energy formed, before as quickly as a scorbunny could run, the gardevior reared it's arms back like a baseball pitcher and threw it. The shadowball cascaded right through the air and exploded on contact. Smoke flew into the air as the explosion started to die down and everyone waited with baited breath as it slowly faded away. And their the vaporeon laid fainted against the ground.

"VAPOREON IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE BATTLE!! BEDE WINS THE SECOND MATCH OF ROUND TWO! PLEASE READY YOUR POKEMON FOR THE FINAL MATCH!!" Both pokemon were retracted and next to you Hop for Victor to win under his breath as both readied their final pokemon for the last match of Round Three. Both brought out their final pokeballs. "GET SET! GO!"

Both finally sent out their final pokemon and your eyes widened when you you saw none other than Silver being sent out by Victor along with Bede's Hatterene. The drizzlie giving a shake of his head and looking around confused- Before giving a squeak of fear at seeing the much larger hatterene staring right at him.

"Hatterene use calm mind!" The hatterene gave off a cry as light surrounded it and in a moment disappeared. That couldn't be good. Bede gave Victor a proud smile as the other twin pointed at him.

"Silver! Water pulse quick!" Quickly regaining his composure, Silver produced a water balloon looking thing from no where and sent the water pulse cascading towards the Hatterene who...didn't move? Bede didn't even make an attempt to order his pokemon as the attack collided with it- And then bounced off right back towards Silver The drizzlie gave a high pitched sound before diving right onto his stomach to avoid the attack that had been magically rebounded at him.

"That's Magic bounce!," Hop said in disbelief next to you. "It sends an enemy's attack right back at them! How'd he teach his hatterene to do that?!"

"Hatterne bedazzle your audience with dark pulse!"

"Silver! Dodge it and get close to that hatterene!"

You could only watch in terror and worry as Silver basically looked like he was tripping on banana peels running around the battle field with a terrified expression ducking and diving away from the calm hatterene's attacks barely dodging Bede's commanded attacks. Anytime Silver was able to get an attack in it was rebounded out back at him and just giving him another thing to dodge from but he did slowly start getting closer towards the hatterene. Your hands clenched feeling the dread and worry in your guts seeing your poor pokemon put through that. Until one well placed dark pulse by Bede sealed the poor pokemon's fate. With a shriek Silver went cascading through the air along with a terrible ripping sound which was the result of his little hoodie tearing right down the front and ruining it as he landed with a hard thud sound right in front of the hatterene. You nearly let out a shriek yourself. Silver wasn't even given time to recover when something grabbed him in an iron grip and lifted his struggling form into the air. 

"Give him a few slams onto the ground!," Bede ordered. And what Bede wanted he got. Over and over and over Silver was slammed into the hard metal ground with enough force to leave behind some dents before it finally brought a dazed and limp Silver up to it's face. The tatters of his jacket falling onto the ground. "Not surprising since you don't have much Pink! Stand by with psychic to finish them off!"

Time seemed to slow down for a moment as Silver's eyes blinked open. Watching as the tatters of the once nice jacket slowly fall to the ground like forgotten leaves in autumn. The poor blue fabric scraps hitting the ground and leaving no more trace of it- No more trace of YOU with him had him staring wide eyed at the ground from the hatterene's grip. He hurt. He was scared. And he was alone right now. Like how he first felt back when he was just a sobble. He certainly fell like crying in that moment but then something happened. Something snapped in him and the hatterene was certainly surprised when the once scared drizzile in it's gripped reared it's head up and yelled at it's face.

"SILVER USE POUND!" 

The hatterene was forced to drop the limp drizzile as a hard sucker punch was delivered directly to it's face via Silver's tongue and with another thud Silver landed on the ground-..And then his once limp body shimmered as if the starlight itself emanated from his own body and he glowed. Brighter and brighter and brighter he became until his body changed and morphed. The hatterene watching in shock and horror as the lit up body grew even taller than itself until the starlight disappeared and a very, very, VERY tall Inteleon stood in it's place above it. Gold eyes staring dangerously down at itself and the hatterene let out some frightened noise instantly leaning back away from this dangerously smiling pokemon.

"Our turn now! Silver let's give these two a piece o' their own medicine!" The hatterene shrieked as a whip like tail snatched it up from the bottom of it's body. 

"HATTERENE!!" Bede could only watch in horror as his beloved hatterene was given the same treatment it gave Silver as the now Inteleon slammed it over and over and OVER into the metal floor with such ANGER and furosity that it made the purple eyed boy stare on in horror. 

"GIVE IT A TOSS!!" A crack of a whip sound went off as Silver with one twist of his body let lose the hatterene and sent it flying into the air with a high pitched shriek of it's own. It's eyes wide in fear as it went around in circles head over heels- "SNIPE SHOT!!" Like a sniper aiming his weapon, Silver held up his hands in a similar way and a stream of a deadly water attack shot out. Not missing it's target and landing with expert skill colliding with the hatterene who gave one last cry of pain before it landed on the ground with a hard thud. ...And didn't get back up.

"HATTERENE IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE BATTLE!! VICTOR WINS THE THIRD ROUND AND SHALL PROCEED ONWARDS TO CHALLENGE THE CHAMPION!!"

"YES!!" You were spooked out your jaw dropped stupor and blinked when Hop jumped up throwing both hands into the air. "HE DID IT!! VICTOR'S GOING TO CHALLENGE LEON!!"

Silver...evolved! You let out a breath you didn't know you were keeping in your mouth as you sighed and continued staring at the Tv. Bede had already returned his hatterene and seemed upset as Victor cheered himself. But it was the actions of Silver that had your eyes staring at the screen. White hands of the knelt shiny inteleon gingerly picked up some of the few remaining tatters of the jacket before standing up. The gold eyes inspecting the remains of the fabric before closing his eyes. A sigh escaping his nose before he turned up a smile towards the cameras for whatever reason. Thank ARCEUS he was alright.

"STAY TUNED FOLKS AS WE TAKE A SMALL BREAK BEFORE THE FINALLY WHERE THE LUCKY TRAINER WILL GO ON TO BATTLE THE CHAMPION HIMSELF! WILL THERE BE A NEW VICTORY AGAINST LEON OR WILL HIS UNBEATABLE REPUTATION STAND STRONG?! ALL OF THAT RIGHT AFTER THE BREAK!!"

Hop wasn't the only one celebrating. Nessa looked rather pleased at the results and even received a congrats from Opal which was nice. Bede did his best. The wait was awful. Just sitting there watching commercial after commercial after commercial. Until the stage was finally set and it was announced that the last round was underway. The top floor of Rose Tower was shown on screen with the one and only Leon standing there. Silently waiting for his special opponent to arrive. And he didn't have to wait long. The door opened and Victor arrived. Walking in through the entrance way. His breath was heaving and sweat ran down his forehead. His hands felt sweating and the grip on the pokeball in his hand tightened. Each step echoed through the entire place until he stopped.

Leon smiled. "Victor! I've been waiting for you. Always knew you'd be able to win your way here." Nothing but a smile and praise was given to Victor and it helped to relax him. "Nervous?"

"Is it obvious?," Victor asked back rubbing his hand on his face.

"Hey. It's alright to be nervous. I was too when I first faced off against the Champion."

"Y-Yeah. But.." Victor looked down. "I guess I wasn't ever expectin' ta actually ever fight against ye is all. It feels so...w-weird. I-If that makes sense. I always thought it'd be Glory who'd be standin' 'ere to face ye."

"She is a strong fighter and she came really far in the gym challenge," leon agreed with a nod, "But so are you. Anyone who was able to make it this far deserves where you stand now. I'm proud of you."

"Y-You are?"

"I'm not the only one either. Nessa. Gloria. Hop. Your mom. ..We all are." And for a moment his eyes closed with a sigh. "My dream has always been to make the people of the Galar Region stronger. And this battle tower is making that dream come true! Think you and I can get stronger too?" His eyes opened back up. "A fierce battle is the only way to do it! Now how about you take on Champion Leon with everything that you've got?"

After a moment Victor took a breath and finding new courage nodded. "I-I'm not gonna hold back!"

"Hehe. I wouldn't have it any other way. Now come on! Let's show everyone an absolute Champion time!"

And thus the battle began. Everyone watching with cheers or silent stares or worried looks with baited breath. You were one of those ones with baited breath especially when you saw Silver get released back out against Leon ...and get knocked to the floor only seconds later with a heavy thud in defeat. 

"INTELEON IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!! THE WINNER OF THE BATTLE TOWER IS THE UNBEATABLE CHAMPION LEON!"

So that was it huh? It was all over. Leon won. Not that no one didn't expect that possibility after all. This was Leon. You didn't look away from the screen as Silver was returned to his pokeball and Leon walked across the room to most likely congratulate Victor and steer him back towards the exit.

"All right, Lee!" Hop cheered next to you. "They were so cool!"

You nodded to not be rude but you were more worried about Silver right now so you stood up to go see him. Seemed you werent the only one who had the idea because Prince Lear also stood up. 

"Your display pleased me today," he spoke back in that neutral voice, "If this is what I can expect later is week as well then I have much to look forward too." He turned his head towards the Chairwoman. "I think I would like to speak with the Champion now. Is that possible?"

Ms. Dahlia nodded. "Of course. I'm sure everyone else is itching to go and take a break as well." She then nodded towards everyone. "Everyone is dismissed until this Saturday. Please excuse us." You watched as the Chairwoman left with the prince and his bodyguards right behind him.

You did look behind you as Milo stood up though along with the others. "Heading to see Felix?" He nodded with a hum. "Think I'll head that way too. I want to see Silver again."

You both filed out with everyone and went around towards the front of the tower ignoring the cheering crowds..Except for Raihan who hammed it up winking and waving and flashing that smirk of his. The show off. Ironically it seemed the others had the same idea as you guys because you ran right into Victor and Gloria as they came around the corner. Victor looked exhausted from the day's events and Gloria was excitedly congratulating him which Hop soon joined in and Victor could only tiredly smile at the rapid fire of talking the two spouted at him. Which was added to by Nessa who gave him a pat on the back and you received Silver's pokeball from him. Sighing in relief as he was safely back in your hands again. Now what? Well everyone who battled in pokemon was going to head over to the nearest pokemon center before either returning to the hotel or somewhere else. You also decided to tag along to the pokemon center in order to have Silver looked over and ended up sharing a taxi over there with Kabu, Gloria, and Hop. The trip there being nothing special other than both Hop and Gloria chatting excitedly about the day's events.

"Hey! Lee's taking me to Wyndon's research center tomorrow! Y-You can come along too if you want?"

To your surprise Gloria actually shook her head no. "Can't. I promised Bede I'd hang out with him after we were done."

Hop froze. And you counted down to his reaction. Three. Two- "WHAT!?"

She smiled excitedly. "YEAH! We're goin' ta this theater and watchin' the Tale of Two Queens! It's the story o' how the ancient kinds supposedly fell in love! And get this! He says we can ride his rapidash there too! I'm so excited ta see the beauty up close that isn't in battle."

...Hop plastered on a grin. "Hey. That's...grrreeeaat, Glory. Real, real happy for ya! But..Maybe we can go around Wyndon tomorrow? Just like old times!"

Her face could not get anymore happier. "I'd love too! We can visit that cafe Lee took us too last year!"

Well. Guess the game was on between those two again. Once you all had arrived and filed out it was also nothing special. There were also a few other people there including Victor and Bede who Hop sent a dirty look but Bede only smiled oh so innocently back at him. From there it was easy. In. Let Nurse Joy look over your pokemon. She healed them all up and recommended to let them rest for a day or two with plenty of food and water. Out. And you smiled at the pokeball in your hand. You'd let him out as soon as you were back outside. But that was where the problems began. As you were getting Silver looked over Bede had walked outside with Gloria chatting away, probably to go hang out like they had planned after the battle. You were planning on walking around for a little bit until you could find someplace to eat with Silver, but something nearly startled you into dropping the pokeball. A shriek. A high pitched (and for some reason familiar sounding) shriek passed through the air just outside the center, and even though it was muffled, everyone inside turned their heads towards the door hearing it. Despite being startled at first you headed towards the exit real quick and threw open the door. What you saw on the other side was something you weren't expecting. At all.

IT WAS OLEANA!!

Or at least the remnants of her. She stood towering over Bede and Gloria who both stood there staring up wide eyed and horrified at her as she shrieked at Bede.

"YOU DARE TURN YOUR BACK ON CHAIRMAN ROSE AFTER EVERYTHING HE'S DONE FOR YOU!! YOU COULD'VE BEEN SITTING COMFY ON THAT CHAMPION STATUS IN A BETTER SOCIETY IF YOU HADN'T LET YOUR EMOTIONS TAKE OFF!!," she shouted between incoherent babbling and rambles pointing her finger at Bede accusingly. 

Oleana!? But-..Why?! HOW!? What was she doing here!? Wasn't she in hiding after that whole incident with Eternatus last year!? In your stupor you stared at the woman still rambling before shaking your head. That didn't matter right now. If she was here then that only meant trouble. And trouble there was. In the middle of her rant her finger actually poked Bede and he reacted instantly. By flinching and making himself (and Gloria) take a step back purple eyes shrinking more in fear. And you saw red. No one saw it coming let alone Oleana. As something suddenly grabbed her extended arm and with a yank over she went. Colliding with a wall away from the two scared teens and other hand placed itself firmly against her other shoulder. Dazed she quickly shook her head and GLARED at you but any bite she might've thrown at you was shoved aside from your response. You were ANGRY. You were TIRED. And you were going to finally give her a piece of your mind!

"SHUT UP!!" Your bellow echoed across the street and into the air demanding silence especially from the woman you kept away from Bede. "Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP! For Arceus sakes just shut up already! Do you ever just be quiet instead of yelling!?" You were getting very hard Pearl vibes from last year which only added to your anger. Oleana was VERY much a karen as well."You absolutely dumb excuse of a walk in closet!! I'm getting real tired of people like you trying to make my life and others lives a living heck to deal with!! And you happened to catch me in a bad mood." Your face pushed itself closer to her and she stared unsure as if this never happened to her before. Which probably hadn't. "Maybe if you didn't wear those stupid shoes you'd be able to pull your head out of the clouds and realize that you're not big, bad, or in charge anymore. AND YOU'RE REALLY TICKING ME OFF!" She made a squeaky gasp noise as you increased your grip on her. She was NOT going to get away. "Maybe your big head makes you think you're fat enough to throw your weight around and can get away with stuff, but you couldn't even get away with swatting a bug now!" Your scowl hardened. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM BEDE!! YOU HEAR ME!? ...LOOK AT ME!!" Her once eyes glancing around for an exit looked back at you from your second bellow. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM HIM!! YOU DON'T LOOK AT HIM! YOU DON'T TALK TO HIM! AND YOU DON'T TOUCH HIM! YOU HEAR ME!? HE'S BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH BECAUSE OF YOU!! AND SO HELP ME IF YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN I'LL SEARCH GALAR UNTIL I FIND YOU AND THEN I'LL DRAG YOU KICKING AND SCREAMING TO THE NEAREST PRISON MYSELF AND MAKE SURE OF IT!!"

Silence. Cold. Dead. Silence. No one spoke. No one made a move. And you didn't loosen your grip or move your gaze away from Oleana silent wide eyed stare. That is. Until something touched your shoulder. You instantly snapped over your shoulder and you blinked at the confusing sight of a pink and mint green umbrella on your shoulder. 

"Well I certainly couldn't have put that in better words myself," an eerily voice said and when you looked behind you your eyes widened. Standing there with her umbrella to your shoulder. Behind her Bede was peeking out wide eyed at you and beside him was Gloria looking calmer and less afraid also glaring at Oleana. "Come now. Let's put her down. I believe she's learnt her lesson." You didn't move at first still surprise but then the tip of the umbrella poked your shoulder a couple times. "We're not getting any younger, Young Lady. Put her down." She spoke in an almost grandmotherly voice. That tone your grandma would use as a warning before you got into trouble.

You looked back to Oleana as she stared back at you. Scowled hard...And let go. Oleana slid down the wall until she sat on the ground. Until you jolted again before whirling around and meeting the eyes of..Milo? With Felix behind him. Oh..Guess they were also part of the group that came here to get their pokemon checked also.

"I was wondering what was taking you children so long but this seems to answer that question." Opal gazed at Olena before humming and turning her gaze to Bede who blinked at her. "Go on now. Take your friend and go wait in the taxi, Dear. I do so love a good performance and I'm not planning on missing this one." Bede didn't even get a chance to answer before she then turned her gaze to Milo. "Why don't you go grab dear Kabu to watch over her before the authorties arrive? Hm? And take your ladyfriend here to go calm her mind." She tilted her head to you as you still scowled at Oleana from Milo's grip. "It would do her good to calm down."

Milo nodded and instantly began to coax you away from Oleana and used his stronger strength begin to pull away from her and the crowd watching. However unknownst to all of you there were some other people watching. A special someone especially with red sunglasses.

"I am so sorry you had to see that, Your Highness. I promise it's not like that all the time. The woman. Oleana. Has been a troublemaker for quite sometime."

"Hm..No need. On the contrary." A smile spread across someone's face as they watched Milo scoot you away. "I find modest and strong women, very alluring."

[echantedtoon]

Isle Connections Ch7 The Battle Tower

"W-W-Will you b-b-b-be my date t-t-t-to the tornam-m-ment?"

"No! Are you kidding me? After what happened? You said you just wanted to be friends so why would you even ask me that!?"

That's totally what he was bracing himself for when he walked up to her and couldn't stop the words from leaving his mouth and he had froze standing there like he was a movie and someone pressed pause on it. You had also froze at the shocked face you gave Before your face went neutral and you slowly asked him.

"Avery," you voice dropped to a low and serious level, "A-Are you...a-asking me on a d-date?" Your face went red and so did his.

A..date? As in like an actually romantic date?! NO! Absolutely not- Or was it? NO! What was he thinking!? Having you on his arm, smiling, and making him feel better about being there himself. Keeping his attention on you while you him. Maybe getting closer- He shook his head hard enough to shake his hat. He opened his mouth to say 'No' and 'As just a friend' kinda deal but instead his mouth said something else.

"Yes."

And then his hands shot up to his mouth making a light slap noise as they collided with his lips. Red immediately flooding his face and feeling as if his soul left his body when you blinked..and then chuckled at him. Making his heart skip a beat and humiliation flood over him. You were laughing at him. You must've thought he was ridiculous-

Y nodded shy smile and eyes looking around. "Sure! It might be fun...I've never been on a d-date before."...When you didn't get an answer back you looked up to see Milo pale and staring at you. "Um...Avery?" you held up a hand. "Are you ok? You look pale."

His answer? He didn't give you one. He silently stared at you or nothing?? You couldn't tell. His arms had long since hung back to his sides and it was almost like he was a mannequin in a store window. Kinda creepy but this was more concerning than creepy the more he stood there pale faced and looking ready to drop- !?

"AVERY?!" You shouted as the psychic tilted sideways to the right and with a loud thud sound collided with the ground as the pokeballs thudded around him. You immediately dropped to your knees next to the dazed man sprawled on the ground blankly staring at the blue sky. Your hands immediately went under his head and chest pulling his shocked form up towards your concerned face. "Are you ok!? Speak to me!"

He continued staring up at the sky in a daze. "...You're...g-gonna be my...date?"

"I..Y-Yeah." You blinked. "But are you ok? GAH!?"

You were sat up really quickly by a blur and Avery was all of a sudden sat up clutching your arms looking serious and lost at the same time. "Did you mean it!?" He looked at you wide eyed. "You'll go with me? A-And ya don't mind? Y-You.." His hands slowly let go of your arms staring like he didn't believe you. "You said you w-wouldn't mind going with me?..Really?" You slowly nodded. "....Why?"

You smiled pink rising to your cheeks. "Um..Because you asked me nicely? A-And it does genuinely sound like a fun time if you'd be there with me." You spoke truthfully looking down and clasping your hands. "You're a really nice guy and I consider you a f-friend so ...W-Why not go together? I m-mean for all you did for me it's t-the least I can do right?"

Avery stared at you longer as the realization wound it's arm back and with all it's force smacked him across the face with reality. He...Had. A. DATE. With. YOU!! That part replayed over and over in his mind. He had a date. He had a date. He had a date. He had a REAL and LEGIT date with YOU and in one month he'd be taking you out on your first ever official date with him to this high class party being hosted. Blue eyes widened as any remaining blood drained from his face. He had a date with you in one month and he hadn't even gotten ready for the trip. Nothing packed. He didn't tell Mustard yet. And no plans for this outcome....

Oh no

OH NO OH NO OH NO!!!

"Um. Avery?" You waved a hand in front of his glassy eyed expression. "You still with me?"

"OH SWEET ARCEUS IN THE HEAVENS!" He answered you making you pause and blink as the psychic stumbled over himself to stand on two feet, once in a standing position, hands grabbing onto his hat and gripping them with enough force to crack a diamond if he tried hard enough. "I gotta start packing!"

You blinked as the next moment he turned and shot back down the dirt pathway back up to the dojo pokeballs levitating after him redder than a strawberry and clutching his hat....You giggled again.

One month flew past in the blink of an eye when you were busy..or in his case really, really stressed out. He tried making himself as elegant as possible and training EXTRA hard to impress her at the tournament. And of course packing and repacking obsessively. one such event happened to be now as he was shifting through his suitcase once again as calculating as a ninja but he could see his hands slightly shaking in nerves.

"T-Tell me what's going on again there," he said while pulling out a perfectly folded shirt for the fifth time out of his packed traveling suitcase.

Mustard would've rolled his eyes if he wasn't so patient and understanding of his student's nerves, so he instead decided to repeat himself from his spot lounged against the wall scrolling through his phone. "We were both invited to Wyndon's first ever Battle Of The Leaders Tournament to show the world Galar's strongest pokemon trainers. It's in honor of Prince Lear from the Pasio Region."

"Right, right." He continued fumbling to fold the shirt back and place it back down. "..Who's that again?"

"The special guest that we need to impress. He's coming all the way from Pasio to pick and chose who gets a chance to compete in the ultimate Pokemon Masters League with other Gym leaders, trainers, and people from all over the world. It's a big deal that the Chairwoman thinks will help Galar's reputation back on track. ....This could be a good chance to show off the dojos  power too."

.he nodded. He hated to admit itt. Loathed it even. But he had a point. He'd do anything to help the dojo and this seemed like a good idea to get more attention towards the it. "R-Right." He pulled out a small traveling blanket. "So what's the main events we're doing there anyways?"

"The Battle Tower event's first," Mustard explained holding up something made of paper towards him. "Leon sent you all the details in the letter if you just wanna read it?" 

"Master please."

"HAHA!! Basically the battle tower is gonna be for all the new pupils the gym leaders have taken on. We're going to battle our way up Rose tower until there's only one last person standing, and that person's going to have the chance to battle Leon himself. I think it's to show off Galar's future leaders."

That's what interested him most in their one week leave. A week passed by within a blink of an eye and soon it was time to go. Everyone had everything they needed packed in their bags, and arranged for some students to care for the farm while they were away. The flying taxi Leon had called in advance to tell them that would be their transport was there, and when he got there, you were already there backpack thrown over your shoulder and pokemon and Gloria at your heels. He would not let you go by yourself it seemed as the little drizzlie literally clung to your leg like a toddler not caring if he embarrassed you. You were staring at the flying taxi with an uncomfortable look but when the sounds of cheering from the crowd picked up you turned your head and smiled upon seeing the two siblings walking towards you.

"Hey, Everyone!" you greeted with a wave and smile.

Ba-bump. Oh..Arceus. He could feel his own cheeks light up a bright pink at her beautiful smile. If Felix hadn't pulled him by the wrist towards the taxi then he might've tripped over in front of the crowd gathered behind him. Stopping in front of you.

"I thought you guys weren't going to make it. I was waiting here for a bit and then this.." You gave the taxi another unenthusiastic look. "..ride showed up."

"Huh!? Oh. Uh- *ahem* Y-Yes. D-Didn't Leon tell you in the letter that'd we'd be going by taxi?"

You nodded not noticing his slip up much to his relief. "Yeah..I'm not too fond of flying. Why is it always flying?"

"Well if we want to get there on time we must take the fastest transport to get there." He gave a look back up to the giant corviknight and it's driver perched high and mighty above the sturdy metal taxi cabin. "And this is it. We'll be there in no time."

You groaned but nodded. "Yeah. I guess so. But I don't understand why we couldn't just take the train?"

"Well Leon was kind enough to arrange this for us and it's already paid for. It'd be rude to turn it down. But don't worry. Flying is quick so it'll be over before you know it."

He could almost chuckle when you groaned and let your arms flop to the sides. But since you wanted to go, and you felt obligated being formally invited by the Champion and Chairwoman, you would have to travel with Avery and Gloria inside the flying taxi. Needless to say you had sadly gotten used to this kind of travel even if you didn't like it. The trip over there was a blur to Avery. He remembered the cheers the crowd had given you all as you stepped into the taxi, him letting you go first. Ladies first as they say, and waving to the crowd before he himself sat on the seat, next to you, and watched as you gripped the seat just before he gave the taxi driver the go ahead to take off and the lunge into the air made you grip tighter onto the seat despite you had buckled yourself in. The mighty strength of the corviknight easily taking off into the air and thus the traveling began. With you sitting next to him and Gloria in the seat in front of you both. Things weren't as bad on the trip to Wyndon as he thought it'd be. It was silence for a bit and Klara had to give him a few nudges and start talking herself to get him to talk to you. And it was...easy. You smiled at him like there was nothing awkward between you two and you both chattered about anything and everything like old friends and it gave you a good chance to chat with Klara more and get to know him. And you found it easy to talk to him about as much as Avery. It was nice to get to know him. one day turned to two and two turned into three and so on. It was..nice seeing someone he liked getting along so well with him. The easy going atmosphere helped to calm him but he still turned a shade of red whenever you leaned against him in your sleep at night. On your way to Wyndon you all sometimes stopped at small towns to recharge for the night or restock on supplies before continuing onward. Until the day arrived. It was early in the morning that you were woken up by someone shaking your shoulder and with a snort you woke up with a groggy look blinking towards Milo who just smiled and pointed out the window.

"Look. We're here."

Blurry eyed you turned to the window. The sun was just starting to come over the sky so it was still fairly dark, and down below you could see the world lit up in lights and that's when you all saw it. You all looked out at the sight of a GIANT brick wall going as far as the eye could see. The horizon blocked off my what must've been hundreds of skyscrapers and Rose Tower. From your place, you could see all the shiny buildings lit up in the early morning light making it look almost heavenly. It was beautiful. Your smile widened and eyes lit up immediately reflecting all the pretty lights like stars in a mirror. It made Avery mesmerized just looking at that beautiful scene in your beautiful eyes-

"So where are we landing? Not just somewhere in the middle of the city I hope."

"What- OH!" He cleared his throat as his green eyes averted from your starry nightfall ones sadly. Pink rising on his face. "*ahem* L-Leon said everyone's meeting' at the Rose o' Rondelands and to wait for them there. Says he wants to go over everything with us before the Battle Tower two days from now, and whatever else he has planned. We can check in our luggage and take a small break from flying."

"That sounds like a good idea," you agreed.

After another rough landing ensued when you all descended through the air and ended up landing right in front of the giant famous hot in Wyndon and you all piled out leaving the taxi behind. Felt good to stretch your legs. And you looked up and up at the tall building that shadow loomed over you. Ah. This brings back memories. Good thing the invite said all the rooms would be paid for in advance. Couldn't imagine how much one of these much costs. But what really caught your attention was the giant crowd gathered in front of the hotel, you didn't see them until you stepped out of the flying taxi and onto the ground..And then the large amount of cheers filled the air. One look behind you told you where it was coming from. People. What must've been hundreds upon hundreds of people backed up against each other at the front of the Rose of Rondelands, blocked by barriers and police officers much like last year when the Champion Cup took place at the stadium. You were steered away by Avery towards the hotel's entrance and all of you entered. The shimmering gold interiors shining brightly again like you had remembered and there was an even bigger surprise waiting for you inside because when you walked off of you were met with yet again another sight. It. Was. EVERYONE!! All the gym leaders you had ever seen were right there!! Lounging and sitting in fancy armchairs and couches. A whole long table was set up with delicious looking food that your f/c eyes laser focused on and made your stomach growl just seeing it everyone was eating from. A few like Melony and Gordie looked up to glance your way as the door was opened and the three of you walked in to which Avery received some waves and greetings

"You guys know we wouldn't miss this!" You looked around. "where's Leon?''

"Dunno," Bea answered Milo from her spot on the couch next to Allister looking boredly at a magazine in her hands. "I've been waiting here since we arrived three days ago."

"Hey now. Lee prolly just wanted to wait until everyone arrived. Now that the whole gang's here, I'm sure he'll be here any second...Unless of course he got lost. Or ended up on top of the Wyndon Stadium again."

Well Raihan was half right. Someone else did arrive. A few somebodies actually but they weren't Leon. Because Leon wouldn't have nearly tackled you to the floor or shouted your name. A flurry of 'Y/N!' flew through the air and before you could even turn around two small things tackled you one after another and you tilted backwards. Your backpack falling to the ground and your arms coming out on instinct to help keep your balance as Silver chirped in surprise. You blinked and looked down at yourself at the clinging creatures attached to you.

"What the-"

"Y/N!" A familiar voice and face beamed up at you and you stared at her smiling face until it suddenly clicked.

"Hop?!" Your voice happily shouted as your mouth forced itself up in a smile before noticing the other two right next to you.. "Victor!" It was them. The original trio. And they were all here again. You hadn't seen them in forever! "Where have you guys been!?"

"Do you mean outside or in general?," Victor asked raising a brow. "If ye mean jus' now, Hop wanted ta show us his wooloo's new evolution. If ya mean anywhere else...Eh. It's a long story we need ta share with ya later." He sighed before rubbing his face. "Let's just say a LOT has happened with our training."

You chuckled and slowly got the three to release you from their hug. "I'm sure there's gonna be plenty of time to tell me what happened since we're still waiting for Leon-"

"In the meantime," Piers interrupted your happy reunion, "You should go get your room keys 'n put your luggage away so we can get some grub. M' sure you're starvin'."

That was actually a good point. As much as you were happy at seeing the guys again, you were looking forward to a shower and some food from the long trip over here. In just an hour you all were able to get your separate room keys and escorted to said rooms by one of the helpful wait staff where you were able to drop off your bags and take a quick shower before heading back down to the lobby along with Silver tailing after you. Back down in the lobby you were able to grab some food (after giving Silver some so you wouldn't have to worry about making a mess trying to get to the food ) and sit down with the guys who were practically begging you too. Once you sat down on the couch, you were bombarded with tales of what they were up to. Hard to follow along ultimately what came down to it was that Gloria had one heck of a hard time being trained by whoever this Mustard character was before returning. Which including plenty of push ups, made to battle in front of a crowd of other students, chasing slowpokes, mushroom and diglett hunting, finishing her pokedex journal, her new rivals, being gifted more pokemon- But one question made you confused.

 "You said you came back with Leon right? Where's he?"

He shook his head. "Dunno. He dropped us both off here a while ago and said to wait for Sonia and Kabu to arrive. Y'know since we're kinda studying under them and all that."

Ah. You supposed Leon was still preparing everything else that needed to be prepared before these special events happened. Made sense you supposed. In the mean time you were having fun eating the absolutely delicious food and listen to the three's adventures in the Crown Tundra and on the Isle of Armor. Victor was proud to show you his pictures of the ancient pokemon and Reggie-pokemon shrines and the giant tree he had discovered while there mentioning them to Leon who mentioned it to the Chairwoman and lo and behold...Victor had unintentionally saved the Town of Crown Tundra from dwindling away by giving the Chairwoman chances to set up tourist attractions for the locals to sell galarian twig crowns and sweaters. That's Victor for you. His determination for preserving nature one way or another came through again. Nessa was sure proud of her pupil's accomplishments. ...In fact..Both twins seemed to be fairing..MUCH better than before. Gloria didn't seem to be bothered all that much anymore by the thought of battling in front of a large crowd, and Victor seemed confident enough in his battling skills to give it a try himself.

....But that also brought other questions.

You know Gloria trained under a Mr. Mustard who trained her up before she continued being trained under Kabu, so who helped Victor? Well you asked and he told you who it was. Nessa of course since she was training with him constantly since they got back, but there was someone else. A man who sent Victor on a couple fun adventures and helped him build confidence in himself through having fun like he never had before. Going on Dynamax Adventures in a place called the Max Lair-

"Hey! I know that place!," Hop piped up as soon as Victor mentioned it, "It's like a maze of underground tunnels under the tundra that's just chalk FULL of natural dynamax particles! Sonia was checking it out for the Chairwoman along with some other things. Sometimes you can find rare pokemon in there. They think it'll be a huge hit for the Special Guests we got over here...Whoever he is?"

Yeah. You were wondering that too. You knew there would be some special guests but you didn't know who. The time passed some more until FINALLY the man of the hour arrived. You were all sitting there as Champion Leon himself walked in through the door with an older woman beside him. A flurry of 'Leon!' left a couple peoples' mouths and your face lit up in a smile as he arrived.

"Leon! Where have you been?!"

"Sorry everyone," he apologized giving a guilty look and holding up his hand. "I uh...Kinda got lost on my way here. Luckily I ran into the Chairwoman on the way here. Speaking of which." He gestured to the woman next to him who you all know gazed at. She looked around Kabu's age with grey hair and wearing a blue business suit. She was smaller than Leon too, about Nessa's height. "Allow me to introduce Ms. Dahlia. The Chairwoman of Galar and the creator of the games that'll be taking place."

"Welcome Everyone," she greeted with a smile and nod. "I want to thank you all for coming and on such short notice. I'm well aware you all must be wondering what I had Leon call you all here for." She said gesturing to everyone. "Some information you were already given in your invitations such as the first event, but the more important bits I wanted to save until I was able to speak to you all face to face." She began gesturing with her hands. "As many of you are aware the Battle Tower will be taking place the day after tomorrow at Rose tower. The lucky gym leader in training that wins will have the honor of battling against the Champion himself at the top of the tower. That trainer and their three runner ups will also be allowed to perform along with others in the final grand tournament."

"Um..Yes. About that. Forgive me if sound a little rude here, but what exactly IS this whole second half is?," Bede asked raising a brow, "I believe we have the right to know considering we'll be a very important part of it I'm assuming."

The Chairwoman nodded. "Yes. You'd be right about that. That is the thing I wanted to discuss most. All of you are here to battle it out in the first ever Galarian Star Tournament for none other than Price Lear of the Pasio Region in hopes he'll chose some of Galar's finest trainers to compete in Pasio's own Master League and get a chance to take home the title of world's strongest pokemon trainer." By the surprised looks and raised brows she got, that certainly was a surprised. She held up her hands. "I know it must be a shock to receive such news so late, but I assure you I didn't plan this. Prince Lear will be arriving tomorrow morning if nothing goes wrong, and the day after will be the Battle Tower. And then at the end of the week, the Galarian Star Tournament shall take place with everyone here as well as a few honored guests that will fighting alongside you and afterwards They shall be arriving later this week closer to the second event. I expect all of you to be on your best behavior during Prince Lear's stay with us. For now you all are dismissed back to your rooms until then. Be sure to arrive at Rose Tower first thing in the morning. We'll have much to discuss then."

And that was it. More words were exchanged by the Chairwoman and Leon but most were words of encouragement before they departed again and you all were dismissed. With nothing further to do you all went back to your rooms for the night bidding everyone good bye. The first thing you did was faceplant face first into the soft bed when you got back inside. It was nice to lay on a bed for once instead of a sleeping bag. Now only if the image of Milo smiling didn't plague your heart for the night.

-Small Time Skip-

The time had come.

Two days had gone past in a blink of an eye and by the second day you had woken up early because of the commotion going on outside your room forcing you to get up and get dressed before walking out the door only to nearly bump into Ms. Opal as she was passing your room towards the elevator along with everyone else. So you apologized before scooting to the side and following the crowd of gym leaders to the elevator, down to the lobby, out the front of the hotel, and out towards your rides there-..And you groaned. Flying taxies. Why was it ALWAYS flying taxies? There was at least somewhere between eight to ten of them. Enough to take everyone to Rose Tower. And you could BARELY hear over the noise. LOTS more people than there were yesterday. All cheering and holding up signs with different gym logos or peoples' faces on them all showing their support for their favorite gym leaders. You had to grab Silver and Cotten candy carrying him in your arms in order to keep them from keeping trampled and ended up climbing into the last taxi before it could take off...Blinking when four people were already sat down inside. It looked a little cramped-

"Y/n! Here. Ye can seat by me. There should be 'nough room if I scoot over some."

And that's how you ended up sitting between the taxi wall and Victor with Silver on your lap. Next to Victor's other side was Nessa and across from all three of you was Kabu and Gloria. Both twins with both their mentors with opposite elements but both fit the twins personalities. Gloria's fiery spirit and Victor flowing patience. Looked right they were already ready to do battle as well. Gloria wore an all red shirt with Kabu's logo on the front with the rest of her attire matching and the same with Victor wearing Nessa's gym logo and wearing a matching outfit of blue and white. And it was then that it hit you. Gloria and Victor were both gym leaders in training now. That by itself wasn't a bad thing but now..they were going to be battling against one another in the Battle Tower. Victor and Gloria had never battled against one another before not when you were with them and they must've realized at one point but neither of them seemed to give it much mind as the two siblings just sat there smiling and chatting away excited like nothing was wrong as you sat there frozen with Silver on your lap. The whole ride there wasn't anything special except when you all arrived and got out of the taxi there were more blockaids and police to control the cheering crowds and a reporter woman who was speaking to a camera pointed directly at all the gym leaders and Rose Tower itself. You stood there for a moment looking around before spotting the twins start to walk towards the Rose Tower and you went to start following them- Someone tapped your shoulder and with a jolt you snapped around to Kabu who shook his head.

"Not there," he clarified to you raising his voice to let you hear you over the large crowd cheering and instead pointing towards other gym leaders and everyone else who was walking towards a different entrance into the building. "That is only for the children who'll be participating in this event. You and I must go that way."

"Oh..Ok! Thanks!"

The older man nodded before turning around and jogging off towards the other entrance and you followed still carrying a bored looking Silver. How was he able to keep up a pace like that so easily? Once inside you were greeted to the same lobby like room you first saw when storming Rose Tower to find Leon last year. Only this time chairs had been set up alongside a giant TV on the wall, obviously for everyone to watch the spectial and as you looked around you noticed something. There was an extremely fancy wooden chair away from the plastic ones almost as if it was a throne for someone important. That was odd. Was that for Leon? You had seen him and the Chairwoman greet everyone at the hotel before coming here so maybe. Silver had spotted something amiss and his pink hand collided with your cheek. Blinking you threw a scowl at the pokemon in your arms before he chirped and pointed over at something..Or should I say someone. A FEW someones in fact because you blinked at them. There was Leon and the Chairwoman...and three other NEW people that you had never seen before. But the two of them were smiling and introducing these three to everyone as they walked in and sat down. There were two bodyguard like people. A man and woman. The woman was about Nessa's height with dark purpel hair that was in a spiral pigtail haircut and purple-magenta eyes. She wore a giant pair of square sunglasses on her head, grey coat with very long sleeves, and red and black attire underneath. The man was much taller than both the woman and other shorter man in front of them with dark grey eyes. He wore a grey-white suit with a black undershirt and red tie, gold rings on his fingers, and a pair of black sunglasses sat upon his own head. But it was the third person in front of them that seemed the most important. He wore a suit similar to the first man but more fancy looking. Grey-white all the way from his shoes to the silk gloves he wore with a black undershirt and red tie. His grey-white coat had a black fur collar and red sunglasses were over his eyes so you couldn't tell what color they were but he did have grey-white hair matching his suit. He stood by Leon with his presumed bodyguards at his sides as the Champion smiled and introduced him to everyone. This stranger's expression neutral. Kabu bowed in front of him as you slowly walked in.

"It is an honor to be able to have you in Galar, Your Highness," the older man greeted with a deep bow.

"Very charmed," the man replied back in also a neutral tone. Neither happy or bored but it was enough to also not come off as rude either.

"I think that's everyone. The only ones you haven't met are the gym leaders successor's who'll you'll be able to watch from here." The man hummed at Leon's words. You slowly walked forward and Leon turned his friendly gaze to you, lit up, and waved his hand in a 'come here' motion. "Hey! Y/n! Right on time." The man next to Leon turned to you, did a double take, and raised his brows staring at the pokemon cradled in your arms like a child as you walked over. "Just the person I wanna see." Once you stopped right in front of him his hand gestured to the man beside him again. "I'm glad you can make it. Y/n, it's my pleasure to introduce you to his highness, Prince Lear. He's come all the way from the Pasio Region for the events." His smile became even wider. "He's also asked to meet you personally."

"He...did?" You stared at the new man in front of you blinking. So he was a prince huh? You remembered the Chairwoman mentioning a Prince Lear coming two days ago, and this man could certainly pass off for a prince easily even if he didn't wear a crown. But he asked to see YOU? Why? You didn't have any fancy titles like a Champion or Gym Leader or Chairwoman?

"Um..Well not exactly by name," Leon explained with a nervous smile, "He's heard about the heroes who averted Galar's crisis twice in a row and was interested to meet the people involved."

Ah. Well that made more sense.

Prince Lear stared in your direction and even though you couldn't see his eyes, you could tell he was looking you over...before a smile finally graced his face. "I've...read the books. Your Professor Sonia took great detail in documenting your region's history."

You nodded. "Yeah. I haven't been able to read her books yet, but I have no doubt Sonia's books are as good as her science. But I didn't expect anyone not from Galar to read them."

The man chuckled amused smiling a bit wider now and both his bodyguards gave a look at each other behind him. "On the contrary. If I'm going to be choosing people from a region to compete in MY Master League's I must do my own research on top of meeting them in person to form my own opinions. Don't I? Your region's current troubles just happened to peek my interest."

You hummed thinking a moment before agreeing. "Well I guess so. I'd want to know about someone too before I invited them to anything."

"Hehe. My thinking exactly. ...Hm. You are Ms. Y/n L/n correct?" You nodded and that seemed to peek his interest more. "So you are the one I've read about. Hmhmhm. Saving the Champion and the rest of the region. Twice...That's not an easy feat." He complimented looking at his gloved hand.

"Well. Actually I didn't save Galar."

He paused. Before looking back up at you. "Oh?''

"I only witnessed it and watched from the sidelines." You shook your head. "I'm no hero. The real heroes are Hop and Victor and Gloria. And of course the pokemon who helped us. I just lent a hand where I could."

"Hmm...You know. Modesty is always beautiful on a woman." You blinked as with a swift motion of his hand, he grabbed your hand in his and lifted it to his mouth. "I look forward to seeing these events." And then you froze as he raised your hand to his mouth and like in some cheesy fairytale fantasy he kissed your knuckles gently.

A cold chill ran down your spine as you could feel everyone looking at you. Along with a tense gaze you could feel glare daggers into the back of your head from..someone but you weren't too sure. You were stuck in a bit of a shell shock as he lowered your hand..but you eventually did react. Chuckling nervously and giving a forced smile before gently pulling your hand back away and grabbing Silver as an excuse.

"Well!..I'm glad you think so! It's always nice to get a compliment," you forced out to not be rude. Arceus forbid if you were rude right now but it'd be best if you kept your anger down for now. "I'm sure you'll really enjoy watching them."

Leon sensing your OBVIOUS distress gladly took the attention from you. "Hey. The battles about to begin. Y/n why don't you go take your seat next to Avery? He seems to have saved you a spot. Prince Lear, shall we?"

"Hm? Oh. Yes let's. I look forward to seeing how well your region's gym leader's train their successors."

Leon pointed his hand and steered Prince Lear towards the fancy seat off to the left which you took as your chance to scatter like a mouse being chased by a cat back towards the crowd of other who either had confused looks from what just happened or ignored it in favor of turning their attentions towards the TV. True to Leon's word, there was in fact an open seat between Avery and Hop and you found out where the glaring at the back of your head came from. Yep. Avery was staring at Lear with a strained smile. You paused staring at him for a few minutes but Hop's waving for you to come here encouraged you to walk up to them and take your seat between the two. Hop spoke first seeing your sour face as soon as you turned away from the prince.

"You ok there, Mate?," he asked raising a brow, "Haven't seen that sore of a face since we last stopped those weirdo hair duo from wreckin' Galar as a whole."

"..Yyyeeaahh." You examined your hand for a moment wincing feeling that guy kiss it before rubbing the back of your hand against your jacket. "Just don't let me forget to wash my hands the first chance I can get."

You jumped feeling a hand grab your shoulder. Looking up you caught Avery giving you a rather serious look before he asked in a low voice, "Are you alright?" He asked softly genuinely concerned before sighing as you nodded. "Oh good. It's rude to just kiss someone like that without asking "

"Hey now. He is a prince. I'm sure they do it all the time," you said wanting to steer away from the topic and gestured towards the TV as it turned on. "But I think right now we oughtta pay attention to the telly. Wouldn't wanna miss the big show."

That seemed to do the trick because Avery's attention was quickly turned to the TV too as the mention of them was announced. And Hop gave a fist pump.

"Alright! Now we get to see Glory and Vic in action! They're gonna mop the floors with the competition!"

You admitted you were excited to see Victor's style of fighting and seeing if it differed from Gloria's or not. Gloria had already proven she could be great in battles and use her head but would that hold up? She wasn't able to defeat Raihan on one and one battles. There wasn't any sandstorms to hide behind with him and as Gloria said it. He was too strong. That's when it had really hit you. While this world was like the game this WASN'T a game and was real life, so there was the real possibility of Gloria losing to someone like Raihan and she did. If she couldn't make it past the top gym leader on a fair field then there wasn't any way she could've bested Leon. And while it did surprise you and you were a little sad for Gloria, you were also relieved. That might've been the only reason you were still here now living your own life and with your friends.

"GOOD MORNING GALAR!" You were snapped back up hearing a reporters voice and face show up on screen. The woman with the microphone smiled as the image of Rose Tower appeared behind her. "This is Marcos Cosmos Newscast with Gillian coming to all you folks at home live in front of Rose Tower where the crowds have been waiting for hours to see who'll be victorious in Galar's first ever Battle Tower competition. A true testimony to how well Gym Leaders train the future generation of Galarian gym leaders. Each contestant will go three rounds and the best one will move onto the next round and next floor eventually reaching the top where the Unbeatable Champion Leon awaits."

What? Leon wasn't- You blinked. Looking around you couldn't spot Leon anywhere in the room. Where was he? You yelped when a hand grabbed your shoulder and you looked up only to come face to face with Nessa. You sighed in relief suddenly seeing her standing above you.

"Arceus Nessa!," you hissed at her in a whisper Silver looking up at the both of you. "What'd you have to go and scare me for?"

"No time to explain!," she whispered back pointing at Silver with a VERY worried expression, "He can battle right? You have his pokeball on you?"

