Louvel smiled as he sat under a sky of stars. The Lucario had relaxed there for a while now, staring into the seemingly endless reaches of space. The day had been full of his usual activities, plucking up flowers and making little crafts. In fact, he was wearing a flower crown he had made earlier….
She supposed making friends wouldn’t be such a bad thing. After that quaint interaction with that Pichu this morning, she felt a little more ease at heart. Though the thought of her being even slightly sociable had jostled her mind, enough to not notice the sun quickly setting and the stars rising just as fast. Before she knew it, she was wandering amongst a field with grass standing taller than her tails.
She frowned and pawed at the ground. Rei hadn’t meant to wander this far. What had she meant to do today? Nothing, that’s what. She was going to skulk in her cave, and gripe to herself about yet another lost battle.
So how did she end up face to face with a Lucario?
"My apologies," she said, ever so slightly bowing her head. She looked up, a sly smile on her face. "Didn’t mean to startle you." Slowly, she approached a soft patch of grass next to him, and stretched out her weary legs. For a moment, Rei just stared at him - Louvel, was his name - because she starting to notice how beautifully the stars reflected in his eyes.
"Is it okay if I join you under this night sky tonight?"
"Ah it’s okay," Louvel replied. She seemed like a nice Pokemon, so Louvel was at ease. "Of course you can join!" He never had anyone to join him, so it seemed like a welcome change of pace for these nights under the stars.
Louvel turned his head upwards, watching the starts contently. He blinked, forgetting for a moment that he had someone with him, “Ah, sorry,” he looked back at the Vulpix, “make yourself at home, there’s plenty of room to sit or lay, and I won’t bother you.” He wanted to assure her that he had no intentions of fighting, or any of the sort. Even if his kind were more prone to battles, Louvel was a more gentle soul.
He sighed contently, the night was surely beautiful. The sky was full of lights, sparkling brightly against the black sky. He leaned back, putting his paws behind his back, on the ground, to balance himself. “I love these nights, they’re so calm and pretty,” Louvel rambled a bit, enjoying the scenery.
His eyes seemed to shine with joy as he sat under the sky. “Oh look at how bright that one is!” the Lucario exclaimed, pointing at a star. His smile grew wider. “Wow, they’re all so bright tonight, that one really stands out,” Louvel exclaimed again, his tail swishing from side to side.
'Its okay,' she thought to herself. 'Everything is okay.'
And it really was, for the first time in a long time. She was curled in, snuggled in the soft grass, completely relaxed. Her tail swayed gently with the night breeze. And his voice was rather gentle and nice. She enjoyed hearing him talk about the stars, which she herself could not stop admiring. She looked in the direction he pointed, at the brightest star.
"It is quite bright," she agreed. She glanced over at him from the corner of her eye. He was so friendly, and very gentle. And again, she caught herself gazing at the stars, not in the sky, but those in his eyes. She quickly looked away. She didn’t want him to think she was staring because she was rude or anything. And she definitely didn’t want him to think she was a bad Pokemon. ‘The polite thing to do would be to give him your name, your silly fox,’ she chided herself. She hadn’t told him her name! What a goof.
"My name is Rei.. by the way," she stammered out. Would he remember? Did he even want to know? Should she have asked first? "In case you were wondering. Or not. Or you know. Stuff." She gulped nervously, thinking now she’d REALLY made a fool of herself.
"Nice to meet you Rei," Louvel responded happily. She seems to be having a good time, and that’s, well, good. He began absentmindedly picking some flowers, deciding that maybe Rei would like a little flower craft. He usually didn’t make them at night, as they would end up much sloppier, but he also had a habit of making them for guests.
Rei was a guest, and she needed something for stopping by his little home. If you could call an empty field a home. Most wouldn’t, seeing it as having no noticeable places for shelter. No way for a Pokemon to hide during storms, but Louvel didn’t care. This was his home, and he had a visitor.
His paws clumsily fuddled with the thin stems of the plants, trying to knot them together so it looked presentable. It obviously wouldn’t work too well, as a combination of big paws, small stems, and a night sky were against him. The only thing he had going for him was the thought of presenting a rare guest with a gift of appreciation, and the stars, which were giving him enough light for him to see what he was doing without overly straining himself.
