A Man and His Rat.

"You think I'm like this because of Friede!?" Dot snaps. "I'm like this because of YOU, Liko!" Her confession of grief turns into a confession of her love for Liko, which has been stagnant, but continued to fester for an entire year. It's hard to tell whether she even said so on purpose.

Liko returns her feelings. She says as much, with clarity. But, right now might not be the best time to make anything of it. Meowscarada is still rather jealous of her relationship with Liko, to say nothing of the emotional state everyone is in; they're just figuring out how to reform the Rising Volt Tacklers, or where anyone stands within it. All of the adults but Orla have declined returning. It's a turbulent time for the entire group, and a pretty bad spot to figure out a relationship.

In a rather mature fashion, they take a raincheck on their romance.

This pause lasts quite a while, and faces its first big turn around two thirds of the way through the story, if I had to put a pin in it!

Around this time, Liko tells Meowscarada she wants to talk about the situation with Dot soon. She's hesitant, but agrees to that... but before that can go anywhere, Spinel gets his grubby hands on Meowscarada.

She's kidnapped for his purposes. Liko's so broken up about it that she decides to be selfish and impulsive, and tearfully asks if Dot can spend the night with her.

The next morning, Liko admits she's slept in the same bed as her starter as long as she can remember. The thought of doing so alone was unbearable. Dot asks if she was just a replacement. Liko says she's not. She's loved her for a long time, too. Her absence on her streams... was because Liko couldn't bring herself to comment anymore. It was too painful a reminder of them being torn apart after Laqua.

They're in a strange place now, where they've done too much for either of them to take it back. They probably shouldn't have before consulting Meowscarada, but... Liko is human. She had a breaking point.

Liko and Dot are in a nebulous space for most of the last stretch, where they don't formalize anything, but they probably do rely on each other emotionally. This all comes to a head in the final battle, after Meowscarada regains her freedom. The circumstances of this allow her a peek into Liko's mind, and she sees what she's missed.

She can't find it in her to be mad at Liko; especially with what she's suffered. She 'threatens' Dot, saying that she better have taken good care of Liko in her absence. It's her way of accepting Dot into the fold while saving face for her usual jealous ways. From Spinel's defeat onward, Liko is formally dating both Meowscarada and Dot!

Vincent stepped behind the counter of Hotel Z, lowering the counter entryway behind him as he prepared himself for what was probably another mostly uneventful day. Flora was already behind the counter, just in front of the door to the hotel’s kitchen as she stared at a painting of herself that had been hung up on the wall.

“How’s it going, Flora? Thinking about AZ again?” Vincent approached her from behind, reaching a hand up to gently rub her back. Flora nodded, not saying anything as she leaned back into his touch. “I’m sorry, I know it’s got to be pretty rough on you. Did you want to go visit him today? I can have AZ or Dam keep an eye on the counter while we head across the city?”

“No, that won’t be necessary. I don’t know if my mood calls for a visit to the graveyard. Did I ever tell you one of the promises he made me, five years ago, just after we finally got back together?”

“ ‘I’ll never leave you, as long as I live.’ Right?”

“Just so.” Flora nodded, turning around the black flower to face Vincent now. “What about me? I feel just the same as I did a thousand years ago, and the two thousand years before that! AZ started dying as soon as we reconnected, I just don’t think either of us noticed what was going on until it was too late. He kept his word, but it feels too soon. We only just found each other again. I’d waited too long to forgive him, and now I’m living with that regret.”

Vincent didn’t know how to respond, how could he have known? He’d known AZ in some capacity for most of his life now, but none of the knowledge that AZ had imparted on him or any of his own experiences could give him just the right thing to say. Even if he’d lived a thousand years, Vincent didn’t know that he would ever have something to say that would make her feel better. He was wearing his sadness on his face, Flora floating up to bring herself against his cheek, as close to a hug as she could manage given their difference in size.

“I’m sorry, Vincent. I know you’ve only just woken up.”

“There’s nothing to apologize about, I’m always here for you, I promise.” Vincent nodded, his chest tightening when he realized what he’d said. Flora couldn’t help but pout, the simple gesture leaving a poor taste in her mouth.

