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choshifics · 11 months

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(Another) First Kiss: Chapter 4

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Manipulation

“And you can feel her madness See right through her smile Don’t you turn your back and You’ll soon figure out”

—“Manipulation” from Passover by The Black Angels

Every inch of Max was bloody, bruised, or both. This definitely wasn’t the Expedition Society she’d left behind. She doubted she’d ever forget that gauntlet if she wanted to. Somehow, this fledgling new group had multiple members of every typing in prime fighting condition, and they expected new members to fight one of each.

Consecutively.

Max didn’t know if she’d done well enough. She didn’t really have a good concept of pacing herself, and she still didn’t know typings well enough to take advantage of them. Like monsters, they saved the pokémon with a type advantage against her until the end. She didn’t know shocking the dragonite was a waste of effort until they called that match a tie, and he had a laugh about it.

She’d almost completely spent her electricity right before her last match. It’s not like she’d use it against a ground, but it left her way too exhausted to put up a good fight. The quagsire at least made it quick for her.

She’d ended it with ten wins, three ties, and four losses, and all they’d told her on scoring before or after was, “Winning every fight isn’t required, but it’s encouraged.” They let her rest a whole five minutes before sending her off to the oral examination. She got to wonder what the hell that was on her painful walk over.

Even on all fours, she grunted out an, “Ow,” with every step. She hadn’t walked on all fours out of exhaustion since coming here (easier access to Ithos when upright helped, of course). Ash had tried to get them to train at least this hard leading up, but even Max hadn’t quite seen the point.

In hindsight, Ash had underestimated the hell this organization could put you through.

All the halls had an eerie similarity to them. Even however far in the past this place was, she recognized the general layout and style from when she’d gone to see Goon. Every offshoot she hadn’t gone through then felt frustratingly familiar. She’d never known that building was so ancient. At least it was smaller.

It was so empty, though. The Expedition Society had people in it basically twenty-four-seven, but this one was closer to a ghost town. Brand new walls with fresh-dried paint sat pristine and abandoned. Whoever started this either had high hopes, high ambition, or both. It seemed like a lot of effort to put into a redundant organization to her, but she was too exhausted to think about it.

“Well, looks like somebody finally knows how to follow directions,” an aegislash remarked as she rounded a corner. He sounded familiar, and sure enough, he was the one she’d fought early on (her win, but barely). Her tail covered the bruised cut he’d sliced into her on instinct.

Aegislash held his shield in front of him to do some kind of bow for her, paying no mind to her reaction. “Our fight was a pleasure, Lady…?” he looked up in wait.

Max was too busy remembering Eleos for a second to realize he was asking her name. “Oh, Max,” she said. If he wanted a bow in return, she would have to disappoint. She barely managed a strained smile for him. Luckily, he didn’t seem to mind.

“And mine is Peregrine,” Peregrine said. As he straightened out of his bow, he had an impish look in his eye. “Most call me Parry, though.” He gave a gleeful glance to the slice he’d given her that made her chuckle.

“No wonder,” Max said. He was nice, at least, if a bit eccentric. Others might not like being referred to as lady, but Max was a bit partial to the practice, personally. She started to get a bit more comfortable and let her tail stop guarding the wound. “I was surprised I could keep going. I thought I was gonna need stitches after that hit.”

“Hm, similar to your fight with Kair?” Parry asked. Max raised a brow, so he clarified. “The dragonite.”

“Oh,” Max said with another wince. She pulled a paw up to massage her cheek. “Yeah, I guess.” She gave him a curious look after. It hadn’t been word traveling, she hadn’t seen anyone else on her way there. “Did you stay to watch?”

“But of course,” Parry said, that gleam in his eye returning. “That stance of yours, it’s as if watching a kindred spirit.” For extra emphasis, he shook his shield a bit. Max felt her ears start to burn, for some reason worrying if she’d been insensitive until he chuckled. “Suffice to say, you’ve interested me.” Again, her ears started to burn, but for a different reason.

“Well, thanks,” Max said, looking away. “But isn’t there an oral-” she felt a bit of panic rising up, “—shit, did it already start?” She wasn’t expecting an interview to be so casual.

Luckily, Parry waved the notion away. “No, fret not,” he said. “Merely making conversation while we wait for your friend.” Max let out a breath of relief. Even on all fours, her paws started feeling sore. She went over to sit against the wall. “It seems someone’s taken an interest in your friend, as well.” He looked up to the clock. “I’ve not seen Fara take so long with a recruit before.”

“Is that good?” Max asked. Ithos’ extra time in interview didn’t spark the most confidence in her. He was kind, but he didn’t necessarily know when to shut up. She at least trusted him not to slip that she was human, but she was worried he might let his own excitement get the best of him.

With another breath, she tried to let go of the worry. Ithos deserved a bit more faith than that. He was still remarkably capable, despite also being an idiot. Most of his worst decisions came from naivety rather than mental insufficiency. It was a bit ironic, considering he had more life to remember, that Max felt like the more world weary one.

A knob turned before the loud creak of an ancient hinge accompanied the sight of a gargantuan door coming to block half the hallway. “Thanks!” Ithos said. The little lizard looked absolutely puny next to the door, yet his sheer joy filled the space. Once he caught sight of Max, she could clearly see his eyes pop open from all the way down the hall, and he sprinted over.

“Save your energy!” Max shouted in vain. He wouldn’t stop to question his excitement for the world. It made her heart throb, against her better judgment.

“Max!” Ithos said with a grin. With no regard for her obvious injuries, he snatched up both of her paws to yank her up. “How’d you do?” Once her hindpaws hit the ground, her stance faltered. She stared at him while she leaned against the wall, waiting for the sight to register. “Oh, wow.” He finally looked her over, cheeks flushing. “Sorry.” Max could see his tail’s erratic flame in the reflection of Parry’s edge.

“Well, I had to get up, anyway,” Max said. She managed a smile while she looked into his eyes. He hadn’t let go of her paws yet. “I don’t know if I did well enough.” She worried how he’d take the news, but his exuberance didn’t falter. “Apparently I earned an admirer, though.” She nodded behind Ithos to Parry.

