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Umbreon tugs at Spinel’s pant leg as they stand in front of the shelf. The Pokémon food they typically get is out of stock at their normal place, so they had to run to the next nearest Pokémart to try and find it.
“Oh, did you find it?” He crouches down to Umbreon’s level and picks up the bag it had been beckoning him to. Sure enough, it’s what the brand they’re looking for. He gives Umbreon a pat of appreciation and picks up the bag. He stands up to go to check out when—
His head smacks directly into someone’s hand, reaching for a bag above him. He drops his own bag in the process.
“Shit, my bad—” the person cuts himself off. “Mr. Awfully Shy?!”
Internally, Spinel sighs—this was supposed to be a quick trip. Externally, he plasters as polite a face he is capable of making on.
“Professor Friede. I certainly didn’t expect to run into you here, especially in this aisle. You have a chef on your ship, do you not?” He may as well keep him on his toes. Whether or not it’s out of pettiness is irrelevant.
“You–” the other man cut himself off with a sigh. He mumbled something along the lines of “of course you’d know that” before continuing. “If you’re so confident you know everything about our ship, then you’d know why I'm here, wouldn’t you?” The other says with a mildly annoyed smirk.
Spinel clicks his tongue in annoyance. He’s tempted to continue with another snarky remark, but this trip has already lasted longer than he wanted to. His current goal was to leave, not instigate.
“Right. It’s time for me to take my leave, so—” he starts before getting cut off. “Hey now, how can I be so sure this isn’t part of another elaborate scheme?”
What.
“The explorers have casual lives outside of our jobs. Now, if you’ll excuse me—”
“Last time you were acting ‘casual’, you robbed a ten year old.”
“For a job. Are we finished here?” Spinel turns away, about to leave when a hand grabs his shoulder. Umbreon starts to growl before he gestures for it to calm down.
“I don’t think so, Mr. Awfully Shy. I don’t trust you out here without supervision.” Spinel pinches his nose. “In what way would I pose a danger trying to get my groceries? Unless.. are you implying your crew is here as well?” Spinel smirked. If he wasn’t going to get out of here when he wanted to, he would at least get a little fun out of it. Friede mutters a curse before continuing. Bingo.
“And this is exactly why I’m not letting you run around all willy nilly alone. Now, whaddya say? Fancy a collaborative grocery trip?”
“..I don’t have a choice, do I?” “Nope.”
Spinel weighs his options. Either he could go along with the professor’s shenanigans and eventually get to leave, or he could run off, still leaving somewhat on schedule. Maybe let Umbreon get in a bite on the way out if he’s feeling extra mean. Though, that could attract quite a bit of attention.. which, as a member of a criminal organization, could prove quite troublesome.
And after all he’s already dealt with today, just one single professor is much easier to deal with than law enforcement.
Spinel resigns to his fate.
—
“Why do I have to hold all the baskets?” The professor complains, trailing behind Spinel. He’s holding two baskets on one arm and none on the other. “You insisted on following me around and slowing me down, did you not? I think this is fair compensation.” “Touché.”
There’s a moment of silence before the professor continues. “You know, for someone who was so desperate to leave, you sure are getting a lot of stuff.” Spinel smirks. This was originally going to be a short trip, but now he gets the opportunity to mess with Friede, to observe his reactions. So, may as well get all of his shopping done while he’s here, right? There’s no hope of staying on schedule anymore, anyways. “You’re welcome to leave if you’d like. But that would leave me open to.. what was it you said? ‘Run all willy nilly?’” He throws a mocking look at Friede over his shoulder.
He hears an illegible grumble from behind him. “Why are you using so many baskets anyways? What happened to carts?” “We’re using baskets. Unless you want to go get one, leaving me alone..” “Alright, alright, I get it. Baskets it is.” Friede throws a “smirk” at Spinel, though due to current circumstances, it looks more like a grimace. Spinel even sees his eyebrow twitch.
“Next we need coffee. Which is in aisle..” “Ten.” “Ten, apparently.” The two make their way to the aisle, Spinel in front, and when he peeks in—
It’s the chef of the Rising Volttacklers and the kids. Alongside them is the capped Pikachu. Before Spinel can do anything else, he feels a hand grip his and pull him away. Friede drags them both away from the aisle.
“Nope, not risking that. What’s next on the list?” the professor asks as they walk away.
“I wasn’t going to engage, you know. I’m well aware that battling in the middle of a Pokémart is a terrible idea.” The professor sighs before responding. “It’s not you I’m worried about starting something.” he mutters.
Ah, that’s right. The purple one doesn’t like me much. Neither does the pink one. The Liko girl seems smart enough to refrain from fighting, but the other two…
“Hello? Earth to Mr. Awfully Shy?” the professor waves a hand in front of Spinel’s face. He’d spaced out for a moment.
“I have a name.” “And would you tell me it?” “Of course not. Unlike you, I don’t go around sharing information that could be used against me later.” Friede gives an annoyed smirk, before its replaced with one of comical shock. “Figures. Wait, are you insulting me?” Spinel lets a small chuckle slip. Friede’s face takes on a slight red tint at the sound. Hm? Interesting. He files the reaction away as something to research further. “I believe they’ve left aisle ten now. Shall we?” Friede snaps out of his contemplative state and nods.
—
They’re still holding hands.
“And all that’s left is.. why is this Pokemon shampoo so expensive?!” Friede looks up from the shopping list he’s holding.
“It’s for Umbreon. She’s very picky when it comes to fur care.” Umbreon, trailing behind them, gave a small nod. “Like owner like Pokémon, right?” Friede remarks.
“What do you mean?” “I mean, look at your hair. It’s all clean and fluffy. Like it’s never seen a speck of dirt in its life.” Spinel wills down the flush that threatens to creep onto his face. “..Thanks. Now, what aisle is—””Can I touch it?”
..What.
“Your hair, I mean. Can’t help but be a little curious if it feels how it looks.” Absolutely not. “If you must.”
Before Spinel can process what he said—or unpack why on earth he said it—the hand that was previously holding his reaches up to his hair. Friede ruffles his hair a bit, before pulling away. “Yep, feels just how it looks.”
What the fuck.
If Spinel were one of the machines he works so often with, he would be bluescreening. Or short-circuiting. The shade of red on his face could rival a cherubi.
He’s jolted out of his thoughts at the sound of a chuckle. “You really aren’t used to this, are you?””..used to what?” Friede’s smirk morphs into something softer. “Physical affection? Human contact? You practically shut down when I touched your hair.”
Spinel’s eyes narrow into a glare. “I get a perfectly normal amount of contact.”
“You know, it’s hard to feel threatened when your face is so red—hey!”
Spinel grips Friede’s hand and drags them away to check out, Friede chuckling behind him the whole way.
—
“That wasn’t so bad, now was it?” Friede remarks as they step out into the parking lot. “It was.. tolerable.” “Y’know what, I’ll take it. Good enough for me.”
The two make their way to Spinel’s car and load the grocery bags inside. Umbreon jumps into the car. Before Spinel can follow, a voice interrupts.
“You’re not so bad when you’re off the job.” The professor avoids eye contact almost.. bashfully? Where could this be going? “Thank you?”
“And soooo..” The professor continues. “how about we exchange numbers? Couldn’t hurt, right?”
It absolutely can. This is a terrible idea, does he really think I’ll agree to this?
The professor walks away with a number scribbled on his hand. Spinel swears he sees him pump his fist in celebration in the distance.
—
It’s not until when Spinel is back at the Explorers’ base that he realizes. He dropped the bag of Pokemon food.
He never picked it back up.