The Professor's Secret

23. Another Sleepover... Lumiose

We waited for my mother at the breakfast table. Sycamore's chair was only about two centimeters behind the low stool I occupied. I was sitting with my hands crossed between my knees, looking into nothing, and he distracted himself by playing with his fingers on my hair. I didn't resist him. There was something in his caresses, and something about how much of his body I had felt last night, that censured me from shunning him any further. His hands now freely pulled the hair locks from my neck, moving them to the side, caressing the skin there and then lightly kissing my nape... His decided, fearless, spontaneous caresses dictated a level of intimacy I signed up for without completely realizing the implications of. He petted me in a different way now, and observed me in the same fashion: I was no longer the prey being relentlessly chased, but rather held captive, finally cornered and captured; the lion smiling peacefully now the fight was over, pleased in rushlessly planning what to do with it.

In that unspoken reconciliation, we had somehow sealed each other as declared lovers, and I was going away with him, as he planned from the start.

My mother returned, she had a box of provisions for me – for the journey I was resuming – and a couple of Pokéballs in case I found any interesting Pokémon on my way back. For Professor Sycamore she still had her charmed glares, blind to how his hands secured me as if I could actually run away should he let go... blind to how he held my body next to his at all times and the possessive lust it gave away

"So you're going again..." mom sighed. We all knew that her kicking me out of the house yesterday was just a mean joke, and it seemed her heart couldn't help but feel heavy for the same reason a second time.

"uh-hum" I murmured with a sigh.

"Well, you take care of yourself, honey..." She squeezed my cheek, I yanked away, intimately bothered. She then turned her attention to Sycamore: this time much more composed and conformed with the fact that he was leaving, as well as much more capable of dealing with his handsomeness without freaking out:

"And you... mister... You will take a good care of my daughter, won't you?!' she asked with a degree of sadness.

"I promise!" his hand brushed up my neck.

"She's a stubborn one... doesn't always know how to decide for herself... so make sure you push her in the right direction!"

He nodded.

"I am leaving her to your cares now..."

My mother accompanied us on a walk to Aquacorde, from where we took a cab. The farewell was all long and full of recommendations again, though I had heard them all at home. Sycamore opened the door for me and I jumped into the taxi. He stayed a while longer to reassure my mother:

"As a token of appreciation for your hospitality, I shall offer your daughter the very same: We will return to my house this evening, from where she can start fresh her journey on the morning of tomorrow!"

My mother acquiesced without the least suspicion on what me sleeping on Sycamore's house tonight meant... without sharing a grain of my apprehension. I sighed as he sat beside me, I trembled as he ordered the driver go to his address in Lumiose... I dreaded, and I felt the butterflies in my stomach go nuts as he passed his arm around my shoulder and brushed my face with the back of his fingers, expressing a serenity only provided by the assurance that this time I couldn't escape, as there would be no one to interrupt us.

----

It was indeed almost dusk when we finally arrived at Lumiose. I watched the lights dive infinitely into the sky, there driven by the skyscrapers, through the cab window. Whenever my thoughts were given sufficient space to stray, Sycamore's hand would weight on my shoulder – his warmth would pull me back from the cold valley my spirit kept wondering into, but that feeling would both comfort and scare me, and I suspected I preferred to go without it.