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The first time Leaf sees Misty’s sygna suit, she walks straight into the side of a building.
Blue invites her into town on the premise of getting ice cream, but it’s quickly apparent that this is just a cover to spend the better part of the afternoon lamenting that he hasn’t seen Red in nearly two weeks. Which, considering who they’re talking about, is practically expected.
“If you miss him so much, you could just call him,” Leaf reminds him, for probably the fourth time that hour.
Blue wrinkles his nose, hiding his answering scowl behind his cone. “I don’t miss him.”
Leaf rolls her eyes. “Right.”
“It’s just hard to find a good challenge these days—”
“Mm-hm.”
“I wanna make sure his battling skills aren’t getting rusty—”
“Sure.”
“Are you even listening to me—”
“Of course,” Leaf says, right as they pass the center of the plaza, where a small crowd is forming around a group of battling sync pairs.
She cranes her neck to peer beyond the mass of spectators and catches a glimpse of copper hair, cerulean skirts, and enough bare, bronzed skin to make a lesser woman weep—
Leaf grunts when she slams into the side of Siebold’s patisserie nose-first. She windmills her arms uselessly as she falls backwards, which is enough to save her from smacking her head against the cobblestones, but not enough to keep her on her feet.
“Leaf, what the hell—” Blue splutters, peering down at her with only the slightest smirk, which is about as charitable as Leaf can expect where Blue is concerned.
“Shut up,” she says, ignoring him in favor of staring forlornly at her ice cream cone, its contents splattered across the ground. “Aw, damn it.”
“What had you so distracted anyway?” Blue asks, holding out a hand to help her up.
Leaf takes the proffered hand, wincing when her scraped palm stings with the contact. “Nothing.”
But Blue isn’t even listening, turning his back to her as soon as she’s back on her feet to watch the other side of the plaza.
The battle is already over, and the crowd has thinned enough to give them a full, unhindered view of the participants. Blue raises an eyebrow when he spots Misty, red hair haloed by the afternoon sunlight as she tips her head back and laughs at one of Bettie’s quiet quips.
Leaf squares her shoulders, resigned to the onslaught of teasing that’s sure to follow when Blue turns back to her.
But all he says is, “really? You act like you’ve never seen a vaporeon before.”
Leaf does not roll her eyes again, because while Blue being a clueless idiot is normally one of the great trials of her continued existence, it’s finally working out in her favor. “Yep, the vaporeon. That’s absolutely what I was looking at.”
Blue snorts. “Eevee-loving freak.”
“Like you’re one to talk,” she grumbles, but there’s no real heat behind it. Especially when Blue hands her his ice cream cone with a lopsided grin. “Thanks.”
He’s a good friend, she supposes. Even if he is too oblivious to function.
—
“I should've known I'd find you here."
Leaf turns toward the voice, immediately thankful that she's already sitting down when she sees none other than Misty approaching her. Misty, in her vaporeon-themed sygna suit, her short hair free of its usual pigtail, the silky strands framing her face in a way that makes Leaf's knees feel decidedly weak.
"Um," says Leaf, the picture of eloquence.
Misty grins. "Well, truthfully, I thought I might bump into you inside—" she jerks her head toward the looming silhouette of the Battle Villa behind Leaf. "What are you doing out here?"
"Hm?" Leaf bites her lip. "Oh. Waiting for Red and Blue."
"I see. Well, make sure you three save some opponents for the rest of us."
"Oh, sure, but... it's not really up to me." Leaf shrugs. "I'm waiting for them to finish."
Misty puts her hands on her hips. "They went in without you?!"
"I mean, we already beat it together last week," Leaf says, lips quirking into an amused grin at the obvious outrage on Misty's face. "They thought it might be more of a challenge if they went through it alone. But also—" she pauses to roll her eyes, "it's Red and Blue, so they're—"
"Turning it into a competition?" Misty huffs. "Yeah, that tracks."
