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Pacing around his room, Niko checked if everything was in place. Bag ? Check. Pain killers just in case ? Check. Wallet ? Checked, also checked for ID and metro card which were in there. Keys ? Wait where are the keys.
The brown haired looked around, spotting his keys on the table, and then he noticed his shoes. Should he put them first ? Wait what about his coat ? Oh screw him was there an order to put things on ? What was it ? He stayed stuck for a few seconds deciding which to take first between his keys, shoes and coat, and decided to take them in that exact order, in a hurry. Alright so keys are checked, boots are on and trench coat is also on, lastly he grabbed his phone, earphones and external battery, today was going to be a long day. And also very important, the reason why the young adult was making it a mission to look his best and look as if he had his shit together, which he doesn’t obviously.
Checking his phone, deciding on what to listen to on the way to the meeting spot, he noticed he received a message from Dia, or Dialga, or Didi, whatever, being a deity’s champion was something and Niko was planning to have some fun with the situation at the very least. While his friend Zoe had an Arc-phone, given by fucking Arceus itself, he had a Dia-phone from the sovereign of time. Deity in the Sinnoh region. Niko is from Kalos. He’s pretty sure his life is just a joke at this point.
‘You are not in a hurry, Palkia should be late by 25 minutes, you are not late.’ Read the message.
Sweet, really, Niko appreciated the reassurance of not being late, but he has anxiety, and the public transports in Aquacorde were kind of all over the place (we are not talking about line B. Never about Line B. When is it opened anyway, when it’s not it’s in repairs), and knowing the line (thankfully line D), it could sometimes be stuck for 20 to 30 minutes for no reasons, which is why he’s always super early when everything goes well.
He typed an answer as he left his dad’s house and walked towards the bus stop.
‘Thanks, but I have anxiety =(^.^)=‘
It took 30 minutes to reach his destination, between the bus and the subway (screw that guy who played the accordion in the subway for nearly 10 minutes, screw you in particular) and now he waited by the statue in the middle of the town-square for the deity of space.
Dialga had insisted that they both meet up, Palkia having profusely apologized for going berserk or Origin back in Hisui, a long story, in order to maybe become at best acquaintances. Dialga had so kindly (they didn’t have a choice) let Niko chose the location, and of course he would choose his favorite place in Aquacorde. (As a Kalosian not born in Lumiose, he hates Lumiose, Aquacorde was just as good if not better because the people are kinder here than they are in Lumiose.)
He knew this particular town-square by heart, knew where the cutest shops were, where was the best ice cream shop, the libraries, one of which was absolutely beautiful surrounded by statues and right next to a cinema, he knew the best spot around here, it brought him some comfort to know that he controlled the situation, somewhat, he knows he’ll become a puddle the second he’ll have to make conversation with the spacial deity.
Speaking of which, they were late, of course, Dialga told him as such, he could listen to some tunes while he waited and to mostly calm down his nerves. He had no idea what to expect from the god of space, will they be in their pokemart uniform ? Something else ? What if they changed shaped entirely ? Would he be able to recognize them ?
He doubts it, he’s terrible at remembering faces, his only hope is the markings on their skin; on their neck, shoulders, forearms, hands..Bright pink and visible. At least in summer. In Hoennan summer. Now it’s not completely winter, but cold autumn rather, so you still need to dress warmly to be comfy, but that means that their recognizable patterns will be hidden.
Being lost in his mind with loud music playing in his ears, he did not notice the person trying to gain his attention until he felt a tap on his shoulder. He was expecting someone to tell him that he dropped something or ask him for directions, not for a tall, jaw dropping drop-dead gorgeous pink beauty to stand next to him.
“Hey, it’s been a while !”
She waved, and it took Niko a few more seconds of observation before recognizing that this was Palkia, mostly due to the pink markings on their neck and hands.
“Uh- Yeah, yeah, it has been..” He mumbled, nervously touching the spikes on his collar.
Last time Niko saw them, Palkia took the form of a lean guy seemingly in their mid-twenties with white hair falling down their shoulder with a few pink strands, now they looked like a chubby woman also in their mid twenties with long wavy white hair with hot pink tips, and the same pink colored strands here and there, the only resemblance between the two forms were the markings, the hot pink eyes, messy hair and the freckles peppered all over their face.
