Chemicals and History

“Don’t mention it,” Jonas said as he fished his wallet out of his back pocket and passed the cart owner a twenty as he passed back their dogs. The one Jonas ordered apparently came with half a pound of chilli and what he supposed was a whole fried onion. He blinked at the monstrosity for a moment, wishing he had Jason here to take at least half of it before sighing and taking a bite as Sabine stepped up onto the crate beside him.

“Some kinda festival or somethin’?” Jonas asked, glancing out over the parade of instruments and people passing as he struggled to bite into the massive, messy hotdog he had unwittingly purchased in a fit of adventurous culinary exploration. He wasn’t one for local festivals beyond the ones in Verdanturf and if pressed, he doubted he could name any of the current or even the most popular festivals in Hoennese culture.

“Hey like I said, don’t worry about it,” Jonas said, wiping his mouth with a stray napkin from the cart. “Told you it was alright…so long as you can resuscitate me if this footlong heartburn aid kills me somehow.”

He had overjudged his ability to handle the greasiest of Unovan tourist food; clearly he was out of practice.

“Seriously though, did I miss a holiday or somethin’?”

“Tanabata!” Sabine grinned, “One of the larger Hoennese festivals.” She glanced skyward as she tried to dredge up the history from her memory, “It celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi. According to legend, the Milky Way separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar.”

Finishing off the last of her frankenfurter, Sabine jumped from the crate and lobbed her cardboard hotdog holder the short distance into the garbage. She spun around and held her hands out with a suggestive smile, “So it’s a celebration of love!” Closing her eyes and wagging her finger she added, “Coincidence, I swear.”

Drake waved off the other man’s apology with an easy smile. “You have absolutely no reason to apologize!” Really, the only one who had a reason was the person who did invite him here in the first place.

He raised an eyebrow at Sabine and gave her a completely unamused expression as she crunched on the miso snacks. He could still hear Ez just fine, shooting him another smile, at least until Sabine cut Ez off and faced her back to him.

Really now, someone was being childish. Drake rolled his eyes for Ez’s benefit as he ordered another drink for himself. Perhaps another time he’d have more patience for Sabine’s current behavior, but he decided that if she didn’t change her tune in another drink or two, he was going to jump on his Honchkrow and find another means of entertainment.

“Sabine over-dramatizes things quite a bit,” Drake said over Sabine’s shoulder. “Though as a bell hopper I am something of a slave. It’s a temporary occupation, I intend to start a Bachelor of Art’s degree in history as soon as I’ve scraped enough cash from all the rich folk around here.” With Drake’s little, ah, side business, that day was going to come sooner rather than later.

“So, you work with Sab? Something to do with chemicals and make up right?” Drake tilted his head. “She’s told me a little about it in our coffee meet ups, but we tend to get side tracked from the heart of the matter.”

Sabine’s eyes widened furiously as Drake suggested how over-dramatic she was being. She leant back in her chair and tilt her head to give her friend an unimpressed look. An unexpected spike of pain rose from her arm and her expression twitched in response. She kept quiet, letting Ezekiel take over the conversation as she inconspicuously rubbed her upper arm, easing the itchiness of her skin under the Power Brace.

Ez gave a relieved chuckle, seeing that his path of conversation was opened up once more, “Yes, we work quite close together,” he replied, giving his colleague a warm smile.

“Literally,” Sabine added with a shake of her head.

“The chemists in quality assurance are in a tiny temporary space while a new loft floor is being built in the factory,” Ez explained.

“I told him every time he knocks the back of his chair against mine, he owes me a drink,” Sabine said with an endearingly malicious grin.

Ez held his hands out in a 90 degree angle, “Our desks sit perpendicular so as you can assume, a lot of my salary is going to the ‘Keep Sabine Hydrated’ fund.”

The two laughed uproariously before the man sitting beside Ezekiel leaned over with interest, “What, what?” What was said was repeated and he joined in the laughter, shooting a fingergun at Sabine and Ez, “Oh, you guys.”

Jason would have been ecstatic to be able to have a genuine conversation with someone in his native tongue that wasn’t him or Vixen. Jonas entertained the idea of coming back with him but it looked like a lot of fuss for a couple of hot dogs…unless these were world class hot dogs. 

