Family Talk.

After a few moments of silent contemplation, you decide on the first question you have for Daniel. “Well, you’ve told me about your first battle with Kayla before, but what about your battles against your sister? You each got your first badge from her, right?”

Nodding, the leader’s brother replies. “Sure I can tell you about that. Probably not the most thrilling story though. Low level battle and all.” Closing his eyes and thinking back, Daniel continues. “Let’s see… After the two of us had our first battle against each other, we spent a while catching and training our teams. I caught my Ekans and Drowzee on Route 11, and Kay caught her Sandshrew there. She also caught her Bellsprout on Route 6, and of course bought her Magikarp from the sleazy silver-tongued salesman… Though I guess it was a worthwhile purchase in the long run.”

A smile crosses your face as you recall Kayla’s Gyarados triumphing over Ed. “It certainly was.”

“Who’d have guessed?” The blue-eyed boy returns your smile, then goes back to his story. “Anyway, we spent most of our first day and half of our second catching those Pokémon and training ‘em up. We felt prepared enough after that, so we challenged the Vermillion Gym that afternoon.” The smile on his face turns into a wry grin. “Honestly, I was a little worried, even if I felt prepared, because I did not want either of us losing to my sister. If I did, I’d never hear the end of it from her. And if Kay did…”

“The Lieutenant would have taken a forfeit from her.” You say, finishing your friend’s sentence.

“Huh? Oh, yeah… That’s not exactly what I was worried about though.” The golden-blonde shrugs. “My sister does tend to be pretty… intense with the girls she beats, but I doubt she would have gone too far with Kay. Sis loves her.”

Apparently you did not not finish his sentence, at least not in the correct way. Raising an eyebrow, you ask “What were you worried about then?”

Sighing, Daniel answers. “Kay’s parents.”

“Oh…” You frown slightly upon hearing your friend’s unusually dour tone. You’ve really only heard small bits and pieces about Kayla’s parents, and even less about Daniel’s. The two of them both seem to avoid the subject whenever you guys get to talking about your earlier lives, and you’ve never tried to pry. But prying is really the only way to continue the conversation now. “Is it because they’re… super strict? Like, they would have been really hard on her if she lost?”

“No, no, that’s how my sister woulda reacted with me. Kay’s parents…” The Vermillion boy pauses for a moment, clicking his tongue in annoyance. “They never wanted her to be a trainer at all, even though it was her dream. Did everything they could to convince her not to go through with it, to get a normal job… She almost listened to ‘em too.”

“But then you stepped in?” You guess, smirking.

With a grin of his own, the muscular young man nods. “Yup. I had to. I knew she really wanted to go through with it, she just needed someone to give her a push forward, someone to believe in her. Like I do.”

“And you were right to believe in her! She’s a great trainer, getting better by the day too.” You reply, giving your friend an encouraging smile.

“Right? I knew she would be, I had full confidence in that and in her.” The blonde boy’s grin fades into a faint scowl. “I told her parents as much… and then I got mad and told them that they were being cruel to her by not having confidence in her as well. They didn’t take kindly to that.”

Wincing in sympathy, you respond. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound like it’d go over well.” You don’t know much about Kayla’s parents, but you can’t imagine most reacting well to a situation like that.

“Yeah, I kinda wish I had just kept my mouth shut, even if I was just saying how I felt.” Daniel sighs, slumping down in the water. “They went from being upset with me to being outright furious with me, especially her mom…”

A small shudder passes through his body, and a look of fear you find rather alarming hits his blue eyes. “Is, uh… Is Kayla’s mom really scary?” You ask, curious and concerned by the Vermillion boy’s demeanor.

What’s even more concerning though is his terse response. “…She can be. Let’s talk about something else, yeah?”

