Dabble Drabble Prose

Chapter Four of Return to Me is up!

This marks the end of Part One! Don’t worry. I’m sure nothing bad will happen to our heroes. >:3

***

“Pretty hot today, isn’t it?”

Their horses were stabled back at Aria’s inn, and they chose instead to walk through the fields and hills they’d grown to know so well over the past nine years. Raihan led the way, following the path along the edge of the Fairy Forest, as Leon’s sense of direction had failed to improve with age. Raihan walked with a forced spring in his step, working hard to keep his smile up and make this last afternoon count. It was his seventeenth birthday today. Exactly one year ago he joined the Galar militia and started his basic training at the Hammerlocke Garrison. Now that his training was complete, tomorrow he shipped out to start his real work as a soldier.

Leon had been uncharacteristically quiet, walking alongside Raihan on the path. His gaze followed the tall weeds that lined the divets their boots had worn into the ground. They didn’t hold hands quite as often these days as they had back when they were children, and today was no exception.

“Anything you want to do today?” Raihan asked, his voice carefully calm.

“I dunno,” Leon replied quietly, gaze still fixed on anything but Raihan.

A moment of silence passed between them, interrupted only by the crunch of their boots in the dry summer grass.

“We could head for the pond,” Raihan tried again. “Maybe take a dip and cool off?”

Leon shrugged, then nodded.

“Yeah, okay. Sure.”

Raihan slowed, then stopped and turned to face him.

Chapter Three of Return to Me is up!

“Look! Leon, right over there, look!”

Raihan stopped in his tracks, completely dropping the game they were playing, and pointed at the grassy hillside.

“Huh?” Leon skidded to a stop next to Raihan, suddenly pulled out of their game of tag he’d been losing quite handily. “What is it, where?”

“Right there! Do you see them?”

Basking in the sun on the hillside were several creatures. They were about the size of a dog and generally reptilian, with green scales and a wide, squat build. They each had a massive bulb growing from their backs, like a flower that hadn’t yet bloomed. Leon gasped, his eyes wide and bright.

“Woah!! What are they?”

“I haven’t picked a name for them yet,” Raihan admitted. “But I’ve met ‘em before, they’re pretty friendly, as far as monsters go. Wanna go pet one?”

Leon opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a call.

“Don’t wander off too far, boys!”

Camilla came jogging closer to them, her royal guard armor a bit too bright in the sunshine. She paused as she also spotted the creatures and looked back at the boys.

“Ah, found some of those plant lizards, I see.” Her voice was stern, but warm, and she smiled more often than most of the other guards.

“They’re nice ones, I promise!” Raihan insisted. He liked Camilla more than some of the other guards that had supervised their outings, but he hadn’t tried to drag the prince over to pet monsters in her presence before. “You just need to know how to approach them!”

“Hm…” Camilla considered both the boys and the creatures. “The ones I’ve come across mostly like to sleep, but I can’t say I’ve seen anyone pet one before… it still might not be a good idea.”

“Please?” Leon begged, putting on his best puppy dog face.

“I’ve done it before,” Raihan insisted. “Lots of times. I know all the monsters around here!”

Camilla sized up Raihan for a moment, resting a hand under her chin.

Chapter Two of Return to Me is up!

As expected, Aria was extremely cross over Raihan’s disappearance, and was only slightly mollified by the big carp. She wasn’t at all impressed by his torn clothing, or his proclamation that he’d become best friends with Crown Prince Leon. He spent the next few days catching up on his chores, and even took on extra work as punishment for shirking his duties and his tall tales. Over the next week, he eagerly looked over every time someone entered the inn, hoping that Leon had come to visit.

But Leon never came.

Despite the absence of his best and only friend, Raihan kept his spirits up. Leon had told him that he didn’t know if his parents - the King and Queen, Raihan needed to remind himself - would let him come visit. Well, if Leon couldn’t come, then Raihan would take it upon himself to go to him instead.

Raihan woke well before the dawn to hurry through his chores, grabbed the carefully constructed set of complex multi-reed pipes he’d made, and took to the road. The distant towers of Hammerlocke Castle sat on the horizon, and Raihan kept his eyes on them with a spring in his step.