Leaf hums her agreement, taking advantage of the momentary lull in conversation to admire the way Misty's skirts sway in the gentle breeze rolling in from the shore, the tangy scent of salt and the distant call of wingulls reminding Leaf of how close they are to the ocean right now. She's struck by a sudden, all-encompassing need to see it, to forget about the building behind her and her clueless, hard-headed teammates. To see Misty in her real element, lithe and graceful amongst the waves—
"When did they go in?" Misty jerks her head towards the building, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Oh, um," Leaf says, glancing at her watch. "Maybe five—ten?—minutes ago?"
"Excellent. That gives us plenty of time to catch up."
"It does?"
Leaf yelps when Misty's hands close around her arm, pulling her to her feet with an effortlessness that does strange things to Leaf's insides.
"Let's go kick their ass," is all Misty says by way of explanation, threading her fingers through Leaf's, their joined hands a tether that guides Leaf toward the Villa, as if she needs it. As if Misty's laughter isn't enough to make her follow the other woman on her own, the compulsion so strong that Leaf starts to wonder if perhaps there isn't a sliver of truth to the old siren stories, and if their songs work as effortlessly on land as they do amid the waves.
—
"If you stare any harder, she may actually burst into flames."
Leaf jumps, casting a quick, guilty glance around the plaza. No one but her lunch mate seems to be paying her any mind, which is probably for the best. "What?"
Lyra snorts, taking a noisy sip of her frozen latte through her straw. "Don't play dumb. You're not exactly subtle." She raises her eyebrows and jerks her head toward the marble primarina fountain in the center of the square.
"I'm not playing anything." Leaf shifts in her seat, angling away from the scene of Misty perched on the edge of the fountain, laughing when her vaporeon flicks a trail of water at her face with its tail. Leaf doesn't trust herself to not stare, otherwise. "I really don't know what you're talking about."
Lyra tilts her head, lips quirking. "I'm talking about you ogling Misty like she's a tall glass of water in the middle of the desert."
"I was not," Leaf protests, her cheeks feeling far too hot considering the umbrella above their table blocks out the worst of the afternoon sun.
"You should ask her out."
Leaf nearly knocks over her cup, the porcelain rattling in its saucer when her knuckles knock into the side of it. "What?! No, I—I'm not—we're not—I don't even like—"
"Leaf," Lyra cuts in with a flat expression, "you were holding her hand at the Battle Villa last week. You didn't even let go when our match started. You're kind of beyond plausible deniability at this point."
Leaf purses her lips, mentally cursing her own stupidity. She had noticed the unholy glint in Lyra's eye when they reached her room in the Villa, but even that hadn't been enough to convince her to drop Misty's hand. "We're just friends. Friends hold hands, Lyra. It's no big deal."
"Uh-huh, sure." Lyra laughs, slinging a leg over the arm of her chair. She doesn't say anything else for a long time, absently kicking her foot as she watches a tour group pass by the cafe patio. A few of the members recognize them, snapping a quick photo as Leon herds them along. "I can't believe they're still letting him lead the tour groups. It took them three days to find that lady he lost in the mountains."
Leaf smiles, hoping she doesn't look as relieved at the change of topic as she feels. "He means well, and the tourists love him."
Lyra rolls her eyes. "Yeah, because he's a celebrity. We have plenty of other famous people who don't pop down to the lobby to check their mail and end up inside a volcano instead."
"That didn't happen." Leaf frowns. "You just made that up."
"It absolutely happened. Twice." Lyra blows out a long breath, trying to dislodge the strand of hair falling into her eyes. "I had to lead one of the search parties both times."
Leaf takes a sip of her drink to hide her grin. "Poor Leon."
"Poor Leon?" Lyra slams her drink down on the table. "Poor Leon?! Save your sympathy for someone who deserves it. Like poor Elysa. I'm pretty sure she's still traumatized from that time she saw him casually walk out of the ocean."
