Cold Feet in the Cold Copse?

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[21-11=10]

Fallen Leaf Copse was not a place Opal had been to before, but the mission she'd accepted had a reward that was too good to pass up. Besides, how would she grow stronger if she never expanded her horizons? The young pup hopped deftly across the set of stepping stones that gave access to the forest ahead. It was such a beautiful forest, with sights and smells she had never before experienced. Autumn certainly didn't look like this in a desert.

As she touched town on the forest floor proper, Opal had a thought. She was looking for a teddiursa, which was sort of brownish. The Copse was sort of brownish, too. Would she be able to find the bear pokemon? After a brief moment of uncertainty, Opal decided that of course she would. Nothing could hide from the tracking power of her nose! She set off along the leaf-carpeted ground, putting her olfactory abilities to work at once.

"If you ask me, I think everyone should be with who they truly love. I can help you talk to your mum about it if it's easier for you."

"It would be easier yes... Oh, but would would I say? What would I tell Molly? She's such a lovely bidoof..."

"Calm down. Take a deep breath. I was taught that recently, and it works. You okay now? Think for a moment. You were going to marry Sparkle. You loved her very much, and I can tell you still do. Do you feel the same about Molly, or are you just together because she's pretty and your parents approve?"

"When... When you put it like that..."

"If you don't go to Sparkle, you'll be upset. She'll be upset. It won't be fair to Molly, either."

Opal and Percy continued their conversation. Percy's mother had not heard them, being focused on Mille and her cooking. When asked about plates, she fetched a set of flat stones and laid them out.

"We don't have to use these often, but I think this occassion calls for them. I look forward to trying your pancakes."

Mille smiled warmly, thanking the Ursaring for the plates. She then took her mixture, judging the pan to be warm enough and pouring some in. The fennekin kept a close eye on the batter as it cooked, gently checking it, moving the pan around with her Psychic move in order to see if it had loosened from the pan's surface.

Soon enough, the first pancake was moving freely around the pan's surface and with an expertly gauged flick of the pan, Mille flipped it so that it began cooking on the other side. Although she was more than accustomed to using her own paws for cooking, using Psychic allowed her to be more precise with her movements. Especially in a location such as this, that precision was useful for preventing any accidents.

As the pancake was complete, Mille slipped it out of the pan and onto one of the flat plates. She smiled to the Ursaring as she poured more batter into her pan and began to cook a second one. "It'll be hot, but I think it would go well with your honey," she suggested lightly.

The ursaring mother was ever watchful, but had to admit that Mille knew what she was doing. She wasn't going to say such out loud, though, of course. Still, it gave her some things to think about.

"I agree. I'll go and get some when the pancakes are ready," she answered, approving. Her family had the best honey around, it was sure to make anything taste better!

Opal looked over at the two, then back to Percy with a friendly smile.

"Well, it looks like Mille's nearly done with cooking those pancakes. We're going to eat soon. I think that's a good time to talk to your mother, while she's in a good mood. What do you say? Are you ready?"

"Y... Yeah..."

Mille nodded lightly, a smile on her face, "They won't take too long to cook now that all the prep is done! I'll keep going until there's enough for everyone."

The Fennekin then proceeded to do just that, deftly flipping the second pancake as easily as she had the first. After a few minutes or so of cooking it on the opposite side, Mille slipped it onto a second flat plate and continued on with a third pancake. Mille slipped easily into her daily routine at the pancake stall. This was something she did every day for her customers after all.

Soon enough, there were small piles of pancakes on each of the plates, ready for adding honey and eating. Mille had made sure to get as much of the batter used as possible, both to make the most of her ingredients and to make cleaning easier later on. She wasn't sure if there was a good place to go and wash her tools whilst she was in the middle of a dungeon, but she'd ask a little later.

"Pancakes are ready!" she called lightly, "If everyone adds however much honey they would like, it should work well with them!"

Opal and the teddiursa siblings made their way to the table upon which the pancakes had been placed. The growlithe was eager to partake of the feast that had been offered. The food smelled delicious! Imagine how it must taste with the equally delicious-smelling honey added to it! She sat to the left of Percy and began helping herself after thanking Mille and the ursaring mother.

Beartty was to the right of her brother, and glanced at him as everyone took their seats. She noticed he was nervous, and hoped he had the courage to tell their mother how he truly felt.

Percy himself was a little slower to the table. He was terribly anxious. Mother could be a real beast when she was angry, but she did want the best for him. But well, it was now or never. Opal had helped him realise what was right. He took a breath and counted to three in his head.

"Ma? I've got something I need to say..."

The mother Ursaring had fetched a pot of their finest honey and laid it on their makeshift table. Mille was excited to try it out, but politely waited for a member of the family who owned the honey to sit down first, with Percy the final one to join them.

Now seated, Mille took the initiative to drizzle honey over her own set of pancakes in order to set an example to the rest of the table as to how her pancakes were normally served. She felt a bit antsy leaving her pan dirty for now, but it seemed that Percy had something a little more important that required attention. More important than washing utensils anyway.

The table remained quiet until the Teddiursa spoke up. He sounded nervous, but Mille directed a small smile towards him. She hoped for his sake that this conversation would go well. She had never had a problem with overbearing parents, but she knew it took courage to come out and say what you really felt after hiding it for any duration of time.

"Yes Percy?"

"It's about Sparkle, Ma. I love her. I always have. I want to go back to Grassveil and marry her."

The look on Ma's face was one of surprise, then anger as she processed what her son was telling her.

"Absolutely not! You know how that type is!"

"Ma, she never did anything wr-"

"No! She was going to drain you dry, I know it! I won't have anyone hurting my darling children!"

Deep down, Percy knew this would be the reaction. His mother was scary when angered. If he was to marry the love of his life, however, he would have to brave this fury. Opal's encouragement had given him the strength he needed to accept this. He wouldn't be a good husband if he ran at the first frightening thing, after all.

"Listen. I know you're worried, but you're wrong. We won't see each other as much when I get married, but that doesn't mean Sparkle will do bad things when you're not looking. She loves me for more than our honey, and just because she likes a bit of jewellery doesn't make her a gold digger. She makes me happy, the happiest I've ever been. You want me to be happy, don't you?"

Ma stared at her son as he delivered his reply. The mother ursaring didn't quite know how to react. She did want Percy to be happy. Why was he insisting on being with that strange togedemaru, though? Surely the electric type had to be a greedy no-gooder!

"Well... what about Molly?" Ma asked indignantly. Surely the bidoof was just as good, plus she was good-looking and didn't need to be pleased with shiny trinkets!

"Molly's really pretty, but I don't love her the same way. It wouldn't be fair to her."