Chapter Text
The Brave Asagi feels calm now. Everyone who isn't a member of the Rising Volttacklers has officially left the airship, even Friede has left to help Exceed with retrieving the Strong Spheres and destroying them, and now they fly around without a specific destination.
Roy thought there were many things that he wanted to do in life, but now that Laquium has officially been eradicated and the black Rayquaza isn't his anymore, he finds himself blanked out of ideas. With his main goals completed, he's not sure of what to do now.
He can see that the others feel the same way. Every night, he hears Liko wander the hallways aimlessly until she eventually goes back to sleep; every evening, he can hear Dot typing away scripts for videos that they probably won't release, and every morning, he gets to see Ult stare at the wall for at least fifteen minutes until he's interrupted. Even some adults seem quite lost, mostly Orio who, without having to repair the airship, has nothing to do now.
Roy has picked a routine of his own, one that he repeats now. He goes up to the Brave Asagi's battlefield, lays down in the middle of it, and stares at the blue sky as minutes pass. Sometimes his pokemon join, but that's not the case today.
He hears the door to the battlefield open, but he doesn't sit up nor look back to the noise. Footsteps quietly approach until there's a pair of white shoes next to him, and Liko sits by his side and stares up at the sky the same.
“Bored?” he asks her, still not facing the girl. He's comfortable like this.
“Isn't there something else you want to do?” she deflects, also not looking at him. Her shoulders are relaxed and pressed against his, because they've always been clingy with each other. “Other than… this?”
“Something else?” the boy asks himself, internally racking through his brain. They still aren't allowed to battle, Mollie said so, so there's not much else that Roy thinks he can do in the air like this.
Maybe Liko means something not related to battling, though. And as he thinks about it, an idea floods his head, making his cheeks turn red and his eyes widen. There is something he wants to do, he realizes.
“Ah, that means you found something,” Liko says, looking at him and openly giggling now. When she laughs, the new scar on her right cheek makes her wince, but she still smiles. “Related to Ult, I’d imagine?”
“Shut up!” Roy exclaims, because he's like her little brother and they both know their relationship has only grown closer now. The boy covers his face with his hands, but he doesn't deny it. “None… none of your business…”
Ult and Roy have been dating for months now, something that everyone slowly realized. They don't do usual couple stuff other than be a bit more affectionate, still acting the same way as they did when they were friends — reason why it took some so long to realize that the boys were together.
It happened one random day in this same battlefield, when a very frustrated Ult vented his feelings to Roy, who felt the same for him. Ever since then, they've been together almost all day every day, and they've hugged many, many times.
A thing they haven't done, though, is kissing. Roy has kissed Ult on the top of his head and his forehead multiple times, and even Ult has kissed his shoulders and cheeks often, yet their lips have not touched each other. Because even if they're very clingy and affectionate as a couple, they're both still very shy even when cuddling.
The boy pictures it in his mind, the touch of Ult's lips on his, his fang biting down on his own lower lip, and he flushes further. Liko, seeing his reaction to what to her is absolutely nothing, laughs a bit louder.
“Oh, you're so down for him,” she remarks, almost a sing-song tone in her voice. Acting real immature for being the eldest in the group, in Roy's definitely unbiased opinion.
“Like you can say anything!” Roy defends himself, glaring at her playfully. “Don't you remember all the rants I had to listen to when you and Dot still weren't together?”
“I— that's different!” the girl slaps his arm softly, not out of real anger nor malice. Her touch is always pretty soft. “I was not as dumb as you're with Ult!”
The boy can't keep the angry facade any longer, and he ends up laughing, with Liko following soon after. It's been a while since he's laughed this much or at all, ever since they went to Laqua he didn't have the energy to do it.
Then Liko suddenly turns serious, her expression almost stern as she looks at Roy after their laughter has died down. The boy looks back at her with a confused frown, wondering if maybe he's said something to upset her.
“If he hurts you,” she starts speaking, her voice devoid of any kindness. “I’ll make sure he gets what he deserves.”
“He won't hurt me,” Roy reassures her, even if the girl doesn't look too convinced. “He's a good guy, you know him! You're just being overprotective now…”
“Maybe, so what?” Liko says, her seriousness turning into yet another teasing smirk. “Don't you remember how it went when I told you I was with Dot?”
Roy does remember, and his cheeks heat up a bit, this time in embarrassment. He told Dot that they either treat Liko right or he'd beat them up real hard, back when he was a kid without a filter that would say whatever he wanted without issue.
“It's true! I would still beat them up now if they hurt you!” he tells her, because as embarrassing as that memory is, he knows he'd say it time and time again to keep Liko safe.
When they both quiet down, they realize that they've been up here for a while now. Roy has responsibilities to attend to as a captain, and Liko also has things to do with Orio, so they get up from the battlefield's floor.
“That was fun,” Liko says, an earnest smile on her face. She doesn't wince this time, used to the temporary pain that comes with smiling until her scar fully heals.
“We should do it again,” Roy says, walking with her back inside the airship. The observation deck is alone, meaning that Ult and his Sableye are somewhere in the main part of the ship. “I'm up here almost every afternoon. You're always invited, okay? I like spending time with you.”
Liko nods, happy to be invited, and both kids get in the elevator back down. When they arrive at the lower floor, though, Ult is nowhere to be seen, something unusual for the loud boy.
“Maybe he's in the bathroom,” Liko suggests, shrugging. Roy shrugs as well, and she continues, “wanna help me and Orio? It's not that much of a boring task!”
The boy agrees, and they both walk to where the woman could be. Seems like today will be different, and definitely more fun.