#friede ic

[flocessyranch]

@skullboneandunown:

“Yes. Yes she does.” He laughs like a madman at her reaction to his comment, but does nothing to retaliate. It was funny. After heading to his room, he video calls his family to say hello before sleep claims him. Come morning, he finds himself rather refreshed, more so than normal. Shaking that off, he heads to the kitchen after getting dressed to make his coffee. Once he’s properly fueled up he joins the others out on the deck. “Everyone sleep okay?” He turns to address his Greninja, Ronin. “Ronin, you know your job. You’re staying up top to make sure nothing happens up here. You get free rein to protect the boat however you want, but please keep collateral to a minimum.” The Greninja gives him a salute and a nod. Sending out Rampage, along with his Relicanth and Lanturn, he addresses the couple and Lucky. “Alright team, it’s go time. Keep your eyes peeled for anything down there, and speak up if you spot anything.” Mewtwo floats next to the submersible, staring into the deep blue, lost in thought.

Friede clicks open the Pokeball of his Starmie which twirls and then joins them in the waters below. Approaching Ashe, one hand comes to rest on her forearm and a look of tenderness passes his features and she nods. Ashe looks to Donovan and gives a nod and then to Lucky who chirps, tapping his Pokeball and disappearing inside.

"I'll follow your lead, Donnie."

With that, the two head off in Donovan's wake for the submarine.

[flocessyranch]

@skullboneandunown:

“Hey, Flannery and I get a pass because we’re awesome.” He gives his sister figure a smug grin. “And it might be sass, but it’s the truth. You can’t deny that.” Pointing a stick of takoyaki at Friede, he gives him a smile. “Remind me after all this to give you a copy of my recipe book. I write down recipes from all over, not just family recipes.” Mewtwo and Donovan share a look as they all finish eating, with Mewtwo heading to his room. “Sounds good. I’ll need to be at peak performance for whatever’s down there. I will see you all tomorrow.” With a nod, he floats away to his room. Donovan gathers everyone’s dishes and gets ready to wash them. “You kids go on ahead. I’ll clean up here before I head to bed myself. It’s gonna be chilly out here, so Ashe you get your personal heater in your shared room.” He gives them a teasing grin, and he addresses Lucky. “Make sure it stays PG-13 Lucky.” He waves them off as he gets to work, finishing after about thirty minutes.

"Does she get a pass though? Really?" He sighs and waves her hand at him to dismiss his comment. Friede seems most amused and simply gives a wave of a finger to Donovan in response.

As they start to head off, Ashe pauses midstride hearing what he says to Lucky and her face goes red and from nearby, a influx of fae energy has something go flying at Donovan's head as she quickly departs while Lucky chirps in a 'no promises' before darting after her.

Friede is left behind and he side-eyes Donovan with a small smirk that neither confirms nor denies what he says before departing as well.

...

The next morning, Ashe and Friede walk onto the deck looking quite refreshed and despite Ashe's expression on being nervous about today, they seem in pretty good spirits.

[flocessyranch]

@skullboneandunown:

Donovan nods as he takes a bite out of his share of takoyaki. “Yes. You too always act all cute and sweet around each other, so you’re lovebirds.” They can deny it all they want, but he’s absolutely right. He dips a few of his into the wasabi, and eats them without breaking eye contact with Ashe. “Sounds like a skill issue. Wasabi is in a lot of dishes in Johto, Kanto and Hoenn. Not sure about Sinnoh though. You build up a tolerance to it early on. It also clears your sinuses too.” He doesn’t mention that he casually snacks on Wasabi Peas on the regular. “If you liked the takoyaki, you should try the ramen recipe my grandma taught me. Well, she taught me and my mom, but yeah. I make everything from scratch, noddles and all.” Mewtwo decides to throw in his opinion regarding his friend’s cooking. “Personally, I prefer the ginger snaps he makes. While I have no real preference, I find those to be rather delicious.”

Ashe flushes red and side-eyes Donnie. "And you and Flannery don't?" She asked in a way that was exasperated. As the conversation goes on, she glares. "You know what... I don't need this sass from you." She reminds Donovan.

Friede is still eating his takoyaki and listening, but the ramen recipe coming up... "I'm all ears if you want to share. I wouldn't mind making some for the kids and Ashy."

Ashe's eyes widen a bit midbite. The quickest way to her heart was through food, so it earned him her cheeks flushing more. He sees it and just grins to himself.

The mention of gingersnaps and more food as the night goes on has Ashe groaning because of how hungry she is despite eating, and yet...

"We should get some sleep." It was about ten when she said that. "It's going to be a long day tomorrow." Friede hums in agreement.

[flocessyranch]

@skullboneandunown:

Donovan nods to them as he gets to work, humming a song to himself as they walk off. “Let’s see…A plate for Ashe, then a plate for her daddy.” He snorts at that one, and tries not to devolve into a laughing fit. Unaware of the conversation happening outside, Mewtwo can’t help but bring up the feelings from earlier. “There was something down there…Watching us..” Was it a Pokemon? He doesn’t know. Donovan slides him his own plate of takoyaki. Green onion with bits of octillery meat inside. “There’s definitely something down there. Maybe a legendary? Might explain the odd behavior of those Pokemon.” Getting the lovebirds food ready, he’s sorely tempted to put wasabi in some of theirs, but decides that he doesn’t want to die today. “Regardless, we’ll find out tomorrow.” Turning to the door he shouts out to Ashe and Friede. “Yo lovebirds! Come and get it! It took a great amount of restraint to not put wasabi in yours, btw!” He also made some for Lucky, just in case he wanted some too.