You were a little taken a back at the random question but answered taking Silver's pokeball out of your pocket to show her. "Yeah. He's been in battles before. Why?"

"Victor's short one pokemon and he needs six to rotate out. You don't happen to mind if we borrow him right?" You opened your mouth but before you could speak the pokeball and Silver were snatched into her arms without warning Silver giving a loud chirp of alarm. "Thanks Y/n! I owe you one! I promise I'll make it up to you later!''

"H-Hey wait! Nessa! I didn't-" The fashionista didn't stop as she soon disappeared with a squawking pokemon under her arms out the entrance leaving you sitting there staring.....

What just happened!?

"Will this be the day the Champion finally loses a match or will his record remain unbeatable? Only time will decide. Let's go right now live as the first battle takes place on Floor One on Camera One."

Time's up. The reporter disappeared from the screen and all fell silent as the camera showed a LARGE empty metal room except for one person inside. A man wearing a black and white referee outfit as he stood there. And then two doors from either side opened and two contestants walked in.

"WELCOME LADIES AND GENTLEMEN TO THE FIRST ROUND BATTLE OF ROUND ONE OF GALAR'S FIRST EVER BATTLE TOWER EVENT!!," an announcer spoke from no where. Must've been a speaker. "THE FIRST BATTLE IS UNDERWAY WITH OUR FIRST TWO BATTLERS!!" You heard Raihan from somewhere to your right give a small cheer as Sebastian appeared on the scene. "THE FIRST MATCH WILL BE BETWEEN THE FIRE OF HAMMERLOCKE STADIUM SEBASTIAN AND THE FANTASTICAL BEDE OF THE BELLONLEA STADIUM!!" Hop gave a grumble as Bede also proudly made his way onto the battlegrounds. "WILL SPREAD THEIR WINGS TO REACH THE NEXT ROUND OR WILL BELLONLEA TURN THAT CHANCE INTO A JUST FAIRYTALE!? WE'RE ABOUT TO SEE!! BATTLERS!! TAKE YOUR PLACES ON THE COURSE!!" Both teens did. "POKEMON READY! GET SET!! LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!!"

And just like that the first battle was underway. Sebastian must've improved from the last time you saw him because he easily one the first round against Bede to which both Raihan and Hop cheered at. Raihan using his rotomi phone to take plenty of pictures of his boy winning like a proud father. But unfortunately Sebastian didn't win as Bede completely sweeped through him during the second and final round. Marking him as the clear winner.

"FINAL ROUND OVER!! BEDE HAS BESTED TWO OUT OF THREE!! THEREFORE BELLONLEA PROUDLY MOVES ON TO THE SECOND ROUND AND FLOOR!!"

Raihan groaned which turned into a sigh as he closed his eyes. "Ah well. Can't win them all I suppose."

"That's very sportsman like of you," Opal commented back at him making the Dragon Type Gym Leader chuckle and smile.

"Well I certainly hope so. I wouldn't want to come off as a Negative Nancy."

"SECOND MATCH IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!! PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES!!" And instantly Piers's attention reached a million percent as none other than Marnie and Gloria entered next through the doors.

"ALRIGHT GLORIA!," Hop shouted next to you becoming more excited. "This is gonna be great!"

You nodded. You were excited to see how this would play out. "SECOND FIRST ROUND MATCH IS BETWEEN THE BURNING COAL OF MOTOSTOKE GLORIA AND THE SPUNKY MARNIE OF SPIKEMUTH!!" Both girls taking their places on the field. "PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES ON THE COURSE! POKEMON AT THE READY! GET SET! BATTLE BEGIN!!"

It was a glorious battle. It always was with both Marnie and Gloria. First round Gloria won. Second round Marnie. Third round now. Piers tensed next to you. Pale hand gripping his pants leg. ....Gloria won. Cheers filled the air. A sigh left Piers's nose. Eyes closing. Head looking down. Poor Piers but Marnie did her best. That's what mattered most.

"GLORIA WINS THE SECOND MATCH AND WILL PROCEED TO THE SECOND ROUND AND FLOOR!! THIRD ROUND BATTLERS PLEASE GO ONTO THE FIELD!!" Two more teens walked onto the course and all three of Milo, Gordie, and Melony cheered as both Felix and Elsa made their way onto the fields. "HE HAS THE BEST GREEN THUMB INTRODUCING FELIX OF TURRFIELD AND HIS OPPONENT THE COLD HEARTED BRAWLER ELSA OF CIRCHESTOR AS THEY READY TO FIGHT FOR MATCH THREE!! BUT WILL TURRFIELD GROW TO THE NEXT ROUND BEFORE WINTER FREEZES IT'S ROOTS!? LET'S FIND OUT! BATTLERS TO YOUR PLACES!! GET SET! BATTLE BEGIN!!" All three cheered in front of you. Milo for his little brother and Melony and Gordie for their little sister/daughter. It was a tough battle but in the end Elsa won. "CIRCHESTOR ADVANCES TO THE SECOND FLOOR AND ROUND!! WE WILL BE TAKING A FIVE MINUTE BREAK FOR THE MAINTENANCE CREW TO FIX THE FIRST FLOOR AND READY THE SECOND! PLEASE STAND BY AS WE HAVE A WORD WITH OUR SPONSORS AND FIGURE OUT THE NEXT MATCH PAIRS!"

Poor Milo. he must've been looking forward to seeing his little brother advance forward but Felix did put up a good front against Elsa's Ice type pokemon. Which means that meant Elsa, Gloria, and Bede would be advancing to Round Two and since Victor didn't have anyone to battle with he got an automatic win to advance to Round Two as well. With three of the trainers out of the running that leaves four left. Nessa returned in the time you were speaking to Hop and Piers to pass the time until the second round was announced by the announcer on the TV and a new floor and referee was shown.

"ALRIGHT FOLKS!! NEW ROUND AND NEW FLOOR ARE NOW HERE!! THE MATCHES HAVE BEEN DECIDED! LET'S GET THE FIRST MATCH OF ROUND TWO STARTED!" Here we go. You wondered which twin would be first or if either would go first. Or maybe neither? Both entrances opened and two made their way out. "THE FIRST MATCH BETWEEN BELLONLEA AND MOTOSTOKE IS ABOUT TO COMMENCE!! BATTLERS PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES!!" Gloria and Bede took their places. "GET SET!! LET THE BATTLE COMMENCE!!"

Bede and Gloria huh? Not a bad start to a first match..But also with an unexpected twist. Gloria won first round. Bede second...and then Bede the third? It was just one slip up by Gloria. One mistake that allowed Bede's hatterene enough access to grab Gloria's raboot and proceed to literally rear itself and literally toss the poor rabbit pokemon right out of the in boundaries and crashing into one of the tower's walls just before it could late a critical and probably final blow to the hatterene's weak point. Making Bede the winner by a small inch.

"BEDE'S HATTERENE HAS KNOCKED RABOOT OUT OF BOUNDS!! THEREFORE BEDE ADVANCES TO THE NEXT ROUND AND FLOOR! PLEASE STAND BY AS WE WAIT FOR THE NEXT MATCH TO BEGIN!"

"WHAT!?," Hop shouted hands rushing to grab his head which was followed by many looks thrown at him and shushes from the others.

"Hop. Don't be so loud," you whispered at him. Luckily Prince Lear didn't seem to notice Hop's outburst. "We have a guest here."

"I know but-.." he stared back at the screen where Gloria and Bede now excited the floor. "HOW could've she lost against him of all people?! Glory beat him every other time they battled and she trained under the very best! It doesn't make any sense."

"Well not everyone can win against every battle they fight," you explained, "You win some. You lose some. Even Gloria. I mean she lost to Raihan in the finals didn't she?"

"Not everyone loses. Leon doesn't."

"Didn't he lose to Eternatus?" Your brow rose. "I thought that was the entire reason of you two saving him."

Hop went silent for a moment before crossing his arms and mumbling. "I guess so."

You smiled. "See? It's not so bad. Besides you have to remember Bede's going to have to fight either Elsa or Victor in the next round anyways, so it's not like he's home free yet.''

That seemed to lift Hop's spirit's a bit because he nodded with a hum. "That's true. We'll have to wait and see."

Well you all didn't have to wait long because the entrances opened again and two others made their way onto the course. "THE SECOND MATCH OF ROUND TWO WILL NOW COMMENCE BETWEEN CIRCHESTER AND HULBURY!! PLEASE GET TO YOUR PLACES!! POKEMON AT THE READY!! BATTLE BEGIN!!" Round one. Elsa wins. Round two. Victor wins. Last round...Victor wins. And no sign of Silver being used which you were a bit concerned about. "ELSA'S GLACEON IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! THEREFORE HULBURY ADVANCES TO THE THIRD ROUND AND FLOOR! BUT ONLY ONE TRAINER WILL MAKE IT TO THE TOP FLOOR TO CHALLENGE THE CHAMPION HIMSELF! WHO WILL IT BE!? FIND OUT AFTER THE COMMERCIAL BREAK SO STAY TUNED!!"

"Yeah Victor!," Hop cheered throwing a hand out and a determined face smacked onto him now. "I knew he could do it! He's gonna wipe the floor with Bede's mop head."

"Hop!," you scowled at him, "I thought we agreed to stop calling him names. And you shouldn't count your poke eggs before they hatch. We don't know who's going to win yet."

"Yeah. But if Vic doesn't ground Bede into dust then Leon sure as Arceus will."

Well...He did have a point there. As a commercial for some kind of pokemon food product came on the TV you wondered what exactly Victor was thinking. Ten minutes passed in a blink of an eye faster than expected because the TV showed a new room with both Victor and Bede making their way onto the scene and stopping. Here we go.

"THIS IS IT FOLKS! ROUND THREE IS ON THE WAY!! THE WINNER SHALL GO ON TO CHALLENGE NONE OTHER THAN GALAR'S OWN UNBEATABLE CHAMPION! BUT WHO WILL TRIUMPH AND WHO WILL LOSE!? LET THE THIRD ROUND MATCH GET UNDERWAY!! TAKE YOUR PLACES!! POKEMON READY! GO!"

And then both sent out their pokemon of choice. Bede a rapidash and Victor a vaporeon. And it didn't take long for one of them to react as Victor pointed right at Bede and shouted a command. "Vaporeon! Quick attack now! And ready your shadow ball!" In an instant the vaporeon did as it's master said. With a small battle cry of it's own, darted forward at lightning speeds. The making of a black ball forming at it's mermaid like tail.

A huff came out of Bede as he shook his head. "Don't you know dark type moves aren't that effective on fairty types? Rapidash! Show them your power with psycho cut!" The horse pokemon let out high pitched whinny. It's whole body glowing a white light as it powered itself up for the move and thrusted it's head forward. Pointing it's horn at the approaching vaporeon. Slashes of that light cutting through the air towards it-

"USE SHADOW BALL ON THE GROUND NOW!!" With a back flip the vaporeon went head over heels, slamming the shadow ball into the ground and allowing the built up momentum to send it cascading through the air and right over the Rapidash's still lowered head. "AQUA TAIL!" A glowing blue light and wave swung forth. The powerful tail absolutely SLAMMING into the poor rapidash's head. A niegh of pain coming from the horse pokemon slammed head first into the floor...and that's where it stayed.

"RAPIDASH IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! VICTOR WINS FIRST MATCH OF ROUND THREE!" Bede's expression changed to one of amusement to shock to frustration as he returned his fallen rapidash. "SECOND ROUND IS UNDERWAY!! PLEASE READY YOUR NEXT POKEMON!!" The Vaporeon stayed as Bede brought a second pokemon out. "GET SET! BATTLE BEGIN!"

"HYDRO PUMP!" Victor was quick to strike first ordering the vaporeon to shoot the geyser of water from it's mouth and it did. Which the gardevoir gracefully dodged with a large jump allowing it to get closer to Victor's pokemon. "SHADOWBALL!!"

"Gardevoir use teleport!" Just as the vaporeon shot out the shadowball the gardevoir disappeared. Only to appear in a blink of an eye behind the water type a little bit aways from it. "Psyshock!" Gardevoir obeyed. Splaying it's arms out circles of bright pink-white light before the same light circles appeared around the vaporeon and darts of lights shot down out it. Causing it to shriek as the light darts made contact with it's body. "Finish it off with shadowball!" It held it hands in front of it's chest as a black ball of energy formed, before as quickly as a scorbunny could run, the gardevior reared it's arms back like a baseball pitcher and threw it. The shadowball cascaded right through the air and exploded on contact. Smoke flew into the air as the explosion started to die down and everyone waited with baited breath as it slowly faded away. And their the vaporeon laid fainted against the ground.

"VAPOREON IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE BATTLE!! BEDE WINS THE SECOND MATCH OF ROUND TWO! PLEASE READY YOUR POKEMON FOR THE FINAL MATCH!!" Both pokemon were retracted and next to you Hop for Victor to win under his breath as both readied their final pokemon for the last match of Round Three. Both brought out their final pokeballs. "GET SET! GO!"

Both finally sent out their final pokemon and your eyes widened when you you saw none other than Silver being sent out by Victor along with Bede's Hatterene. The drizzlie giving a shake of his head and looking around confused- Before giving a squeak of fear at seeing the much larger hatterene staring right at him.

"Hatterene use calm mind!" The hatterene gave off a cry as light surrounded it and in a moment disappeared. That couldn't be good. Bede gave Victor a proud smile as the other twin pointed at him.

"Silver! Water pulse quick!" Quickly regaining his composure, Silver produced a water balloon looking thing from no where and sent the water pulse cascading towards the Hatterene who...didn't move? Bede didn't even make an attempt to order his pokemon as the attack collided with it- And then bounced off right back towards Silver The drizzlie gave a high pitched sound before diving right onto his stomach to avoid the attack that had been magically rebounded at him.

"That's Magic bounce!," Hop said in disbelief next to you. "It sends an enemy's attack right back at them! How'd he teach his hatterene to do that?!"

"Hatterne bedazzle your audience with dark pulse!"

"Silver! Dodge it and get close to that hatterene!"

You could only watch in terror and worry as Silver basically looked like he was tripping on banana peels running around the battle field with a terrified expression ducking and diving away from the calm hatterene's attacks barely dodging Bede's commanded attacks. Anytime Silver was able to get an attack in it was rebounded out back at him and just giving him another thing to dodge from but he did slowly start getting closer towards the hatterene. Your hands clenched feeling the dread and worry in your guts seeing your poor pokemon put through that. Until one well placed dark pulse by Bede sealed the poor pokemon's fate. With a shriek Silver went cascading through the air along with a terrible ripping sound which was the result of his little hoodie tearing right down the front and ruining it as he landed with a hard thud sound right in front of the hatterene. You nearly let out a shriek yourself. Silver wasn't even given time to recover when something grabbed him in an iron grip and lifted his struggling form into the air.

"Give him a few slams onto the ground!," Bede ordered. And what Bede wanted he got. Over and over and over Silver was slammed into the hard metal ground with enough force to leave behind some dents before it finally brought a dazed and limp Silver up to it's face. The tatters of his jacket falling onto the ground. "Not surprising since you don't have much Pink! Stand by with psychic to finish them off!"

Time seemed to slow down for a moment as Silver's eyes blinked open. Watching as the tatters of the once nice jacket slowly fall to the ground like forgotten leaves in autumn. The poor blue fabric scraps hitting the ground and leaving no more trace of it- No more trace of YOU with him had him staring wide eyed at the ground from the hatterene's grip. He hurt. He was scared. And he was alone right now. Like how he first felt back when he was just a sobble. He certainly fell like crying in that moment but then something happened. Something snapped in him and the hatterene was certainly surprised when the once scared drizzile in it's gripped reared it's head up and yelled at it's face.

"SILVER USE POUND!"

The hatterene was forced to drop the limp drizzile as a hard sucker punch was delivered directly to it's face via Silver's tongue and with another thud Silver landed on the ground-..And then his once limp body shimmered as if the starlight itself emanated from his own body and he glowed. Brighter and brighter and brighter he became until his body changed and morphed. The hatterene watching in shock and horror as the lit up body grew even taller than itself until the starlight disappeared and a very, very, VERY tall Inteleon stood in it's place above it. Gold eyes staring dangerously down at itself and the hatterene let out some frightened noise instantly leaning back away from this dangerously smiling pokemon.

"Our turn now! Silver let's give these two a piece o' their own medicine!" The hatterene shrieked as a whip like tail snatched it up from the bottom of it's body.

"HATTERENE!!" Bede could only watch in horror as his beloved hatterene was given the same treatment it gave Silver as the now Inteleon slammed it over and over and OVER into the metal floor with such ANGER and furosity that it made the purple eyed boy stare on in horror.

"GIVE IT A TOSS!!" A crack of a whip sound went off as Silver with one twist of his body let lose the hatterene and sent it flying into the air with a high pitched shriek of it's own. It's eyes wide in fear as it went around in circles head over heels- "SNIPE SHOT!!" Like a sniper aiming his weapon, Silver held up his hands in a similar way and a stream of a deadly water attack shot out. Not missing it's target and landing with expert skill colliding with the hatterene who gave one last cry of pain before it landed on the ground with a hard thud. ...And didn't get back up.

"HATTERENE IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE BATTLE!! VICTOR WINS THE THIRD ROUND AND SHALL PROCEED ONWARDS TO CHALLENGE THE CHAMPION!!"

"YES!!" You were spooked out your jaw dropped stupor and blinked when Hop jumped up throwing both hands into the air. "HE DID IT!! VICTOR'S GOING TO CHALLENGE LEON!!"

Silver...evolved! You let out a breath you didn't know you were keeping in your mouth as you sighed and continued staring at the Tv. Bede had already returned his hatterene and seemed upset as Victor cheered himself. But it was the actions of Silver that had your eyes staring at the screen. White hands of the knelt shiny inteleon gingerly picked up some of the few remaining tatters of the jacket before standing up. The gold eyes inspecting the remains of the fabric before closing his eyes. A sigh escaping his nose before he turned up a smile towards the cameras for whatever reason. Thank ARCEUS he was alright.

"STAY TUNED FOLKS AS WE TAKE A SMALL BREAK BEFORE THE FINALLY WHERE THE LUCKY TRAINER WILL GO ON TO BATTLE THE CHAMPION HIMSELF! WILL THERE BE A NEW VICTORY AGAINST LEON OR WILL HIS UNBEATABLE REPUTATION STAND STRONG?! ALL OF THAT RIGHT AFTER THE BREAK!!"

Hop wasn't the only one celebrating. Nessa looked rather pleased at the results and even received a congrats from Opal which was nice. Bede did his best. The wait was awful. Just sitting there watching commercial after commercial after commercial. Until the stage was finally set and it was announced that the last round was underway. The top floor of Rose Tower was shown on screen with the one and only Leon standing there. Silently waiting for his special opponent to arrive. And he didn't have to wait long. The door opened and Victor arrived. Walking in through the entrance way. His breath was heaving and sweat ran down his forehead. His hands felt sweating and the grip on the pokeball in his hand tightened. Each step echoed through the entire place until he stopped.

Leon smiled. "Victor! I've been waiting for you. Always knew you'd be able to win your way here." Nothing but a smile and praise was given to Victor and it helped to relax him. "Nervous?"

"Is it obvious?," Victor asked back rubbing his hand on his face.

"Hey. It's alright to be nervous. I was too when I first faced off against the Champion."

"Y-Yeah. But.." Victor looked down. "I guess I wasn't ever expectin' ta actually ever fight against ye is all. It feels so...w-weird. I-If that makes sense. I always thought it'd be Glory who'd be standin' 'ere to face ye."

"She is a strong fighter and she came really far in the gym challenge," leon agreed with a nod, "But so are you. Anyone who was able to make it this far deserves where you stand now. I'm proud of you."

"Y-You are?"

"I'm not the only one either. Nessa. Gloria. Hop. Your mom. ..We all are." And for a moment his eyes closed with a sigh. "My dream has always been to make the people of the Galar Region stronger. And this battle tower is making that dream come true! Think you and I can get stronger too?" His eyes opened back up. "A fierce battle is the only way to do it! Now how about you take on Champion Leon with everything that you've got?"

After a moment Victor took a breath and finding new courage nodded. "I-I'm not gonna hold back!"

"Hehe. I wouldn't have it any other way. Now come on! Let's show everyone an absolute Champion time!"

And thus the battle began. Everyone watching with cheers or silent stares or worried looks with baited breath. You were one of those ones with baited breath especially when you saw Silver get released back out against Leon ...and get knocked to the floor only seconds later with a heavy thud in defeat.

"INTELEON IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!! THE WINNER OF THE BATTLE TOWER IS THE UNBEATABLE CHAMPION LEON!"

So that was it huh? It was all over. Leon won. Not that no one didn't expect that possibility after all. This was Leon. You didn't look away from the screen as Silver was returned to his pokeball and Leon walked across the room to most likely congratulate Victor and steer him back towards the exit.

"All right, Lee!" Hop cheered next to you. "They were so cool!"

You nodded to not be rude but you were more worried about Silver right now so you stood up to go see him. Seemed you werent the only one who had the idea because Prince Lear also stood up.

"Your display pleased me today," he spoke back in that neutral voice, "If this is what I can expect later is week as well then I have much to look forward too." He turned his head towards the Chairwoman. "I think I would like to speak with the Champion now. Is that possible?"

Ms. Dahlia nodded. "Of course. I'm sure everyone else is itching to go and take a break as well." She then nodded towards everyone. "Everyone is dismissed until this Saturday. Please excuse us." You watched as the Chairwoman left with the prince and his bodyguards right behind him.

You did look behind you as Avery stood up though along with the others. "Heading to see Mustard?" He nodded with a hum. "Think I'll head that way too. I want to see Silver again."

You both filed out with everyone and went around towards the front of the tower ignoring the cheering crowds..Except for Raihan who hammed it up winking and waving and flashing that smirk of his. The show off. Ironically it seemed the others had the same idea as you guys because you ran right into Victor and Gloria as they came around the corner. Victor looked exhausted from the day's events and Gloria was excitedly congratulating him which Hop soon joined in and Victor could only tiredly smile at the rapid fire of talking the two spouted at him. Which was added to by Nessa who gave him a pat on the back and you received Silver's pokeball from him. Sighing in relief as he was safely back in your hands again. Now what? Well everyone who battled in pokemon was going to head over to the nearest pokemon center before either returning to the hotel or somewhere else. You also decided to tag along to the pokemon center in order to have Silver looked over and ended up sharing a taxi over there with Kabu, Gloria, and Hop. The trip there being nothing special other than both Hop and Gloria chatting excitedly about the day's events.

"Hey! Lee's taking me to Wyndon's research center tomorrow! Y-You can come along too if you want?"

To your surprise Gloria actually shook her head no. "Can't. I promised Bede I'd hang out with him after we were done."

Hop froze. And you counted down to his reaction. Three. Two- "WHAT!?"

She smiled excitedly. "YEAH! We're goin' ta this theater and watchin' the Tale of Two Queens! It's the story o' how the ancient kinds supposedly fell in love! And get this! He says we can ride his rapidash there too! I'm so excited ta see the beauty up close that isn't in battle."

...Hop plastered on a grin. "Hey. That's...grrreeeaat, Glory. Real, real happy for ya! But..Maybe we can go around Wyndon tomorrow? Just like old times!"

Her face could not get anymore happier. "I'd love too! We can visit that cafe Lee took us too last year!"

Well. Guess the game was on between those two again. Once you all had arrived and filed out it was also nothing special. There were also a few other people there including Victor and Bede who Hop sent a dirty look but Bede only smiled oh so innocently back at him. From there it was easy. In. Let Nurse Joy look over your pokemon. She healed them all up and recommended to let them rest for a day or two with plenty of food and water. Out. And you smiled at the pokeball in your hand. You'd let him out as soon as you were back outside. But that was where the problems began. As you were getting Silver looked over Bede had walked outside with Gloria chatting away, probably to go hang out like they had planned after the battle. You were planning on walking around for a little bit until you could find someplace to eat with Silver, but something nearly startled you into dropping the pokeball. A shriek. A high pitched (and for some reason familiar sounding) shriek passed through the air just outside the center, and even though it was muffled, everyone inside turned their heads towards the door hearing it. Despite being startled at first you headed towards the exit real quick and threw open the door. What you saw on the other side was something you weren't expecting. At all.

IT WAS OLEANA!!

Or at least the remnants of her. She stood towering over Bede and Gloria who both stood there staring up wide eyed and horrified at her as she shrieked at Bede.

"YOU DARE TURN YOUR BACK ON CHAIRMAN ROSE AFTER EVERYTHING HE'S DONE FOR YOU!! YOU COULD'VE BEEN SITTING COMFY ON THAT CHAMPION STATUS IN A BETTER SOCIETY IF YOU HADN'T LET YOUR EMOTIONS TAKE OFF!!," she shouted between incoherent babbling and rambles pointing her finger at Bede accusingly.

Oleana!? But-..Why?! HOW!? What was she doing here!? Wasn't she in hiding after that whole incident with Eternatus last year!? In your stupor you stared at the woman still rambling before shaking your head. That didn't matter right now. If she was here then that only meant trouble. And trouble there was. In the middle of her rant her finger actually poked Bede and he reacted instantly. By flinching and making himself (and Gloria) take a step back purple eyes shrinking more in fear. And you saw red. No one saw it coming let alone Oleana. As something suddenly grabbed her extended arm and with a yank over she went. Colliding with a wall away from the two scared teens and other hand placed itself firmly against her other shoulder. Dazed she quickly shook her head and GLARED at you but any bite she might've thrown at you was shoved aside from your response. You were ANGRY. You were TIRED. And you were going to finally give her a piece of your mind!

"SHUT UP!!" Your bellow echoed across the street and into the air demanding silence especially from the woman you kept away from Bede. "Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP! For Arceus sakes just shut up already! Do you ever just be quiet instead of yelling!?" You were getting very hard Pearl vibes from last year which only added to your anger. Oleana was VERY much a karen as well."You absolutely dumb excuse of a walk in closet!! I'm getting real tired of people like you trying to make my life and others lives a living heck to deal with!! And you happened to catch me in a bad mood." Your face pushed itself closer to her and she stared unsure as if this never happened to her before. Which probably hadn't. "Maybe if you didn't wear those stupid shoes you'd be able to pull your head out of the clouds and realize that you're not big, bad, or in charge anymore. AND YOU'RE REALLY TICKING ME OFF!" She made a squeaky gasp noise as you increased your grip on her. She was NOT going to get away. "Maybe your big head makes you think you're fat enough to throw your weight around and can get away with stuff, but you couldn't even get away with swatting a bug now!" Your scowl hardened. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM BEDE!! YOU HEAR ME!? ...LOOK AT ME!!" Her once eyes glancing around for an exit looked back at you from your second bellow. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM HIM!! YOU DON'T LOOK AT HIM! YOU DON'T TALK TO HIM! AND YOU DON'T TOUCH HIM! YOU HEAR ME!? HE'S BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH BECAUSE OF YOU!! AND SO HELP ME IF YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN I'LL SEARCH GALAR UNTIL I FIND YOU AND THEN I'LL DRAG YOU KICKING AND SCREAMING TO THE NEAREST PRISON MYSELF AND MAKE SURE OF IT!!"

Silence. Cold. Dead. Silence. No one spoke. No one made a move. And you didn't loosen your grip or move your gaze away from Oleana silent wide eyed stare. That is. Until something touched your shoulder. You instantly snapped over your shoulder and you blinked at the confusing sight of a pink and mint green umbrella on your shoulder.

"Well I certainly couldn't have put that in better words myself," an eerily voice said and when you looked behind you your eyes widened. Standing there with her umbrella to your shoulder. Behind her Bede was peeking out wide eyed at you and beside him was Gloria looking calmer and less afraid also glaring at Oleana. "Come now. Let's put her down. I believe she's learnt her lesson." You didn't move at first still surprise but then the tip of the umbrella poked your shoulder a couple times. "We're not getting any younger, Young Lady. Put her down." She spoke in an almost grandmotherly voice. That tone your grandma would use as a warning before you got into trouble.

You looked back to Oleana as she stared back at you. Scowled hard...And let go. Oleana slid down the wall until she sat on the ground. Until you jolted again before whirling around and meeting the eyes of..Avery? Oh..Guess they were also part of the group that came here to get their pokemon checked also.

"I was wondering what was taking you children so long but this seems to answer that question." Opal gazed at Olena before humming and turning her gaze to Bede who blinked at her. "Go on now. Take your friend and go wait in the taxi, Dear. I do so love a good performance and I'm not planning on missing this one." Bede didn't even get a chance to answer before she then turned her gaze to Avery. "Why don't you go grab dear Kabu to watch over her before the authorities arrive? Hm? And take your ladyfriend here to go calm her mind." She tilted her head to you as you still scowled at Oleana from Avery's grip. "It would do her good to calm down."

Avery nodded and instantly began to coax you away from Oleana and used his stronger strength begin to pull away from her and the crowd watching. However unknownst to all of you there were some other people watching. A special someone especially with red sunglasses.

"I am so sorry you had to see that, Your Highness. I promise it's not like that all the time. The woman. Oleana. Has been a troublemaker for quite sometime."

"Hm..No need. On the contrary." A smile spread across someone's face as they watched Milo scoot you away. "I find modest and strong women, very alluring."

[keanureevesisbae]

After an unplanned overnight stay (for example mission gone wrong or else), character of your choice loses it, when smelling his own bodywash on his "partner"...

August Walker x fem!reader

Wordcount: 1k

Warnings: Sex, daddy kink, spanking 👀

It had been a draining couple of days. August originally intended to be home by six p.m., but when he checks his watch right before he enters the apartment, it’s already three in the morning. Your shoes are neatly stored away underneath the coat rack, a sign that you’re still here. You knew that his job was demanding, but never once did he hear you complain about. When he had to leave unexpectedly for a mission, even if you two were mid date, you simply nodded, flashed him a smile and told him to be careful.

You were one of a kind, hence the reason August tried to give you as much as you wanted, be there for you whenever you needed him, because he needed you a lot more. You were so important to him, that he couldn’t even imagine a life without you.

He closes the door and quietly walks up the stairs. The door is slightly ajar, but he can already see you in bed, completely relaxed. He undoes himself from his clothing and opens the covers, only to discover you are naked on his side of the bed. He slides in behind you and presses a kiss on the back of your head.

Is that… His body wash? He presses his nose against your shoulder and realizes that you indeed used his, instead of your own that smelled like roses. You were always a sweet one, confiscating his clothing, sleeping on his side of the bed and apparently using his body wash whenever he was away.

‘Wake up,’ he whispers.

Your eyes flutter open and a little dazed you look over your shoulder. ‘Hi daddy,’ you say with a soft smile. ‘What time is it?’

‘Late,’ he says, as you turn around. ‘Tell me, did you shower with daddy’s body wash?’

You bite your lip. ‘I’m sorry,’ you quietly say, ‘I just missed you and how you smelled.’

Almost feeling sorry for you, he says: ‘I’m not mad. It’s a nice surprise to come home to.’

To the rest of the world, August was closed off, mysterious and dangerous. When he was with you, he toned it all down. He let his guard down, knowing that you would never take advantage of him. All you cared about was if he came home, preferably without a scratch. You trusted him completely, something August wasn’t used to.

You pressed your naked frame against his, pressing a kiss on his lips. He missed the taste of you, your lips fitting perfectly on his. ‘You’re all okay?’

‘I am,’ he says, burying his face in your neck, simply to smell the scent of his body wash on your skin. It’s just his body wash when he used it, but it does all sorts of things to him when it’s on you. ‘Just missed my girl.’

‘I missed you too,’ you say, as your fingers run through his locks.

‘Can you promise me you use my body wash all the time now? Not just when you miss me.’

‘I promise.’

The way he uses you when he comes home depends on how well the mission went. If things went smoothly, without a hitch, he takes his time in making love to you, nearly celebrating how well it went. If things went hopelessly wrong, he’d use you to chase down his release or to take out his frustrations by making you cum over and over again.

His fingers traveling from your breast further south. He slides his finger tips through your swollen lips. It seems like you were truly anticipating his arrival back, making him snicker against your nape, before nipping at the skin.

‘Daddy,’ you whine, bucking up your hips to meet him.

August turns you on your stomach and pulls up your hips. His hands knead the soft flesh of your bottom. ‘Ask me.’

He watches you place your cheek on the pillow and the familiar question leaves your lips: ‘How was your mission, daddy?’

‘It went shit,’ he says, letting his hand fall on your bum. The assaulted skin heats up underneath his palm. You always act like such a big girl, but he knows that one slap is enough for you to sit uncomfortably for a long time. Normally he’d care.

Now he doesn’t.

Every slap is for something that went wrong during the mission. By the time he has hit six each cheek, you’re already a sobbing mess and he decides to take a bit of mercy on you. He guides the tip of his hard member between your folds and without preparation he slides deep inside of you, your walls tightly wrapping around him.

Your whimpers fill the bedroom, your hands ball into clenched fists. One of his hands on your hip, the other tangled in your hair, slightly pulling on it. You moan out loud, as he picks up the pace.

You’re already clenching around him and August can’t help but smirk. You’re such a needy one, already this close. ‘Aren’t you forgetting something?’

‘Please, daddy, can I cum?’ you quickly ask.

‘Of course, princess, of course.’

You asked right on time, because you already are pushed over the edge. Your can’t support yourself on your knees anymore, but August holds you up, still needing you for chasing his own release. You’re crying out of pleasure and slight overstimulation, as you fist the pillowcase. Not long after you, he throws his head back as his hips stutter against you, his cum filling you up.

He pulls out, his spilled seed already leaking out of you. He lays down next to you, pulling your slack body on top of his. ‘Daddy is gonna stay for a while,’ he says, carefully holding you against his chest.

‘How long?’ you whisper, as you resit a bit on top of him, accidentally brushing your sensitive clit against his body, causing you to whine.

‘At least a week,’ he says. ‘I hope you don’t have any plans, because you and I are not leaving this bed.’

✨Excuse me while I try to find out where I can order this ✨

[xxsmokeyy]

Levi x Reader (F) It’s The Tea

genre: fluff, canon divergence — coffee shop setting

summary: a misplaced table and a pair of hands that had a knack for good tea; you wonder what brought Humanity’s Strongest to your shop.

wc: 6,262

part II

“I’ll have one flat white,” a customer says as she picks money from her coin purse. You give her a smile after receiving her payment, the exact amount saving you the task of calculating change.

“Coming right up.” And you make your way to the coffee beans to make the blend she ordered. She watches in patience as you skillfully maneuver around the counter, getting everything done along the process. You incline the porcelain a little to make for the finishing art, steamed milk piercing through the coffee and creating a signature shape. In no time, you hand her the drink on top of a saucer.

She silently nods as brief thanks, and as soon as she turns her back to you, you dart your eyes on a table of one by the far right windowpane. You carefully spectate her and what direction she’s going. She’s going to the table!

The make-do suspense keeps you on your toes as you look at her intently, breath slightly hitching, waiting for her to sit on the lone chair. The woman navigates across the room, heading straight for your wishful desires. Your hands fly to your mouth in shock, witnessing the life-changing moment unravel before your eyes. No way. She really is.

The cup of coffee on her left hand, she uses her right to move the chair to take a seat. But just when she’s about to pull it back, someone calls her from another table, waving at her excitedly.

You stand upright and alert while your scrutinizing gaze follow her movements. She looks at where the voice is coming from, and almost immediately, her face brightens upon seeing who. Her right hand lets go of the wooden furniture and proceeds to where the caller sits. You look at her destination and find three people on a table of four. It doesn’t take long before she takes the free seat and starts chatting with them.

Your body slumps back with a disappointed sigh. Looks like no one’s sitting there yet again.

It’s the closest call you’ve ever had after years of this shop’s existence. Why no one chooses to sit there is beyond you. Either your customers are not alone, or they are, but only to take out their orders. Actually, even if they’re alone, they’d take the table for two instead. Do they not want to look lonely that bad? You groan in annoyance.

The table consists of a small, circular table and a single chair by the window. In your mightiest opinion, it’s the perfect place to just sit down, enjoy a cup of hot coffee, and read a book. But nobody’s ever done that through the passing years, and you can only witness the table being neglected by people.

It irks you a little. Could there have been another way to maximize the space that stemmed from unproportional construction? Maybe it really is time to remove those. Maybe it’s not really a big deal.

You’ve been contemplating too many times replacing it with a plant vase or a decorative ornament to take up the space since it’s of no use anyway. But something just tells you you shouldn’t. Besides, just thinking thinking about feels costly.

The rest of the day goes by quickly, and before you know it, you’ve opened the store again, serving customers after customers. This time, you never gave the table another glance. Surprisingly enough, you spent the whole night debating with yourself on what decoration you should fill the space with. A nice bookshelf would’ve been good, but you decided to go with a monstera plant to make use of the window right by it. Not until your day off, though, which is still on Sunday.

Having consecutively served around six customers and cleaned used tables, you sit and take a breather, resting your eyes by reading a book to let a couple minutes go by.

You slowly get sucked into the story, the marvelous art of prose bringing you into the plot’s little universe. The way the writer used the most fitting descriptive words possible astounds you, making a smile of enjoyment involuntarily creep up your lips. Somehow, you think writing is similar to making coffee, mixing different elements to create the perfect blend, the sole goal of making an exquisite taste that will leave people aching for more? Oh, and they both smell good, books and coffee. A chuckle leaves your lips.

Just when you’re deep in thought, things starting to stir up in the narration, someone speaks in front of you.

“One black tea,” a stern voice curtly orders, interrupting your peace. Harshly brought back to reality, you rise to your feet to resume to work. First tea of the day, huh?

Sure, your shop is known for its good coffee, but your tea can put up for a competition, too. It’s just that these days, coffee is more on the popular side, since tea can be made in almost any household now.

You close your book to attend to the customer, but not without leaving a bookmark on the current page. When you look at him, you almost freeze in your tracks. Well if it isn’t Humanity’s Strongest himself!

A pair of dazing stale eyes bore into your own with an unreadable expression and you compose yourself. Crap, you must have been caught giggling to yourself. You feel heat speedily cover your cheeks, turning you to a blushing mess. How shameful.

“Pardon me,” you excuse, clearing your throat before telling him the price. He wordlessly fishes for his wallet and pays. He does find you a bit weird, laughing at nothing, but pays it no more mind. He’s supposed to be on leisure, not meddling with some brat’s uncanny actions.

As you turn your back to make his beverage, you squint your eyes in loss of face. It really is the Captain Levi, and you probably looked like a creep in his eyes. Now what will become of your shop’s repute?

You shove the thought to the back of your head and start working. The ravenhead watches back as you work your hands into making a, hopefully, good blend. Your heart is beating wildly inside your chest like it’s about to jump off your rib cage, but you try to ignore it. The thought of a widely known persona such as him inside your very shop is crazy. To what do you even owe this pleasure?

Oh well, you’ll just pour your heart into making his tea, that way you might erase his ridiculous impression of you in his head. Hey! What’s so bad about giggling while reading? your subconscious tries to defend while you strain the boiled tea leaves into a clean china. The earthly smell hits your nose, making you want one, too.

You smile as you hand over the teacup. “Thank you for your service,” you add, even going as far as bowing. The moment the phrase escapes your lips, you regret it right away. Chills shoot up your spine. It sounds so awkward and unnecessary, but should you just treat the Captain like any other people knowing he’s done so much for your country?

Your cheeks flush into a faint, pink color. Thankfully, you’re slightly angled downwards, he might not see. Levi only eyes you for a second before nodding and taking the cup of tea in his hands, his calloused fingers grazing your hands fleetingly.

When you hear his footsteps fade, you rise and rub a palm against your face. You hesitantly take a glance toward the Captain, and shock takes over your whole system. To be totally honest, you never thought you’d see the day someone would sit on that table.

He looks perfectly placed on the table, like it’s reserved a long time just for him. He’s in civillian clothes, probably to not attract a lot of people. The sunlight gives his face a pretty sheen, the air from the window blowing lightly on his dark fringes. Your heart continues to skip several beats for no clear reason. Maybe that is the reason why your instincts keep telling you to not replace it.

Meanwhile, Levi sips on the freshly brewed tea, the strong flavor staining on his tongue just right. As he occupies his mind somehwere else, the taste hits better. Everything feels evenly distributed, the base smooth and pleasant, the amount of water not brimming. The temperature isn’t so bad as well.

Then and there, he guesses you source fine leaves from the innermost walls, which is a luxury at this point, not to mention your non-overpriced charge.

Not bad, he thinks.

You’re dumbstruck as you sit back in awe. You weren’t able to decipher what he’s thinking, but you know for sure he doesn’t hate it from seeing that he emptied the whole thing and left a generous tip.

You grab your tray and proceed to cleaning up the table he previously seated on, the whole decision of shopping for a plant on Sunday going down the drain.

—

It’s been a whole month since the Captain’s visit, and you think of the once in a lifetime moment often, and at times randomly. You sure as heck won’t be removing the table now that something has happened.

“Thank you,” you say as you hand the cup of coffee, serving the last one for the queue. It’s a late, cloudy afternoon, looking like it’s about to shower, and the shop is pretty dull. Well, that only means you can read more.

“Is this the shop they say sells well?” you hear someone from the ordering area. “Yeah, you go ahead,” they converse. You’re making coffee for yourself at the moment and you can’t peer to look at whose voice it is.

“What? You do it!”

“Just go! We don’t have time!”

“What the fuck? You’re the one holding the knife, aren’t you?!” a man shouts in a whisper. You can’t hear crystal clear due to being far into the counter, although you know they must be disturbing the atmosphere.

Vexed by their rowdiness, you turn around and stop making the blend. You walk to the front of the counter, “Excuse me, please lower your—”

“Give me all your money, lady. Let’s transact in peace so nobody gets hurt,” the man grabs your collar, knife pointed straight into your neck. Another man of his companion moves to the side to cover their actions. You don’t feel the sharp edge prick your skin due to intense panic.

You look around frantically, worried if there are other people harmed. To your relief, they seem to not notice anything, if you can even call that relieving. Now there must be no saving you.

“It’s alright, we won’t bring someone else into this, just do what we ask,” the other guy says, wide, haunting eyes looking straight into you. You feel cold sweat drip from your forehead.

“Now hand us what you got.”

On the other hand, Levi finishes with his errands around the capital and stumbles within your shop’s vicinity. Walking mindlessly, he checks the skies to tell the time, but sees the dark clouds instead. It seems it’s about to pour.

He’s already in front of your shop, but the threatening rain will be bigger trouble, he might get stranded if he stops by. Plus, he probably didn’t bring enough money, so he’s got no choice but head back now.

Just when he’s about to leave, his peripheral vision miraculously catches sight of your horrified expression through the window, putting him to an abrupt halt. He turns to see better, and finds two men roughing you up while trying to hide the commotion.

He clicks his tongue and spins to turn away. It’s not his business anymore, it’s for the Military Police to deal with. They might be loan sharks for all he knows, and you’d be held entirely accountable for that.

Unable to take the view of the knife pointed to your neck out of his head, he sighs defeatedly and eventually discovers himself inside the store, else it’d slowly eat at his conscience.

“Oi, what’s going on here?” he questions with a firm voice, turning heads his way.

“It’s Captain Levi from the Survey Corps!”

“What a lucky day!”

People stir up upon seeing the Captain to which he only ignores, full attention on you and the two criminals.

The robber without a weapon quickly turns around to check, shaking in fear. As he makes terrifying eye contact with the Captain, he makes haste for the door in desperate hopes of escaping, but to no avail. Levi grabs the back of the poor guy’s head and slams it against an empty table, putting him to deep sleep. Then turning to your armed assaulter, Levi closes in with big steps and takes the knife down before swinging the side of his hand, striking a nerve on the man’s neck to knock him out.

Levi perceives they’re complete amateurs and wonders why they even steal. Atleast one of them tried to run, he thinks as he looks down on the passed out crooks.

You’re not exactly sure if your heart calmed down or speeded up even more—maybe both, but you feel safe and more at ease.

Tying the last knot, he stands from his kneeled form and dusts his hands off to rid himself of the filth.

You only watch silently, mind clouded in confusion of what to do. Captain Levi came just in time and saved you and your shop of possible bankruptcy. Say, it could have been the worst timing considering you haven’t cleared your cash box for weeks now. You’re reminded of how much you owe the Captain.

“Don’t worry, they’ll be out cold for a while, just call the MP’s on them,” Levi assures before taking a glance at you and fails to understand your expression, your face looks like it’s leaking shit in his opinion.

You look at the two robbers dozing off tied together by the help of Levi and your spare rope before giving your savior another bow. “Thank you so much!” you exclaim and raise your head to meet his fierce gaze.

“And sorry for the trouble, people around here can get belligerent, especially to us business owners,” you add.

He observes you from head to toe, eyes particularly lingering on your neck, and you blush in embarrassment, feeling his hot stare.

“Is there—?”

He takes something from his pocket and offers you a handkerchief which you cluelessly accept. You later on realize what it’s for, finally feeling a sting on your neck. You wipe the bleeding area and see trails of crimson on your apron as well.

With no reason to stay any longer, Levi steers to leave, but is just in time to witness the rain pour down heavily, big droplets washing against the windows. He sighs, it’s just as he guessed.

You, on contrast, get an idea to show your gratitude, feeling a physical candle light up in your brain. “Captain Levi, please stay and let the rain pass while I brew you some coffee,” you negotiate with strong willed eyes, fixed on returning him a favor. It’s the least you could do from within your limited skills, and you’d like it if he’d accept. Actually, you won’t accept if he rejects, fully wanting to pay him back atleast a tad.

He looks back at you, slightly surprised. You seem like a more persistent person now rather than an easily flustered mess. Could he be so insensitive as to decline your generous offer after seeing your firm resolve? But more importantly, coffee? Could he be so thick-skinned as to ask for something else other than that?

When he stays quiet, you decide to go ahead and make him a drink from one of your premium coffee beans, but you’re put to a stop as he speaks.

“I’d prefer tea.”

Oh, right. He did ask for black tea a month back, didn’t he? You give him a smile and a thumbs up of approval before turning your back to make his tea.

Levi massages his temples and takes a seat, eyeing the immobilized crooks and the outside, thinking what he got himself into. It won’t be so bad to stay for a while and let the rain ease down, right?

You wait for the water to boil before dropping a bunch of mint leaves, then waiting for it to simmer. You prepare a porcelain cup and saucer and pour in the hot liquid, adding honey for a natural sweetener. You mix in a couple droplets of lemon to balance the flavor and you’re good to go.

You set the tea on his chosen table of two, giving the free seat a momentary glimpse. You wonder how it would feel like to have a proper conversation with Captain Levi, only to quickly dismiss the thought of joining him as you hear someone call you from the counter. Thankfully, people are back to minding their business and don’t bother the Captain anymore. You excuse yourself and return to work, still a couple hours away from closing time.

