Work Text:
Hikari was pretty much convinced that up there, in this place people liked to call heaven, lingered a madwoman, just like Shauntal, writing setback following setback in her life out of sheer boredom.
Because last night she was too tired— from writing, that one thing was true, and decided to stop it there and not touch her ‘conductism as a way to enhance Pokémon power’ document file she was supposed to finish this day, and hit the bed with the silly promise that tomorrow very early she would finish it.
When she woke up, she woke up to such a loud meowing coming from the backyard, to a Shauntal that surely pulled an all nighter writing, texting her from the other room, “ bitch, go see what’s happening to your beast, I can’t focus .”
So, she rushed to the garden, to see that Archi, her Purugly, was all covered in dirt and spikes, attached so deep into his fur that it was impossible to take them off manually.
Which called for a vet visit.
A vet visit that would delay her day at least 3 hours since Archi hated water, or when they touched his tummy, and all the spikes were in his tummy.
Hikari tried to make this better for herself saying that at least she’d got a phone with an amazing notes app and could keep redacting her article there, that she’d do it while having a good breakfast.
Which didn’t happen; indeed, she grabbed her phone, but to write this super good scene that just occurred to her that couldn’t wait for a better moment and that all her fanfic readers would appreciate so very much, and that if she had ready soon could even ask Shauntal to proofread—
Until she checked her phone which was in ‘no bother’ mood, to see 3 missing calls from the vet.
She rushed to pay the bill, only for the cash machine to break at that exact moment, making her wait even longer, and once she managed to make it out of the restaurant, she rushed to the vet, and arrived there running out of breath, face flushed.
And even if she got there as fast as she could to meet with the vet and apologize to him for the delay, the vet was nowhere to be seen.
Just…
When she turned one side and another trying to find him, instead, she found a tall man; dressed in black and red, his orange, voluminous hair tied back in a little attempt of a ponytail, displaying a broad back and strong shoulders.
…
Broad back and strong shoulders.
Hikari looked away, so it didn’t seem like she was staring, but the man didn’t even pay attention, so she double checked, looked at herself, realizing how truly tall this man was in comparison to her, and…
She grinned, helplessly, giving in to the thrill suddenly flourishing in her chest, and-
Flipped her lips into a straight line as soon as the man looked back at her.
She looked away, pretending she hadn’t been staring.
But… the man wouldn’t stop looking at her, making her feel so embarrassed that she was caught staring, and to play it up, she started playing with one of her locks, twisting the pink end between her antsy fingers, and when he still didn’t tear his gaze apart from her, grabbed her phone on impulse to pretend she was so busy doing something else.
Until the man stepped forward.
Approaching her.
And now Hikari wanted to erase herself from that scene, gosh, if she wasn’t about to make a fool of herself.
“Excuse me.”
She was sure she stopped breathing for a complete 5 seconds, and now was too afraid to open her mouth and let it show.
Acting as naturally as possible, she turned to face him, and, gosh, he was so, so, so damn tall, and this was enough to put her heart into a riot, and this felt like a slow motion double vision, in an increasing rose flush, more so because she could perceive from here the alluring scent of his cologne and feel high and drunk by it, and...
“Are you Hikari?”
How did this man even know her name?
How come a man so tall and handsome and with such dreamy eyes and sublime air about him knew who she was?
Could it maybe be because he had read an article made by her? Maybe because he knew professor Fennel? Maybe-
“Yeah!”
Too loud. Gosh.
When he remained in the same position and temper, she pushed herself to produce an actual chat, “and… you…?”
“Ah, oui, how rude of me… I’m Lysandre.”
Lysandre...
Such a smooth way to say it made her ears buzz.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you!” Again, that fake chipper tone than no one would be buying.
And Lysandre seemed like he could read minds, because quickly gave her an answer as to why he was talking to her in the very first place, “well… the doctor said that I waited here for a woman called Hikari, with the messy dyed hair, so I could give her back her cat while he’s on surgery… and you seem to match that depiction, so…”
If she wasn’t so silly.
She mentally slapped herself over thinking this man had recognized her from somewhere and was about to start off a chat about it and not just talk to her on behalf of the vet.
It had been foolish to think he’d recognize her, after all, he didn’t even sound local.
“Well, and who are you, anyways? The doctor's assistant or something?”
He laughed, “non, I’m the owner of the cat who had appointed his neutering at the same hours your Purugly would be done with his shower, and who had to patiently wait until the owner came back to pick him up.”
This petulant attitude of his was pushing her buttons and making her blush so bad that she swore she could faint.
More so when the man took a step closer to her, bent over a bit to look dead at her eyes, and grinned like he knew all that was happening in her already dizzy mind, and with that ‘you wish you had me’ smirk, he said:
“Well. You’re lucky you are this cute, else I’ll call you out on letting my cat wait.”
Her mind went blank.