Only when the sun sat high in the sky at midday did he realize he’d made a terrible mistake. He’d spent his whole life in Clearfield and the wild lands around the small farming town, and the towers of Hammerlocke Castle were easily visible. He was sure it would take three hours at most to walk to Hammerlocke, but it was midday and the castle looked no closer than it did from the village. Raihan hadn’t thought to pack food or water, and finally stopped at a little creek to take a drink and forage some wild hawthorn. He lamented that it was too early in the year for hawthorn berries, but the leaves and flowers were perfectly palatable.

Return to Me, our new Fantasy AU RaiLeon fic is up on AO3! It’s our biggest project yet, and we’re excited to share it with you!

*****

Never had there been a more perfect day for playing hooky, in Raihan’s opinion. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the sun shone warm against his skin, and birdsong filled the air with splendor. Raihan strode down the dirt path with a skip in his step, his bare feet kicking up earth and the new, fresh grass. A cold breeze rustled the budding leaves along the forest path, reminding Raihan that winter was still clinging on as the season rolled into spring, but it wasn’t enough to temper his good cheer.

How did Aria expect him to stay inside on such a glorious day, especially to do something as dull as sweep the floors and scrub pots? It wasn’t as if anyone would be coming to the inn anyway, he rationalized to himself. It was planting season, and the whole village was hard at work tending to their fields. The inn would be empty for at least a few days. Maybe the village folk would still come to the inn for a drink after a long day of hard work, but surely they wouldn’t all want enough dinner to justify scrubbing all those pots. Surely his chores could wait until tomorrow, especially because he didn’t intend to return home empty-handed.

When helping Aria gut fish last week, he’d found a fishhook in the belly of a trout. A real honest-to-gods fishhook, made of steel and everything, much better than the wood or bone hooks Raihan was used to using. He’d catch Aria a big fish, and then she wouldn’t mind a lick that he’d skipped out on cleaning the big pots!

A big fish meant enough meat to last them at least a few days, and it’d be nice to have something other than cabbage stew or hard, dry bread. Normally, meat was saved for the paying customers at the inn and Raihan and Aria settled for any leftovers. They only got the good stuff if there was an excess of stock.

Raihan knew just the place, too. There was a river that ran through the Fairy Forest, and though it wasn’t safe to go too deep into the woods, he knew a spot where the river curved close to the forest edge, right alongside a big pond. After a good rain, the pond and the river would connect, and big river fish would sometimes get trapped in the pond once the rain had dried. He’d been there dozens of times, and though he wasn’t always successful, he’d caught a fair number of fish there, including a bass as long as his forearm once.

As he made his way through a field with the beginnings of flower blossoms peeking through the grass and melting snow, a faint sound rose up among the hum of wildlife. It sounded like someone crying softly, the noise barely audible among the excited buzz of spring.

The Final Chapter of Worst and Best of Times is up!

The morning didn’t bring any answers or solutions, and neither did the day after that. Raihan’s nerves were on edge and his gut churned with anxiety as he fell down a long spiral of his own thoughts. The fear and indecision held him for a full two days as he agonized over what to say to Piers. He was finally forced into action when Piers texted him instead.

[hey raihan did you see? Toxel Titans dropped a new music video, crazy timing]

Raihan stared at the text as it came in, so nonchalant and casual, as if nothing were the matter. Well, of course Piers wouldn’t think anything was the matter, Raihan realized. It’s not like he’d said anything to him, and the last they spoke was a cheerful farewell after a great evening.

He sat unmoving and stared at his phone as the minutes ticked by, with no idea of what to say. After a good five minutes, his phone suddenly pulled out of his hands by itself, Rotom tilting the phone a little as it looked at him curiously.

“Bosszt? You okay? Usually you always know just what to say.” Sparks escaped its frame for just a moment before it calmed. “And you’ve been unusually quiet the last couple days…”

Raihan sighed and ran a hand over his face. “That obvious, huh?”

“Kind of,” it admitted, moving to hover closer to him, “What’s wrong? I thought it was another mission accomplished two nights ago!”

Chapter Six of Worst and Best of Times is up! Please be advised, the rating of the fic has changed. :3

After surviving his killer hangover and regretting everything he’d ever done, Raihan started texting Piers more frequently. Occasionally, he’d hit a point when Piers would stop replying, and Raihan would give him some space, then start back up when Piers initiated another conversation himself. Piers would usually start conversations with a link to a song or picture and then check in with him about his day or week.