“I have no idea what we’re doing ! Dia told me that they left it up to you so I’m going in blind !”
They laughed and, as Niko predicted, he felt like he became a puddle. He was incredibly nervous, and they were insanely cute, his mind was going a hundred miles per minutes as he grabbed his phone to pull out the notes he made so today goes smoothly. Right now they had about 30 minutes to spare before heading to a meow cafe.
“Yeah, I got today’s program here.” He pointed to his phone.
Thousands of replies and sentences were going through his head at max speed and he could barely grasp any of them, he felt like his head was drowning, so many noises and yet it felt empty.
“By the way, how should I refer to you ?”
The spacial god only tilted their head, clearly confused as to what he meant. Oh right, human things, or maybe he was just not clear enough maybe ?
“I mean, well, I can’t really call you by your name for, I think, pretty obvious reasons..” Was he clear enough ? He thinks he is, he’s not sure, is he understandable, is he even talking the same language as them ? Is he doing anything right ? “So how can I call you ?”
“Just Kia is fine !”
Oh. Yeah that kind of makes sense. As far as he knows, all the nicknames the legendaries go by are just shorten versions of their names.
“Kia..”
“Yup ! I use this name mainly for the pokemart, but you can call me that !”
He nodded dumbly. Ah, he was really terrible at maintaining conversations..
“Sooo… What are we doing ?”
The deity asked, trying to get a peak at the human’s phone.
Oh right !
“Sorry, so, right now we have half an hour before heading to a cafe, we can stay for a few hours and then, if you want, we can go eat some ice cream by the river. Is this alright with-“ He couldn’t even finish his sentence that the god in disguise was already excitedly nodding their head and shaking their fists.
“Yes, yes ! Perfectly fine !”
That was maybe a bit too much excitement for Niko, it made him a bit nervous to let them down. Dialga reassured him that Palkia wasn’t naturally violent, that what happened in Hisui was a one time thing, even Palkia explained that they were simply in so much pain that they went insane, he forgave them, he wasn’t mad at them and he could understand where they were coming from, but the idea of an angry Palkia was still enough for his fight or flight response to go off.
“Where should we go ? Everything seems exciting here !”
Well shit. As much as he thought about it, he never really decided where they should go or what they should do for the first thirty minutes. It should be somewhere at most 10 minutes from here, interesting enough for both Palkia and him, not related to food either- He lightly pulled at the spikes on his collar, the cool and smooth texture underneath his fingertips alongside the repeated motion soothed him in a way. Okay. Think. Somewhere not too far and kinda fun or interesting. He pulled out his phone, he took screenshots of plenty of shops around, surely one could be of help-
‘Take them to the library :)’
He stared at the message from the god of time for a few seconds.
Well..Dialga was time, surely they know what was going to happen.. Better trust them.
“There is a library nearby, if you want.”
He said, finally looking up at the deity in front of him, who seemed nothing short of elated at the idea.
“Sure ! Let’s go !”
They were ready to just walk off before looking back at the human, who was just staring at them.
“Oh, I mean, go ahead ? Lead the way ?”
Well it’s good to know that the deity of space was equally as nervous as him, at least he thinks.
“Uh, yeah, let’s go.”
The library was big, next to a cinema and surrounded by statues. This whole part of town was a tourist trap, so it might as well look gorgeous.
At least Palkia looked ecstatic, and was more than happy to spend 10 minutes browsing the pretty books and the few rocks they were selling(“Shiny ! It’s shiny ! Look !”) with Niko keeping them away from any books that might scare them (why is there so much smut. WHY IS THERE SO MUCH SMU-), they ended up falling in love with an adorable Espeon plushy, which ended up being bought after the wheel picker on Niko’s phone told them that they could.
Turns out they’re both awful at making decisions, which they had a good laugh about. But that was before Niko noticed they were going to be late for the meow cafe and had to drag the space deity all the way through the plaza to the exact opposite of the timesquare.
Needless to say that they were late.
“Oh my me they’re all so cute !” The deity exclaimed as they watched a purloin stretch on a nearby cat tree.
Niko had made sure to keep the fact that it was a cat Pokémon cafe (Dialga reassured them that Palkia was not allergic, legendaries couldn’t have allergies anyways) and if Palkia was already ecstatic in the library, now they were enraptured by all the small bundles of fur hanging around.