He surely was that type of men to flirt with women to embarrass them, to say all those things so they believed them and then could expose them as silly and helpless and-
Barely breathing, snorting, she rushed to where Archi was waiting in his cage, a poker face on his face, and grabbed it.
“Well, now I’m here so you don’t have to worry! I’m too busy writing this important article that- I gotta go! Tell the doctor I’ll send him a tip later for the delay!”
And as she fled, the man started laughing, and she only walked faster until she was long past the vet, now by the small water body that led to Nimbasa train station, and-
Stopped.
Lysandre called her cute.
Maybe... because he thought she was cute. Because she actually looked good today and the dye did wonders on her hair.
And she had thought he was very handsome indeed, handsome as hell, with his height, the perfectly combed hair and beard, those ocean blue eyes of his in which she could sink and drown and die, those strong arms that revealed muscles even under the fabric of his red shirt.
She could’ve told him the same.
He could’ve tilted his head, and kept flirting.
She could’ve asked for his number.
This could’ve been… a fated encounter that ended in days and nights together and the companionship she was craving for but hid under a facade of being too busy always, and it would look so weird if she came back to the vet only to ask for his number or anything about him, and he was surely a foreigner so the odds of encountering him again in this city were minimum, and—
Maybe it was meant to be nothing, just one shard of a special moment to live as a casual story to tell to friends when they talked about falling for strangers on the bus or the likes.
She tried to console herself by saying that she always was like this, that in a matter of a second her affections would be directed to a beautiful passerby in pink, flowery dress and with long hair, that she would root for the next woman appearing in front of her to never see her again.
Because she was helpless to believe in fated encounters and destiny when she was a scientist herself.
But no science helped soothing the feeling that she missed out one big chance here.
This time for real Hikari had to finish off her ‘conductism as a way to enhance Pokemon power’ article because the deadline was chasing after her, but...
She would stare absentmindedly at the screen as she kept on repeating the same song over and over, while thinking of him.
Of how that man Lysandre had approached her.
How he had side grinned at her.
How warm and familiar his teasing words felt.
How her cheeks had been tingling and her hands shaking.
How he called her cute.
How she melted like a mere child.
How... she fucking ran away.
“Hey,” Shauntal casually addressed her. “Olivia is done drinking from the sink, shut it down before the water runs all night on end.”
She heard, and like an automaton, stood, shut the stream, and went back to her chair, to put her headphones back on and listen on and on to the same song as she kept on eating from her noodles.
And even when an eternally meowing Archi got close to her to beg for whatever thing she or Shauntal were eating as he always did, Hikari did not flinch.
“Hey, the fat boy wants a treat.”
“Yes.”
It was indeed this fat boy the one on the blame for all of this happening in the very first place; if he hadn’t decided to rub against all those thorns, she wouldn’t had have to take him to the vet where she’d meet the most attractive man she had ever seen to then run like a coward and be here daydreaming of him instead of finish for the love of the lord her damned article.
“Come on now, what’s gotten into you?”
She promised herself she wouldn’t be letting Shauntal know about the clown she made of herself, she wouldn’t stop laughing at her for being such a disaster.
But this was too much to bear alone, she felt like she would explode if she didn’t communicate right away what had happened to her today.
“Nothing.”
And Shauntal side smirked at the brief notice of her lips twitching with a blush, “nothing, eh?”
“Yes! Nothing!”
Thinking about it, that was the most literal answer; she had a golden chance there and did nothing out of it.
“Oh, come on, what is it all about?” She said, sitting beside her and poking at her arm with her elbow. “Or, well, who is it about?”
She should be a psychic or something.
“Oh, I see,” she concluded at her silence and then, chuckled. “Was she cute?”
Hikari sighed heavily, grasping the fabric of her skirt as she felt her cheeks heating up uncontrollably.
“Him.”
And Shauntal laughed in a bass note; if she wasn’t absolutely odious when it came down to these matters.
“Let’s make a wish! Our sapphic mess finally laid down eyes on a man!”
“Oh, shut up!”
“I’m guessing he was pretty handsome, wasn’t he? If he caught up your bi mess eye he must surely be handsome.”
He looked like everything Hikari fancied and more in a single and very expensive piece.
And she couldn’t hold it back anymore:
“Ugh, yes, he was...! Ah! So tall and handsome as hell!”
Shauntal clapped her hands enthusiastically.
“Tell me more!”
“He was a ginger, starting off with that! I’m sure he was 1.90 or even taller! He had about the most beautiful blue eyes I’ve ever seen, and I’m not a fan of beards myself but his was so neatly done and just made him seem so masculine yet delicate and he was just- dressed up so finely! With a suit that’s more expensive than everything I own together, and not only that but...! Ah! His jacket made his shoulders seem so broad and his waist so tiny and... ugh! He was wearing a cologne so fine I felt drunk just by smelling it and...”
“Okay, okay, you are thirsting now,” she put a hand to her shoulder. “Do we at least have the name of this super luxurious male individual?”