Levi sits back and enjoys the tea you made, soon learning it’s a fresh peppermint tea. Though it’s only the second time he’s having your brew, he doesn’t know why he already has high expectations. The choice of blend is perfect for a rainy day, and it’s exactly what he would have made when he returned back to the headquarters. You don’t really look like someone who prefers tea, but he’s impressed nevertheless.

He sips on the cup, letting the weather pass and the taste line his tongue. A variety of things occupy his mind involuntarily and before he knows it, the rain has calmed down into a shower.

He stands to leave but suddenly notices an umbrella left on his table. When did that get there? He takes a glimpse at you and finds you looking back at him with curious, alert eyes like that of a cat, immediately averting your gaze and resuming to pick up the dirtied tableware onto your tray.

Levi confirms it’s from you, and it’s another one of your acts of gratitude. He’s left with no choice and grabs it, wraps his slender fingers around the handle, and takes his leave.

Satisfied, you sigh in relief as you watch his back drift into the darkness. You look at the handkerchief in the pocket of your apron, smiling. Despite rumors of him being an unrelenting leader and a ruthless thug that stretched way back, the Captain is a kind man, isn’t he? If there really is such thing as coincidence, you’d like to consider yourself lucky for having experienced it.

—

About two more weeks pass when Levi finds himself hooked into the sweet aroma of the tea you make, the ambience of your shop’s environment, and something else he can’t put a name on. In actuality, he may or may not be using your umbrella as an excuse to go to your store right now.

He takes a glance at his hand holding the same umbrella. He briefly questions himself what he’s doing but pushes the thought aside with the use of his well thought of excuse. True enough, he can’t just go around using other people’s possession, can he?

He begins to sense the growing familiarity of your shop as he closes in. The choice of location being just at the mouth of the city, the distinct line between rural and urban is visibly emphasized.

As Levi enters through the saloon door, his eyes almost immediately find your form, leisurely reading while leaning on the counter, back turned against the entrance, your hair up in a braided bun which he finds neat. He clicks his tongue as he approaches to order.

“It’s easier to mug you that way,” he says and you jolt in surprise. Recognizing the stone cold voice, you spin to see the Captain in front of you, inside your very shop once again. This is no coincidence anymore!

“Captain Levi!” you greet with a beam, utterly delighted to see him. “Pleasant afternoon, what can I get you?” you ask and look him straight in the face. He’s in casual clothes, so you guess it’s another one of his day off’s. His sombre eyes of a unique bluish grey color take on your gaze fiercely. It’s true that the eyes convey one’s entire personality, as you feel his menace even though he doesn’t intend to display it.

“Black tea,” he says without a hitch, giving you the exact amount of money, and you proceed to your working space. Boiling of water, straining of tea leaves, pouring it into clean china; as you hand it to him, they start to resemble a routine.

He goes ahead and takes the corner table, and you couldn’t be any happier, thinking he seems to like the spot, choosing it among every other free seats. Levi takes a sip, and enjoys it with no wonder. You didn’t fail to make an exquisite blend.

A couple moments later, he’s still there. While everyone else chitchats with their company, he sits in silence with his beverage, ocassionally looking at the sky freely laid out by the window. He’s never really one to catch up with the bulletin and read daily papers, he’d prefer books for that matter.

As you wipe with a rag the empty tabletop just beside him, you see him looking at the window, cup of tea in hand. He, however, feels your stare, and wordlessly slides an umbrella on the table without batting you an eye. You recognize it as yours and take a step towards him.

“You better not have arrived home drenched that night,” he says. It’s only until he returned to the headquarters that he had realized you must have given him your only umbrella.

A chuckle leaves your mouth, aren’t you concerned. “I might have.” He clicks his tongue.

You grab it in your hands and follow his gaze, soon looking vacantly at the view as well. “You can see the skies from there, right?” you ask, earning a low hum in response.

“I wonder how far they stretch from outside on… Some say they’re boundless,” the words unconsciously slip from your mouth as you watch the clouds move. Something about relatively slow afternoons just hypnotize you to no end.

Levi shifts his gaze to your figure upon hearing a frame of your mind, finding a glimmer of ambition in the mesmerizing pools of your eyes. He can hear your train of thoughts out loud, while you wonder if you could ever get to experience the outside world. He remembers a couple friends thinking the same thing way back, and he realizes, it’s people like you that he hates to see drift away, one of those whom he feels he has to protect, though it’s not like you know each other to great extent.

He brings his cup to his lips and frankly speaks, “It’s not pretty out there.”

His words interrupt you from your daze, making you look at him. You notice he grips the teacup oddly, holding it around the mouth instead of its handle. You heave out a shallow sigh. “Figured you’d say that,” you say with a sad smile. It’s undeniable, coming from him.

You fish something from the pocket of your apron and leave it on his table, then making your way back to the counter. A seemingly little exchange of borrowed objects. He eyes his cleaned dry handkerchief and leaves a comment before you can stray farther, “It does seem endless.”

The corners of your lips upturn into a grateful smile. He really is soft. “Thank you.”

He doesn’t know exactly what you’re thanking him for.

—

Time and time passed, and he always comes every week without fail. Sometimes, when days are light, he even visits twice a week. You could say you have developed quite a relationship with the Captain, though not something that can be considered close to sentimental. The distance is still present, but you’d have small talks here and there, sometimes you’d lend him your books just so he doesn’t bore himself to death, or maybe so he’d stay a little longer.

You gradually learn to read his moods through the language of his orders. You find that he’s more of a tea lover based solely from the fact that he never once asked for coffee. Black tea is his regular, Oolong tea is when something probably turns out good or successful, since the price a little higher and you guess it’s his little way of celebrating, Chamomile tea when something is roughly off, you figure as he never speaks excessively when he orders it.

You never end up joining him, though. Of course, he always takes the table of one, there isn’t room for another.

“The usual,” Levi briefly says and hands you the exact charge. Never faltering, you smile and continue to make black tea for the man. “You still haven’t hired a helper,” he points out and you hum in agreement.

“I can manage by myself,” you inform as you stir his tea. You’ve managed years by your own, what use is there for an extra hand? Besides, it’s not like your shop gets hoarded by huge amounts of people. Coffee shops attract a moderate number, and you’re fine with that.

You slide the finished drink to Levi and he accepts, heading to his own little corner. Ever since he first came, you labeled the corner seat as his own, and you never thought of removing it again. He doesn’t seem like a very social person, like he’s a man of few words if talking is unnecessary. You always wonder how it must feel to have a conversation with such a persona; must be novel and inspiriting. Problem is, you don’t have the guts to initiate it. You don’t want to be overlooked as a fangirl of the sort. If possible, you want to converse casually.

It’s the looming distance between a coffee shop owner and a country’s renowned soldier that obstructs you from feeling on level as him.

Still, you don’t know why you’re currently grabbing a book from one of your drawers and why you’re currently making your way toward him, tray still in hand to clean afterwards as an excuse.

“Fancy a book?” you offer as you set one of your favorite titles on his table. He darts his eye on it and studies the cover for a brief moment, seeing if it’s up to his standards. It doesn’t really pique his interest, but you made an effort, and it’d be of great companion with the tea.

Levi accepts the book in his hands and starts reading, later learning about the main character’s introduction. “You have a lot of books,” he comments out of observation. This isn’t the first time you offered him one, nor is it just the second. He’s come to a conclusion that you have a liking for it.

You hum in agreement. “I like collecting them, but they’re still not enough to fill a shelf, though. I’m thinking about putting one here,” you say, already envisioning where to place it.

He almost immediately thought of the Headquarters’ library. A lot of books there just get covered in dust, unmoved. Cadets these days don’t take reading as hobby. He considers the idea of bringing some for your shop to make use of it. “I can hand you some,” he says, flipping the page.

Your eyes widen in an equal mix of delight and surprise. He’d go that far? For what? Is the Captain really like this? “Really? From where?” you try to hide the excitement in your voice, but it doesn’t escape his ears. Well isn’t that great? An upgrade for your shop and a chance to see him again. Not that he’s not showing himself enough.

“Scouts’ library,” he says, flipping another page, and you’re deep in thought. Is that allowed? Do I have to pay?

Just a couple of pages in, he seems partially engrossed. The protagonist is a traveller who encounters metaphorical life obstacles and is most likely to find self-discovery through it, that’s as much as he knows.

He notices you still haven’t left and bats you an eye. You look troubled and euphoric at the same time, he couldn’t understand entirely what you’re thinking but he has a clue. “It’s free. Some of it are old anyway,” he informs, which seems to bring your face relief. So his hunch turns out to be right, you were thinking of the burden.

“Oh, I wasn’t thinking that!” you deny right away, waving your hand dismissively, cheeks blushing. You definitely were.

He stays quiet, and you feel ashamed. Does he think you’re a cheapskate? Or thick-faced? Hey, he’s also reading, you must be a distraction. Oh god, how can you make acquaintances with him now?

You aim to leave and give him his space, afraid that you might be bugging him for too long now, but Levi suddenly speaks just in time.

“You have an allurement for things about the outside,” he asserts in heed. When you don’t answer, he continues, “It’s not all rainbows out there, you know.” His perception of you still stands as he’s continuously reminded by you of people who go through great measures to reach their dreams, and those he lost due to wanting to seek for more.

You don’t know if it’s a positive connotation or a negative but he doesn’t sound so enthusiastic. Your grip on the tray tightens. The way he puts it… is he trying to make you drop your interest?

“I do know that. I just,” you pause, contemplating what to say. You’re stuck with I just want to dream, is it so bad? or I just want to experience the forbidden, I’m sick of being stuck in this birdcage, or an impulsive one: I just want to see, would you bring me outside?

Instead, you settle with “I wouldn’t know, I’m a mere shop owner. I don’t have the chance to sit and talk with someone who’s gone beyond the walls.” Like you, sir.

He studies you as you look back at him with firm eyes. Brat, you already live a life with fair peace. The resolve in your eyes didn’t waver, not one bit. He thinks, will you be content with knowing about the outside? Levi heaves out a sigh and closes the book before leisurely taking a sip on his tea.

“Maybe if you’d put another chair, we’ve been talking for months now,” he then says, an even amount of sarcasm in his tone, enough to not come off as rude.

Dumbfounded, you gawk at the Captain for a good five seconds, eyes slightly enlarged in surprise before laughing your head off, turning a couple heads your way for a fleeting second.

“What’s funny?” he quizzes, thin brows furrowed together, and you wave him off, wiping your euphoric tears away.

“Well, I didn’t know it’d be that simple, Captain!” you giggle, eyes genuinely happy and hearty. Just put a chair in? In all seriousness, he doesn’t exactly look approachable with those half lidded dark eyes and a permanent scowl now, does he? That’s one of the primary reasons you have trouble making advances to him.

Levi looks at you, taking in the undeniably beautiful sight before clicking his tongue and averting his gaze.

He’s absolutely certain he paid no attention to the way you tucked your hair behind your ear in a timid manner, the way your silky locks sway gracefully by the wind’s cool breeze, the way your delicate fingers held to the tray tightly as you try to compose yourself, and the way your glowing eyes looked back at him with a gentle gaze once you’ve finally calmed down. Yes, he likes to think he paid no extra mind to those details.

“Tch, did you think I’d bite you or something?” he deadpans, taking another sip on his cup.

“No, absolutely not!” You absolutely did. “I’ll put another chair some other day,” you say and wave him goodbye upon seeing a customer enter, returning to your working place.

He shakes his head lightly and finishes his cup, bringing the book with him as he takes his exit. The smile in your face never disappeared throughout the day, chest booming in an unrelenting speed.

Sunday comes, and you decide to do a general cleaning. You also buy a small shelf from the nearest furniture shop and have it delivered, filling it with some of your books. You squeeze in a chair to the corner by adjusting the other tables’ distances, and you can only laugh at yourself for not thinking of this long ago. You think, why not just sit on a table of two? but figure maybe the Captain’s already grown fond to the spot.

You feel like a schoolgirl as you mindlessly prepare things to talk about and questions to ask. How much does he know? Are titans really that big? Is the ocean real? What brought him to your shop?

But after that, you never saw him again. You think maybe he’ll arrive later or the next day, but more weeks pass, and not even his shadow appeared.

The slowest weeks achingly turn to months. You’ve been awfully attentive to the morning papers since then, looking for the slightest news about him, or their operations. You think it’s completely understandable, being perfectly aware that the Captain is a busy man. You know that visiting little tea shops isn’t actually a luxury that a guy like him affords, but it tugs at your heart a teeny bit, a small part of you involuntarily longing for him. Eitherway, you just wish for his and his people’s safety.

About five months have passed since you last saw him. Levi, on the other hand, has gotten busy those said times. Expeditionary Operations came after another, and he’s buried with work once they arrive back. His squad got promoted to Special Operations Squad, and intensive training was mandatory. The amount of free time he had back then was generous, and in those five months, he had no time to slack off.

But he never forgot you, every single time he drinks tea, he starts doubting his own blend as compared to yours.

“That’s the last of it,” Levi says as he hands over piles and piles of paperwork to the Commander. Erwin only grunts his response.

The ravenhead contemplates for a few moments before finally speaking, “I’ll be out. I’ll return before dinner,” he informs and turns his back, words more of a statement than asking for permission. The higher ranking officer only stares at him as his figure leaves the room. Fair enough, he’s done with his current tasks as a Captain and it’s his first day off in a while. He leaves him be.

Levi dismisses his tan jacket and fixes his cravat as he heads to the shop he favors. He ends up forgetting the books he’s supposed to give but pushes it aside. Oh well, just another excuse for him to visit.

Minutes of walking on foot, steps a little quicker than normal, and he finally arrives, the ambience hugging at his aura. It’s been long since he last set his foot here. He pushes at the saloon door, a ton of improvisations greeting his sight. The interior is now painted a beige color, the warmth going along with the wooden accents. You’ve added the shelf you said you wanted to put, a fair number of books in it. Lastly, his preferred corner seat already has two chairs opposite to each other.

Your back is turned against the door again, leaning on the counter as you occupied yourself with a book. He notices that your hair has gotten longer in a span of months. He shortly wonders what else has changed.

“Oi, the usual,” a familiar voice says, stoic tone resonating in your ears and you immediately feel your soul light up, like it’s been ages since you last felt so giddy. A chaotic mix of worry, excitement, longing, and bliss surges all throughout your body.

When you face the stale eyed man, your tingling heart shamelessly speeds up, a smile rising on your lips.

—

You wave him farewell as he leaves, and as he cuts eye contact, heat shoots up into your cheeks like crazy, which he totally misses out on.

One step out and Levi feels the presence of a stalker just around the alley. He gives her a bored look and starts walking away, which she then reveals herself and follows suit.

“So this is you and your secret lover’s getaway, huh?” Hange teases, obviously aiming to pry for more. Now what, she’s spying on him? This insane woman.

“Don’t be ridiculous, she has good tea,” Levi answers in nonchalance, staring right ahead the road. The woman makes silly noises at his response, similar to those sounds only she can produce when learning new discoveries about titans.

“Precisely,” the redhead says in satisfaction, nodding her head with her hands stroking her chin as if she got the answer she’s waiting for.

He shoves her actions aside, couldn’t care less about whatever conclusion she came up with. But no matter how much he keeps convincing his subconscious, it’s the tea that draw me in, he just can’t bring himself to believe in it.

[runningtwiceasfast]

I wrote a thing for the Harry and Ginny discord Incognito elf story exchange. I haven’t decided if I am going to publish it anywhere but thought I would post it here in the meantime. Thank you so much to @thedistantdusk for organizing. Hopefully someone enjoys! 

All the Difference

“If you are going to lay around here all day then you can at least make yourself useful.”

Harry looked up sharply, having been jarred rather unceremoniously from where he had been staring at the door to the shop, as if he could will his girlfriend into existence.

He gave a scowl at George, tapping his fingers idly on the counter. “Why did she have to call an emergency quidditch practice anyway right during the first Hogsmeade visit of the term?” He mumbled mostly to himself. He hadn’t seen his girlfriend in months and the one time they finally were both free something inevitably had come up.

Ginny was a prolific and entertaining correspondent and she had been able to sneak into various fires for rendezvous with her boyfriend but he longed to see her in the flesh. Some alone time wouldn’t hurt either.

Harry stared moodily once again at the door.

George came to stand by him and they both stared silently in their vigil. Eventually George grew tired of Harry’s nonsense and gave him a hearty whack on the shoulder.

“Alright no more of this sad mooning. You are the boy who lived! The man who defeated Voldemort! Witch Weekly’s most charming smile or whatever,” George gave him a sidelong glance. “Although how they even managed to catch you smiling is beyond me. Tell me, do you think those smiles will run out and you’ve been saving them all for darling Gin-gin?”

Harry gave George what he hoped was a menacing look. “Fine, if you don’t want me mooning about your store then I will just leave. I’m sure Ron and Hermione won’t mind me showing up to their date,” Harry said sarcastically remembering Ron’s warning to stay far away from him and Hermione for the next hour. While he was happy for his mates it was slightly annoying to be third wheel to their fights and subsequent makeups which now included way more tongue than they used to.

“I thought having you around might draw in more customers. You know like…’come shop where the boy who lived shops, come buy puking pastilles where Harry Potter does’ but honestly mate, you are now scaring off the customers.”

Glancing around, Harry did notice that the shop was rather empty for a Hogsmeade weekend. Feeling even worse than before, Harry hopped off the stool and shrugged on his robes. “I’ll get out of your way,” he mumbled, resigning himself to heading back to his flat alone and maybe doing some paperwork.

“Not so fast Chosen One!” George called and Harry looked back around to where George was waving a finger at him. “Come back here.”

Not having anything else to do, Harry approached George cautiously, having seen too many first years turn into canaries to feel altogether secure in whatever shenanigans George had planned.

George produced a small vial from his pocket. The contents were a glittery pink and Harry frowned. “What is that? Something that will turn me into a turkey?”

Barking out a laugh George shook his head before turning thoughtful. “No, but now that you mention it that might be a good idea. We can call it, “Turkey Tonic.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “What do you want? Have you found something that will summon Ginny here from quidditch practice?” Harry whined.

“No loverboy but I do have the next best thing. It is a new thing I invented based on the Patented Daydream Charm.” George shook the vial and then produced it again with a flourish. “Harry Potter, meet the Patented ‘What If’ Charm.”

Harry took the small capsule and looked at it critically, eyebrows furrowed. “What if charm?”

“It lets you go back to a time in your life where you made a different decision, took a different path. It lets you see what life would be like if one thing was different.” George made a motion like a butterfly flapping its wings. “You know, like the butterfly effect or whatever.”

“So like, what if my parents didn’t die? What if Voldemort picked Neville as the chosen one?” Harry asked wryly. George scoffed.

“As if Neville would have been the chosen one. No nothing that big. But…what if Fred and I hadn’t left school the way we did? What if I wore a red shirt today instead of this spiffing purple one.”

Harry looked again at the small vial in his hand. “Ok what do you want me to do with this?”

“Don’t be daft. I want you to take it and tell me what you think.”

“But what would I even say?” He felt rather flummoxed. So much of his life had been dictated by other people, set on a certain path. Was there a mundane thing that had happened in his life that could have made a difference?

“Ok, well, what is one thing that you wish had been different other than you know…that whole Voldemort business.”

Harry thought back. What was one thing he wished had been different? Then it hit him. “I wish I had gotten close to Ginny earlier.” He said, remembering back to their conversation at Dumbledore’s funeral. How they could have had so much more time if he hadn’t been such a plonker.

George made a slight gagging noise. “Alright, well that is incredibly gross and all but I appreciate the sentiment. What about… if you had gotten your head out of your arse and taken Ginny to the Yule Ball?”

Harry scowled at the memory, of asking Cho, of taking Parvati. Of the disaster of a Yule Ball. “Alright fine, I would have had a better time at least.”

George clapped his hands together. “There you go! Now hurry up and take the charm and I’ll see you on the other side.”

Harry uncorked the vial, but before he raised it to his lips he sent George another look. “Wait a minute, who else has tested this? Should I be worried?”

“Young Harry I am offended. How could you think so little of me?” George placed a hand over his heart and gave him a wounded look that did nothing to make Harry feel assured.

“Alright well if anything happens to me I’m sending Ginny to beat you up,” he said before raising the vial at George. “Cheers.”

The liquid burned slightly going down Harry’s throat but the taste was pleasing. A hint of cherry. And then as sudden as he was in George’s shop he was in Hogwarts. He was much shorter, much skinner and he was feeling sad for some reason.

Oh yeah…Cho…Yule ball…tournament…

Completely forgetting about dinner, he walked slowly back up to Gryffindor Tower. Cho’s voice echoing in his ears with every step he took. “Cedric — Cedric Diggory.”

So consumed in his misery, he almost tripped over a windswept looking Ginny Weasley.

“Watch where you’re going Potter,” she laughed until she got a good look at him, the smile dying on her face. She gave him a frown, head cocked to the side. “Did something happen?”

Harry shook his head, knowing she was assuming it was something Voldemort related and not some typical teenage boy angst. “Nothing like that. I just asked Cho to the ball but she’s going with someone else.” He gave an awkward shrug, unsure of why he was even telling her this. Perhaps it was too raw and he needed to share it with a friendly face.

Ginny’s frown deepened. “I’m sorry Harry. I’m sure any other girl would be happy to go with you,” she said, blushing red and they both got quiet.

“Where are you coming from?” He asked her, taking in her appearance for the first time and noticing that she wasn’t in robes but instead in some sort of athletic wear.

She blushed again, placing a strand of hair behind her ear self-consciously. “I just went for a quick fly. Trying to sneak back into the common room now.”

Harry momentarily forgot his ball induced depression. “You fly?” He asked her incredulously. She had never participated in the Weasley family quidditch over the summer. Harry tried to think if he had ever seen her in the air.

She only smiled in response, something mischievous and proud in her eyes. “I’ve been stealing the twins’ brooms at night and teaching myself to fly for years.” Harry looked at her again as if for the first time. It shouldn’t be such a shock to him that she had grown. They all were older and changing and Ginny Weasley wasn’t an exception. She was still short, barely coming up to his shoulders. Her red hair came all the way down her back in waves and she was beginning to fill out and look more like…well, more like a girl.

“Are you going to the ball with anyone?” He blurted out. Her eyes widened in response and she was silent for awhile.

“I-I…no I’m not. I’m a third year so I can’t go unless someone older invites me,” she explained, her face now so red he could barely make out her freckles.

Harry let out a breath, well aware that if she turned him down he would have likely broken some world record of rejections in the shortest amount of time.

“Would you go with me? To the ball?” He cringed at the clarification. Ginny was speechless for a moment before opening and closing her mouth a couple times. Eventually she nodded.

“Yes Harry, that sounds nice,” she said hoarsely. Harry gave her a small smile before both their attentions were drawn to a loud commotion down the hall. Ginny seemed to notice the source of it immediately.

“Ron? Ron!” Ginny called out jarring Harry into action as well as they caught up with a dazed looking Ron.

Ron was pale, his freckles standing out like pocks on his blood drained skin. Harry was instantly alarmed. “What happened?” He asked, immediately thinking the worst. Ron just groaned in response and Ginny sent Harry a frantic look. The two of them shrugged off all the snickering onlookers and dragged him to the common room where they plopped him unceremoniously on a couch in a distant corner.

Ron kept shaking his head and moaning and it was a full three minutes before they were able to understand what happened.

“Oh Ron,” Ginny was clearly struggling to keep the smile off her face. “You didn’t.”

Ron had his face in his hands and continued to mutter “Why did I do it,” over and over again, the words muffled through his hands.

As Harry comforted his best mate he exchanged looks with Ginny and gave a sigh in relief. At least he had gotten a date to the ball. He watched as Ginny pushed an errant strand of hair away from her face as she patted her brother’s arm sympathetically. Perhaps he might even have a good time.

_____________________

Harry saw Ginny very little in the days leading up to the ball. The professors piled on the homework for the fourth years and Harry was determined to take advantage of the excitement leading up to Christmas. In between impromptu snowball fights and letters from Sirius he had almost forgotten about the egg and the fact that he would be dancing in front of not only the entire school but two other schools as well.

Professor McGonagall gave him this unhappy reminder at the end of the last transfiguration class of the year where she insisted on corralling the Gryffindor students that would be attending the ball into an empty classroom.

“You will be representing the great house of Godric Gryffindor as well as your school and I feel I must do my duty to make sure none of you embarrass me,” she sniffed, her eyes glancing over to the Weasley twins before landing on Harry. He swallowed roughly, the image of him falling rather spectacularly on his bum in front of everyone while in his dress robes flashing across his eyes.

McGonagall began to play some music, grabbing Ron in the process and forcing him to lead her about the room. Harry was thankful he wasn’t so caught up in his misery that he was unable to enjoy the spectacle.

“They make a rather fine couple don’t they?” A cheerful voice said behind him and he couldn’t resist smiling back at Ginny as her beaming face came into view.

“He isn’t completely embarrassing himself is he?” Harry mused, looking back to the makeshift dance floor where Ron and the professor were now moving in time with the music, Fred and George looking on and throwing conjured rose petals on them and clapping loudly.

“No more than he did when mum tried to teach him to dance,” Ginny said under her breath and Harry snorted, picturing young Ron waltzing with his mother in the Burrow. The laughter died in his throat as the scene in his mind turned quickly from Ron and his mum to Harry and his own mother, his father laughing as they spun each other in circles.

Perhaps sensing his change of mood, Ginny stayed close but said no more as they watched Ron take a turn about the room with their professor.

Christmas arrived rather suddenly and Harry, despite consistently receiving Christmas gifts since he had come to Hogwarts, was still rather surprised to find gifts at the foot of his bed. After dealing with Dobby and finishing opening up the rest of his gifts, it was suddenly time to get ready for the dance.

Ron, who was still trying in vain to find out who Hermione was going with, had tried to enlist Ginny who had vehemently refused.

“Ron if you ask me one more time who Hermione is going with I am going to hex you so bad you can’t use the toilet for a month,” Ginny had finally threatened and Ron had mostly ceased his fruitless task. Still, though, he grumbled when Hermione had left them three hours before the dance to get ready. Harry saw Ginny follow shortly and figured it was time for him to start getting ready as well.

Harry and Ron, who was taking Parvati, had agreed to meet their dates in the common room and eventually Harry was able to drag a very reluctant Ron to leave the dormitory. Harry had reassured him multiple times that his robes were fine and definitely did not look like a dress but he feared he hadn’t been very convincing.

Harry saw Parvati first in her robes of shocking pink. He watched her glance over at Ron, her eyes running over the frayed edges of his robes before taking the arm offered. It was then that Harry noticed Ginny.

She was standing a little behind them, staring at him a little shyly. Her robes were white and floated prettily around her and Harry thought rather irrationally of an angel. Her red hair was down, having been pinned half up with a golden barrette that Harry realized upon further notice was a little snitch. She had done something with her eyes to make them slightly bigger and Harry took a dry swallow.

He had thought by going with Ginny he wouldn’t have to have been nervous. They would have had a good time and enjoyed a laugh. But it must not have registered to him that Ginny was a girl and a pretty one at that.

Offering up his arm like he was supposed to, he felt her grip him lightly. Again he looked over at her as they followed Ron and Parvati out of the common room. It was then that he realized that he had yet to actually say anything to her. Cursing his stupidity he cleared his throat rather unsuccessfully.

“You—er—look nice,” he said awkwardly.

Ginny blushed. “Thank you Harry. You clean up rather nice as well.” She smiled at him and he felt himself inexplicably relax.

“Wait until you see Hermione,” Ginny whispered in his ear and Harry caught a whiff of something lovely and flowery and he wondered if it was possible a smell could make you drunk.

Shaking the thought out of his head he looked over at her curiously but she mimed zipping her lips with her free hand, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

The entrance hall was packed and they mindlessly followed Ron who was being led by Parvati to where her sister was standing with another Ravenclaw boy Harry didn’t know.

“Where is Hermione?” Ron asked, eyes darting over to Ginny as if she was going to attack him.

Ginny smoothed her dress and smiled. “Really Ron why are you so concerned?” Harry stifled a laugh in his own shoulder. They watched their fellow students milling around with some interest before Professor McGonagall called the Champions over. Harry sighed and reached again for Ginny.

“Good luck, mate,” he said before taking Ginny forward, letting the crowd part for them. They joined Fleur in her pretty silver robes and Roger Davies who Harry thought was perhaps looking a little dazed. Harry avoided looking at Cho and Cedric a little too well that he missed Ginny jabbing him in the ribs as he looked up at the girl who was with Krum. His jaw dropped.

It was Hermione.

Once Harry was over the shock of a Hermione who didn’t look like Hermione at all he felt tugged along by Ginny as she pulled him over to Hermione, chattering to her in fast paced squeals.

“Hi Harry!” Hermione finally greeted him and Professor McGonagall came over and told them all to get in line in pairs and to follow her. They then walked into the Great Hall to applause. Harry felt his face burn at the attention. A small squeeze on his arm centered him and he looked gratefully at Ginny who was gliding confidently next to him. She gave him a wink and he relaxed, able to make it to the head table without tripping over his feet.

“Ron looks like someone took his prize niffler,” Ginny whispered to Harry, drawing his attention more fully to her and not the gaping occupants of the Great Hall. Harry looked over to where his friend was staring at Hermione with narrowed eyes.

As they approached the table Harry felt Ginny tense and he realized that she wouldn’t be the only Weasley at the table. Instead of Mr. Crouch the fifth seat at the table was occupied by Percy who made it very clear to Harry that he had to sit next to him.

Percy’s smug face was replaced by a look of astonishment as he noticed who Harry’s date was.

“Ginny, what are you doing here?” He asked as they all sat down. Ginny frowned and Harry had to bite his tongue in order to not answer for her. She could handle her own brother. Still, Harry didn’t like the look Percy had on his face.

“Harry asked me,” she said simply. “What are you doing here?” She asked and Harry nodded, aware that this was the much better question.

The two of them endured Percy’s sycophantic monologue about Mr. Crouch and how he had been promoted. Harry barely resisted snorting into his water goblet when Ginny asked with a straight face whether Crouch had stopped calling him “Weatherby” yet.

They both tucked into their dinner eagerly, eavesdropping on the conversations of the other occupants of the table. Harry found that his sides were hurting from laughter mostly from Ginny’s impersonations of Roger Davies dazed look on his face as he listened to Fleur complain about the decorations.

“At ze Palace of Beauxbatons, we would never sit in chairs! We would be carried to eat on clouds made of silk and serenaded as we ate,” Ginny whispered in Harry’s ear, effecting Fleur’s accent in an exaggerated way that had him pushing away his plate of goulash.

Eventually they finished dinner and the Weird Sisters began playing. Ginny nudged Harry. “I think we are supposed to dance now,” she said somewhat shyly. Ginny stood up gracefully, holding out her hand for him. He managed to stand up without completely tripping over his robes, taking her smaller hand within his.

He followed her to the dance floor, eyes locked on her form, shutting out everything else. All of his senses felt dulled, the music a faint hum in the background, the spotlighting centering him blocking out everything else except Ginny. Seamlessly Ginny placed one of his hands on her waist, holding out his other hand in an approximation of what the other couple’s were doing.

Her hand was light in his but also strong. He worried for a second that his hand would be sweaty but Ginny didn’t seem to indicate there was anything particularly off with his hands. Instead, she gave him a reassuring smile as she steered him in a circle on the dance floor.

As they turned to the music Harry avoided catching anyone’s smirking eyes by staring at Ginny. He wasn’t sure he had ever really looked at her. She had a faint dusting of freckles on her face and full red lips that shimmered slightly. Her robes felt slippery in the hand on her waist and he gripped more thoroughly causing her to squeak slightly.

“You are a good dancer,” he told her, and even though they were in the middle of a giant crowd he had the fanciful thought that it was just them alone. She blushed.

“Thank you. Mum taught us at an early age.”

They were quiet the rest of the dance, Harry noticing that they were thankfully no longer the center of attention, the rest of the couples having joined them on the dance floor.

The song ended and they both let go of each other, standing in the dance floor staring at each other as another, faster song was struck up.

“Come on,” Ginny pulled at his arm to where Ron and Parvati were sitting, Ron shooting daggers at Krum with his eyes. Ginny took one look at her brother and grabbed his arms, pulling him up.

“Oy! Ginny what are you doing?” Ron asked, shoving off Ginny’s hands.

“You are looking entirely too much like a prat Ron! You have a lovely date, you’ve eaten a good meal. Let’s go out there and have fun! Look at Harry’s socks Ron. Those are socks that are meant for dancing.”

Harry laughed and watched as Ron reluctantly followed his younger sister to the dance floor. Harry offered his arm to Parvati and the four of them made their way over to where Fred and Angelina were dancing exuberantly in the center of the dance floor.

A few moments later Hermione and Viktor joined them, Ron avoiding Hermione but reluctantly letting Ginny pull hm along.

Eventually they stopped to get butterbeers. Parvati had been asked to dance by one of the boys from Beauxbatons and Hermione was still dancing with Viktor so it was just Ginny, Ron and Harry. They grabbed drinks, escaping outside to the warming charmed air. Ron was still put out and kept grumbling under his breath, the words “Hermione” and “Vicky” alternating coherency. The three of them sidestepped an angry looking Snape who seemed to be discussing something rather nasty with Karkaroff who looked anxious.

They reached a fountain, Harry now greatly entertained by the story Ginny was recounting that seemed to center on the twins having turned all of Ron’s Martin Miggs comics into more suggestive materials. Ron seemed more like himself at that point and they were all surprised to encounter Hagrid and Madame Maxime having a quiet conversation.

“It was my mother,” said Hagrid quietly. “She was one o’ the las’ ones in Britain….” Hagrid’s voice trailed off as Harry’s attention was drawn to Ginny who was swatting at a rather large beetle that had fallen on her arm.

“Yuck!” She hissed, swatting at it and giving it a little kick. “Creepy bugger.” She shuddered slightly and Harry had an irrational thought that he should offer her his cloak before realizing that he wasn’t wearing one.

They returned to the dance floor just as the Weird Sister’s began playing one of their more popular dancing songs. Ginny’s face lit up and Harry followed her to the center of the room, shrugging apologetically at Ron who had resumed his grouchy mumblings.

“I love this song!” Ginny called to him and he watched as she closed her eyes, moving her body to the beat, long since having abandoned her shoes. Her enthusiasm was contagious and he did his best to approximate her movements finding himself smiling widely wondering if this was fun, if this was what having fun felt like.

The song ended, a slower tempo one taking its place. Ginny made a motion to leave the dance floor but Harry pulled her to him.

“This was fun. Thank you for coming with me Ginny,” he told her sincerely. She gave him a wide smile.

“It was fun! Thank you for inviting me. It isn’t every day a girl gets invited to the biggest event of the season and with a champion no less,” she teased him.

The last song ended to a loud round of applause and everyone began heading back to the entrance hall. Ginny let out a sigh. “I’m not sure I’m ready for this night to end but I’m also exhausted. I’m hoping Colin was able to get some ice cream from the kitchens. He told me the first through third years were allowed to have some late snacks to make up for not being invited to the ball,” Ginny explained as they made their way out.

“What’s your favorite ice cream?” Harry asked, suddenly realizing that he didn’t know that much about the youngest Weasley. She gave him another one of her wide smiles, eyes flashing conspiratorially.

“Mint chip!” She told him happily. A part of his brain registered that for later. As if he knew there would be a moment when he would need to know what kind of ice cream Ginny liked. What her favorite color was, what she liked to do when she was bored and whether she preferred that first rain of spring or the first snow of winter.

Harry felt himself getting dizzy, a tug behind his navel making him slightly nauseous. The edges of his vision grew hazy and Ginny flashed in and out of view.

“Harry?” Ginny was asking….”Harry?”

“Harry!”

Harry jerked awake, the splash of cold water in his face an unwelcome jolt of icy reality. It took him a moment to realize he was not in the entrance hall of Hogwarts. Instead he was in George’s shop. He was no longer fourteen, no longer stumbling awkwardly behind his date, ready for Cedric to tell him about the egg…Ron’s fight with Hermione.

He shook his head, running a hand through his hair, reality seeping in.

“Sorry mate, you only get half an hour no matter how good the fake memory,” George gave him a hearty thump on the back and the visions of Ginny looking lovely on his arm, of laughing with her, taking the mickey on Ron were gradually replaced by those of Parvati sitting miserably next to him, Ron not talking to anyone…reality settling in.

“That’s some powerful magic, George,” Harry said finally. The ‘what if’ charm had indeed let him experience what life had been like when he was shy, awkward, Cho obsessed and completely unworthy of what life with Ginny would be. It had been nice to experience a Hogwarts with her but he smiled realizing that, while he may have messed it up before, he had gotten a second…well third really, chance.

Both George and Harry looked up as the bell to the store jingled and a windswept Ginny entered the store. For a moment Harry thought he was still under the influence of the charm and hallucinating.

“You shouldn’t be here…you told me you wouldn’t be here,” he said finally, stumbling over the words. Ginny gave a laugh, reaching out to give him a hug.

“I snuck away. Don’t tell the Head Girl,” she whispered into his ear and Harry was overwhelmed by the comforting smell of flowers.

“Seeing as she likely has her tongue down Ron’s throat I doubt she will care,” Harry said, pulling back so he could look at her fully.

The Ginny before him was no blushing third year. Still in Hogwarts robes but much more filled out and beautiful, looking at him with love and trust in his eyes. He felt that familiar warmth collect inside him as he gazed at her.

“Come on, let’s go get some ice cream,” he told her, waving goodbye to George and pulling her into his side.

“Ohhh you know I love ice cream,” she said brightly, snuggling into him.

“Mint chip?” He asked.

“Mint chip.”

[callmemythicalminx]

Into The Valley Of Death - Tommy Angelo x Reader (Angst)

Fandon: Mafia Definitive Edition

Warnings: Angst, major violence, blood, explicit descriptions of bodily harm, refrences to sexual assualt, kidnapping, explicit language. 

Summary: The gang war in Lost Heaven is at it’s peak. In a twisted and cruel move against Salieri which sets the end of the conflict into motion, you are catalyst which pushes your family charging into the valley of death. 

A/N: Please don’t read this if you are triggered by any of the warnings or feel you may not be able to handle what this fic has in store. It’s dark in many ways and I wouldn’t want anyone be affected phsyical or mentally, so please read with caution. 

Dedicated to: @kaiiiiiiparkerismyhusband @lolita-wolfson@mayday1284 @xxsamanthaxx @kneelingforvillains@loutino20@levitate-gengar @dorothynerding ​ @blackbladevika ​@my-blog-for-me ​ @rammstein-obsession ​ @octorebel @demonsouthere ​

---

Things are tense in Lost Heaven. This gang war is sending shockwaves through the city, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. Everyone you know is on edge, constantly looking over their shoulder and preparing for the worst. The men are stressed but try to stay immovable in the face of danger, the love for their family overpowering all fear. Yourself and the rest of the women are supporting them in any way you can. Together, you’re fighting against Morello, but you can tell the line is drawing thin. A catalyst to end this war is coming, you can feel it. 

You’re all exhausted beyond measure. Late nights spent planning, shootouts in the streets and the losses of those held dear had taken their toll. This was especially evident in your husband- you don’t think you’ve ever seen Tommy this tired before. Being one of Salieri’s most trusted men meant he was constantly out, running jobs. Nowadays, you only ever see him when he comes home, late into the night. He can only muster up enough strength to give you a sweet kiss before collapsing into your arms and falling asleep beneath the covers of your bed. You always lie awake as he sleeps, absent-mindedly stroking his hair while you pray to every god imaginable that he’ll return home safe the next night, the one after, and every other for the rest of your lives. 

As you stand in the bathroom of Salieri’s, looking at your pale, wet face in the mirror, you pray even now that he will return home to you. After drying your face and swirling your mouth out, you turn towards the toilet and flush down the remaining contents of what was in your stomach not five minutes ago. You sigh as your gaze slips down to your stomach again. In the dim bathroom light, you can barely see the small bump there. Your hands rise, caressing gently. It’s time to find out. If something happens to you… or him. You need to know for sure. 

You leave the bathroom, thankful there’s no one around to ask why you were in there so long. As you make your way back to the meeting room, you pass Sarah who gives you a small sympathetic smile. She’d guessed weeks back after you’d thrown up while she was cooking that you might be pregnant. Not a day later, she’d booked you in for a test at the doctors across the road. You didn’t want to believe it, worried about bringing a child into the world during such a tense time. Somewhere deep inside though, you were excited at the thought of carrying a baby inside you… something beautiful that you and Tommy had created together. 

You collect your purse from your desk, closing the account books and locking them away in the safe. You’d finish your work for today as soon as you got back from the doctors. After slipping on your coat, you leave through the back of the bar and head towards the gate around the side. One of the guards, Antonio, frantically runs over to you before you can open it, pushing his hand against it. 

“I’m sorry Y/N, you can’t leave right now. We ain’t got anyone on hand to escort you.” This is another thing draining everyone. Straight from the Don himself, he ordered that anytime anyone left their home or the bar, they needed someone with them for protection. You appreciated it of course, but it was exhausting having someone follow you everywhere and you knew the soldiers were always tired too, having to look after themselves and an important family member at the same time. You smile at Antonio gently and place your hand on his arm. 

“I’m only going across the road to the doctors, I don’t need an escort today.” At his unmoving expression, you sigh in frustration. “This is a very important appointment- I can’t miss it. You can just keep an eye on me from here, just stand near the gate and you’ll still be able to see me. Okay?” You can see the wheels turning in his head, his face twisting this way and that. Eventually, he must come to a decision as he quickly nods his head and reluctantly opens the gate slightly, enough for you to slip out. 

“Just be quick.” You can hear the bite of fear in his voice, so you send a small reassuring smile his way, nodding, before quickly walking across the road into the clinic. 

---

As you step out into the sunlight again, you stop and take a deep shuddering breath. Inside your chest, your heart still pounds, hyperactive with all the emotions flooding your body. You’re actually pregnant. You’re going to be a mother. And Tommy… he’s going to be a father. Tears form in the corner of your eyes, slipping down your cheeks before you can try to stop them. You’re overjoyed. Worried. Excited. Scared. You feel like a million questions are racing through your head, your thoughts a jumbled mess. All you can seem to fathom or even understand in the frenzy... is that you’re going to have a baby. 

You’re too wrapped up in your happiness to notice the truck parked down the road drive closer. Your jumbled mind doesn’t recognise the men getting out as it slowly moves. The sight of the men in suits doesn’t register in your mind. Nor do the handguns in their hands. It’s only as the truck stops in front of you, blocking the sunlight, that your eyes focus. The glint of silver metal shines in the corner of your eye before a crippling pain explodes in your head and you fall to the ground. 

Through a daze, you hear chaos erupt. You hear bullets, shouting, curses in Italian. Strong hands grab you and roughly pull you over their shoulder. You try to speak, to scream for help, but your mouth won’t open. Vision blurred, you can barely register moving onto the street, the gravel swirling beneath you. You feel the breath leave your lungs with an incredible force as you’re suddenly thrown into the truck, slamming against the hardwood. Your lips part to gasp, but no sound comes out. Like shooting stars, you see bullets fly through the material of the roof, hitting one of the goons in the head and narrowly missing another. They leave little holes of sunlight that catch the dust dancing in the air and the blood that sprays as another goon falls to his knees. You hear shouting and then suddenly you're moving, the truck speeding down the street leaving a trail of tire smoke and chaos. Distantly you think you can hear your name being called, but as you slip deeper into the abyss, you can only think of two things. Tommy. Our baby. 

---

Tommy’s exhausted. He’s nearly falling asleep behind the wheel as he drives back to Salieri’s, Paulie near passed out beside him. It’d been a long day. The two had traveled early in the morning last night out of the city to one of Morello’s farms, awaiting the arrival of one of his most trusted associates. It was a simple job, all they needed to do was execute the guy and get out safe. But there’d been more soldiers than they anticipated and the target ended up escaping leading to a long car chase. Lack of sleep and general tiredness we’re barraging Tommy like a ton of bricks. All he wanted now was to just head home with you and fall asleep. He just desperately hoped you were already done with work. 

As he pulls onto home turf, he’s relatively lax until he begins driving down the road leading to the bar. He spots the shattered glass on the street first, stained red with the blood of the men and women littered like flies across the gravel. When he notices some of the bodies wearing the uniform-like suits of his enemies, his foot slams on the break without a second thought. Paulie flies into the dashboard, yelling gibberish as he looks around disoriented for a few seconds until his eyes settle on Tommy’s pale face. 

“What they hell was that?!” His best friend doesn’t answer though. Instead his hands frantically find the handle on the door, pushing it open quickly and jumping out into the street. Paulie looks at him confused for a second until he looks forward at the road, all colour draining from his face as he witnesses the carnage in front of him. He’s quick to follow his best pa as he runs towards the bar. 

Tommy can barely think. Unfiltered thoughts are running rampant in his head, clouding his rationality. The only thing he can focus on is you. Checking your okay. Keeping you safe. He pumps his arms faster as he runs round the back and enters the bar, ignoring the guard’s shouts and Paulie’s frantic nonsensical questions to them.

When he bursts into the meeting room, effectively silencing everyone in there, his eyes only focus on one thing- finding you. As he scans every face, each one growing progressively more sympathetic and worried, he can barely stop himself from passing out. Finally, he lands on the final person in the room and it’s not you. 

“Boss. I-I… Wh-Where is she?” His words sound surprisingly calm even to him. He can see Sarah walking closer to him, hands outstretched in comfort, feel the weight of Paulie at his back as he finally arrives. Still he can only focus on you.“Tom, I-”

“Where is she?!” There’s a pause. It lasts only a second, but it feels like a lifetime of agony. 

“She’s been taken Tom.”

His breath rushes out his lungs. His knees buckle. All he can hear for a moment is his pounding heartbeat in his head. He can feel Sarah grab his arm, feel the weight of Paulie’s hand on his back. Sam appears out of the corner of his eye, his hand rising to rest on his shoulder. His family are around him, comforting him- but he feels nothing. Because you aren’t here. 

He barely recognises the gruff, raspy sound of his own voice as he grates “Where?”

“Some of our boys followed them to the docks. We’re going to lay waste to it tonight. Trust me Tom, there won’t be a single recognisable man left alive in that building.” Salieri’s words strike through the fog clouding Tommy’s mind. He feels his blood boil, his heart pounding like a war drum. Tommy has never been an overly violent man. But just this once… just this once - He’s going to kill every one of them for hurting you. 

---

Excruciating pain. It ricochets through your head, sears from your palms up your arms like red hot wildfire in your veins. Barely conscious, you flex your fingers in an attempt to escape the pain, the movement almost unrecognisable from the numbness that’s settled within your bones. Through slittled eyelids, you manage to look down. Two long, thin blades slice clean through the middle of your palm, impaling your hands to the sides of the wooden chair you’re sat in. Your blood gathers like a puddle at your feet, dripping down with maddening drops that echo around the small dark room. You can barely tell where you are, your vision too hazy to understand what’s around you. 

