#runwayshipping

Elesa breathes in deep and lets out a heavy sigh. “I can’t believe you two waited two weeks to tell me you’re going to Galar this semester.” She looks up and over at Ingo, who was staring up at the sky to avoid her gaze, then across to Emmet, who was looking at her until she looked at him, and quickly looked away. “What are you two even doing over there?”

“We’ll be working on restoring an old steam locomotive,” Ingo says softly, his apparent embarrassment in only now telling her restraining his usual volume. “They’re also going to go over how to run a system such as the Galarian Railway, and help to draft plans on a lines restructure. It’s a… mix between our engineering courses and community management courses.”

“It’s a fun opportunity,” Emmet chimes in, barely audible. There’s a pause from both of them before he continues. “I’m sorry for not telling you.”

Elesa sighs and looks up into the sky as what few stars that can shine through the city lights begin to appear. “It’s just… We’re a set, y’know? We’re the three that caused havoc in the Nimbasa school system, and we’ve stayed a set now after school as adults.”

“Well, both of those are technically not true,” Emmet says before Ingo can reach over and smack his forehead to shut him up. 

“What he means!” Ingo almost shouts before Elesa can object to Emmet, “What he means is that you caused havoc and we’re still in school.” Seeing Elesa’s glare at the two of them, though, causes Ingo to shrink a little and fall back onto his back on the grass. “But we do get the sentiment. We are a trio of Nimbasa kids who don’t want to separate.”

“You do have Skyla,” Emmet chimes in. “You two have been talking to each other for awhile now. Why not use this as a chance?” Emmet leans his head back to give Elesa a pointed stare as his words sink in. 

And as they sink in, Elesa’s face goes a Cherri Berry red, and she quickly turns to look away from the boys. “It’s complicated. She’s out of my league first off, and second off, she’s really busy with her piloting program, so we really don’t have the time to hang out anymore and you know how it is we haven’t been able to hang out recently either and I actually need to get going soon because I have to open the gym in the morning and-.” Elesa is pulled out of her spiral when both twins roll from their spots to smoosh her between them. Squeezed between the two, Elesa squirms for a moment before giggling, getting the other two laughing alongside her. 

After a moment, as the laughter dies down, Elesa wiggles her arms under the twins and pulls them into a half-hug each. “You two aren’t getting rid of me. You’ll be back by the holidays, yeah?”

“Of course,” Emmet says with a nod, leaning into the hug. 

“We wouldn’t dare break our little Nimbasa trio,” Ingo says, giving her a half-hug back.

“Good.”

——

“That was a lot,” Emmet says as he lays flat on his back in the brother’s dorm, staring at the ceiling light. 

“It was,” Ingo says as he goes and shuts the light off to save Emmet’s eyes, leaving the room lit only by the desk lamp and the bathroom light. “But it was nice. To reaffirm our little group.” Emmet makes a noise of agreement.

Ingo finishes stirring the microwave macaroni and cheese that he had heated up for their dinner, and sits himself down next to Emmet. Taking two forks, one for his plastic bowl and one for Emmet’s, he begins to eat and feed Emmet so he doesn’t have to sit up. Between bites, he says, “I’m proud of you for that, by the way. I know you worry about affection.” Emmet makes a small noise while chewing. “But I think Elesa appreciated that. Even if it was in a… bit of a different way than we wish we could show her we care.”

“She has Skyla for that,” Emmet mumbles through his macaroni before swallowing. “We can just be a trio. That’s enough.”