Red becomes well-acquainted with the pokémon breeder's in the coming days. It is a place of waiting, he learns, which suits him fine at the moment; he is waiting for Blue's reply. The old woman at the front desk waits for trainers. The old man by the garden's gate outside waits for pokémon eggs. One of the female breeders they have working for them seems to wait for someone to contact her on her pokégear; she checks the device frequently throughout the day and sighs. Pikachu seems to find her behavior imitation worthy because he's taken to checking on the first of Red's eggs and sighing dramatically when nothing happens. With all of the sighing going on, Red is starting to feel like he should be doing it, too. It's become irritating actually; it's making him feel antsy (durantsy?).
The days pass. The clock ticks on the wall in the lobby of the pokémon breeder's. The girl checks her pokégear and sighs. Pikachu checks the egg and sighs. Red gets another egg. Pikachu checks the new egg and sighs. Red catches himself checking the motionless eggs along with Pikachu, and then he catches himself sighing and snaps. "What?!" he barks at the breeder who's checking her pokgear again already with another sigh on the tip of her tongue.
"Oh!" she jumps, appropriately startled by Red's outburst of all people, "I-...I'm sorry if I've been bothering you."
Red scrubs a hand roughly over his forehead, trying to reel in his attitude. "Just...What is it?" he settles on saying.
"My...my..." she has a couple false starts, looking down at her pokégear in despair, "Oh, who am I kidding?" she finally says, "He's never been mine," she puts her pokégear in her pocket and then looks up at Red, "I've been waiting for a man that I know to contact me. I'm in love with him, but I think I hardly ever cross his mind." She steps towards where Red is sitting on the floor of the lobby with Pikachu and the eggs, smooths her hands down her apron, and sits with them.
"How did you fall in love with him then?" Red asks. Whoever he is, he doesn't sound...compelling at all.
That makes the breeder laugh. "I never actually thought of it that way. I was always thinking about him, so I never factored in much. And now I think it must've been the same for him. He probably hardly realized I was ever there."
Red stares at the eggs for a moment, thinking, then, "What are you looking for?" It's the question that's been on his mind lately anyways. Maybe it applies to her. Maybe it applies to everyone. What is Blue looking for?
The breeder sucks in a surprised breath, then lets it out in a laugh. "You're very thoughtful, I can tell. Honestly, I would settle for him remembering to text me every few days. It's not like I fell in love with someone who was thinking of me always. I fell in love with him. But love asks for love in return, I guess, and now I'm feeling neglected," she sounds wistful, maybe like she thinks she's being frivolous in needing something from him, "What about you? Do you have someone?"
Red feels the weight of his bag against his hip acutely then. He can picture exactly where Blue's letters are stored in it—can even picture the writing on the pages. The impulse to lie to the breeder and keep the letters all to himself comes...but Red fights it back. Maybe you have to talk to someone to figure out what you're looking for, and that's why it's taken Red so long. He digs out Blue's first letter and hands it over to her. "What do you think?" he asks.
He's grateful for the careful way she handles the page even though it's already been crumpled a bit from travel. She reads in silence, then stops and really examines the page. She surprises Red by bringing it up to her face and sniffing it. "I think she's lonely," she says then. She looks up into Red's eyes. "It smells like the ocean. I think it's a love letter." She offers the page back to him.
Red has to swallow at her words before he takes the letter back from her to put away. He never noticed the stationary was scented before, and despite being skeptical, he'll take her at her word until he has some privacy. "A bit rude for a love letter," he prompts. He leaves the mistaken gender bit alone—doesn't matter to Red. Man, woman...There was a time when Red was 12 or so that he was worried he was going to wind up married to Pikachu.
YOU ARE READING
Letters to You (RedxBlue)
FanfictionAlola!Red and Blue have never met and just became penpals. Read to see how their story turns out. Excerpt: "Trying not to think of Blue, Red reasons, is like trying to hold your breath."