A sob bubbles in the back of your throat before bursting out of your mouth, the noise grated from the dryness of your throat. You feel like you might puke when you notice your dress has been ripped down the front, your undergarments thankfully intact but pulled tight and misshapen against your skin- someone had looked at you while you were unconscious. 

The small bump of your stomach, visible through the ripped fabric brings tears rushing out of your eyes, the pearly drops falling to drip down the slightly swollen skin. 

“Ah! Our guest is awake!”

Your head snaps up at the sudden noise, the force sending your vision into a disoriented mess once again. Through the stars in your eyes, you can just about make out the stark white suit in the doorway of the room, almost blinding in the low light. As he walks to stand in front of you, behind him red shadows from what you can only guess is a fire swathe him in a red glow. He looks like a demon masquerading as an angel, the flames seemingly curling around him in the haze of your vision. You know immediately that the man in front of you is Morello. 

Somehow, you muster up enough strength to spit at his feet. 

In response, his palm strikes against your cheek, the pain wrenching a gasp from your lungs. He’s suddenly there right in front of your face, your eyes forced to take in the sneer engraved into his skin as he growls at you. “Show some fucking respect!”

You take in a shuddering breath, but continue looking into his eyes through the haze of your tears and pain. 

“Fuck… You!” You manage to stutter out, refusing to let this coward scare you. Your smugness is only short lived as his fist flies into your stomach, the force hunching you over. Your hands pull at the blades and you scream at the burning pain as they dig deeper into your skin. 

Morello laughs above you, turning to look behind him. You hear other laughter and guess you’ve got an audience of his goons with you as well.

 “She’s all talk, no bite, ey boys?!” More laughter rings out, echoing in your head. You try to curl into yourself unconsciously, your legs trying to pull up, but they seem to be strapped to the legs of the chair. Almost hanging there, you hunch over limply, your hair now dangling down in front of your face. You can see Morello’s pristine white shoes swiftly turn back to you, the sudden action making you flinch. 

One of his hands suddenly wraps around your hair, pulling it tightly around his fist. Before you can even comprehend what’s happening, he’s pulling you up by the stands, forcing a scream from your lips. Your hands rise with you, ever so slightly rising up the blades. By Morello’s scoff, he’s not happy enough with how little you’ve moved as he wrenches you higher, the blades ripping through your flesh so the handles are pressed against your skin. In the silence of the room, your sobs echo, barely recognisable to your own ears. You refuse to open your eyes and give him the satisfaction of seeing your tears, so you squeeze them shut tightly. 

Morello growls again, his free hand striking against your cheek. You feel one of his rings cut clean through the skin, a scorching ache immediately settling deep into the skin. The slap forces your head unnaturally to the side, your hair and neck twisting painfully. It makes you yelp, gritting your teeth, but still you refuse to look at him. There’s silence for a few moments except for your heavy, shuddering breaths. Your ears become hyper aware, searching for any sound. They pick up the scruff of shoes coming towards you, the telltale sound of a blade being pulled from a sheath. When you feel the cold edge of the metal press against your stomach, your eyes fly open to see Morello’s face right in front of you, a smug look in the deep pits of his irises. 

“We’re gonna have a nice chat dollface. If you are corporate, I might just let you live. If not… Well, let’s just say you and this baby won’t ever see daylight again.” 

You try to nod against his hand, which tightens in your hair, not trusting your voice to say anything back to him. He smiles, an expression so vile and haunted, you feel sick at the sight of it.

“Good!” Without warning, he releases your hair, the strands falling through his fingers quickly as your body limply falls back in the seat. Your palms sink down the blades only half way, leaving them propped up unnaturally.  Helplessly, your body twitches away from the pain, making it worse as you tug at the blades. You can see Morello’s smile deepen above you, his eyes darkening in the dim light with a hidden evil. Unconsciously, you shrink back from him as he shouts to the soldiers. “Hang her up boys. It’s time we get properly acquainted.” 

---

“Jesus Christ Tom, would you stop fidgetin’, you’re shakin’ the car!” 

Paulie’s words barely register in Tommy’s head. He hasn't been able to stop moving all day, constantly fiddling with his cigarettes or scanning over the maps of the city. By the time it came to leave, Sam stepped in to drive, knowing his friend was too distracted with fear to get them to the docks safely. But truth be told, they were all out of their minds with worry. Tommy’s leg was bouncing nonstop, his hand twitching every so often over the Lupara in his lap. Paulie hadn’t stopped talking since they’d got in the car, needing to fill the silence so he wasn’t just trapped with his thoughts. Sam was quiet and contemplating like usual, but as Tommy looked at him out of the corner of his eye, he could see his partner nervously tapping his fingers against the wheel, his mind a million miles away. 

As they cross through the Works Quarter, the convoy of soldiers behind them sticking close, Tommy feels sweat bead on his brow just looking at their approaching location. He isn’t worried about the goons, he’d killed enough of them to know nothing was gonna stop him from getting to you. The thought of pickin’ such a big fight with Morello didn’t scare him either. No, he was only terrified of what’s happened to you. 

All day, his mind has plagued him with images of his enemy’s victims, bloodied and beaten to a pulp. He couldn’t stop the thoughts of you flashing before his eyes, hurt and in pain. Just from thinking about it now, he can feel his heart nearly beating through his chest, his blood sizzling in his veins. God help anyone who gets in his way, because he wasn’t giving any mercy tonight.

“We’re here.” Sam’s voice cuts through Tommy’s thoughts. Immediately, the atmosphere in the car changes, determination and anger filling the air so quickly it nearly gives Tommy whiplash. Behind him, Paulie primes his gun, passing one to Sam who stares ahead, eyes focused. 

Looking down, Tommy picks up his own gun, cocking the trigger. He feels the eyes of his closest friends on him, their hands both coming to rest on his arm. 

“We doin’ this?” Paulie whispers. A deep shuddering breath. “Yeah.” And so they go... Into the valley of death. 

---

You don’t know how much time has passed. As you drift between unconsciousness and awake, all you can do is look down at your stomach through the glaze of tears in your eyes. Morello was true to his word, not laying at hand on your baby. The same can’t be said for you. 

Your arms are utterly destroyed, red raw from the damp ropes used to hang you from the celing. Tracks of blood streak from the holes in your palms like dark rain, now impaled once more in the wooden chair you first woke up in. You hunch limply, too exhausted to hold you weight. 

After Morello’s soldiers had strung you up, your feet absent of shoes just slightly hanging above the floor, they’d left you alone for some time, just standing there watching you. Morello had sat to the side, smoking a cigar like it was the most normal thing in the world. He read the paper while you swung in the wind, whimpering every so often from the ache of the rope against your skin. The soldiers would laugh quietly, staring at your exposed flesh as you dangled there like a doll. You felt like a piece of meat. 

Eventually, Morello put out his cigar and folded up his paper, throwing it on the table with a huff. He picked up knuckle dusters, slipping them on in full view of you and flexed his fingers with an expressionless face. After a beat, he looked up at you and smirked seeing the fear in your eyes. 

For what must have been only an hour, yet felt like years, Morello played with your body like a rag doll. He’d asked you incomprehensible questions, growing furious when you didn’t know how to answer. Using those deadly brass knuckles he’d inflicted hit after hit on your face, just above your stomach, anywhere that wasn’t where your little baby grew. He grew tired of hitting you quickly, changing his weapon of choice to a long knife. 

In long, drawn out strokes, he had traced it along your body, digging in deeper to leave long open wounds in areas he knew were most sensitive. As he traced you, Morello’s hand had eventually started following, touching you where only your husband had touched before. You’d tried to arch away from him, twisting in the rope, but it was no use. He touched you more… and laughed when you sobbed. 

You desensitized yourself to the pain eventually, thinking of an old memory with Tommy with every slice and hit. When you first met and how nervous he was, nothing like the ladykillers Sam or Paulie are. You’re first kiss, under a starry sky after he’d taken you for a romantic meal. The night you gave yourself to him fully, awake till the early hours of the morning in his arms. Watching him sleep after a long day's work, holding you close, always protecting you. As you swung there, you’d imagined what Tommy was doing knowing you were missing. He was no doubt going crazy, you knew your entire family would be. It brought a smile to your blood stained lips to remember just how loved you were. Salieri, the father you never knew. Sam and Paulie, the brothers you always wanted. Sarah, the close sister you could always depend on. The family, an open armed hug of warmth, ready to keep you safe. And Tommy… the man you were lucky enough to call your husband. 

It brought more tears to your eyes as you sat alone now, worried about the future. You couldn’t remember how you got back here, you’d blacked out eventually after hanging up for so long. You’d woken up not so long ago, your whole body numb and aching. Everytime you swallowed, you could taste the blood from the wounds on your face, providing little moisture to your dry mouth. Your face has to be swollen, your eyes no doubt black and bruised. It feels like you have weights attached to them, pulling down your eyelids. You begin to lose strength to keep them open and let them shut, focusing on your breathing to keep you awake. 

In your mind, you travel back to a calmer time, when there was no war. You imagine sitting down at a table in the bar, gossiping with Sarah. The boys enter the room, Paulie and Sam noticing you first and coming towards you to leave kisses on your forehead. Then Tommy appears, smiling wide. He leans down and presses a gentle kiss on your lips, retreating slightly to command “Scootch”. You laugh, but get up, so he can take your place and pull you into his lap. His breath tickles your ear as he whispers your name. Only, when you really listen, he isn’t whispering at all. It sounds like he’s shouting actually.

You grow confused, your daydream evaporating like a pile of ash in the wind. But still you can hear Tommy, shouting your name. 

“Y/N! Darlin’ where are you!”

Your eyes shoot open, looking around manically. There’s no one else in the room. For a second, you lose hope, guessing your mind is playing tricks on you. But then again. A shout, echoing and loud. You hear other voices, ones you know so well. “Y/N, where the hell are you?!” Paulie’s voice. You can hear Sam’s too, strong but panicked. 

They’re here. 

“Tommy...” You try to shout, but your voice is quiet, grated because of your dry mouth. You try again, but it barely echos around the room you're in now. Panic and hope sets in, pushing you to shout louder. You need them, you need Tommy to find you.

“Tommy!” You can’t say anything else, you just keep screaming his name. Through your shouting, you can hear the voices get closer, hear the worry in their voices. The sound of heavy footsteps against a wet floor gets closer and then suddenly the door of the room swings open, light blinding you for a second. But then a figure appears in the doorway, a body you recognise in an instant. On a sob, you breathlessly whimper “Tommy.”

He’s running towards you straight away, collapsing to his knees right in front of you. His hands reach up to your face, cupping you as gently as possible. You sob louder, tears running uncontrollably down your cheeks in red stained streams. Tommy catches some of them gently, his eyes filling up as he breathes heavily. You hear two other pairs of feet enter the room and stop short. You look up and see Sam and Paulie, mouths open in horror at the sight of you so broken. The former, a man you know to rarely show any emotion, actually sheds some tears, his gun dropping beside him. 

Your eyes fall back to Tommy and you begin laughing lightly in relief through your tears. “You’re here… You found me…”

Tommy smiles yet his face is full of pain, hurting for you. “Yeah darlin’... W-we got ya.” 

For a moment, you just stare into each other's eyes, lost in the feeling of being reunited. Relief that Tommy’s here. Relief that you’re alive. Sam appearing like a shadow at your husband’s back breaks you both from your reverie. You look up at him but his eyes are glued to your hands, his face emotionalness except for the tears leaking from his eyes. Paulie’s grief stricken face appears next to him, a small sob leaving his lips when he sees your hands too. 

“Tom… We-we need to get her to the doc. Her ha-hands…” Sam barely gets the words out, breathing heavily. Tommy’s eyes move from your face, taking in the sight of your palms impaled on the blades. His face fills with anger, his teeth gritting violently. “Those bastards!”

Somehow they all move as one, Paulie going behind the chair and gently pulling you back so he can gently wrap his arms around your shoulders to keep you still. Sam and Tommy each move to a hand, their hands gripping the handles of the blades tightly. You know what’s going to happen, but you can’t help the look of fear that crosses your face at the thought of them being ripped out again. Your husband notices and a few more tears slip down from his eyes, dropping onto your hand when they slowly slip into the open wound. 

“I’m so sorry for this darlin’.” Then together with Sam, he pulls out the blades. You scream, so loud and harshly, you see black for a second. 

“We need to stop the bleedin’!” Sam’s shouting brings you back into consciousness. You open your eyes to see them quickly wrapping their belts around your hands, cloth from the shirts trapped beneath to stop the blood spurting out. They quickly move onto your legs after, untying them. Once they're free, Paulie’s hands slip from your neck and Tommy replaces them, his arms wrapping around you back after he takes off his long coat. 

Slowly, with the help of Sam, he lifts you up, taking your weight as Paulie quickly wraps your husband’s coat around you. It’s oversized on you and envelops you like a warm hug, his scent calming you. You can barely stand up, so Tommy picks you up in his arms as soon as you’re covered, already heading for the door as he pulls you tight against his chest. Looking over his shoulder, you can see Sam and Paulie follow close behind, their faces worried and focused on you. 

As you all leave the room, you can see now you’re in some kind of warehouse. You can also see the battle that your family have just had to fight to get to you. There are bodies littered everywhere. Thankfully, there’s more of Morello’s men than your family. Just before you leave the building, a body catches your eye. Though it’s not as blinding as it was before, you can still recognize Morello’s white suit which is now covered in ash, his body burnt and punctured with multiple bullets. It settles some peace in your heart knowing he won’t be able to hurt you or anyone else you care for anymore. 

As you step outside into the night sky, the smell of the ocean assaults your scenes. You know immediately that you’re at the docks, not even 10 minutes away from the bar. Salieri’s soldiers are stood around everywhere, helping some injured men and celebrating the end of this war with those still standing. They all go silent when they see you cradled in Tommy’s arms, barely recognisable with all the blood, bruises and swelling. You hear Sam yell at them, only making out him telling them to “make tracks”, before your husband is climbing into the back of a car, keeping you clutched tightly in his arms. Paulie jumps into the passenger side, turning round almost immediately to check up on you. 

“How ya doin’ Y/N? We’re gonna take you to the doc, just hang tight.” He passes Tommy a handkerchief as Sam gets into the driver's seat. He quickly stars the car and drives off, titling the mirror towards you to check you’re alright as well. It warms your heart to see your closest family so worried about you. You curl deeper into Tommy’s chest as he begins gently wiping away the blood around your lips, his breathing heavy and shuddering. Even in your weak state, you still ache to comfort him, you hand rising to stroke against his cheek. It’s a featherlike touch, leaving some residue of blood from the gaping wound in your palm, but your husband curls into your hand nonetheless, his face so full of pained relief. 

“I’m gonna be okay Tommy. I gotta be for our ba-” 

You slip into unconsciousness before you can finish, catching sight of his eyes widening in surprise before your own close fully. 

---

You look so peaceful as you sleep. It’s something Tommy has noticed before, but as he sits beside you in the Doc’s home surgery, slowly brushing his fingers through the hair, it’s something he’s glad for after the horrors you’ve just been through. He still doesn’t know exactly what’s happened yet, but he can see just from the trauma that’s been inflicted on your body that it wasn’t easy. In that moment, he’s glad he was the one to kill Morello, painfully slow. He would’ve drawn it out more if he had the chance, but his instinct to find you was overpowering him. 

He was right to be so worried. Tommy doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to get the sight of you in that godforsaken chair out of his head. The blood, the wounds, the sounds of your sobs- he shudders, shaking his head. As soon as the four of them had arrived at the Doc’s house, who was ready and waiting with a nurse for backup, it’d be a blur for Tommy. He’d stood helplessly at the foot of the surgical bed, watching the nurse clean you. With every cut and bruise that was revealed, he felt his heart grow tighter, his hands shaking uncontrollably. When the Doc moved onto your hands, announcing he’d have to do surgery on them to try and close the wounds, Tommy had nearly passed out. Sam and Paulie both had to drag him away, thrusting a bottle of whisky into his hands to settle his nerves. 

For hours, they all sat together, silent except for the occasional sound of liquid sloshing in a bottle as one of them took a drink. The housemaid came in at one point, putting on some slow music to rid the space of the stifling silence. She left a bowl of water for them each with a cloth to wipe away the blood on the skin. Tommy didn’t move at first, too wrapped up in his thoughts. It wasn’t until Paulie pointed out the droplets of blood and the smudge you’d left after you’d caressed his cheek earlier that he finally moved to wash it away. Salieri had called at some point asking about you and the fate of Morello. It was a quick call, but the message was portrayed quickly. The crime boss had made you suffer, so the boys made sure the favour was returned. After that, they all returned back to silence, plagued with worry for you. Tommy was busy overthinking what you had said to him before you passed out. He was too scared to believe it to what his mind was telling him to be true. He wanted to know you were okay first… he needed it. 

Finally, the Doc had come into the room, announcing that you would be alright. Your wounds were severe but with a lot of rest and luck, hopefully your body would heal. There would be scars of course, something that made the boys all hang their heads in sadness, but you were alive. And that’s all that mattered. 

Tommy’s brought back to the present when he feels you tug slightly as his hand which tightly clutches your own. He leans closer to you, lightly whispering your name on a raspy breath. 

“Y/N, darlin’. I’m here, open up those pretty eyes.” You tug harder at his hand, your face turning towards the sound of his voice. You slowly open them, as much as you can with the bruising and swelling. Your eyes find him immediately. Tommy smiles, laughing throatilty in relief. He leans down, placing a long kiss on your bandaged palm, smiling wider when your fingers flex against his face. 

“Hi…” You whisper, your voice raspy. Tommy grabs a glass of water and helps you take small sips, supporting your head with his hand. Your eyes, though half shut, gaze at him with so much love, he feels his heart pound against his ribcage. After he’s placed the glass down, he hears you gasp quietly, his head whipping round to see if you're okay. He calms down when he sees you’ve just spotted Sam and Paulie, hunched together asleep on the couch. It looks quite humorous as the former lies head back, collapsed essentially between the pillows. Paulie lies with his head against Sam’s arms, his mouth opening dribbling onto Sam’s expensive suit. 

“They stayed?” Tommy can hear the tears in your voice, the love you have for your chosen brothers seeping into the words. He squeezes your fingers gently instead of your hand, cautious of hurting you more. Your head swings back to his and you smile at him, tears slipping down your cheeks. “You stayed?”

He huffs as if it’s the most silly question in the world. Tommy holds your hand against his cheek as he rasps “Course we stayed- we ain’t goin’ anywhere darling. We were so worried ‘bout you, we ain’t gonna leave you for years at this rate.” You laugh lightly, the sound like music to his ears. 

“I don’t know what that bastard did to ya. If you don’t ever want to tell me, that’s fine too. But know this darlin’- I ain’t goin’ anywhere. You’re my girl, this all happened just because your mine. So I’m gonna love you hard for the rest of my life, because I nearly lost you today… and I ain’t gonna waste a minute more. Not with you… or our kid.”

You let out a sob at his words, tears falling harder now as his hand moves to your stomach rubbing gently. 

“I-I was gonna tell you t-today. Tommy, I was leavin’ the doctors when they took me. I’d just found out, I-”

“I know, darlin’, I know. I should’a been there with you. I’m here with you now though. And I ain’t ever leavin’ you again. No one’s gonna hurt my family anymore.” He places a kiss on your palm again, moving to your stomach to gently place one there too. Your free hand slowly moves to his hair, stroking through it slightly just like you do every night. 

“Come to bed Tommy. We both need some rest.” He can’t resist you. After taking off his shoes and leaving his jacket draped over a chair, he climbs in beside you, carefully maneuvering himself so he can take you into his arms. For once, he’s gonna be the one to stroke your hair as you fall asleep, praying to every god to keep you safe. As his eyes begin to shut and he slips deep into his own slumber, his hand pressed against your stomach, he dreams only of his family and the home you’re both gonna create. 

-----

A/N: Thanks for reading minxies. Sorry the ending is kinda meh. I really hoped you’ve all enjoyed though, I feel like this is one of the best things I’ve ever written. 

(Unedited)

[imaginepirates]

New York

Another modern au, but this time, the whole crew shows up.....and they show up in New York, a hub of modern technology and culture. Aided by your friend, you help them acclimate to life in modern times. As if that wasn’t enough, the crew tries to set you up with James, who is, admittedly, one of your fictional crushes. For @shadowsingeraxolotl

@emdrabbles​ @tesserphantom @paljonkaikenlaista @viper-official @wordsinwinters​ @groovyfluxie