The cafe was quite big, it was on two floors, part of the second being kept as a work space and overall quiet spot.
The main entrance was a grayish green color with cat trees and platforms for the little fur-balls, alongside stories about all the residents’s backgrounds hung on the wall, and near the counter was a table filled with merchandise of the residents ; mugs, pins, stickers and keychains.
A bit further away was a small looking corridor where there were also tables, the walls were a pastel pink with faux-paintings of each Pokémon on the wall in a medieval style, which were both adorable and incredible, and the farthest place was green, with a single table next to the stairs.
Surprisingly, Niko never went upstairs, if he wants to work he can do that in the cafe spot, he doesn’t mind too much people talking around him.
Niko knew the staff at this point, he’s been coming to this place for easily 3 years so they just told him which table to sit by and well he knew the rest, first though he needed to catch the deity before they picked up one the of kitties.
“Hey Kia, did you hear the rules ?”
He was met with wide pink eyes as they were attempting to pet a glameow, which was trying to stay away from them. Well that answers it. “Basically don’t pick up the Pokémons-“
“Awn…”
“Yes I know but it’s for their own good and you can’t feed them.”
The deity definitely looked upset that they’re not allowed to pick up the cat Pokémons, but they understood (they were themselves a Pokémon after all) but their dejected face really pulled at the man’s heartstrings, so he handed them his phone. “Here, there’s the menue on it, I’ll go wait for you by our table, ‘kay ? I already know what I want, no worries.” Which is the same exact same thing he’s been having for the past 3 years.
The white and pink haired did look slightly happier, taking his phone with a small “thank you” as they went through the different menues.
It was pretty chill on Niko’s side, just watching over the deity to ensure that nobody would be harmed, and also ignoring the white eevee at his feet. He’s not being mean, the eevee is just a diva. She likes attention, but if you give it to her she will leave.
He felt a bump on his leg and looked down at the eevee.
“Hello Queenie.” That wasn’t her actually name, but since she was acting like such a diva, it felt appropriate. Soon, said eevee was done with being ignored and jumped on the chair and onto the table before proceeding to lay down on it. “You want pats ?” He asked, letting the small Pokémon smell his hand, hesitating, before ultimately deciding that no, she did not wants pets. “Okay fair enough.”
“Oh she’s so cute !” Palkia was now back from their little expedition around the cafe, which made Niko flinch as he was not prepared to see them come back so soon, but they hadn’t seem to notice. “By the way, could you translate a few things for me ?” They asked while pointing to the blue phone.
“Yeah sure, what do you need ?”
“The cheesecake menue, I don’t understand what flavors they have.”
Ah, yes, cheesecake’s flavor change daily. So it’s never written down.
“That’s normal, they change daily, depends on the baker’s mood, do you want me to ask what flavor they have for today ?”
They nodded excitedly and sat down on their chair, their fingers happily tapping on the table, which apparently disturbed her highness Queenie.
Niko got up from his chair, making one last attempt at petting the eevee, which she again refused.
“Okay, well I’ll be right back.”
The cheesecakes were shown at the counter, today’s were Oreo and lemon, and so he went back to their table to share the information.
“Oh ! Which one is sweeter ?”
Niko never really tried the cheesecakes, he took the chocolate soufflé menue once and never strayed from it ever since, but by pure logic, Oreo should be the sweeter one. He tried the black and white biscuit once, didn’t like it, the filling was too sweet for his taste, if he could just have the biscuit part he’d be happy.
“I guess the Oreo ?”
“Alright ! I think I’m gonna take this one then !”
“Cool, what about your drink ?”
Poor poor Palkia, who had just decided what to eat and still had to figure out what to drink. The face they made nearly sent Niko dying from laughter, how he managed to keep it together he doesn’t know.
“But…But..” They feigned a sniffling sound for dramatic effects, which still gained some sympathy from the human.
“I know.. You want help ?”
“Yes please..”
And so Niko started to translate the drinks out loud, going over the different beverage sections, it took a few minutes as the drinks outnumbered by far the pastries. Cold drinks, coffees, warm drinks, boba teas, normal teas… There were so many.
“…Home-made Ice tea and finally water. Did anything catch your attention ?”
The human asked, watching the spacial legendary flop onto the table.