Eventually he finished what he could call presentable, but most would call a bit of a mess.
The flowers were arranged in a sort of a crown shape, or a bracelet, but it was far too big to fit on Rei’s smaller paws, and Louvel knew it. It was knotted together a bit sloppily, but most of the flowers had their petals, with some missing a few and some with none at all. Overall, not the best he could do, but not really the worst. Okay, so it was pretty bad, but at least he tried. He would have given her his crown, if it wasn’t for the fact that it was just as badly made.
"Uh, Rei, here, I made something for you, since you’re my guest," Louvel said, holding the craft out to her.
She watched how his paws, though slightly oversized, nimbly wove the flowers together. Rei had never been much of a crafty Pokemon, since the only thing she’d ever managed to make was homemade bandages, but watching him was rather intriguing. She finally realized that it was a crown he was making, just like the one on his head. And he was offering it to her.
The gesture was oddly heartwarming. If she was going to be honest, it wasn’t the best made crown. Petals were missing or completely gone on some of the flowers, and there were a couple of loose knots, but she LOVED it. Her heart fluttered as she gratefully accepted it. Rei placed it carefully on her head, and it fit perfectly.
"Thank you. It’s beautiful," she said, her eyes lighting up like the twinkling stars above them.
Louvel had given her his time, his kindness, shared the night sky wit her, and to top it off, a lovely flower crown. If only Rei could offer him more than just her crappy company. Looking around though, they were at a rather empty field. She didn’t wander into fields very often. Rei tended to stay close to her cozy cave, deep within the woods where shelter and food was plentiful. But the field only offered gentle grass and open skies. But he seemed so comfortable, she wondered if maybe this was his home. “Is this your home?” she asked.
"Yeah, I’ve lived here for a while now," he responded, "and, you’re very welcome." Louvel was ecstatic that she liked the gift, since he thought that it might not fit, or it might not be her style. So it was a relief to see how happy she was to receive the gift. He looked around the field, it was mostly empty, but it was practically a dense field of flowers.
"I found this place when I was wandering around one day," he began to explain how he came across this field he called home. "I wasn’t really settled down anywhere, considering that I hadn’t found a suitable place to call home. So when I came across this place, I knew it was perfect. I was always a bit more," he paused for a moment, trying to remember what they had called him, "gentle and feminine. Not that I minded. It never really bothered me." Sure it did bother him for a bit, but he got over it. He didn’t really have any grief over it either, he didn’t need to have any grief over it.
Sure he didn’t like being called that, but, from his perspective, they didn’t seem to be using the words as insults. So he just brushed it off. He didn’t need to be bothered by every little thing anyway.
Louvel continued, “So, anyway, I inspected the field, surprised to find that it wasn’t really populated. Just a few other Pokemon hung around there, and most didn’t really seemed bothered by my presence. It seemed like a very peaceful place, so I decided to settle down for a while. You know, for a sort of ‘test run’. I eventually found out that I like it here, so I decided to stay.” He blinked, hoping that he wasn’t overwhelming the Vulpix with the information.
Vulpix glanced around the field. It was really peaceful. She liked the cool breeze that ruffled her fur, the open sky as a roof, and the grass that felt satin under her paws. There was hardly any noise, but the silence wasn't eerie in any way. It was actually quite comforting. She started to see how Louvel saw it, as a home.
'No, I couldn't possibly live here,' she thought. She needed protection. She needed somewhere to hide, a place to herself. She needed to feel safe.
Although she couldn't completely lie to herself. Her small cavern often felt lonely. Hours into the night, when she would retreat to her sheltered home, she would curl up at its deepest end, just to feel the walls pressed against her. Just to feel like there was SOMEONE there. There were no shining stars to keep her company, like there was here. Just a small flame she'd eventually have to put out.
She sighed. Maybe she just missed his company...
Rei was completely getting lost in thought. She almost forgot Louvel was right next to her. Maybe that was why she was soaking in the comfort of his presence. She was tired of being alone. She was tired of fighting and scaring everyone off.
She looked at Louvel. "Well then, thank you, again, for sharing your home with me." She smiled.