Chapter Text
Fairy 6.18: Island Time
Genesis
July 16, 2020
It’s almost over.
Cuicatl and Lyra completed their eighth trials. Just waiting on the grand trial and then maybe the elite four. Then… you don’t know. Cuicatl doesn’t know. Lyra probably does but isn’t telling. Now there’s a small break before the true, official, final end. The two challengers are probably going to spend most of it training. And you… have nothing to do. Just figure things out.
Well, there is one thing you would like to do. Two things, even, and they can be done at the same time!
You don’t really need a fifth pokémon. Most people would be thinking of downsizing about now. And you will ask your team members if they want to stay and rehome them if they don’t. Obviously. But you kind of want another friend. And more options. More security. A dragon, probably, because you should have one if you’re dating a dragon translator. Problem is, most dragons eat meat. You’re trying to avoid that. Especially if you really don’t need more pokémon. But! There’s a dragon that just eats sunlight! And with Cuicatl clearing her last trial she can visit their home. So can you. And if one of the tree dragons wants to come along you can take one with you.
First, though, the meeting with your team.
*
“So, um, hi? Team meeting time.”
Noci floats behind you, translating everything telepathically.
Sir Bubbles is sitting down and fiddling with a rock in his hands. Ferny is loafing beside him, leaf swishing from side to side. Oliver is swimming in the seawater at the edge of the floating platform. Only his head sticks above the surface. Count Cloudy just floats above them all, staring intently at you.
“First thing, does anyone want to go? The journey’s sort of over. I know Lyra’s been talking about downsizing her team when she beats Hapu. Want to know if any of you want to go. Totally fine.”
Your pokémon look between each other. Ultimately none speak up. Good. Cool.
“Anyone need anything? If I can get it, I’ll try.”
Ferny stretches out his front paws before settling back down. “More petting. A scratching post.”
“I can give you more pets!” He smells kind of weird and it sticks to your hand. Or bed if you let him in. So you aren’t together as often as Cuicatl and Pixie are. You’ll have to compensate. “I can definitely get something to scratch? Probably not a post. Still traveling.”
For now.
“Ponds!” Bubbles bellows. “Big ponds!” You look around and see a few pedestrians staring at him. One family are obviously tourists in their flower-print shirts and khaki shorts. Most of the people out and about just seem to live here. Normal clothes, a slightly more hurried pace, not stopping to stare at the buildings or the oceans. You try to apologize to them for Sir Bubbles—he’s gotten very loud after evolution—but that would require talking to strangers, admitting you did something wrong, being judged and. You mouth “sorry” and turn back to the team. That’s all you can do.
“Uh. I don’t know where we’re going next. Hopefully there will be ponds?”
Cuicatl’s conference is at the Battle Tower. You’re not going to walk there. Safer to teleport or fly in. After that? The grand trial. Then wherever she decides to train for the Elite Four. If she decides. She isn’t really sure.
“I would like a pond, too,” Oliver says.
Great. Ponds. Something you can’t control. They don’t want it enough to leave (now) but it could be a problem in the future.
“I’ll keep it in mind. Cloudy? You want anything?”
He keeps staring at you but doesn’t respond.
You thought Cuicatl was being oddly rude about him not having much going on upstairs. You’re starting to see her point.
“Next order of business, possible new team member. An exeggutor. A tree dragon. Doesn’t really eat anything so you’re safe.”
“Friends!” Cloudy finally says with a whisper of wind.
“Okay!” You wait for him to say something else. He does not. “Do the rest of you have any problems with it? I can get something else.”
“Will it claim my pond?!” Bubbles asks. You get more rude looks. You try to ignore them.
“No. They don’t live in ponds.”
He bellows in triumph and you cringe. Really should have gone somewhere else for this.
“Sometimes people hurt when they don’t need to eat. Just because they want to,” Oliver says far more quietly than usual. “Are they mean?”
“I don’t think so. Not from what I’ve read.” You’ll have to ask Cuicatl. Maybe Lyra.
He nods.
“Ferny?”
“It would be nice to have someone to bask with.”
