The World Without Them || Original Pokémon Fanfiction ✓

Chapter Forty-Two: Tear-Stained

 The next few days passed by slowly and with little progress. Sage and Carter spent hours hunched over the kitchen table, various papers and maps littered around them. They woke up early in the morning and went to bed late at night to try to figure out a plan of action, yet from everything Frost overheard they couldn't get past the first step -- regrouping with Clover and Xavier.

 As the Tanna members did this, Frost and Mana kept to themselves and stayed out of the decision-making process. After his early suggestions fell on deaf ears the boy left them alone, although that in turn made the days even longer thanks to boredom. He sorted through his backpack more times than he could count and even flipped through his school textbook he had taken from Acacia's classroom for the first time since he had hidden it in his bedroom.

 The only good thing that came from having so much spare time was that it gave Frost the chance to bond with Mana all over again. They played and roughhoused in the living room quite a bit, tumbling over one another and pretending to hide in the sparsely decorated space. In the last few weeks they hadn't been able to spend much quality time together since they were always on the run. It made the Silverkeep native remember the feelings he had when he raised her from an egg. She was his original partner.

 "This is impossible," Sage said with a sigh as she rested her head on the tabletop tiredly. "We aren't getting anywhere."

 It was late afternoon, and all four of them were gathered in the kitchen. Frost and Mana sat against the far wall as usual while the other two shuffled through the stack of documents piled in front of them. The blue-haired boy was holding up the rainbow orb he, Sage, and the Pokémon had come across in the Silverkeep Mountains all those months ago to the light, watching it cast several different hues on the walls as the rays of the sun reflected off its surface. Even the helix shape inside seemed to glow. It kept him and Mana occupied while Carter paced back and forth.

 "I just don't know what the next move should be. Our goal is huge, but we have no idea how to work our way up to it. Everything we consider is a dead end." The rainbow's reflection flashed across the Nightshade's face, making him turn to Frost and Mana with a distasteful glare. "Although someone isn't being very useful."

 "You wouldn't take any advice even if I offered it to you," Frost retorted without taking his eyes off the object as he rolled it between his index finger and thumb.

 Sage ignored their short bickering but sent the criminal an apologetic glance, to which he responded with an indifferent shrug. He had barely gotten to talk to the greenette at all since they had arrived at the house. Carter made sure to be by her side every waking moment, so even when Frost thought he had an opportunity to say something the spy would appear out of nowhere. He had a feeling that the brown-haired boy knew there was something going on between them after the two confronted each other on the first night of their stay.

 Frost himself didn't know what to make of it. He and Sage never discussed their status or feelings for each other. In the scheme of everything, he knew that it was trivial. There were much larger problems at hand that needed their immediate attention. Yet he couldn't help but be curious.

 I know what she is to me, but what am I to her?

 "We could always wait until we meet up with Clover and Xavier. They might have a better idea of where to go," Sage said, cutting into Frost's thoughts.

 Carter gave an apprehensive look. "That isn't likely. Xavier's been too focused on recovering, and Clover won't know much. They also don't have the resources that I do."

 "But it's our only shot. We obviously have no clue what we're doing so getting more opinions would be best."

 Frost glanced up from his orb at the surprising sound of irritation in Sage's voice. She kept her eyes glued to the space in front of her, although her aura radiated frustration. He badly wanted to assist and help her find a solution like he had done so many times before, but he knew that the other boy leaning against the sink wouldn't allow it.