“Will you be?” She asked.

“If I have to go hunt down Xerneas and bargain with it for eternal life.” Vincent steeled himself, his expression becoming much more serious. Flora floated back in surprise, her eyes widened before she smiled at him.

“Then I should remind you, no building region-destroying weapons.” Flora teased, Vincent crossing his heart and bowing his head at her in response.

“Fortunately he didn’t pass that information down to me, so I don’t think you have to worry.” Vincent sat himself down in the chair, having organized a few things that needed it while he was talking with her. “Say, Flora, was there any other promises that he made to you?”

“I don’t know that I understand what you mean?”

“Not just the big stuff, anything. Did he ever tell you that the two of you should go do anything, try anything with each other?”

“Well, now that you mention it, the first thing that comes to mind is something he said offhand a few months after the Hotel was built. We’d been walking through the city, and we’d just passed a theatre. I told him that I’d love to see a performance there, and he agreed, but we’d never found the time to go. Especially not when Ange started acting up.”

“Done.” Vincent nodded, opening the laptop in front of him, rapidly typing in an address and fussing about for a few seconds before Flora hovered over his shoulder.

“I don’t understand, what’s done?”

“Going to the theatre.” Vincent responded, not offering any more information until Flora peeked at the screen. He was purchasing tickets? “Two tickets to Phantump of the Opera for tonight at 19.” Flora was stunned at the gesture, speechless as she looked back and forth between the payment confirmation screen and Vincent’s sincere smile. When she finally recovered her wits, she swooped down against his face and squeezed his cheek as hard as she could into a hug, little tears streaming down her face as he brought a hand up to cradle her against him.

“You didn’t have to, Vincent.”

“Well of course I didn’t but I wanted to, and I can already tell it means a lot to you. I’m not AZ, nor do I think I’ll be able to fill his shoes--at least not in the next couple millenia--but you deserve to be treated well. You both spent so long in the past, I want to help you live in the now. I think it’s what AZ would want, but what’s most important to me is what you want, not anybody else.”

“I… It’s been so long since somebody’s asked me what I wanted to do.”

“So, Ms. Flora, would you like to go see a musical with me after we clock out for the day?” Vincent smiled at her again, holding a hand out to her.

“I would be overjoyed. No Damocles or Persephone?” Flora asked, reached out to rest her hand on one of Vincent’s fingers.

“At least not on the first date.” Vincent teased, gently kissing the back of her hand.

“Mr. Mortuem! You presumptuous Arcanine~” Flora blushed and turned away from him to hide her smile.

The remainder of their day was the same as all the days previously, a steadily growing frequency of customers thanks to Vincent and his team’s advertisements, as well as the efforts of Vincent and Ace along with the rest of Team MZ being renowned in the city as saviors following the Ange Disaster. Most of the guests were still different members of Racine Construction, the Hyperspace Survey Teams, the Rust Syndicate, or the Fists of Justice with a few more exceptional visitors, but Vincent had counted five whole guests who were unaffiliated with any of those groups since last month. He finished up the remainder of his duties for the evening, putting Damocles and Persephone on desk duty while he was gone. Damocles disliked the task, preferring to be out and about doing things instead, but Persephone promised she’d keep her brother in line and wished Vincent and Flora a good evening with a coy smile thrown in Vincent’s direction.

Vincent and Flora left the hotel just as the sun was setting, electing not to take a taxi, and instead making their way across Lumiose on foot. A few people who recognized Vincent stopped to say hello, including a few members of the Rust Syndicate who recognized him from his work with Emma while Ace was becoming the strongest mega evolution user in Lumiose, he was almost certain that he was more of a celebrity for his detective work than he was for being part of Team MZ and one of the few A Ranked trainers in the Z-A Royale. They made their way to the theatre without too many people trying to stop Vincent, Vincent pulling the door aside and motioning for Flora to enter first. He presented his Arc-Phone with the tickets, scanned by a woman at the entrance of the theatre, then made their way inside to their designated seats. The person in the row in front of them had their Feraligatr sitting in front of Flora, leading her to eventually settle on Vincent’s shoulder to be able to properly watch the performance.