Then it’s settled, then. You can go ahead.
*
You find yourself thinking about the future on your walk back. Ponds. Scratching posts. Settling down. If you’ll ever be able to settle down. Cuicatl says that she’s going to stay in Alola. Probably with Olivia. You don’t know if Olivia would let you stay with her. Probably not. She’s busy and, like, maybe she expects you to have your own money or something. You should get your own money. You’re not in school, won’t be traveling. That’s when people are supposed to get jobs. You’d need it to pay for your own rent. (How much is rent?) Jobs. What kinds of places are hiring a teenage high school dropout with no skills?
One.
The mantine place offered you a job. But, uh, you can’t remember the name of the person who offered you one. They probably don’t remember you at all. Honestly, you’re not even sure that happened. You can’t remember Cuicatl being there which means the memory was altered and now you can’t trust any of it. For all you know you were actually just eating drugs and feeling really good and the seller offered you a job.
You stop walking, take a deep breath, and try to steady your body and mind. They really did a number on you. It’s. You try not to think about it. Try not to remember. Your parents hurt you. They could do it again. Could do it to Exodus or Levi and there’s nothing you could do to stop them. Maybe Cuicatl could.
You hated that Lyra thought about asking Cuicatl to risk her life to fight your parents for you. It’s not something you could ask yourself. There’s nothing you can do about it. Just hope that they don’t do it to your siblings and stick to Cuicatl’s side so they can’t do it to you again.
Nothing to do. Best not to think about it.
*
Lyra could have gone to the island with you and Cuicatl but stayed back to give you space.
That’s good. Really good. You like having proper dates alone with your girlfriend. Haven’t been able to do that in ages. Problem with traveling with two other people is that you’re always with two other people.
She leans into you as the boat accelerates. Spray whips into your face. Your hair is tied back but Cuicatl’s whips around wildly in the wind. She admitted that she could tie it, and it would at least stay out of her mouth, but that she likes the feel of the wind. You wrap an arm around her and pull her close. You like the wind, too, even as it brings drops of seawater into your face. Yeah. The mantine memory was probably real. Here with your girlfriend beside you, the wind above, and the waves below? This is the happiest you’ve been in a long time.
{I like this,} Cuicatl echoes. {I never thought anyone would want to do this with me.}
Your smile falters. That’s such crap. You don’t know why she hasn’t been asked out, like, ten times before you. But you also don’t want her thinking she could do better and moving on and leaving you alone at your parent’s mercy and—
It casts a cloud on your bright, sunny day.
*
The island has a little rainforest deeper in and higher up. Where you’re at, though, it’s an open forest with moving trees. Without the exeggutor it would probably just be a big field. Cuicatl is holding your arm as you walk away from the dock. Noci floats near her while Ferny trots at your side. Cloudy has sparks zipping around his body under the summer sun. It’s not that bad, yet. It’s still morning. Give it time.
The island’s really interesting now but you’d prefer not stay past lunch. Or at least be in the forest shade in the afternoon.
Your eyes move between the massive exeggutor. Which one do you ask? How do you even begin to pick? Ferny was adopted, Bubbles was the first thing you caught, Cloudy was the only castform you found, Oliver was given to you. You’ve never really had a choice between members of the same species.
“How do you pick?” you ask Cuicatl. She’s probably good at this stuff. “There are dozens of them.”
“You aren’t looking for a battler, right?”
“I would like it if they could protect me.”
“They’re dragons. They can all do that. Meant that you’re not looking for a competitive fighter.”
“Oh. Not really, no.”
“Then just try talking? You’ll probably be doing that more than fighting.”
Talking. Right. You can do that. With people. Sometimes.
“How do you talk to dragons?”
She rolls her eyes. They’re way clearer than you remember. Even clearer than when you met again after… everything. You can actually see the eyes behind the fog. They’re brown. You were kind of expecting them to be green like her hair. Thought they were for a long time before you actually made eye contact and remembered what you saw. “Tell me when we get closer.”
