DRACONIC

any time raihan laughs, it causes a bright smile to grow on piers’ face. he loves that laugh, and whenever he hears it, it feels like it spreads to him. he feels proud of himself for making a joke that funny.

piers leans on the backs of his hands, his wide smile now fully visible. he laughs, light and breathy, shaking his head. “i find they always run the dish over with their tastes. obstagoon likes it spicy too, but his tastes’re a lot spicer than mine.“ imagine one too many tamato berries. “havin’ a cookin’ partner makes it fun, too. i always thought cookin’ was at least a little fun, though.” he used to do it just for marnie, but found a habit of it when the food he made actually tasted good. 

he waits for raihan to grab his fork and take a bite, anticipating what he’ll think of the flavor. it wasn’t necessarily a hard dish to make, but piers has a habit of putting 120% of his effort into everything he does- especially when he’s trying to impress. piers hums, shrugging lightly. “honestly? i’ll eat anythin’, especially if it tastes good.” he points his fork at raihan. “havin’ it be spicy is just a bonus. i’d like whatever you’d make me.” piers laughs when raihan talks with his mouth full, taking a bite of his own serving of pie. “what do you think? marinated that meat for a week before puttin’ it in the pie.” piers is absolutely lying. he raises an eyebrow and there’s hints of a smirk on his face as he asks his question. 

as he listens to piers, raihan takes another bite of the pie. his gaze slowly moves down to the dish, chewing slowly as something strange passes over his face. it isn’t that piers’ cooking is bad, nothing could be further from the truth. however, as raihan really takes it in, he feels his chest fill with warmth.

looking back up, raihan’s expression morphs into something impossibly warm.

“i think it’s amazing, piers,” he answers, eyes crinkling with his smile. “it reminds me of the shepherd’s pie my mom made when i was a kid. it’s ace!” to prove his point, raihan lifts another forkful to his mouth.

if at all possible, raihan would be glowing. he misses home now more than he has the entire month he’s been in koi. his mom is the most important person in his life— feels tiresome to be too far from her for too long.

    “ listen, i know you’re a big fan of those soppy movies like pikachu & prejudice … but can’t you watch it with someone who actually wants to snuggle up with you on the couch ??? “

    nessa sounds a little too high and mighty at the moment, considering the taller dragon leader is currently graciously giving her a piggyback back to where she’s staying as well as carrying the snacks they bought just before. 

   “ ‘dude, where’s my gyarados?!’ is like, a masterpiece i swear to you it sucks they don’t have it here !!! “

  she huffs and her drednaw chortles in agreement, good taste buddy. 

   “ how long’ve you been ‘ere anyway? long enough for someone to tie the great dragon down yet? “ even if he can’t see it, nessa is looking very curious and smug.

@raihxn​

raihan offers a prolonged groan, a noise that’s just as sarcastic as it is dramatic. he bounces nessa on his back, less to manage his hold on her and more to disrupt her comfort. the bag of snacks bounces against his hip and he can practically hear some of the potato crisps snap. what a mistake.

“you’re not wrong, ness, but have you ever seen good wimpod hunting? that movie is GOLD and you are a fool if you’ve never seen it.” he knuckles a crosswalk button. “actually, if you haven’t, we’re gonna watch it. on arceus, i will find a way to pirate it.”

leaning over, raihan peers at drednaw with a pouty frown, which is cut short when nessa’s weight throws off his balance and he plants a foot on the curb to make sure they don’t topple over.

a look of surprise crosses her features as her new roommate manifests a — bipedal metal lizard? — into their apartment, but the expression is quickly replaced by a thoughtful one. wattson doesn’t exactly know what a pokemon is, or how the little sphere raihan had it stored in works, but she supposes it’s more like an exotic pet than anything. there’s nothing quite like duraludon in the outlands.

perhaps if raihan had an extra sphere, he would let her take it apart later. it would be rude to play twenty questions now, so she stops her curiosity from getting the best of her.

❝ it is good to meet him as well, then, ❞ wattson says, returning his smile. ❝ i’ve collected a few nicknames over the years, and i don’t think anyone has used watts before. that’s a new one! ❞

she isn’t an expert at icebreakers, but figures getting to know a little bit more about each other would do them both well. ❝ so, um… what do you do? which planet are you from? ❞

wattson’s surprise elicits a larger grin from the gym leader. duraludon huffs a grumbling noise, stares back at the blonde, then seems to become distracted by the new asset to their apartment. the pokémon trudges slowly past wattson, toward her bedroom door, to peer at the light-up board she’d placed upon it.

“well,” raihan begins, hands planted on his hips. “the pokémon world. more specifically, i’m from the region of galar. that’s what he is, by the way—” raihan gestures toward duraludon, “a pokémon. creatures that humans live alongside! some of us train them and battle with them, like a sport. that’s what i do; i’m a gym leader! i test the abilities of new trainers to see if they’ve got what it takes to take on the champion of the region.”

tilting his head, raihan’s easy smile never falters. glancing over wattson’s form, he takes note of her get-up. she looks to be an engineer of some sort, an assumption backed up by her tinkering earlier.

