Two Children Bond over Robbery

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A jigglypuff lay on a patch of grassy ground in the middle of Grassveil, feeling quite sorry for herself for no apparent reason. She stared up at the Sky, with next to nothing to do. Not that she wanted to do anything anyways. Whenever she tried to do something special, things tended to go wrong. And when things went wrong for her, they really went wrong. She didn't want to bother with complicated emotions on this particular day, so instead, she lay on the ground. It was a somewhat hot summer morning, a light breeze fortunately dampening the heat that surely would've been otherwise overbearing.

Alki sighed. Most other kids would be hanging out with someone else, enjoying their day. Darcy had offered, but Alki had insisted that she wanted to be alone. She hated to lie so often to her sister, and Darcy always being so nice to her didn't help matters. She wanted to avoid Darcy for now... She'd talk with Synd'r, and see if she could figure something out, but... her guilt always felt so explosive . She'd been adopted into their family, and she felt like she was betraying them quite often and...

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." she cried out, loudly at first, attracting a few glares from passersby, before her volume decreased, and she flipped over onto her stomach, facing the ground. Those thoughts made her feel like garbage. She hated feeling like garbage, even if she deserved that feeling... Alki discarded her guild bag and tossed it about a meter away from herself. She didn't care... She just wanted to lay there forever and never get up, and by extension, never have to worry about these complicated things again...

Alki's ears dipped lower as her blush deepened. Leander was so sweet... She wouldn't have figured he'd like her at all, after that miserable display she'd put on at first. She'd felt so sad, and she hadn't even had a reason for it! But now he seemed so happy, and she wasn't really sure what, exactly, she'd done to make him so thrilled. But hey, who was she to complain? If he liked her, why correct him? Truth be told, she was sort of even more excited now. It was one thing to go to Rainfront by herself, and another thing entirely to do it with a... Was that what they were now? Friends?

She quite liked that... She remained silent, her smile widened the more the Seedot spoke. What would they do first...? She couldn't quite keep her thoughts straight at the moment... Oh, but she'd have to inform Synd'r before they could do any of this... She nodded along absently, only processing his words after they'd been spoken. Even once she'd processed them... What was she supposed to say...? Her being with him wasn't payment! If anything, it was the opposite... But he'd said it so sincerely, like he really believed it... Why?

"Eeeeeeheehee..." Alki laughed nervously, a large, dopy, bewildered smile still present on her face. What was she supposed to say... Did he really like her that much... "I-I-I'm r-really excited, a-a-and b-being w-with y-you is payment... too...?" She mumbled, unsure of how exactly to convey her appreciation for him as well. He'd been amazing to her, and she was thrilled that they'd have the opportunity to grow closer, maybe, if he decided he actually liked her in the future, for some... some reason, but she had to maintain some professionalism, right? Synd'r had made her second in command, and would a second in command really act like this...

Alki began to quiver silently, her ears perking up as she steeled herself. Her blush deepened, and she finally managed to yell out what she wanted. "THANK YOU, LEA!" She yelled out, any attempts at silence or discretion abandoned, as she moved in for a hug shortly afterwards. Was it too much? Maybe... But she truthfully felt so grateful for this experience, and for him, and she wasn't even sure why, but she felt... well, it had felt appropriate, but then again, she was pretty dumb...

She hugged him tighter, a small smile on her face as she closed her eyes. It was nice to have friends... It was lonely without them. She didn't like being lonely...

Leander was not sure he'd ever seen anyone blush this much in just one day. That was far from a negative thing in his book, though, so it was not like he would judge her for doing that. Actually, it was possibly one of her cutest mannerisms, so it would be a shame if she stopped being prone to going tomato like that. Right now he was a bit too curious about what her answer to his previous statements would be to focus as much as usual on it, though. Especially that next-to-last one. He had been honest, which he preferred to be when it came to feelings, but he could not help but wonder if he had been a tad too open even if it had felt hard to contain. It had to be a little awkward to be on the receiving end of that comment so early into a friendship, right?