~3350 words

~~~~~~~

          New York was a hub of activity, people flitting about from place to place in the early evening light. The diversity between people was staggering; hipsters walked on their way between stores, the well-dressed made their way to music halls and theaters, tourists took pictures of everything in sight, and tired-looking students drank their weight in coffee at each Starbucks.

          You, however, were just going home. You’d spent the day on Manhattan’s waterfront, and you looked forward to coming back to tour the middle of the city later. You lived in Brooklyn, and spent some of your free time exploring the various sections of NYC. No matter how long a person lived in New York City, there was always more to see.  

          You passed a small group of people who looked to be dressed in costumes. They looked like they’d come straight out of a history book. Each of them were staring up and around at the surrounding skyscrapers with wide eyes, and you wondered if it was part of the act. One noticed your curiosity and beckoned you over.

          “Could you tell us where we are, love?” He asked. Dreadlocks hung to his shoulders, and he had on a costume like a pirate. In fact, he quite looked like Johnny Depp, and you wondered if there was a production of Pirates of the Caribbean going on nearby.

          Wouldn’t have missed that for the world, you thought. How did I not see any advertising? “Why, you’re in New York.” You played along, though you felt a bit shy around the strangers.

          “New York?” Another man sputtered. He stood just behind you, and you turned to see a man in naval uniform.

          You smiled to yourself. The stricken expression on the man’s face was quite convincing. A good actor, I bet. Then you looked him over again, and you were sure all the color drained from your face, because he was the spitting image of James Norrington. Did I eat something, or am I just dreaming?

          “Wonderful.” This came from a girl standing next to you, and you turned to see a girl who looked exactly like Elizabeth Swann. She was staring with wonder up at all the big buildings, eyes shining.

          And Elizabeth would like it, too. There was another, and you knew before looking that it was going to be Will Turner. He looked awkward, looking around with clear anxiety in his eyes.

          You swallowed. “You must be lost.” You could feel your own anxiety skyrocketing. This is insane. I’m insane. This can’t be real. Instead of saying any of that, though, you said, “Do you need a place to stay?”

          “That would be wonderful, love.” As calm as he was trying to sound, there was some tension in Jack’s voice. You couldn’t blame him.

          “We can get an Uber. Or two. Or….” It might just be best if I called a friend. No driver could take five people in the small cars Uber drivers usually had, and they certainly wouldn’t fit in a taxi. “I’ll just call a friend.”

          It felt odd, standing there, in the middle of the street, with a bunch of strangers dressed in eighteenth century garb, waiting for your friend to show up. They had a van, and you could count on it to fit everyone.

          You had to wait a long time. Traffic in Manhattan was something else; the crush of cabs, busses, and cars made driving through the area a nightmare. You tried quietly convincing your new companions not to stare at things. The statement went both ways. You wanted to gape at the little group, but you knew it was rude. Still, they literally came right out of a story. I think that warrants for staring a little.

          In your peripheral vision, you could just see Norrington’s coat sleeve. Norrington. A man that you’d had a crush on since you’d first watched the series. You could feel yourself fidgeting in embarrassment, wanting nothing more than to retreat to the safety of home. Then it struck you: I’m going to have all these people in my house. The one place where I can retreat from people. You sighed. This’ll resolve itself. It has to. Right?

          Finally, your friend arrived. They pulled up to the curb, the window to the driver’s side rolling down. “You owe me, fam.” Your friend called out. “What was so import—oh.” They stared at the little gathering.

          You ushered the group into the van, instructing them on how to properly use seatbelts. You hopped in the passenger’s seat, looking over to your friend with what you knew were dazed eyes. “Yeah,” you said. “I owe you.”

          There was a collective gasp as the van drove off. You could hear dull thuds from where the characters had thrown out their hands. Elizabeth, at least, was smiling. You could see her in the rearview mirror, her face pressed up against the van’s tinted windows, fingers splayed against the glass. Clearly, she was enraptured. James, on the other hand, had drained of color. You felt badly for him. This definitely wasn’t what he’d signed up for upon entering the Navy.

          You pulled into the parking lot of your apartment, ushering everyone inside. The less people saw of your visitors, the better. You had them gather in your small living room while you pulled your friend aside into the bathroom.

          “I just found them on the street,” you explained. “And you can see them too, which means I’m not insane.”

          “Yeah….Still not sure what we should do with them. Should we turn them in to the police or something?”

          Somehow, the thought didn’t seem right. “The police will probably try to put them in a psych ward.”

          “You might be right on that one.” Your friend sighed. “I don’t know where you plan to keep them. This isn’t the roomiest of places.”

          “It’ll have to do.” You shrugged. “And thanks. For helping me out. For going along with all this.”

          They smiled. “I don’t think I have a choice.”

          You stepped back out into the living room to see four expectant faces staring back at you. You had to explain a lot to them, and the task was daunting. You didn’t even know where to start. “I’m guessing that you’re all a little confused,” you began.

          “That’s an understatement, mate.” Jack picked his way across the room, looking at your furniture, electronics, and decorations. He poked and prodded at a few things, making the ridiculous facial expressions he was famous for.

          “As I told you earlier,” you continued, “you’re in New York City.”

          “This certainly isn’t how I remember the Colonies.” Norrington looked around the small room, a frown in place.

          “And I’ve seen some strange things, love, but this can’t be New York,” Jack added.

          “Well….you also happen to be….” Even the thought of it sounded ridiculous. Welcome to the twenty-first century! Here are three hundred years worth of war, politics, culture, and technology to catch up on! “You’re also a couple hundred years in the future.” You watched worriedly for their response, but all you got were four sets of eyes.

          “A couple?” Norrington was white as a sheet.

          “Three, I think.”

          “Three.”

          You all stared at each other, including your friend, who looked around the room with concern. It was at this moment that Will flipped the lightswitch, causing everything to go dark. There were exclamations from the four pirates. Pirates. Probably shouldn’t bring that up. For all I know, Jack is still the only true pirate here, and the rest hadn’t fallen in yet before they got here. Suddenly, Will flipped the switch again, and your eyes had to adjust back to the light. The panic subsided—for the moment.

          “Electricity,” you explained. “We don���t use candles anymore.”

          “Convenient.” This came from Will, who was squinting at a lightbulb.

          “Yeah. Might not want to stare at that, though.” Will nodded at your suggestion, but kept glancing back at it as if it would suddenly change.

          At some point, Norrington must have regained his composure, despite the slight pinch he gave the bridge of his nose. You expected that it was a common gesture for him, what with his line of work. “You must be overwhelmed, having us here. You’ve been very kind to take us in. If you can think of anything you might need help with, we’d be happy to help you.” He gave a sharp look to each of his companions and an awkward smile to you.

          You nodded, indeed feeling quite overwhelmed. The realization that you’d have to keep them in your apartment and feed them did nothing to help. You eventually figured out sleeping arrangements, though you felt badly about the lack of space. Elizabeth would share your bed with you, and the boys would take the living room. Your friend left to find suitable clothes for everyone, and you thanked them profusely.

          You woke up early the next morning, full of stress. You padded softly through the living room into the kitchen, trying not to wake anybody, looking for food to make everyone. James stirred as you passed him. He was laying on the couch, though it was too small for him, and his feet were dangling over the edge. He shifted, yawning a little and stretching out. He’d doffed his wig and hat, leaving his hair to poke out at all angles. You found it adorable. He looked up at you with tired eyes, and you looked back with what you knew was equally messy hair.

          “Morning,” you whispered.

          “Good morning.” He gave you a small, soft smile and stood up from the couch. “Can I help you with anything?”

          “Do you know how to make crepes?”

          “Unfortunately not.” He looked a little awkward, but it was clear he wanted to help.

          “You can help me fill them.” You gave him what you hoped was a reassuring smile, and he followed you into the kitchen.

          It was strange, to have company in a kitchen that usually only held you. It was nice, too. James was a welcome presence, spreading jams, peanut butter, and nutella across the crepes you made. You gave him some ham to add to them, too, in case someone preferred a savory option. Crepes could, in your opinion, get overly sweet.

          You caught a smile on James’ face. “This reminds me of times gone by,” he admitted. “When I was a child in England. I used to watch the women in the kitchens preparing food. They’d give me small tasks to do, sometimes. It was,” you watched him search for the right word, “nice. It still is.” He looked over at you, a little blush tinting his cheeks. You felt yourself blushing right back, though you couldn’t say the feeling was unpleasant.

          Breakfast was eaten with gusto, and though you’d feared it might be awkwardly silent, the group had a never-ending string of questions. Elizabeth voiced her desire to explore, and you figured it couldn’t hurt to take them back to Manhattan. The world had seen stranger things than supposedly enraptured tourists.

          Your friend stopped by with clothes and volunteered to go with you so they could drive you in their van. You were more than thankful for it. You let the group change, smiling to see modern styles on them. Elizabeth was a sight in particular, wearing a lovely little floral dress. The boys looked at her with varying degrees of embarrassment. They weren’t used to seeing ankles, much less knees.

          You changed into your own clothes. You almost found yourself looking forward to playing tour-guide. I planned on going back to Manhattan anyway, so why not with some others? You knew it would tire you out a little, but you were growing more and more excited to properly get to know the group. They were some of your favorite characters, after all. This is like a child’s Disneyland dream come true.

          The first place you stopped was, of course, Times Square. You wanted the group to see the extent of today’s technology, the overwhelming lights blaring at you from a thousand different screens. There would be a crush of people, as usual, and the towering buildings always made you feel small. You could only wonder at how your group would feel, so new to all these sights and sounds, and so far from home.

          Your friend found a parking spot a couple blocks away, and you all slid out of the car onto the concrete. You noticed how Will immediately took Elizabeth’s hand, and how even Jack walked alongside your friend.

          “That leaves you with our host, Commodore,” Jack called, clearly amused.

          You could see that James was embarrassed, but he offered you his arm all the same. “Shall we?”

          Equally embarrassed, you accepted. The two of you strolled arm in arm behind your friend as they led the group into the square. James stopped when you entered, looking up at the ads plastered across screens and billboards, and at the skyscrapers encased in glass. You found the wonder on his face to be enchanting.

          “Technology really has progressed,” he managed to stutter.           “More than you could ever know.” You looked out at the bright screens promoting movies, musicals, and all different sorts of companies. We changed so drastically in such a short amount of time.

          The rest of the group had stopped as well, staring with the same awe and reverence as James.

          “I’d been to New York, once,” said James. “We had to stop in for supplies on the Dauntless. It was large then, but now…. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so small.” Color dotted his cheeks.

          Ah. He’s a man used to being comfortable in any situation, to being in control. You smiled to yourself. Though maybe not social situations. “It’s nothing like the past,” you agreed. “Though not everywhere is like this. Just big cities.”

          “Is London like this?” Elizabeth asked excitedly.

          “Very. But all the older architecture has been kept around, so there’s a massive difference in styles.”

          “Speaking of styles, we have a cathedral here from the nineteenth century. It might be cool to check that out.”

          The group agreed. It was a neat spot, surrounded by skyscrapers, strictly contrasting the modern styles. As you walked back to the car, you passed a group of teenagers. One girl looked up at you and James, smiling. “You’re a cute couple,” she said as she passed by.

          You and James both blushed, and you opened your mouths to protest that you were not, in fact, a couple, but she was gone before you could get a word out. Too embarrassed to look each other in the eye, you stared at the ground. When you looked up again, you could see the smirking faces of the rest of the group, your friend among them. Even Will was giving you a little smile.

          When you got to the car, Jack hopped in the passenger’s seat as your friend drove. That left you to squish in next to James, and you could tell by the look on Jack’s face that he’d meant for it to happen. Your friend turned the radio on, saving you from having to make awkward conversation. James was pressed right next to you, his thigh and arm against yours, and you fiddled with the bottoms of your sleeves to keep your mind preoccupied. Not that it works. James, too, was using a similar tactic, though you could tell he was acutely aware of your proximity.

          Finally, you found a place to park near the cathedral, and you slipped out of the car, thankful to be out of an awkward situation, but missing the warmth of James’ body against yours.

          St. Patrick’s Cathedral looked short compared to its neighboring buildings, though you still had to crane your neck up to see the top of the spires. It was heavily decorated in the Neo-Gothic style, and you were sure that most of your group had seen the like before. The Gothic style had been around for centuries, and though the Neo-Gothic style had some of its own features, the two were very much alike.

          You toured the cathedral in pairs, walking silently through the echoing nave. “I’ve never been much one for religion,” whispered Jack, “but these churches do command a certain respect.”

          That was true enough. Even to the nonbeliever, a cathedral demanded respect and reverence. The air in them was different, somehow, heavier. Every sound was magnified. Every careless footfall echoed throughout the chambers like a rockslide might echo in a canyon.

          “It reminds me of England,” James said. “My family used to go to Canterbury for Christmas. The cathedral there was much like this one. Bigger, perhaps, but similar.” He stared with sad eyes up at the arches and stained glass. “It seems so long ago, now.”

          You gave his hand a squeeze. “We’ll find a way to get you home.” The words sounded unconvincing, even to your own ears, but James smiled appreciatively all the same.

          Your third and final stop of the day was the Statue of Liberty. One of the most iconic pieces in America, you figured the group had to see it. You explained that it was a symbol of liberty and freedom while in the car.

          “Freedom?” James asked.

          You knew you had to break it to them sometime, and you supposed that now was the best time to do so. “From Britain. We’re not colonies anymore.” Your friend parked the car in a space where you could see the statue from across the water.

          “What happened?”

          “We had a revolution. Britain was taxing us unfairly, so we decided to start our own country.”

          “Avoiding taxes?” Jack grinned, joining the conversation. “Sounds like something a pirate might do, love.”

          “It was more complicated than that.” Still, you couldn’t suppress a smile. “It was taxation without representation.”

          “If you say so, mate.”

          “The world must be very different,” said James. “New borders, new countries. And Britain has probably lost many of its colonies, by now.” He looked sad, worried, even.

          “Yes, it has. But it’s still a strong country with a good economy, and is looked to as a world leader. The world may change, but the powers remain, taking power in new ways.”

          He nodded. “They always are.”

          You returned home afterwards and talked to your friend about what you should make for dinner. They smiled at you. “You should get Norrington to help you. The two of you are adorable, and I think he likes you.” They leaned in. “Besides, I know you’ve had a crush on him ever since you watched those movies.” Your friend winked, leaving you alone to blush as they went on to talk to the group.

          When you got to the kitchen, you saw that Jack, Elizabeth, and Will had had much the same idea for James. He stood there, awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand. “Today was lovely.” He looked at you bashfully, and you couldn’t help giving him a small smile back.

          “Thank you. I….” You didn’t really have words, so you trailed off into awkward silence, grabbing the ingredients for dinner.

          James helped, getting things out of the fridge for you, though he stared at it like it was from an alien planet. To him, it is.

          He passed the food to you, but his hand lingered on yours, and you felt yourself blush. You set the food down, turning back to him. Gently, he took your hand in his, raising it to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to your knuckles. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but clearly couldn’t think of anything.

          You stepped forward, a little uncertainly, and kissed him on the cheek. He went red, and so did you. You stepped back, returning to your cooking. He watched, helping where he could, and you settled into a comfortable silence, goofy smiles across your faces.

          Living with this group has its upsides, I suppose. James, I think, accounts for ten of them.

[language-of-love]

one summer night... (prompt from @jessx2231: sitting on the porch at night) | Summer Soft Series on AO3

.........

Some hellbeast of a bug buzzes his ear and he flails wildly, both desperate to not have it touch his face and not actually make contact with whatever the hell that was. He doesn’t mind walking home from the store, in fact relishes the solitude of it, but these flying monstrosities inhabiting this town can fuck right off.

“Did you just have a stroke?”

“Oh jesus fuck!”

David feels a year of his life vanish into thin air, both from fright and sheer embarrassment as that disembodied voice takes form in a very amused Patrick Brewer sitting on Ray’s front porch.

“Sorry David, didn’t mean to startle you.”

Instead of responding, David holds his finger up as he takes a few steadying breaths, eyes narrowing as Patrick’s smile just grows wider. Why does he have to have a smile like that? And why are David’s lips nudging up to smile back? Enough of that.

“Does Ray know you’re loitering out here?”

“He does. But, point of fact, I’m not loitering. I live here.”

Wait, what? He’s known this man for weeks now and he’s just finding out that he lives with Ray?

“Really?”

“Yeah, I rent a room upstairs. Sorry, I just assume that everyone knows everything about everyone in this town, so I never mentioned it.”

“Hmm, okay, just...processing this new information over here.”

Patrick chuckles in that warm, rumbly way that he does and David’s rogue stomach does a little churn. He’s not sure what to do about his body’s growing awareness of this little business man that’s dropped into his life, so he does what he’s been doing for the past week and ignores it.

“While you’re processing, I’m gonna go grab a beer. Wanna join me for a drink?”

He doesn’t hold back the minor cringe at the word “beer”, which Patrick sees and probably misinterprets, so he quickly speaks before the wrong idea can be formed.

“Do you have any wine?”

Patrick’s smile is back immediately and he nods as he stands and heads inside, leaving David standing there completely unsure of what he’s doing. He can’t help his anxiety from bubbling up question after question into the front of his brain. What is this? What does this mean? Does it mean anything? Of course it doesn’t. This is Patrick. He’s not interested in David like that. Why would he be?

“”Hey, can you…?

David’s pulled from his anxiety spiral at the sound of Patrick’s voice to find him on the other side of the screen door, hands full with their drinks.

“Oh, yeah, let me,” David stutters, quickly pulling the door open so Patrick can step back outside.

“I figured you’d want something chilled, so I went with Chardonnay. I hope that’s okay?”

“It’ll do.”

Honestly, his standards where alcohol is concerned has sunk so low since living here that he’ll drink just about anything, except Mutt’s moonshine. That’s a mistake you only make once.

Patrick returns to his spot on the stair and David contemplates what to do. He could stand here, awkwardly, or risk doing permanent damage to his white denim. He’s not sure which is worse. So he has no real choice to throw caution to the wind and sits.

It’s just past dusk and the evening around them is growing darker, Ray’s porch light and the lights from the motel down the block illuminating the vast nothingness around them. It’s oddly calming in a way. He can hear Patrick’s fingernail picking at the label on his beer, making him realize just how close they’re actually sitting.

“I feel pretty stupid that I didn’t know you were living here until now,” he admits.

“Eh, I hadn’t supplied the information either, so I guess it’s on both of us.”

Oh...wait.

“So, when you offered up your place for me to stay during the whole...lice debacle,” he pauses, allowing the full body shudder to pass before continuing. “You were offering up what, Ray’s couch, or...your…?”

The chuckle Patrick releases gets caught in his throat a little and it comes out more like a cough and when David looks over at him, he’s pretty sure there’s a little redness coloring those pale cheeks.

“I guess I hadn’t really thought that through.”

Hmm… Interesting. Or is it? David’s history of turning nothing into something is longer than a CVS receipt, so he’s mentally stopping that train of thought. Remembering his wine, he takes a long sip, cringes, and goes back in for another. It’s bad, but it’s cold and he likes the company.

“Luckily, that tragic chapter of our lives is over and we hopefully will never have to think about it again.”

“Cheers to that.”

Patrick tilts the neck of his beer towards him and David lifts his wine, smiling at the soft clink of glass against glass.

“So, Patrick, what else is there to know about you that I’ve neglected to learn?”

Patrick shrugs, but David spies his lips curving up a bit behind the mouth of his beer bottle, and yeah, that sparks some real curiosity about this man he’s obviously not given enough attention to.

“Nothing much, really. I’m just, honestly, really happy to be working with you at the store. I’m enjoying the challenge…”

“I’m a challenge?” David interrupts, his incredulous expression marred by his inability to fully wipe away his smile.

“The store is a challenge, David. You’re…”

He falls quiet and David arches an eyebrow, lifting his free hand to motion for Patrick to continue.

“I don’t know. You’re...you. I’ve never met anyone like you before, and I...I like that, I guess? I never know what you’re gonna say or do next, so yeah, maybe you’re a bit of a challenge, too. But a good one.”

David’s a bit dumbstruck. He’s never had someone say those things to him in a way that wasn’t an admonishment before. It’s an unsteadying feeling.

“I’m glad to have made an impression,” he says quietly, quick to hide his face behind his wine glass and his feelings under another long sip that ends up draining his glass.

Patrick notices, because of course he does. He’s rather attentive.

“Want another glass?” he asks, and David’s thrown off again by Patrick’s open expression of hopefulness. But he’s going to head home. Another glass will lower inhibitions and the wall he’s constructed around his heart to stop himself from getting hurt by nice guys like this. Patrick won’t mean to hurt him when it happens, so it’s best to keep things professional.

“Thanks, but I’m good.” Standing quickly, he waits for Patrick to stand with him, but he doesn’t. He just sits there, his broad shoulder propped against the side of the porch rail, smiling up at him in that genuine way that he’s mastered. He holds out his hand and for a second David freezes, unsure as to what he’s doing, but thankfully, quickly registers he’s offering to take David’s wine glass. Their fingers brush a little and the tiny hairs on David’s neck prickle his skin, but he’ll just pretend that it's from the warm summer breeze that’s surrounded them like a blanket.

It’s gotten a tad bit too cozy on this porch.

David’s a few steps away when he hears Patrick call out to him.

“Goodnight David.”

Smiling softly, he wiggles his fingers in a small wave before turning back towards the motel.

“Night Patrick.”

….....

The scratch of Patrick’s calloused thumb against the side of his neck feels so good that he can feel his body leaning in closer, pressing Patrick’s back harder against the porch rail as his moan of appreciation vibrates against their joined lips. Patrick’s free hand anchored in David’s back pocket clenches and their kiss goes molten, both of them delving deeper as if their mouths are performing all the things their bodies want, but aren’t currently able. The porch light is out, casting them in blissful darkness, masking roaming hands and stubble chafed skin, but David’s more than a little desperate to find some real privacy.

“When’s Ray getting home?” he pants into Patrick’s mouth, not giving him a chance to respond as he captures his lips again for another breathless kiss. He tastes of beer and pretzels from their short excursion to The Wobbly Elm, excusing themselves after only twenty minutes to go back out to the Rose Family car and fog up the windows, a move they will both be teased about forever by Stevie and Alexis who found them an hour later half dressed and dazed.

“Soon,” Patrick manages to whimper, “very soon.”

David has half a mind to drag Patrick inside and up to his room, but they’re both too worked up and he can’t emotionally handle Ray walking in on them, which he’ll inevitably do. It’s happened already.

Twice.

So, he does the last thing he wants to do. Pulling his mouth free, he angles his head enough to let his forehead fall to meet Patrick’s, indulging himself for a moment in the exhilaration of hearing Patrick’s breath heaving just as hard as his own. God, it’s intoxicating being wanted.

“You wanna sit for a while?” Patrick eventually asks and David answers with a tiny nod, made a bit awkward with their foreheads still pressed together. The laugh they share helps release a bit of the adrenaline and electricity, but David feels it spark anew when Patrick drags his hand into his lap as soon as they’ve sat down on the step.

“Do you have plans Sunday night?”

“Who would I have plans with except you?”

“Stevie?”

“We don’t make plans.”

“Right,” Patrick says with a smile, “well, I do, so can you add an overnight date with me to your very busy schedule?”

David’s smile widens at Patrick’s ears going pink, his inability to hide his blush even when he’s being assertive one of his most adorable qualities.

“Okay, but I can’t do Stevie’s again. Now that I know that she’s still sleeping with Jake, it’s all a little too...complicated.”

“Agreed. Some neutral ground would be ideal. Maybe one of the nicer hotels in Elmdale?”

David likes how that sounds. Leaning in, he runs the tip of his nose against Patrick’s temple so he can whisper softly into his ear.

“Somewhere with room service.”

“And late checkout,” Patrick agrees as he turns his head, quickly capturing David’s lips in a sneaky kiss.

It’s only minutes later when Ray finds them, once again caught up, with David’s hand trapped behind Patrick’s head and the porch rail, mouths kiss bruised and fingers grazing skin beneath hems and collars. By some miracle, Ray’s on the phone and greets them with just a knowing smile and a wave, quickly disappearing inside, but leaving the inner door open and efficiently, and undoubtedly unintentionally, ending their private moment.

Since they’re so close, Patrick walks him back to the motel, kissing him again against the door before mumbling “Goodnight David” against his cheek.

David’s “Night Patrick” is texted to him moments later, prompting Patrick to look back at him from down the street and blow him an exaggerated kiss.

…....

The condensation from Patrick’s beer drips down onto David’s wrist and it makes him shiver, the cold water a welcome contrast to his overheated skin. It’s a hot night, still in the high eighties past 8 o’clock and humid, making his thin t-shirt stick to the sweat building at the small of his back and between his pecs.

Stevie’s laugh precedes her as she pushes out onto their back porch, one hand clasping an overfull glass of red and the other holding the door open for Twyla following behind her. Twyla’s cut her hair so the warm summer breeze catches the now shoulder length strands as she smiles and sits cross legged against the porch rail, her sunny disposition a perfect match to the warmth radiating deep in David’s chest.

“Is it almost ready?” Patrick asks, his words making his chest rumble and David’s body vibrate from how close they’re plastered together on their loveseat style lounger. As they’ve settled into their new home, they’ve created these little special places, like the oversized soaker tub and the breakfast nook that faces the morning sun. Knowing they didn’t need to make room for potential future kids allowed them to build their home around their family of two and it’s honestly more than David could have ever dreamed up.

“Needs another half hour or so,” Twyla responds, before launching into a long story about all the different models of ice cream maker she tried out before finding the perfect one to give David and Patrick as a wedding present. Of course, because she’s a millionaire, she chose the most expensive home model, which David has thanked her for countless times.

“It’s definitely our most used wedding present,” he reminds her, which makes her smile.

“What about mine?” Stevie asks, each syllable dripping with her signature mix of boredom and sarcasm.

“You didn’t get us anything,” Patrick responds before David even has a chance.

“Incorrect. Need I remind you that it was only due to my meddling that the two of you even got together? And it was my apartment where you, you know,” she lets her words trail off as she nods pointedly. “And it was me who talked sense into you, David, when you wanted to drag Patrick to New York and leave me all alone.”

“Ah, yes, how could we forget. Thank you, Stevie, for your completely selfless gift of...um…”

“Friendship, David, the word you are looking for is friendship,” Stevie supplies, entirely too amused with herself.

As she takes a few large gulps of her wine, David tries to think of a witty response. But Patrick turns his head in that moment and presses a soft kiss into David’s hair and his brain turns to absolute mush. So, Stevie wins this round, but he’s really okay with it.

They do, eventually, eat some of Twyla’s ice cream, a delicious concoction of chocolate, pistachio and marshmallow swirl. Considering her disastrous attempts at edible smoothie recipes, she’s surprisingly good with her ice cream flavors. As the night goes on, Stevie gets more than a little tipsy, but so does David, and he laughs at his own slurred speech after saying goodbye from his now permanent spot on the loveseat.

“It’s a good thing Twyla stayed sober,” Patrick says from the patio door, the sound of his flip flops hitting the wood making David smile as he knows that means he’s coming back to sit with him again. Leaning his head back against the cushion, he focuses on the string of edison bulbs they have framing the overhang, made brighter now that Patrick has turned off the porch light.

“We should tell them to get an Uber next time. Twyla is a really entertaining drunk.”

Patrick’s warm body joins David’s on their loveseat and David lets out a happy grumble.

“So are you.”

Patrick’s voice is soft and rumbly, his mouth hot against David’s temple as he slowly drops kisses on a path towards David’s mouth.

“I’m not drunk,” David protests, even though he knows he kind of is, but he also knows how much his husband loves it when he’s a little ornery.

“Mmhmm…”

Patrick’s response is mumbled against David’s mouth, his hands greedily dragging David towards him by the back of his neck. David’s more than a little tipsy and he goes with it, welcoming the heady rush of desire mixing with the languid pull of the alcohol, making everything feel hazy and oh so good.

He’s barely maneuvered himself onto Patrick’s lap before his sweaty shirt is being dragged over his head and all the privacy they finally have is taken full advantage of.

Later, skin still pink from their shared shower and eyes closing against his cool pillowcase, David searches for Patrick’s hand between them on the mattress. It’s only when he has those familiar fingers, calloused from his guitar string, wrapped tight in his does he let himself fully drift off to sleep.

“Goodnight David,” he faintly registers hearing Patrick whisper.

“Night Patrick” he replies, or at least he thinks he does, but it could all just be a really amazing dream.

[spookyswhore]

Two Peas in a Pod (Part 2)

Summary: Maybe this was a situation better than you thought.

Part 2 requested by @spookysnena

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings: none, just some fluff

For some reason, today was more exhausting than usual. Per usual, Freeridge was hot as hell but something was off. Maybe it was that time was moving slowly at your job this particular day. Or your raging headache. Or the fact that you’ve been avoiding Oscar ever since the major little debacle at his place three days ago. Or a little bit of all three. See, you kind of left and never really told Oscar how you felt about him. You felt guilty after letting Sad Eyes down and you freaked out and left Oscar on his couch in a confused daze. But you made sure to give him a call and talk it out, with him reassuring you that the situation was okay. You never really been in that kind of scenario before, especially with thinking that it was more for those dramatic rom-coms, so you were feeling a little bit overwhelmed. Which only intensified as you noticed Oscar enter into the store you worked at, and internally panicked. It was obvious that all of your efforts for avoiding him were going down the drain by the millisecond. Oscar approached the counter the same time as Mario, surprisingly. They dapped it up and struck up a conversation about how Ruby was doing amidst his whole shooting situation. According to what you’ve listened to, he wasn’t really doing great. Oscar turned to you, while the other other cashier rang up Mario, and asked you to turn up the radio. 

“Where have you been?” he asked. You ignored his question. You tried to salvage any sort of avoidance you had left, although you got a little bit scared when his voice grew deep. Ultimately, you decided it was best to ignore him and continued to ring up the rest of his items. 

~

It was close to 11 when you ended your shift. Around 10:45. It was apparent what the exhaustion of the day left on your body. All you wanted right now was some food, your bed, and some Netflix if the tiredness in your body allowed it. But, you knew you were going to be in for an even longer night when you saw Oscar leaning against the drivers side of his Impala taking a pull of his cigarettes. 

“Those things stink.” You said, the disgust jumping out of you. You never really grasped the appeal to cigarettes. Your dad used to smoke them before he passed and every single time you would gag. The smell was making you physically sick. “What are you doing here?”

He took one last pull of his cigarette and walked around the car to open the passenger seat. 

"Get in." He said

You scrunch your eyebrows in confusion and hesitance for a moment but then you realized this is typical Oscar behavior. It was just a little weird especially after the couple days you’ve had. You made your way to the passenger seat and shrugged your bag from your shoulders to place it on your lap, at this point you were honestly over it. Noticing your blatant tiredness, he took your bag and gently threw it somewhere in the back seat. He also reached over you to buckle your seatbelt for you. 

“Thanks…” You muttered tiredly. You slid down in your seat trying to get comfortable and dragged a hand over your face. 

“Long day?” Oscar spoke. 

“Yeah…” 

“Well your day is about to get longer. We’re getting something to eat.” 

“Oscar really? I just want to go home right now.” You pleaded. You absolutely did not have the energy for his shenanigans right now. 

“Please? Then I’ll leave you alone for the rest of the night.” 

Your only response was to ignore him as he took that as a ‘yes’ and started the car. Half an hour later, Oscar pulled into ‘The Joint’, which left you in more aggravation.

“Oscar. You do know this is closed right.” 

“Yeah I know.” He dug around for the keys to the joint and dangled them in the air. “I went ahead and asked Dwayne for the keys so we could have some privacy.” 

You couldn’t help to bring yourself to smile at his gesture. This was really a side to him that no one really gets to see and you feel extra special that he’s showing this to you only. You were so wrapped up in your thoughts that you didn’t even notice your side of the door open and Oscar holding out his hand to help you out of the car. You took his hand and he led you inside where your heart melted into a puddle of liquid mass. The floor of the restaurant was adorned with your favorite flower, the Dahlia, and the sound of violin instrumentals played softly in the background. 

“Where did the big bad, scary gang leader get all of this?” 

“This big bad, scary gang leader called a few connections.” He said, coming up behind you and kissing your neck. He then led you to one of the booths and your eyes landed on the menu. Instead of the usual burgers and fries the joint usually makes, it instead held a special three course meal, catered to your favorite foods, that would be made by Chef Diaz himself. 

“First up, for the appetizer. Buffalo wings. Extra spicy.” Oscar said. 

Your mouth salivated as you devoured the wings. The burn of the sauce satisfying your taste buds. At the end, you sat there licking the sauce off of your fingers and burped. 

“Liked it?” Oscar smirked. He took the finished plate of bones only to replace it with another plate but it only held chicken and shrimp alfredo. Just like the last dish, you devoured the plate like it was your last meal. The savory taste of all of the ingredients was hitting your hungry belly  in the best ways possible. But, for dessert, which was honestly the best part, you wanted to slow down and be a little more intimate for some reason. You asked Oscar to sit and share the cheesecake with you. Time seemed to fly by as you two held a conversation with you about almost everything. Surprisingly, Oscar was very athletic in his younger days.

“So you threw up then passed out?” You laughed.

“It’s not funny. It made me lose the love I had for basketball. All the running back and forth traumatized me.” 

“You are so dramatic.” You said. It got quiet as you stared at his face for a while. “Hey, I need to tell you something.” Oscar stopped his movements and looked into your eyes. 

“I like you. Not in a friendly way either. That’s why I choose you over Sad Eyes. You make me happy. I look forward to seeing you everyday. There’s much more I probably want to say but can’t think of right now but yeah…” 

“Does it help your memory that I feel the same way?”

“Maybe…” You laughed.. It got quiet again but this time, Oscar took the time to capture your lips in a kiss that made you want to tie your heart neatly in a box and give it to him. To have and to hold. Till death do you part. 

“Wow that was…” 

“Yeah.” You both said at the same time. 

“You should really take me home now. I was being serious about wanting to be in my bed” You said, stuffing your belly back into your jeans. As you walked out of the door, Oscar put his flannel from over his tanktop onto your shoulders as he walked you both back to the car. Once you both pulled up in front of your house and decided to be a little naughty and pull Oscar into a tongue tied kiss then exited the car. 

“Bye Oscar.” You dragged on to tease him a little. But before he could get another word in, you ran away into your house like a child while he sat there and laughed at your antics. You plopped onto your bed, which felt like heaven to be honest, and smiled to yourself as you heard Oscar’s car driving down the street, the sound slowly becoming distant. You started to imagine your future with Oscar. A home. A few kids plus Cesar from time to time. Him one day opening up his own restaurant while you manage your own dance company. Things in the love department were finally looking up for you. You fell asleep right after with the wonderful feeling you made the right decision.

[thomas-reynolds]

CAUGHT UP // 001

WHO: Griffin x Jamie x Thomas WHERE: The apartment. TW/NOTES: Nsfw. Griff and Tommy-boy come home early from the bar thanks to Griffin’s heavy drinking, and catch Jamie in the act with some dude. Things get heated and not in the fun way, and they end up a little worse for wear.

JAMIE ::

"My place doesn't work." Those four fateful words would normally leave Jamie shrugging and moving on to the next guy. It was a night out, after all, and he didn't have to take home the first hot guy he found. But this one was so hot. Taller than him, but just slightly. Bright blue eyes and a come and get me grin. Maybe it was more the attitude than the looks, and maybe James had downed one too many gold rushes. Maybe it was the fact that it was the beginning of summer, and hot was taking on multiple meanings here. James couldn't put his finger on what the hell it was that made him say these bolds words, but he heard himself saying them all the same. "Let's go back to my place." A husky whisper in the other guy's ear, and the two of them tumbled out of the club and into a cab.

Jamie lost his shirt at the front door, a solid thud echoing through the place as he was backed against it, and then a moan as his hookup- David? Daniel? kissed along his neck, his hands moving lower. "Don't leave a mark." He was already living dangerously. Odds were that Thomas and Griffin wouldn't randomly end up coming back home, but you could never be too careful. Now that he'd gotten that one stipulation out of the way, it was all too easy to let go and focus on the feelings. This would only ever happen once, and since he was already damned anyway, he might as well make the most of it.

More clothes were shed as they made their way to a bedroom. He didn't stop to shut the door, his hands too busy roaming Daryl's body to think of such a mundane detail. He didn't need to prepare himself much before he situated himself on top, sinking down onto the beautiful man's cock and thoroughly enjoying the view. He was close when everything went south. It was nice, having the place to himself, not needing to bother with being quiet. He was breathing hard by this point, choosing expletives that he wouldn't be caught dead saying in church instead of accidentally moaning the wrong name.

GRIFFIN ::

Getting kicked out of a bar was not new for Griffin Rollins, but getting kicked out just after nine o’clock was impressive. Or embarrassing, if he had any shame left, but he didn’t seem to, not with the way Thomas’ lecture was just rolling off his back. He could probably recite the speech back to him at this point - y’know, when he could string a sentence together without slurring. It probably meant something that the barkeep knew to call Thomas - his roommate, yes; his buddy, sure; but decidedly not a loved one, not his significant other - but that was the nice thing about being this hammered: Griffin could blissfully ignore all the flashing neon signs from the universe that he was, in fact, still a fuck-up.

That same universe was spinning by the time the men reached their front door, the dark-haired one making a valiant effort to retrieve his keys only for his hand to be impatiently batted away. As they stepped into their place, Griffin moaned out a curse - or, he thought he did, but it didn’t sound like himself. And it was coming from the wrong direction.

His eyes flashed over to Thomas’ face, trying to decipher what the fuck was going on, and he looked as far from happy as he had when he’d showed up at the bar, but now the daggers weren’t being directing at Griffin. The blonde was looking past him, and it took a carefully-executed turn to discover what he was looking at: a naked hottie riding a cock in Pearson’s bed. Griffin’s liquor-fogged mind took what felt like an eon to realize that was bad, for two reasons. 1) The naked hottie was not Thomas’ sister, and 2) The naked hottie was Pearson.

Griffin’s fingers immediately fisted in the front of Thomas’ shirt, partially in an attempt to keep him exactly where he was, and partially to keep himself upright. “Hey, hey, Tommy, hey -”

THOMAS ::

Getting the call shouldn’t have come as any sort of surprise. After all, Thomas took more phone calls regarding Griffin’s health and well-being than he’s sure Griffin’s own mother ever took. Picked him up from enough bars, enough gutters, even football practice when they were teens and his mom conveniently ‘forgot’ him at the school. Typically, Thomas wore the eternal baby-sitter badge like a medal of honor - used it to badger and annoy Griffin into some semblance of shame when he was even a modicum of sober. Now though, when Thomas himself had been getting his feet wet at the bar, a young brunette with too dark lipstick and overly straightened hair, but big enough breasts to be worth his effort practically hanging off of his arm - now it was annoying.

Even when it was more tolerable, Thomas didn’t let Griffin think otherwise anyway, but still. The point still stands, he thought, staring at the doors of a crusty old bar that screamed ‘burn your clothes when you leave here’ and definitely had enough bikers and hookers outside to make your grandmother faint on impact. Convincing the bouncer to not knock his friend’s head in was simple enough, it was actually the waitress whom Griffin palmed on the way out that seemed to cause the most trouble - and by the time they were on the way back to the apartment, drunken hands pulling at the collar of Thomas’ shirt (and stretching out the goddamned hole), Thomas had almost begun his ranting on auto pilot.

A little, “You’re a real piece of shit, you know that? Like a fucking gutter rat. What the fuck were you drinking anyway? You smell like fucking paint-thinner --” The words died on Thomas’ lips, cheeks, ears and chest heating in a way that would make him worry that he’s finally going six feet under (and maybe he is, if his blood pressure could go any higher), and it reminded him of the time he got incredibly crossfaded at Brittany Deering’s party back in 10th grade and blacked out in her bathtub for a few hours, barely avoiding being puked and pissed on by fellow students in the same position as him. It took him entirely too quickly, Thomas’ body moving on its own accord, Griffin’s hands pawing at him like a cheap stripper, and Pearson’s wide open door looked like a gateway to Heaven, or at the very least a convenience store with the automatic slider-doors jammed.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Thomas’ voice didn’t sound like his own, but he supposed that it was difficult to even hear properly with all of the blood rushing through his ears, “I will kill you.” The thump in his chest had nothing to do with the fact that his best friend was clearly cheating on his sister with some...some fruity weirdo with floppy hair and stupidly blue eyes, but he was bound and determined to ignore that little fact - ignore the voice that said just tell him already and instead, encouraged the one that said, he’s got a nice neck for strangling.

“This is what you do when we’re not here? Fool around with discount Matthew McConaughey?” It definitely wasn’t a snarl, if you asked Thomas, but the clenching fist at his side, the one not hanging onto Griffin’s half-dead body, promised something lethal.

JAMIE ::

“Fuuuuck-“ turned into “Oh, fuck” entirely too quickly for Jamie’s liking. He was off that dick quicker than he’d moved in a long time. Hastily looking over his shoulder and seeing Thomas’ face twisted in rage should have killed his hard on in an instant, but it didn’t. He’d blame that on how hot Damon was and how far along into their hookup they’d been. “Fuck off Thomas, you two were supposed to be out, anyway!” He stepped into his underwear quickly, pulling on a pair of pants hastily as well. “What the fuck?” Danny was dazed, understandably confused that all of the sudden their hookup for two was now a foursome. Then, “Is that your boyfriend?”

“No!” James replied immediately, forcing a look of disgust at the mere thought of it. Or at least, his best attempt. “You need to go.” There was no salvaging this hookup, unfortunately, and he was just glad that he’d managed to make it to his own room so sweatpants were readily available.  Damian had apparently gotten the point and was quickly getting redressed as well. Thomas was still mad, and honestly it was probably best to just let him be mad instead of trying to placate him. Trying that would only make it worse. Nah, he was gonna let the anger run its course and then let it go. But then it hit him, and all the color drained from his face. “You can’t tell her.” The thought of that happening made him want to throw up, and he moved a little closer, eyes wide and a little scared even as he tried to hide it. “It was nothing. Just blowing off some steam, and it doesn’t even count, you wouldn’t have known because you two were supposed to be out!” His gaze turned accusingly to Griffin for a second, and it didn’t take long to piece together what had happened. “And besides, Griffin is drunk, clearly we have bigger problems to worry about.” Yeah, pull focus. Dawson could sneak out while the two of them had a serious talk with Griffin about substance use. Jamie’s gaze flashed to Griffin again. He couldn’t decide which one of them to look at at this point. Griffin was most likely to take his side here, so he probably shouldn’t have just thrown him under the bus.

GRIFFIN :: 

Griffin managed a small, two-finger salute to Jamie’s date as he passed by, clothing in his arms - or maybe it looked like he was putting a gun to his own temple, which also seemed applicable. His eyes followed the stranger’s naked ass until it disappeared into the bathroom, just in time to detect his name tumbling into this shitshow. “‘m always drunk,” he shot back in what he genuinely believed to be a solid defense. “Dsn’t count.”

God, he just wanted to be on a horizontal surface, even if it was Jamie’s bed of iniquity, and he considered making a move toward it until his last brain cell insisted that his deadweight was likely the only thing keeping Thomas anchored in place. If he could just defuse this disaster of a situation, he knew the blonde would get him into his own bed. Or the couch. Or at least onto the kitchen floor with a towel for a blanket.

“Tommy, Tommy, TommyTommyTommy, listen ... listen t’ me ... your sisterdsn’t have a dick!” he offered, finally releasing the other man’s shirt in order to wave his hands in a messy what’re-ya-gonna-do gesture. By his incredibly flawed, alcoholic logic, if Pearson wanted to fuck a dude - and understandably so, dudes being as hot as they were - he couldn’t go to Thomas’ sister. No harm, no ... whatever.

THOMAS ::

Thomas steadily ignored his own feline-reminiscent hiss as Hunky Brewster walk-of-shame’d his way out of their apartment, passing it off as some sort of controlling his temper, or silently letting out a prayer to the God he didn’t believe in but heard enough about from Jamie. The heat turned to ice in the pit of his glorious, god-like abdomen after every single ‘Tommy’ that left his friend’s mouth, “Griff, shut your fucking mouth -- and you,” He practically spit, pulling both himself and Griffin closer to the blonde in the bedroom like a boat and a buoy toward the middle of a storm, “It’s not cheeeeeeating as long as you don’t get caaaaught.” Thomas mocked his friend as the storm seemed to settle inside of his own chest, thunder and lightning begging to be let out through some sort of violence.

“I’m going to kick your ass - and then, I’m going to call my sister, and she’s going to come over here and kick your ass, you stupid, useless moron.” The dark feelings seemed to bubble and burst all in one quick second, and if Thomas could have taken a breath and really looked at the situation for what it was, and the jealousy that seemed to eat at him, the conflict likely could have been avoided. But the thick stench of sweat and alcohol from Griffin, and the same aroma from Jamie’s room seemed to override any sort of consideration that Thomas could have provided. And with that, he dropped Griffin like a sack of fucking potatoes and darted for Jamie’s face, hissing when his hit landed. Thomas was too busy cradling his knuckles to know if he’d even hit his damned target, but the swelling would be worth it if he’d gotten to cause Jamie some sort of agony he’d have to live for the next few days too. Once the blind rage passed and Thomas was left shaking, clutching his wrist like grandmother’s prized fucking pearls, he finally bit words for Griffin instead, “I don’t care that my sister doesn’t have a goddamned dick - she’s - he spouts all of this holier-than-thou bullshit that he doesn’t even follow! He just committed sodomized, pre-marital sex! And he wasn’t even on top!”

The words felt hysterical, and the laughter that left Thomas wasn’t one filled with any sort of joy; it was hollow and empty, or maybe not empty, but only filled with envy and anger. He darted for Jamie again, hissing between his teeth.

JAMIE ::

James wasn’t sure when he realized that there wouldn’t be any coming back from this. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Thomas this pissed, and that was saying something. Hell, in the past, he’d helped talk Thomas down from being this pissed at someone else. Now the fury was totally directed at him, and he fought the instinct to move back as Thomas dragged himself and Griffin closer. He wasn’t a coward. “It’s not cheating if I don’t even know his name!” It was. It absolutely was, but he’d learned from the best how to navigate with a broken moral compass. This was quite literally a situation of how what someone didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. He’d done this for years, from hurried hookups behind the bleachers to an empty dugout, sneaking out at midnight and meeting someone he’d used to go to Sunday school with. It was a sin, sure, but he wasn’t gay. He went to confession after every incidence, and he was forgiven. It was just that simple.

“Don’t,” he warned, his expression going from worried to murderous. “Tell her, Thomas, and I swear to God.” Might as well add taking the Lord’s name in vain. Today couldn’t possibly be any worse. In that moment, the bubble burst. It occurred to him briefly that Thomas could have set Griffin down nicely, but then it was too late as he felt pain exploding across his cheek. Thomas packed a pretty decent punch, even if he didn’t much look like it. For the moment, he resigned himself to it, didn’t hit back even though his fist balled up by his side and he wanted to. He’d stumbled back after the initial punch, but he regained his footing. And then Thomas was talking again, listing off all the big sins, sins that were meant to be kept in private, in the confessional booth, just him and the priest. That alone made him itch with rage, but he held back. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he didn’t really want to hurt Thomas. But then he laughed and it all went to hell. He surged forward at the same time Thomas did, and they collided. “Fuck. You!” He threw the next punch, hoping to land a matching shiner, putting his full force behind it. He didn’t care anymore. “It doesn’t count as pre-marital,” he growled, “if it’s not a possibility to marry.” He still couldn’t make himself use the right pronoun.

GRIFFIN ::

Now, granted, he had been wanting to lie down, but hurtling to the hardwood without any warning hadn’t exactly been ideal. Griffin laid there, still more or less grateful to be off his feet, listening to an argument that probably would have seemed a fuckton more intense if it hadn’t sounded so underwater. He even missed the first punch, arm thrown over his eyes as he willed the room to knock it off with the spinning - but he did here the telltale sound of two bodies colliding, and forced himself up onto his elbows. And then onto his knees. And then onto his feet.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey -“ The man had exactly one word in his vocabulary at the moment, which he repeated as he stumbled over to a mound of limbs made up of his two best friends. He was already pushing it, with the walking, but the attempt to pull one of the guys off the other almost knocked him right back of his feet. He survived, though - until a rogue fist that may or may not have been meant for him caught him right in the gut. He reeled back, taking one, two, three steps towards the door before doubling-over and vomiting in the corner of Jamie’s room.

Well, it had been inevitable. At least now that part of the night was over. “HEY.” There he was. Still just as unsteady on his feet, but with renewed frustration, Griffin threw himself back into the mix.

THOMAS ::

"You probably wish you could! I'm pretty fantastic!" Thomas screamed over the man, attempting to shove Jamie, and petulantly ignoring Griffin until the guy practically took an arrow for him, projectile vomiting in the same space as them. "Nice fucking job - punching the fucking drunk. Want to talk to God about that too? You like things in your ass and you hit your best friend!" 

Griffin managed to get between them and Thomas couldn't help the muttered, "You fucking reek, dude-" that left him, his arm reaching out to swing wildly at Jamie over the other man's shoulder. How ridiculous, they must have looked, three grown men throwing punches and shouting expletives at one another in the middle of the night. If the neighbors banging on the wall were anything to go by, they probably agreed with him. 

"Don't touch me - don't you fucking," Thomas hissed as a spare slap managed to get him right in the nose, rust immediately dripping over the bottom portion of his face, "I'm going to tell her so fucking hard, you son of a bitch," He whined around the hand cupping his nose and mouth, practically shielding himself with Griffin's larger body. "I can't stand you two - I - it smells like shit in here," The babbling continued, even though he really couldn't smell anything with his nose full of blood clots.

JAMIE ::

“I was on top!” Jamie insisted, shoving back at Thomas. He really hadn’t intended to punch Griffin, but he was the one who’d ended up throwing himself in between the two of them. What did he think was going to happen. “I was aiming for you, asshole!” His blood was really boiling right now, and Jesus, how had this night managed to go so horribly wrong? It had started out hot and fun and devolved into, well, whatever this shit show was.

“Oh, come on,” he groaned as he heard Griffin lose his dinner in the corner of his room. Add that to the list of shit that he didn’t want to deal with. He’d be cleaning it up, of course, because Griffin clearly wasn’t in any state to, and he didn’t want his room to smell like puke while he waited for Griffin to sober up and handle it. The one last slap was admittedly satisfying, but he had to calm down. He had bigger problems on his hands. He had to convince Thomas not to tell her.

It occurred to him way too quickly what he had to do, the only way he was going to appeal to Thomas’ sense of reason. “Fine!” He shouted numbly. “Tell her. But who else do you think is going to be with her? We break up, she ends up an old fucking spinster for the rest of her life. Is that what you want for her? Huh?” He gave one more shove to prove his point. “You tell her, and you break her fucking heart. And for what? Because I’m getting a little on the side that she can’t give me? I’m the perfect boyfriend, Thomas. She won’t get better than me, and you know it.”

GRIFFIN ::

Somehow managing to dodge what could have been a really unfortunate elbow, Griffin was perfectly content with standing between his roommates now that things had boiled over and resolved into a simmer; still hot, still able to burn, but not quite as active. The shouting, he was pretty desensitized to. Between the three of them, someone was perpetually shouting at the other two, or two were shouting at each other, or two were shouting at one (he was usually the one, and he was usually inebriated). It was a special occasion when the trio were all shouting, though, which is normally what got the neighbors involved. Griffin reached over to land his fist on the wall three or four times, acknowledging their neighbor’s participation.

His back was turned to Thomas, who, though taller, was probably less of a real physical threat. As a result, he missed the bloody nose, but he did catch sight of Jamie’s split lip and the scarlet mark that was going to bloom into one hell of a bruise. “Better tell ‘er ya got mugged,” he suggested, finally throwing over a glance over his shoulder to survey the damage that was Thomas’ face. “Botha you. Ah, fuck, are you bleedinon my shirt?!”

