Sandwich Making (Self insert x Arven)

[18] Nightfall

Nemona and Penny had been bickering quietly, but stopped when I made my way over to them. "Z! Tell Penny that she shouldn't TRICK me like that!" Nemona huffed angrily.

Penny shrugged nonchalantly. "You shoulda asked. Specified the terms."

Nemona gave Penny a dirty look, but Penny completely ignored it. "Anyways. Nemona, you can set up the bed, and I'll get settled on the-" Penny seemed to notice just then how dirty the floor was- considerably worse than the mild mildew on the bed. "O-on second thought, Nemona, can I-"

Nemona, already sitting criss-crossed on the bed, smirked. "Whoever wins gets the bed." she stuck her tongue out at Penny, settling herself onto the bed.

Penny sighed. "Oh well. Where are you sleeping?"

"Well, um..." I glanced over at where Arven was with his sleeping bag. "Y'know.."

Penny's expression went from downcast to cheeky. "Ohhhh, I seeee."

I could practically feel my face catch fire. "N-no, wait, not like that!" I shoved Penny playfully, thoroughly embarrassed.

Penny was cackling like a Mightyena, but she didn't tease me further. "Goodnight, Z~" she said instead, twirling around to make her way back to Nemona.

I sighed, turning and returning back to Arven. He seemed alot more put-together than he had a couple minutes before. "Hey, Z." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

I settled down next to him, squeezing his hand gently. "Are you feeling alright?"

He blinked. "Oh. Yeah. I'm fine." he sighed, shaking his head. "I've just got alot on my mind."

I nodded. "I bet. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't want to be back here either." I shook my head. "Eh. How long did it take you to get down here last time you came?"

Arven shrugged. "The first time I came down here, I was attacked by this metal beast."

Metal beast.. "Wait.. metal beast.." the only metal beast I'd seen had been the Titan Iron Treads. "Was it.."

Arven seemed to have the same idea that I did. "Is Iron Treads.. FROM Area Zero?"

We both stared at each other for a few seconds, eyes wide. "That would explain why it's registered as a "Paradox Pokemon" in my 'Dex!" I exclaimed. "It makes so much more sense!"

Arven nodded, opened his mouth to say something more, but yawned instead. "Um.. ahah.." he laughed sheepishly, then rubbed his eyes again. "We should go to sleep.."

I glanced at his sleeping bag. "Sweet. You get a good night's sleep, I'll go find somewhere to uh.. Sleep."

Arven got situated in his sleeping bag, and I sat next to him. "Um.. Z? There's some room left in my.." I blushed, hiding my face with my hands. This caused Arven to stammer. "I- um, never mind, forget I said anything-"

"No!" my face heated even more, but I kept my voice from wavering. "No. I- I don't mind-"

We both fell silent, too embarrassed to keep talking. After a couple moments of this awkward silence, I laughed awkwardly. "Wow, I am not good at this-" I murmured, rubbing my face.

Arven laughed with me. "I'm not much better."

"Well, we can just.. Sit here and talk until one of us falls asleep?" I suggested, glancing at where Penny and Nemona were. Nemona looked like she was asleep, and Penny was (unsurprisingly) on her phone.

"That sounds good." Arven said. "I don't mind just talking with you."

To my surprise, we only stayed up for a few minutes longer. Arven ended up falling asleep first. I only stayed up a few minutes after he feel asleep.