There’s a bit of an uphill walk from the dock. It’s nothing after the canyon. Hardest part is slowing down for Cuicatl. She’s shorter than you which means shorter legs and shorter strides. She also doesn’t like being dragged around quickly. Cuicatl doesn’t really run. Away from things or towards them.
(Her calves are still really toned despite that. You guess months of walking will do that for a girl.)
You stop about thirty feet away from the first exeggutor. They stretch on even further than you thought. Maybe half of the island is living forest. Well, all forests are living. This one moves.
“Wish you could see this,” you tell her. Maybe that’s mean. But you do wish she could. She misses out on a lot of things. It’s not fair. “Have you ever thought about getting it fixed? Like, you don’t have to, obviously, you’re perfect, but—”
“Stop.” You’re pretty sure she’s blushing. Her cheeks are just a little darker and you’re pretty sure it’s not from the dark sunscreen Shirona bought her so she’d actually wear it. Not that she can see it. Just something she’s sensitive about for no real reason. “They couldn’t. My eyes work. My brain doesn’t.”
She pauses. You realize where she’s going.
“I’d need another psychic to mess with my brain. I don’t want it enough to risk it. Not sure I even want it at all.”
“That makes sense.” You could talk about why she wouldn’t want to be fixed but it’s not really important if it can’t be done.
“We close enough?”
“Probably?” Maybe 100 feet away from two of them. A lot are looking at you. Humans on the island means potential hunters or something. They don’t look threatening. Even though they’re tall. Even though they’re dragons. Cuicatl talked down a tyrantrum. You’re safe if she’s here.
Maybe. Hopefully. The dragonite was, well, she wasn’t right there. You had to do the talking and you messed it up.
“Flat ground?”
“Yeah. Why does it matter?”
“They don’t like walking on slopes.”
Makes sense. They’d probably fall over.
“Okay, uh, how are we doing this?”
“Just have Ferny step forward and make a challenge.”
He flicks his leaf and walks without your order. That’s fine. If he can understand why would you repeat it? You’re just glad he agreed to fight. Cuicatl says that dragons almost always want battles with potential trainers and Ferny’s pretty strong. At least, stronger than Cloudy. Oliver and Bubbles are water-types so they’re out.
One of the largest exeggutor starts to walk towards you. Oh no. He’s, like, fifty feet tall. You aren’t sure Ferny can deal with that. And you just have to sit in that nervousness for a long time as he slowly walks over. His legs aren’t any longer than yours. He doesn’t take full strides. Definitely won’t be able to go on a walk with one.
{What happens if we lose?}
{The challenger won’t be interested. Ferny could get hurt. Just surrendering without a fight will lose you all respect. None will want to go with you.}
Oh.
“You sure you can do this, Ferny?” you whisper.
He glances back at you for less than a second before redirecting his attention to the advancing opponent. Not worried, then.
“He knows synthesis, right? He’ll be fine.”
If they’re both sure.
You just don’t like the idea of battles much. Why would you want to see your friends get hurt? You could kind of ignore it before but after being hurt yourself… no.
The exeggutor stops moving maybe twenty feet away. And all of the trees are watching now. Great. Uh. Time to do this? “Quick attack.”
Ferny darts in between the exeggutor’s legs in less than a second. He barely has time to react before Ferny’s slashing his leaf into bark. The dragon groans and lifts up his tail.
“Dodge it!”
The tail slams down and Ferny ducks out of the way. It still comes way too close.
“Double edge.”
He turns around, unphased by the missed attack, and tackles the exeggutor’s lower body with all his might. The dragon rocks back and forth but. Um. He doesn’t fall over. Or even seem too hurt. The air around him ripples in the sunlight. You don’t know what that is, but it probably isn’t good.
“Get away!”
He does. Ferny moves a lot faster than the tree, even without quick attack. You keep a nervous eye on him but an attack never comes. The light just forms a pink barrier close to his skin. That’s a. Light screen? Reflect? Magic coat? Mirror coat? You remember watching a lot of battles on TV in middle school even though you didn’t really like them. Can’t remember why. Probably Lyra. You learned a few things but not very much. And Cuicatl can’t tell you what it is because she can’t see it…
Bad. It’s probably bad. Shouldn’t have let him set it up for free.