They talked about anything and everything, and it wasn’t long before Raihan started trying to plan their next date, asking Piers for ideas or if there was anything he wanted to do.

[Can we stay in this time? Not really feeling like going out] came his return text.

[Yeah, your place or mine?]

[My place] There was a pause. [Just said I didn’t wanna go out]

[lmao my bad! Want me to bring anything?] Raihan lay back on his couch, watching his phone and not really paying attention to the TV in the background, a small smile on his face.

[Nah we can order takeout curry or something]

[Sounds good. Sometime this weekend?]

[got a press shoot this weekend, those always wear me right out]

[Next week, then? My weekdays are swamped, how about next Saturday?]

There was another pause, then a reply.

[thats so long, you sure you cant squeeze me in sometime before this weekend?]

Raihan stared at the text, reading it again to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him, then grinned.

Chapter Five of Worst and Best of Times is up!

The week dragged by slowly, and Raihan determedly waited until the following Friday before finally texting Piers. It took a significant amount of willpower, but Raihan didn’t jump to asking about their next date, and instead started with casual conversation. He initially just asked Piers about his day, and it wasn’t long before they were chatting about anything and everything over text.

It was nice having someone to talk to. He had his Gym Trainers, sure, but they were also his employees and he didn’t like bothering them after work. He was decent friends with several of the other Gym Leaders, but none of them were really the kind of friend where he could just talk about his day or send a link to a new song he heard on the radio or send a picture and ask if this new jacket made him look too much like a shitty rapper.

Piers, on his part, was refreshingly honest. He often gave Raihan a hard time, but never enough to be truly rude, and would give him honest opinions on things. A couple times, he sent music tracks back, though for the most part, he seemed content to react to Raihan’s texts.

After a few days of casual texting, they finally set up another date, and met at a restaurant in Hammerlocke Saturday night. Dinner went well, if a bit tame, and they made idle conversation over the course of the meal.

Near the end of dinner, Piers leaned back a ways in his chair and let out a sigh. The man seemed incapable of sitting normally, and currently had one arm draped across the back of his chair with one foot propped up on the seat.

Chapter Four of Worst and Best of Times is up!

Raihan stood in the grassy area outside Spikemuth’s front gate, leaning back against Flygon and playing on his phone as he waited.

A little bit after their agreed time, Piers sauntered out of the city, in slightly less flashy clothes than what he wore to his concerts and battles. He meandered over toward Raihan and Flygon in no real hurry.

“Hey Raihan,” he droned, hands in his jacket pockets, his shoulders slumped heavily.

“Hey,” Raihan replied with a grin and pocketed his phone. “You ready to go?”

“Guess so,” Piers shrugged, “though y’still haven’t said where we’re goin’.”

“Just outside of Motostoke. Got a tip about something really cool happening.” He gave Flygon a pat and the pokemon obediently spread his wings and bowed. Raihan hopped on and held a hand out to Piers.

“That sounds suspicious—” Piers started, and trailed off as Raihan held out a hand toward him, “O-oh, uh…” He eyed Flygon and Raihan for a moment before hesitantly taking his hand.

Raihan grasped his hand firmly and pulled him up onto Flygon’s back behind him.

“Hold on tight!”

“N-no shit!!” Piers exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Raihan’s waist and holding on very tightly.

Chapter Three of Worst and Best of Times is up!

Two weeks passed quickly, and Raihan was soon in Spikemuth once again, this time arriving long before the concert started. The arena was filled with stage hands, hustling about and setting everything up. Raihan grinned at the stage hand that waved him in and he strode towards the stage, Sebastian trailing behind him.

Piers had sent him a handful of VIP tickets, inviting him to bring along anyone he wanted. When Raihan offered the tickets to his Gym staff, Sebastian revealed himself to be a casual fan of Piers’ work. He’d been quietly excited to go, and thanked Raihan profusely for the chance.

Hey, surprise! Chapter two is up already!

***

The email was professional, thorough, and contrite, explaining the situation and apologizing profusely for disrupting the concert. Raihan ended the email with a brief confession of admiration for Piers’ work and an offer to make it up to him. It took Raihan two hours to write, and he still wasn’t entirely satisfied with it when he finally sent it off.

Piers never replied.