Alki's actual reaction, however, made him relax again. She was laughing, but it did not sound like she was about to mock him, nor did she seem like she did not want to hear what he had said. So far so good. And it was about to get better: apparently she thought the same thing about hanging out with him as he thought about hanging out with her. His pupils widened at the statement, as a silent way to ask if this was even possible. To both be able to become her friend and to hear this felt like winning some sort of social lottery; just what were the odds?

But the ride was not over yet even with that. At first when the balloon pokémon began to quiver and get even redder, Leander wondered if he had made some kind of scary face by accident. Although, he was not sure how he could have managed such a thing considering how little of his face was actually capable of expression, let alone threatening ones. It did not prepare him for the sudden, loud display of gratitude that came from the pink little fairy. Nor what followed.

Suddenly her stubby arms were around him. This was... a hug. She had hugged him. Oh Arceus she had hugged him. The slight dilation of his pupils earlier was nothing compared to the wild, unregulated magnification that was happening to them now. Not that he had any idea that they were doing that, of course. There were few things he was aware of in general. Not the clouded skies above them, nor the sounds of the lively settlement around them, nor the stares Alki's sudden proclamation had garnered. The simple awareness of her hugging him had swiftly claimed his head as its den and its den alone and promptly booted any other semblance of sentience out for the time being. The vacant look on the acorn's face as his friend hugged him proved as much. It was not like he was allergic or could not handle hugs; he did in fact love them. But to be hugged for the first time by his new idol a precious and adorable friend he had longed to get to know better, and so suddenly too, had effortlessly shattered the calm act he had (mostly) managed to layer over his inner fanboy-ism for the latter part of their interaction today.

Even after the initial shock had subsided slightly, the extent of what he could do was lean unsteadily into the hug, muttering a meek "N-no problem..." as the hug tightened and his turn to blush came.

Alki tightened her hug, barely acknowledging the fact that Leander had leaned into it as well. He didn't have arms, so it must've been difficult for him to really reciprocate such an act. Not to mention that they hadn't known each other for very long, so perhaps this was uncomfortable for him? None of this crossed her mind, however. He had made her day so much better. Just... Something like this having a positive outcome for her was such a rarity, that she couldn't help but wonder if she was having an unusually pleasant dream.

She closed her eyes, still smiling, oblivious to the reactions of people around them. Amused giggles, unimpressed snorts, bored sighs; none of it mattered. All that mattered was her friend before her. Someone who wouldn't judge her for who she really was. Just like the other phantom thieves... Someone other than Darcy who might, just maybe, even like her?

She wished she could stay in this hug forever. Just keep her arms around the acorn, eyes closed, smiling... But she couldn't. Time marched on, and those few, beautiful seconds would only live on in her memory. The fairy pulled away, blushing just as much as he was.

He was blushing too. Had he enjoyed it as much as she? The thought filled her with more warmth. She began to rub her right wrist with her left hand. She giggled softly, unsure of what it was she was feeling anymore. This had been such a nice experience, and Leander was so cute when he blushed...

"Aheh... S-sorry, I just... G-got emotional, I guess... The girl mumbled, the small smile still etched onto her face. She wished she could feel this way forever... "I'm s-sorry if that was too s-sudden... But... Um... Thank you. Really. You... Made my day a lot better than I thought it was going to be. A lot better than most of my days... She trailed off, a look of uncertainty crossing her mind as she continued to rub her wrist.

"B-but... T-this won't be the last time we meet, S-So... Yeah. Thank you. And... U-until next time?"

"It's fine, it's fine! Really!" Leander exclaimed after Alki apologized, his voice warping halfway into an absentminded giggle at the end. A smudge of red still burned right beneath his eyes, which yet again had their lower lids elevated joyfully. He still felt like he was landing after having flown, and was just now getting his balance back. No, there definitely was no need to be sorry! Sudden or not, that hug had been anything but unwanted!