She nodded, “he told me his name was Lysandre.”
And she saw how Shauntal almost cackled. Almost.
How her lips twitched, amused.
“What’s the matter?”
“Oh, nothing, nothing, just...” either it was something really serious or Shauntal was bad trying to not make fun of her. “Wow. It’s been a while since I last saw you being this enthusiastic about a man! Now, did anything happen? You asked him for his number, right?”
This surely was shameful.
“He...” and out of a twitch she began to twist one of her blonde-pink locks between her fingers. “Ok, we talked a bit, yes... he was complaining about me taking his time because my appointment was right before his and I arrived super late to pick Archi up, but he was also laughing and I was absolutely losing my mind, and then...”
“Then?!”
“He said ‘ oh well I’ll forgive you because you are cute ’.”
And Shauntal squealed, “yas, bitch! Another strip for the Zebstrika! And what happened next? You tots told him he was handsome, right?!”
Hikari sighed, shaking her head, forcing herself to spit the next disappointing words, “I ran, okay? I thought he was leading me on! Come on, he was so smug and petulant!”
And Shauntal gasped, “what?! So you don’t have his number?!”
“I mean...! He isn’t local, what if I said something stupid and he misunderstood it?”
“Hikari...! Gosh, I’m gonna slap you!”
“B-But...!”
“What are we gonna do with you, for real?” And this was when she took a deep breath and remembered to not make a big deal of trivial stuff. “Well. You said he wasn’t a local, so, maybe he wasn’t going to stay here for too long.”
But Hikari didn’t know better than to make big deals of irrelevant stuff, so she kept digging this one grave, “maybe we could’ve gotten into something before he left...” and she grunted. “Ugh, I’m an idiot!”
And this was when Shauntal did the shift in demeanor, from being so irreverent to showing support, “oh, no, not putting ourselves down in this house! I mean, if it didn’t happen it was because it didn’t have to happen, you did what you considered best!”
But this didn’t erase that she didn’t take the chance to at least compliment this hot man who happened to call her cute.
“There’s always stumbling at home with the cats and your bestie, aka me! Don't put on such a sad face! Like, if you wanna meet hot foreigners we can always call Grimsley, he gambles with all of them!”
It wasn’t about picking a random strangers and getting them, no; this encounter with this Lysandre man had felt so special, like the sparks of chemistry were flying all over the place, like it was meant to be, and the heart rush wouldn’t compare with any other she got in one of Grimsley’s parties.
But...
Well. Maybe it was just her making a big deal of it. Maybe Lysandre went back home and forgot about her as soon as he saw a real Unovan beauty, and he surely stopped to tease her and call her beautiful and she responded back and they went to grab lunch together, unlike her, unlike...
Maybe it wasn’t meant to be.
Maybe she really had to quit the habit of dreaming her life away with strangers, a woman of science like her couldn’t so foolishly believe in destiny.
His little Litleo, Terrence, was still numb because of the anesthesia, and so Lysandre was still watching after his every clumsy step, feeding him like he was a baby to make sure he wouldn’t choke.
“Aw, little boy...” he pecked the top of his head. “It’s for the better. The population of feral Litleos is alarming in Kalos, we don’t want you to add to the overpopulation that mid term will end up in terrible consequences... or to start a breed of Litleos here that’s going to ruin the ecosystem.”
Of course Terrence couldn’t listen or even care about his speech, but Lysandre always felt better speaking to himself via speaking to his cats.
“You won’t let me sleep today, will you?” And he hummed. “Even if you barely let me sleep yesterday, hm. Not gonna lie, I’m so drowsy already but the moment I flick an eye you're going to make something reckless, I know it.”
And as the silence replied back to him, he yawned, and then, shook his head.
“Well... at least something good happened today...”
And he scoffed then, dismissing his own comment.
“Nah... maybe I should’ve been kinder with her. Malva loves the smugness, but... guess I misguided her by being such a tease. Maybe if I had been more natural she would’ve stayed for a casual chat. Ah...”
Terrence meowed very weakly.
“She was cute. An unusual cute... like she only cared to be cute for herself, and not following what this Unovan society calls cute instead.”
And he nestled Terrence very lovely against his chest.
“Maybe it wasn’t meant to be. Maybe I’m getting lonely, after all these months, and I’m acting all needy, like a helpless romantic to mere strangers… don't you think, Terry?”
He could only hope this wasn’t a consequence of him missing Augustine and attempting to erase the deep mark he left on him, again, by displacing his romantic feelings on strangers.
Though, he couldn’t tell why for sure, but something about this emotion felt genuine, new.
“If only her cat got thorns all over his tummy again... maybe I could try it in any other way? Because I’m sure you’ll need a second check up, my boy, but… heh, I don’t think she’s going to show off again in a while.”
He needed to learn to enjoy his loneliness. And to stop believing in such things as fate, because last time he relied on it, went wrong, so terribly wrong.
illustration of the local bi mess made by me.