💠💠💠

   It’s been a long day, you lament to yourself as you struggle to yank the poles of your tent into their proper upright position. A pair of hands swoop in from your peripheral to assist, and you feel a wave of relief and comfort for what had to be the millionth time today.

   “Thank you,” you say as you turn to face Kabu. After a beat, you add, “again.”

   The smile that pries at his lips is small, but visible enough for you to take notice. “You’re very welcome.” He wrenches the reluctant structure one final time. “Again.” A tiny puff of a chuckle mixes into the satisfied sigh of a job well done. “The fire’s almost ready. I hope you like spicy curry.”

   “Sounds great! I’ve got more cheri berries than I know what to do with, anyway.” You take a moment to sort through your things before depositing your backpack in the tent. You pause for a moment on the new Pokeball mingling amongst your others. The newly caught Durant, which was taking a heavy nap not far from the tent, had nearly ruined your day earlier. You had figured, quite foolishly in hindsight, that you would be able to take on the dynamaxed bug that had been trying to menace you from its den. When it tore into your pokemon like a wet piece of paper, you had panicked and run off to make a frantic phone call. Still shaken by the event, you’re deeply relieved that the fire type expert was able to come by right away to rescue you. Even better, he’d caught the big bug and given it to you despite your failures.

   The thick scent of campfire smoke drew you out of your thoughts and over towards the center of camp, where Kabu was working together with his Centiskorch to stoke a steady fire under the pot. As you approach, you take the handful of berries that you had fished out of your pack and lob them one by one into the pot. Plunk, plunk, plunk. The smells wafting around the campground become even more enticing.

   You find a flat spot on the ground and plop down, crossing your legs. “You sure you don’t want to just hitch a taxi back into town after this?”

   Kabu hums as he leans over and takes a hearty whiff of the steaming curry. “Not particularly. It’s a lovely evening, and I need a break from the city.”
   “Too fast paced for your old bones?”

   Kabu chuckles. “Don’t insult the person making your food.” From where you’re sitting, you can see a genuine smile on his face, basked in the golden glow of the fire that gets brighter and brighter as the sun dips lower. You try to think of a witty retort, but something about this view of him makes your jaw feel too tight to open up. Instead, all you can do is drift around in your thoughts until it’s time to eat.

   By the time that the curry is ready to serve, the swirling scents have gotten your stomach to start to grumble. Kabu hands you a plate, heaped high with glistening sauce poured over a huge leek. The leek has been steamed so thoroughly that it can be cut with your spoon, and the flavors of earthy vegetable and spicy berry mingle in a way that really satisfies the pallate. After the first bite, you have to stop and whine, “oh, it’s so good! I could kiss you for making this.”

   “Now that’s a much better way to talk to your cook,” Kabu remarks. “If a bit inappropriate restaurant behavior.” You can hear the smile in his voice, even though the rest of your senses are too swept up in curry heaven for you to notice in any other way.

 “Good thing this isn’t a restaurant,” you manage to mutter out around a full mouth. With that exchange concluded, no conversation happens on the campground until all mouths are thoroughly satisfied.

   Once dinner is settled, the sun has finished setting and sprinkles of stars have claimed the territory of the sky in its place. The moon and your campfire work together to create an otherworldly lighting that implies that nothing exists outside of the little circle of light and warmth that you and Kabu inhabit. The pokemon around the campsite have curled up to sleep for the night, turning into amorphous piles of various sizes that exist just on the outside of the campfire’s boundary. A silence starts to settle in that emphasizes the sounds of the crackling fire and the distant wild creatures. This silence starts to bother you after too long.

   It takes a couple of tries to gather your voice past the peculiar nervousness that continues to dwell in your throat. “Hey,” you manage after a moment. “I know I already said it, but, really, thank you.”

   “I’ve done a lot for you today,” Kabu points out, an observation which makes your face turn red hot. “Are you thanking me for dinner, or for something else?”

   “Everything, mostly. I’m glad you came to help me, I’m glad you gave me that Durant even though he is, by all rights, your catch. I…” you try to hide your smile with your hand. “I’m glad you decided to stick around and spend the night with me.”

   As your hand moves away from your face, Kabu intercepts it to give it a sweet squeeze, which almost puts you into cardiac arrest. “The company is thanks enough, if you ask me. And for that,” he pauses to point at the dozing metal creature off to the side, whose hide is reflecting the blazing antennae of Kabu’s Centiskorch that sleeps next to him. “All I need as thanks is to see you using a formidable new teammate.”

   To try to distract your racing heart, you latch on to the potential of a subject change. “Well, I’m not sure I’m too keen on using something that whooped my ass so hard. I think he’d be able to tell that I’m scared of him.”

   “Well, then, you’ll just need to prove to him that you aren’t.” Kabu released your hand, but he gives no room for you to feel relief as he scoots over to be closer to you. In the light of the campfire, his pointed features are sharpened to the point where you worry how safe it would be to touch them, lest you be cut. The deep shadows show his age, but that age only seems to add to his handsomeness.

   “I’m not sure I know how to do that,” you mumble. Normally you try to avoid mumbling, but the sheer proximity of you and Kabu means that you don’t have to project at all to be heard.

   “Of course you do.” Kabu’s eyes are intense, and you can’t look anywhere but straight into them. “I saw it when we battled. You carried yourself with such confidence, such passion. It was impossible to ignore. You just need to know how to harness it.”

   You’re pretty sure you’ve forgotten how to breathe. “Ah, well, thank you for the compliment, but I’m not sure I could harness it quite as well as you can.” You’ve forgotten when you got so close to Kabu.

   Kabu's hand comes up to cup your cheek. You’re worried for a second that his fingertips might just burn off from the volcanic temperatures of your blushing cheeks. “You’ve already managed to impress me quite thoroughly.”

   Before you can even question whether this should be happening, your lips have already collided with Kabu’s. You can’t even tell who was the one to close the gap. All that you know is that the situation is chugging forward faster than you can comprehend. Already, you’re climbing into his lap and pulling his hair. Already, you can feel his tongue eagerly prodding past your lips. Already, jackets are shed, and other clothes are being unbuttoned. You run your hands up his legs under his shorts and his thighs are taut and muscular and you can’t believe you’re taking things this far.

   There are no breaks from the intensity until Kabu abruptly stands up, topless and disheveled, and offers a hand to help you up as well. Your brain is miles behind the rest of your body, and has to take a second to catch up as you clamber into a standing position. You blink a few times, focusing your hazy eyes. You can barely process the events that have been unfolding. After a moment of trying to unscramble your thoughts, you can only find one thing to say.

   “You kissed me!”

   Kabu can only laugh at your exclamation. He nods, kisses you again, and leads you across the campground to the waiting shelter of your tent.