“I don’t knoooww..” They whined, even if their face was against the table, they still knew exactly where to put their hand to pet Queenie, which the eevee looked pretty unhappy with. “What do you usually take ?”
“Mokka Spéculos. It’s pretty good, but maybe one day I should try their Boba tea-”
“Don’t you mean Bubble tea ?” Palkia cut him off, raising their head from the table.
“That’s how it’s written on the menue.” They pointed out.
“Nah, Boba tea is the Galarian name, Bubble tea is the Kalosian name.”
“Confusing.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Niko watched as the gears turned into the white haired’s head, he had no idea what they were thinking about, but they looked focused.
“What’s a boba tea anyway ?”
Well that was a crime.
“Okay you’re going to take a bubble tea, and it’s basically a tea based drink with tapioca pearls, can come in as many flavors as you can think, it’s very good don’t worry.”
The legendary took a few seconds to think about it. They were never really interested in what humans did, most of the time anyway, they were still interested in the little gadgets they have created, all they cared about is that humans were adorable, and that was enough for them to let the mortals live in their space. So needless to say that this was pretty new to them.
“I guess it can’t hurt.” They shrugged. They could always give it to Niko if they ended up not liking it. “I’ll let you chose the flavors ! I feel like you know a bit more on this than I do.” They smiled at the human.
“Okay then, I’ll go order.” He said as he got up from his chair, going back to the counter and in barely a minute it was done, he walked back and nearly doubled over when he saw Palkia trying to reach out to the other Pokémons, who were just running away. They looked so dejected the poor thing, he felt bad in a way. “Are you having troubles ?”
He really tried to hide his smile, he really did, but it was so sad and so funny at the same time he did not know how to react, they were just making grabby hands towards a purloin who was skedaddling away in Krabby manner.
“I am… I know Pokémons are more sensitive to things compared to humans, but I feel like they already know who I am… I just want to love on them !”
Ah Niko could understand that, he quickly learned that the Pokémons here aren’t big on physical affection here, a few are of course, but most are perfectly content being viewed and untouched.
“Yeah, I know, they’re not big on being touched, so I just ignore them until they want attention.” He looked back at the white Eevee on the table, giving him the stink eye. “Most of the time.” He added, sticking his tongue out at the eevee. Real petty, he knows.
“Yes, but at least they’re pretty happy here !” Despite the rejections, the deity was still beaming. That was true, the Pokémons body languages never betrayed any nervousness or being hurt, as far as Niko noticed that is.
“I guess that’s true.”
The white haired deity looked a bit to his side, eyeing the eevee still laid on the table.
“Is El still not willing to be pat ?”
“No she’s being mean to me.”
They both chuckled at the eevee now glaring at them, big fluffy tail tapping on the table, which made Palkia coo softly (a very odd sound Niko thinks, but he’s heard it before from his Garchomp. Well Palkia is part dragon type so that may simply be a dragon thing).
“Awn, we’re sorry for teasing you !” The Eevee still looked upset, but she just turned her back to them. What a little diva.
“You understand her ?” Inquired the human, looking at the pink person by him.
“Yes, of course.”
That made sense, Palkia is still a Pokémon, of course they’d understand Pokémon speech. Maybe one day Niko will ask them to translate his Pokémon to him, he wants to know if they’re happy with him, if he could maybe better some things. Hell, he’ll take being roasted, he’s pretty sure his Zoroark or Lopunny will roast him to hell and back (they hated his guts at first, fond memories indeed).
While Palkia went to explore the rest of the caffe and hopefully pet some of their residents, Niko waited at their table, the eevee now gone to sit on another table, scrolling on his phone until a waiter came by to serve him the food and drinks, making small talk while doing so. The brown haired has never been good with small talks, just because he has never understood what small talks were so he has no idea how to respond. But after a bit the waiter left, leaving the young adult replaying the whole conversation in his head and trying to see his mistakes when the spacial deity came back.
“Oh ! Food !”
They joyfully exclaimed as the sat down, looking at the snacks and the drinks. The human took a quick second to snap a picture that he’ll send to his friends later, before grabbing the straw of his drink and slurping it. The coffee taste was maybe a bit too strong to his taste, but the speculos added a nice balance, though he wouldn’t say no to more sugar. Meanwhile, the white haired dug in the Oreo cheesecake, making a content rumble upon tasting it. (It did sound like a purr, but dragon types don’t purr, they rumble, there is a very clear difference. Though Palkia’s was very deep, hard to hear but he felt it shake him to his core.)
