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Arven's phone chirps. He ignores it, just like he's been ignoring everything else lately. He should be working. He's got a small mountain of textbooks stacked on the desk next to him, radiating vague disappointment at the thin layer of dust coating their covers. A voice in his head that sounds suspiciously like his mother's reminds him that he'll never be anything without an education. He knows this, he does, really--he just can't quite bring himself to care.
His phone chirps again. He ignores it again. His Skwovet, who escaped her Pokeball several hours ago and has been hard at work shredding his dishtowels to make some sort of nest in his trash can ever since, chitters. He should probably make her stop, but that would require him getting out of bed and that's way too much effort. His phone chirps again, either in response to Skwovet or because he's gotten yet another text. Ugh. Fine.
"Come here," he says tiredly. The phone zooms in front of his face and he has to admit, it's pretty neat that these new phones come pre-possessed with trained Rotom. It certainly makes his current life goal of never leaving his bed much easier.
It turns out the notifications are all from Juliana: three quick texts, all in a row. He smiles to himself at that--when he asked for her help in the cafeteria however many weeks ago, he hadn't expected her to say yes. He certainly never expected her to make his hunt for Herba Mystica into her own personal passion project.
She's been texting him at irregular intervals, keeping him up to date on her team's progress and peppering him with questions about everything from the best Kantonian takeout in Mesagoza to what's the deal with Saguaro's lanyard. He's pretty sure she'll get sick of him soon enough, but he needs her help so he responds dutifully.
Look what I brought home today!!! flashes in the notification.
His heart sinks at the picture: Juli, beaming, cuddling the tiniest Maschiff close to her face. It shatters at the final message, We're coming up to say hi!
She must have not been too far when she texted him because the next thing he knows, there's a knock on his door. He takes a deep breath, steeling himself for what is sure to be an exhausting conversation about Boss's condition. He knows she'll be horrified that he allowed it to happen; hopefully her compassion for Pokemon will win out over her disgust with him.
He opens the door, forcing a smile onto his face and swallowing down the lump forming in his throat. Juli stands in front of him, one hand raised as if to knock again. In her free hand, she holds the Maschiff instead of a Pokeball.
He slams the door in her face.
"Arven?" she calls through the door, hurt and confusion laced through every word. She knocks on the door again. "Arven? Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?" Skwovet screeches at him from her trash nest, gesturing towards the door. Skwovet loves Juli.
The knocking stops. "Um, okay then. I'm gonna go do, uh, something very important somewhere else I guess. I'll text you later though? To start planning out campsites at Casseroya Lake?" He hates himself for how small and uncertain she sounds, but if he opens his mouth now he's worried he'll start screaming and won't be able to stop.
Arven gets back into bed, rolling over to face the wall. The sun streaming through the window is hot on his back. Behind him, he can hear Skwovet scruffling around. She's probably destroying something else now that she's ruined all his towels. That's fine; his entire life is in shambles, why should his room be any different? If he had more energy, he'd laugh at the absurdity of it all, but he doesn't. He falls asleep instead.
~~~~~
When he wakes again it's dark outside. He groans, reaching over to turn the light on. His mouth tastes like he's been chewing unwashed gym socks and his face is slightly sticky. Skwovet is passed out in the trash can, which now looks a little bit like a funfetti cake if he squints. The room is remarkably intact, however, so he assumes the colorful blobs he sees mixed in with the shredded towels are Berries stolen from his backpack.
His phone zooms up to greet him, flashing notifications. No texts, which is good. Three missed calls. Not good. One of those calls is from Nemona. Even worse.
He mashes his fists into his eyes and rolls out of bed, padding to the bathroom to brush his teeth and splash some water on his face. The cafeteria will be closed at this hour. He'll eat tomorrow; cooking seems like a lot of work right now and he's not in the mood for takeout. He'll make himself a sandwich or something later if he's hungry.
He takes stock of himself in the mirror once he feels slightly more human. He looks a wreck--his hair is dirty, sticking up at all angles, and he's got deep dark circles under his eyes. Maybe he'll be able to convince Juli that he was sick and zonked out on cold medicine when she came by earlier.