Griffin was quiet for the rest of Jamie’s tirade, mostly because this was not his fight, but also because he was on both of their sides, so far as thinking the other was a royal fucking asshole. Kate was the closest thing he had to a sister, and he didn’t love the idea of her getting fucked over, but he would have been smart enough to not let an asshole like James anywhere near her to start with. And furthermore, he’d mean what he’d said, inarticulate as it may have been; monogamy was a societal construct, sexuality was a spectrum, and this was probably the best case scenario for both of them, really. Kate got to seriously level up in the boyfriend department, and Jamie got a doting woman on his arm for the sake of appearances.

“I think,” he opined on a big sigh, running a hand through his hair as though he was going to lay down some actual wisdom - but that wasn’t his brand. “I think that we should get nachos.”

THOMAS ::

Clicking his tongue, Thomas swished the copper around in his mouth, glaring daggers at his roommate. He probably looked like he'd been bobbing for apples in fake blood at this point, but it felt oddly satisfying to look a little deranged compared to his normal well-kempt state. "Should I let her be with a cheater and a liar anyway? Yeah, real fucking smart, asshole --" Even with Griffin's knocking effectively breaking the tension, the neighbors yelling back through the wall, there was something still boiling under the surface. 

Something volatile, something that went by the name Jade. 

"You don't need any nachos," He murmured, somewhat numb, yet manic. Auto-pilot had taken over, his palm running over his face, and Thomas wiped the mess on the back of Griffin's shirt. Eyes never leaving Jamie's, Thomas slowly slipped forward face impassive, blank. "One more thing," Oddly calm, Thomas reached out with a gentle, blood-smeared hand and laid the palm of it on Jamie's shoulder. He let the moment settle, let the silence take over for a moment, until it was bordering on confusing, before throwing himself forward and headbutting the man in turn, immediate pain blossoming behind his forehead, and spraying them both with his now-unclotted nose. "Bitch," he snarled under the waterfall of blood, before groaning and taking a hasty step back toward his drunken friend, ready to use him as a shield again if need be.

JAMIE ::

"Why, so you can throw 'em up in a different part of my room?" He usually had the decency to at least make it to a communal space, and yeah, James was still a little pissed that he needed to be taken home at all when the two of them had planned to be out and about for the night. It was a valiant effort, trying to get the two of them back on the same side so they could stop with the arguing, but deep down, Jamie knew this wasn't the kind of fight that Thomas would just get over. He'd fucked up, big time, and now instead of facing the music, he was doubling down. It had all seemed so innocent, harmless even, when it was just him and the flavor of the night. If what's his name that started with a D hadn't been so fucking hot, maybe this whole thing could have been avoided.

He ventured a glance at Thomas, partially hating himself for the fact that he'd messed up such a pretty face, but a small little part of himself was satisfied at the damage done. Served him right. How fucking hard would it have been to just turn around and go somewhere else for ten minutes? By that point, the hookup would have been kicked out, and they could all pretend that it had never happened. Jamie could have been blissfully ignorant, and honestly, that was one of the most underrated states a person could be in.

When Thomas put a hand on his shoulder, he tried to keep his expression neutral. As much as he hated to admit it, that hand on his shoulder had grounded him many times in the past, and its presence was all tied up with feelings of comfort and safety, feelings he definitely wasn't getting just now. Sure as shit, next came the sucker punch in the form of a headbutt, and the "Ow!" was almost equal parts pain and surprise. "Asshole!" he groaned, and he couldn't even get to him without Griff getting involved again. "Griffin, just get out of here. This is between me and him, and some of us can't take a hit." Unfortunately for him, all of the hits were starting to take a toll.

GRIFFIN ::

“Ahhrgh, God damn it,” he growled as he felt Thomas’ hand smear his bodily fluids down his back, rolling his shoulders in discomfort before yanking his shirt off, rolling it into a ball and tossing it out into the hall. At least the blonde’s shirt was just as fucked, he noticed, attention on the slightly taller man as he approached James. Good, fine, Thomas would say his final piece and then everyone could just - “Fuck!”

Before he could fully process the sudden movement and the accompanying spray of gore, Thomas has slipped behind him and he was staring down Jamie, the youngest of their dysfunctional little crew. “C’mon, Jay, jus-go lay down,” he muttered, intending to give a good-natured push to the kid’s chest, but still intoxicated enough to not know his own strength. The adrenaline he didn’t realize had been streaming through his system turned it into a fully aggressive shove, and Griffin felt the muscles in his shoulders tense as some part of him anticipated retaliation. Blue eyes flashed. “Go ta’ bed, Jamie.”

THOMAS ::

"Suck my dick, Pearson--" Dark pupils dilated at the shove, watching with intense interest. It wasn't often that Jamie and Griffin disagreed wholeheartedly, or at the very least enough to get into a physical altercation. Usually it was Thomas gravitating toward the violence, toward harsh words that stung and bit at insecurities - usually he was the flint and steel basking at either of his friends' heels.

Still, it ignited something in him, to see Griffin shove the younger man, even if unintentionally. While they all agreed to disagree at who really was whose best friend, Thomas liked to believe he was just as much of a fire as he was the glue keeping them together. "You shoved him, man," The words were weirdly tense, odd even to himself, in the quiet of the room. "You gonna take that?" Blue eyes flick to Jamie's.

JAMIE ::

For a second, he considered it. He wasn't going to just lay down, but getting himself to a different room, where they kept the cleaning supplies probably, and doing something else was probably the best way to handle this. But then he shoved him, hard, as if to make sure to drive his point home. "Seriously?" he demanded, his own gaze accusing.

"You're seriously gonna take his side? I woulda come to get you too, and then none of this would have happened." He shoved back, not knowing or caring if Thomas was close enough to catch him. "You go to bed. I have someone else's mess to clean up, as usual." The puke in the corner of the room wasn't going anywhere, after all.

GRIFFIN ::

As he stumbled back into Thomas, Griffin’s ego maintained that he never would have budged if he’d been sober. Maybe it was true, maybe it wasn’t; really, how often was he truly sober, so there wouldn’t be exactly an opportunity to find out. If he’d been sober, he also probably wouldn’t have lunged for Jamie, taking him out at the waist and forcing him to collapse onto his own mattress. “Said, LAY DOWN,” he repeated, scrambling to straddle the man’s hips, and trying to grab at his wrists. “Enough!”

The word was paired with a death glare to Thomas, who may not have been pinned under him, but only because it was physically impossible for Griffin to sedate both of them at once. “You’re both douchebags!”

“I called you,” he muttered after a moment, still slap-fighting James for submission. “You were busy.” It was completely lost on the brunette, of course, that his current position wasn’t terribly different from the way they’d stumbled upon Jamie a few minutes before.

THOMAS ::

Despite the urge to cover his throbbing nose from any more of the crossfire, Thomas stood back from the other two men, eyes dark and irritable. Thomas was the reliable one - was the man you called when you needed someone to get you out of a mess, or pick you up at the bar on a Friday night at 9pm because you were so drunk you couldn't see straight. He was the ultimate provider, the best friend any guy could ask for. Clearly, Griffin appreciated that more than Jamie.

"Am I interrupting?" He blinked his eyelashes prettily, words mocking as they left his lips. His shirt was the only one left on, and it was...incredibly sticky at that point, if he was being honest. With a grimace, he plucked at the collar, hissing when his hand came away sore. He would be bruised and battered, and rough the following day - no amount of cover-up was going to suffice to hide the giant bowling ball of a bruise on his head, or the massive swelling of his nose. He'd talk like a fucking Lollipop Guild member for a week at this rate.

"I went to pick up this clown while you were out here blowing some guy." Thomas stuck his chin up, defiant despite the angry look sent to him by Griffin, who was oddly being the sensible one (not that Thomas would ever admit that. To anyone. Ever.)

JAMIE ::

James was honestly taken aback by Griffin's sudden lunge in his general direction. He was stupidly effective for being drunk, and Jamie wanted to be mad about it, but he was suddenly distracted by how Griffin was just on top of him like this. He blamed that on the surprise of it all as well. Griffin never would have gotten him into this position if James had seem him coming.

Ignoring the insult, he frowned when Griffin mentioned that he had called him. "Well, what the hell." He could have sworn he would have noticed a phone call from his best friend, but apparently hookup's dick game was too strong. Usually he was much more reliable than this. "Shut the fuck up, Thomas," he said, and the only reason that Griffin was still on top of him was because he didn't want to hurt him on accident. Again.

His face hurt and he wanted to either drink or take some ibuprofen or both and clean up the fucking mess that was still in the corner of his room. "Christ, get off me, Griffin." Why was he the one being restrained instead of Thomas? Thomas started this shit. He gave a considering expression before going for Griffin's ticklish spot instead, hoping the sudden distraction would give him some leeway to get out from under him and back toward his original target who couldn't keep his mouth shut to save his own damn life. "I didn't blow him, I was on fucking top!"

GRIFFIN ::

If he’d been able to read the other man’s thoughts, he probably would have chuckled, the low one that was particularly disarming when it was paired with his trademark sideways smirk. Sure, they’d blame it on the “surprise” and not the decade of running tackle drills before and after school, five days a week. Drunk as he was, muscle memory was a hell of a thing.

That, and puking up a stomach full of bourbon.

“Wash up, look like a fuckin’ horror movie,” Griffin ordered in Thomas’ general direction, not moving a muscle, not just yet. If the two of them were going to lunge at each other again, he could sit right there all night - or at least until the hazy, spinny kind of sleep that went along with being this sloshed came to claim him. “You, jus’ stop talking,” he muttered, quieter considering that James was only so far away from him. “Nobody cares ‘fya sucked a dick, Pearson.”

When he eventually slid from the younger man’s waist, Griffin moaned in relief at the feel of a mattress beneath him, bribing his body to move with the promise that if he stretched out just the slightest bit, he’d finally be able to close his eyes. “Why’s yer bed so nice?”

THOMAS :: 

A flash of something dark flickered over Thomas' face, his struggle with authority desperately trying to rear its head. With a calming breath, he tried to pull that little voice inside of his head that sounded like his dumb, quack sister that reminded him about breathing exercises and adrenaline. After counting to 10, Thomas gingerly pulled his collared shirt over his head, the polo wet with moisture and a stink of dried blood. Scrunching his nose, he dropped the offending garment into Jamie's hamper, on top of clothes probably covered in some dude's jizz. "Looks like you have a roommate tonight," He pointed out helpfully, making his way toward the bathroom.

He was back a quick moment later, having procured the small cleaning caddy from under the bathroom sink, including the hand-held spot cleaner. It was uncanny, how many times they'd had to clean up 90% alcohol-vomit, and Thomas hated that he'd grown so used to it after 15-odd years of knowing these morons. "Take your shoes off, you heathen," Thomas spit at Griffin without much effort behind it, focused instead on cleaning the puddle out of the corner of Jamie's room.

After scrubbing for a few odd minutes, and one glare in Griffin's direction later, Thomas picked himself back up, knees aching with the effort of the movement. He was getting old. He stored the cleaning products back in the cabinet and found himself leaning against the doorframe when he re-entered the room. "What food do you want, Griff?" Thomas asked, placated and quiet after the fall-out of so much drama. Getting his face bashed in was a reset button, apparently. Annoying, but effective. "I'm not dealing with the whininess when you're hung over tomorrow."

JAMIE ::

"He started it," James muttered in response when Griffin told him to stop talking. It was juvenile, but he couldn't help it. This whole thing could have been avoided about six ways to Sunday. If Griffin hadn't gotten drunk, if Thomas hadn't immediately started raging about it, if he hadn't brought someone home in the first place. It was pretty clear that they were all partially to blame for this shit show, but the petty side of him wanted to be the one that ended it.

He still had no idea if Thomas was going to tell Kate, but that seemed like a problem for future Jamie. For now, he just wanted to wallow in his failed hookup. He figured that since he hadn't even gotten the chance to get off from this one, there wasn't really a need to do any sort of confessional. Jamie scoffed at Griffin's next words. God cared if he sucked a dick, which also, he hadn't. "Don't tell anyone." These words were directed at both of them, quiet, yet deeply meaningful. He didn't know what he'd do if people found out. Hell, his two best friends had just found out, and he wasn't exactly sure what to do about it.

Jamie had no idea where Thomas was going when he headed out of his room, and a part of him wondered if he was going to make that phone call. Anxiety prickled all over his body, and he had to remind himself to breathe. A moment before he was going to get up and follow him, Thomas came back with the cleaning supplies. A begrudging "Thanks," rolled off his lips as he sat up in bed to address Thomas' next words. Rolling onto his knees, he took off one shoe and tossed it out into the hallway, landing with a thunk. The other came next, tossed in the same general direction. "PB&J?" he asked Griffin, knowing that it'd be best to go for something easier on the stomach.

GRIFFIN ::

This was how the world worked for Griffin Rollins, the way it had always worked. He did what he wanted to do, it made a fucking mess, he smiled and fumbled his way into some unintentional wit, and it all ended up being taken care of ... usually by one of the two bloodied men who were currently milling around the room, no doubt accomplishing just that. He didn’t open his eyes to check. That was the way he preferred it, really; if he never fully noticed just how much other people did to save his ass time after time, he never fully needed to thank them.

“Nachooooos,” he moaned at the mention of food, knowing full well he’d likely pass out before anything that required delivery would arrive at the apartment. As it was, he was already slipping in and out of consciousness. The bed smelled like sweat and Jamie’s shampoo, the sortakinda expensive stuff he got frustrated at Griffin borrowing when his own had run out. It still came from the drug store, but from the higher shelf; not the 3-in-1 body wash bullshit that Griffin smeared through his own hair.

“Go shower,” he mumbled to both and neither of them.

THOMAS ::

With narrowed eyes, Thomas turned to retreat into the kitchen, slapping together a few hastily made sandwiches (which were still entirely too neat, cut diagonally into two separate pieces) and brought them back to the bedroom, just in time for Griffin to begin bossing him around again. "What, this isn't doing anything for you?" Thomas pointed to the bloody mess on his face, chest, and arms.

Rolling his eyes, Thomas passed Jamie the plate, their hands brushing as he released the paper to him. Always something unbreakable, when Griffin was involved. Thomas would have loved to frequently use real plates and cups, but when a bumbling, drunk idiot was constantly falling around your apartment, it was better to have something that couldn't accidentally kill you. "If anyone needs a shower here, it's you. The landlady lives 5 miles away and I'm sure she can smell you from here."

Despite his deflections, Thomas really did need a shower. His blood had become caked and sticky on his skin, drying into flakes that made him want to scratch at his skin like a mangy dog. "Just...eat." With a tired sigh, Thomas ran a bruised hand through his hair, closing his eyes for just a moment. How did he always end up back here?

:: END ::

[hisfavoritewolf]

Razor

cw: Torture, PTSD

“Get up, Fenris.”

For the past three days, Fenris was in so much pain. It was enough that he’d been even inches from taking a deathly blow in a real battle. It had been too much to bear, too distracting to think properly. He didn’t even know where the pain came from... Or he didn’t want to admit it.

Now he was on his knees in the third courtyard, hunched over and looking terribly ill. The world spun around him and he didn’t know what to do. He’d lost control, his body rebelling against it all. Danarius glowered over him, lips pressed into a thin line.

“I— “

“Do not tell me that you can’t.” The magister reached down and yanked Fenris’ head up by the jaw. He was disappointed to find his slave completely dazed.

“Useless.”

He let go and kicked the elf onto his side, and Fenris was powerless to respond. Even if his body was well, he couldn’t have fought back. If he tried to defend himself, even curling slightly, it would be so much worse.

“You will know pain.”

Fenris could feel the heat before it spread across his back. Even despite the excruciating pain, there was only a whimper of pain that hid beneath the roaring whip of flames. The first burst was followed by a second— then a third. He could only barely hear Danarius shouting at the guards over the ringing in his ears. He could feel the markings trying to take control, to force him through the bricks beneath him. He couldn’t let it happen. He wouldn’t go back to that cell. He still couldn’t control it on his own, not just yet.

Two guards yanked him up by his armpits and dragged him away. Fenris vaguely noted passing by room after room, the bare feet of slaves and the decorative robes of nobles in the halls. He knew where he was going. A dark place reserved for one thing. Torment.

They strung him to the ceiling, bound by chains that had held too many slaves before him— Which would hold many more in years to come, with his knees propped up on a stool. They stripped him of his shirt. No need to soil custom-fit armor outside of battle, after all. 

He’d almost become numb to the pain when he heard Danarius again. Two simple words uttered with absolute resolve.

“Leave us.”

Heavy boots thudded out the door and disappeared down the hall. They were alone. Fenris tried to speak, tried to apologize, but all that came out was a hoarse wheeze and a spark of blue from the brands beneath his skin. He winced, blinking tears out of his eyes. For as many times as he was told not to show fear or pain, he couldn’t stop it. Not now, not here. It only made his master angrier.

Danarius summoned the same flames as before, but then Fenris heard the crackle of electricity. He felt as if all of his blood had drained from his body, his breaths completely halted. He’d expected heat or electricity across his back, maybe even wrapping around his neck. Not this. He didn’t think of what position he was in, too dazed to think.

Instead, he was greeted by a barrage of pain on the soles of his feet. His skin sizzled at the sensation of flames and lightning together, and he screamed. The room could have been lit without lanterns with how brightly the magic and lyrium glowed.

Fenris clawed at the chains, his knuckles turning white with the tightness of his grip. As if the dizziness and pain wasn’t bad enough, the tears alone were enough to blind him. Just before the pain had died down to a quiet agony, he was struck again; This time his lower back received the treatment.

The flames were so hot that it made him feel frozen. He’d exhausted his breath, any noises were now marred and torn apart. He felt blood trickling in his throat. He coughed, wheezing out what could barely be called breaths. He tried to apologize, to beg for forgiveness or for the pain to stop. Danarius had no such plans.

Three more lashes came in rapid succession across his shoulders and arms. If it weren’t for how well his master could control the flames, he was certain his hair would have caught fire. Just before the last lash, however, he slipped. One of his wrists had phased through the chains. The stool beneath him gave out —damned old wood— and he could hear the crunch of his scaphoid and lunate bones yanking away from his hand as he fell.

The magic stopped, blinking out of existence as Danarius dispelled his weapon. He snapped and the remaining shackle opened, sending Fenris tumbling to the ground. He stepped over the slave lying prone at his feet and promptly ground his heel into the elf’s back.

“You are nothing. Less than nothing.” He leaned down and grabbed Fenris by the hair, pulling him up to his knees. With a flick of the wrist, Fenris felt a gust of wind forcing him to his feet. Danarius let go and he fell forward into the wall. Every inch of him was shaking, muscles spasming. He cradled his wounded wrist and tried again to breathe. If he didn’t breathe, he’d surely pass out... But he couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not.

“Shall I reset the bone? Or are you still sniveling like an insolent child?” His master glared, flames rising from his palm again. “Face me, boy.”

He did as he was told. He turned to face his master even as the bricks behind him scraped his raw back. It would have been impressive that he was still standing but, as it was, it was more pitiful than anything. Danarius clicked his tongue, looking disappointed once more. “Well? Answer me,” He growled. “Your neck still works, does it not?”

Fenris nodded quickly. He coughed and tasted blood as it dripped down his lips. Yet, he mouthed ‘please.’ His master smirked, then grabbed his wounded arm and yanked the slave to him. He nearly dropped to his knees again, but he wasn’t really there anymore. He was a statue. Even as Danarius cast another spell to reset the bones.

“Your markings cause you pain, then...” He sighed. “If it happens again you are to ignore it. Do you understand?”

When Fenris nodded again, more numbly this time, his master smiled. “Good. Those markings are necessary if you are to serve me. Even the pain. Let’s get you back to your room, my pet.”

⁕⁕⁕ ⁕⁕⁕ ⁕⁕⁕ ⁕⁕⁕ ⁕⁕⁕ ⁕⁕⁕ ⁕⁕⁕ ⁕⁕⁕ ⁕⁕⁕ ⁕⁕⁕ ⁕⁕⁕ ⁕⁕⁕

Fenris ran a hand through his hair, gripping the ends tightly. He took another gulp of his wine —the last in the bottle— before throwing it against one of the many paintings on the wall. His breaths hitched and he slid down the wall. He forced himself to look up, keep the tears at bay, but to no avail.

It won’t leave me be. He won’t ever let me be. There is no peace in store. Never look back... There is only agony.

[pokeexehasstoppedworking]

Isle Connections Ch7 The Battle Tower

"W-W-Will you b-b-b-be my date t-t-t-to the tornam-m-ment?"

"No! Are you kidding me? After what happened? You said you just wanted to be friends so why would you even ask me that!?"

That's totally what he was bracing himself for when he walked up to her and couldn't stop the words from leaving his mouth and he had froze standing there like he was a movie and someone pressed pause on it. You had also froze at the shocked face you gave Before your face went neutral and you slowly asked him.

"Avery," you voice dropped to a low and serious level, "A-Are you...a-asking me on a d-date?" Your face went red and so did his.

A..date? As in like an actually romantic date?! NO! Absolutely not- Or was it? NO! What was he thinking!? Having you on his arm, smiling, and making him feel better about being there himself. Keeping his attention on you while you him. Maybe getting closer- He shook his head hard enough to shake his hat. He opened his mouth to say 'No' and 'As just a friend' kinda deal but instead his mouth said something else.

"Yes."

And then his hands shot up to his mouth making a light slap noise as they collided with his lips. Red immediately flooding his face and feeling as if his soul left his body when you blinked..and then chuckled at him. Making his heart skip a beat and humiliation flood over him. You were laughing at him. You must've thought he was ridiculous-

Y nodded shy smile and eyes looking around. "Sure! It might be fun...I've never been on a d-date before."...When you didn't get an answer back you looked up to see Milo pale and staring at you. "Um...Avery?" you held up a hand. "Are you ok? You look pale."

His answer? He didn't give you one. He silently stared at you or nothing?? You couldn't tell. His arms had long since hung back to his sides and it was almost like he was a mannequin in a store window. Kinda creepy but this was more concerning than creepy the more he stood there pale faced and looking ready to drop- !?

"AVERY?!" You shouted as the psychic tilted sideways to the right and with a loud thud sound collided with the ground as the pokeballs thudded around him. You immediately dropped to your knees next to the dazed man sprawled on the ground blankly staring at the blue sky. Your hands immediately went under his head and chest pulling his shocked form up towards your concerned face. "Are you ok!? Speak to me!"

He continued staring up at the sky in a daze. "...You're...g-gonna be my...date?"

"I..Y-Yeah." You blinked. "But are you ok? GAH!?"

You were sat up really quickly by a blur and Avery was all of a sudden sat up clutching your arms looking serious and lost at the same time. "Did you mean it!?" He looked at you wide eyed. "You'll go with me? A-And ya don't mind? Y-You.." His hands slowly let go of your arms staring like he didn't believe you. "You said you w-wouldn't mind going with me?..Really?" You slowly nodded. "....Why?"

You smiled pink rising to your cheeks. "Um..Because you asked me nicely? A-And it does genuinely sound like a fun time if you'd be there with me." You spoke truthfully looking down and clasping your hands. "You're a really nice guy and I consider you a f-friend so ...W-Why not go together? I m-mean for all you did for me it's t-the least I can do right?"

Avery stared at you longer as the realization wound it's arm back and with all it's force smacked him across the face with reality. He...Had. A. DATE. With. YOU!! That part replayed over and over in his mind. He had a date. He had a date. He had a date. He had a REAL and LEGIT date with YOU and in one month he'd be taking you out on your first ever official date with him to this high class party being hosted. Blue eyes widened as any remaining blood drained from his face. He had a date with you in one month and he hadn't even gotten ready for the trip. Nothing packed. He didn't tell Mustard yet. And no plans for this outcome....

Oh no

OH NO OH NO OH NO!!!

"Um. Avery?" You waved a hand in front of his glassy eyed expression. "You still with me?"

"OH SWEET ARCEUS IN THE HEAVENS!" He answered you making you pause and blink as the psychic stumbled over himself to stand on two feet, once in a standing position, hands grabbing onto his hat and gripping them with enough force to crack a diamond if he tried hard enough. "I gotta start packing!"

You blinked as the next moment he turned and shot back down the dirt pathway back up to the dojo pokeballs levitating after him redder than a strawberry and clutching his hat....You giggled again.

One month flew past in the blink of an eye when you were busy..or in his case really, really stressed out. He tried making himself as elegant as possible and training EXTRA hard to impress her at the tournament. And of course packing and repacking obsessively. one such event happened to be now as he was shifting through his suitcase once again as calculating as a ninja but he could see his hands slightly shaking in nerves.

"T-Tell me what's going on again there," he said while pulling out a perfectly folded shirt for the fifth time out of his packed traveling suitcase.

Mustard would've rolled his eyes if he wasn't so patient and understanding of his student's nerves, so he instead decided to repeat himself from his spot lounged against the wall scrolling through his phone. "We were both invited to Wyndon's first ever Battle Of The Leaders Tournament to show the world Galar's strongest pokemon trainers. It's in honor of Prince Lear from the Pasio Region."

"Right, right." He continued fumbling to fold the shirt back and place it back down. "..Who's that again?"

"The special guest that we need to impress. He's coming all the way from Pasio to pick and chose who gets a chance to compete in the ultimate Pokemon Masters League with other Gym leaders, trainers, and people from all over the world. It's a big deal that the Chairwoman thinks will help Galar's reputation back on track. ....This could be a good chance to show off the dojos  power too."

.he nodded. He hated to admit itt. Loathed it even. But he had a point. He'd do anything to help the dojo and this seemed like a good idea to get more attention towards the it. "R-Right." He pulled out a small traveling blanket. "So what's the main events we're doing there anyways?"

"The Battle Tower event's first," Mustard explained holding up something made of paper towards him. "Leon sent you all the details in the letter if you just wanna read it?" 

"Master please."

"HAHA!! Basically the battle tower is gonna be for all the new pupils the gym leaders have taken on. We're going to battle our way up Rose tower until there's only one last person standing, and that person's going to have the chance to battle Leon himself. I think it's to show off Galar's future leaders."

That's what interested him most in their one week leave. A week passed by within a blink of an eye and soon it was time to go. Everyone had everything they needed packed in their bags, and arranged for some students to care for the farm while they were away. The flying taxi Leon had called in advance to tell them that would be their transport was there, and when he got there, you were already there backpack thrown over your shoulder and pokemon and Gloria at your heels. He would not let you go by yourself it seemed as the little drizzlie literally clung to your leg like a toddler not caring if he embarrassed you. You were staring at the flying taxi with an uncomfortable look but when the sounds of cheering from the crowd picked up you turned your head and smiled upon seeing the two siblings walking towards you.

"Hey, Everyone!" you greeted with a wave and smile.

Ba-bump. Oh..Arceus. He could feel his own cheeks light up a bright pink at her beautiful smile. If Felix hadn't pulled him by the wrist towards the taxi then he might've tripped over in front of the crowd gathered behind him. Stopping in front of you.

"I thought you guys weren't going to make it. I was waiting here for a bit and then this.." You gave the taxi another unenthusiastic look. "..ride showed up."

"Huh!? Oh. Uh- *ahem* Y-Yes. D-Didn't Leon tell you in the letter that'd we'd be going by taxi?"

You nodded not noticing his slip up much to his relief. "Yeah..I'm not too fond of flying. Why is it always flying?"

"Well if we want to get there on time we must take the fastest transport to get there." He gave a look back up to the giant corviknight and it's driver perched high and mighty above the sturdy metal taxi cabin. "And this is it. We'll be there in no time."

You groaned but nodded. "Yeah. I guess so. But I don't understand why we couldn't just take the train?"

"Well Leon was kind enough to arrange this for us and it's already paid for. It'd be rude to turn it down. But don't worry. Flying is quick so it'll be over before you know it."

He could almost chuckle when you groaned and let your arms flop to the sides. But since you wanted to go, and you felt obligated being formally invited by the Champion and Chairwoman, you would have to travel with Avery and Gloria inside the flying taxi. Needless to say you had sadly gotten used to this kind of travel even if you didn't like it. The trip over there was a blur to Avery. He remembered the cheers the crowd had given you all as you stepped into the taxi, him letting you go first. Ladies first as they say, and waving to the crowd before he himself sat on the seat, next to you, and watched as you gripped the seat just before he gave the taxi driver the go ahead to take off and the lunge into the air made you grip tighter onto the seat despite you had buckled yourself in. The mighty strength of the corviknight easily taking off into the air and thus the traveling began. With you sitting next to him and Gloria in the seat in front of you both. Things weren't as bad on the trip to Wyndon as he thought it'd be. It was silence for a bit and Klara had to give him a few nudges and start talking herself to get him to talk to you. And it was...easy. You smiled at him like there was nothing awkward between you two and you both chattered about anything and everything like old friends and it gave you a good chance to chat with Klara more and get to know him. And you found it easy to talk to him about as much as Avery. It was nice to get to know him. one day turned to two and two turned into three and so on. It was..nice seeing someone he liked getting along so well with him. The easy going atmosphere helped to calm him but he still turned a shade of red whenever you leaned against him in your sleep at night. On your way to Wyndon you all sometimes stopped at small towns to recharge for the night or restock on supplies before continuing onward. Until the day arrived. It was early in the morning that you were woken up by someone shaking your shoulder and with a snort you woke up with a groggy look blinking towards Milo who just smiled and pointed out the window.

"Look. We're here."

Blurry eyed you turned to the window. The sun was just starting to come over the sky so it was still fairly dark, and down below you could see the world lit up in lights and that's when you all saw it. You all looked out at the sight of a GIANT brick wall going as far as the eye could see. The horizon blocked off my what must've been hundreds of skyscrapers and Rose Tower. From your place, you could see all the shiny buildings lit up in the early morning light making it look almost heavenly. It was beautiful. Your smile widened and eyes lit up immediately reflecting all the pretty lights like stars in a mirror. It made Avery mesmerized just looking at that beautiful scene in your beautiful eyes-

"So where are we landing? Not just somewhere in the middle of the city I hope."

"What- OH!" He cleared his throat as his green eyes averted from your starry nightfall ones sadly. Pink rising on his face. "*ahem* L-Leon said everyone's meeting' at the Rose o' Rondelands and to wait for them there. Says he wants to go over everything with us before the Battle Tower two days from now, and whatever else he has planned. We can check in our luggage and take a small break from flying."

"That sounds like a good idea," you agreed.

After another rough landing ensued when you all descended through the air and ended up landing right in front of the giant famous hot in Wyndon and you all piled out leaving the taxi behind. Felt good to stretch your legs. And you looked up and up at the tall building that shadow loomed over you. Ah. This brings back memories. Good thing the invite said all the rooms would be paid for in advance. Couldn't imagine how much one of these much costs. But what really caught your attention was the giant crowd gathered in front of the hotel, you didn't see them until you stepped out of the flying taxi and onto the ground..And then the large amount of cheers filled the air. One look behind you told you where it was coming from. People. What must've been hundreds upon hundreds of people backed up against each other at the front of the Rose of Rondelands, blocked by barriers and police officers much like last year when the Champion Cup took place at the stadium. You were steered away by Avery towards the hotel's entrance and all of you entered. The shimmering gold interiors shining brightly again like you had remembered and there was an even bigger surprise waiting for you inside because when you walked off of you were met with yet again another sight. It. Was. EVERYONE!! All the gym leaders you had ever seen were right there!! Lounging and sitting in fancy armchairs and couches. A whole long table was set up with delicious looking food that your f/c eyes laser focused on and made your stomach growl just seeing it everyone was eating from. A few like Melony and Gordie looked up to glance your way as the door was opened and the three of you walked in to which Avery received some waves and greetings

"You guys know we wouldn't miss this!" You looked around. "where's Leon?''

"Dunno," Bea answered Milo from her spot on the couch next to Allister looking boredly at a magazine in her hands. "I've been waiting here since we arrived three days ago."

"Hey now. Lee prolly just wanted to wait until everyone arrived. Now that the whole gang's here, I'm sure he'll be here any second...Unless of course he got lost. Or ended up on top of the Wyndon Stadium again."

Well Raihan was half right. Someone else did arrive. A few somebodies actually but they weren't Leon. Because Leon wouldn't have nearly tackled you to the floor or shouted your name. A flurry of 'Y/N!' flew through the air and before you could even turn around two small things tackled you one after another and you tilted backwards. Your backpack falling to the ground and your arms coming out on instinct to help keep your balance as Silver chirped in surprise. You blinked and looked down at yourself at the clinging creatures attached to you.

"What the-"

"Y/N!" A familiar voice and face beamed up at you and you stared at her smiling face until it suddenly clicked.

"Hop?!" Your voice happily shouted as your mouth forced itself up in a smile before noticing the other two right next to you.. "Victor!" It was them. The original trio. And they were all here again. You hadn't seen them in forever! "Where have you guys been!?"

"Do you mean outside or in general?," Victor asked raising a brow. "If ye mean jus' now, Hop wanted ta show us his wooloo's new evolution. If ya mean anywhere else...Eh. It's a long story we need ta share with ya later." He sighed before rubbing his face. "Let's just say a LOT has happened with our training."

You chuckled and slowly got the three to release you from their hug. "I'm sure there's gonna be plenty of time to tell me what happened since we're still waiting for Leon-"

"In the meantime," Piers interrupted your happy reunion, "You should go get your room keys 'n put your luggage away so we can get some grub. M' sure you're starvin'."

That was actually a good point. As much as you were happy at seeing the guys again, you were looking forward to a shower and some food from the long trip over here. In just an hour you all were able to get your separate room keys and escorted to said rooms by one of the helpful wait staff where you were able to drop off your bags and take a quick shower before heading back down to the lobby along with Silver tailing after you. Back down in the lobby you were able to grab some food (after giving Silver some so you wouldn't have to worry about making a mess trying to get to the food ) and sit down with the guys who were practically begging you too. Once you sat down on the couch, you were bombarded with tales of what they were up to. Hard to follow along ultimately what came down to it was that Gloria had one heck of a hard time being trained by whoever this Mustard character was before returning. Which including plenty of push ups, made to battle in front of a crowd of other students, chasing slowpokes, mushroom and diglett hunting, finishing her pokedex journal, her new rivals, being gifted more pokemon- But one question made you confused.

 "You said you came back with Leon right? Where's he?"

He shook his head. "Dunno. He dropped us both off here a while ago and said to wait for Sonia and Kabu to arrive. Y'know since we're kinda studying under them and all that."

Ah. You supposed Leon was still preparing everything else that needed to be prepared before these special events happened. Made sense you supposed. In the mean time you were having fun eating the absolutely delicious food and listen to the three's adventures in the Crown Tundra and on the Isle of Armor. Victor was proud to show you his pictures of the ancient pokemon and Reggie-pokemon shrines and the giant tree he had discovered while there mentioning them to Leon who mentioned it to the Chairwoman and lo and behold...Victor had unintentionally saved the Town of Crown Tundra from dwindling away by giving the Chairwoman chances to set up tourist attractions for the locals to sell galarian twig crowns and sweaters. That's Victor for you. His determination for preserving nature one way or another came through again. Nessa was sure proud of her pupil's accomplishments. ...In fact..Both twins seemed to be fairing..MUCH better than before. Gloria didn't seem to be bothered all that much anymore by the thought of battling in front of a large crowd, and Victor seemed confident enough in his battling skills to give it a try himself.

....But that also brought other questions.

You know Gloria trained under a Mr. Mustard who trained her up before she continued being trained under Kabu, so who helped Victor? Well you asked and he told you who it was. Nessa of course since she was training with him constantly since they got back, but there was someone else. A man who sent Victor on a couple fun adventures and helped him build confidence in himself through having fun like he never had before. Going on Dynamax Adventures in a place called the Max Lair-

"Hey! I know that place!," Hop piped up as soon as Victor mentioned it, "It's like a maze of underground tunnels under the tundra that's just chalk FULL of natural dynamax particles! Sonia was checking it out for the Chairwoman along with some other things. Sometimes you can find rare pokemon in there. They think it'll be a huge hit for the Special Guests we got over here...Whoever he is?"

Yeah. You were wondering that too. You knew there would be some special guests but you didn't know who. The time passed some more until FINALLY the man of the hour arrived. You were all sitting there as Champion Leon himself walked in through the door with an older woman beside him. A flurry of 'Leon!' left a couple peoples' mouths and your face lit up in a smile as he arrived.

"Leon! Where have you been?!"

"Sorry everyone," he apologized giving a guilty look and holding up his hand. "I uh...Kinda got lost on my way here. Luckily I ran into the Chairwoman on the way here. Speaking of which." He gestured to the woman next to him who you all know gazed at. She looked around Kabu's age with grey hair and wearing a blue business suit. She was smaller than Leon too, about Nessa's height. "Allow me to introduce Ms. Dahlia. The Chairwoman of Galar and the creator of the games that'll be taking place."

"Welcome Everyone," she greeted with a smile and nod. "I want to thank you all for coming and on such short notice. I'm well aware you all must be wondering what I had Leon call you all here for." She said gesturing to everyone. "Some information you were already given in your invitations such as the first event, but the more important bits I wanted to save until I was able to speak to you all face to face." She began gesturing with her hands. "As many of you are aware the Battle Tower will be taking place the day after tomorrow at Rose tower. The lucky gym leader in training that wins will have the honor of battling against the Champion himself at the top of the tower. That trainer and their three runner ups will also be allowed to perform along with others in the final grand tournament."

"Um..Yes. About that. Forgive me if sound a little rude here, but what exactly IS this whole second half is?," Bede asked raising a brow, "I believe we have the right to know considering we'll be a very important part of it I'm assuming."

The Chairwoman nodded. "Yes. You'd be right about that. That is the thing I wanted to discuss most. All of you are here to battle it out in the first ever Galarian Star Tournament for none other than Price Lear of the Pasio Region in hopes he'll chose some of Galar's finest trainers to compete in Pasio's own Master League and get a chance to take home the title of world's strongest pokemon trainer." By the surprised looks and raised brows she got, that certainly was a surprised. She held up her hands. "I know it must be a shock to receive such news so late, but I assure you I didn't plan this. Prince Lear will be arriving tomorrow morning if nothing goes wrong, and the day after will be the Battle Tower. And then at the end of the week, the Galarian Star Tournament shall take place with everyone here as well as a few honored guests that will fighting alongside you and afterwards They shall be arriving later this week closer to the second event. I expect all of you to be on your best behavior during Prince Lear's stay with us. For now you all are dismissed back to your rooms until then. Be sure to arrive at Rose Tower first thing in the morning. We'll have much to discuss then."

And that was it. More words were exchanged by the Chairwoman and Leon but most were words of encouragement before they departed again and you all were dismissed. With nothing further to do you all went back to your rooms for the night bidding everyone good bye. The first thing you did was faceplant face first into the soft bed when you got back inside. It was nice to lay on a bed for once instead of a sleeping bag. Now only if the image of Milo smiling didn't plague your heart for the night.

-Small Time Skip-

The time had come.

Two days had gone past in a blink of an eye and by the second day you had woken up early because of the commotion going on outside your room forcing you to get up and get dressed before walking out the door only to nearly bump into Ms. Opal as she was passing your room towards the elevator along with everyone else. So you apologized before scooting to the side and following the crowd of gym leaders to the elevator, down to the lobby, out the front of the hotel, and out towards your rides there-..And you groaned. Flying taxies. Why was it ALWAYS flying taxies? There was at least somewhere between eight to ten of them. Enough to take everyone to Rose Tower. And you could BARELY hear over the noise. LOTS more people than there were yesterday. All cheering and holding up signs with different gym logos or peoples' faces on them all showing their support for their favorite gym leaders. You had to grab Silver and Cotten candy carrying him in your arms in order to keep them from keeping trampled and ended up climbing into the last taxi before it could take off...Blinking when four people were already sat down inside. It looked a little cramped-

"Y/n! Here. Ye can seat by me. There should be 'nough room if I scoot over some."

And that's how you ended up sitting between the taxi wall and Victor with Silver on your lap. Next to Victor's other side was Nessa and across from all three of you was Kabu and Gloria. Both twins with both their mentors with opposite elements but both fit the twins personalities. Gloria's fiery spirit and Victor flowing patience. Looked right they were already ready to do battle as well. Gloria wore an all red shirt with Kabu's logo on the front with the rest of her attire matching and the same with Victor wearing Nessa's gym logo and wearing a matching outfit of blue and white. And it was then that it hit you. Gloria and Victor were both gym leaders in training now. That by itself wasn't a bad thing but now..they were going to be battling against one another in the Battle Tower. Victor and Gloria had never battled against one another before not when you were with them and they must've realized at one point but neither of them seemed to give it much mind as the two siblings just sat there smiling and chatting away excited like nothing was wrong as you sat there frozen with Silver on your lap. The whole ride there wasn't anything special except when you all arrived and got out of the taxi there were more blockaids and police to control the cheering crowds and a reporter woman who was speaking to a camera pointed directly at all the gym leaders and Rose Tower itself. You stood there for a moment looking around before spotting the twins start to walk towards the Rose Tower and you went to start following them- Someone tapped your shoulder and with a jolt you snapped around to Kabu who shook his head.

"Not there," he clarified to you raising his voice to let you hear you over the large crowd cheering and instead pointing towards other gym leaders and everyone else who was walking towards a different entrance into the building. "That is only for the children who'll be participating in this event. You and I must go that way."

"Oh..Ok! Thanks!"

The older man nodded before turning around and jogging off towards the other entrance and you followed still carrying a bored looking Silver. How was he able to keep up a pace like that so easily? Once inside you were greeted to the same lobby like room you first saw when storming Rose Tower to find Leon last year. Only this time chairs had been set up alongside a giant TV on the wall, obviously for everyone to watch the spectial and as you looked around you noticed something. There was an extremely fancy wooden chair away from the plastic ones almost as if it was a throne for someone important. That was odd. Was that for Leon? You had seen him and the Chairwoman greet everyone at the hotel before coming here so maybe. Silver had spotted something amiss and his pink hand collided with your cheek. Blinking you threw a scowl at the pokemon in your arms before he chirped and pointed over at something..Or should I say someone. A FEW someones in fact because you blinked at them. There was Leon and the Chairwoman...and three other NEW people that you had never seen before. But the two of them were smiling and introducing these three to everyone as they walked in and sat down. There were two bodyguard like people. A man and woman. The woman was about Nessa's height with dark purpel hair that was in a spiral pigtail haircut and purple-magenta eyes. She wore a giant pair of square sunglasses on her head, grey coat with very long sleeves, and red and black attire underneath. The man was much taller than both the woman and other shorter man in front of them with dark grey eyes. He wore a grey-white suit with a black undershirt and red tie, gold rings on his fingers, and a pair of black sunglasses sat upon his own head. But it was the third person in front of them that seemed the most important. He wore a suit similar to the first man but more fancy looking. Grey-white all the way from his shoes to the silk gloves he wore with a black undershirt and red tie. His grey-white coat had a black fur collar and red sunglasses were over his eyes so you couldn't tell what color they were but he did have grey-white hair matching his suit. He stood by Leon with his presumed bodyguards at his sides as the Champion smiled and introduced him to everyone. This stranger's expression neutral. Kabu bowed in front of him as you slowly walked in.

"It is an honor to be able to have you in Galar, Your Highness," the older man greeted with a deep bow.

"Very charmed," the man replied back in also a neutral tone. Neither happy or bored but it was enough to also not come off as rude either.

"I think that's everyone. The only ones you haven't met are the gym leaders successor's who'll you'll be able to watch from here." The man hummed at Leon's words. You slowly walked forward and Leon turned his friendly gaze to you, lit up, and waved his hand in a 'come here' motion. "Hey! Y/n! Right on time." The man next to Leon turned to you, did a double take, and raised his brows staring at the pokemon cradled in your arms like a child as you walked over. "Just the person I wanna see." Once you stopped right in front of him his hand gestured to the man beside him again. "I'm glad you can make it. Y/n, it's my pleasure to introduce you to his highness, Prince Lear. He's come all the way from the Pasio Region for the events." His smile became even wider. "He's also asked to meet you personally."

"He...did?" You stared at the new man in front of you blinking. So he was a prince huh? You remembered the Chairwoman mentioning a Prince Lear coming two days ago, and this man could certainly pass off for a prince easily even if he didn't wear a crown. But he asked to see YOU? Why? You didn't have any fancy titles like a Champion or Gym Leader or Chairwoman?

"Um..Well not exactly by name," Leon explained with a nervous smile, "He's heard about the heroes who averted Galar's crisis twice in a row and was interested to meet the people involved."

Ah. Well that made more sense.

Prince Lear stared in your direction and even though you couldn't see his eyes, you could tell he was looking you over...before a smile finally graced his face. "I've...read the books. Your Professor Sonia took great detail in documenting your region's history."

You nodded. "Yeah. I haven't been able to read her books yet, but I have no doubt Sonia's books are as good as her science. But I didn't expect anyone not from Galar to read them."

The man chuckled amused smiling a bit wider now and both his bodyguards gave a look at each other behind him. "On the contrary. If I'm going to be choosing people from a region to compete in MY Master League's I must do my own research on top of meeting them in person to form my own opinions. Don't I? Your region's current troubles just happened to peek my interest."

You hummed thinking a moment before agreeing. "Well I guess so. I'd want to know about someone too before I invited them to anything."

"Hehe. My thinking exactly. ...Hm. You are Ms. Y/n L/n correct?" You nodded and that seemed to peek his interest more. "So you are the one I've read about. Hmhmhm. Saving the Champion and the rest of the region. Twice...That's not an easy feat." He complimented looking at his gloved hand.

"Well. Actually I didn't save Galar."

He paused. Before looking back up at you. "Oh?''

"I only witnessed it and watched from the sidelines." You shook your head. "I'm no hero. The real heroes are Hop and Victor and Gloria. And of course the pokemon who helped us. I just lent a hand where I could."

"Hmm...You know. Modesty is always beautiful on a woman." You blinked as with a swift motion of his hand, he grabbed your hand in his and lifted it to his mouth. "I look forward to seeing these events." And then you froze as he raised your hand to his mouth and like in some cheesy fairytale fantasy he kissed your knuckles gently.

A cold chill ran down your spine as you could feel everyone looking at you. Along with a tense gaze you could feel glare daggers into the back of your head from..someone but you weren't too sure. You were stuck in a bit of a shell shock as he lowered your hand..but you eventually did react. Chuckling nervously and giving a forced smile before gently pulling your hand back away and grabbing Silver as an excuse.

"Well!..I'm glad you think so! It's always nice to get a compliment," you forced out to not be rude. Arceus forbid if you were rude right now but it'd be best if you kept your anger down for now. "I'm sure you'll really enjoy watching them."

Leon sensing your OBVIOUS distress gladly took the attention from you. "Hey. The battles about to begin. Y/n why don't you go take your seat next to Avery? He seems to have saved you a spot. Prince Lear, shall we?"

"Hm? Oh. Yes let's. I look forward to seeing how well your region's gym leader's train their successors."

Leon pointed his hand and steered Prince Lear towards the fancy seat off to the left which you took as your chance to scatter like a mouse being chased by a cat back towards the crowd of other who either had confused looks from what just happened or ignored it in favor of turning their attentions towards the TV. True to Leon's word, there was in fact an open seat between Avery and Hop and you found out where the glaring at the back of your head came from. Yep. Avery was staring at Lear with a strained smile. You paused staring at him for a few minutes but Hop's waving for you to come here encouraged you to walk up to them and take your seat between the two. Hop spoke first seeing your sour face as soon as you turned away from the prince.

"You ok there, Mate?," he asked raising a brow, "Haven't seen that sore of a face since we last stopped those weirdo hair duo from wreckin' Galar as a whole."

"..Yyyeeaahh." You examined your hand for a moment wincing feeling that guy kiss it before rubbing the back of your hand against your jacket. "Just don't let me forget to wash my hands the first chance I can get."

You jumped feeling a hand grab your shoulder. Looking up you caught Avery giving you a rather serious look before he asked in a low voice, "Are you alright?" He asked softly genuinely concerned before sighing as you nodded. "Oh good. It's rude to just kiss someone like that without asking "

"Hey now. He is a prince. I'm sure they do it all the time," you said wanting to steer away from the topic and gestured towards the TV as it turned on. "But I think right now we oughtta pay attention to the telly. Wouldn't wanna miss the big show."

That seemed to do the trick because Avery's attention was quickly turned to the TV too as the mention of them was announced. And Hop gave a fist pump.

"Alright! Now we get to see Glory and Vic in action! They're gonna mop the floors with the competition!"

You admitted you were excited to see Victor's style of fighting and seeing if it differed from Gloria's or not. Gloria had already proven she could be great in battles and use her head but would that hold up? She wasn't able to defeat Raihan on one and one battles. There wasn't any sandstorms to hide behind with him and as Gloria said it. He was too strong. That's when it had really hit you. While this world was like the game this WASN'T a game and was real life, so there was the real possibility of Gloria losing to someone like Raihan and she did. If she couldn't make it past the top gym leader on a fair field then there wasn't any way she could've bested Leon. And while it did surprise you and you were a little sad for Gloria, you were also relieved. That might've been the only reason you were still here now living your own life and with your friends.

"GOOD MORNING GALAR!" You were snapped back up hearing a reporters voice and face show up on screen. The woman with the microphone smiled as the image of Rose Tower appeared behind her. "This is Marcos Cosmos Newscast with Gillian coming to all you folks at home live in front of Rose Tower where the crowds have been waiting for hours to see who'll be victorious in Galar's first ever Battle Tower competition. A true testimony to how well Gym Leaders train the future generation of Galarian gym leaders. Each contestant will go three rounds and the best one will move onto the next round and next floor eventually reaching the top where the Unbeatable Champion Leon awaits."

What? Leon wasn't- You blinked. Looking around you couldn't spot Leon anywhere in the room. Where was he? You yelped when a hand grabbed your shoulder and you looked up only to come face to face with Nessa. You sighed in relief suddenly seeing her standing above you.

"Arceus Nessa!," you hissed at her in a whisper Silver looking up at the both of you. "What'd you have to go and scare me for?"

"No time to explain!," she whispered back pointing at Silver with a VERY worried expression, "He can battle right? You have his pokeball on you?"

You were a little taken a back at the random question but answered taking Silver's pokeball out of your pocket to show her. "Yeah. He's been in battles before. Why?"

"Victor's short one pokemon and he needs six to rotate out. You don't happen to mind if we borrow him right?" You opened your mouth but before you could speak the pokeball and Silver were snatched into her arms without warning Silver giving a loud chirp of alarm. "Thanks Y/n! I owe you one! I promise I'll make it up to you later!''

"H-Hey wait! Nessa! I didn't-" The fashionista didn't stop as she soon disappeared with a squawking pokemon under her arms out the entrance leaving you sitting there staring.....

What just happened!?

"Will this be the day the Champion finally loses a match or will his record remain unbeatable? Only time will decide. Let's go right now live as the first battle takes place on Floor One on Camera One."

Time's up. The reporter disappeared from the screen and all fell silent as the camera showed a LARGE empty metal room except for one person inside. A man wearing a black and white referee outfit as he stood there. And then two doors from either side opened and two contestants walked in.

"WELCOME LADIES AND GENTLEMEN TO THE FIRST ROUND BATTLE OF ROUND ONE OF GALAR'S FIRST EVER BATTLE TOWER EVENT!!," an announcer spoke from no where. Must've been a speaker. "THE FIRST BATTLE IS UNDERWAY WITH OUR FIRST TWO BATTLERS!!" You heard Raihan from somewhere to your right give a small cheer as Sebastian appeared on the scene. "THE FIRST MATCH WILL BE BETWEEN THE FIRE OF HAMMERLOCKE STADIUM SEBASTIAN AND THE FANTASTICAL BEDE OF THE BELLONLEA STADIUM!!" Hop gave a grumble as Bede also proudly made his way onto the battlegrounds. "WILL SPREAD THEIR WINGS TO REACH THE NEXT ROUND OR WILL BELLONLEA TURN THAT CHANCE INTO A JUST FAIRYTALE!? WE'RE ABOUT TO SEE!! BATTLERS!! TAKE YOUR PLACES ON THE COURSE!!" Both teens did. "POKEMON READY! GET SET!! LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!!"

And just like that the first battle was underway. Sebastian must've improved from the last time you saw him because he easily one the first round against Bede to which both Raihan and Hop cheered at. Raihan using his rotomi phone to take plenty of pictures of his boy winning like a proud father. But unfortunately Sebastian didn't win as Bede completely sweeped through him during the second and final round. Marking him as the clear winner.