“Ad-what?” Ithos asked with sudden panic that made Max giddy. He let her paws fall while jumping around to see Parry behind him for the first time (and also putting his tail mere inches away from Max). “Oh, hey!” Max sidled out of range of the flame and watched it flicker.

“Ithos, hello,” Parry said with a bow. “I’m sure our fight will be just as exhilarating.” He waved Ithos to follow. “Come! And Max,” he turned to her one last time, “best of luck.”

“Y-yeah!” Ithos said, quickly hopping around. Max could see his tail growing in defensive frustration behind him. “Good luck!” He tossed her a thumbs up and a wink before patting her on the shoulder. “You’ll do great. Don’t worry! She’s really nice.”

“Thanks,” Max said with genuine relief. At least the interviewer wouldn’t be a hard-ass. “Do your best.” She pat him on the shoulder, struggling to let her paw fall from there. “See ya.”

“See ya!” Ithos said. The grin he gave her made up for the required distance in an instant. She didn’t mind seeing him go when she got to see that excitement on his face again. Of course, it helped that watching him leave was always fun, too. She just had to be a bit more subtle about that one.

Before they turned their first corner, Max dropped down to all fours and started over to the head office. Her pawsteps echoed throughout the place with every step, and she could hear Ithos’ claws clacking against the tiles fading off in the distance. She couldn’t get the strange hugeness of this place out of her mind. It was supposed to be new, but the building felt ancient, even more ancient then the last time she saw it.

Max found her first obstacle in the interview earlier than she’d hoped: the doorknobs on either side of the door were too high. She got up to her hindpaws and remained a good half-foot short. She grumbled out a swear and hopped up to grab hold of it and turned, kicking off the other door.

The door was deceptively light. Her little kick sent it swinging open, and she went right along with it. The momentum of the arc pulled her hindpaws out from under her until it suddenly stopped at the hinge’s limit. She lost her grip and flew a few feet before miraculously landing on all fours. It bounced off its own hinge and closed halfway before she started scampering in.

It creaked shut with a clunk, missing her tail by less than an inch only because she yanked it forward at the last second. Her brief instant of relief ended when she saw an ampharos on the opposite side of the room holding back laughter with a paw. Max was glad she was too exhausted for her cheeks to spark much.

“You must be Max. I’m Fara,” Fara chuckled. “Please, come take a seat.” She waved a paw to the two chairs on the opposite side of her desk. Max headed over with a barely kept smile that only got harder to maintain when she saw the office. “Sorry about the door. I should’ve given it a little bit more thought.” Fara held her paws together to leer over them at her. “I’ll have that fixed soon.”

Intricate tapestries lined walls that led gut churningly high. Max couldn’t turn her head high enough to see the ceiling without standing upright. A vibrant violet carpet with swirls of gold sat in the middle of a dark oak floor. As it approached the desk, it tapered partially before growing into a dark circle that consumed the desk and its chairs.

“It’s all right,” Max squeaked. Fara’s casual stare bore into her soul. Max could feel judgment looming over her every slightest movement as she walked across the carpet. The relaxed smile made Max feel like she had to hurry despite her injuries. She picked up the pace and hopped up on the left chair.

“Impressive,” Fara mused as Max sank into the massive seat. “Most recruits don’t have so much energy after combat testing.” She let one paw down and reached under her desk without taking her eyes off Max. She pulled up a cup and slid it over to Max. “That should help with the pain.” It slid so fast in its approach that Max hopped up to stop it from sliding off, but it stopped just short of the edge.

“Thanks,” Max said, eyeing the cup as she grabbed it. Once she saw that shade of amber, she struggled to hide her excitement. She hadn’t had apple juice in a while, though she had no idea how it was meant to help with pain. Once she sucked in a mouthful, though, the ripe burn of an aged whiskey made everything clear.

Again, Fara hid a chuckle behind her paw with the sudden surprise in Max’s eyes. After that, though, she watched with intrigue. Max barely flinched at the taste despite having an entire mouthful. She set the cup down without spitting any out and swallowed the spirit.

“Sorry,” Max mumbled, wiping her mouth. A shiver wriggled up her spine as the spirit went down her throat. “Wasn’t expecting whiskey.” She forced a smile. “At least it was smooth.”

“Incredible,” Fara said. “Should I be impressed or worried?” She stared down with open amusement, resting her chin on her paws again. Up close, her modest smile looked even more incisive. It looked exact, pristine. Each side of her lips met the same part of her cheeks with the slightest bit upturned more on her left than her right. It looked perfectly off in a way that made Max squirm.

“What?” Max asked. She tried to shake off the odd sensation and force a chuckle. “Did I do something?”

“Not exactly,” Fara said. “Just awfully well versed in liquor for your age.” Max flinched at that and instantly regretted the involuntary motion. Fara quickly swiped at the air as if dismissing the worry. “Please, relax. I just have a few simple questions I ask any prospective initiates.”

“All right,” Max said with a forced sigh. Hopefully the whiskey would help her calm down soon. “So, uh.” She glanced around and sat back. “Questions?” The plush chair threatened to consume her under her own weight, but she was more concerned with how the hell Ithos thought this woman was friendly. This ampharos was the first prey animal Max was worried might eat her.

Fara smiled down with some unreadable shadow behind her eyes as she lowered her paws to the desk. “Well, I believe it’s best to start with your combat performance,” she said. “Ten wins is nothing to be ashamed of.”

“You already know?” Max asked. She didn’t see anyone else leave with her. When she left, the judges were still writing. Had someone teleported the results to the office after Ithos left? Max couldn’t see any papers on Fara’s desk, either.

“Of course,” Fara said with a grin. “I want this organization to succeed, so I keep my eyes everywhere.” The answer felt like a challenge; Max could feel Fara watching her reaction closely. Within the second, the scrutiny lightened, and Fara went on. “In most auditions I’ve seen, the initiates either fight careful and reserved the whole way through, or put their all into the fights they know they’ll win and give up on the last.”