“Magical leaf.”
Keep distance. That’s good if the shield is close range, right?
Ferny stomps and leaves rise up from the ground and begin to spin, wreathed in a mystical red glow. The dragon shakes his head and leaves fall down or form in midair before pointing towards Ferny like an array of daggers.
They look really sharp for leaves.
“Fire and get away!”
Ferny does. His leaves slam into the dragon and are barely noticed. When the counterattack comes it’s like a barrage of guided missiles. Ferny tries to dodge, weaves under and beside one pair of leaves, but others come and dig in. He stops to scream and that just gives time for more hits to land. By the end he’s leaking sap and blood. Still standing, but legs spread wide. You’ve never seen him pant so hard.
“Do you want to be withdrawn.”
He swishes his leaf from side to side, no, before standing taller and growling. It’s personal now.
The shield seems to protect the exeggutor from ranged attacks. You’ll need to get closer.
“Quick attack into double edge.”
Ferny rushes into a tackle and slams into the exeggutor’s leg. He reels back, raises up a leg, and stomps. Your leafeon stumbles. He stomps again, surprisingly quick, and Ferny falls down. Not into the legs. They’re thick. And there’s a lot above them. Would he be crushed? You don’t find out. The dragon steps forward, swings back his tail, and knocks it into Ferny with full force as he starts to get up. He flies twenty feet and lands in a crumpled heap.
You fumble for his pokéball but he looks up at you and swishes his leaf. No. His body starts to glow with photosynthetic light and he lowers his head to the ground. The exeggutor ambles away.
“What happened?” Cuicatl asks. Right. Blind.
“Ferny lost. He’s healing. I, um, I’m not getting an exeggutor, am I?”
Cuicatl slowly shakes her head. “Probably not. But they’re exeggutor, not hydreigon. Maybe…”
She cups her hands in front of her mouth and shouts. “Hey! She doesn’t battle much. Just wants someone to travel with her.”
“Will that work?” you ask.
“Probably not.”
At least she’s honest. You look back out at the trees. A lot of them seem startled. Why? Because Cuicatl could shout?
{Because they understood me.}
Oh. More interested in her than you. Which makes sense! She can speak to dragons. And do psychic things. For pokémon she’s way cooler. To people, too. You’ve never really tried to be “cool.” Friendly. Nice. Smart enough. Pretty without being a slu*t. That’s what you do. Who you are.
One of the exeggutor is walking over. Slowly. From almost the other side of the island. You should probably meet them halfway.
“Come on.” You gently pull on the arm Cuicatl’s holding. “One wants to talk.”
You start moving before you remember Ferny in the grass. You look at him and open your mouth to ask a question. He just waves towards the exeggutor with his leaf before settling back down to heal. You’re pretty sure that’s permission to leave him behind. It doesn’t feel right to leave him alone and injured, though. You send out Oliver and ask him to watch the fox. He agrees with a small salute and plops down nearby. Good boy.
It takes a few minutes to reach the tree. The island is big and Cuicatl is slow. The exeggutor is still moving towards you but his steps aren’t big and he waits a few seconds between them. He’s one of the smallest you can see. Young? Or just short like Cuicatl?
She flicks a finger against your arm in protest.
“You are short, though.”
Cuicatl doesn’t answer.
“I think it’s cute.”
“Hmph.”
“Good cuddle size.”
“Fine.”
The dragon stops about two hundred feet away from you. The two of you close the rest.
“Hi!” You wave. He doesn’t understand you. Right. “I’m Genesis. My friend’s going to be translating.”
She repeats it. In Galarian. Well, probably Nahua. But it sounds like it to you and thinking too much about that makes your brain hurt. You were expecting her to make her dragon noises.
Its noises are surprisingly high-pitched. Closer to chirps than roars or groans or whatever you were expecting. And they come from the head high above you. Extra weird.