"FINAL ROUND OVER!! BEDE HAS BESTED TWO OUT OF THREE!! THEREFORE BELLONLEA PROUDLY MOVES ON TO THE SECOND ROUND AND FLOOR!!"

Raihan groaned which turned into a sigh as he closed his eyes. "Ah well. Can't win them all I suppose."

"That's very sportsman like of you," Opal commented back at him making the Dragon Type Gym Leader chuckle and smile.

"Well I certainly hope so. I wouldn't want to come off as a Negative Nancy."

"SECOND MATCH IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!! PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES!!" And instantly Piers's attention reached a million percent as none other than Marnie and Gloria entered next through the doors.

"ALRIGHT GLORIA!," Hop shouted next to you becoming more excited. "This is gonna be great!"

You nodded. You were excited to see how this would play out. "SECOND FIRST ROUND MATCH IS BETWEEN THE BURNING COAL OF MOTOSTOKE GLORIA AND THE SPUNKY MARNIE OF SPIKEMUTH!!" Both girls taking their places on the field. "PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES ON THE COURSE! POKEMON AT THE READY! GET SET! BATTLE BEGIN!!"

It was a glorious battle. It always was with both Marnie and Gloria. First round Gloria won. Second round Marnie. Third round now. Piers tensed next to you. Pale hand gripping his pants leg. ....Gloria won. Cheers filled the air. A sigh left Piers's nose. Eyes closing. Head looking down. Poor Piers but Marnie did her best. That's what mattered most.

"GLORIA WINS THE SECOND MATCH AND WILL PROCEED TO THE SECOND ROUND AND FLOOR!! THIRD ROUND BATTLERS PLEASE GO ONTO THE FIELD!!" Two more teens walked onto the course and all three of Milo, Gordie, and Melony cheered as both Felix and Elsa made their way onto the fields. "HE HAS THE BEST GREEN THUMB INTRODUCING FELIX OF TURRFIELD AND HIS OPPONENT THE COLD HEARTED BRAWLER ELSA OF CIRCHESTOR AS THEY READY TO FIGHT FOR MATCH THREE!! BUT WILL TURRFIELD GROW TO THE NEXT ROUND BEFORE WINTER FREEZES IT'S ROOTS!? LET'S FIND OUT! BATTLERS TO YOUR PLACES!! GET SET! BATTLE BEGIN!!" All three cheered in front of you. Milo for his little brother and Melony and Gordie for their little sister/daughter. It was a tough battle but in the end Elsa won. "CIRCHESTOR ADVANCES TO THE SECOND FLOOR AND ROUND!! WE WILL BE TAKING A FIVE MINUTE BREAK FOR THE MAINTENANCE CREW TO FIX THE FIRST FLOOR AND READY THE SECOND! PLEASE STAND BY AS WE HAVE A WORD WITH OUR SPONSORS AND FIGURE OUT THE NEXT MATCH PAIRS!"

Poor Milo. he must've been looking forward to seeing his little brother advance forward but Felix did put up a good front against Elsa's Ice type pokemon. Which means that meant Elsa, Gloria, and Bede would be advancing to Round Two and since Victor didn't have anyone to battle with he got an automatic win to advance to Round Two as well. With three of the trainers out of the running that leaves four left. Nessa returned in the time you were speaking to Hop and Piers to pass the time until the second round was announced by the announcer on the TV and a new floor and referee was shown.

"ALRIGHT FOLKS!! NEW ROUND AND NEW FLOOR ARE NOW HERE!! THE MATCHES HAVE BEEN DECIDED! LET'S GET THE FIRST MATCH OF ROUND TWO STARTED!" Here we go. You wondered which twin would be first or if either would go first. Or maybe neither? Both entrances opened and two made their way out. "THE FIRST MATCH BETWEEN BELLONLEA AND MOTOSTOKE IS ABOUT TO COMMENCE!! BATTLERS PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES!!" Gloria and Bede took their places. "GET SET!! LET THE BATTLE COMMENCE!!"

Bede and Gloria huh? Not a bad start to a first match..But also with an unexpected twist. Gloria won first round. Bede second...and then Bede the third? It was just one slip up by Gloria. One mistake that allowed Bede's hatterene enough access to grab Gloria's raboot and proceed to literally rear itself and literally toss the poor rabbit pokemon right out of the in boundaries and crashing into one of the tower's walls just before it could late a critical and probably final blow to the hatterene's weak point. Making Bede the winner by a small inch.

"BEDE'S HATTERENE HAS KNOCKED RABOOT OUT OF BOUNDS!! THEREFORE BEDE ADVANCES TO THE NEXT ROUND AND FLOOR! PLEASE STAND BY AS WE WAIT FOR THE NEXT MATCH TO BEGIN!"

"WHAT!?," Hop shouted hands rushing to grab his head which was followed by many looks thrown at him and shushes from the others.

"Hop. Don't be so loud," you whispered at him. Luckily Prince Lear didn't seem to notice Hop's outburst. "We have a guest here."

"I know but-.." he stared back at the screen where Gloria and Bede now excited the floor. "HOW could've she lost against him of all people?! Glory beat him every other time they battled and she trained under the very best! It doesn't make any sense."

"Well not everyone can win against every battle they fight," you explained, "You win some. You lose some. Even Gloria. I mean she lost to Raihan in the finals didn't she?"

"Not everyone loses. Leon doesn't."

"Didn't he lose to Eternatus?" Your brow rose. "I thought that was the entire reason of you two saving him."

Hop went silent for a moment before crossing his arms and mumbling. "I guess so."

You smiled. "See? It's not so bad. Besides you have to remember Bede's going to have to fight either Elsa or Victor in the next round anyways, so it's not like he's home free yet.''

That seemed to lift Hop's spirit's a bit because he nodded with a hum. "That's true. We'll have to wait and see."

Well you all didn't have to wait long because the entrances opened again and two others made their way onto the course. "THE SECOND MATCH OF ROUND TWO WILL NOW COMMENCE BETWEEN CIRCHESTER AND HULBURY!! PLEASE GET TO YOUR PLACES!! POKEMON AT THE READY!! BATTLE BEGIN!!" Round one. Elsa wins. Round two. Victor wins. Last round...Victor wins. And no sign of Silver being used which you were a bit concerned about. "ELSA'S GLACEON IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! THEREFORE HULBURY ADVANCES TO THE THIRD ROUND AND FLOOR! BUT ONLY ONE TRAINER WILL MAKE IT TO THE TOP FLOOR TO CHALLENGE THE CHAMPION HIMSELF! WHO WILL IT BE!? FIND OUT AFTER THE COMMERCIAL BREAK SO STAY TUNED!!"

"Yeah Victor!," Hop cheered throwing a hand out and a determined face smacked onto him now. "I knew he could do it! He's gonna wipe the floor with Bede's mop head."

"Hop!," you scowled at him, "I thought we agreed to stop calling him names. And you shouldn't count your poke eggs before they hatch. We don't know who's going to win yet."

"Yeah. But if Vic doesn't ground Bede into dust then Leon sure as Arceus will."

Well...He did have a point there. As a commercial for some kind of pokemon food product came on the TV you wondered what exactly Victor was thinking. Ten minutes passed in a blink of an eye faster than expected because the TV showed a new room with both Victor and Bede making their way onto the scene and stopping. Here we go.

"THIS IS IT FOLKS! ROUND THREE IS ON THE WAY!! THE WINNER SHALL GO ON TO CHALLENGE NONE OTHER THAN GALAR'S OWN UNBEATABLE CHAMPION! BUT WHO WILL TRIUMPH AND WHO WILL LOSE!? LET THE THIRD ROUND MATCH GET UNDERWAY!! TAKE YOUR PLACES!! POKEMON READY! GO!"

And then both sent out their pokemon of choice. Bede a rapidash and Victor a vaporeon. And it didn't take long for one of them to react as Victor pointed right at Bede and shouted a command. "Vaporeon! Quick attack now! And ready your shadow ball!" In an instant the vaporeon did as it's master said. With a small battle cry of it's own, darted forward at lightning speeds. The making of a black ball forming at it's mermaid like tail.

A huff came out of Bede as he shook his head. "Don't you know dark type moves aren't that effective on fairty types? Rapidash! Show them your power with psycho cut!" The horse pokemon let out high pitched whinny. It's whole body glowing a white light as it powered itself up for the move and thrusted it's head forward. Pointing it's horn at the approaching vaporeon. Slashes of that light cutting through the air towards it-

"USE SHADOW BALL ON THE GROUND NOW!!" With a back flip the vaporeon went head over heels, slamming the shadow ball into the ground and allowing the built up momentum to send it cascading through the air and right over the Rapidash's still lowered head. "AQUA TAIL!" A glowing blue light and wave swung forth. The powerful tail absolutely SLAMMING into the poor rapidash's head. A niegh of pain coming from the horse pokemon slammed head first into the floor...and that's where it stayed.

"RAPIDASH IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! VICTOR WINS FIRST MATCH OF ROUND THREE!" Bede's expression changed to one of amusement to shock to frustration as he returned his fallen rapidash. "SECOND ROUND IS UNDERWAY!! PLEASE READY YOUR NEXT POKEMON!!" The Vaporeon stayed as Bede brought a second pokemon out. "GET SET! BATTLE BEGIN!"

"HYDRO PUMP!" Victor was quick to strike first ordering the vaporeon to shoot the geyser of water from it's mouth and it did. Which the gardevoir gracefully dodged with a large jump allowing it to get closer to Victor's pokemon. "SHADOWBALL!!"

"Gardevoir use teleport!" Just as the vaporeon shot out the shadowball the gardevoir disappeared. Only to appear in a blink of an eye behind the water type a little bit aways from it. "Psyshock!" Gardevoir obeyed. Splaying it's arms out circles of bright pink-white light before the same light circles appeared around the vaporeon and darts of lights shot down out it. Causing it to shriek as the light darts made contact with it's body. "Finish it off with shadowball!" It held it hands in front of it's chest as a black ball of energy formed, before as quickly as a scorbunny could run, the gardevior reared it's arms back like a baseball pitcher and threw it. The shadowball cascaded right through the air and exploded on contact. Smoke flew into the air as the explosion started to die down and everyone waited with baited breath as it slowly faded away. And their the vaporeon laid fainted against the ground.

"VAPOREON IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE BATTLE!! BEDE WINS THE SECOND MATCH OF ROUND TWO! PLEASE READY YOUR POKEMON FOR THE FINAL MATCH!!" Both pokemon were retracted and next to you Hop for Victor to win under his breath as both readied their final pokemon for the last match of Round Three. Both brought out their final pokeballs. "GET SET! GO!"

Both finally sent out their final pokemon and your eyes widened when you you saw none other than Silver being sent out by Victor along with Bede's Hatterene. The drizzlie giving a shake of his head and looking around confused- Before giving a squeak of fear at seeing the much larger hatterene staring right at him.

"Hatterene use calm mind!" The hatterene gave off a cry as light surrounded it and in a moment disappeared. That couldn't be good. Bede gave Victor a proud smile as the other twin pointed at him.

"Silver! Water pulse quick!" Quickly regaining his composure, Silver produced a water balloon looking thing from no where and sent the water pulse cascading towards the Hatterene who...didn't move? Bede didn't even make an attempt to order his pokemon as the attack collided with it- And then bounced off right back towards Silver The drizzlie gave a high pitched sound before diving right onto his stomach to avoid the attack that had been magically rebounded at him.

"That's Magic bounce!," Hop said in disbelief next to you. "It sends an enemy's attack right back at them! How'd he teach his hatterene to do that?!"

"Hatterne bedazzle your audience with dark pulse!"

"Silver! Dodge it and get close to that hatterene!"

You could only watch in terror and worry as Silver basically looked like he was tripping on banana peels running around the battle field with a terrified expression ducking and diving away from the calm hatterene's attacks barely dodging Bede's commanded attacks. Anytime Silver was able to get an attack in it was rebounded out back at him and just giving him another thing to dodge from but he did slowly start getting closer towards the hatterene. Your hands clenched feeling the dread and worry in your guts seeing your poor pokemon put through that. Until one well placed dark pulse by Bede sealed the poor pokemon's fate. With a shriek Silver went cascading through the air along with a terrible ripping sound which was the result of his little hoodie tearing right down the front and ruining it as he landed with a hard thud sound right in front of the hatterene. You nearly let out a shriek yourself. Silver wasn't even given time to recover when something grabbed him in an iron grip and lifted his struggling form into the air.

"Give him a few slams onto the ground!," Bede ordered. And what Bede wanted he got. Over and over and over Silver was slammed into the hard metal ground with enough force to leave behind some dents before it finally brought a dazed and limp Silver up to it's face. The tatters of his jacket falling onto the ground. "Not surprising since you don't have much Pink! Stand by with psychic to finish them off!"

Time seemed to slow down for a moment as Silver's eyes blinked open. Watching as the tatters of the once nice jacket slowly fall to the ground like forgotten leaves in autumn. The poor blue fabric scraps hitting the ground and leaving no more trace of it- No more trace of YOU with him had him staring wide eyed at the ground from the hatterene's grip. He hurt. He was scared. And he was alone right now. Like how he first felt back when he was just a sobble. He certainly fell like crying in that moment but then something happened. Something snapped in him and the hatterene was certainly surprised when the once scared drizzile in it's gripped reared it's head up and yelled at it's face.

"SILVER USE POUND!"

The hatterene was forced to drop the limp drizzile as a hard sucker punch was delivered directly to it's face via Silver's tongue and with another thud Silver landed on the ground-..And then his once limp body shimmered as if the starlight itself emanated from his own body and he glowed. Brighter and brighter and brighter he became until his body changed and morphed. The hatterene watching in shock and horror as the lit up body grew even taller than itself until the starlight disappeared and a very, very, VERY tall Inteleon stood in it's place above it. Gold eyes staring dangerously down at itself and the hatterene let out some frightened noise instantly leaning back away from this dangerously smiling pokemon.

"Our turn now! Silver let's give these two a piece o' their own medicine!" The hatterene shrieked as a whip like tail snatched it up from the bottom of it's body.

"HATTERENE!!" Bede could only watch in horror as his beloved hatterene was given the same treatment it gave Silver as the now Inteleon slammed it over and over and OVER into the metal floor with such ANGER and furosity that it made the purple eyed boy stare on in horror.

"GIVE IT A TOSS!!" A crack of a whip sound went off as Silver with one twist of his body let lose the hatterene and sent it flying into the air with a high pitched shriek of it's own. It's eyes wide in fear as it went around in circles head over heels- "SNIPE SHOT!!" Like a sniper aiming his weapon, Silver held up his hands in a similar way and a stream of a deadly water attack shot out. Not missing it's target and landing with expert skill colliding with the hatterene who gave one last cry of pain before it landed on the ground with a hard thud. ...And didn't get back up.

"HATTERENE IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE BATTLE!! VICTOR WINS THE THIRD ROUND AND SHALL PROCEED ONWARDS TO CHALLENGE THE CHAMPION!!"

"YES!!" You were spooked out your jaw dropped stupor and blinked when Hop jumped up throwing both hands into the air. "HE DID IT!! VICTOR'S GOING TO CHALLENGE LEON!!"

Silver...evolved! You let out a breath you didn't know you were keeping in your mouth as you sighed and continued staring at the Tv. Bede had already returned his hatterene and seemed upset as Victor cheered himself. But it was the actions of Silver that had your eyes staring at the screen. White hands of the knelt shiny inteleon gingerly picked up some of the few remaining tatters of the jacket before standing up. The gold eyes inspecting the remains of the fabric before closing his eyes. A sigh escaping his nose before he turned up a smile towards the cameras for whatever reason. Thank ARCEUS he was alright.

"STAY TUNED FOLKS AS WE TAKE A SMALL BREAK BEFORE THE FINALLY WHERE THE LUCKY TRAINER WILL GO ON TO BATTLE THE CHAMPION HIMSELF! WILL THERE BE A NEW VICTORY AGAINST LEON OR WILL HIS UNBEATABLE REPUTATION STAND STRONG?! ALL OF THAT RIGHT AFTER THE BREAK!!"

Hop wasn't the only one celebrating. Nessa looked rather pleased at the results and even received a congrats from Opal which was nice. Bede did his best. The wait was awful. Just sitting there watching commercial after commercial after commercial. Until the stage was finally set and it was announced that the last round was underway. The top floor of Rose Tower was shown on screen with the one and only Leon standing there. Silently waiting for his special opponent to arrive. And he didn't have to wait long. The door opened and Victor arrived. Walking in through the entrance way. His breath was heaving and sweat ran down his forehead. His hands felt sweating and the grip on the pokeball in his hand tightened. Each step echoed through the entire place until he stopped.

Leon smiled. "Victor! I've been waiting for you. Always knew you'd be able to win your way here." Nothing but a smile and praise was given to Victor and it helped to relax him. "Nervous?"

"Is it obvious?," Victor asked back rubbing his hand on his face.

"Hey. It's alright to be nervous. I was too when I first faced off against the Champion."

"Y-Yeah. But.." Victor looked down. "I guess I wasn't ever expectin' ta actually ever fight against ye is all. It feels so...w-weird. I-If that makes sense. I always thought it'd be Glory who'd be standin' 'ere to face ye."

"She is a strong fighter and she came really far in the gym challenge," leon agreed with a nod, "But so are you. Anyone who was able to make it this far deserves where you stand now. I'm proud of you."

"Y-You are?"

"I'm not the only one either. Nessa. Gloria. Hop. Your mom. ..We all are." And for a moment his eyes closed with a sigh. "My dream has always been to make the people of the Galar Region stronger. And this battle tower is making that dream come true! Think you and I can get stronger too?" His eyes opened back up. "A fierce battle is the only way to do it! Now how about you take on Champion Leon with everything that you've got?"

After a moment Victor took a breath and finding new courage nodded. "I-I'm not gonna hold back!"

"Hehe. I wouldn't have it any other way. Now come on! Let's show everyone an absolute Champion time!"

And thus the battle began. Everyone watching with cheers or silent stares or worried looks with baited breath. You were one of those ones with baited breath especially when you saw Silver get released back out against Leon ...and get knocked to the floor only seconds later with a heavy thud in defeat.

"INTELEON IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!! THE WINNER OF THE BATTLE TOWER IS THE UNBEATABLE CHAMPION LEON!"

So that was it huh? It was all over. Leon won. Not that no one didn't expect that possibility after all. This was Leon. You didn't look away from the screen as Silver was returned to his pokeball and Leon walked across the room to most likely congratulate Victor and steer him back towards the exit.

"All right, Lee!" Hop cheered next to you. "They were so cool!"

You nodded to not be rude but you were more worried about Silver right now so you stood up to go see him. Seemed you werent the only one who had the idea because Prince Lear also stood up.

"Your display pleased me today," he spoke back in that neutral voice, "If this is what I can expect later is week as well then I have much to look forward too." He turned his head towards the Chairwoman. "I think I would like to speak with the Champion now. Is that possible?"

Ms. Dahlia nodded. "Of course. I'm sure everyone else is itching to go and take a break as well." She then nodded towards everyone. "Everyone is dismissed until this Saturday. Please excuse us." You watched as the Chairwoman left with the prince and his bodyguards right behind him.

You did look behind you as Avery stood up though along with the others. "Heading to see Mustard?" He nodded with a hum. "Think I'll head that way too. I want to see Silver again."

You both filed out with everyone and went around towards the front of the tower ignoring the cheering crowds..Except for Raihan who hammed it up winking and waving and flashing that smirk of his. The show off. Ironically it seemed the others had the same idea as you guys because you ran right into Victor and Gloria as they came around the corner. Victor looked exhausted from the day's events and Gloria was excitedly congratulating him which Hop soon joined in and Victor could only tiredly smile at the rapid fire of talking the two spouted at him. Which was added to by Nessa who gave him a pat on the back and you received Silver's pokeball from him. Sighing in relief as he was safely back in your hands again. Now what? Well everyone who battled in pokemon was going to head over to the nearest pokemon center before either returning to the hotel or somewhere else. You also decided to tag along to the pokemon center in order to have Silver looked over and ended up sharing a taxi over there with Kabu, Gloria, and Hop. The trip there being nothing special other than both Hop and Gloria chatting excitedly about the day's events.

"Hey! Lee's taking me to Wyndon's research center tomorrow! Y-You can come along too if you want?"

To your surprise Gloria actually shook her head no. "Can't. I promised Bede I'd hang out with him after we were done."

Hop froze. And you counted down to his reaction. Three. Two- "WHAT!?"

She smiled excitedly. "YEAH! We're goin' ta this theater and watchin' the Tale of Two Queens! It's the story o' how the ancient kinds supposedly fell in love! And get this! He says we can ride his rapidash there too! I'm so excited ta see the beauty up close that isn't in battle."

...Hop plastered on a grin. "Hey. That's...grrreeeaat, Glory. Real, real happy for ya! But..Maybe we can go around Wyndon tomorrow? Just like old times!"

Her face could not get anymore happier. "I'd love too! We can visit that cafe Lee took us too last year!"

Well. Guess the game was on between those two again. Once you all had arrived and filed out it was also nothing special. There were also a few other people there including Victor and Bede who Hop sent a dirty look but Bede only smiled oh so innocently back at him. From there it was easy. In. Let Nurse Joy look over your pokemon. She healed them all up and recommended to let them rest for a day or two with plenty of food and water. Out. And you smiled at the pokeball in your hand. You'd let him out as soon as you were back outside. But that was where the problems began. As you were getting Silver looked over Bede had walked outside with Gloria chatting away, probably to go hang out like they had planned after the battle. You were planning on walking around for a little bit until you could find someplace to eat with Silver, but something nearly startled you into dropping the pokeball. A shriek. A high pitched (and for some reason familiar sounding) shriek passed through the air just outside the center, and even though it was muffled, everyone inside turned their heads towards the door hearing it. Despite being startled at first you headed towards the exit real quick and threw open the door. What you saw on the other side was something you weren't expecting. At all.

IT WAS OLEANA!!

Or at least the remnants of her. She stood towering over Bede and Gloria who both stood there staring up wide eyed and horrified at her as she shrieked at Bede.

"YOU DARE TURN YOUR BACK ON CHAIRMAN ROSE AFTER EVERYTHING HE'S DONE FOR YOU!! YOU COULD'VE BEEN SITTING COMFY ON THAT CHAMPION STATUS IN A BETTER SOCIETY IF YOU HADN'T LET YOUR EMOTIONS TAKE OFF!!," she shouted between incoherent babbling and rambles pointing her finger at Bede accusingly.

Oleana!? But-..Why?! HOW!? What was she doing here!? Wasn't she in hiding after that whole incident with Eternatus last year!? In your stupor you stared at the woman still rambling before shaking your head. That didn't matter right now. If she was here then that only meant trouble. And trouble there was. In the middle of her rant her finger actually poked Bede and he reacted instantly. By flinching and making himself (and Gloria) take a step back purple eyes shrinking more in fear. And you saw red. No one saw it coming let alone Oleana. As something suddenly grabbed her extended arm and with a yank over she went. Colliding with a wall away from the two scared teens and other hand placed itself firmly against her other shoulder. Dazed she quickly shook her head and GLARED at you but any bite she might've thrown at you was shoved aside from your response. You were ANGRY. You were TIRED. And you were going to finally give her a piece of your mind!

"SHUT UP!!" Your bellow echoed across the street and into the air demanding silence especially from the woman you kept away from Bede. "Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP! For Arceus sakes just shut up already! Do you ever just be quiet instead of yelling!?" You were getting very hard Pearl vibes from last year which only added to your anger. Oleana was VERY much a karen as well."You absolutely dumb excuse of a walk in closet!! I'm getting real tired of people like you trying to make my life and others lives a living heck to deal with!! And you happened to catch me in a bad mood." Your face pushed itself closer to her and she stared unsure as if this never happened to her before. Which probably hadn't. "Maybe if you didn't wear those stupid shoes you'd be able to pull your head out of the clouds and realize that you're not big, bad, or in charge anymore. AND YOU'RE REALLY TICKING ME OFF!" She made a squeaky gasp noise as you increased your grip on her. She was NOT going to get away. "Maybe your big head makes you think you're fat enough to throw your weight around and can get away with stuff, but you couldn't even get away with swatting a bug now!" Your scowl hardened. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM BEDE!! YOU HEAR ME!? ...LOOK AT ME!!" Her once eyes glancing around for an exit looked back at you from your second bellow. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM HIM!! YOU DON'T LOOK AT HIM! YOU DON'T TALK TO HIM! AND YOU DON'T TOUCH HIM! YOU HEAR ME!? HE'S BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH BECAUSE OF YOU!! AND SO HELP ME IF YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN I'LL SEARCH GALAR UNTIL I FIND YOU AND THEN I'LL DRAG YOU KICKING AND SCREAMING TO THE NEAREST PRISON MYSELF AND MAKE SURE OF IT!!"

Silence. Cold. Dead. Silence. No one spoke. No one made a move. And you didn't loosen your grip or move your gaze away from Oleana silent wide eyed stare. That is. Until something touched your shoulder. You instantly snapped over your shoulder and you blinked at the confusing sight of a pink and mint green umbrella on your shoulder.

"Well I certainly couldn't have put that in better words myself," an eerily voice said and when you looked behind you your eyes widened. Standing there with her umbrella to your shoulder. Behind her Bede was peeking out wide eyed at you and beside him was Gloria looking calmer and less afraid also glaring at Oleana. "Come now. Let's put her down. I believe she's learnt her lesson." You didn't move at first still surprise but then the tip of the umbrella poked your shoulder a couple times. "We're not getting any younger, Young Lady. Put her down." She spoke in an almost grandmotherly voice. That tone your grandma would use as a warning before you got into trouble.

You looked back to Oleana as she stared back at you. Scowled hard...And let go. Oleana slid down the wall until she sat on the ground. Until you jolted again before whirling around and meeting the eyes of..Avery? Oh..Guess they were also part of the group that came here to get their pokemon checked also.

"I was wondering what was taking you children so long but this seems to answer that question." Opal gazed at Olena before humming and turning her gaze to Bede who blinked at her. "Go on now. Take your friend and go wait in the taxi, Dear. I do so love a good performance and I'm not planning on missing this one." Bede didn't even get a chance to answer before she then turned her gaze to Avery. "Why don't you go grab dear Kabu to watch over her before the authorities arrive? Hm? And take your ladyfriend here to go calm her mind." She tilted her head to you as you still scowled at Oleana from Avery's grip. "It would do her good to calm down."

Avery nodded and instantly began to coax you away from Oleana and used his stronger strength begin to pull away from her and the crowd watching. However unknownst to all of you there were some other people watching. A special someone especially with red sunglasses.

"I am so sorry you had to see that, Your Highness. I promise it's not like that all the time. The woman. Oleana. Has been a troublemaker for quite sometime."

"Hm..No need. On the contrary." A smile spread across someone's face as they watched Milo scoot you away. "I find modest and strong women, very alluring."

[echantedtoon]

Applin Of My Eye Ch5 The Battle Tower

"W-W-Will you b-b-b-be my date t-t-t-to the tornam-m-ment?"

"No! Are you kidding me? After what happened? You said you just wanted to be friends so why would you even ask me that!?"

That's totally what he was bracing himself for when he walked up to the door and couldn't stop the words from leaving his mouth and he had froze standing there like he was a movie and someone pressed pause on it. You had also froze at the shocked face you gave Before your face went neutral and you slowly asked him.

"Milo," you voice dropped to a low and serious level, "A-Are you...a-asking me on a d-date?" Your face went red and so did his.

A..date? As in like an actually romantic date?! NO! Absolutely not- Or was it? NO! What was he thinking!? Having you on his arm, smiling, and making him feel better about being there himself. Keeping his attention on you while you him. Maybe getting closer- He shook his head hard enough to shake his hat. He opened his mouth to say 'No' and 'As just a friend' kinda deal but instead his mouth said something else. 

"Yes."

And then his hands shot up to his mouth making a light slap noise as they collided with his lips. Red immediately flooding his face and feeling as if his soul left his body when you blinked..and then chuckled at him. Making his heart skip a beat and humiliation flood over him. You were laughing at him. You must've thought he was ridiculous-

Y nodded shy smile and eyes looking around. "Sure! It might be fun...I've never been on a d-date before."...When you didn't get an answer back you looked up to see Milo pale and staring at you. "Um...Milo?" you held up a hand. "Are you ok? You look pale."

His answer? He didn't give you one. He silently stared at you or nothing?? You couldn't tell. His arms had long since hung back to his sides and it was almost like he was a mannequin in a store window. Kinda creepy but this was more concerning than creepy the more he stood there pale faced and looking ready to drop- !?

"MILO?!" You shouted as the farmer tilted sideways to the right and with a loud thud sound collided with the porch front . You immediately dropped to your knees next to the dazed man sprawled on the ground blankly staring at the blue sky. Your hands immediately went under his head and chest pulling his shocked form up towards your concerned face. "Are you ok!? Speak to me!"

He continued staring up at the sky in a daze. "...You're...g-gonna be my...date?"

"I..Y-Yeah." You blinked. "But are you ok? GAH!?"

You were sat up really quickly by a blur and Milo was all of a sudden sat up clutching your arms looking serious and lost at the same time. "Did you mean it!?" He looked at you wide eyed. "You'll go with me? A-And ya don't mind? Y-You.." His hands slowly let go of your arms staring like he didn't believe you. "You said you w-wouldn't mind going with me?..Really?" You slowly nodded. "....Why?"

 You smiled pink rising to your cheeks. "Um..Because you asked me nicely? A-And it does genuinely sound like a fun time if you'd be there with me." You spoke truthfully looking down and clasping your hands. "You're a really nice guy and I consider you a f-friend so ...W-Why not go together? I m-mean for all you did for me it's t-the least I can do right?"

MILO stared at you longer as the realization wound it's arm back and with all it's force smacked him across the face with reality. He...Had. A. DATE. With. YOU!! That part replayed over and over in his mind. He had a date. He had a date. He had a date. He had a REAL and LEGIT date with YOU and in one month he'd be taking you out on your first ever official date with him to this high class party being hosted. Green eyes widened as any remaining blood drained from his face. He had a date with you in one month and he hadn't even gotten ready for the trip. Nothing packed. He didn't tell Felix yet. And no plans for this outcome....

Oh no

OH NO OH NO OH NO!!!

"Um. Milo?" You waved a hand in front of his glassy eyed expression. "You still with me, Farmer?"

"OH SWEET WOOLOO KNITTED SWEATERS!!" He answered you making you pause and blink as the farmer stumbled over himself to stand on two feet, once in a standing position, hands grabbing onto his hat and gripping them with enough force to crack a diamond if he tried hard enough. "I gotta start packing!"

You blinked as the next moment he turned and shit back down the dirt pathway back up to his home redder than a strawberry and clutching his hat....You giggled again.

One month flew past in the blink of an eye when you were busy..or in his case really, really stressed out. Felix was both happy and slightly concerned seeing his brother so eager to now go to Wyndon and take on this tournament with him but his slight concern to him going over every single detail with him was a little overboard. He sat on his floor countless times helping him go over everything as he ran between packing and making arrangements with his more reliable farm hands to take care of Turrffield in their absence. And one such event happened to be now as he was shifting through his suitcase once again as calculating as a ninja but he could see his hands slightly shaking in nerves. 

"T-Tell me what's going on again there," he said while pulling out a perfectly folded shirt for the fifth time out of his packed traveling suitcase.

Felix would've rolled his eyes if he wasn't so patient and understanding of his big bro's nerves, so he instead decided to repeat himself from his spot lounged against the wall scrolling through his phone. "We were both invited to Wyndon's first ever Battle Of The Leaders Tournament to show the world Galar's strongest pokemon trainers. It's in honor of Prince Lear from the Pasio Region."

"Right, right." He continued fumbling to fold the shirt back and place it back down. "..Who's that again?"

"The special guest that we need to impress. He's coming all the way from Pasio to pick and chose who gets a chance to compete in the ultimate Pokemon Masters League with other Gym leaders, trainers, and people from all over the world. It's a big deal that the Chairwoman thinks will help Galar's reputation back on track. ....This could be a good chance to show off Turrffield's power too."

.he nodded. He hated to admi itt. Loathed it even. But Felix had a point. He'd do anything to help Turrffield and this seemed like a good idea to get more attention towards the town. "R-Right." He pulled out a small traveling blanket. "So what's the main events we're doing there anyways?"

"The Battle Tower event's first," Felix explained holding up something made of paper towards him. "Leon sent you all the details in the letter if you just wanna read it?" Daisy baaed in agreement at his feet.

"Felix please."

"*Sigh* Basically the battle tower is gonna be for all the new pupils the gym leaders have taken on. We're going to battle our way up Rose tower until there's only one last person standing, and that person's going to have the chance to battle Leon himself. I think it's to show off Galar's future leaders."

"Ah..And you plan on beating them to the top?"

"Of Course. I ain't losing a chance to battle the Champion again. This time I'll make sure he gets to taste how I do battles."

A small smile and chuckle escaped him despite his nerves. "That's the spirit. And uh what's the second one?"

"Dunno. It only says that one's staying a surprise until we get there but there's gonna be a couple guests battlers joining us for whatever it is."

That's what interested him most in their one week leave. A week passed by within a blink of an eye and soon it was time to go. He and Felix had everything they needed packed in their bags, and arranged for some local farmers to care for the farm while they were away. The flying taxi Leon had called in advance to tell them that would be their transport was there, and when he got there, you were already there backpack thrown over your shoulder and Silver and Mary at your heels. He would not let you go by yourself it seemed as the little drizzlie literally clung to your leg like a toddler not caring if he embarrassed you. You were staring at the flying taxi with an uncomfortable look but when the sounds of cheering from the crowd picked up you turned your head and smiled upon seeing the two siblings walking towards you.

"Milo! Felix!," you greeted with a wave and smile.

Ba-bump. Oh..Arceus. He could feel his own cheeks light up a bright pink at her beautiful smile. If Felix hadn't pulled him by the wrist towards the taxi then he might've tripped over in front of the crowd gathered behind him. Stopping in front of you.

"I thought you guys weren't going to make it. I was waiting here for a bit and then this.." You gave the taxi another unenthusiastic look. "..ride showed up."

Felix gave a quick kick to his brother's leg making him jump. "Huh!? Oh. Uh- *ahem* Y-Yeah. D-Didn't Leon tell you in the letter that'd we'd be going by taxi?"

You nodded not noticing his slip up much to his relief. "Yeah..I'm not too fond of flying. Why is it always flying?"

"Well if we wanna get there on time we gotta take the fastest transport to get there." He gave a look back up to the giant corviknight and it's driver perched high and mighty above the sturdy metal taxi cabin. "And this is it. We'll be there in no time."

You  groaned but nodded. "Yeah. I guess so. But I don't understand why we couldn't just take the train?"

"Well Leon was kind enough to arrange this for us and it's already paid for. It'd be rude to turn it down. But don't worry. Flying is quick so it'll be over before you know it."

He could almost chuckle when you groaned and let your arms flop to the sides. But since you wanted to go, and you felt obligated being formally invited by the Champion and Chairwoman, you would have to travel with Milo and Felix Inside the flying taxi. Needless to say you had sadly gotten used to this kind of travel even if you didn't like it. The trip over there was a blur to Milo. He remembered the cheers the crowd had given you all as you stepped into the taxi, him letting you go first. Ladies first as they say, and waving to the crowd before he himself sat on the seat, next to you, and watched as you gripped the seat just before he gave the taxi driver the go ahead to take off and the lunge into the air made you grip tighter onto the seat despite you had buckled yourself in. The mighty strength of the corviknight easily taking off into the air and thus the traveling began. With you sitting next to him and Felix in the seat in front of you both. Things weren't as bad on the trip to Wyndon as he thought it'd be. It was silence for a bit and Felix had to give him a few nudges and start talking herself to get him to talk to you. And it was...easy. You smiled at him like there was nothing awkward between you two and you both chattered about anything and everything like old friends and it gave you a good chance to chat with Felix more and get to know him. And you found it easy to talk to him about as much as Milo. It was nice to get to know him. Milo however watched with a soft expression seeing you and his little brother get along as one day turned to two and two turned into three and so on. It was..nice seeing someone he liked getting along so well with his little brother. The easy going atmosphere helped to calm him but he still turned a shade of red whenever you leaned against him in your sleep at night. On your way to Wyndon you all sometimes stopped at small towns to recharge for the night or restock on supplies before continuing onward. Until the day arrived. It was early in the morning that you were woken up by someone shaking your shoulder and with a snort you woke up with a groggy look blinking towards Milo who just smiled and pointed out the window.<

"Look. We're here."

Blurry eyed you turned to the window. The sun was just starting to come over the sky so it was still fairly dark, and down below you could see the world lit up in lights and that's when you all saw it. You all looked out at the sight of a GIANT brick wall going as far as the eye could see. The horizon blocked off my what must've been hundreds of skyscrapers and Rose Tower. From your place, you could see all the shiny buildings lit up in the early morning light making it look almost heavenly. It was beautiful. Your smile widened and eyes lit up immediately reflecting all the pretty lights like stars in a mirror. It made Milo mesmerized just looking at that beautiful scene in your beautiful eyes-

"So where are we landing? Not just somewhere in the middle of the city I hope."

"What- OH!" He cleared his throat as his green eyes averted from your starry nightfall ones sadly. Pink rising on his face. "*ahem* L-Leon said everyone's meeting' at the Rose o' Rondelands and to wait for them there. Says he wants to go over everything with us before the Battle Tower two days from now, and whatever else he has planned. We can check in our luggage and take a small break from flying."

"That sounds like a good idea," you agreed.

After another rough landing ensued when you all descended through the air and ended up landing right in front of the giant famous hot in Wyndon and you all piled out leaving the taxi behind. Felt good to stretch your legs. And you looked up and up at the tall building that shadow loomed over you. Ah. This brings back memories. Good thing the invite said all the rooms would be paid for in advance. Couldn't imagine how much one of these much costs. But what really caught your attention was the giant crowd gathered in front of the hotel, you didn't see them until you stepped out of the flying taxi and onto the ground..And then the large amount of cheers filled the air. One look behind you told you where it was coming from. People. What must've been hundreds upon hundreds of people backed up against each other at the front of the Rose of Rondelands, blocked by barriers and police officers much like last year when the Champion Cup took place at the stadium. You were steered away by Milo towards the hotel's entrance and all three of you entered. The shimmering gold interiors shining brightly again like you had remembered and there was an even bigger surprise waiting for you inside because when you walked the three of you were met with yet again another sight. It. Was. EVERYONE!! All the gym leaders you had ever seen were right there!! Lounging and sitting in fancy armchairs and couches. A whole long table was set up with delicious looking food that your f/c eyes laser focused on and made your stomach growl just seeing it everyone was eating from. A few like Melony and Gordie looked up to glance your way as the door was opened and the three of you walked in to which Milo received some waves and greetings.

"Milo!" "Hey, Milo!" "Where have you guys been?" 

"So the country folk has arrived," Raihan greeted standing and leaning against a wall, punch cup in his hand from the giant table of food and that familiar smile on his face. Knowingly looking between him and you. "And here I thought you wouldn't make it."

"You guys know I wouldn't miss this!" Milo looked around. "where's Leon?''

"Dunno," Bea answered Milo from her spot on the couch next to Allister looking boredly at a magazine in her hands. "I've been waiting here since we arrived three days ago."

"Hey now. Lee prolly just wanted to wait until everyone arrived. Now that the whole gang's here, I'm sure he'll be here any second...Unless of course he got lost. Or ended up on top of the Wyndon Stadium again."

Well Raihan was half right. Someone else did arrive. A few somebodies actually but they weren't Leon. Because Leon wouldn't have nearly tackled you to the floor or shouted your name. A flurry of 'Y/N!' flew through the air and before you could even turn around three small things tackled you one after another and you tilted backwards. Your backpack falling to the ground and your arms coming out on instinct to help keep your balance as Silver chirped in surprise. You blinked and looked down at yourself at the clinging creatures attached to you.

"What the-"

"Y/N!" A familiar voice and face beamed up at you and you stared at her smiling face until it suddenly clicked. 

"Gloria!?" Your voice happily shouted as your mouth forced itself up in a smile before noticing the other two right next to her. "Victor! Hop!" It was them. The original trio. And they were all here again. You hadn't seen them in forever! "Where have you guys been!?"

"Do you mean outside or in general?," Victor asked raising a brow. "If ye mean jus' now, Hop wanted ta show us his wooloo's new evolution. If ya mean anywhere else...Eh. It's a long story we need ta share with ya later." He sighed before rubbing his face. "Let's just say a LOT has happened with our training."

You chuckled and slowly got the three to release you from their hug. "I'm sure there's gonna be plenty of time to tell me what happened since we're still waiting for Leon-"

"In the meantime," Piers interrupted your happy reunion, "You should go get your room keys 'n put your luggage away so we can get some grub. M' sure you're starvin'."

That was actually a good point. As much as you were happy at seeing the guys again, you were looking forward to a shower and some food from the long trip over here. In just an hour you all were able to get your separate room keys and escorted to said rooms by one of the helpful wait staff where you were able to drop off your bags and take a quick shower before heading back down to the lobby along with Silver tailing after you. Back down in the lobby you were able to grab some food (after giving Silver some so you wouldn't have to worry about making a mess trying to get to the food ) and sit down with the guys who were practically begging you too. Once you sat down on the couch, you were bombarded with tales of what they were up to. Hard to follow along ultimately what came down to it was that Gloria had one heck of a hard time being trained by whoever this Mustard character was before returning. Which including plenty of push ups, made to battle in front of a crowd of other students, chasing slowpokes, mushroom and diglett hunting, finishing her pokedex journal, her new rivals, being gifted more pokemon- 

"An' then Hop dropped by to surprise me n' we went out ta find this honey for Urshifu," Gloria continued babbling along happily and a record scratch went off in your mind. 

"Wha- Wait, wait, wait. Stop." They looked at you and between holding your plate of food, pointed at her. "Hop was there?" Gloria nodded. "...How? I thought he was training with Sonia to become a Professor?"

Gloria turned to Hop who coughed and reached a hand up to rub his neck pink tinting his cheeks. "S-Sonia and I split up places to survey. And she opted for the cold and snow and all. The Isle of Armor was t-t-the only other option." You weren't totally believing that based off his bashful reaction but you'd let him have it. "I-It was great to see Glory again tho. I had lots of fun until we both caught a ride back here with Lee when he delivered some invites to some people on the island."

Gloria giggled and poked Hop playfully. "Ya shoulda seen this cute lil petilil grab a hold 'o 'em. Hehe. It was so cute! The wee babe wouldn't let go of him until we found it's mother." Hop quickly flushed a deeper red at her words.

"What were you doing on the Isle of Armor anyways?"

"Huh? OH! *ahem* I-I was taking some samples of different pokemon nector f-for Sonia," he explained with a stutter, "A-And some max mushrooms and m-max honey so w-we can study it's connections to dynamaxing."

"Oh." That certainly sounded like something Sonia would have him do. "You said you came back with Leon right? Where's he?"

He shook his head. "Dunno. He dropped us both off here a while ago and said to wait for Sonia and Kabu to arrive. Y'know since we're kinda studying under them and all that."

Ah. You supposed Leon was still preparing everything else that needed to be prepared before these special events happened. Made sense you supposed. In the mean time you were having fun eating the absolutely delicious food and listen to the three's adventures in the Crown Tundra and on the Isle of Armor. Victor was proud to show you his pictures of the ancient pokemon and Reggie-pokemon shrines and the giant tree he had discovered while there mentioning them to Leon who mentioned it to the Chairwoman and lo and behold...Victor had unintentionally saved the Town of Crown Tundra from dwindling away by giving the Chairwoman chances to set up tourist attractions for the locals to sell galarian twig crowns and sweaters. That's Victor for you. His determination for preserving nature one way or another came through again. Nessa was sure proud of her pupil's accomplishments. ...In fact..Both twins seemed to be fairing..MUCH better than before. Gloria didn't seem to be bothered all that much anymore by the thought of battling in front of a large crowd, and Victor seemed confident enough in his battling skills to give it a try himself. 

....But that also brought other questions.

You know Gloria trained under a Mr. Mustard who trained her up before she continued being trained under Kabu, so who helped Victor? Well you asked and he told you who it was. Nessa of course since she was training with him constantly since they got back, but there was someone else. A man who sent Victor on a couple fun adventures and helped him build confidence in himself through having fun like he never had before. Going on Dynamax Adventures in a place called the Max Lair-

"Hey! I know that place!," Hop piped up as soon as Victor mentioned it, "It's like a maze of underground tunnels under the tundra that's just chalk FULL of natural dynamax particles! Sonia was checking it out for the Chairwoman along with some other things. Sometimes you can find rare pokemon in there. They think it'll be a huge hit for the Special Guests we got over here...Whoever he is?"

Yeah. You were wondering that too. You knew there would be some special guests but you didn't know who. The time passed some more until FINALLY the man of the hour arrived. You were all sitting there as Champion Leon himself walked in through the door with an older woman beside him. A flurry of 'Leon!' left a couple peoples' mouths and your face lit up in a smile as he arrived.

"Leon! Where have you been?!"

"Sorry everyone," he apologized giving a guilty look and holding up his hand. "I uh...Kinda got lost on my way here. Luckily I ran into the Chairwoman on the way here. Speaking of which." He gestured to the woman next to him who you all know gazed at. She looked around Kabu's age with grey hair and wearing a blue business suit. She was smaller than Leon too, about Nessa's height. "Allow me to introduce Ms. Dahlia. The Chairwoman of Galar and the creator of the games that'll be taking place."

"Welcome Everyone," she greeted with a smile and nod. "I want to thank you all for coming and on such short notice. I'm well aware you all must be wondering what I had Leon call you all here for." She said gesturing to everyone. "Some information you were already given in your invitations such as the first event, but the more important bits I wanted to save until I was able to speak to you all face to face." She began gesturing with her hands. "As many of you are aware the Battle Tower will be taking place the day after tomorrow at Rose tower. The lucky gym leader in training that wins will have the honor of battling against the Champion himself at the top of the tower. That trainer and their three runner ups will also be allowed to perform along with others in the final grand tournament."

"Um..Yes. About that. Forgive me if sound a little rude here, but what exactly IS this whole second half is?," Bede asked raising a brow, "I believe we have the right to know considering we'll be a very important part of it I'm assuming."

The Chairwoman nodded. "Yes. You'd be right about that. That is the thing I wanted to discuss most. All of you are here to battle it out in the first ever Galarian Star Tournament for none other than Price Lear of the Pasio Region in hopes he'll chose some of Galar's finest trainers to compete in Pasio's own Master League and get a chance to take home the title of world's strongest pokemon trainer." By the surprised looks and raised brows she got, that certainly was a surprised. She held up her hands. "I know it must be a shock to receive such news so late, but I assure you I didn't plan this. Prince Lear will be arriving tomorrow morning if nothing goes wrong, and the day after will be the Battle Tower. And then at the end of the week, the Galarian Star Tournament shall take place with everyone here as well as a few honored guests that will fighting alongside you and afterwards They shall be arriving later this week closer to the second event. I expect all of you to be on your best behavior during Prince Lear's stay with us. For now you all are dismissed back to your rooms until then. Be sure to arrive at Rose Tower first thing in the morning. We'll have much to discuss then."

And that was it. More words were exchanged by the Chairwoman and Leon but most were words of encouragement before they departed again and you all were dismissed. With nothing further to do you all went back to your rooms for the night bidding everyone good bye. The first thing you did was faceplant face first into the soft bed when you got back inside. It was nice to lay on a bed for once instead of a sleeping bag. Now only if the image of Milo smiling didn't plague your heart for the night. 

-Small Time Skip-

The time had come.

Two days had gone past in a blink of an eye and by the second day you had woken up early because of the commotion going on outside your room forcing you to get up and get dressed before walking out the door only to nearly bump into Ms. Opal as she was passing your room towards the elevator along with everyone else. So you apologized before scooting to the side and following the crowd of gym leaders to the elevator, down to the lobby, out the front of the hotel, and out towards your rides there-..And you groaned. Flying taxies. Why was it ALWAYS flying taxies? There was at least somewhere between eight to ten of them. Enough to take everyone to Rose Tower. And you could BARELY hear over the noise. LOTS more people than there were yesterday. All cheering and holding up signs with different gym logos or peoples' faces on them all showing their support for their favorite gym leaders. You had to grab Silver and Mary carrying him in your arms in order to keep them from keeping trampled and ended up climbing into the last taxi before it could take off...Blinking when four people were already sat down inside. It looked a little cramped-

 "Y/n! Here. Ye can seat by me. There should be 'nough room if I scoot over some."

And that's how you ended up sitting between the taxi wall and Victor with Silver on your lap. Next to Victor's other side was Nessa and across from all three of you was Kabu and Gloria. Both twins with both their mentors with opposite elements but both fit the twins personalities. Gloria's fiery spirit and Victor flowing patience. Looked right they were already ready to do battle as well. Gloria wore an all red shirt with Kabu's logo on the front with the rest of her attire matching and the same with Victor wearing Nessa's gym logo and wearing a matching outfit of blue and white. And it was then that it hit you. Gloria and Victor were both gym leaders in training now. That by itself wasn't a bad thing but now..they were going to be battling against one another in the Battle Tower. Victor and Gloria had never battled against one another before not when you were with them and they must've realized at one point but neither of them seemed to give it much mind as the two siblings just sat there smiling and chatting away excited like nothing was wrong as you sat there frozen with Silver on your lap. The whole ride there wasn't anything special except when you all arrived and got out of the taxi there were more blockaids and police to control the cheering crowds and a reporter woman who was speaking to a camera pointed directly at all the gym leaders and Rose Tower itself. You stood there for a moment looking around before spotting the twins start to walk towards the Rose Tower and you went to start following them- Someone tapped your shoulder and with a jolt you snapped around to Kabu who shook his head. 

"Not there," he clarified to you raising his voice to let you hear you over the large crowd cheering and instead pointing towards other gym leaders and everyone else who was walking towards a different entrance into the building. "That is only for the children who'll be participating in this event. You and I must go that way."

"Oh..Ok! Thanks!"

The older man nodded before turning around and jogging off towards the other entrance and you followed still carrying a bored looking Silver. How was he able to keep up a pace like that so easily? Once inside you were greeted to the same lobby like room you first saw when storming Rose Tower to find Leon last year. Only this time chairs had been set up alongside a giant TV on the wall, obviously for everyone to watch the spectial and as you looked around you noticed something. There was an extremely fancy wooden chair away from the plastic ones almost as if it was a throne for someone important. That was odd. Was that for Leon? You had seen him and the Chairwoman greet everyone at the hotel before coming here so maybe. Silver had spotted something amiss and his pink hand collided with your cheek. Blinking you threw a scowl at the pokemon in your arms before he chirped and pointed over at something..Or should I say someone. A FEW someones in fact because you blinked at them. There was Leon and the Chairwoman...and three other NEW people that you had never seen before. But the two of them were smiling and introducing these three to everyone as they walked in and sat down. There were two bodyguard like people. A man and woman. The woman was about Nessa's height with dark purpel hair that was in a spiral pigtail haircut and purple-magenta eyes. She wore a giant pair of square sunglasses on her head, grey coat with very long sleeves, and red and black attire underneath. The man was much taller than both the woman and other shorter man in front of them with dark grey eyes. He wore a grey-white suit with a black undershirt and red tie, gold rings on his fingers, and a pair of black sunglasses sat upon his own head. But it was the third person in front of them that seemed the most important. He wore a suit similar to the first man but more fancy looking. Grey-white all the way from his shoes to the silk gloves he wore with a black undershirt and red tie. His grey-white coat had a black fur collar and red sunglasses were over his eyes so you couldn't tell what color they were but he did have grey-white hair matching his suit. He stood by Leon with his presumed bodyguards at his sides as the Champion smiled and introduced him to everyone. This stranger's expression neutral. Kabu bowed in front of him as you slowly walked in.

"It is an honor to be able to have you in Galar, Your Highness," the older man greeted with a deep bow.

"Very charmed," the man replied back in also a neutral tone. Neither happy or bored but it was enough to also not come off as rude either.

"I think that's everyone. The only ones you haven't met are the gym leaders successor's who'll you'll be able to watch from here." The man hummed at Leon's words. You slowly walked forward and Leon turned his friendly gaze to you, lit up, and waved his hand in a 'come here' motion. "Hey! Y/n! Right on time." The man next to Leon turned to you, did a double take, and raised his brows staring at the pokemon cradled in your arms like a child as you walked over. "Just the person I wanna see." Once you stopped right in front of him his hand gestured to the man beside him again. "I'm glad you can make it. Y/n, it's my pleasure to introduce you to his highness, Prince Lear. He's come all the way from the Pasio Region for the events." His smile became even wider. "He's also asked to meet you personally."

"He...did?" You stared at the new man in front of you blinking. So he was a prince huh? You remembered the Chairwoman mentioning a Prince Lear coming two days ago, and this man could certainly pass off for a prince easily even if he didn't wear a crown. But he asked to see YOU? Why? You didn't have any fancy titles like a Champion or Gym Leader or Chairwoman?

"Um..Well not exactly by name," Leon explained with a nervous smile, "He's heard about the heroes who averted Galar's crisis twice in a row and was interested to meet the people involved." 

Ah. Well that made more sense.

Prince Lear stared in your direction and even though you couldn't see his eyes, you could tell he was looking you over...before a smile finally graced his face. "I've...read the books. Your Professor Sonia took great detail in documenting your region's history."

You nodded. "Yeah. I haven't been able to read her books yet, but I have no doubt Sonia's books are as good as her science. But I didn't expect anyone not from Galar to read them."

The man chuckled amused smiling a bit wider now and both his bodyguards gave a look at each other behind him. "On the contrary. If I'm going to be choosing people from a region to compete in MY Master League's I must do my own research on top of meeting them in person to form my own opinions. Don't I? Your region's current troubles just happened to peek my interest."

You hummed thinking a moment before agreeing. "Well I guess so. I'd want to know about someone too before I invited them to anything."

"Hehe. My thinking exactly. ...Hm. You are Ms. Y/n L/n correct?" You nodded and that seemed to peek his interest more. "So you are the one I've read about. Hmhmhm. Saving the Champion and the rest of the region. Twice...That's not an easy feat." He complimented looking at his gloved hand.

"Well. Actually I didn't save Galar."

He paused. Before looking back up at you. "Oh?''