His musing is interrupted by a soft knock on the door. He frowns at himself in the mirror. It's late enough that anyone going out for the night would have already left, not that he's getting invited to many parties these days, and anyone staying in would have gone to their rooms for the night.
"Arven?" Juliana's voice is softer and more uncertain than he's ever heard before. It sounds wrong. Juli is one of the most self-assured people he's ever met, moving through the world with the easy confidence of someone who was never taught to make herself small.
"Hey can I come in please? It's just me--" she hesitates. "I didn't see you at dinner and you didn't answer me earlier so I thought you might be hungry. I ordered a bunch of stuff from Celadon Dragon if you want some? I won't stay if you're not feeling up to it."
Arven might be hallucinating. There's no way she could have noticed he wasn't at dinner, and there's no way she'd be back this soon after he was such a dick to her earlier.
"Alright well I guess you're still not up to it--I'm just going to leave this here at the door a--" He bolts for the door, yanking it open with enough force that he almost smacks himself in the face.
"Wait, I'm here!" he hopes she can't hear the urgency in his voice, but he doubts it. Juli is perceptive like that. She blinks up at him, clearly startled, a small bag of takeout clutched in her fist. She's already in pajamas, short shorts and an oversized sweatshirt emblazoned with a ridiculously cartoonish drawing of Leon throwing a Pokeball. Her hair is piled up on top of her head, loose from its braid for once.
She's beautiful, and it breaks his heart a little bit.
"Um, hi," he says. "Did you need something?"
"I got rid of the Maschiff," she blurts. "I didn't mean to upset you earlier, I was just so excited because Dark types are so useful and a Mabosstiff would be big enough that we wouldn't have to worry as much when we take on the Titans and," she pauses for breath. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. You were upset, you're already a great sport about Miraidon. If you're afraid of dogs, I'll figure something else out."
Arven gapes at her. Afraid of dogs? She's doing all this because she thinks he's afraid of dogs? He huffs out a shaky laugh. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I had a bad experience a while back. Usually I'm okay but, you know. Surprise!"
She grins at him, holding up the takeout bag. "Peace offering?"
"You know, usually when a guy is an asshole to you for no reason, he's the one who should be bringing a peace offering," he says, stepping back to allow Juli into the room. He wishes it was a little cleaner, but he's seen how the monsters she calls floormates live so at least he's a step up from that.
She sets the takeout on the counter and turns back towards him just in time to catch Skowvet, who has launched herself at Juli and is currently busying herself trying to hide berries in Juli's hair.
The full force of Juli's smile hits him like a Solar Beam; he didn't even know he was cold. "Partners get a total of one asshole pass a month in Galar. That's the rule, which I definitely did not just make up. We can call my mom, she'll verify."
"Oh? Is that what we are? Partners?" He reaches above her head and pulls two plates down from the cabinet above his kitchenette. She hums as she takes the plates from him, setting them beside the takeout bag as she unpacks their meal.
"Buddies, partners, battle bros...your pick, really." She pauses to accept the spoon he hands her, scooping steaming piles of rice onto both plates. "I like partners though. It means we're a team, you know? You and me, exploring the wilderness on an epic quest for the world's most delicious sandwich toppings. The world is our oyster!" Her eyes are bright with mirth and she nudges his shoulder gently. "You've got my back and I've got yours, right?"
Arven's eyes sting and he turns away, rummaging through his cutlery drawer in search of forks. "Right," he says. He swallows thickly. "I'll always have your back, little buddy." Juli makes an exaggerated thumbs up gesture at him. Skwovet copies her, and he laughs genuinely for the first time in a while.
Eventually she's going to find out about Boss, and his mom, either by connecting the campus gossip dots or because Nemona can't keep her mouth shut about anything. He's being selfish, not telling her the truth about the Titans. But that's a problem for Future Arven.
Tonight he has a beautiful girl in his dorm room, playing some sort of hide and seek game with the squirrel he threw at her weeks ago in a fit of pique. It feels natural, almost normal, watching her roll around on the floor with his Pokemon. He takes a bite. It's a spicy stir fry, rich and fragrant. This time, when his eyes water, he tells himself it's the food.