“You were an interesting case.” Her eyes stayed on Max, but it didn’t feel like she saw her. “You just refused to stop trying. I’d expected you to collapse from your own efforts after the sixth.” She spoke as if she’d been there to see the fights.

“Well, thanks?” Max said. Despite her need to force a smile, she couldn’t help squirming in her seat. “I couldn’t really give up, could I?”

“That hasn’t stopped people before,” Fara said. Her grin grew wider, and Max squirmed more. “Your will truly was something else.” She spat ‘will’ like it was a dirty word. “Though, to my eyes, it seemed more like you were afraid to lose.”

“Oh?” Max asked. Fara had seen the matches, and she expected Max to simply accept that as fact. The impossibility wouldn’t fade from Max’s head, though. She couldn’t help looking curiously at Fara, and Fara’s grin turned as she did. “Well, a lot was riding on it, I guess.” Max grabbed hold of her tail to rip her eyes away from Fara’s.

“This was no mere spirit of competition,” Fara said. “It was in your eyes.” Max flinched before she could stop herself, and she expected the chair to swallow her whole for the sin. “Each time the fight began to turn against you, you looked at your opponent with the desperate terror of prey.” She gave odd reverence to the sight of prey. “Then, you fought with that desperation. It was an extravagant sight to behold.”

“Th-thanks,” Max stuttered. Her ears twitched at the slip, and her heart leapt in terror. Before she could correct herself, Fara’s eyes gleamed like she’d just smelled blood.

“Ah, so you do it outside of fights, too?” Fara almost sang. She looked deep into Max’s eyes, and Max desperately wished she could hide them behind her tail. Ithos had never heard of Dungeon Sickness, but Fara seemed infatuated with it. “Oh, that beautiful black in your eyes. You’re terrified.”

“Stop!” Max shouted, squeezing her eyes shut. She clenched her paws tight to force in a breath. Her fur felt damp with sweat. She shook as she let herself look up again.

“So sorry,” Fara said. She put a paw to her chest and pulled herself back. “I didn’t realize it was a sensitive subject for you.” Her posture fell back ever so slightly, and Max felt some of the fear and anger fade. Had the whiskey started hitting her already? “What is this condition of yours? Have you always been this way?”

“Sort of,” Max said. She couldn’t even explain how it happened. The Dungeons were completely different from the ones she knew. “I just have more instincts than most pokémon. I don’t know.” She crumpled down further until she realized she’d started holding her tail in her arms.

“What about when you were younger?” Fara asked. Her eyes still had that predatory stare, but it wasn’t filling Max with dread anymore. She felt the same impact, but none of the fear lingered. “How old were you when this started?”

“I don’t know,” Max said. She shrugged and forced herself to let go of her tail while the worries weren’t quite so oppressive. It must have been some effective whiskey.

“Where did you say you grew up?” Fara asked. Max’s ear flicked a bit. “It was here, wasn’t it? Lively Town?” Max nodded. She and Ithos had agreed on that story ever since Ithos improvised it to his dad. “Odd that I’ve never heard of you. That condition seems like it would attract attention.”

“I don’t really go around telling people about it,” Max said. Her tail started to flick, but the frustration had gone before it finished. “It’s embarrassing.”

“When did you leave for Serene Village?” Fara asked.

“I don’t know,” Max grumbled. She snapped her mouth shut, but the words were already out. Sitting still, Fara looked ready to pounce. “Or, not exactly, anyway.”

“This condition,” Fara said. “Is it anything to do with your lapses in memory?” She watched Max with intrigue of a shark watching a fish. “If it’s serious, I’d like to know. Background is an important consideration to me. I want to know of any problems that might grow from it ahead of time.”

Max could feel the opportunity slipping out of her nubbins. She didn’t have a background to discuss. She’d been around for a bit over a month. With Fara so intent on every detail, she wouldn’t let Max get away with the little half-answers she gave everyone else. Fara already seemed doubtful Max had ever lived in Lively Town. No doubt, she had connections in this place to build an organization like the Expedition Society.

“Sort of,” Max mumbled. The easiest route would be admitting she used to be a human, but she’d rather face ten vicious garchomps hungry for her flesh than tell Fara that. She grabbed her tail to hold against her chest again, keeping her eyes on the chair. “I… don’t really remember much.”

Half truths were always better than full lies. “Anything earlier than a few weeks ago is really hazy for me,” she said, letting her ears fall. “I just woke up with a headache and these weird instincts.”

She shrank away further with a tighter squeeze to her tail. Keeping her eyes down, she started probing her awareness out to gauge Fara’s reaction. Fara had a sympathetic frown and a paw holding a heart that beat in precise thumps. Her chest rose for three beats, held for one, then fell for four. Again and again, it beat in perfect time with her breath.

“I’m so sorry,” Fara said. “That must be so hard for you.” She shook her head and leaned against her desk. “Yet here you are, trying so hard to help others. You poor soul.” For some reason, the way she spoke reminded Max of Ash hitting on her.

“Is that why you do this?” Fara asked. “It must help you find purpose, doesn’t it?”

“Kinda,” Max said. She could barely listen to a word she said, stuck listening to the exact beat of Fara’s heart. “Plus, y’know.” She looked up with a forced chuckle. “I’m good at it, so that helps.”

“Do you enjoy this work?” Fara asked. The way she tilted her head made Max feel like she’d said something wrong.

“Well, yeah?” Max said. “I’m good at it.”

Fara raised a brow, but let the wording slide. She pushed her chair back from her desk and got up. “Do you know why I’ve started this Society?” she asked. As she spoke, she walked to the tapestry on Max’s left. The top had a ball of fire plummeting to the Earth above Rayquaza. At the very bottom stood an odd, blue zangoose with a hoodied pikachu on his shoulder.

“We have become sick,” Fara said. Max craned her neck and saw Fara leering at the zangoose in disgust. “So pathetic that we needed a human to save us.” Max quickly turned back to the tapestry as Fara turned to glance at her. “Sorry, your memory. Do you remember the tale?”