Jonas held tight to Sabine’s wrist as they approached the stand, Jonas’ eyes scanning the menus of various variations on homegrown hotdogs. 

“Well lessee here we got your basic hot dogs, a chilli dog, the frankfurter, pretzel dogs, corn dogs, Fenway Franks, Coney Dogs, and somethin; called the Hoennese Hoagie.”

Jonas hadn’t the foggiest idea what that was but the fried onions and greens on top looked promising. 

“Depends on how adventurous you’re feelin,” Jonas shrugged before looking up at the cart owner. “I’ll have the Hoennese Hoagie and my friend here will have…uh…get whatever you want I’m buyin’.”

Sabine stared at Jonas blankly as he rattled off all the different types of hot dogs. The only word she recognised was ‘frankfurter’ which she remembered seeing in the sausage section of Kalosian grocers.

“Uh,” she blinked, looking back up to the cart owner and in her best Unovan accent, “Frankfurter please.” She bumped into Jonas fondly, “Thanks.”

A few moments later the hot dogs arrived and the cart owner pointed out the condiments section. Sabine watched whatever Jonas did to his hot dog and did the same to hers. 

She glanced around, seeing a few empty milk crates stacked beside the stone banister that overlooked the beach. “Here,” Sabine gestured, carefully holding onto the cardboard her hotdog was presented in, “If you want to watch the parade.”

The girl carefully stepped up onto one of the crates, still having to get on her toes to get a good look over the crowd at the passing paper Gyarados held up by a dozen people with poles, floats and musicians who marched and played their instruments at the same time.

“Was?” Jonas snorted, hands reaching up to cup her elbows as she held onto him and shook him. “You just got done fakin’ a chokin’ attack back at that sushi restaurant and apparently it was so convincin’ the nurse believed it.”

He looked out over the sea, glancing back at Sabine with a small shrug.

“I think she’d be happy to know she eventually ended up back where she started,” Jonas said. “If only geographically. I’m sure you could tell her about all the cool things she’s gonna do and the people she’s gonna meet in Kalos…”

Maybe about the people she met in Hoenn too?

“I’m sure she could also direct us to the nearest hot dog stand,” Jonas added with a small laugh as his stomach grumbled.

Sabine opened her mouth to protest and paused before wincing in defeat, “Touche. Apparently the one time in my life I give a believable performance in acting is when I’m pretending to die.”

Though I suppose I have enough experience in almost dying by now.

Jonas’ words brought a calm smile to her lips as she gave his arms a few fond squeezes. His stomach growled unhappily and Sabine let him go with the realisation that he’s barely had a chance to eat, “Ah!”

Sabine took the stairs at a quicker pace and they wound down to the bottom of the hill within five minutes. She directed them towards the street overlooking the beach, where lifeguards were calling for the last of the swimmers to head back to shore. The street was alight with food stalls and a parade which was causing crowds.

Looking back, Sabine grasped Jonas’ wrist before squeezing through the crowds to the hot dog stand, “I don’t want to lose you,” she threw over her shoulder.

Reaching the hot dog stall, Sabine let out a small sigh. “I think I overestimated how busy it would be down here,” she projected over the sound of the nearby precession.

“What can I get ya?” the stall owner asked in a thick Unovan accent, leaning over the raised counter to look down at them.

“Uh, two?” Sabine ordered, holding up two fingers.

“Two what?” 

Oh, Drake caught the angry scowl and flush on Sabine’s face… So he decided that he was going to be an ass to her in the best way he knew how: He was going to be exceedingly nice and polite to her and make her anger seem unjustified. Because, hey, it kinda was. At least he didn’t have to break the Shakespeare out this early in the evening to con Yorick into his “let Drake have a social life” scheme. He even rested a hand on Sabine’s shoulder and gave her his patented charming smile. It worked in the old days.