“What did you take ?” They asked as they finished their bite.
“Chocolate soufflé, want a taste ?”
“Don’t mind if I do !” Palkia did not hesitate to take a small piece of his cake before munching on it, humming happily at the taste. “It’s sho good !” They declared with a happy rumble, which made the human chuckle.
Niko enjoyed the silent time, happily drinking, that was until he felt a paw on his leg.
“Oh my goodness.” He started as he looked down at the Skitty by his feet. “It’s Didi !” He said, leaning back on his chair to give the cat Pokémon all the space to jump on his lap, which she did.
All the cat Pokémons at the cafe were adorable, but Niko had to admit that Didi was his favorite. It wasn’t exactly her name but she still somewhat responded to the nickname.
“Wait.”
Niko lifted his head to meet a very amused Palkia. “Are you calling my sibling and this Skitty by the same nickname ?” They asked incredulous, flashing him a fanged smirk.
“Maybe.”
They laughed out loud, nearly slamming their hand on the table (thankfully they held themselves back, Niko knows for a fact that the table would have broke under the impact-), before falling into giggles, which soon turned sour. For a split second, they looked sad, forlorn. Niko is sure he saw it, but Palkia soon regained their overjoyed act, happily eating the Oreo cake, still, the human was a bit worried.
“Hey..” He started.
The pink person in front of him hummed, looking at him, paying attention. “You don’t have to tell me anything, but you looked sad for a second, do you want to talk about it ?”
Now he was doubting himself. Is he reading too much into it ? Maybe he shouldn’t have asked, he could never understand the kind of pressure the space deity probably has on their shoulder, being space, that any mistake could erase the existence of he does not know how many people.
Still, he slid his hand closer to their side of the table. Maybe for comfort, maybe for support, he doesn’t know, it just felt right at the moment.
They gave him a little smile before reaching out a hand to hold his. Palkia’s hand was bigger than his, which was a given considering the obvious height difference between them (not to say that Niko is small, which he is, but Palkia is also pretty tall even in their human disguise, it did not help that they were wearing high heels), but this did not avert him from lightly squeezing it.
“We were..We are… A trio, you know that, right ?” Niko nodded, listening intensely. “Good. After.. THAT happened, we.. Dia and I, couldn’t reach out to Gira. We still can’t to this day.” Giratina seemed to be a sour subject for everyone, Niko doesn’t want to remember much, but the fight against Giratina and that insane man left a pretty big scar on him. “But we still love them, you know ? We’re not mad, we’re not upset.” Palkia looked up, trying not to cry, especially not in public. “They’re still our older sibling, they’ve always protected us until they were banished, and even from the distortion world I’m sure they’ve been looking out for us.” They paused, mouth hanging open, finding their next words, is they should be even uttered at all. “I miss them. I miss my siblings. Dia and I haven’t been the same since. I want my siblings back.”
The human rubbed his thumb against the back of the pink haired’s hand, slowly. Both remained silent for a few seconds, maybe a full minute. But Palkia looked like they had really needed it, and the silence wasn’t awkward, at least Niko didn’t think so.
“Heh..” Niko looked up at the deity, still stroking the back of their hand as they wetly chuckled. “Sorry for dumping this on you.”
The brown haired shook his head negatively, reaching out his other hand to hold theirs.
“It’s fine, I think you needed to be heard for a second. You have a lot on your plate.” Which is perfectly understandable as they are as old as space. Literally.
They smiled, appreciative, falling back into silence, not even eating the rest of their cheesecake.
“I don’t understand.” They muttered. Niko scooted closer to the table as much as he could without bothering the skitty on his lap, but he was listening, if they wanted him to.
“What is it that you don‘t understand ?” He pressed.
They opened their mouth, closed it then opened it again, looking at the side, expression unreadable.
“I don’t understand…” They started again, gritting their teeth as if they were annoyed or hurt or confused at something. “How I ever could have hurt you.”
Niko didn’t remember much of his fight against Palkia in their origin form, he remembers the ground trembling beneath his feet and the legendary warping space to move at will to mimic teleporting, but he doesn’t remember what happened afterwards, how hurt he was, how many times he fainted, just bits and pieces of the fight. Heck, he doesn’t even remember catching them, yet he still has the origin ball.