“Well,” Max said. “I think I can get the gist.” She might’ve obsessed about the games, but she didn’t have the attention span to finish them.

Regardless, Fara nodded and turned back to the tapestry. Her disgust only grew as she saw it. “Humans,” she spat. It was a good call to lie to her about that, then. “Despicable. We hold them up as legends when they are monuments to our weakness.” She pulled a paw forward to deignfully flick it to the image of the zangoose. “Look at the mockery he made of us.”

Max took another look, and she sort of understood what Fara meant. That zangoose looked visibly more like a human, even from behind. Seeing Goon on all fours had surprised her, but this guy would just look goofy. She assumed it was artistic choice or incompetence, not an accurate portrayal. Max was glad she was just a normal pikachu.

“They fall to a world they don’t understand, don’t respect, then call themselves saviors,” Fara went on. The more she glared at the tapestry, the more she sneered. Considering how she felt, it was an odd decoration for her office.

“They?” Max asked. She’d confirmed with Ithos soon after landing that only one human had ever come before. That was the reason he’d been more willing to believe she was an alien. Fara turned halfway around to raise a brow. “How many times has this happened?”

“Once,” Fara said. She twisted back around and walked over with one last sneer at the tapestry. Max almost thought she heard a snarl. “But there will be more soon.” She stood on the opposite side of the desk without taking her seat, staring off in the distance. “I can feel it in the air. Darkness is coming. We cannot rely on another fool for salvation, but look at everyone.”

She looked down to consider Max a moment before going on. “I’m sure you can see it as well,” Fara said. “We are a different breed. I can see it in your eyes. I saw it in the way you fight. Ambition.” Even as she complimented Max, disdain hung off her face, and she looked back to the far off distance.

“That condition of yours,” Fara went on. “It sounds terrible. To lose all that you know, to have your very mind fight against your judgment. It would drive others to madness, yet here you are.” Max’s mouth began to twist into a snarl. This wasn’t empathy, and she didn’t want to hear how Fara would twist it. She forced herself to suffer through it, though, for Ithos’ sake.

“This is why I’ve seen fit to form the Expedition Society,” Fara said. “The Rescue Society has bent over backwards to allow anyone who wants to join. How will a force like that stand any chance against what’s to come?” She shook her head in disgust and turned to Max. “No. We must find something more to put our faith in.”

Max dug her teeth into her cheek to keep herself from yelling. Fara’s open disdain for the people she wanted to save made Max’s skin crawl. She’d only survived as long as she had thanks to the kindness of Neb, Cori, Eleos, everyone. She could keep herself quiet, but she couldn’t stop her rage creeping onto her expression. The sight made Fara smile.

“You disagree,” Fara said. “Don’t hold your tongue. I expect competency, not fealty.”

Max forced herself to take a breath, if only to avoid a response purely in words of the four letter variety. “I’ve needed help before,” she said. Every word needed careful consideration both so they’d come out in English, and to keep herself from yelling. “I don’t do this because I’m better than others. I do it to help people.”

“And you said that you enjoy it because you’re good at it,” Fara said. The sudden flash of anger on Max’s face made Fara’s grin light up. “But perhaps you have a point.” She crossed her arms and sat back in her chair. “After all, even the weak have their place.”

“People aren’t strong or weak,” Max growled. “There’s more to living than fighting for power.” She couldn’t hold herself back, but Fara just chuckled.

“Oh, I like you,” Fara cooed. Suddenly, Max felt her rage dissipate. It hadn’t faded, but left. “You know, I wasn’t sure about your little team talking to Ithos, but you’re an interesting one.” Even the dig at Ithos couldn’t stoke her anger. “I’d be a fool to let you go.” Max felt like she was being offered cheese on a spring-loaded metal platter. “After all, a leader needs someone at her throat to keep her at her best.”

“Wait, we’re in?” Max asked. She’d been seconds away from fighting despite her injuries. Now, she couldn’t feel so much as minor annoyance.

“Don’t tell anyone I’ve told you,” Fara said with a wave of her paw. “Can’t have people accusing me of favoritism.” Max let herself calm down with her fading rage. Fara was up to something, but Max would happily play the fool. “I trust you’ll be able to act flattered and surprised.” Fara hid a chuckle behind her paw, but Max tilted her head.

“You do?” Max asked, raising a brow.

“Well, yes,” Fara said, raising her own brow in turn. She glanced behind Max as a hint, but it clearly didn’t help. “It’s a skill any girl needs to master for her safety.”

“Oh, right,” Max said, shaking her head. For as much as she loved this new body, being a girl usually escaped her mind until it came up explicitly. “Forgot about that.”

“Being a girl?” Fara said, brow raising higher. She quickly relaxed it and chuckled, shaking her head. “Oh, it must be all that time you’ve spent with your teammates.” Even her perfectly casual tone felt calculated. “You need a break from boys, I’ll bet.” Max shrank a bit, electricity finally rejuvenated to bounce sparks down her cheeks. “Girls need time to be themselves, after all.”

“Right,” Max said. She scratched at the back of her neck while her tail nervously flicked behind her. Smiling took effort, but she managed a small one. “Thanks.”

“Of course,” Fara said, savoring each word. She put her paw out over the desk for Max to take with subtle menace that made Max’s skin crawl. Max had to hop around the drink she’d neglected and stand on the desk to have a chance at taking it. When she did, though, it felt like a normal shake. Grip, up, down, release, and it was done.

“Welcome, Team Plasma,” Fara said. Max let her paw fall to the side, resisting the urge to examine it post-shake. “Tomorrow, at least.” She waved Max off and sat back in her chair.

“Thank you,” Max said. She hopped off the desk and headed out. Walking across the carpet again, she desperately wanted to sprint out. Despite her best efforts, she still picked up the pace towards the end. She didn’t trust Fara for a second; she wouldn’t let Fara out of her sight.