Once the performance was done, Vincent and Flora decided to just wander for a bit, passing by one of the Cafe’s in the Magenta District when Flora asked to stop. She spent much longer than was probably needed looking at the menu, but Vincent didn’t dare stop her with how much fun she was having. When she did eventually order, her and Vincent talked for a while about some of the experiences they had with AZ--Vincent while he was in Hisui, and Flora several thousand years prior--and the two laughed over some of the little things that AZ seemingly never grew out of, mannerisms they both found to be funny. Once their food was gone and Vincent tipped the waitress, they started out again down the road until they passed by the entrance to one of the evening’s battle zones. Vincent took a few steps past before turning around and seeing Flora eyeing up the entrance.

“Mr. Mortuem, how long has it been since we’ve taken part in the Infinite Royale?”

“I would guess… “far too long”, Ms. Flora. Shall we?” He teased, reaching a hand out to escort her into the battle zone.

“You’re too kind~” Flora hummed, taking his hand and entering the battle zone with him.

When the glimmer of sunlight shone over the horizon, and Vincent and Flora exited the battle zone to hail a taxi, they had at least a dozen more victories under Flora’s metaphorical and Vincent’s literal belts. Vincent gave a nod to Zach as he opened the cab door, Vincent letting Flora float inside first before Zach got into the driver’s seat and took them off in the direction of the hotel.

“I must say, Vincent, you certainly know how to make a woman feel three-thousand years younger.” Flora leaned against him as they sat in the back seat of the cab. “I would love to do this again some time.”

“I live to please.”

“If Persephone is to be believed, I certainly don’t doubt that.”

“Wait, what’s that supposed to mean?” Vincent cocked his head to one side, looking down at Flora with a scrutinizing glare.

“Nothing at all, my dear. But maybe you’ll be able to show me some other evening.” Flora yawned, playfully resting herself on his thigh without a further word, but with a very visible teasing smile across her face. When they returned to the hotel finally, Vincent tipped Zach and made his way inside. A very grumpy Damocles perked up when he saw Vincent return, then his excitement turned to shock when he saw the disheveled look of Vincent’s clothes.

“Oh no way you want to the battle zone without me, and while I was stuck here!”

“Calm down, Dam. You’ll wake all our guests.” Persephone yawned as she circled around the counter and gave Vincent a welcoming kiss on the cheek. “Did you two have fun tonight?”

“That we did, dear. Our Vincent was quite the gentleman, every step of the way.” Flora floated up out of his hands, kissing Vincent on the cheek as well before she bid him adieu and floated back into her usual sleeping place.

“Make it up to you tomorrow night, Dam. Sunset to sunrise we’ll go throw down, the three of us.”

“You make it hard to stay mad at you, you know?” Damocles shook his head as he elected to leap over the counter instead of walking around like Persephone had, closing the distance to Vincent to wrap him in a hug. “Does that mean we can go to bed now?”

“Absolutely. No more 24 hour counter service, I feel bad about making you sit through that. Maybe we should do check in and check out times like pretty much every other hotel.” Vincent laughed, leading his partners back to--what formerly had been AZ’s room--Vincent’s room to sleep for a few hours before getting back up and checking out the guests who were finished with their stay. Neo could watch the counter for a little while while they rested.

Vincent stepped behind the counter of Hotel Z, lowering the counter entryway behind him as he prepared himself for what was probably another mostly uneventful day. Flora was already behind the counter, just in front of the door to the hotel’s kitchen as she stared at a painting of herself that had been hung up on the wall.

“How’s it going, Flora? Thinking about AZ again?” Vincent approached her from behind, reaching a hand up to gently rub her back. Flora nodded, not saying anything as she leaned back into his touch. “I’m sorry, I know it’s got to be pretty rough on you. Did you want to go visit him today? I can have AZ or Dam keep an eye on the counter while we head across the city?”

“No, that won’t be necessary. I don’t know if my mood calls for a visit to the graveyard. Did I ever tell you one of the promises he made me, five years ago, just after we finally got back together?”

“ ‘I’ll never leave you, as long as I live.’ Right?”