“c’mon,” piers waves his hand. “you’re talkin’ about ratatouille’s monster. he wasn’t the chef.” he was able to fake it for a while, but the second raihan bows- obstagoon doesn’t look nearly as amused as piers is, but he’s enjoying it- the dark leader laughs as well. “he did help. he picked out the ingredients. couldn’t ask for a better sous chef.“

obstagoon grins, stomping after duraludon! this pokemon acted like an oversized dog that walked on two legs- excitable and generally friendly with anyone, as long as they’re not stanced up for battle. even though the two pokemon haven’t hung out before, obstagoon treats duraludon like they’ve been friends forever. it’s time to play fetch. 

“oh?“ piers tucks some hair behind his ear. “i’ll be lookin’ forward to it. there’s still time before new years.“ with the table set and the food revealed, now it’s time to cut the pie! piers cuts his friend a piece before placing one on his own plate. he always had to cook the meals for him and marnie- up until marnie left on her journey- so he’s picked up cooking as a minor hobby. he might as well learn how to make stuff that tastes good if he’s going to make it himself. 

piers’ response tickles raihan and he laughs harder, the noise bubbling out of him uncontrollably like foam from a champagne bottle. he raps his knuckles against the edge of the table, other hand pressed against his stomach, as he tries to dial himself back. summarily, a knuckle is dragged over the corner of his eye.

“that’s wonderful— really!” raihan beams at the other. the dragon leader smiles quite a lot, but this one seems different somehow. “pokémon helping with cooking is a good idea, in my experience. flygon has a funny talent at picking the sweetest pecha berries.”

when piers cuts the shepherd’s pie, raihan’s eyes practically sparkle as the scent hits his nose. it smells incredible and while raihan can’t say he’s ever eaten a pie that’s really blown him away before, he suddenly thinks that this one might do just that. once a slice is placed upon his plate, he plucks his fork from the table.

for some reason, piers is still trying to play along. he puts a hand to his chest, feigning surprise. “aye, thank you– i didn’t make this one, remember? my pal here did.” he points at obstagoon with his thumb. his partner pokemon has a deadpanned expression as well- as deadpan as can be when its tongue is sticking out like that- and it lets out a snort. there’s a silly little smile on piers’ face, however. 

obstagoon makes its way into the apartment, walking over to the duraludon and looking at it. it crosses its arms and raises an eyebrow. a very cool greeting! piers stifles a laugh and begins to set the table. 

“no problem.” piers has a pretty wide smile of his own, but he doesn’t quite look up at raihan just yet. “‘s always better to have company this time a year, don’t you think? livin’ right down the hall made it easier to drop by.“ once he’s done messing with the packaging, piers reveals that he’s made a shepherds pie for the both of them to share! he waves his hand around the dish, letting out a light ‘ta-da!’ 

although raihan nearly rolls his eyes, he suddenly seems taken aback, as though he’s ashamed of himself and very terribly faking it. “you’re right! oh, goodness, how could i ever imply that obstagoon isn’t the real rattatatouille here?” he swivels his wrist, giving obstagoon a short but fancy bow from his seat. the facade breaks and raihan immediately starts laughing.

duraludon stares at obstagoon as the other pokémon approaches. he remembers the dark-type leader’s partner pokémon— but only from battle. the steel-type exhales a soft noise and turns away, grumbling for the other to follow. he’s going to show him the ball leon got him for christmas!

piers notices that raihan’s smile gets bigger, and he finds himself grinning as well. he’s happy that he made raihan happy!

the obstagoon snorts in raihan’s face, but it still looks like it’s grinning. piers leans up against his pokemon, covering his mouth to stifle a small laugh. “i checked it myself. this one’s hair-free. this guy’s probably the best cook i know, i hope you enjoy it.“ and with that, piers straightens himself and enters raihan’s apartment, taking the food from the obstagoon as it follows him into the apartment. 

he places the food on the closest table. “it’ll get cold if we don’t eat it right away. thought sharin’ a dinner would be a good idea… since it’s the holidays n’ all.“  

“i don’t know that you need to hope for anything,” raihan responds, closing the door once his guests pass the threshold. “you made breakfast for me the one time— your cooking is pretty ace.”

raihan meanders after obstagoon and piers. duraludon emerges from one corner of the living area, a dark column in a dimly lit room. he stares at obstagoon with bright golden eyes. his trainer, from across the room, gives the pokémon a sharp stare before smiling at piers and turning toward the food.

rose? who was that- clearly someone he should know but he just couldn’t. it was like the name seemed so familiar but he couldn’t put a face to the name. raihan would say who this was right? “uh…i hate to sound like an idiot but who is rose?” 

he frowned at raihan clearly, something happened. “mate come on if somethin’ happened you can tell me.”

well. this just gets weirder and weirder. raihan is stunned at that response— really, well and truly, he’s so astonished that his jaw falls open. quick to recover, raihan shakes his head and fixates an expression on leon that clearly reads ‘are you kidding me?’

something is off with this place. raihan was just beginning to cope with the fact that they may not be from the same point in time, however possible that even is, lest dialga has some crazy hand in this. or— paw?

now, leon doesn’t remember rose?

piers snorts. “those kinds’a dinners were never my style. barhoppin’ fits a lot more, don’t you think?” it’s true, whenever they had to do a get-together as gym leaders, piers always detested it- and he’s sure his coworkers could see the distaste on his face. at least the food was good, most of the time. “we can get away with a lot more, considerin’ we aren’t exactly celebrities here.” there’s a smile on his face, piers is really enjoying not having the public eye over his shoulder all the time. it’s a nice break, and now he can shape an image for himself in his way.