They both appear with Ashe's Sylveon in tow. "Lovebirds?" Friede asked in amusement and Ashe neither confirms nor denies the claim, but he doesn't either. At the sight of wasabi, Donovan gets treated to a cat-face scrunch from Ashe and yet, Friede is all for it.

Growing up in Kanto, he didn't mind Wasabi in the slightest.

Lucky mimics his trainer as she lets out a groan; "I don't know how y'all deal with that." Leaning up against the counter, she eats her takoyaki happily, humming to herself.

"You get used to it." Friede hums, happily eating his. By now, Lucky was nomming quite happily on his, chirping. "It's an acquired taste but when it's just right, the flavor becomes something that you can't live without."

"I tried it once and my whole face was on fire. I think I beg to differ." She responds and now done with her takoyaki, she bends down to grab Lucky's.

A grin escapes Friede as he finishes his. "Not bad on those, Donovan." The Researcher compliments.

[flocessyranch]

@skullboneandunown:

He shakes his head as Ashe slowly recovers from her flustered state, and finishes the rest of his coffee. “Yeah….I’ve gone back a few times to study the place with Zygarde, and let’s just say that those aren’t really theories..” He lets out an awkward cough, a bit disturbed by what he learned there. “A story for another time.” He motions for them to follow him, finding Mewtwo already in the kitchen making himself some tea. “Hey Mewtwo, I’m gonna make some takoyaki. Want some?” The Genetic Pokemon nods, moving out of the way to give him some more room to work. As Donovan gets to work he also starts cutting up some beef to cook as a side. “Anything specific you guys want on yours?”

Ashe shakes her head and sighs. "Sounds about right." She rubs her temple at the possibly oncoming migraine and yet, the mention of finally going to get takoyaki is enough for her to yield. "I've got no preference, but..." She looks to Friede who grins, "None for me either."

With that, as they're left alone, both gaze out at the sea as evening rolls in. Then, slowly, she allows herself to relax and... break.

"... I'm scared." She admits softly. "I'm scared of what I'm going to find." Friede's gaze softened and he then scooted closer, one arm sliding around her waist and pulling her towards him. She leaned into him and he placed a kiss to the side of her head.

"It's alright to be afraid." He reminds her.

"I know." With that, they stood in silence, Lucky's ribbons extending to rest around them both ashe pressed at the back of their legs, eyes closing.

[flocessyranch]

@skullboneandunown:

“Most likely. Pokemon were able to cross the barrier without disturbing it, so something must be powering it.” He takes another sip. “Well, the few Pokemon I caught in Area Zero have calmed down considerably since then, so I could only assume their aggression came from living in such a confined space with limited resources for so long.” Donnie gives Ashe a smug grin, and chuckles to himself. “Still get all flustered. So adorable~” With the teasing over for now, Donovan shrugs. Steven stocked the kitchen with all kinds of food, but I can make some takoyaki for y’all if you’d like.”

She's still getting over her flustered expression, but after a bit, she reminds him; "There's that, but there's also the fact that if the theories we had about that place hold up that those pokemon aren't from our world so to speak, or timeline, perhaps."

She noticed Friede's expression. He hadn't heard about what happened in Area Zero when they went. Ashe turned and said softly then, about what had transpired. Once she had fully explained, he was quiet... contemplative.

"Takoyaki sounds fantastic." Ashe hummed. Lucky at her feet chirped, perking up. It was clear the Sylveon had a love for the treat too. She walked past Friede and stopped a moment to look at him. He left his contemplation, offering a smile.

"Yeah, let's eat."

[flocessyranch]

@skullboneandunown:

Once they were back on the boat, and one decompression session later, Donovan sips coffee out of his thermos. “Well, my eyes didn’t pop out of my head, so all in all it went smoothly. Bit of a headache though.” “I’ve never seen Pokemon act that way. Not once, and I’ve been all over the world.” Donovan rubs his chin, deep in thought. “Not even in Area Zero were the Pokemon like this. Maybe something is keeping them passive?” He raises an eyebrow at the two lovebirds, and sips his coffee without breaking eye contact with them. “Food sounds good. What do y’all want to eat? You can flirt in your room later.”

"I can see that." Ashe responds with a sigh. As the conversation went to the situation at hand, she focused as did Friede. "Area Zero's pokemon were more volatile." She recalls with a shudder. "... It's a long shot, but perhaps its whatever energy is coming from the city itself?" Friede suggested.

At the flirting comment, Ashe's face became a tomato and Friede couldn't help but grin to himself. "Well, what's available?"

[flocessyranch]

Saying her goodbyes to Friede had always been hard, but as he cradled her face and she touched her hands to his, she leaned into his touch. "I'll see you soon."

"... Yeah." She says with a soft, sad smile. He places a kiss to her lips and then to her forehead before departing on the back of his Charizard. Lucky's ribbon intertwined around her arm, she departs back to find Donovan, Flannery, Ruko, and the kids. They'd be staying on Aeos Isle for a bit longer to give the kids more time to play and explore the island together.

@pokemon-experiments @skullboneandunown