“What do you mean ?” He asked, pressing them to talk, gently of course.
“You’re small. And pretty thin.” They said as they circled one of his wrists with their free hand. He won’t argue with the fact that he’s small compared to them and pretty thin. He’s not bony by any means or malnourished, at least he doesn’t think so, he’s just built like a twig, and probably snaps as easily as one. “I don’t understand how I could have ever hurt you when you never should’ve even posed a threat to me. I mean it in the most respectful way possible since you still bested me in the end, but you were a twelveth of my weight and a fourth of my height, without counting the fact that I was lashing out severely and not even Dia managed to do much against me, and I promise you that they really tried to protect you as best as they could. And now…” They looked up, looking at the human intensely which made him pretty uncomfortable as he felt like he was being pulled apart to examine every nook and cranny of his being. “You’re sitting in front of me, and I would never think about hurting you, not again, and despite your clothing choice you’re very unthreatening.”
The comment made them both chuckle, and it was nice to see Palkia smile after trauma-dumping like that.
“Oh no you’re fine don’t worry !” Reassured the human with a laugh. “I don’t even remember the whole fight anyway !”
“That’s worrisome.” Simply said the god. “I thought human brains were wired to remember plenty of stuff.”
“I mean I don’t remember most of my childhood so I wouldn’t know.” Giggled the dark brown haired, though he added seeing the very skeptical and worried face the deity pulled : “But don’t worry, Dia’s a fantastic therapist.”
“I see. They deserve a raise then.”
“They deserve to be paid to begin with, but this is just the consequences of their actions. Chose me as your champion ? Enjoy being my lifelong therapist for free.”
It took them 20 minutes to walk across the plaza to get to the ice shop. The meow cafe was nice, they just spent a bit too much time but the ice cream shop was still open, so that was alright.
“The sky’s pretty.” Muttered the deity of space, stating at the red sky.
The sun was setting, coloring the sky in oranges and pink, the clouds looking purple in the lighting. Niko doesn’t really looks up much, wether it’s day, night, dawn, twilight, he doesn’t, he’d much rather look at the floor out of ease. But the setting sun looked pretty, though he preferred to look at the last bit of sunlight lighting up the bigger buildings and monuments, especially the golden top of the cathedral on the hill, visible from the plaza.
“Yeah, it’s pretty.” He simply said, taking a bite of his ice cream.
The deity seemed to follow his gaze.
“What are you looking at ?” They asked.
“The Cathedral.” He replied. “That’s Fourvière’s Cathedral. Each year around December 9th there is a light show there.” He continued.
The deity made a small hum of acknowledgment, seemingly thinking.
“What’s so special about it ?”
“No idea, but I did like to go watch them as a kid. I don’t anymore, but each year I say to myself “this time I’m going” and I never do.”
Despite how loud the sounds were and how bright the lights were, he really liked the shows, the flowers the characters moving, he thinks there were stories too, but it’s pretty blurred and muffled, and it happened at least a decade ago or more so he’s not sure.
“Why don’t we go together this year ?”
Niko looked up at Palkia who was openly staring at him with a slight head tilt. His first reaction was going to say no, he was going back to Paldea in a few days for his last year there, and he’ll surely have classes and won’t be able to leave the academy to come back to Kalos for a week-end, and he did not want to bother Palkia, they were a divinity and were most likely very busy, plus the light show wasn’t that important so everything made him want to say no.
But he did want to go watch it with a friend.
“I can always come pick you up and make a portal to the cathedral, it won’t be long, and no one has to know !” They winked.
He finally conceded with a nod.
“If you don’t mind…”
“Oh no don’t worry I don’t ! I’m curious about human traditions actually !”
He stared at the deity surprised, though it didn’t seem as though they noticed his staring as they happily gathering ice cream on their spoon, and then they stuck their tongue out (It was a bit longer than normal and was split in half), coiling around the spoon like two fleshy ekans and brought the spoon into their mouth.
Palkia hummed in delight at the sweet tasting dessert.
Niko’s pretty sure he’ll have nightmares in the foreseeable future.
“If you say so…”
They did not need to eat their ice cream like that and this should be a crime.
