we are all cinders from a fire burning long ago

"Oh fuck, wait." Sanatani reached out to grab both of his shoulders firmly, staring dead into those panicky eyes. He was so sad-making. Like a lillipup that had gotten separated from his trainer and didn’t know what to do.

How did this keep happening? Was it her? Did she exude an aura of please come associate with me if you are going to be permanently emotionally and sexually unavailable?

"Cyrille. Cyrille. Are you one of those people that hates sex with women and just doesn’t want to say it because you’re scared you’ll upset me, because bro. Babe. Pet. The only upsetting thing is continuing to play this game with someone who would rather I fuck off into the sunset.”

….

Really? Like, I get that I’m forward or whatever, Poppy says it’s because I wasn’t socialized enough as a kid or some shit but.

Do you just not get propositioned?

Like all the time?

Inhale slow, exhale slower.

Arceus, why is everyone so quick to panic over being told they’re hot, it’s ridiculous. You don’t see me flipping out over people acknowledging my obvious sexual superiority. Settle down.

It is never too late for the haunted ship ahahahahaha

The umbrella, when it rains - Probs Colm or maybe they could be cute and hoLD IT TOGETHER! QAQ

The popcorn at the cinema - Okay gonna probs say that Colm will buy popcorn for both him and his partner ALWAYS but if Cyrille doesn’t want any, Colm would probs hold it and constantly be offering because Cyrille no please share with me popcorn is yummy I will buy you other things if this isn’t good

The baby, when it cries - CYRILLE WILL BECAUSE DON’T LET COLM HOLD THE BABY BECAUSE HOW TO LIVING THINGS?!?!?!?!?

The ice cream cone, when they share - now this is hard, because both of them would be cute being fed ice cream. I bet it alternates. Or if Cyrille is holding it and it drips Colm would shyly start licking his hand because ohohoho let us attempt at being sexy but ending up cute—*shot*

The remote, when they sit down to watch a movie - I think they’d both forget where the fucking remote is sadlfnasjdfnkajs

The basket, when they go shopping - AUTO COLM ALWAYS COLM butmaybeCyrillewouldfeelbad OH GOD FIGHTING TO SEE WHO HOLDS THE BASKET I SEE IT

The door, on dates - Colm is best gentleman

The other’s hand, most often - Hmmm…this is tough. They probs be very private in their affection, holding hands in private a lot. In this case, I think it’s a tie?

Their breath, upon seeing the other on their wedding day - Colm. Always Colm. And Cyrille would just be confused because Colm are you okay?????

There were dozens of kinds of awkward. Flattered, confused, guilty. And there was also scared.

Sanatani huffed, cheeks puffing out ridiculously, and dropped the poor gym leader’s elbow, spinning rather daintily to stand in front of him and walk backwards. She knew the layout of the place well enough, after all, and it wasn’t as if other people couldn’t watch out for her instead of wasting her own eyesight on it.

"Okay, rule one: I need to know your limits. Money, obviously, but also if you’re gonna piss yourself because I’m touching you, now would be totally the time to bring that up. Also, I’m supposed to politely inform people in advance of possible kisses or uh. Riskbeingdeportedso. That’s on the table probably.

"Money-wise...nothing quite so expensive as the boutiques of Lumiose City, to be sure. I suppose browsing some stores would give me a better idea of the price of clothing around here?" He usually made his own clothes, so he didn't exactly have a good idea of what pre-made clothes cost. He did have a gym leader's salary, though, and it wasn't as if he normally spent much on himself to begin with...

Deported? Was she saying that people could be deported for spontaneous kissing of others? Well, it was always a good idea to get consent first for that sort of thing...but why on earth was she bringing something like that up?

"Well then! Lucky for you that you have an experienced Dualumian traveller at your disposal, innit?"

It really couldn’t have been more than fifteen or twenty minutes of bouncing along the sidewalk and occasionally checking on her newly acquired companion. 

Once they were in the shopping center, though, she had to turn to face him, grinning far too widely, proud of her newest adopted region.

It was certainly. Something.

Like a mall that had been forced to grow vertically instead of horizontally, due to the dense nature of the cityscape.

Eleven stories worth of stores, packed into a single building, with only Arceus knew what else located higher up, in the private floors.

He could only stare in wonder and a hint of trepidation at the floors and floors of stores above them. How was anyone supposed to find anything in here? How could so many people stand being clustered so tightly in an enclosed space for the amount of time it would take to find what they were looking for? Presumably, this was just another part of big-city life that he didn't understand.

She punctuated the statement with a wink. Just in case there was any doubt in Cyrille’s mind. He seems a little socially stunted.

And with that, she set off towards the Downtown area, reminding herself all the way that she shouldn’t drag him, that never looked good. But, this was so exciting! And he was adorable!