hi!! for whichever selfship you'd like, can i ask for jasmine tea and matcha latte c: ?
Hi there! Sorry for the late response, I was waiting to get on on my desktop so I could format the response lgikseuhrlgh
Selfship Ask Game: Cafe Edition
For my ship of choice, I did My Great Challenges because brain goes brrr
jasmine tea : how do you express adoration/care for your partner? how do they express it in return?
Thanks to their busy schedules, they try to make the little moments count. Making their favorite when they have a bad day, remembering their orders at the cafe, etc.
For Chantae, the boys do their best to let her rest when they can. If she falls asleep during a movie night, they're just glad she's comfortable enough to doze, not upset that she's sleeping through limited time together.
Similarly, Chantae and Raihan never express genuine frustration with Leon’s abysmal sense of direction. They know it's not intentional, and joke that he'd be too perfect otherwise.
With Raihan, it's them indulging in the latest social media trend. They know his fan base is important to him, and they're happy to support him. Helping him get the best shot, or doing those couple trends, even if they have to finagle their schedules a little to make it work.
There are still the occasional grander displays, usually in the form of birthday parties or surprise dates, but it all stems from the little things. Reminders that they love each other as people, regardless of titles.
matcha latte : what is a defining moment in your relationship? what sentiment does it hold?
Ooo hmm… defining moments… there's a lot of big moments, even outside of plot.
But for defining, something that's indicative of the relationship as a whole, probably the confession? I'm still hammering it out but what I'm working with right now:
Leon and Raihan have been crushing / a situationship for a while, their rivalry a way to indulge in spending time together only focused on each other without having to admit their feelings to anyone, because they're too busy for that, right?
Then they end up confessing and dating at some point, but keep it on the downlow… kinda. Chantae still picks up on it, and even though she ends up crushing on them both, she keeps that to herself. She doesn't want to risk screwing it up if they've got a good thing going, after all.
Meanwhile Leon ends up with feelings for her while seeing her grow over the course of the gym challenge. How she already treats Hop as a younger sibling and is fiercely protective of him, she's good with pokemon and a quick study with battles. Her confidence on the field draws him in, and he doesn't even realize he's crushing on her now too until he's telling Raihan about her while also telling him about the latest update he'd gotten from Hop.
Raihan’s not upset in the slightest, honestly finding it amusing. So he's curious when he meets her for the first time, and it doesn't take him long to see what Leon sees. His height and energy doesn't seem to put her off in the slightest, she's not scared of his dragons, but she's not absolutely fawning over him either. She knows who he is, but still treats him like a normal person, not a Gym Leader. Plus she's pretty.
So after some talking, Leon and Raihan agree that, if she's interested, they could try a throuple.
But how can they tell if she's interested? Which leads to them tripping over themselves trying to figure out if they're overthinking every little action or kindness, or if she feels something for them too.
This quickly turns into the other Gym Leaders’ (and Sonia and Prof Magnolia and their family’s-) favorite form of entertainment. Nessa and Sonia likely get the brunt of it, amusedly letting the guys ramble and talk themselves in circles trying to figure out if Chantae is teasing them, if it's flirty, if it's a Kalosian thing, or what.
Meanwhile Chantae isn't too much better, but doesn't have anyone to really turn to about it (because she refuses to ramble to Hop about how she has a big fat crush on his big brother and his boyfriend). They don't seem this invested in any of the other trainers, but is that because Leon wants to ensure that the trainers he endorsed personally makes it far, or else it looks bad for him? Is it because Hop likes her so they're playing nice to placate him? Do they not trust her?
And if they do like her, does the other know?
It's a big mess all around that is both entertaining and frustrating for everyone involved and spectating, and serves as a good summary for how they are as a couple. A chaotic mess who cares far more than is good for them, but they balance each other out.