It was a quiet day, as it had been for quite some time now. But it was especially silent for other reasons.
The Mage sitting at the breakfast bar at the edge of his kitchen, his head laid down on the surface as his hand was loosely holding a cup full of fizzing black liquid. Usually when he drank cola, he’d be feeling rather up, going out and about. Today, though, he seemed very...subdued, almost unaffected by the caffeine in his drink.
It was true that his worry over the past couple of days was quite intense. Even more so was his relief once that worry was able to be cast aside. It could be argued that it might be a bit too much. He had spent the last day and a half asleep on the sofa, unmoved by pretty much anything, even Goomy hopping up and down on his chest. Was it some reaction to him being stressed out on a godly level?
After a few moments, he began to stir only to sip his soda. He then let out a long, loud yawn before laying his head back on the table.
No, not skipping stones. The cove’s waters were never still enough to do that. DJ had tried on multiple occasions with no avail in the past. So, instead of that, he would grab a stone and take a running start before chucking it from the end of the deck just before the pier started and see how far into the water it would end up.
But now, he wasn’t the only one around to give it a try. Both Lee and Kay had decided to try their hand at it while Ben and Goomy watched from the shaded area on the deck. They all had watched as DJ ran to the edge and launched his stone, which plunked into the water without incident. Goomy chirped a few times from where she sat before hopping off her chair and making her way over to where DJ stood.
Meanwhile, Lee was up as he picked up a stone and took several steps back. A deep breath was taken before he ran forward to the edge, swinging his arm along with his running momentum to launch his stone out to the water. It actually was pretty far, but about two-thirds as far as where DJ’s ended up, which got a bit of applause from the Mage. Lee smiled and nodded before looking at Kay. At least, he would have if he was still standing where he had been a moment before.
Kay had taken a healthy distance away from the deck’s edge, determined to match his companion’s feat. He took off after a moment, dashing forward and hurling his stone with so much momentum and he nearly fell into the water. Luckily, Lee had grabbed him and pulled him away from the edge before he could fall into the drink. A moment later, his stone hit the water, just shy of where Lee’s had ended up.
DJ applauded again in a similar matter before a chirping got the attention of the whole group. Goomy was hopping in place, excited as she was looking out at the water before looking back at DJ. “You wanna give it a try?” After the words left the Mage’s mouth, Kay scoffed, which brought about a grunt from Lee, nearly chastising the Gallade. “Get her a stone, please.” Lee obliged, running over to the nearby rocky shore and returning with a stone of similar size to what they had used before, placing it on the floor in front of Goomy. “Alright...go ahead!”
Everyone watched, eager to see what Goomy would do. What she did end up doing, however, surprised everyone. She seemed to take a deep breath before opening her mouth and unleashing a beam of purple energy that sent the stone careening over the surface of the water, causing it to skip across it, even with the light chop. It sunk into the water between where DJ’s stone ended up and where Lee and Kay’s did.
DJ had jumped back slightly at the sudden show of force, watching the stone make its way until it plunked into the water. He turned to look at Lee and Kay after a moment. Their expressions were the definition of shock and awe and seemed almost comical. So much so that DJ had started howling with laughter at how the entire situation had played out. Goomy jumped up and down and chirped happily as she saw how far her stone had went, with Ben clapping wildly from his place under the shade, which was joined by slow claps from Lee and Kay.
Kay was patrolling the house, making sure everything was in order. If he found something out of place, he would do his best to make sure it would return to where it belonged. This included Goomy as she was hopping around the kitchen counter when she should have been in the sink enjoying her mineral bath. Luckily it didn’t take much for Lee to have her back to enjoying her soak...
Deciding to take some very much appreciated advice, the Mage had made his way up to the top of the cliff that overlooked the shore just outside of the mouth of the Cove. Of course, he couldn’t go alone, bringing Lee with him.
To make sure the others didn’t feel left out, he had turned his kitchen sink into a small bath that Goomy was currently soaking in, looking much more relaxed than she had ever been before. Kay was keeping an eye on her as well as on Ben, who was poking around in his mouth. There was something that had been wedged in his mouth that was giving him trouble, but DJ had made sure that was taken care of before he left with Lee...
