Sparks and Shadows

3 - All I See Is Red

It was around 7 in the morning when people began to pour into the mess hall.

Fade was already sitting at the counter with a mug of coffee in hand, and her Umbreon laying on the surface in front of her. Habor's Vaporeon was comfortably curled up next to it. She had been visually tracing the ring on her pokemon's head for the fifteenth time when people started to trickle in.

Harbor had gotten there an hour prior to everyone in order to start making breakfast, and had been undeterred by the fact that Fade was already sitting at the counter when he arrived. This had been a repeating occurrence for the past few months, and its clear that their pokemon were growing to expect it as well, if their cuddle pile was any indication. He had spoken with her on multiple occasions, but most conversations died out quickly due to her tendency to simply not respond. But he never seemed to be offended and would always kick up another topic no matter what.

"I feel like shit! My heading is pounding so much still!" Phoenix complained, holding a hand against his temple.

"Like I said before, if you fall asleep upside down then you're gonna get a headache. Maybe if you didn't sleep like a starfish, you wouldn't have a heartbeat in your head." Skye said, smacking the man in the back of the head.

Her Floragato trailed behind her, keeping an eye on everyone in the room. Once its eyes landed on Fade, its glare became openly more deadly. She was well aware that pokemon had much keener senses than humans, and could sometimes see things that humans cannot. So she knew that Floragato could most likely sense Nightmare's presence that surrounded her at all times. Well, it's not like she cared at this point. Humans already hated her, so why not pokemon too?

"Hey! Watch it! Are you trying to mess up the kings crown?" Phoenix grumbled, trying to recover his pride.

"The only 'crown' you have is the one in your imagination, Phoenix." Yoru stated as matter-of-factly as he entered into the room behind the two.

As Phoenix proceeded to start an argument with Yoru, Skye slipped away and made her way over to the counter that Fade was sitting at. Fade could hear the heavy steps from the girl and she knew that she was doing that intentionally in order to not startle her this early in the morning. Neither of them wanted a repeat of what had happened one morning when Fade was much less awake, and Skye's sudden appearance made her bounty hunter instinct override her reason.

Oh boy had she gotten in trouble for that one.

"Good mornin', Fade. Mind if I add to the pile here?" The Australian girl asked.

At first, Fade was confused about what she was talking about, then she realized that Skye was gesturing towards the two pokemon that were cuddled together on the counter. In the girls hand, she held a nest ball. Where she got it was a mystery to all. But Fade was nonetheless intrigued by the fact that Skye was asking for permission when she clearly had no say over the cuddle pile.

"Um, sure. You don't have to ask, you know?" Fade said, casting a glance at the other girl.

"Doesn't hurt to ask, though. I don't wanna just plop my pokemon down with yours when it isn't wanted." She pointed out.

"Hm. Fair enough, I guess." Fade responded and gestured for her to go ahead.

She had already deciphered the meaning behind Skye's words. She didn't want to put her pokemon next to another that would potentially be hostile. Of course everyone thought that she raised her pokemon to be cold-blooded killers. Even someone like Fade was adamant about not allowing her pokemon to kill unless it was a last resort. That wasn't their burden to bear.

Skye held up the nestball and in a bright flash, her Leafeon now stood on the counter. It glanced over at Skye briefly, then down at the other two pokemon in front of it before making a noise of joy. Umbreon slowly lifted her head, and seemed surprised by the sudden appearance of Leafeon. But she didn't show any signs that she disliked the presence. Vaporeon was fast asleep at this point. There was a brief exchange between the two pokemon before Leafeon settled down with them, clearly happy that it had been allowed to join the small pile of fur and fins.