My Name is Marcus: Sweet Scent

III. It's What's for Dinner

Cinderace fanned away at the flame he'd created in the bonfire pit. His eyes were diligently glued to the small inferno as he toiled away, ensuring that it grew large enough to bring the large cast iron pot of water sitting above it to a decent boil, but not so large as to burn any of its contents.

"It's perfect", Marcus remarked, "keep it going just like that."

Cinderace nodded with a smile as he continued to stoke the flame.

The spot Marcus had reserved at the park for their dinnertime outing was well tucked away from the public eye - a wall of hedges hid the small glade from the surrounding sidewalks, and the trees and underbrush encircling the area concealed it from all other corners of the park. Assuming that the scent of food cooking didn't attract unwanted attention, their privacy was just about guaranteed.

A variety of berries, spices, utensils, and other cooking supplies sat atop a nearby wooden picnic table. Marcus was sparing no expense with his preparations for this evening's meal - tonight, he intended on cooking as if his life depended on it.

It's gotta be special tonight.

As he began to add water into the pot, a Skwovet had slowly and stealthily made his way down a nearby tree towards the picnic table, and was eyeballing the berries sitting on its surface with salivating jowls and eyes filled with yen. As it continued its precarious approach, a vicious growl echoed from overhead as a large shadow lunged towards it from above. The Skwovet fled in terror as the shadow beast stood between it and its desired prize, red eyes glaring fiercely as it turned tail and ran for its life into the nearby bushes and beyond.

"Umbreon", Marcus interrogated gently as he turned his head over his shoulder to see the shadow, "are you scaring away the local predators?"

"Bre! Bre!", the Moonlight Pokemon replied with a bright and prideful smile on her face.

Marcus grinned, returning his focus towards the pot. "Thadda' girl."

"There you guys are", Marnie called out. "You weren't kiddin', this place is hidden pretty well."

The young gym leader emerged through a small breach in the brush surrounding the glade, a bag full of foodstuffs in one arm and a more level-headed-looking Morpeko in the other - the promise that a decent meal was only mere moments away now was enough to bring some comfort to her agitated state-of-mind, at least for the time being.

Umbreon's ruby eyes lit up with a smile that beamed with excitement as she made a dash to Marnie's side. Marnie knelt down and gently stroked behind Umbreon's ears as Umbreon nuzzled her leg affectionately. "Good to see you, too, Umbreon!", Marnie giggled as she smiled warmly.

Marcus smiled with equal warmth as he turned around - the sight of one of his favorite Pokemon getting along so well with one of his favorite people was a scene so wholesome that he could hardly bear it. "I, uh...", he started as he made his way from the pot towards Marnie, "I figured the two of you hadn't seen each other since your battle with Weston... maybe it was about time we fixed that?"

"Bre, bre!", Umbreon chimed in agreement.

Morpeko cried out in excitement as she lept from Marnie's arms to the ground before Umbreon. The two Pokemon exchanged an ecstatic greeting with one another as they nuzzled their cheeks against one another before quickly breaking off into a friendly game of tag with one another.

"I can take that from you", Marcus said as he reached for the bag in Marnie's arm. As he grabbed hold, he felt himself lurch slightly forward from the weight of its contents - he wasn't expecting it to be as heavy as it was.