“I thought vanilla was super basic, why did you take it ?” Wow, okay, how dare they insult vanilla ice cream
“Vanilla is very good, you can mix pretty much everything with it and it’ll be good, you can make plenty of deserts with vanilla ice cream.”
“Oh my, did I struck a cord ?” They asked teasingly with a cheeky grin.
Yes, they did struck a cord, the human tried to act calm and nonchalant but he shall be very vocal about his opinion on vanilla ice cream.
“Yes. I think vanilla ice cream is the superior ice cream flavor and I will die on this hill.”
The white and pink haired had a dangerous gleam in their eyes.
“Why, I can’t see how good these desserts can be.”
“You can make a sundae with vanilla, I can’t see a sundae being popular with basil.”
They feigned a dramatic gasp, hand on their chest in false hurt.
“Evil.”
They both erupted in giggles, lightly bumping each other’s sides.
“I’m a monster rawr rawr or whatever the meme was.” The deity laughed so loud and yet looked so confused at the same time.
“What does that even mean ?!”
“I don’t know it’s a meme !”
“Is this where you wanted to take me ?” The deity looked at the river which separated Aquacorde in half, the sun reflecting in the water making it look pink, they watched as a family of a Swanna and five Duckletts swam by, happily quaking.
“Yup ! It’s pretty peaceful here usually, and the sight is pretty. Anyway can you hold this for me for a second please ?” The pink deity rolled their eyes playfully and held the human’s ice cream for him, said human who took off his coat to lay it down on the grass. “And there you go !” With a hand behind his back and the other signaling to the coat on the ground, he said in his best galarian impression : “My liege if you may.”
Palkia cackled before sitting down, holding both ice creams.
“Why aren’t you a gentleman !” They teased with a smile, Niko sat besides them with a shrug.
“I try !” He then reached out for his ice cream. “Now I’ll take that from you thank you !” Only for the legendary to turn around at the last moment. “Wuh-“
“I want a taste though !”
“Ah !” He voiced dumbly. “Hold on hand it over let me try something.”
Palkia begrudgingly handed back the vanilla ice cream only for Niko to quickly slide his ice cream against theirs, letting a small spec of white on their green ice cream and a bit of green on his white ice cream.
The deity stared longly at their ice cream, and the human could see the gears turning in their head as he tried not to laugh.
“…..I have to talk about this to Uxie.”
And this made the human lose his marbles.
It didn’t take long afterwards for the two to finish their ice creams, setting the papers aside in order to throw them away later as they just watched the sky.
“I can understand why Rayquaza goes crazy over ice cream.” Dropped Palkia. Niko was about to say that it is a good ice cream shop, but something else caught his attention at the last moment.
“Rayquaza ?!” He nearly shouted.
“Yes.”
“Aren’t they like a dragon and flying type ?”
“Also yes.”
“B-But-“ He stammered. “The four times weakness to ice ?”
“Why do you think I work at a pokemart in Hoenn of all places ?”
He doesn’t think, he doesn’t know, he’s confused.
“Kia, I don’t think, I am not thinking, please explain.” He begged while faking crying for dramatic effects, which earned and earnest laugh from the space dragon.
“I basically deal them ice heals. Sometimes I don’t see them for a while and sometimes they come by several times a day for ice heals.”
“Huh.” He mused. “So you two are friends ?” He watched as the deity faltered, moving their hands around nervously or erratically , having no idea how to explain it.
“I mean, I do like to think that we are ; we talk, sometimes, I give them ice heals and warn them about incoming meteors amongst other things, I try to make their job easier, they tell me about Xerneas’s and Reshiram’s whereabouts and some gossip, so I like to think that yes, we are friends. Why ?”
He shrugged.
“Just asking. I don’t really know how legendaries interact with each others since I’m pretty sure Didi doesn’t really do friends ?”
Dialga would so smite him if they were spying on him.
Palkia looked at him a bit flabbergasted, stumbling on their words.
“I mean, you’re not wrong, they’ve never really had an interest in making friends ? But that’s besides the point- I don’t really know how others interact actually ?” They sounded unsure of themselves. “I mean I do want friends, the other legendaries just think I’m intimidating.”
“Why is that ?” Niko pressed for further explication.
