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“Are you sure you’re not coming?” Bede asked Opal while he pulled on his jacket. To say he was nervous was an understatement, and he’d rather have Opal there with him rather than go alone.
“Not this time. I thought you’d know better,” she answered from the armchair she was sitting in.
She was right, he should’ve. Since leaving the gym in his power, she wouldn’t qualify to show up to these kinds of things. His shoulders sagged with his disappointment. Being the new fairy-type gym leader was cool and all, but one thing he never realized was that with it, came responsibility. League Season and the last few months of Off-League Season had days where he would train hour after hour and toil at any situations that would require his oversight. Some of those days Opal did help him, but what he came to learn is that being a gym leader, or even just a pokémon trainer, meant you had to figure out problems on your own.
So, Bede straightened the collar of the jacket and tightened the straps of his sleeves. He took a travel mug and poured coffee, that was more like creamer with half a cup of coffee, in to it. He then headed out the door, an anxious ‘what if’ fluttering in his chest.
The dock was relatively empty when Bede arrived, surprisingly. He expected to be on time, if not late, but it seemed like he was in fact early. The only three who were present were Raihan and Piers, who Bede assumed were the ones setting up the fireworks, and Nessa, milling close to the end of the dock.
Raihan caught sight of Bede over his shoulder, and waved in his direction, but otherwise he didn’t move from what he was leaning over. Piers, on the other hand, took his attention away from what he was doing he felt the boy’s presence. “Bede! You’re early, but that’s cool. Make yourself comfy, there’s still a while until everyone’s here,” he spoke, before returning to his task at hand.
Great, so he would have to stand around while it was deathly quiet, apart from the two gym leaders setting up the fireworks while chattering away.
He backed up until he felt his back against the lighthouse, and slowly he slid down until he was now sitting with his knees against his chest. It was awkward being the only minor so far, at least he had his jacket. It was quite cold, even Nessa, who Bede knew as someone who didn’t dress the warmest, was bundled up in a parka.
The travel mug pressed in to the palm of his hand. The coffee had some warmth to it, but it wouldn’t last that long. Twisting the lid, he drank solemnly from it.
“Bede!”
Oh god.
Before he could process it, Bede was nearly bowled over by the rambunctious girl he had once called a rival. He completely forgot that the Champion would be invited to the event too, and now he didn’t know would be worse, spending time with all the gym leaders when he barely knew them, or spending time with Gloria.
He was about to snap something at her, annoyed that she had nearly crashed straight in to him, but she quickly found a seat beside him. “It’s just you and I in this together, ya hear?” she hissed in a hushed tone.
It was then he realized she seemed just as uncomfortable as he was. He felt somewhat sympathetic for her, as she must spend more time around them than he does. So, he let her sit close, but he didn’t dare do anything beyond that. “This is your first time, too?” he asked.
“Yeah. I wanted Hop to tag along, but this whole ‘gym leaders and Champion only’ thing kept me from bringing him,” she answered. She pressed the back of her head against the lighthouse, looking up to the sky to challenge whatever god watched down on them. “You’d think Leon would make it so that he could’ve brought Sonia, since they’re pretty damn close,” she muttered.
Bede shrugged and spoke out to that statement, “What makes you think Leon was the one who made the rules? This could’ve been something made up before he was even champion.”
“Hm. Guess you’re right. Still ridiculous that you can’t bring a plus one or anything.”
“I’m as happy as you are about it,” Bede griped.
“Hey, but we have each other, don’t we?” Gloria turned to look at him, her head still twisted in position to look at the sky.
Bede’s nose scrunched up at comment. Sure, Gloria was his friend, but not exactly someone he relied on for company when it came to being alone. Well, to be honest, when he would on occasion challenge Gloria for her position as Champion, it made him feel better to be facing off against her rather than someone like Hop or Leon. She helped him, and while he tried to push that fact to the back of his mind, it would resurface just to keep him from hating her. “As if that makes the situation any better,” he grumbled after a moment.
“Gee, you can’t lighten up for a few hours? The night sky does a better job than you, and it’s dark as all hell,” Gloria remarked in a playful manner, lightly jamming her elbow against Bede’s ribcage.
Even through the jacket, he could feel it, and it tickled in a peculiar fashion. He jerked away, a hand rushing to keep the travel mug from tipping on its side when he accidentally knocked it over. “The moon has a dark side that not even the brightest of stars can light up, and yet nobody complains about that,” he retorted once he righted both himself and the travel mug.
“Touché, but I see you less often than I see the moon. It’d be nice to see you acting proper.”
Bede was about to fire back a sharp-tongued response but Raihan interjected, “Hey you two! We’re about to start the fireworks so if you could stop arguin’ over there that’d be nice.” When Bede looked up, Raihan was standing not too far from where they were. The tall guy was intimidating, especially when his vividly teal eyes were locked on them.
“Right,” Bede muttered.
The only one who was late to the party was Gordie, who heard a quiet earful from his mother upon arriving. Everyone else were in their own groups, either standing or sitting.
Piers stood in front of the multitudes of fireworks piled away from the group. In his hand were a box of matches. “Alright alright, looks like we’re all ready then?” he turned to face the collected gym leaders, slamming his knuckles in the palm of his free hand before continuing, “Let’s welcome a new year to the Gym Challenge, then!”
With that, he lit the first few stages to the show.
What followed was the pitch black of the night sky being illuminated in a frenzy of all sorts of colors. Flickering lights of purple, blue, and just about any other color Bede could possibly name. With the colors came a variety of shapes too, some two, but most three-dimensional. Fireworks taking off in to the sky, like flares, but a cry of hope and celebration rather than that of help and desperation.
Bede felt his muscles loosen. He felt more relaxed when he saw the sparkling lights.
Gloria had fallen silent in the meantime, but amid the show she had scooted somewhat closer to him, to the point where their arms lightly brushed. Then he felt her wriggle, and he was only then made aware of how close she gotten, but he was too entranced by the fireworks to want to move away.
So, Gloria tried to get his attention again, this time by saying something he would hopefully take notice to, “I’m cold.”
It worked, Bede looked away from the fireworks show and towards the girl beside him. She did have a jacket, but it was light, lighter than his own. It was something one would be expected to wear during the fall, not in the dead of winter. With a reluctant sigh, he pressed himself closer to her. He didn’t want to spare his own jacket, not just yet.
She was still chilly; he could hear her teeth chatter quietly. He unzipped his jacket, allowing for the sides of it to fall away from his abdomen. A wisp of frigid air greeted him, and a shudder rippled down his back. He held one flap of the jacket in his arm and draped both his arm and half of his jacket around Gloria. This in turn pulled her closer to him, closer than he wanted to be, but he’d rather not let her freeze while he sat there watching fireworks. With his arm laid across her shoulders, he was forced to slightly lean against her, to the point where the only comfortable position for him would be to rest his head on hers, so he defeatedly, but not reluctantly, did.
The chatter of Gloria’s teeth slowly subsided, leaving the two in silence. Bede could feel her rise and fall with every slow breath. When at first, he would’ve hated to find himself in a position like this, it turned out to be oddly peaceful.
The rest of the fireworks show went off without a hitch. Bede found himself nearly nodding off when the show began to die down around the end and things became quieter, but he stayed awake as the night went on. Faintly, in the dying light of the remaining fireworks, he could see Gloria, who was just as sleepy as he was.
When the show was officially over, the time was well beyond midnight, and all the other gym leaders had left, he shifted to get up and leave, but Gloria was quick to grip the arm draped over her shoulder.
“Wait,” she murmured, “I’d like to stay like this, just for a moment.”
Surprisingly, Bede didn’t object.