✔️Pokemon: Beastly Hunter (Leaf x Gary) (leafgreenshipping)

Episode 5: Fairytales

A few weeks passed since Leaf had moved in with Gary. During the few weeks, the two learned more about each other and slowly got closer. They learned about each other's personality and their schedules, and they slowly let each other in their lives. In the morning, Leaf would wake up first and prepare breakfast for them and lunch for Gary using the leftovers and other supplies they gathered earlier. After breakfast, Gary will go outside to hunt and do his business, taking the lunch Leaf prepared for him. During that time, Leaf would gather vegetables, mushrooms, fruits, and whatever is edible. She would also clean the house and prepare water. If she had time, she would read books that Gary got from who knows where or do the crafts that Gary taught her earlier. Then before dusk, Gary would return, either empty-handed or with some game that he caught. Sometimes, he would bring back books, ink, papers, and female outfits for Leaf, as well as some dry ingredients like flour, sugar, salt, wood, and pepper. Leaf never bothered to ask where these things came from and just accept them. Gary would cook dinner, and they would relax by the fireplace before going to bed, which now there were two. Every day was the same, except for a few days a month when Gary left for four days to who knows where.

Their days passed peacefully and in harmony as if they had been living together since forever. No one would have guessed that they only met a few weeks ago. They never lacked anything and were never bored, since there was a lot to do every day.

That night, like any other night, Leaf and Gary sat by the fireplace, minding their own business. Gary put away his just cleaned and sharpened weapons and took out two thick layers of fur and began to sew them together to prepare for the colder winter in his chair. Across from him, Leaf was reading a book that he had given her a few days ago, engaged in every word. Gary would hear her sighed a few times and continued reading, slowly flipping the pages one after another, her eyes moving back and forth, absorbing every word.

"You have been reading that book a few times already," Gary pointed out, breaking the peaceful silence as he stopped his needle.

Leaf quickly finished the page and placed her fabric-made bookmark on the page before closing the book. She sighed deeply. "It is such an amazing book, Gary. I loved it," she said with a glowing face. The warm yellow and orange light from the fireplace cast a light layer of gold on her face, making her seem younger and more lively than earlier. Her cheeks flushed red and her eyes glimmered with excitement and admiration. Her chocolate hair glows like magic as if fairies had blessed it, especially in her white long-sleeved shirt and plants that Gary bought for her a few days after Leaf started to live with him.

"From what I remembered reading, the story is just about a girl in a red hood and how she was saved by a hunter from a big and hungry wolf who ate her grandmother. What's so special about that?" Gary asked her.

"You won't understand. It is the writing that draws me so much. Each word. Each sentence. Each paragraph. They held so much magic in them," Leaf replied dreamingly.

"Then why don't you like the other fairy tales?" Gary asked, curious.

"I like them too. They are all so dear to me. It is just that this story speaks out to me the most. It allows me to hope that something good will happen," Leaf said, trailing off as if she had thought of a bad memory. She shook her head a bit, to get it out of her mind. Gary caught that little action of hers.

Gary fully stopped his sewing and turned his full attention to Leaf. He somehow felt the atmosphere was not right and stopped asking. "If your favorite fairytale is Red Riding Hood, then mine will be Beauty and the Beast," Gary laughed lightly.

Leaf looked at the brunette male stilling in front of her with two layers of fur and a thick sewing needle in his hand with surprise. "Beauty and the Beast? Wasn't that the story about how a girl falls in love with a beast, almost like the story that the village tells the kids? Why is that your favorite?" Leaf asked, amazed. She almost asked him why he liked fairy tales for females.

"I know what you are thinking. I know it is a story for girls. But for some reason, it is something that I felt is important. Like, it is something I need to know. I don't know why I feel it that way," Gary smiled as he looked up at the ceiling.

Leaf didn't speak when she noticed that Gary stopped talking. Feeling that it was a sensitive topic, she kept her mouth shut. After a while, she resumed reading her book while Gary finished up with the fur, not becoming a full warm blanket ready for the cold winter.

Leaf and Gary continued to do their own things for a while in a calming peace and in each other's company. There was nothing more calming than knowing that there was someone next to them in peace. Outside the window, they can hear the howl of the winds as it brushes through the branches of the bare trees. Occasionally, a wolves' howl can be heard in the distance, along with the hoot of the owls and the songs of other creatures in the forest. Each sound creates a sweet harmony surrounding the cozy cottage.

The moon finally reached the middle of the sky, shining its dim light on earth. Gary looked out the window as he finished the last stitch for the blanket and spread it neatly. "It's getting late. Let's go to bed," he said, putting away the blanket.

"Okay," Leaf agreed. She closed her book and stood up, stretching her limbs and her neck.

"I found a mansion somewhere deep in the forest. I think you will like it there. It has a lot of interesting things that you would find interesting. Let's go there together sometime?" Gary asked, remembering the old mansion in the middle of nowhere.

Leaf's brown eyes shine in anticipation. "Really? Can we go?" she asked in a high-pitched voice, clearly excited.

"Of course, that is why I am telling you," Gary chuckled.

Leaf's head bobbed up and down like a bobblehead and a smile was curved on her lips. Her happiness also affects Gary as he lets out a small smile.

...........
Hello, everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter! After writing this chapter, I realized that Gary and Leaf are like a pair of old married couples. I guess it is normal because they are the only ones in the forest and Gary didn't do anything to Leaf. Leaf also developed trust towards Gary since he is the one taking care of her. In any case, Leaf has the most benefit so far. Gary is a gentleman, okay? Seriously. We learn a bit more about Leaf and Gary. I wonder what their story is?

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