“He’s named after a constellation. I don’t know what they call them in America. It’s the pantherma.”
“I don’t think we have one of those.”
“Can you look up what… Tezcalipoca is here?” She says the name in a whisper. Like she’s afraid.
You don’t know how to spell it. Eventually autocorrect gets close enough. It’s a bear in the West. You can kind of see why they thought it was a pantherma, though. Names… Ursa Major isn’t good for a pokémon. Callisto? You can work with that. Even if it’s kind of a girl’s name.
“Callisto. Good to meet you.”
“Humans call the stars ‘Callisto.’”
He chirps.
{He’s interested. Polite, but not suggesting anything himself.}
Right. So it’s on you.
“I’m looking for another pokémon. I don’t really fight. Might travel for a bit. I’d try to get you everything you need, but you’d have to stay close by.”
“Off the island?”
Obviously? Do any humans live on the island? “Yes.”
“Good.”
He wants to leave, then? Weird. Or maybe he doesn’t like other exeggutor. “Why do you want to leave?”
“The island doesn’t get bigger. There are no more of us on the mainland. Some have to leave for new shoots to grow. I am one of the weakest. It is right that I go so others may thrive.”
Cuicatl translates it and then scoffs. “That a common view here?”
The exeggutor chirps.
“There are other species who would fight to the death not to leave their home. And you’re just walking away by yourself? No one’s forcing you?”
Another chirp.
“You’ll have to talk to my vulpix soon. She would find this fascinating.”
“Right. Uh. Do you want to say goodbye to anyone? Do anything for the last time? We’ll be here for a while.”
He pauses. Looks around. Turns a little. Then makes a long trill, lower in pitch than the chirps. A few exeggutor in the distance respond in kind. Then he turns back around and looks at you expectantly. Is that it? Really? That’s… sad. Really sad. There were so many things you wish you could’ve done in Heahea before getting kicked out. And he’s just walking away with one goodbye.
“Um. We’ll come back for you later. Promise. Just going to be on top of the hill. You can have more time.”
He chirps. Doesn’t move. Even when you walk away. Even when you lose track of which one of the swaying trees he is.
“Is that, uh, normal for dragons?” you finally ask.
“No. Well, maybe? Maybe he lost a territory battle and they made him leave at the first chance. Or maybe the exeggutor are just weird. We’ll figure it out soon enough.”
“Right.” You keep walking through the (stationary) forest, up towards the top of the island’s hill for the best view. For you. Cuicatl doesn’t seem to mind. “You were talking to him in human. Not dragon. Why?”
She lowers her head and looks away. Shame? Is she ashamed of you? Embarrassed by something?
“The dragons have asked me not to do that.”
“Which dragons?” The dragonite? Coco’s mother? The totem? The dragalge? Three of them seemed like assholes.
“A few. And it makes sense. They’re dragons. Being a dragon is being strong. Unbeatable. Invincible. No one can take your things or make you do anything. And.” She takes a deep, shaky breath. It sounds like she’s just holding back tears. You wish her hair was away from her face so you could get a better idea of what was going on. “I’m not a dragon. That’s f-fine. I’m a failure by dragon standards. And human. And…”
Her hand slides off your arm and she slowly lowers herself to the ground in silence. Not crying. Not yelling. Just sitting and being eerily still.
sh*t.
You should know how to deal with this. You know why she would want that. Being untouchable. People keep hurting her and she just wants them to stop. You get that. More than you would like.
The least you can do is sit next to her and try to think of something to say. It takes a while. You get distracted by the birds. They’re so loud here. This is one of Alola’s last original forests. No humans around but you and Cuicatl. The perfect place to do a hill-uh-three or a cu-por-ee or a poo-tee-weet. They don’t know or care about what the humans beneath them are going through.
“My dad thought you were impressive.”
She looks towards you. What you can see of her face looks confused. And puffy. You ignore that.
“When, uh, everything was about to happen, the psychic asked if he wanted my preferences changed. My dad said no. Thought that you were a good partner. Or would have been if one of us was a boy. I know he’s kind of a…” You don’t know. The weak words aren’t accurate and the strong ones aren’t things you want to say about your own family. “Yeah. But he thought highly of you.”