Leaf darts a glance at the fountain, trying and failing to not picture Misty in Leon's place. Rising from the waves like a naiad, bronze skin glistening in the sunlight, beads of water trailing down the long expanse of her abdomen—
"Wipe the drool off your chin." Lyra groans. "This is pathetic. I'm honestly embarrassed for you."
"Shut up," Leaf says, dragging her eyes back to Lyra with effort.
"Ask her out," Lyra demands. "She'll say yes."
Leaf frowns, stirring her drink with a spoon to keep her hands busy. "You... you think so?"
Lyra nods. "Absolutely."
"You seem awfully confident about it."
"Well, yeah, it's pretty easy to be." Lyra's answering grin is thick with mischief. "After all, she was holding your hand too."
"Oh." Leaf drops the spoon with a clatter. "Oh."
Lyra sighs, long-suffering. "I think Blue's thick-headedness is rubbing off on you."
Leaf opens her mouth to protest, pauses, closes it. "That's fair, given the circumstances."
—
Misty is already in the water when Leaf arrives, the waves lapping at her hips. Her whole face lights up when she spots Leaf loitering at the edge of the beach where the grass and trees give way to sand. "Leaf!" she yells, cupping her hands around her mouth to ensure the word carries across the distance separating them. "Come on! The water's amazing!"
Leaf smiles, the sand shifting under her sandals as she approaches the waterline. It sweeps over her toes as the tide rolls in, shocking a gasp out of her. "It's cold!" she accuses, taking a hasty step back when the next wave creeps up the shore.
"A little," Misty admits, wading closer. "You get used to it."
Leaf's smile turns wry. "I think I'll stay where it's nice and dry, thanks."
Misty shrugs, emerging from the water to flop down onto the blanket Leaf spread out across the sand.
Leaf keeps her eyes fixed straight ahead, at the rolling waves and clusters of flying-types dotting the sky, at the sun dipping beneath the water and streaking the horizon a deep purple, at the distant splash of a wailmer emerging for air. At anything other than the blue bikini hugging Misty like a second skin or the way her red hair is starting to curl against her face as it dries.
She's so focused on avoiding the thought of Misty being spread out next to her that she doesn't notice the other woman shift closer, startling when Misty's breath ghosts along her cheek.
"Sorry," Misty whispers, sounding anything but.
"I—" Leaf breaks off, mind going blank when Misty leans in more, so close that her nose brushes against Leaf's temple.
"Can I..."
"Yes," Leaf says, breathless.
Misty's fingers curl around the back of Leaf's neck, pulling her in until their lips meet.
—
Leaf rests her elbow on the table, propping her chin on her hand as she watches Red and Blue try very hard not to touch each other at all on the other side of the booth. She has to bite her lip to hold in a laugh when Blue forgets himself for the fifth time in as many minutes and snatches his hand back mid-air as he subconsciously reaches for Red.
It might be slightly more convincing if they hadn't been so damn demonstrative before. She's seen Blue sit in Red's lap without batting an eye when there were no open chairs, for goodness' sake. Now that they're trying to be subtle, the lack of physical contact is conspicuous.
She doesn't tell them that, though. She's happy for them, and if they want to pretend that they haven't figured their shit out yet, she is more than willing to play along.
She'll let Lyra be the one to torment them about it. It can be her thank-you gift for helping Leaf sort out her own love life.
"Who's joining us, anyway?" Blue asks from behind his menu.
Leaf perks up when she spots Misty making her way towards them, breath hitching when the skirts of her sygna suit flow behind her with each step. The outfit makes Misty look elegant at the best of times, but next to the plain decor in the diner, she looks otherworldly. "Someone special," is all Leaf says.
Misty gives her a small smile when she slides into the booth next to her. "Hi, there."
"Hello," Leaf breathes, and kisses her.
Blue screams when he finally looks up from his menu, and Red is so flustered that he knocks over his drink, ice cubes and water spilling across the table.
Leaf grins against Misty's lips.
She'll tease them about it later. For now, she has more important things to focus on.