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Maxie woke up from slumber, feeling more tired than when he fell asleep the night before. dazed, he slowly got up and wandered the base for coffee, wondering about the night before. he had almost completely forgotten about his thoughts from the night before, absent-mindly pushing them to the back of his head. he eventually found and drank down coffee. it didn't taste nearly as good as Archie's... he sighed. He knew he needed to stop thinking about this. he reminded himself, "he's your enemy." now slightly more awake, he went back into his office to finish whatever work he had set off the night before, but no matter what he did, thoughts swarmed his head, dazing his eyes, Archie's words purring through his head. words that came from the mouth of his mortal enemy strangely.... comforted him. He hated this more than anything, but he couldn't shake the thought out of his mind. It bothered him to the point of him simply putting his work down, giving up on trying to forget. He had to do something about this, anything! he couldn't let this drag on forever. He had to... do something. But what? he obviously could not even fathom speaking about this to Archie; even hinting at it was a stretch, in his eyes. even if that were to come to fruition.... what would he say? he didn't exactly know how to describe this feeling. he found himself wandering his base once again, grunts passing by as normal. it must've been midday by now, but it was too overcast to tell, from the looks of it. Courtney appeared in front of him suddenly, catching him off guard. Her eyes seemed more exhausted than normal, the glint in them gone. "Leader Maxie?" She asked quietly.
"Hm? What is it?"
"Oh... um, I just want to know if you're okay, sir. You were gone for a long time last night." Courtney stammered weakly; the fear of asking this question lingered in her voice. Maxie nodded and turned back to face the windows. "I'm perfectly fine, Miss Courtney, though I appreciate you asking." He gave a light smile, and he could see Courtney smile a bit back. "Of course, sir."
"And, before you go..." Maxie trailed off. He didn't really know why he had said his thoughts aloud.
"What, sir?"
"Oh, nothing. Just thinking. You're dismissed." He sighed. She nodded, and just like that, she left almost as quickly as she came. This gave Maxie a bit of time to think, and he had Courtney to thank for that. He wasn't sure how to clear his mind at the moment, but he couldn't just talk to Archie whenever. It had to be done in secret, but keeping feelings from coming to fruition would be easier said than done. He decided to leave his base, putting on somewhat normal clothes, and walked out the door, telling a few grunts to stand guard at the base since he had some "work" to be done. He wasn't really sure what would happen out here, if Archie even left his base, but then he remembered where he used to find Archie at all the time; Lilycove. It was near his base, and a wonderful place in general for a sea-lover like him. As much as Maxie hated the sea, Archie meant more more to him than his hatred of the ocean.
Traveling to Lilycove was not as easy as Maxie would've liked. The constant winding roads, the endless amount of trainers wanting to pick a fight; it was tormenting. He was barely sure how he would get back. Why was he even making this journey? This was his enemy. His sworn rival. Yet... there was something wrong. He didn't see him that way. It didn't make sense! There was no way he was... attracted to someone he formerly despised. But... did he ever really hate Archie? Thoughts circled his mind like the wingulls up above. After about a day of traveling, he made it up to Lilycove. A pretty city, but the ocean would never change in his eyes. Terrifying, full of dangerous pokemon that could hurt him easily, with his fire and ground types. He had no chance against them. However...
The blue seemed calmer today. He couldn't lay his finger on what it reminded him of, but the crashing waves on the horizon was a nice view.
Maxie snapped back into reality when a hand touched his shoulder. He turned around only to fond the face of Team Aqua's female admin, Shelly.
"Damn, it really is you." She smirked, and took a step back from the man.
"Who else did you think it was?" Maxie shot back.
"Nobody, just didn't think you'd come all the way t'Lilycove alone. You got some guts." Shelly's smirk curled into clear anger.
"Well, I'm not here for a business trip, Shelly. After all, our teams are not fighting any longer. Let it be."
Shelly sighed.
"Whatever. You know better than to come here, old man. You know this is OUR territory." She hissed. She walked off, trailing back into darkness. Grunts were scattered all over Lilycove like rats, most likely keeping watch on Maxie and the rest of the city. Maxie didn't expect Archie to be here, he had work to do, but a part of him wanted him to be here. He decided to check into a hotel recently built near Lilycove, but he constantly was swarmed by the thought of awaking to the Aqua base, captured by team Aqua. He didn't want that. His reputation in his team would be shattered.
He only slept for a few hours at most when daybreak hit. The light poured into the crack in his shades, and Maxie slowly woke up to them. His bed felt cold and empty compared to the beam of the sun's rays. He got up, and got dressed. Luckily, he had decided to actually bring clothes with him on this trip, unlike last time. Though, he did decide to keep his same sweater on. He looped around the route and back into Lilycove, but was unsure of what to do here. He couldn't just wait until Archie came around, but entering in his base uninvited would warrant serious backlash from the jumble of grunts surrounding it. He saw Shelly again, pacing the street. An idea popped into his head. He walked towards Shelly, and her eyes met his, a glare of hatred gleaming in them.
"Back already, huh? What the hell do you want?" She snarled.
"I wish to see Archie. Personally." He answered. Shelly's look of anger turned to confusion in a split second.
"You... wanna see him?"
"Correct."
She opened her mouth to speak, but no words fell out. She stopped pacing. Suddenly, two grunts licked their arms around Maxie, Shelly staring at the ground. Maxie didn't struggle one bit. He knew how to get out of this situation, now. He just didn't need to yet. Shelly turned back up and smiled.
"Glad to know you're finally giving yourself up, Leader Maxie."