Chapter Text
It started innocently enough.
Arven hadn’t stopped smiling since he and Juliana left the Eastern Mines. Even now, while she was busy setting up the camping table, all he could focus on was smoothing his hands through Mabosstiff’s shaggy fur. He listened to each rumbling little bark that shook the pokémon’s giant body, barely able to tear himself away.
His lack of focus bled into his cooking. He dropped the knife at least twice as he buttered the sourdough, laughing quietly to himself all the while.
Mabosstiff had barked again. Mabosstiff had wagged his tail again.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so happy.” The smile in Juliana’s voice dragged Arven back.
He felt heat rush to his cheeks as he buttered a little faster.
“I’ll try and tone it down."
“Absolutely not!” she protested from the picnic blanket. “You should be proud of yourself for today. We both should be.”
He brought the knife down on a tomato with a soft click and a wary smile.
He hadn’t known Juliana for long. In school she had practically been adopted by Nemona, and he had written her off as the student council president’s pet prodigy. She’d gone out of her way to help him, though, even when he had just wanted to use her skills. That made her a friend – but getting used to being around someone else again was still so alien.
They lapsed into silence as Arven finished up the sandwiches. The soft, rhythmic knife strokes were interrupted only by the rustling of a page every once in a while.
Under the soft light of the stars, Juliana was curled up against that annoyingly big beast of hers. A magazine with a bright pink cover rested against her knees as she held a flashlight up to read it. Arven headed over with the sandwich plates, carefully positioning himself at the other end of the picnic blanket. Arceus, he probably looked so ungrateful for her help, what with how far away he was sitting – but the idea of being so close to Koraidon still made him so uncomfortable.
“Whatcha reading?” he asked, trying not to sound too awkward.
“Love languages!” Juliana held up the magazine with a grin. The title was in Galarian. He couldn’t understand it. “Do you know your love language, Arven?”
“I have no idea what that is,” Arven sighed, offering the sandwich.
She took it with a smile that lit up the whole quarry.
“Thanks. Actually, this is perfect,” she said, shaking the plate as if it meant something. “Every time I help you with the Titan pokémon, you make me a bunch of sandwiches – even Raidon, right? Even though I can tell you guys don’t get along?”
Arven froze, sandwich halfway to his mouth. Was it that obvious? He thought he’d played their first meeting quite coolly.
“Listen, I’m sorry about–”
“So you’re good at giving acts of service,” Juliana barrelled on. “Your first instinct is to do stuff for people because that’s how you say thank you.”
Arven frowned. He’d never really thought about it before. Weren’t the sandwiches just a bribe to get Juliana’s help? She was a prodigal battler, even with pokémon she’d probably never seen before she moved here.
If there was one thing Arven knew, it was that prodigies quickly became geniuses, and that geniuses quickly got bored.
“I made you sandwiches because I needed your help, little buddy,” he shrugged before returning to his food. It was hard to eat with Juliana staring at him.
“You know, if you’d just told me about the situation with Mabosstiff, I would have helped anyway, right?” she said through a big mouthful of sandwich. “Damn, this is some good bread. I didn’t even realise bread could be so important to a sandwich.”
Why are you still bothering me? There’s a Pokémon Centre in Los Platos. They’ll get the splinter out of Maschiff’s paw for you.
“Arven?”
“It's just Sourdough,” he said in a rush. “How would you tell someone you.. you needed their help?”
“I’d ask someone I trusted,” Juliana shrugged, as if it was the easiest thing in the world.
“How can you tell who those are?”
“My love language is physical touch,” she grinned. “When I feel like I know someone well enough to ruffle their hair, or hug them hello…”
Ah yes, Arven had seen her sneak up on Nemona in the library once. She’d grabbed the taller girl round the shoulders and wrapped her in a big hug. He wondered how that would—
There was a gentle tickle against his hair, and then the next moment, manicured nails were scratching gently against his scalp. Juliana was standing next to him, her usual grin on her face, her hand gently resting on his head.
“...that’s usually an easy enough way to know I trust them. There’s your first Juliana friendship pat,” she laughed. “Thank you for such a tasty sandwich, Arven. I will probably forget what sourdough is, but I promise I’ll try to remember.”
In the three seconds before Juliana removed her hand, it was like electricity against Arven’s skin. He couldn’t remember what he had been so anxious about. He couldn’t remember what he was supposed to be doing next. Just that soft scratch, feeling so good against his skin. To his complete mortification, he heard himself letting out a quiet hum at the soothing feeling. Juliana laughed and withdrew her hand, heading towards the cooking table.
“Aww. You’re like a human Mabosstiff. No wonder you said the two of you were like brothers,” she said, stacking her plate with the dirty cutlery. “Listen, my pokémon are tired and bruised as hell from fighting that Orthworm, and so am I. Let’s leave tidying up until tomorrow. I’ll see you in the morning, ok?”
And just like that, Juliana had recalled the sleeping Koraidon and vanished inside her tent. Arven continued to stare off into space, his hand subconsciously reaching for Mabosstiff’s pokéball. His fingers closed around the cool sphere of metal and plastic even as his palms burned with sweat.
When was the last time he’d been that close to someone else? Certainly not in the last five years. Something about the gesture made his heart ache as he touched where Juliana’s fingers had been a few seconds before.