How scary is this woman!? “Uh, sure…” Well, Daniel clearly would rather change the subject, much as you’d like to find out more about what’s so scary about Kayla’s mother. What else should you ask your friend about though? …Well, there is another, similar topic you’ve been curious about for a while now, so maybe now’s a good chance to at least bring it up. You haven’t wanted to be pushy, but the conversation you just had is similar enough that it should be okay to bring it up. “Well, how about you tell me more about your family instead? I’ve really only heard about your sister after all.”

A wide range of emotions quickly flash over the blonde’s face, some too fast to track. The ones you do manage to catch are an initial surprise, a bit of pain, and guardedness. The emotions stop as he closes his eyes, inhaling deeply, and you speak up again after only a moment.

“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. Sorry.” You rush out, immediately feeling awkward and desperately trying to backpedal.

A deep chuckle comes from your friend, who shakes his head. “Damn, I look that upset? My bad, Casanova.” He smiles at you, the look in his eyes more than telling you that he isn’t actually upset, and you relax. He does his best to relax himself too, but you can still see a slight tension in the muscular boy’s shoulders. “Well, for starters, I’ve already told you that my family is originally from Unova. One thing I haven’t mentioned yet is why we moved out here. It was for my old man’s job.”

“Your dad? What does he do?” You ask, looking at Daniel curiously.

“He’s a chef. A chef who works on cruise ships specifically.” The blue-eyed boy answers, continuing with “He used to work on some fancy-ass boat that sat docked in Castelia City’s harbor. Now he works for some fancy-ass boat that tours the globe, and just occasionally comes to port in Vermillion.”

“Oh…” You hesitate before responding, detecting a hint of bitterness in the other boy’s voice. Eventually, you settle on replying with “Well… It’s no wonder you’re such a good cook then! Must run in the family.”

A faint scowl forms on the young blonde’s face. “Yeah, guess so. Though I’m not particularly happy about having something in common with him.”

His bitterness comes out in full **** with that statement, as does your awkwardness. Suddenly **** to change the subject away from Daniel’s father, you pivot to the first thing that comes to mind. “R-Right… Sooo, what about your mom? What’s she like, what does she do?”

Instantly upon seeing your friend’s reaction, you regret your choice of subject change. The muscular young man’s shoulder’s droop, and the irritation in his eyes is replaced by a quiet sorrow. “Mom… She was a saint. Had to pick up her whole life and move to Kanto ‘cause of her husband, and wound up taking care of Sis and I basically on her own since he was barely home. And not once did I hear her complain. Not once.”

His use of the word ‘was’ doesn’t escape your notice, nor does the bittersweet melancholy of his tone. He may have tried to play off how much this line of questioning bothered him when you first asked, but you now know that it really was upsetting him in multiple ways. So, for the second time in one conversation you decide to drop the topic of parents from Vermillion City. “I’m sorry, Daniel. Let’s talk about something else, okay?”

Blinking rapidly, almost seeming to snap out of a haze, the golden-haired boy replies hurriedly. “No no, it’s fine. I get it if you’re curious-“

“No, seriously. I’m sorry” You interject softly. “I’ve… been able to tell for a while, that you don’t really like talking about your parents. And you’re right, I am curious. So I decided to broach the subject, even though I could tell you were uncomfortable. So - let me finish.” You say, cutting the blonde off as he tries to interrupt you. “So, let’s talk about something else, something less heavy. This isn’t the kind of conversation we want to be having here anyway, right?”

His body relaxing, Daniel lets out a deep sigh. “Yeah… Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, Casanova. And sorry.”

He gives you a wry smile, which you return with a gentle one of your own. “Don’t worry about it, really. But I do have one last thing to say on the matter, if you don’t mind?”

“Go for it.” Your friend answers with a firm nod.

After taking a moment to collect your thoughts and decide on what exactly you want to say, you respond. “If you ever do feel the need to talk about your family, you just let me know. Especially… about your mom. Because…” You take a deep breath before finishing your statement. “I lost my Dad thirteen years ago, so I think I’d be a decent person to talk with about that kind of thing. I get how you feel, I’d like to think. So keep that offer in mind, okay?”