His gaze switched to Sabine’s co worker, and woah okay where did Sabine find these guys? Drake could have searched Lilycove high and low and still not uncovered someone nearly as attractive as Ez. … Well, the only person who could have given Ez a run for his money was somewhere in Kalos right about now. Drake caught the man’s ‘nav in a flash, using the moment to sweep his gaze over him and smile… And that smile only grew when the man shook his hand with both of his. “It’s good to see– I mean meet– you as well,” Drake said with just the trace of a smirk, and handed the man’s ‘nav back. “Here, I’m sure you’d want this back in your possession.”

He slid into the seat next to Sabine and grinned at her, taking the cup. “I didn’t realize I was interrupting anything! You didn’t tell Ez that I was coming?” He shook his head and glanced over at the co worker. “I happen to have known Sabine since arriving in Hoenn with my twin sister. She’s off working on a pokemon breeding ranch and I am tragically stuck alone, serving the rich and wealthy in Lilycove’s hotel.” He finished his drink with a flourish and took out his wallet, yanking some money from it and sliding it on the counter. “Oh, next round’s on me!” Drake said cheerily. “Order whatever you want! Anything for Sab and her friends.” While he was still looking cheerful, he couldn’t resist glancing at Sabine and letting the corner of his mouth twitch into a wry smirk, as if to say: Your move.

“Sorry, I can be a little clumsy after a few drinks,” Ez smiled sheepishly, safely zipping open the pocket of his jacket to stow away his phone for safe keeping.

As everyone returned to their seats, Sabine bitterly crunched on a a handful of the miso snacks, making sure to be as noisy as possible while Drake spoke across her to her co-worker.

Ez settled in, sipping from his cup, “She didn’t tell me, so this is a pleasant surprise. Sabine’s told me a little about you--”

“All bad,” Sabine said in a low tone, tiltig so Drake could hear.

“-- Remind me again, you’re a...?”

“Slave,” Sabine butt in, leaning her elbow on the counter to block Drake off while turning back to the other man, “Anyway, Ez, as we were saying: Goranchovski’s sandwiching theory is plausible in the next three years. Soon phones will be a little implant inside your ear and a mini personal projector next to your eyebrow.”

 “We’d look ridiculous!” Ez laughed, giving an apologetic glance over Sabine’s ponytail to Drake.

“Oh c’mon now you should know I never turn down the chance to eat hotdogs on the beach,” Jonas said, lightly bumping into Sabine’s shoulder with a small smirk.

He skirted around the trainers, listening to Sabine’s story as she guided him down the streets of the city she had only just moved to. Even after all his time spent in the accounting firm after college, Jonas couldn’t shake the feeling of low-level claustrophobia that came with being in a major city. Something about it ruffled Jonas’ proverbial feathers so he focused on the far off vistas Sabine pointed to on the horizon.

“Hear you need a fancy swimmer Pokemon or be able to book passage on a sub to get there,” Jonas said, glancing at Sootopolis as they continued on their path which opened up to the beach from Sabine’s memory.

“I can think of one or two things,” Jonas said, looking out over the ocean. He uncorked a bottle of the alcohol that Sabine had brought him the first night they spent together the other day and had smiled at a wave of nostalgia that wafted up on sharp, chemical scents. But something told him that “booze reminds me of you” wasn’t a good thing to say to one’s female friend.

…or anyone for that matter.

“Wonder what that girl bound for croissant land would say if she could see you now,” Jonas chuckled, crossing his arms and looking at Sabine with a lopsided smirk.

Sabine blew a short laugh through her nose before closing her eyes and bowing her head. What would that girl have said to her? She honestly couldn’t even begin to speculate. She had grown into such a different person since those days. The younger her would not be able to understand the wonderful things she would be able to experience in Kalos. Friends, education, the beginnings of a purpose. There were a lot of not so fantastic things as well, of course.

Opening her eyes, Sabine stared into nothing particular towards the horizon. She wondered how her younger self would have reacted about the passing of their mother...

The Lilycove resident shook herself out of the daze, turning around a putting on a grin for Jonas. She roughly grasped his upper arms and begun to gently shake him, “She probably would have said, ‘Don’t leave! Don’t leave! Promise me you wont leave!!’”