“Pale blue was the color of her eyes, Manipulation Yellow yellow was her hair, Orange sunburst red hot glare, manipulation, Manipulation”

Max scanned the Dungeon around them. She’d spent months exploring them at this point, but the deeper floors still never ceased to amaze her. Every inch had burgeoning life with rich backdrops of foliage and flora. They’d made it to the fifth floor of Peewee Meadow, and it was lush with bushes and saplings heavy with bright berries that smelled so sweet they burned her nose.

“Don’t,” Ithos said, gently pulling her back. It snapped Max halfway out of herself, and she realized she’d been walking over to them. “Here, are you hungry?” He pulled out an apple and held it in front of her. It smelled delicious, but her eyes still lingered on the bountiful harvest in front of her.

“Glad we kept an eye on you now?” Ash asked. He walked up to her other side with a glint in his eye. Max tried to shake her mind free of the fruit and took a bite of the apple.

“Thanks,” Max said between bites. As she ate more of it, the spell started to break. Ash and Ithos started gently tugging her away, and her mind cleared up the further she was from the crop. Even without the spell, though, it was a beautiful sight to behold. Flowers stuck up with rich bouquets of petals all around, exposing their bright yellow prizes to the air. Each petal started faded on one end before blossoming into deep blues, purples, and pinks on their furthest edges.

“You’ve gotta work on that Lotus Addiction, Max,” Ash said. Ithos hissed at him with a glare, but that didn’t deter him. “What?” Max pulled herself back out of their grips, chomping through the rest of the apple.

“I’ve already told you,” Max said. She put a disarming paw to Ithos’ shoulder while she explained. It was frustrating to rehash this for her, but Ithos looked about ready to kill in her honor. “I’ve never had the fruit of the Lotus, all right? It’s not that.” Ash’s glare didn’t let up, and he crossed his arms. “It’s complicated.”

“How do you know that, though?” Ash asked. “You keep saying that, but what about your memory? How do you know you didn’t just forget?”

“It’s complicated,” Max repeated. She must have said exactly that to Ash already a hundred times. She didn’t blame him for being annoyed about it, but she couldn’t let anyone else know about her humanity. Not after that encounter with Fara.

“Max,” Ithos said. He took hold of her paw, and she could feel him giving her that same look he always did when this came up. He respected that it wasn’t his secret to tell, but even he’d stopped seeing the utility of hiding it from Ash at this point. The only reason Max could trust him not to tell was good will.

Forcing a smile, Max turned to Ash to say, “Can you give us a minute?”

“Again?” Ash asked in faux-frustration. “All right, I’ll scout out the next room.” He gave a dorky little salute and ducked into the nearest path.

“Come on, Max,” Ithos said. He reached for her other paw to force her to face him, but she tugged both away. “He’s been in the team for, like four months? Five?” He held his paw out, open and ready for an explanation. “Why can’t you trust him yet?”

“I do!” Max shouted. Ithos threw his paw up to wave her down, so she came in closer to whisper. “It’s not about trust!” She rubbed her paw along the bridge of her snout. Every time they had this conversation, she remembered that conversation with Fara, but she didn’t have it in her heart to tell Ithos. He’d been so excited they made it in, and it was far too late now.

“Max,” Ithos whispered. He brought a paw up to knead tension out of her shoulder. She almost pulled away, but his touch was more tempting than the Lotus of a Dungeon. The warmth of his firm presses softened her tight muscles, and his claws followed up by creeping up her neck to scritch along the path.

He’d gotten very good at relaxing her with his touch.

“Doesn’t he deserve to know?” he asked. His paw snuck around to her back, stopping her before she could interrupt. “If Fara’s right, whatever you’re here for is coming soon. Ash signed up for an Expedition Team, not saving the world.”

He was already plying her with pets; it wasn’t fair for him to have a good point, too. He might not think Fara was connected to the doomsday she preached about like Max did, but Max was here for a reason. The prospect had terrified Ithos when he first found out. Even after so many months, Max still caught him looking at her with terror behind his eyes.

Well, a few among the many the times she’d caught him looking at her, at least.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Ithos asked. He stopped his scratching and yanked her back into his eyes. In an instant, she lost herself in that pristine, piercing blue. Without thinking, she pulled a half a step closer. “If it’s not about trust, why are you worried? You always look like you’re holding something back.”

Max opened her mouth to speak, but lost her nerve. His worry stuck an oppressive darkness over the gorgeous blue. She wanted to protect him from her own paranoia, wanted to eventually find that she had completely misjudged Fara, but it only put a rift between them. It cut off a part of her soul while forcing her to suffer sleepless nights of worry alone.

She’d had to hide everything from him for so long, she didn’t know if she could still let him in. She couldn’t tell him where she came from, couldn’t tell him why she trusted him so much more than anyone else, why she knew his favorite food before he’d eaten it, his favorite drink before he’d had it, or any of the long, long list of impossibilities she’d accrued. She couldn’t tell him the truth.

She couldn’t tell him that, all this time, she’d known exactly what she needed to do. She’d known exactly how to make him happy, and she’d used that knowledge all this time. She couldn’t tell him the truth, because he’d hate her for it.

“Max, please,” Ithos said. He rested both paws on her shoulders to pull her in closer. His warmth emanated from his chest and soaked into her fur. “You don’t have to do this alone. We’re a team.” She stared into the piercing blue that she’d lost herself in so many times before. “I care about you. I want to help you. Whatever it is, I promise. I’m here for you.”

Max felt her breath hitch. Despite not knowing her for as long as she’d known him, Ithos could play to the pleading of her soul better than she ever could. He always seemed to know what she needed before she did. Already bursting at the seams, she didn’t have a choice in the matter anymore. She needed him.

“Fara,” Max whimpered. Ithos brought his left up to scratch right beneath her right ear. “I don’t trust her.”

“Why not?” Ithos asked. He tilted his head slightly, but stayed attentive.