A flash of surprise passes through the Vermillion boy’s, then a look of compassion, of solidarity. “Yeah. Got it, Casanova, and right back at you with that offer. You hear me?”

Your gentle smile shifting into a smirk and thoughts of family talk being left for another day, you answer. “Loud and clear, Little Surge. Now, what else should we talk about?”

Before the golden-haired boy can answer, a sound catches your attention. Or a lack of sound rather, as the shower that was in use shuts off suddenly. You had basically forgotten that there is someone else in this bathing room with you two, and your eyes immediately shoot up towards the monitor that displays the remaining times for each party.

Party 1: 12 Minutes Remaining

Party 2: 46 Minutes Remaining

“So, she still has some time left. Her getting back into the bath is definitely going to make conversation more awkward, but we’ll just have to ignore her. Can’t let her bad attitude ruin our good time.” Daniel says, his eyes having followed yours up to the displayed times.

As you go to respond, you hear wet footsteps start to echo through the room as the rude young woman exits her shower. But, rather than make her way back into the bath, she starts heading towards the doorway that leads into the changing room. Her naked body, still glistening with moisture, is in full view for you two to appreciate. Your gaze is naturally drawn to the shiny cheeks of her modest ass. It’s not particularly large, but perfectly shaped atop her graceful legs, and it bounces slightly as she walks towards the exit.

A sense of relief fills you as you watch the sapphire-eyed girl make to leave, as you really weren’t looking forward to how awkward trying to chat with Daniel would be with her also being in the bath. That relief is swiftly replaced by tension however, as the blue-eyed young man calls out after the irritable girl. “Where you going? You’ve still got time left, you know!”

You let out a soft sigh, certain that your friend is just trying to annoy the young woman, and hope that she just decides to ignore him rather than get into an argument. The former seems to be the case, as she simply opens the door to the changing room without looking back, her only reaction being to raise her tattooed right hand over her shoulder with its middle finger extended. After this parting gesture, she quickly pulls open the door and exits the bathing area, slamming it shut behind her.

Turning to look at the blonde boy, whose face is now plastered by a massive shit-eating grin, you say. “Was that really necessary man?”

With a hearty laugh, he responds. “Sorry man, couldn’t resist.” You simply shake your head at him in response, though you can’t help but chuckle slightly as well. “‘Sides, it’s not like she didn’t deserve it, she was damn mean! A rare case of ‘happy to see you leave, love to watch you walk away’, right?”

Laughter subsiding, you reply. “True enough, true enough… Still I wonder what her deal is? Why is she so damn antisocial?”

“What, you wanna cut our time short and go after her? Bet you that charm of yours could melt that ice queen in like, ten, twenty minutes tops!” The Vermillion boy says, his voice still filled with mirth.

“Oh, please.” You roll your eyes at his suggestion. “You really put too much stock in that nickname you gave me dude. I’m not some romantic savant!”

“Sure you aren’t pal, sure you aren’t.” The buff blonde shakes his head, chuckling once again. “Well, if we aren’t chasing her down, guess we’re still talking. What’s our next topic then?”

“Hmm…” You pause, taking a moment to think. What should you two talk about next, in the wake of all the serious half-conversations you’ve just had…?

Word from the author: Hey everyone, been a while. And we’re back on an emotional chapter, which is part of why this took so long. There are actually a lot of reasons why I’ve been on hiatus for so long, but there’s no need to go into all of them. The long and short of it is that what I was trying to avoid have happen most happened; burnout. But this story has constantly been in my head everyday these past months, thanks in no small part to all the wonderful authors who kept updating there own branches. So thank you very much to all my fellow authors, and to everyone else who has been patient with me. As for just how “back” I am, I can’t promise that I’m going to be back on a regular or even frequent publishing schedule just yet, unfortunately. All I can promise is that I am not giving up on this story. Thank you all for supporting me so far, and I hope you continue to do so. Much love, everyone <3