“I’m space, space is expanding at each and every of my breath. Reshiram told me that being friends with literal space is.. Scary. She worries that I’ll wipe them all out by accident or out of anger.” They looked down, face hidden by their hair. “I understand why she worries, but it would be nice to have friends. I don’t think Rayquaza views me as such although I really really want to be friends with them.”
Lonely god. That’s a terrifying combo, Niko thinks. But it also made his heart ache, because he knows how that feels like. Sure he hasn’t been lonely for billions of years, but he knows what it feels like to be avoided and alone.
He leaned his head on their shoulder, looking at the buildings on the other side of the river. He felt them jolt at the contact before relaxing, resting their head on top of his. It felt nice.
“I think you’re very cool.” He told them, hoping to cheer them up.
They chuckled wetly before sniffling (were they crying ?! Oh how does he cheer up someone crying he has no idea-), he didn’t have time to think much more about what to do before he was engulfed in a hug, Palkia holding him tightly, face buried in his hair as they quietly cried. (They are very soft. Confy). He awkwardly returned it after panicking because he had no idea where to put his hands, he’s not used to being hugged, but soon enough he just melted in their grip. He knows they were the one needing comfort and he felt so bad for just melting in the hug like he did, he has no excuse, he’ll make up for it.
“Thanks.” They said quietly, letting him go as they wiped their face. “I’m a mess.” They chuckled awkwardly. Well they did just cry in his hair for a few minutes, he can’t blame them though, crying is relieving !
“It’s fine, you needed that.” He smiled sympathetically at them, patting their back. Though the legendary seemed to want more physical affection as they leaned towards him again, resting their head on top of his, watching the sunset. Niko decided to do the same, hand still on their back as they watched the last remaining minutes of the day.
“Are you sure you’ll be fine ?”
“Yes, don’t worry, I use the subway daily-“
“I could just open a portal to take you home !”
“Kia, It’s fine I swear, it doesn’t bother me, I promise.”
They pouted a bit, muttering out a little “fine..”. The human was being honest though, it doesn’t bother him, plus he needs a bit of alone time and listening to music in the subway was a good alone time, him, a seat, and music. It was fine.
“I should get going, I’d rather get home before it gets dark !” Niko said as he made his way towards the subway entrance, before Palkia grabbed his arm.
“Wait ! Hold on !” He turned towards a pretty red faced god (cute cute cute cute). “I’ll..” they stopped talking for a few seconds, yet their hold never faltered. “I’ll see you in December ? For the light show ?” Oh yeah right ! That was a thing !
“Yeah, I’ll see you then !” They smiled, and he felt something being put in his hand. He opened it and there was a rock there. It was small, pink speckled with green and without a set shape.
“I saw you looking at it earlier, in the library.”
“Oh !” Very eloquent, he knows. “What about you though ? Did you take one for yourself ?” It wouldn’t be fair if he gets something and not them, but they shook their head with a smile, reaching towards their bag to get the espeon plushy. He also forgot about this one, he doesn’t have the best memory, and he had other things on his mind-
“It’s fine, I got this little fella !”
It was his turn to smile. Palkia is pretty cute and they just looked so happy with the plushy in their hands (the plushy looked ridiculously small compared to them, it’s funny).
“This time I go ?” He said quietly, gesturing to the subway.
“Oh yes yes yes ! You go ! I’ll come get you on December 9th !” They waved, and he waved back as he entered the railway station, and he heaved a sigh. Well that went great, he thinks, he hopes. He grabbed his phone, putting on his earphones as he searched on YouTube for a song to listen to, until he saw a message pop on his screen :
‘How did it go ?’ It read. From Dialga (of course they would know when to send that message, they are time.)
‘It went well, I think-‘
‘You both are so terrible at communicating.’
‘They really said the same thing.’
He had to stifle a laugh, not to attract people’s attention.
‘Your honor I’m just a man.’
‘Did they think I was cool and mysterious ?’
‘They think you’re autistic and awkward/hj’
‘Damn’
‘They’re right tho-‘
It took a couple of seconds before he got an answer.
‘So’
‘December 9th ?’
‘Yeah’
‘Next time you go to the mall, pass by the Lego Store.’
‘???’
‘Palkia likes to hoard human inventions and trinkets, they’ll like Lego flowers’
‘Okay ????????’
Well now he had to figure out when to go grab the damn thing.