“Do you remember those interviews?” Max asked. Without a word, Ithos nodded. “During mine, she talked about people with disgust. She hates humans. I know you said she was nice, but during that whole conversation.” Max shivered thinking back to it. Sitting in that chair, Fara staring down at her like dinner. Ithos squeezed her tight to pull her back. “She doesn’t want to help people. She wants to control them.”

“Really?” Ithos asked. Max started to shrink away, but he held her tight. He was surprised, but he didn’t doubt her. “Why?” One of his eyes shut halfway, and he looked away with a confused shake of his head. “What did that have to do with recruitment?”

“I don’t know,” Max said. She brought one paw up to feel his arm. Thanks to the training Ash put them through, it was noticeably more defined. It just so happened that it made Ithos look that little bit more irresistible. A happy coincidence. “What did she talk about with you?”

“Nothing, really,” Ithos said. He tilted his head back with his eyes screwed half shut in concentration. “Asked me why I wanted to join, what skills I could bring to the table, I don’t know.” He shook his head, starting to give up before his eyes lit up. “Well, a lot of it was about you, actually.”

“What?” Max asked.

“Not too much,” Ithos said. He nodded along as the memory came back to him. “Just about how long we’d known each other, when we met, why we formed a Rescue Team together.” A chill started to crawl up Max’s spine, but Ithos didn’t let it go far. Right before a shiver manifested, he pulled her into a quick hug that ended too soon.

“I told her the same story I told Dad,” he said; Max felt the empty air between them. “Bandits, that you didn’t have anyone else, but,” he looked up to her again, “w-what if she figured it out?” The slightest doubt started to creep into his expression before he steeled himself against it. “It doesn’t matter, hey.”

Kneeling down, he guided her gaze into his with a paw to her chin. “We’ve got this.” Max was terrified. She had no idea who she could even trust, if they even had a chance. Yet, looking at Ithos’ fate defying confidence, she felt her terror fade. “I’ve got you.”

Max jerked out of Ithos’ hold to wrap her arms around him, whispering, “Thank you.” She heard her slip, but she didn’t care.

Ithos didn’t hesitate to reciprocate. He wrapped his arms around her, holding a bit of her weight for her as he ran his paws down her back. “Of course,” he said. Max’s ear flicked up, and she turned her head to look at him a bit more. She’d slipped, but he responded like he knew what she said. Could he understand—

“Are you two done kissing yet?” Ash called from the corridor he’d left into.

“Ash!” Ithos shouted—directly into Max’s ear. Max jerked away to cover her ear with a paw, and he instantly turned to whisper a panicked, “Sorry!” before turning back to Ash. “Would you stop saying stuff like that?”

“Bro,” Ash chuckled. He spun around the corner to reveal himself and came over. Ithos looked ready to deck him, yet Ash walked right past. “You gotta know how obvious you are, right?” He tilted his head in playful confusion while the grass under Ithos’ paws charred. “If you don’t want her, at least let me have another shot. I mean,” he turned to smirk at Max, “we’ve known each other for a while, now.”

“Ash!” Ithos hissed. “Can you believe him?” He turned to Max for support and found her failing to conceal giggles behind her paw. His eyes shot open and his mouth fell open in betrayal. “Max, really?”

“I don’t know, Ithos,” Max chuckled. With a shrug, she sauntered over to Ash. “He has a point, doesn’t he?” Ash grinned as she put one arm on his back while a paw went for his chest. “You wouldn’t mind, would you?” She winked in thanks with the eye Ithos couldn’t see before leaning in to nuzzle her cheek against his.

“N-no!” Ithos stammered, curiously, not in the tone of one who didn’t mind. Max and Ash both immediately collapsed into giggles, and Ithos’ tail flashed blue for an instant behind him. It quickly smoldered with the grass it lit into a flickering yellow, and then a deep red when he crossed his arms. He snapped his head to the side with rage, and Max laughed so hard she fell over, bag flopping off.

“Really?” Ithos whined. “We have a mission to do.” In deference to their mission, Max brought a paw up to wipe a tear away. She sat up with an arm to her belly and tugged her bag back over her shoulder. “Okay, I get it.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Ash chuckled. He shook his head and went over to pull Max up. “Just team bonding. You understand.”

“Ash, c’mon,” Max said, bringing up a paw to stifle her giggles again. “That’s enough.” She gave him a stern glare and a pat to his shoulder, and he stood down. She felt a bit bad baiting Ithos like that, but how could she possibly help herself? Unfortunately, Ithos still looked mad. He refused to look at either of them, arms still firmly crossed. That little nugget of guilt stabbed a touch sharper.

Max went over to yank Ithos into a hug he couldn’t resist. Literally: she had spent much more time strength training than he had (she liked how the definition looked against her otherwise soft form). After recovering his balance, though, he didn’t try to pull away. Reluctantly, he brought his arms up to pat her back.

“Sorry,” Max said as they pulled away. A few sparks bounced down her cheeks as she looked away. “Was that too far?”

Ithos took a breath, then turned away to scratch the back of his head. “No,” he eventually sighed. He still didn’t look happy, but he looked less furious. At the very least, Max no longer had to worry about him burning down a Mystery Dungeon. Max yanked him into another quick hug, this time hopping off before he could reciprocate.

“Well?” Ash asked. He had his paws relaxed and sat back on his haunches. “What’s my sentence?”

“Death,” Ithos grumbled.

“No,” Max chuckled, bapping his arm. They hadn’t actually come to a conclusion about Ash. With another quick look at Ithos, though, she felt a little bit safer. She let the rest of her laughs leave as she went over to rest a paw on Ashton’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.” She looked up with a nervous smile, then quickly looked away. “I’ve been nervous about a lot, but I trust you.”

Ash opened his mouth to quip out a retort, but Max dug her nubbins into a pressure point on his neck before he could. After a squeak of pain, he chuckled and smacked her paw off to rub the spot. “Fair,” he grumbled.

“I’ll tell you, I promise,” Max said. “Just,” she looked away while nervous sparks bounced down her cheeks, “later, all right?” Ash needled her with a glare that stoked a chuckle out of her. It had been a long time, though, so he’d earned a bit of impatience. “Today, all right? Later today.”