"Kakaka, I'm so glad to hear you're happy," came out after the Jigglypuff thanked him, sounding just as breezy and giggly as the sentence before it despite the Seedot having calmed down somewhat after his earlier high. There had been more to that statement than just him being happy for her, though. Of course, that was a major part of it, but... if she had been having a bad day and he fixed it, that goodness sort of canceled out the badness of nearly stealing her bag, right? After thinking it over for a second, he did a small tipping nod forward, so subtle it could be mistaken for a stumble. Yes, it had to. Especially if with how special a day as happy as this one seemed to be for her. He was off the hook for his mistake, definitely. Nothing to be stressed about.

"Yeah... Till next time" he finally said, his pupils flicking down to observe the grass, now lit up in patches as the sun fought its way out from behind the clouds, before looking back up. "And thank you, too. For asking for me and stuff, y'know. Well, then..."

He started to turn away, slinging out a last "See you in Rainfront!" before strolling away from the field, happiness still evident in his limited expression as he nearly skipped on his way out. He might get to join a thief group! One where he could finally do something useful and make up for stealing from good pokémon! The acorn did a quick hop out of sheer joy. And he had even managed to make Alki feel better and cancel out his almost-theft!

Actually, about that... After leaving the grass field and returning to the main streets, it hit him that he had not figured out what had been wrong with Alki today in the first place. She had spoken about this day being "a lot better than I thought it was going to be", and "a lot better than most of my days". That... wasn't so good, actually. It was supposed to be a statement of gratitude and happiness, yet it had held such a desolate undertone... He stopped walking, solemnness clouding up in his eyes for a moment, before he carefully picked up the pace again, abeit sans the prior spring in his step. They had already parted ways, so walking back now would be a little silly. Maybe he could see if she was doing any better the next time they would meet up, and if not, he could try to figure out what was up then instead. Yeah, that worked. This would be solved somehow! There was no use in letting it eat him up.

Alki smiled softly, saying nothing as the Seedot expressed his own happiness about the situation, and even gratitude. Gratitude? For what? Nothing she'd done had been particularly remarkable... She felt happy, of course, for how the day had turned out, for the fact Leander liked her, for some reason, but she felt almost... guilty. She shouldn't be receiving any sort of thanks, but... was it selfish to want it? The jigglypuff giggled nervously as she tapped her hands together, shifting her weight from her heels to her toes as she laughed. Before she could say anything, Leander bid her good-bye, saying that he was excited to see her in Rainfront.

"Y-Yeah..." Alki said softly. She was still blushing the thought of their recent hug remaining fresh on her mind. But as it wore off, she began to find more and more reason to be afraid. Leander wasn't like Vesper, or Cecil, who'd had... well, practice, in some sense... He was fresh. Like her, but not quite as new as she was, which meant that... Was she responsible for him? If she'd managed to catch him in the act, then didn't that mean that a Police-mon, or a guild-member would discover him even easier?

Alki hummed softly to herself, lost in thought as she watched Leander disappear into the distance. If that was the case... Then that just meant she'd have to help him, wouldn't it? That meant that, in a sense, she was going to be responsible for him... And that was alright! While the prospect did fill her with fear, well... She was sure she'd figure something out! Because... He was important. Important to keep safe, because he was nice, and kind, and... She wanted to keep him safe more than she cared to keep herself safe...

Alki seated herself on the grassy field, hugging her bag tightly to her chest. It was a scary prospect, but one that... Well, it'd be nice. Nice to pay something forward, help him figure things out the way Darcy had helped her figure things out, even if he was a better Pokemon than her... The burden was on her to keep him safe... The balloon nodded to herself, silently steeling her resolve for the challenges that would come.

But for now... Well, she didn't have to worry about that, did she? She could just have a minute to herself, and reflect on what had occurred, how lucky she was to have met him, and how pleasant their time together had been... And she couldn't wait to meet him again! The balloon watched him disappear into the crowded streets, smiling. She'd have to ask Synd'r soon, and then make her way to Rainfront, and then...? Well, who knew what was in store there?

All she knew was that she couldn't wait to see what surprises the future might hold. Of course, that was assuming she didn't mess it up... But she was sure he'd be perfect! So... Until next time. With any luck, it'd be just as pleasant a day, although ideally, with a better start...