“Just so.” Flora nodded, turning around the black flower to face Vincent now. “What about me? I feel just the same as I did a thousand years ago, and the two thousand years before that! AZ started dying as soon as we reconnected, I just don’t think either of us noticed what was going on until it was too late. He kept his word, but it feels too soon. We only just found each other again. I’d waited too long to forgive him, and now I’m living with that regret.”

Vincent didn’t know how to respond, how could he have known? He’d known AZ in some capacity for most of his life now, but none of the knowledge that AZ had imparted on him or any of his own experiences could give him just the right thing to say. Even if he’d lived a thousand years, Vincent didn’t know that he would ever have something to say that would make her feel better. He was wearing his sadness on his face, Flora floating up to bring herself against his cheek, as close to a hug as she could manage given their difference in size.

“I’m sorry, Vincent. I know you’ve only just woken up.”

“There’s nothing to apologize about, I’m always here for you, I promise.” Vincent nodded, his chest tightening when he realized what he’d said. Flora couldn’t help but pout, the simple gesture leaving a poor taste in her mouth.

“Will you be?” She asked.

“If I have to go hunt down Xerneas and bargain with it for eternal life.” Vincent steeled himself, his expression becoming much more serious. Flora floated back in surprise, her eyes widened before she smiled at him.

“Then I should remind you, no building region-destroying weapons.” Flora teased, Vincent crossing his heart and bowing his head at her in response.

“Fortunately he didn’t pass that information down to me, so I don’t think you have to worry.” Vincent sat himself down in the chair, having organized a few things that needed it while he was talking with her. “Say, Flora, was there any other promises that he made to you?”

“I don’t know that I understand what you mean?”

“Not just the big stuff, anything. Did he ever tell you that the two of you should go do anything, try anything with each other?”

“Well, now that you mention it, the first thing that comes to mind is something he said offhand a few months after the Hotel was built. We’d been walking through the city, and we’d just passed a theatre. I told him that I’d love to see a performance there, and he agreed, but we’d never found the time to go. Especially not when Ange started acting up.”

“Done.” Vincent nodded, opening the laptop in front of him, rapidly typing in an address and fussing about for a few seconds before Flora hovered over his shoulder.

“I don’t understand, what’s done?”

“Going to the theatre.” Vincent responded, not offering any more information until Flora peeked at the screen. He was purchasing tickets? “Two tickets to Phantump of the Opera for tonight at 19.” Flora was stunned at the gesture, speechless as she looked back and forth between the payment confirmation screen and Vincent’s sincere smile. When she finally recovered her wits, she swooped down against his face and squeezed his cheek as hard as she could into a hug, little tears streaming down her face as he brought a hand up to cradle her against him.

“You didn’t have to, Vincent.”

“Well of course I didn’t but I wanted to, and I can already tell it means a lot to you. I’m not AZ, nor do I think I’ll be able to fill his shoes--at least not in the next couple millenia--but you deserve to be treated well. You both spent so long in the past, I want to help you live in the now. I think it’s what AZ would want, but what’s most important to me is what you want, not anybody else.”

“I… It’s been so long since somebody’s asked me what I wanted to do.”

“So, Ms. Flora, would you like to go see a musical with me after we clock out for the day?” Vincent smiled at her again, holding a hand out to her.

“I would be overjoyed. No Damocles or Persephone?” Flora asked, reached out to rest her hand on one of Vincent’s fingers.

“At least not on the first date.” Vincent teased, gently kissing the back of her hand.

“Mr. Mortuem! You presumptuous Arcanine~” Flora blushed and turned away from him to hide her smile.

The remainder of their day was the same as all the days previously, a steadily growing frequency of customers thanks to Vincent and his team’s advertisements, as well as the efforts of Vincent and Ace along with the rest of Team MZ being renowned in the city as saviors following the Ange Disaster. Most of the guests were still different members of Racine Construction, the Hyperspace Survey Teams, the Rust Syndicate, or the Fists of Justice with a few more exceptional visitors, but Vincent had counted five whole guests who were unaffiliated with any of those groups since last month. He finished up the remainder of his duties for the evening, putting Damocles and Persephone on desk duty while he was gone. Damocles disliked the task, preferring to be out and about doing things instead, but Persephone promised she’d keep her brother in line and wished Vincent and Flora a good evening with a coy smile thrown in Vincent’s direction.