“Woo!” Ash cheered. He hopped up with a wide grin. “Later today, I’ll officially be trustworthy!” Max rolled her eyes and caught Ithos stifling a chuckle. How the tables had turned.

“All right, buddy,” Max said. She shot a quick glare at Ithos, and he put his arms up while looking up in a play of innocence, so she looked back over to Ash. “What’s out there? Anything good?” Back to the task at hand.

“Eh,” Ash said with a shrug. “There’s a few, but they’re all preoccupied.” He nodded his head towards the patch of flowers and fruit that tempted Max earlier. She barely glanced at it, and Ithos took hold of her paw to gently coax her eyes away.

“Come on,” Max growled, yanking her paw away. Ithos shrank back, holding his paw, and Max felt her anger smolder somewhere deeper. “Sorry.” She rubbed at her right arm with her left paw and took a breath. “Look, I appreciate y’all looking out for me, but I’m fine.” The scent tickled her nose, but she didn’t let herself think about it. “I can handle glancing at it.”

“All right, sorry,” Ithos said. Max risked a glance up, relieved to see him smiling again. “I just want to keep you safe.” Max squeaked in appreciation with a nervous smile, then a sound off to the side distracted both of them.

Turning around, Ash had wrapped his arms around himself and rubbed them up and down while making obnoxious kissing noises. He’d ruined the moment. Max rolled her eyes and caught Ithos doing the same. She raised an ear up at him, and he nodded in assent. Max went up behind Ash, tugged a nascent charge into her paw, and jammed her nubbins into the same pressure points she’d hit earlier.

“Fuck!” Ash yelped. He hopped up and away with a new jitter stirring in him even when he stood still. “Come on, I thought you were cool with it.”

“Time and place,” Max said, digging through her bag. She very neatly organized her bag by having things she might need inside it, and things she might not need outside it. Beyond that, though, she had some trouble with specifics. She grabbed a cheri in time, though, and held it up to Ash’s maw.

“All right,” Ithos said, forcing a serious tone. Max caught sight of the chuckle on the edge of his lips, but she let him off easy. “Let’s go.”

“Gotcha,” Max said. She pat Ash on the back and scurried around to Ithos’ left. Ash took a slight lead on his right and lead them through the passage he’d scouted. “What’s the mission, again?”

Ithos tilted his head back in exasperation and looked over his shoulder to chuckle down at her. “The same mission we had the last four times you asked,” he said. Max tried to smile back while Ash giggled, and sparks bounced down her cheeks. Ithos eventually showed mercy, rolling his eyes and facing forward. “We need to get some crop from the sixth and seventh floors.”

Max nodded, almost managing to remember the last four times he’d said that. As it turned out, her memory was bad even without blacking out for months. She had a feeling it always had been.

“Right,” she mumbled. Tentatively glancing around, she wondered who would need that and why, but she didn’t know if she’d already asked that. Ithos caught sight of her nervous glances up at him and smirked down. She quickly looked away again while her cheeks sparked. “D-did I already ask why?”

“Nope,” Ithos said. A claw scratched at her neck while she wasn’t looking, and Ithos started tugging her closer for a proper pat to her back. His paw fell, but she wished it wouldn’t. “I think it was something about growing them outside Dungeons?”

“What?” Max asked. Her eyes shot to him, but he was watching Ash. They’d made it to the mouth of the next room already. Trying to grow this stuff outside of a Dungeon sounded like a recipe for disaster, but she swallowed her objections and ducked in line behind.

Like Ash said, several pokémon were in the room, but most lounged in patches of Lotus, eating or sleeping. Each looked content in the face, and soft everywhere else. A deino lay on its back under its own weight with a foreleg at its belly while a pair of swablu napped in each other’s wings. The weight on all the pokémon was subtle, but they were illusions. It was strange to see any fat on them at all.

Not all of them were happy and content, though. Two scraggy bumbled around looking drunk or nauseous while clutching their stomachs as well as their shorts. They looked dazed enough to miss the team passing entirely, but there was a palpitoad prowling the premises with visible frustration. If the scraggy were looking for more, the palpitoad was looking for any.

“Shit,” Ash grumbled, waving them both back. They ducked back into cover while Ash shook his head. “The toad wasn’t there earlier.”

“Well, it’s a water, right?” Max asked. “I shouldn’t have any trouble with it.” She felt a bit insulted Ash would just forget her like that. Then, he shared a look with Ithos, a look they’d shared so many times before that Max’s ears fell at the sight. “What’s the other type?” As long as it wasn’t ground, she’d at least be neutral.

“Ground,” Ithos said. “And it doesn’t look like it’s had any Lotus.” He shared a worried glance with Ash, and Max nodded along. She’d more or less gotten the hang of these new Dungeons. All she knew in this case was ferals are usually less irritable when engrossed in their Dungeon’s activity. This Dungeon was all about eating, so hungry meant grouchy. “Is there a route around this one?”

“No,” Ash sighed. “And it’s not leaving until it gets what it’s looking for, I’ll bet.” A dense realization fell over the three of them. Another worst case scenario to face. “It doesn’t look fast.”

“Is running really the best idea?” Ithos asked. He brought a paw to his chin and eyed Max’s bag. The bags the Expedition Society had were better, but still not perfect. They accommodated quadrupedal stances, but barely. Mostly, they were just easier for Max to balance on her back.

“There is one way to get it to leave,” Ash said. Max already didn’t love his tone, and she liked the way he was eyeing her even less. “It wouldn’t be hard to get on your tail.”

Max expected Ithos to tell him exactly where to stuff it, but he was strangely silent. Usually, she could trust him to protect her against the worst of Ash’s schemes. The fur on the back of her neck started to rise for every second he remained silent. When she finally let herself look up, she groaned at his reticent consideration.

“I hate you two,” she grumbled. She brought her paws to knead under her eyes, tail flagging behind her. Just thinking about this, her instincts roused. Before he had a chance to see them, she looked down to hide her eyes from Ithos.