Once they had reached the summit, they found themselves in a familiar area. The Mage had brought everyone up there previously for a picnic, but now was not such an occasion. DJ had started to sit himself down, leaning his back up against one of the rocks that he had done so with before while Lee sat in front of him.
The Professor had mentioned something about meditation being something that Lee’s kind needed to sharpen their abilities. So there they were. DJ looked at Lee for a moment before he nodded, leaning back and closing his eyes. Lee began to follow suit, closing his eyes as they began to meditate...
DJ allowed his mind to wander, going over various different scenes and memories that brought about pangs of different emotions from him. At the same time, Lee would start to use his abilities to read the Mage’s aura, sensing the various emotions that came about from his memories and thoughts.
The sound of the crashing waves below and the ocean breeze wasn’t very intrusive. If anything, it only added to the serene atmosphere that they had been looking for...
The others are gathered on the sofa as well, gazing out at the lovely sight. Goomy has found her spot in his lap while Kay sits on one side of him with Lee and Ben sitting on the other side.
The Mage smiles as the sun continued to set, the others mostly enjoying the sight while Ben munches away at a cookie he retrieved from...somewhere.
There he is, the Mage of Time
One of the patrons of the universe known as Ariadne.
An Archivist and self-proclaimed Grand Mage.
Buried at the bottom of a cuddle pile.
All it took was him muttering that phrase to catch the attention of Lee, who sneaked over to find the other Pokemon in his care. He had heard him talking about the holiday before once the months had changed: something about celebrating relationships and the like. Whenever he talked about it, he could sense him feeling a bit bummed...
He figured it must’ve involved someone that he lost a long time ago, before any of them had shown up. As such, he had gathered the others to try to figure out a way to cheer him up. That’s when Goomy hopped up with a rather simple plan.
“How about a hug?”
At least, it started as a simple plan.
While Kay was quick to dismiss it, Lee began to think about it for a moment before putting in his two cents. He began to talk about perhaps orchestrating a big group hug of epic proportions! Kay gave him a strange look.
Ben then added fuel to the fire, talking about how it’d be nice to make sure everything was soft for everyone involved. Goomy hopped up and down, chirping about involving pillows and blankets.
Now the plan itself had suddenly gained some momentum, and inertia would make sure it would continue down that path. The four of them began to gather pillows and blankets from all around the large house, setting everything up in front of DJ’s bedroom door for when he would surely decide to come out to get himself a drink.
Once everything was set, Ben nearly had to cover Goomy’s mouth to keep her from giggling and chirping excitedly. Lee and Kay had gone off and retrieved some paper, which they were able to cut up into hearts that he made sure all four of them had, each one holding two at the very least. It wouldn’t be long now...
The door opened and the Mage walked out...
“...Wha-”
They only had a second to act. All four of them leaped out from their hiding spots as the little mound they set up worked to trip the human up. With all of them suddenly so close to him, he wouldn’t try to use his magic powers to try to escape right away in fear of possibly hurting any of them.
So he fell onto a large bed of pillows and blankets, only to be covered up by a couple more soft things, all held by each and every one of the Pokemon, with Ben pulling double-duty while having Goomy on top of his head.
There he was: DJ, Mage of Time, victim of a soft avalanche. First there was Lee, then Kay on top of him, then both Ben and Goomy on top of them all. Luckily there was enough pillows to support his head as he tried to look up at all of them at once, very much caught by surprise.
“...What’s going on?” At those words, Lee barked out something before all of them showed him the little paper hearts they were carrying. Goomy got a bit too enthused about the idea, tumbling off of Ben and landing with a very soft thump on a pillow next to DJ’s head. She scooted closer, nuzzling against him.
His eyes had been wide for a few moments before realization dawned on him. “Aw, guys...” As they relaxed, his eyes began to tear up a little bit as he smiled, trying to lean his head against Goomy as she started to nuzzle against him once more. There were smiles to be had all around on this very special day.
The Mage chuckled as Goomy looked over the side of the pier into the water. He was sitting on the deck with the others, watching as they hung out around the deck and the pier attached to it.
Ben was in a deck chair next to him while Lee sat at the very end of the pier, looking out at the waters of the bay and the ocean beyond it. Kay was standing close to where Goomy was, just in case she were to fall into the water...
