Heart of Steel [Pokémon Fanfiction]

04| Severing the Strings

Come on, come on... don't mess up, you almost have it! I sighed in frustration as the tie's knot once again didn't come out right. I hated these things with a fiery passion. For what felt like the tenth time, I undid it and started over.

   It was the night of the company party, a night that had arrived much faster than I expected. I was currently struggling with a tie that Mom had insisted I wear. "You have to make a good impression," she had said. A good impression on who? The people that I'd be the boss of in the upcoming years? Good impression or not, they'd be sucking up to me so they could get on my good side, and in turn Dad's good side. Now that running Devon was the last thing on my mind, I didn't give a Flaaffy whether I was "promising" or not.

   I finished the knot and this time, it looked passable. Mom had gone out and gotten me a whole new outfit just for tonight. It consisted of a white long sleeved button-up shirt tucked into a pair of black pants and a pair of black dress shoes. It also had that annoying mess of a tie and a set of wide silver bangles that were to be worn on my upper arms, almost to my shoulders. And to complete it was the stickpin I had gotten for my birthday. It was an outfit that looked very similar to one Dad was wearing in an old picture, bangles, pin and all.

   "Oh Steven, you look so handsome!" I heard Mom gush. She came into my room and stood behind me, placing her hands on my shoulders. "And so much like your father when he was your age. It's almost uncanny!"

   "Um, thank you." I glanced at her before turning back to the mirror. What was she talking about? I looked nothing like Dad right now. If anything, I resembled a worn-out version of him. Black circles hung under my listless blue eyes, evidence of how little sleep I'd gotten recently. The dark color stood out clearly against my overly pale skin, making me look almost lifeless. It was like I was only a shell bearing my dad's likeness.

Perhaps a few weeks ago I would have taken Mom's words as a compliment... key words being "a few weeks ago." Now I equated that phrase to an insult. Just to make her happy, I plastered a fake smile on my face.

   "How long are we going to be there for?" I asked. I didn't want to be around those people for longer than I had to.

   "Four, maybe five hours. Depends on when your father is done talking."

   "O-oh..." I stammered. Great, tonight will be so much fun!

   "Well, we should get going. Your father's already there and we don't want to keep everyone waiting!" She was unusually cheery tonight. It kind of weirded me out. She pushed me out of the room and downstairs to the front door, herding me like a Mareep. Her actions only served to heighten my anxiety. It was obvious she was putting on an act.

—~*~—

Dad stared hard at me with the utmost seriousness. "Remember son, be polite, speak properly, and try to be sociable!" he stressed this to me as we were about to enter the auditorium.