A week passed. Raihan checked, double checked, and triple checked, but the email address was correct, and he’s sent it to the right place. Piers just had nothing to say to him.

Hey, we’ve started a Raihan/Piers kbnz prequel to Best Laid Plans! Chapter one is up on AO3! Although it’s a prequel, it can easily be read as a stand alone fic. Enjoy!

*****

Raihan knew he had to see Piers perform live, and clandestinely bought a ticket to the first concert. Nothing could have prepared him for the experience. A song in his earbuds held no comparison to the feel of the bass pounding along with his heart, the roar of the crowd around him, and Piers… beautiful, incredible Piers, with a voice that tore right through Riahan’s soul.

Chapter 10 of Best Laid Plans is up, which means the fic is completed!

Raihan curled into a ball on his bed and wept. Face buried in the covers, arms wrapped around his pillow, he fell to pieces in the safety and solitude of his home.

Why did he think Leon would love him back? Just because they were friends? Because Leon was the best person he knew? Because Leon had a blinding smile and a heart spun of pure gold and a laugh that could make the sun come up? Anyone would fall in love with that, and hundreds of people had. Why did Raihan think he was different? Why would Leon ever love him? He was vulgar and rude and a smartass…everything Leon wasn’t.

He shouldn’t have said anything. He was better off keeping his trap shut and he should have settled for having the most amazing best friend in the world.

Instead, he had to go and ruin everything. Even if, by some miracle, Leon still wanted to be friends with him after this, nothing would be the same. Leon would always know Raihan wanted something more, which would make him uncomfortable and taint their entire friendship.

Raihan had ruined everything because he was so greedy he couldn’t just be happy with what he had. With luck, he would just never see Leon again and never be subjected to the longing of wanting something unattainable. His thoughts continued in a downward spiral until he’d cried himself out, leaving him clutching his pillow and feeling hollow, empty, and broken.

A few hours after they’d parted ways, there was a banging at Raihan’s door.

Dammit, who wanted his attention now? Whoever it was, they could come back later if it was important. He wasn’t anywhere close to presentable anyway.

The banging continued after a moment’s wait. Finally, a voice came.

Chapter Nine is Up! We’re almost there, folks!

Leon let his feet lead the way, moving briskly through the Hammerlocke streets, his heart pounding in his ears and his head feeling like it was full of static. It wasn’t until he found himself out in the wilds did his thoughts finally catch up with him and he realized he was running.

Love?

He slowed to a meandering pace, moseying through a grassy field filled with Combee. Leon took a deep breath of the clear, fresh air, trying to orient himself.

Raihan loved him? Why was that scary?

He was definitely scared, he concluded, as he spared a glance back at the city he’d hastily left behind him. But why was he scared? He and Raihan were best friends, they’d just affirmed that.

The image of Raihan’s face after he’d admitted he needed some time to think flashed through his mind. His hat’s brim hadn’t been enough to protect him from seeing that. He’d hurt Raihan’s feelings.

That was it, he realized. He was afraid of hurting him.

Chapter Eight is up!

A week later, Leon was out of the hospital, though with strict orders from his doctors to rest. Another three days, and Leon was already petitioning the League to schedule the final Championship Battle, no matter what the doctors said. After ten more days of negotiations between the League, Leon, and Leon’s doctors, the match between Champeon Leon and the kid from Postwick who captured Eternatus and saved Galar was scheduled for the following Saturday.

Chapter 7 of Best Laid Plans is up!

“I think it’s time I brought about the Darkest Day.”

The broadcast covered every screen in the Wyndon Stadium. Leon and the kid from Postwick had just taken their places on the pitch, ready to start the final championship battle when Rose’s broadcast had interrupted and he started calmly explaining why he felt justified in releasing the apocalypse.

Raihan was already out of his seat, sprinting for the field while Rose continued to drone on about an energy crisis a thousand years from now. A quick glance showed him that the other gym leaders were doing the same.

“It’s for the sake of Galar’s future, of course! But I’m in a bit of a pickle.”

Behind the Chairman, crackling red energy was building up, though Rose still spoke calmly. A low rumble rose around them, and the stadium began to shake beneath their feet.

“You see, the energy released by the Darkest Day is too much for us to contain.”

The ground in the center of the field erupted, a pillar of dynamax energy tearing into the sky like a beacon.