“Huh.” She sounds bad. Raspy. Weak. So unlike herself. “I don’t know how to feel about that.”
Come to think of it, they’d said something else around then that you’d kind of forgotten with everything that happened after. “They also thought I was autistic. I’ve never really been tested. How would that even work? Like, is there a psychic involved? Could you diagnose me?”
She shifts in place before slowly tilting over until it looks like she’s going to fall. She does. Just collapses all at once with her head in your lap. Oh. That was planned. You tentatively reach out a hand to run through her hair. She leans into it.
“I don’t know. Your thoughts feel a little different but I don’t know what that means. You’d have to talk to Lila. They do mind systems and stuff like that. I just do language.”
Cuicatl shifts around so she’s lying on her back. With a quick shake of her head she gets most of her hair off her face. Then she lifts up an arm so that it’s resting on your shoulder. “Or.” She smiles. Her eyes are still red but she smiles and moves her hand so it’s on your cheek. “You could go to f*cking therapy.”
What.
“I haven’t pushed it. But it’s helping me. Even helping Pixie. You’ve been through a lot, and now there’s this, and I’m not a professional. I can’t even help myself. You should talk to an actual therapist. Please.”
“I don’t want anyone in my head.” Not a psychic. Not even someone like Mrs. Rivers, telling you what to think and how to act and who to be.
You feel Cuicatl’s mind press on yours. It’s not painful. Just a touch. A reminder she’s there.
“I don’t want anyone but you in my head,” you correct yourself.
“Please?” she begs. “For me? I could even go with you for a session or two.”
“I can’t afford it.”
“I can.”
You know she hates spending money. For someone with six figures in the bank she’s really frugal.
“I’d spend it for you.”
“I need to get a job. Not just for this.” It’s deflection. She knows it’s deflection. You hope she’ll let it go.
Her hand lowers back down to her chest.
“Okay.”
Well. You got her mind off the other thing. Even if you’re not comfortable with where it ended up. Emotionally. Physically? Yeah. You’re very comfortable with where this ended up.
*
Callisto hasn’t moved by the time you get back. He seems relieved that you returned. Did he think you were going to abandon him? Why? You’re the one who wanted his company.
*
You go to the library to look up information on jobs. You want quiet that your room can’t give you and a bigger screen to search on. The Seafolk Library is small and homey. Just one big room with some shelves and a few computers. The walls and shelves are gorgeous stained wood. A canoe hangs from the ceiling. It’s a nice place. You wouldn’t mind spending more time here. And a computer is all that you need today.
It turns out there are a lot of mantine surfing companies in Alola. Well, five, but you have no idea which one offered you a job. Does it matter? They probably don’t remember it, anyway. The other ones will probably want some proof of skill, though, and you don’t think you were very good at it. Just enjoyed doing it. Is that really all they want?
Flipping between the five websites you don’t know how you’re supposed to figure out which one to apply for. All of them? What if multiple offer you a job? Then how do you pick? Do you just have to accept the first offer? What if it’s the wrong one? No one really told you how this works before. It was kind of assumed that… well, you don’t know what was assumed. Your mother doesn’t really work. She has her gardens and charities. Your aunt does. Something? You aren’t sure what she does. Point is, no one really expected you to get a real job. You weren’t told that outright but you were also never really taught to expect otherwise. If you did get a job it probably would have been at Gracidea and you wouldn’t have had to apply.
You groan in frustration. Is there a guide to this? Someone you can talk to?
As if on cue, someone takes the seat next to you.
Lyra. In one of her city outfits. Black skirt, striped black-and-white top, all of it tight to her skin. Immaculate makeup and a sapphire necklace. Her hair is slicked back and almost sparkles, even in the indoor lighting. You’ve got more to work with if you wanted to be a slu*t but Lyra knows how to use everything she has to its fullest.
“Like what you see?” she flirts. Quietly. You’re still in a library.
“Stop using the perfume,” you hiss.