"I only witnessed it and watched from the sidelines." You shook your head. "I'm no hero. The real heroes are Hop and Victor and Gloria. And of course the pokemon who helped us. I just lent a hand where I could."

"Hmm...You know. Modesty is always beautiful on a woman." You blinked as with a swift motion of his hand, he grabbed your hand in his and lifted it to his mouth. "I look forward to seeing these events." And then you froze as he raised your hand to his mouth and like in some cheesy fairytale fantasy he kissed your knuckles gently.

A cold chill ran down your spine as you could feel everyone looking at you. Along with a tense gaze you could feel glare daggers into the back of your head from..someone but you weren't too sure. You were stuck in a bit of a shell shock as he lowered your hand..but you eventually did react. Chuckling nervously and giving a forced smile before gently pulling your hand back away and grabbing Silver as an excuse. 

"Well!..I'm glad you think so! It's always nice to get a compliment," you forced out to not be rude. Arceus forbid if you were rude right now but it'd be best if you kept your anger down for now. "I'm sure you'll really enjoy watching them."

Leon sensing your OBVIOUS distress gladly took the attention from you. "Hey. The battles about to begin. Y/n why don't you go take your seat next to Milo? He seems to have saved you a spot. Prince Lear, shall we?"

"Hm? Oh. Yes let's. I look forward to seeing how well your region's gym leader's train their successors."

Leon pointed his hand and steered Prince Lear towards the fancy seat off to the left which you took as your chance to scatter like a mouse being chased by a cat back towards the crowd of other who either had confused looks from what just happened or ignored it in favor of turning their attentions towards the TV. True to Leon's word, there was in fact an open seat between Milo and Hop and you found out where the glaring at the back of your head came from. Yep. Milo was staring at Least with a strained smile. You paused staring at him for a few minutes but Hop's waving for you to come here encouraged you to walk up to them and take your seat between the two. Hop spoke first seeing your sour face as soon as you turned away from the prince.

"You ok there, Mate?," he asked raising a brow, "Haven't seen that sore of a face since we last stopped those weirdo hair duo from wreckin' Galar as a whole."

"..Yyyeeaahh." You examined your hand for a moment wincing feeling that guy kiss it before rubbing the back of your hand against your jacket. "Just don't let me forget to wash my hands the first chance I can get."

You jumped feeling a hand grab your shoulder. Looking up you caught Milo giving you a rather serious look before he asked in a low voice, "Are you alright?" He asked softly genuinely concerned before sighing as you nodded. "Oh good. It's rude to just kiss someone like that without asking "

"Hey now. He is a prince. I'm sure they do it all the time," you said wanting to steer away from the topic and gestured towards the TV as it turned on. "But I think right now we oughtta pay attention to the telly. Wouldn't wanna miss Felix's big show."

That seemed to do the trick because Milo's attention was quickly turned to the TV too as the mention of his brother was announced. And Hop gave a fist pump.

"Alright! Now we get to see Glory and Vic in action! They're gonna mop the floors with the competition!"

You admitted you were excited to see Victor's style of fighting and seeing if it differed from Gloria's or not. Gloria had already proven she could be great in battles and use her head but would that hold up? She wasn't able to defeat Raihan on one and one battles. There wasn't any sandstorms to hide behind with him and as Gloria said it. He was too strong. That's when it had really hit you. While this world was like the game this WASN'T a game and was real life, so there was the real possibility of Gloria losing to someone like Raihan and she did. If she couldn't make it past the top gym leader on a fair field then there wasn't any way she could've bested Leon. And while it did surprise you and you were a little sad for Gloria, you were also relieved. That might've been the only reason you were still here now living your own life and with your friends.

"GOOD MORNING GALAR!" You were snapped back up hearing a reporters voice and face show up on screen. The woman with the microphone smiled as the image of Rose Tower appeared behind her. "This is Marcos Cosmos Newscast with Gillian coming to all you folks at home live in front of Rose Tower where the crowds have been waiting for hours to see who'll be victorious in Galar's first ever Battle Tower competition. A true testimony to how well Gym Leaders train the future generation of Galarian gym leaders. Each contestant will go three rounds and the best one will move onto the next round and next floor eventually reaching the top where the Unbeatable Champion Leon awaits." 

What? Leon wasn't- You blinked. Looking around you couldn't spot Leon anywhere in the room. Where was he? You yelped when a hand grabbed your shoulder and you looked up only to come face to face with Nessa. You sighed in relief suddenly seeing her standing above you.

"Arceus Nessa!," you hissed at her in a whisper Silver looking up at the both of you. "What'd you have to go and scare me for?"

"No time to explain!," she whispered back pointing at Silver with a VERY worried expression, "He can battle right? You have his pokeball on you?"

You were a little taken a back at the random question but answered taking Silver's pokeball out of your pocket to show her. "Yeah. He's been in battles before. Why?"

"Victor's short one pokemon and he needs six to rotate out. You don't happen to mind if we borrow him right?" You opened your mouth but before you could speak the pokeball and Silver were snatched into her arms without warning Silver giving a loud chirp of alarm. "Thanks Y/n! I owe you one! I promise I'll make it up to you later!''

"H-Hey wait! Nessa! I didn't-" The fashionista didn't stop as she soon disappeared with a squawking pokemon under her arms out the entrance leaving you sitting there staring.....

What just happened!?

"Will this be the day the Champion finally loses a match or will his record remain unbeatable? Only time will decide. Let's go right now live as the first battle takes place on Floor One on Camera One."

Time's up. The reporter disappeared from the screen and all fell silent as the camera showed a LARGE empty metal room except for one person inside. A man wearing a black and white referee outfit as he stood there. And then two doors from either side opened and two contestants walked in. 

"WELCOME LADIES AND GENTLEMEN TO THE FIRST ROUND BATTLE OF ROUND ONE OF GALAR'S FIRST EVER BATTLE TOWER EVENT!!," an announcer spoke from no where. Must've been a speaker. "THE FIRST BATTLE IS UNDERWAY WITH OUR FIRST TWO BATTLERS!!" You heard Raihan from somewhere to your right give a small cheer as Sebastian appeared on the scene. "THE FIRST MATCH WILL BE BETWEEN THE FIRE OF HAMMERLOCKE STADIUM SEBASTIAN AND THE FANTASTICAL BEDE OF THE BELLONLEA STADIUM!!" Hop gave a grumble as Bede also proudly made his way onto the battlegrounds. "WILL SPREAD THEIR WINGS TO REACH THE NEXT ROUND OR WILL BELLONLEA TURN THAT CHANCE INTO A JUST FAIRYTALE!? WE'RE ABOUT TO SEE!! BATTLERS!! TAKE YOUR PLACES ON THE COURSE!!" Both teens did. "POKEMON READY! GET SET!! LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!!"</p>

And just like that the first battle was underway. Sebastian must've improved from the last time you saw him because he easily one the first round against Bede to which both Raihan and Hop cheered at. Raihan using his rotomi phone to take plenty of pictures of his boy winning like a proud father. But unfortunately Sebastian didn't win as Bede completely sweeped through him during the second and final round. Marking him as the clear winner. 

"FINAL ROUND OVER!! BEDE HAS BESTED TWO OUT OF THREE!! THEREFORE BELLONLEA PROUDLY MOVES ON TO THE SECOND ROUND AND FLOOR!!"

Raihan groaned which turned into a sigh as he closed his eyes. "Ah well. Can't win them all I suppose."

"That's very sportsman like of you," Opal commented back at him making the Dragon Type Gym Leader chuckle and smile.

"Well I certainly hope so. I wouldn't want to come off as a Negative Nancy."

"SECOND MATCH IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!! PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES!!" And instantly Piers's attention reached a million percent as none other than Marnie and Gloria entered next through the doors.

"ALRIGHT GLORIA!," Hop shouted next to you becoming more excited. "This is gonna be great!"

You nodded. You were excited to see how this would play out. "SECOND FIRST ROUND MATCH IS BETWEEN THE BURNING COAL OF MOTOSTOKE GLORIA AND THE SPUNKY MARNIE OF SPIKEMUTH!!" Both girls taking their places on the field. "PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES ON THE COURSE! POKEMON AT THE READY! GET SET! BATTLE BEGIN!!"

It was a glorious battle. It always was with both Marnie and Gloria. First round Gloria won. Second round Marnie. Third round now. Piers tensed next to you. Pale hand gripping his pants leg. ....Gloria won. Cheers filled the air. A sigh left Piers's nose. Eyes closing. Head looking down. Poor Piers but Marnie did her best. That's what mattered most.

"GLORIA WINS THE SECOND MATCH AND WILL PROCEED TO THE SECOND ROUND AND FLOOR!! THIRD ROUND BATTLERS PLEASE GO ONTO THE FIELD!!" Two more teens walked onto the course and all three of Milo, Gordie, and Melony cheered as both Felix and Elsa made their way onto the fields. "HE HAS THE BEST GREEN THUMB INTRODUCING FELIX OF TURRFIELD AND HIS OPPONENT THE COLD HEARTED BRAWLER ELSA OF CIRCHESTOR AS THEY READY TO FIGHT FOR MATCH THREE!! BUT WILL TURRFIELD GROW TO THE NEXT ROUND BEFORE WINTER FREEZES IT'S ROOTS!? LET'S FIND OUT! BATTLERS TO YOUR PLACES!! GET SET! BATTLE BEGIN!!" All three cheered in front of you. Milo for his little brother and Melony and Gordie for their little sister/daughter. It was a tough battle but in the end Elsa won. "CIRCHESTOR ADVANCES TO THE SECOND FLOOR AND ROUND!! WE WILL BE TAKING A FIVE MINUTE BREAK FOR THE MAINTENANCE CREW TO FIX THE FIRST FLOOR AND READY THE SECOND! PLEASE STAND BY AS WE HAVE A WORD WITH OUR SPONSORS AND FIGURE OUT THE NEXT MATCH PAIRS!"

Poor Milo. he must've been looking forward to seeing his little brother advance forward but Felix did put up a good front against Elsa's Ice type pokemon. Which means that meant Elsa, Gloria, and Bede would be advancing to Round Two and since Victor didn't have anyone to battle with he got an automatic win to advance to Round Two as well. With three of the trainers out of the running that leaves four left. Nessa returned in the time you were speaking to Hop and Piers to pass the time until the second round was announced by the announcer on the TV and a new floor and referee was shown. 

"ALRIGHT FOLKS!! NEW ROUND AND NEW FLOOR ARE NOW HERE!! THE MATCHES HAVE BEEN DECIDED! LET'S GET THE FIRST MATCH OF ROUND TWO STARTED!" Here we go. You wondered which twin would be first or if either would go first. Or maybe neither? Both entrances opened and two made their way out. "THE FIRST MATCH BETWEEN BELLONLEA AND MOTOSTOKE IS ABOUT TO COMMENCE!! BATTLERS PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES!!" Gloria and Bede took their places. "GET SET!! LET THE BATTLE COMMENCE!!" 

Bede and Gloria huh? Not a bad start to a first match..But also with an unexpected twist. Gloria won first round. Bede second...and then Bede the third? It was just one slip up by Gloria. One mistake that allowed Bede's hatterene enough access to grab Gloria's raboot and proceed to literally rear itself and literally toss the poor rabbit pokemon right out of the in boundaries and crashing into one of the tower's walls just before it could late a critical and probably final blow to the hatterene's weak point. Making Bede the winner by a small inch. 

"BEDE'S HATTERENE HAS KNOCKED RABOOT OUT OF BOUNDS!! THEREFORE BEDE ADVANCES TO THE NEXT ROUND AND FLOOR! PLEASE STAND BY AS WE WAIT FOR THE NEXT MATCH TO BEGIN!"

"WHAT!?," Hop shouted hands rushing to grab his head which was followed by many looks thrown at him and shushes from the others.

"Hop. Don't be so loud," you whispered at him. Luckily Prince Lear didn't seem to notice Hop's outburst. "We have a guest here."

"I know but-.." he stared back at the screen where Gloria and Bede now excited the floor. "HOW could've she lost against him of all people?! Glory beat him every other time they battled and she trained under the very best! It doesn't make any sense."

"Well not everyone can win against every battle they fight," you explained, "You win some. You lose some. Even Gloria. I mean she lost to Raihan in the finals didn't she?"

"Not everyone loses. Leon doesn't."

"Didn't he lose to Eternatus?" Your brow rose. "I thought that was the entire reason of you two saving him."

Hop went silent for a moment before crossing his arms and mumbling. "I guess so."

You smiled. "See? It's not so bad. Besides you have to remember Bede's going to have to fight either Elsa or Victor in the next round anyways, so it's not like he's home free yet.''

That seemed to lift Hop's spirit's a bit because he nodded with a hum. "That's true. We'll have to wait and see."

Well you all didn't have to wait long because the entrances opened again and two others made their way onto the course. "THE SECOND MATCH OF ROUND TWO WILL NOW COMMENCE BETWEEN CIRCHESTER AND HULBURY!! PLEASE GET TO YOUR PLACES!! POKEMON AT THE READY!! BATTLE BEGIN!!" Round one. Elsa wins. Round two. Victor wins. Last round...Victor wins. And no sign of Silver being used which you were a bit concerned about. "ELSA'S GLACEON IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! THEREFORE HULBURY ADVANCES TO THE THIRD ROUND AND FLOOR! BUT ONLY ONE TRAINER WILL MAKE IT TO THE TOP FLOOR TO CHALLENGE THE CHAMPION HIMSELF! WHO WILL IT BE!? FIND OUT AFTER THE COMMERCIAL BREAK SO STAY TUNED!!"

"Yeah Victor!," Hop cheered throwing a hand out and a determined face smacked onto him now. "I knew he could do it! He's gonna wipe the floor with Bede's mop head."

"Hop!," you scowled at him, "I thought we agreed to stop calling him names. And you shouldn't count your poke eggs before they hatch. We don't know who's going to win yet."

"Yeah. But if Vic doesn't ground Bede into dust then Leon sure as Arceus will."

Well...He did have a point there. As a commercial for some kind of pokemon food product came on the TV you wondered what exactly Victor was thinking. Ten minutes passed in a blink of an eye faster than expected because the TV showed a new room with both Victor and Bede making their way onto the scene and stopping. Here we go.

"THIS IS IT FOLKS! ROUND THREE IS ON THE WAY!! THE WINNER SHALL GO ON TO CHALLENGE NONE OTHER THAN GALAR'S OWN UNBEATABLE CHAMPION! BUT WHO WILL TRIUMPH AND WHO WILL LOSE!? LET THE THIRD ROUND MATCH GET UNDERWAY!! TAKE YOUR PLACES!! POKEMON READY! GO!"

And then both sent out their pokemon of choice. Bede a rapidash and Victor a vaporeon. And it didn't take long for one of them to react as Victor pointed right at Bede and shouted a command. "Vaporeon! Quick attack now! And ready your shadow ball!" In an instant the vaporeon did as it's master said. With a small battle cry of it's own, darted forward at lightning speeds. The making of a black ball forming at it's mermaid like tail.

A huff came out of Bede as he shook his head. "Don't you know dark type moves aren't that effective on fairty types? Rapidash! Show them your power with psycho cut!" The horse pokemon let out high pitched whinny. It's whole body glowing a white light as it powered itself up for the move and thrusted it's head forward. Pointing it's horn at the approaching vaporeon. Slashes of that light cutting through the air towards it-

"USE SHADOW BALL ON THE GROUND NOW!!" With a back flip the vaporeon went head over heels, slamming the shadow ball into the ground and allowing the built up momentum to send it cascading through the air and right over the Rapidash's still lowered head. "AQUA TAIL!" A glowing blue light and wave swung forth. The powerful tail absolutely SLAMMING into the poor rapidash's head. A niegh of pain coming from the horse pokemon slammed head first into the floor...and that's where it stayed.

"RAPIDASH IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! VICTOR WINS FIRST MATCH OF ROUND THREE!" Bede's expression changed to one of amusement to shock to frustration as he returned his fallen rapidash. "SECOND ROUND IS UNDERWAY!! PLEASE READY YOUR NEXT POKEMON!!" The Vaporeon stayed as Bede brought a second pokemon out. "GET SET! BATTLE BEGIN!"

"HYDRO PUMP!" Victor was quick to strike first ordering the vaporeon to shoot the geyser of water from it's mouth and it did. Which the gardevoir gracefully dodged with a large jump allowing it to get closer to Victor's pokemon. "SHADOWBALL!!"

"Gardevoir use teleport!" Just as the vaporeon shot out the shadowball the gardevoir disappeared. Only to appear in a blink of an eye behind the water type a little bit aways from it. "Psyshock!" Gardevoir obeyed. Splaying it's arms out circles of bright pink-white light before the same light circles appeared around the vaporeon and darts of lights shot down out it. Causing it to shriek as the light darts made contact with it's body. "Finish it off with shadowball!" It held it hands in front of it's chest as a black ball of energy formed, before as quickly as a scorbunny could run, the gardevior reared it's arms back like a baseball pitcher and threw it. The shadowball cascaded right through the air and exploded on contact. Smoke flew into the air as the explosion started to die down and everyone waited with baited breath as it slowly faded away. And their the vaporeon laid fainted against the ground.

"VAPOREON IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE BATTLE!! BEDE WINS THE SECOND MATCH OF ROUND TWO! PLEASE READY YOUR POKEMON FOR THE FINAL MATCH!!" Both pokemon were retracted and next to you Hop for Victor to win under his breath as both readied their final pokemon for the last match of Round Three. Both brought out their final pokeballs. "GET SET! GO!"

Both finally sent out their final pokemon and your eyes widened when you you saw none other than Silver being sent out by Victor along with Bede's Hatterene. The drizzlie giving a shake of his head and looking around confused- Before giving a squeak of fear at seeing the much larger hatterene staring right at him.

"Hatterene use calm mind!" The hatterene gave off a cry as light surrounded it and in a moment disappeared. That couldn't be good. Bede gave Victor a proud smile as the other twin pointed at him.

"Silver! Water pulse quick!" Quickly regaining his composure, Silver produced a water balloon looking thing from no where and sent the water pulse cascading towards the Hatterene who...didn't move? Bede didn't even make an attempt to order his pokemon as the attack collided with it- And then bounced off right back towards Silver The drizzlie gave a high pitched sound before diving right onto his stomach to avoid the attack that had been magically rebounded at him.

"That's Magic bounce!," Hop said in disbelief next to you. "It sends an enemy's attack right back at them! How'd he teach his hatterene to do that?!"

"Hatterne bedazzle your audience with dark pulse!"

"Silver! Dodge it and get close to that hatterene!"

You could only watch in terror and worry as Silver basically looked like he was tripping on banana peels running around the battle field with a terrified expression ducking and diving away from the calm hatterene's attacks barely dodging Bede's commanded attacks. Anytime Silver was able to get an attack in it was rebounded out back at him and just giving him another thing to dodge from but he did slowly start getting closer towards the hatterene. Your hands clenched feeling the dread and worry in your guts seeing your poor pokemon put through that. Until one well placed dark pulse by Bede sealed the poor pokemon's fate. With a shriek Silver went cascading through the air along with a terrible ripping sound which was the result of his little hoodie tearing right down the front and ruining it as he landed with a hard thud sound right in front of the hatterene. You nearly let out a shriek yourself. Silver wasn't even given time to recover when something grabbed him in an iron grip and lifted his struggling form into the air. 

"Give him a few slams onto the ground!," Bede ordered. And what Bede wanted he got. Over and over and over Silver was slammed into the hard metal ground with enough force to leave behind some dents before it finally brought a dazed and limp Silver up to it's face. The tatters of his jacket falling onto the ground. "Not surprising since you don't have much Pink! Stand by with psychic to finish them off!"

Time seemed to slow down for a moment as Silver's eyes blinked open. Watching as the tatters of the once nice jacket slowly fall to the ground like forgotten leaves in autumn. The poor blue fabric scraps hitting the ground and leaving no more trace of it- No more trace of YOU with him had him staring wide eyed at the ground from the hatterene's grip. He hurt. He was scared. And he was alone right now. Like how he first felt back when he was just a sobble. He certainly fell like crying in that moment but then something happened. Something snapped in him and the hatterene was certainly surprised when the once scared drizzile in it's gripped reared it's head up and yelled at it's face.

"SILVER USE POUND!" 

The hatterene was forced to drop the limp drizzile as a hard sucker punch was delivered directly to it's face via Silver's tongue and with another thud Silver landed on the ground-..And then his once limp body shimmered as if the starlight itself emanated from his own body and he glowed. Brighter and brighter and brighter he became until his body changed and morphed. The hatterene watching in shock and horror as the lit up body grew even taller than itself until the starlight disappeared and a very, very, VERY tall Inteleon stood in it's place above it. Gold eyes staring dangerously down at itself and the hatterene let out some frightened noise instantly leaning back away from this dangerously smiling pokemon.

"Our turn now! Silver let's give these two a piece o' their own medicine!" The hatterene shrieked as a whip like tail snatched it up from the bottom of it's body. 

"HATTERENE!!" Bede could only watch in horror as his beloved hatterene was given the same treatment it gave Silver as the now Inteleon slammed it over and over and OVER into the metal floor with such ANGER and furosity that it made the purple eyed boy stare on in horror. 

"GIVE IT A TOSS!!" A crack of a whip sound went off as Silver with one twist of his body let lose the hatterene and sent it flying into the air with a high pitched shriek of it's own. It's eyes wide in fear as it went around in circles head over heels- "SNIPE SHOT!!" Like a sniper aiming his weapon, Silver held up his hands in a similar way and a stream of a deadly water attack shot out. Not missing it's target and landing with expert skill colliding with the hatterene who gave one last cry of pain before it landed on the ground with a hard thud. ...And didn't get back up.

"HATTERENE IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE BATTLE!! VICTOR WINS THE THIRD ROUND AND SHALL PROCEED ONWARDS TO CHALLENGE THE CHAMPION!!"

"YES!!" You were spooked out your jaw dropped stupor and blinked when Hop jumped up throwing both hands into the air. "HE DID IT!! VICTOR'S GOING TO CHALLENGE LEON!!"

Silver...evolved! You let out a breath you didn't know you were keeping in your mouth as you sighed and continued staring at the Tv. Bede had already returned his hatterene and seemed upset as Victor cheered himself. But it was the actions of Silver that had your eyes staring at the screen. White hands of the knelt shiny inteleon gingerly picked up some of the few remaining tatters of the jacket before standing up. The gold eyes inspecting the remains of the fabric before closing his eyes. A sigh escaping his nose before he turned up a smile towards the cameras for whatever reason. Thank ARCEUS he was alright.

"STAY TUNED FOLKS AS WE TAKE A SMALL BREAK BEFORE THE FINALLY WHERE THE LUCKY TRAINER WILL GO ON TO BATTLE THE CHAMPION HIMSELF! WILL THERE BE A NEW VICTORY AGAINST LEON OR WILL HIS UNBEATABLE REPUTATION STAND STRONG?! ALL OF THAT RIGHT AFTER THE BREAK!!"

Hop wasn't the only one celebrating. Nessa looked rather pleased at the results and even received a congrats from Opal which was nice. Bede did his best. The wait was awful. Just sitting there watching commercial after commercial after commercial. Until the stage was finally set and it was announced that the last round was underway. The top floor of Rose Tower was shown on screen with the one and only Leon standing there. Silently waiting for his special opponent to arrive. And he didn't have to wait long. The door opened and Victor arrived. Walking in through the entrance way. His breath was heaving and sweat ran down his forehead. His hands felt sweating and the grip on the pokeball in his hand tightened. Each step echoed through the entire place until he stopped.

Leon smiled. "Victor! I've been waiting for you. Always knew you'd be able to win your way here." Nothing but a smile and praise was given to Victor and it helped to relax him. "Nervous?"

"Is it obvious?," Victor asked back rubbing his hand on his face.

"Hey. It's alright to be nervous. I was too when I first faced off against the Champion."

"Y-Yeah. But.." Victor looked down. "I guess I wasn't ever expectin' ta actually ever fight against ye is all. It feels so...w-weird. I-If that makes sense. I always thought it'd be Glory who'd be standin' 'ere to face ye."

"She is a strong fighter and she came really far in the gym challenge," leon agreed with a nod, "But so are you. Anyone who was able to make it this far deserves where you stand now. I'm proud of you."

"Y-You are?"

"I'm not the only one either. Nessa. Gloria. Hop. Your mom. ..We all are." And for a moment his eyes closed with a sigh. "My dream has always been to make the people of the Galar Region stronger. And this battle tower is making that dream come true! Think you and I can get stronger too?" His eyes opened back up. "A fierce battle is the only way to do it! Now how about you take on Champion Leon with everything that you've got?"

After a moment Victor took a breath and finding new courage nodded. "I-I'm not gonna hold back!"

"Hehe. I wouldn't have it any other way. Now come on! Let's show everyone an absolute Champion time!"

And thus the battle began. Everyone watching with cheers or silent stares or worried looks with baited breath. You were one of those ones with baited breath especially when you saw Silver get released back out against Leon ...and get knocked to the floor only seconds later with a heavy thud in defeat. 

"INTELEON IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!! THE WINNER OF THE BATTLE TOWER IS THE UNBEATABLE CHAMPION LEON!"

So that was it huh? It was all over. Leon won. Not that no one didn't expect that possibility after all. This was Leon. You didn't look away from the screen as Silver was returned to his pokeball and Leon walked across the room to most likely congratulate Victor and steer him back towards the exit.

"All right, Lee!" Hop cheered next to you. "They were so cool!"

You nodded to not be rude but you were more worried about Silver right now so you stood up to go see him. Seemed you werent the only one who had the idea because Prince Lear also stood up. 

"Your display pleased me today," he spoke back in that neutral voice, "If this is what I can expect later is week as well then I have much to look forward too." He turned his head towards the Chairwoman. "I think I would like to speak with the Champion now. Is that possible?"

Ms. Dahlia nodded. "Of course. I'm sure everyone else is itching to go and take a break as well." She then nodded towards everyone. "Everyone is dismissed until this Saturday. Please excuse us." You watched as the Chairwoman left with the prince and his bodyguards right behind him.

You did look behind you as Milo stood up though along with the others. "Heading to see Felix?" He nodded with a hum. "Think I'll head that way too. I want to see Silver again."

You both filed out with everyone and went around towards the front of the tower ignoring the cheering crowds..Except for Raihan who hammed it up winking and waving and flashing that smirk of his. The show off. Ironically it seemed the others had the same idea as you guys because you ran right into Victor and Gloria as they came around the corner. Victor looked exhausted from the day's events and Gloria was excitedly congratulating him which Hop soon joined in and Victor could only tiredly smile at the rapid fire of talking the two spouted at him. Which was added to by Nessa who gave him a pat on the back and you received Silver's pokeball from him. Sighing in relief as he was safely back in your hands again. Now what? Well everyone who battled in pokemon was going to head over to the nearest pokemon center before either returning to the hotel or somewhere else. You also decided to tag along to the pokemon center in order to have Silver looked over and ended up sharing a taxi over there with Kabu, Gloria, and Hop. The trip there being nothing special other than both Hop and Gloria chatting excitedly about the day's events.

"Hey! Lee's taking me to Wyndon's research center tomorrow! Y-You can come along too if you want?"

To your surprise Gloria actually shook her head no. "Can't. I promised Bede I'd hang out with him after we were done."

Hop froze. And you counted down to his reaction. Three. Two- "WHAT!?"

She smiled excitedly. "YEAH! We're goin' ta this theater and watchin' the Tale of Two Queens! It's the story o' how the ancient kinds supposedly fell in love! And get this! He says we can ride his rapidash there too! I'm so excited ta see the beauty up close that isn't in battle."

...Hop plastered on a grin. "Hey. That's...grrreeeaat, Glory. Real, real happy for ya! But..Maybe we can go around Wyndon tomorrow? Just like old times!"

Her face could not get anymore happier. "I'd love too! We can visit that cafe Lee took us too last year!"

Well. Guess the game was on between those two again. Once you all had arrived and filed out it was also nothing special. There were also a few other people there including Victor and Bede who Hop sent a dirty look but Bede only smiled oh so innocently back at him. From there it was easy. In. Let Nurse Joy look over your pokemon. She healed them all up and recommended to let them rest for a day or two with plenty of food and water. Out. And you smiled at the pokeball in your hand. You'd let him out as soon as you were back outside. But that was where the problems began. As you were getting Silver looked over Bede had walked outside with Gloria chatting away, probably to go hang out like they had planned after the battle. You were planning on walking around for a little bit until you could find someplace to eat with Silver, but something nearly startled you into dropping the pokeball. A shriek. A high pitched (and for some reason familiar sounding) shriek passed through the air just outside the center, and even though it was muffled, everyone inside turned their heads towards the door hearing it. Despite being startled at first you headed towards the exit real quick and threw open the door. What you saw on the other side was something you weren't expecting. At all.

IT WAS OLEANA!!

Or at least the remnants of her. She stood towering over Bede and Gloria who both stood there staring up wide eyed and horrified at her as she shrieked at Bede.

"YOU DARE TURN YOUR BACK ON CHAIRMAN ROSE AFTER EVERYTHING HE'S DONE FOR YOU!! YOU COULD'VE BEEN SITTING COMFY ON THAT CHAMPION STATUS IN A BETTER SOCIETY IF YOU HADN'T LET YOUR EMOTIONS TAKE OFF!!," she shouted between incoherent babbling and rambles pointing her finger at Bede accusingly. 

Oleana!? But-..Why?! HOW!? What was she doing here!? Wasn't she in hiding after that whole incident with Eternatus last year!? In your stupor you stared at the woman still rambling before shaking your head. That didn't matter right now. If she was here then that only meant trouble. And trouble there was. In the middle of her rant her finger actually poked Bede and he reacted instantly. By flinching and making himself (and Gloria) take a step back purple eyes shrinking more in fear. And you saw red. No one saw it coming let alone Oleana. As something suddenly grabbed her extended arm and with a yank over she went. Colliding with a wall away from the two scared teens and other hand placed itself firmly against her other shoulder. Dazed she quickly shook her head and GLARED at you but any bite she might've thrown at you was shoved aside from your response. You were ANGRY. You were TIRED. And you were going to finally give her a piece of your mind!

"SHUT UP!!" Your bellow echoed across the street and into the air demanding silence especially from the woman you kept away from Bede. "Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP! For Arceus sakes just shut up already! Do you ever just be quiet instead of yelling!?" You were getting very hard Pearl vibes from last year which only added to your anger. Oleana was VERY much a karen as well."You absolutely dumb excuse of a walk in closet!! I'm getting real tired of people like you trying to make my life and others lives a living heck to deal with!! And you happened to catch me in a bad mood." Your face pushed itself closer to her and she stared unsure as if this never happened to her before. Which probably hadn't. "Maybe if you didn't wear those stupid shoes you'd be able to pull your head out of the clouds and realize that you're not big, bad, or in charge anymore. AND YOU'RE REALLY TICKING ME OFF!" She made a squeaky gasp noise as you increased your grip on her. She was NOT going to get away. "Maybe your big head makes you think you're fat enough to throw your weight around and can get away with stuff, but you couldn't even get away with swatting a bug now!" Your scowl hardened. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM BEDE!! YOU HEAR ME!? ...LOOK AT ME!!" Her once eyes glancing around for an exit looked back at you from your second bellow. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM HIM!! YOU DON'T LOOK AT HIM! YOU DON'T TALK TO HIM! AND YOU DON'T TOUCH HIM! YOU HEAR ME!? HE'S BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH BECAUSE OF YOU!! AND SO HELP ME IF YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN I'LL SEARCH GALAR UNTIL I FIND YOU AND THEN I'LL DRAG YOU KICKING AND SCREAMING TO THE NEAREST PRISON MYSELF AND MAKE SURE OF IT!!"

Silence. Cold. Dead. Silence. No one spoke. No one made a move. And you didn't loosen your grip or move your gaze away from Oleana silent wide eyed stare. That is. Until something touched your shoulder. You instantly snapped over your shoulder and you blinked at the confusing sight of a pink and mint green umbrella on your shoulder. 

"Well I certainly couldn't have put that in better words myself," an eerily voice said and when you looked behind you your eyes widened. Standing there with her umbrella to your shoulder. Behind her Bede was peeking out wide eyed at you and beside him was Gloria looking calmer and less afraid also glaring at Oleana. "Come now. Let's put her down. I believe she's learnt her lesson." You didn't move at first still surprise but then the tip of the umbrella poked your shoulder a couple times. "We're not getting any younger, Young Lady. Put her down." She spoke in an almost grandmotherly voice. That tone your grandma would use as a warning before you got into trouble.

You looked back to Oleana as she stared back at you. Scowled hard...And let go. Oleana slid down the wall until she sat on the ground. Until you jolted again before whirling around and meeting the eyes of..Milo? With Felix behind him. Oh..Guess they were also part of the group that came here to get their pokemon checked also.

"I was wondering what was taking you children so long but this seems to answer that question." Opal gazed at Olena before humming and turning her gaze to Bede who blinked at her. "Go on now. Take your friend and go wait in the taxi, Dear. I do so love a good performance and I'm not planning on missing this one." Bede didn't even get a chance to answer before she then turned her gaze to Milo. "Why don't you go grab dear Kabu to watch over her before the authorties arrive? Hm? And take your ladyfriend here to go calm her mind." She tilted her head to you as you still scowled at Oleana from Milo's grip. "It would do her good to calm down."

Milo nodded and instantly began to coax you away from Oleana and used his stronger strength begin to pull away from her and the crowd watching. However unknownst to all of you there were some other people watching. A special someone especially with red sunglasses.

"I am so sorry you had to see that, Your Highness. I promise it's not like that all the time. The woman. Oleana. Has been a troublemaker for quite sometime."

"Hm..No need. On the contrary." A smile spread across someone's face as they watched Milo scoot you away. "I find modest and strong women, very alluring."

[cinnamoonsworld]

A Harsh Meal [Fatgum x chubby fem!reader]

Hi everyone! Before continuing the Aizawa's ff, I wanted to give myself a short story about another pro hero I love so much, Fatgum. What is written comes from my personal experiences and from people I know very well, and I hope everyone in life will find a person like Fatgum in their life <3

Happy reading, see you next week for the new chapters of "Two Worlds Collide"!

You can also find me on Ao3!

Words: 2,666

Trigger Warnings: eating disorders, eventual smut

--------------------------------

You and Taishiro have been together for several years. You met during an attack by a villain who had begun to destroy everything that happened to him without any reason, and you were among the civilians that Fatgum had saved. Unlike all the other people, Fatgum was impressed with your smile when you thanked him for protecting you and all the other people.

For days he had dreamed of your smile and your (Y/E/C) eyes, until he saw you one night while he was on patrol and you were lowering the shutter of a store. He took note of the place and its location, and the next morning he showed up inside your little bakery. He was almost breathless to see you in your work uniform, which included a pastel apron and a dress with a wide 50s skirt.

From that day on, Taishiro began to come into the shop every day and you began to become, as time went on, more and more intimate. Sometimes he would come there with two shoulders of his own, Tamaki and Kirishima, and he would never fail to list the whole menu by heart and say how good everything was. You started to make sweets just for him, inspired by his character.

One day he did not come to see you. Initially you did not worry, thinking that he would pass later in the day. When you closed, you went to his agency to ask if anything happened to Fatgum. His secretary informed you that he had been hospitalized following a raid that he and other heroes had carried out that morning.

You got the name of the hospital, and you went straight to the bakery to make her favorite cupcakes, the Oreo's one. You were upset that Taishiro was in a hospital bed alone, without you beside him to lift his spirits.

You rushed to the hospital with a box full of cupcakes. You went to a nurse and showed her the tide of candy you were carrying, and she took you to her room. They were all desperate, because it was from the moment he arrived that all he did was asking for food and that he never stopped being hungry.

"At least, if he asks to eat, it means he’s fine!" You thought feeling a little more relieved.

The nurse let you in the room, and on the bed there was a thin, tall, blond boy who was watching TV and laughing.

You looked at him in a daze, thinking the nurse had taken you to the wrong room.

As Taishiro saw you, his face lit up and he jumped out of bed to hug you. Your doubts passed when you saw him smile: even if he was thinner, that was Fatgum. He almost cried when you showed him the box of cupcakes at the Oreo, and made you promise that at least a couple of them would be saved for Suneater and Red Riot, who were also there.

You went to see him every day with something different to eat, and the nurses were extremely grateful because he was literally draining their kitchen supplies. The longer the days went by, the more he was returning to his giant teddy bear form with which you had known him.

On the last day of recovery, you noticed he was extremely agitated. You were afraid he wasn’t feeling well, and you were going to call the nurse when he came between you and the door and kissed you. It was a long, sweet and exciting kiss. Detaching himself, he looked into your eyes with an expression of pure panic. He was afraid you’d laugh at him or, worse still, that he’d disgust you with his gesture. Instead, surprisingly, you embroider that kiss without hesitation.

From that moment on, you and Taishiro started dating first and then, noticing that it worked and you were both taken by each other, you decided to officially get together. At least three years passed before they decided to move in together. You were both very happy, you were looking forward to cooking for your boyfriend and he was looking forward to coming home to eat what you had prepared for him and to spend time with you. You filled him with food and attention, while he did everything to see you always happy.

Everything was going great until you started having problems with your body. By now you knew that Taishiro, when he used too much strength, dried up and became a sweet and very high muscular boy. He hated being like that, couldn’t work and felt very vulnerable. Needless to say, in that form, it attracted the attention of many girls who were flirting with him shamelessly. It also happened while you were together somewhere, and many times you had heard these girls tell Taishiro to let you lose, because an Adonis like him did not make a good impression to be seen around with "someone like you".

You had never been thin, and you knew it very well. For you your body had never been a problem, and you always liked it the way you are. Taishiro, then, saw you as the representation of a Goddess descended to earth, he found you perfect in everything and everything. He always pointed it out to you, even when you were making love. You were perfect in everything and for everything to him, and he never failed to let you know even with small gestures. Whatever you was wearing, from a tracksuit to a fancy dress, you made him lose his mind.

You began to spend more and more time in front of the mirror, touching your belly or your thighs and finding more and more imperfections. It started out as a few minutes a day until it became an hour or more, and on the worst days you stared in the mirror until you cried because you felt ugly and shapeless. Fat, cellulite or stretch marks: you hated yourself, and you couldn’t find something of yourself that would change your mind.

Even Taishiro had noticed that something was wrong, and he began to notice it when, gradually, you started to eat less and less.

One of the things that made Taishiro one of the happiest men on earth was to share food with you, and he was alarmed to see that you were offering him your leftovers from dinner even though you had eaten only three mouthfuls of what was on the plate.

You started to wear clothes that were getting wider and wider so you could hide your shapes. You were convinced that when you left the house, everyone looked at you and commented on your body. You could feel people’s judgmental looks on you, even though they weren’t even looking at you. When you and Taishiro were out, you were always trying to get as little food as possible. You didn’t want people to judge you for what was on your plate.

Since you started eating less and less, you were always getting tired and in a bad mood. You stopped talking to Taishiro about what was going on at work or what was going on in your head, and sometimes you felt so weak that you didn’t even have the strength to cook. For Taishiro there was no problem, he was more than happy to take away to spend more time with you, but you barely ate something and went to sleep with the excuse that at work had been a hard day and that you wanted to rest.

Finally, you began to think of the worst thing: that Taishiro was only with you because you prepared food for him and that in reality he only felt disgust for you. This little thought slowly began to creep into your head until it became a recurring judgment. You started to really meditate that you were only convenient for food, and you were sure he would run off with a girl much prettier and thinner than you as soon as he had the chance.

Even at work these thoughts did not leave you, and the situation worsened when, a few buildings from your bakery, opened a gym. Every day, in front of the windows, it was a parade of women, young and not, in brilliant physical form and with nothing out of place. They were so happy, so skinny...everything you weren’t, and they’d rub it in your face every single day.

You also stopped eating, and drank only water. Taishiro was increasingly alarmed, you were turning into something that wasn’t you. You started fighting more and more about the food issue, he wanted you to eat but you told him that you were fine and that you had already eaten something at work and so there was no need to stress about these things. He just wanted to help you whatever was going on with you, but you had built a wall between you two.

You didn’t want him to touch you anymore, you thought he was ashamed to go around with you, with a "shapeless being". He deserved a better person, a girl much prettier than you, and that made him look better when they called him to the charity nights.

You were so short of energy, you had trouble getting out of bed. One day, in particular, it seemed to you that even breathing was an inhuman effort. You went to the store early like every morning to start baking. As usual, your mood was under your shoes, and the fight you had the night before with Taishiro certainly didn’t help. The walk you took from your apartment seemed like a mountain hike, even though it was only two blocks away.

You had time to turn on the lab lights that you collapsed suddenly.

Around lunchtime, Taishiro became seriously concerned. Even if you fought a lot, when he wrote to you, you always answered, even if in a cold tone. You didn’t even see the messages that morning, and you didn’t post anything on any social media.

Driven by anxiety, in the early afternoon he went to your shop where he found the half-shutters lowered. When he tried to call you, he clearly heard your phone ring go off, but no one answered. He was getting more and more agitated.

Luckily, when you moved in together, you gave Fatgum a copy of the keys to your club and the lab door in case of need. The lab door was looking at a dead end, and he came in through it.

He had a heart attack when he found you lying on the ground and very pale. He immediately called an ambulance and they rushed you to the hospital. Taishiro was in the waiting room waiting for some news of yours. He was so agitated that he had not touched food and the feeling of hunger, for the first time in his life, had disappeared.

After several hours, finally, they called him inside to talk to the doctor who was taking care of you, and the diagnosis shocked the hero: malnutrition. You were passed out because you hadn’t eaten anything for who knows how long, and in your stomach they had found no trace of food, only water. You pushed your body so far, you couldn’t take it anymore.

The doctor took Taishiro to your room, and his heart stopped again to see you attached to all those tubes so that you could ingest some nutrient so that your body would not collapse again. He sat down next to you, fondling your hand lovingly. He didn’t understand how all this could have happened, and he was afraid of losing you forever.

He fell asleep next to you, and woke up in the middle of the night when he felt a familiar sensation of a kiss on his forehead. He immediately opened his eyes and almost wept with joy at seeing you awake.

"Cupcake..." He whispered with clear eyes. "You don’t know how happy I am to see you awake..."

"Tai..." you answered with a nervous stomach. "I’m sorry...I didn’t want it to end this way..."

"What happened to you, my love?" asked the blond.

You could barely hold back your tears after that question.

"I hate myself." You finally answered without being able to hold back the crying. "I hate myself Taishiro. I’m horrible, I’m fat. Anything about me disgusts me, and I don’t know how you can be with a freak like me. Those girls are right, Tai. You deserve someone better than me, not someone who makes you look bad."

While you were sobbing, Fatgum was really sad and angry at what you thought of yourself. Of all the things he thought about your behavior change, he never imagined it would be something that would make you suffer so much that you would go so far as to refuse food. He didn’t think even remotely that some girls' comments could hurt you so deeply, and he felt terrible that he had always downplayed it and had always just not listened to them. But not you, you listened to them all too well.

"My sweet cupcake." Tai said, wiping tears from your eyes. "Do you remember the first time I kissed you? I felt terribly stupid. I was afraid you’d turn me down because of my looks. I know perfectly well that I am not perfect, and that when I am in my low-form I am very ashamed...and yet you accepted me as I am. You never let me weigh my physical form, both thin and fat..."

"You’re such a wonderful person that I never cared about your body, my teddy bear." You spoke with a slight smile trying to stop crying.

"And the same goes for you, too, (Y/N)." Fatgum said with a kiss on your forehead. "I love you for who you are and for what you give me every day, your little gestures and how you make me feel happy every day. And I don’t care if you’re skinny or fat, I would love you in all forms of this world."

You felt very relieved to hear those words, and at that moment you realized how much unnecessary harm you had done just because your head was telling you. You embraced each other in silence, a silence full of love and meaning.

In the days of your hospitalization, Taishiro came to see you every day and had literally camped in the hospital. When he had a free moment he would come to spend with you and every night, after having left work, he would rush into your hospital room because it was the part of the day that made him exalt like a child in front of a toy store: Having dinner with you while you told each other what happened to you during the day. You started eating again and God, how you missed the taste of food and talk to Tai. You almost forgot about this feeling of happiness, and you almost cried with joy when you ate together. He wouldn’t even go home to sleep, he’d sit next to you in a chair and watch TV together until you fell asleep on each other’s shoulder.

The day you were discharged, when you returned home, all the colleagues from Fatgum’s agency were waiting for you. They too were very concerned about you, and seeing you smiling and strong again made them very happy. They filled you with flowers and gifts, and when the party was over, when everybody left, you and Tai made love, and you didn’t care if the neighborhood heard you or not. You finally came back, and you had to celebrate. He kissed you from head to toe, to show how much love and veneration he felt for every inch of your being, whispering sweet words to you until, exhausted, you fell asleep hugging each other.

It was nice to be back.

[shaineybainey]

“Noble Intentions”

Lab Rats [T]

The Lab Rats and Mighty Med teams face off with the greatest threat to humanity yet: The Incapacitator, a supervillain bent on becoming the most powerful in the planet. …Which makes things super awkward for Leo, considering that their newest nemesis is his father. AU. Lab Rats vs Mighty Med redux.

** DISCLAIMER: SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMER **

tagging: @vcnting @clockradio93 @breanadaveport-mendel @lettersandwhiteroses @serpent-princess @verified-dumbass @weareoutofmaplesyrupdave @aaaaahhhhh1234

IV: Disaster Med

Kaz flinches when Chase’s laser bo staff slams against Gray Granite’s staff. The superheroes are currently locked on a heated battle against the bionic trio, and while he knows this could result into someone getting hurt, he doesn’t feel inclined to clear out the misunderstanding that started it.

“We should tell them, Kaz,” Oliver says worriedly as they watch behind a pillar. “What if someone gets hurt?”

Leave it to his best friend to know exactly what he’s thinking of not doing. “Dude. Do you—”

They’re both knocked off their feet as Adam’s blast wave missed Tecton and hits their hiding place instead. Stars dance in front of his eyes as his left arm, exposed from the pillar, feels like it had been run over by a truck three times over.

He groans, struggling up to his feet. “You want to get in the middle of that?” he asks Oliver quietly as he pulls him up his feet.

Oliver says nothing, only winces as he retreats even more to safety.

They startle when Gamma Girl crashes against Tecton after Bree tackled her. The two superheroes are left dazed while the bionic teenager uses her free time to help Adam with Gray Granite.

Kaz grins. This is definitely a lot better than going to any comic book store in Amsterdam.

– Ϟ –

Leo knows he’s come just a tad bit too late. Running towards the quarters, he could hear his stepfather screaming as blasts boom at a regular rate inside. When he finally arrives, he sees he’s right: the place is a mess, his stepfather is on the floor looking up in fear at the superpowered trespasser, and The Incapacitator holds close the container bearing the energy transponder.

He frowns. He knows he really should be worried about other, more important things, but - has his father’s suit gotten tighter or is he just imagining things?

Noting his presence, Donald looks his way. “No,” he says fearfully, especially when The Incapacitator looks his way, too. “No. Leo, get out of here!”

Leo doesn’t move. He only stares at the supervillain defiantly. “Incapacitator,” he says neutrally – a greeting of sorts.

“The Incapacitator.”

He almost rolls his eyes. “Are we gonna be hung up on that ‘the’ the whole day, or…?”

The Incapacitator only chuckles.

He’s suddenly reminded of the fact that he lied to him. “Why are you here?” he says as he stares him in the eye.

“Mr. Davenport tells me that the only way to open this box is by getting past this retina scan,” The Incapacitator says. He sits the container on top of the overturned coffee table and grins superciliously. “I can’t decide: should I take an impression of his eye, or should I just take the whole eyeball out?”

“Please don’t.”

“Leo, don’t,” Donald orders, stopping him from coming any closer. “He’s not bionic. You can’t escape this like you escaped Marcus or Krane.”

Leo’s jaw locks then unlocks as he looks at his stepfather then his father. He was able to escape from Marcus due to a series of good opportunities that opened up and some quick thinking.

Krane, he didn’t escape.

The Incapacitator killed him.

He could see from his dad’s eyes that there’s no stopping him. From what he can piece together, he knows the energy transponder is necessary for whatever new plan he has. So, hating himself for what he has to suggest, he asks in resign, “If I open it for you, can you promise not to do any of those things?”

“It depends. Some people, I just can’t stand these days. I don’t know if I can promise.”

I don’t think you know how to promise either, Leo thinks bitterly as he makes a move towards the weapons case.

“No, Leo!” Donald stops him. “We can’t just give it to him. He’s going to drain the whole world of power. He can’t have it!”

Leo hesitates. It’s not his father’s first world domination plan, but it sounds a lot deadlier than the other ones.

The Incapacitator charges up energy in his right hand. “Tick tock,” he softly presses.

Leo glares at him. He said he would never put him in a spot where he had to choose between doing the right thing and making a decision as his son. “I feel like you’re breaking something here,” he says in disappointment.

The grin on The Incapacitator’s face remains, but a small spark of recognition has gone off in his eyes.

However, it doesn’t stay long. An idea comes to mind, and a new, wolfish grin comes up to his face. He constructs a lasso of green energy then throws it.

It wraps around Leo’s torso all too quickly and all too tightly.  “What are you doing? Let me go!” he screams, struggling against it as he’s lifted up in the air.

“Please! Stop!” Donald asks, horrified.

“What about it, Mr. Davenport?” the supervillain says. “The energy transponder or the boy?”

“Big D, don’t!”

“I can take energy from other things around me, or I can take energy from him.”

When Donald hesitates, The Incapacitator pulls Leo closer until he’s hovering just above them.

Then Leo feels it, the energy lasso closing in tighter around him. It presses his arms against his body, the growing pressure squeezing out his breath slowly. His heart panics like a spooked bird in a cage.

Doubt suffocates him even more. His father is not going to kill him, right? He loves him, right?

“Okay, okay!” he hears his stepfather yell as dizziness has begun setting in. “I’ll open it. Just – just let go of my son.”

As the restraints eases and the sudden rush of oxygen makes his head swim, he sees an outline of movement towards the container. He’s slowly let down on the ground. Once the scanner emits a beep, the energy lasso vanishes altogether.

His stepfather crawls towards him. “Are you okay?” he asks.

Leo nods.

They watch helplessly as The Incapacitator holds the invention up as a test. Lights flicker and technology crackle all around the quarters as the transponder draws power. It keeps taking, taking, taking – siphoning too much power into the wrong hands.

Once he’s satisfied, The Incapacitator powers off the transponder and smirks at the device.

It’s then that they hear a rush from the hall. Not a moment later, the room fills with the very people Leo both wished he would and would never see. “Don’t move, Incapacitator,” orders Tecton.

“You’re too late, Tecton,” the supervillain says. “I already have what I need to make you and the entire world bow down at my feet.”

He draws a super charge of energy and encases Tecton, Gamma Girl, and Gray Granite within a sphere before they can act. With the powerful superheroes imprisoned, he sends them out through the roof.

Spackle and debris spray around them. As destruction lies all around, Leo realizes that for the second time in his life, he’s truly afraid of the darkness his father holds inside.

“That’s it,” Chase says, furious. “I got us into this mess. I’m going to get us out.”

“No! Chase,” he tells his brother, staggering up to his feet. “He’s too powerful!”

Fueled by a sense of duty, Chase activates the laser bo staff. Then, he comes at the supervillain.

The more experienced of the two, The Incapacitator blocks the attack easily. He overloads the bo staff with energy to anchor Chase in place.

Chase freezes, the surge of electricity locking him to vulnerability.

With this advantage, The Incapacitator charges a deathly blast of energy to finish him.

“No!” Leo screams. When the supervillain looks at him, he shakes his head pleadingly. “Please. Please not my brother.”

The Incapacitator considers it a moment. Then, he sets off an energy blast similar to Adam’s, knocking Chase out and knocking the others off their feet. “Nice doing business with you, Mr. Davenport,” he says, smiling at the inventor.

Donald only glares at him.

It surprises Leo when he grabs him by the arm. As he looks into his eyes - wearing that suit, knowing to what extent he’d go just to get what he wants, and seeing just how little he valued the lives of others, he realizes then that he doesn’t want to be like his father.

He doesn’t want to be a villain.

Before he could shake his hold, though, a surge of energy hits him. It overwhelms his brain for a long, agonizing second.

Then, everything fades to black.

– Ϟ –

“Leo!” Bree screams as The Incapacitator takes her little brother on his shoulder.

“Let him go!” Adam demands.

“You got the transponder already,” Donald says. “Let him go!”

The Incapacitator smirks. “I spared your kid,” he says. “This is only fair.”

“No!”

A neon green cloud swallows the supervillain and the teenager, and in a moment they are gone.

Bree feels as if her heart has fallen into a hole. She’s shaking with nervousness and adrenaline. Prompted by instinct, she staggers to her feet then comes to Chase’s side.

She checks his vitals, hoping for a beat, a breath, anything.

She sighs of relief when she feels a pulse. She tries to wake him, but to no avail. “Chase,” she persists, “you have to wake up.”

“Mr. Davenport…” Adam looks to their father as he sits beside her, the same look of urgency and loss on his face.

“He must have fried his whole infrastructure,” Donald says, rising to his feet. He shakes his head. “I don’t have the equipment here to fix it.”

“Chase…”

“Well, we can’t just let him die,” Adam protests.

��You don’t have to,” Oliver, now back up to his feet like Kaz, says. “Mighty Med. We have the equipment there. It’s a superhero hospital, and Kaz and I are doctors. We can help.”

Donald thinks it over a moment before nodding. “Okay. Adam, Bree, go with them. Make sure that Chase is okay,” he says. Then, to Oliver and Kaz he asks, “Please. Save my son.”

“We will,” Kaz says.

At that moment, Tecton flies into the room. He helps Gray Granite to the ground and asks, “Where’s Incapacitator?”

“Gone. He took the transponder with him,” Oliver reports. “Worse yet, he took their younger brother as hostage.”

“Hiding behind a child, huh?” Gamma Girl asks as she lands beside Gray Granite. The anger hidden under her unaffected expression is searing. “He must be desperate. He’s changed his MO.”

“I don’t like this,” says Tecton. “We need to find that kid.”

“I’ll call my brother and have him assist me,” Donald chimes in. “We can locate him faster if we have two sides searching. For the meantime…”

Oliver nods, taking out the wormhole transporter from his pocket. “We’ll do our best to get Chase back to you in good health.”

Donald nods appreciatively.

“Okay. Kaz? Everyone, hold on,” Oliver instructs.

Bree’s heart races as she holds onto Chase and Adam. They’ve dealt with many nightmares and many near-deaths before, but she doesn’t think she’ll ever get used to them.

What gets to her this time is the uncertainty of where Leo is and what’s going to happen to him. Is he hurt? Will he be okay? Will he be able to come home?

Her chest aches as she realizes that she couldn’t even protect her little brothers.

“Bree.” Adam nods. “It’ll be okay.”

As the five of them vanish into a wormhole, Bree wonders if it really will be.