Vincent and Flora left the hotel just as the sun was setting, electing not to take a taxi, and instead making their way across Lumiose on foot. A few people who recognized Vincent stopped to say hello, including a few members of the Rust Syndicate who recognized him from his work with Emma while Ace was becoming the strongest mega evolution user in Lumiose, he was almost certain that he was more of a celebrity for his detective work than he was for being part of Team MZ and one of the few A Ranked trainers in the Z-A Royale. They made their way to the theatre without too many people trying to stop Vincent, Vincent pulling the door aside and motioning for Flora to enter first. He presented his Arc-Phone with the tickets, scanned by a woman at the entrance of the theatre, then made their way inside to their designated seats. The person in the row in front of them had their Feraligatr sitting in front of Flora, leading her to eventually settle on Vincent’s shoulder to be able to properly watch the performance.

Once the performance was done, Vincent and Flora decided to just wander for a bit, passing by one of the Cafe’s in the Magenta District when Flora asked to stop. She spent much longer than was probably needed looking at the menu, but Vincent didn’t dare stop her with how much fun she was having. When she did eventually order, her and Vincent talked for a while about some of the experiences they had with AZ--Vincent while he was in Hisui, and Flora several thousand years prior--and the two laughed over some of the little things that AZ seemingly never grew out of, mannerisms they both found to be funny. Once their food was gone and Vincent tipped the waitress, they started out again down the road until they passed by the entrance to one of the evening’s battle zones. Vincent took a few steps past before turning around and seeing Flora eyeing up the entrance.

“Mr. Mortuem, how long has it been since we’ve taken part in the Infinite Royale?”

“I would guess… “far too long”, Ms. Flora. Shall we?” He teased, reaching a hand out to escort her into the battle zone.

“You’re too kind~” Flora hummed, taking his hand and entering the battle zone with him.

When the glimmer of sunlight shone over the horizon, and Vincent and Flora exited the battle zone to hail a taxi, they had at least a dozen more victories under Flora’s metaphorical and Vincent’s literal belts. Vincent gave a nod to Zach as he opened the cab door, Vincent letting Flora float inside first before Zach got into the driver’s seat and took them off in the direction of the hotel.

“I must say, Vincent, you certainly know how to make a woman feel three-thousand years younger.” Flora leaned against him as they sat in the back seat of the cab. “I would love to do this again some time.”

“I live to please.”

“If Persephone is to be believed, I certainly don’t doubt that.”

“Wait, what’s that supposed to mean?” Vincent cocked his head to one side, looking down at Flora with a scrutinizing glare.

“Nothing at all, my dear. But maybe you’ll be able to show me some other evening.” Flora yawned, playfully resting herself on his thigh without a further word, but with a very visible teasing smile across her face. When they returned to the hotel finally, Vincent tipped Zach and made his way inside. A very grumpy Damocles perked up when he saw Vincent return, then his excitement turned to shock when he saw the disheveled look of Vincent’s clothes.

“Oh no way you want to the battle zone without me, and while I was stuck here!”

“Calm down, Dam. You’ll wake all our guests.” Persephone yawned as she circled around the counter and gave Vincent a welcoming kiss on the cheek. “Did you two have fun tonight?”

“That we did, dear. Our Vincent was quite the gentleman, every step of the way.” Flora floated up out of his hands, kissing Vincent on the cheek as well before she bid him adieu and floated back into her usual sleeping place.

“Make it up to you tomorrow night, Dam. Sunset to sunrise we’ll go throw down, the three of us.”

“You make it hard to stay mad at you, you know?” Damocles shook his head as he elected to leap over the counter instead of walking around like Persephone had, closing the distance to Vincent to wrap him in a hug. “Does that mean we can go to bed now?”

“Absolutely. No more 24 hour counter service, I feel bad about making you sit through that. Maybe we should do check in and check out times like pretty much every other hotel.” Vincent laughed, leading his partners back to--what formerly had been AZ’s room--Vincent’s room to sleep for a few hours before getting back up and checking out the guests who were finished with their stay. Neo could watch the counter for a little while while they rested.