“I’m not.” Her smile gets wider and she winks. “Glad to hear you like the look, though. Definitely a keeper.”
She’s… not? Fine. Cuicatl has said she doesn’t consider this cheating on her. This is… fine. Just a few more weeks and you’re done with her. Probably.
“I’m job searching.”
“Cuicatl told me something like that. She didn’t know how to help you. I mean, can you imagine that girl working an office job? Chafing against her adorable little suit, trapped in her drab cubicle, and calling someone about, I don’t know, insurance?”
You snort and quickly cover your face. Library.
“Exactly. She’s who you go to for questions about giant monsters. Human life? I can do that.”
“Thought you wanted to go to the wilderness?”
She shrugs. “Didn’t grow up there. I’ve learned to adapt to the world I had to live in. You? Never did. I admire you for it. Purer than anyone in our position should be.”
You don’t know how to respond to that. You don’t feel very pure, now, right after having bad thoughts.
“Now, you figured out the options you’re looking at?”
“Yes. I pulled up some websites…”
She has to look over your shoulder as you scroll through them. You can feel her presence. Smell her shampoo. She’s using something sharper than usual at the moment. Unnatural, but not unpleasant. It’s a relief when she steps away.
“Okay. The problem with four of those companies is that they’re small. Not part of a giant conglomerate. The problem with the last is that I think Gracidea might own it. I’d have to check their corporate structure again. f*ckers have their hands in everything here.”
Father never mentioned owning a surfing company. But you know Gracidea sells a lot of things. Everything from spider silk to luxury hotels and clothing to alcohol to armed guards. Why wouldn’t they own a few mantine?
“Not that one, then.”
“Obviously. But the others have their problems, too. It would be easy enough for your father to just buy any small business you wanted to work for. If he’s already in the industry he can just say it’s consolidation and no one will bat an eye.”
That’s. You hadn’t even considered—
“Of course, it’s an open question if he wants to. The militaries of the world don’t care what he does at home but the whole scandal has been bad for consumer-facing business. He might just want to put it behind him. Not do anything that risks prolonging the news cycle.”
“He sued the cops.”
“Kind of had to.” You raise an eyebrow. “If he says he’s innocent, then he has to say that INTERPOL lied. So he has to sue them to save face. They’ll probably settle without much money changing hands once the public has moved on.”
Right. It was never going to be easy to escape him. Not unless he wants to. Even if you aren’t physically locked in your room anymore, there are still walls around you.
“Want my advice? Leave the country. Or at least the commonwealth. Go with your girlfriend to Japan, figure things out there. Shirona’s smart. She’ll find a way to make things work.”
“I… don’t think Cuicatl’s going to Japan with Shirona.”
“What?!” The librarian gives Lyra a heated glare and the girl sheepishly, silently apologizes. “I’m sorry, why the f*ck isn’t she taking her golden ticket to a better life?”
“I…” This is the hardest part. You look down at your hands on the keyboard. The polish is hopelessly chipped. Barely even there. Just a fleck or two on each finger. How long has it been since you reapplied it? Wasn’t important on the trail. You should touch it up.
“Explain, please.”
How are you supposed to justify it to her when you can’t even justify it to herself.
“I can ask her, you know?”
“We weren’t sure if I was allowed,” you whisper. “I asked her not to.”
You can feel her eyes on you. Can’t bring yourself to meet them.
“And neither of you,” she says in a way that is purposefully even, but barely restrained, “ever bothered to call her and ask?”
“She’s busy.”
“She cares. She’d make time.”
Maybe you’re just scared that the answer is no. Now you and Cuicatl can at least pretend that she’s throwing away the opportunity because she really wants to stay in Alola. If she asked then she’d be staying for you and you would be hurting her and.
You don’t feel very pure right now.
“Oh, for f*ck’s sake, I’m calling her.”
She storms out of her seat and brusquely leaves the library. You can’t take your eyes away from your nails.
You’re fine. Everything’s fine. You don’t need someone to go back into your head and fix you. You’re perfectly good the way that you are.
Right?
