You children simply exhaust me.. Dracoburn groaned, touching down in the clearing in front of the cabin, the clock hitting just shy of 2:30, AM. Why couldn't Analyt carry you for awhile?
"Mostly because you got to fill your belly while he was busy talking that Hydreigon out of ripping your throat out."
I could've taken Jeff Dunham's evil twin in a single swipe of my talons. But no, you had to be the one to make a scene. The Charizard let out a wide yawn as they reached the cabin. Anywho, I'm off to tuck Valoo in. It's way past his bedtime. He meandered off towards his bunkroom, his feet finding their way seamlessly despite the lack of eyesight to guide him. His trainer clicked the button on the little Charmander's Pokeball, and Draco took his son's sleepy hand as the tiny lizard Pokemon materialized, the two vanishing into the darkness of the hallway.
The trainers shuffled through the kitchen, too tired to eat, but dehydrated from the flight. Lance's Dragonite and Analyt popped in to say goodnight, then went to their own respective bunks. "Thanks for coming and rescuing me," Becca murmured as she ran tap water into two mugs and popped them into the microwave, her exhaustion stemming the shortcut in preparing their nightly tea. "Guess you're my knight in shining armor."
"Well, they do call me 'Lance', after all." The young man grinned as he sorted through their collection of tea bags. "What flavor for you tonight?"
"Mmm, I'm thinking Candy Cane Lane. Nice blend of green tea and peppermint." The microwave beeped, and they put their tea bags, her Candy Cane to his Black Cherry Berry staining the hot water green and fuchsia, respectively. Becca stirred a spoonful of honey into each mug and they practically fell into their chairs, letting the steam tickle their faces. "Hope you didn't take any of that seriously, the fake argument."
He smiled and found her hand under the table. "Yea, I was wondering what you found so wrong about last night. If I do recall, we set the kids down with that Disney movie about the baby Deerling and went out on a night flight. What, you don't like my flying? Or you don't like Bambi?"
She gratefully accepted the hand, and gave it a quick squeeze, the closest thing to a laugh that she would risk with baby Pokemon sleeping so close around them. "Well, you know I had to go out with a bang. What better topic could I leave it at?"
"Ah, I love your puns. Especially the more racy ones." Though both of their eyelids hung low with exhaust, a mischievious twinkle appeared in each bloodshot eye.
Becca took a prolonged sip of the sweetened hot tea, relishing the taste of the melted honey. "Mmmm... This sure beats that alcohol. They could slap whatever crazy French words in its title, but it still tastes like poison. And doesn't quite compliment the spice of peppermint."
They finished their drinks in a content sort of quiet. Silently, Becca rose and rinsed out the cups once they had emptied. Lance rose to meet her. Before either of them knew what they were doing, they were connected. Just by hand, by lip, but sleepily leaning into eachother. The kiss lasted long enough that the two of them could have been sewn together at the chest without noticing. Not a passionate embrace, just a simple one, spontaneous in a very natural and relaxed way.
When they finally pulled apart, Lance muttered something about going to bed. They separated, but longingly, not for passion, nothing like that. The longing was simply for companionship.
Becca sighed. "I guess we should.. It's late, I guess.."
"Sleep well, won't you?"
She looked away. "Not likely.. I haven't had an interrupted night's sleep since, well, the Omega War.. Seeing everybody tonight isn't going to help that.."
With that, Lance took her hand into a tighter grasp. "I'll just have to see about fixing that." With that, he whisked her up off of her feet, and the two retreated into her bedroom, collapsing almost immediately into sleep, not even bothering to change their clothing. For the first night in a year, Becca finally slept through the night without seeing a friend die, and woke feeling more alive and better rested than she could ever remember feeling, safe and warm in the Dragon Master's protective arms.