“y’think? you missed my good side.” though he has a comeback, piers’ gaze is averted, and there’s still a little blush on his face. he sets one plate down on the table for raihan, and then sits down with his own. “your eye not workin’? you should get that checked out.” in regards to raihan winking at him. he retaliates with a little smirk of his own. 

“weren’t they?!” he barks, leaning the chair back on two legs briefly. “it was always stuffy, being all pent up in the same dining hall with the lot of you! i mean, plenty of kudos to each and every league member, but it felt more like a corporate luncheon. and i even think of some of them as friends, like nessa and leon, but it was still a bit silly, if you ask me.”

i can’t stand this | @raihxn

piers thought it would be funny, but he was caught too quickly for it. when raihan’s hand lands on obstagoon’s head, the pokemon smiles and leans in to give the dragon trainer’s face a lick! piers steps to the side and comes into view, leaning on his pokemon somewhat, giving it pats of love. he’s casual-looking today; a torn pair of jeans and the striped sweater that raihan had gifted him. 

“hey. obstagoon made dinner, n’ he made too much… so i brought the leftovers.” every bit of this sentence was a lie, but hey.

upon his reveal, raihan notices the sweater near-instantly and busts out into a wide grin. he reaches out and adjusts the collar slightly so that it lies flatter without much thought. it looks nice on piers!

“did he?” raihan isn’t so sure about that and snickers openly. “i’ve been in your apartment, mate— how much fur did he get into it?” turning his gaze back to obstagoon, the dragon trainer replaces his hand on the pokémon’s head. “sorry, no offense.”

raihan stares at obstagoon for a long moment before he parses out that the pokémon hadn’t just miraculously grown that much more fur. is that … piers, hiding behind his pokémon? isn’t obstagoon like, almost a full foot shorter than him?

putting a hand on obstagoon’s head, raihan gives the pokémon a friendly pat before leaning over him to smirk down at piers. the necklace dangles over obstagoon’s head and raihan tucks it into his shirt before the pokémon can snatch at it.

when raihan mentions drinking, piers can’t help but snort- he hasn’t gone out drinking in… how long has it been? probably never honestly, because he had to raise marnie, it didn’t really leave much free time for stuff like that. piers thinks he hasn’t missed out too much, but it would be fun to have a night out, right? “it’d help in gettin’ to know this place better, too. could be fun.“ piers smiles, though it’s a little more to himself than anything- the idea of hanging out with friends late at night is nice. piers grabs two plates, placing the biscuits onto them and smothering them in gravy. “ah- shit… gotta find some stuff for all their presents, too.“ he hasn’t really met most of the kids, but he still wants to get them all something for christmas.  

“wh-“ he’s about to turn around with two plates in his hands, but pulls out his phone instead. he slowly moves his gaze onto raihan. his face is almost unreadable, aside from the light blush on his cheeks. 

“yeah, that, too!” raihan smiles like he had, in fact, not at all considered that to be a possible reasoning for going out. “i think it’d be nice to just have a couple of us out together without all of the league stuff to consider. all those fancy dinners and functions rose threw for us were stifling at best.”

waving a hand, raihan sighs dramatically. he turns in his seat with anticipation when piers collects a couple of plates. a rumble threatens to shake the confines of raihan’s empty stomach as he watches the dark type leader prep the plates. it smells really good and he ponders how piers might’ve gotten so good at cooking.

“it ain’t that bad y’know? believe it or not, i’m kinda thankful for the peace,” which he was but he would’ve liked to at least have his match with hop’s friend first- but when did the world like to give what he wanted? 

this was the first he heard of this- what the hell happened? he squinted and rubbed his chin. “i can’t say i remember that? mate when did that happen? last thing i remember i was meant to meet hop and the kid for dinner before the final match?” his head went to the side confused- what in the world is going on here?

good, he thinks resolutely. raihan seems to relax by a single increment and he finds himself dumbfounded by the fact that he’d even been stiff to begin with. it’s leon, for arceus’ sake— excitement in seeing him, sure, but anxiety?

and then the other shoe drops and that tension builds back up. raihan is very good at keeping his emotions out of his body language, but for once, the dragon trainer does visibly hesitate. his gaze settles on leon heavily, like a large weight, and it’s clear that the gym leader is reading him. leon is an easy read. at least for raihan he is. but now, the genuine confusion is baffling.

could it HONESTLY be ...?

“you mean when you went to meet rose?” he cuts himself off at that. raihan knows the rest of the story— how could he not? he’d heard it all first hand from his stadium staff. “i...”

raihan rubs the side of his head, pauses, then grumbles softly.