Drake wasn’t entirely certain if Sabine had been serious about him staying away from the after work bar crawl she had invited him to or if that was just… her being her. He would admit, Sabine’s absolute vinegar regarding his and Benji’s status was baffling. Last he checked, both he and Benji were consenting adults, capable of making their own decisions. And he hadn’t given Sabine any reason to believe that he would hurt Benji… If anything, it was far more likely that Drake would suffer from a broken heart, which was just another of the many reasons why Drake kept things casual between Benji and himself.

Fresh off a shift from Lilycove’s great hotel, Drake barely had a chance to change into civilian clothes and run a brush through his hair. Lately he had been opting to keep his hair out of its signature braid; his job forced him to keep it in some ridiculous ponytail that hurt his scalp so by the time he was finished with his shift, he just wanted to let his hair down and relax. Tugging at his ghost poncho– in his rush he hadn’t grabbed anything nicer– Drake entered the izakaya bar just as a cheer went up.

Didn’t Sabine say something about how she didn’t drink…?

Drake hid his rising irritation and slipped through the crowd, silent as a shadow until he popped up next to Sabine, wearing his (hopefully) most charming smile. “Evenin’ Sab!” He said in Hoennese. “Hope I wasn’t too late!”

If Sabine tried to shoo him out, he still had a secret weapon… Assuming she had brought her pokemon with her.

Sabine and Ezekiel paused mid sentence and twisted their heads around to look at Drake in accidental synchronisation. While Ez’s expression remained fairly ambiguous, Sabine’s cheeks turned an infuriated shade of red before painted over with a faux smile.

“Drake!” she greeted through grit teeth, turning to put a light hand on her coworker’s back, “Ez, this is my friend Drake, I hope you don’t mind him interrupting our conversation.”

Ez’s features brightened when this person turned out to be a friend of Sabine’s and he slipped off the bar stool. He gave a polite bow before his PokeNav slipped out of his hands and he fumbled to catch the phone before it hit the ground. He gave a self-aware chuckle before pushing his rounded glasses back up the bridge of his nose. He grasped one of Drake’s hands with both of his and gave an enthusiastic shake, “Not interrupting at all,” he said in slightly broken Hoennese, “It’s good to see you, I mean, meet you!”

Sabine sighed through her nose before turning back to the bartender, “Can we get another cup here?”

Jonas grunted a soft acknowledgement of her apology. There was no sense getting mad so long as-

“So long as next time you don’t make it look like you’re the one dyin’ I’m cool with whatever you want to,” Jonas chuckled, steering them down the streets towards the beach, passing rows of food trucks and stands smelling of all kinds of strange exotic cuisine. “You’re the one who has to live here too; I have the luxury of splittin’ town once this weekend is up.”

Willing or not, he had a business to run.

“Always next time for the fancier stuff anyway,” Jonas said, nodding towards the ocean and setting sun. “Which way now?”

Sabine let out a small sigh, pressing a palm to her chest, “For a second there I thought I’d be getting hot dogs alone.”

An indignant bark nearly caused her to jump out of her skin and she swung her head around to see a Houndoom and Mightyena growling at each other while their Trainers chatted animatedly about rising movie ticket prices.

“This way,” she directed, taking them down a steep set of stairs that wound down a hillside towards the beach. With a chuckle, she added, “It’s quicker and much easier on the way down than coming back up.”

About halfway down the long staircase, Sabine paused to point out the silhouettes in the horizon, “That’s Mossdeep, which is pretty easy to figure out, but if you look off over here you can kind of see that light mountain formation? That’s Sootopolis.” She smiled, with a tilt of her head, “I’d like to go someday. I was born there, actually! I have no memory of it since we moved to Lilycove when I was very young.”

The smell of sandstone from the carved out steps hit Sabine like a steel chair to the face, pulling out a very old, very smothered memory from her teenage years. She glanced off to a nearby lookout with a decaying wooden bench and 50P binoculars welded to the ground. She let out a small hopeless laugh.

“I forgot I’d been here before,” Sabine explained, interlacing her fingers, “With my Pokemon just after I found out we were going to move to Kalos. We came and hid out for hours. We didn’t know but they were doing tests on space shuttles and we watched the smoke curl up.” She traced the pattern in the purple and orange hues of the sky upwards with a finger.