“Hey, it’s all right,” Ithos whispered. He knelt and put a paw to her shoulder, but Max couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes. “You’ll still have your badge.” She pulled her right paw into her left and started feeling its pads. Another perk of the Expedition Society: one badge each member instead of each team. “Look, we can find another way if it’s too much.”

There went her last chance to say no. Ithos meant what he said, she knew that every single time he said it. Unfortunately, she also knew she had no chance of actually saying no when he said it. Any time she knew he was relying on her, or even considering as much, she couldn’t help herself.

With a deep sigh of regret, Max pulled her bag’s strap over her head and said, “I’ll do it.” She pushed the bag into his paws before Ithos had a chance to ask if she was sure. His face served as a convenient spot to hold the flap while she pulled the clasps loose and tossed it up. Her paw found the badge with practiced ease before gravity brought the flap back down.

Ithos still looked worried when it fell. Her plan hadn’t exactly worked; she’d hoped he’d be too exasperated about the flap in his face to worry, but he never ceased to amaze her. He seemed to know she’d made up her mind, though, because he slowly nodded and pulled the bag over his shoulder.

“We’ll meet up in the first room on the other side, all right?” Ash said. Ithos nodded, but they looked at Max for an answer.

“Why does the mouse share the house with Ith-ouse,” Max hummed as she tugged the strap out and up her left arm (had it gotten tighter?). “They won’t say, but they feel their feelings.” She barely knew she was singing at all until she saw Ithos and Ash staring down at her. “Yep. Sounds good.” What she wouldn’t give to have that record player back. Her life was empty without music. Well, almost empty.

“Hey,” Ithos whispered. He ran his paw down the back of her head, scratching his claws into the crook of her neck. “You’ll be all right. You’ve got this.” She looked up at his smile, and her worries melted away. For a brief second, he was right. She knew for a fact that she’d be all right.

“All right,” Max said before Ash could kill the moment. She rolled her shoulders and dropped to all fours. “Here comes the fun.” Her instincts were already complaining, so she dashed out before they had a chance to stop her.

She immediately identified the palpitoad on the left of the clearing, and after only five leaps, it had seen her. The two scraggy had collapsed in the middle of it all, so she darted around them. Two exits sat on the same side of the palpitoad, and she started to go for them to make sure it would come after her. That, it turned out, was redundant, because she had to jump off course to dodge a high pressure stream.

Her paws hit the ground running to the wall opposite her entrance, and she listened for it to follow. Since its every booming step shook the ground beneath it, she didn’t have to listen hard. The real challenge came from not immediately running full speed. Her heart was already racing, and it wasn’t from exertion.

A massive tremor ripped through the ground beneath her, knocking her off balance. After a few stumbling steps, she had it back, but even a miss had instincts racing through her mind. The scent of earth she barely picked up from the palpitoad turned into a stench that flooded the air around her. One attack made it feel like she was stuck in a ground’s territory instead of running away from one.

Her legs launched her to the left, and she didn’t know why until she heard mud splat where she’d been. She hadn’t noticed, but her instincts were already worming their way into her movements. She had to fight them to keep her pace down already, and she realized she barely needed to focus on her legs at all.

Instincts were already running for her.

She shook her head and tried to put her mind back into running. It was easier to coax control back than just yank it over. She put more thought into the movement in her legs, but she couldn’t tell if she had any more control. It would have to do, though, because another jet of water came, this time clipping her tail. It stung, but the damage was minor.

Frustratingly, it had her thoughts flooded with a desperate need to run faster. The minuscule damage didn’t matter. It hit her, and it was a ground. As she hopped off the trees to round a corner, she basically had to acquiesce some. She already had it out of there, anyway. Ithos and Ash would be fine, even if it lost interest in her and went back, and she was almost certain that wouldn’t happen.

Already, she could feel past the next corner; her awareness was coming out on its own, too. She hadn’t had this much trouble before. Then again, she hadn’t had to deal with playing bait for a ground type before, either.

There was no point fighting it while she ran, though. She let her senses build a bit without growing out much further. As the corner approached, though, she didn’t get any good information. She only got about an extra second of terror until she turned the corner to confirm. This path didn’t lead anywhere, at least not for her. A few yards after the turn, the path dipped into a stream.

She skid to a stop as quick as she could; ground types scared her, but water terrified her. However deep it was, she knew it was too deep. She couldn’t get another inch closer, but the palpitoad wasn’t slowing down.

She jerked up to glance behind her, then right back ahead of her again. The stream didn’t take over the path completely, just the next ten yards—way farther than she could jump—the palpitoad was rounding the first corner. It was one turn away.

Terror started to tug her out of her surroundings, the fear growing distant with the environment. She flicked her tail against the ground and tried to claw a grip before it got worse. The palpitoad was almost to the next turn, and her instincts wouldn’t even consider letting her turn around. With a whimper, she dropped back to all fours and darted for the water.

She couldn’t make it ten yards in one jump, but maybe she didn’t have to. She’d gotten good enough at leaping off the walls to round out corners that she didn’t even think about it anymore. If she could keep enough momentum with each leap, she might be able to make it.

With every step that brought the water closer, it got harder and harder to keep her grip strong. The fear made every bit of control of her limbs slippery. She could go along with the motion, but the slightest attempt at deviation slid right off, and she felt her cognition following suit. Instead of coaxing control from her instincts, they were coaxing it away from her.

Palpitoad slammed into a tree on the corner and ripped a tremor through the ground. Her paws barely managed to keep pace, keep balance, but the shake scared her into jumping too early. She hadn’t built to her full speed, but her paws already kicked off the first tree. No second chances.

At least she could feel the trees without looking. Her legs pushed off the bark for her while her own influence barely felt like a suggestion. Each jump happened by itself, each one bringing her a little closer to the water. She didn’t have to glance down to feel its approach. Every inch closer she felt as the sound of the stream got louder in her ears. Her paw slipped once, and a shock of mud smacked into her back.

She tried to reach for the other side, but she wasn’t even close. The sight distorted against instincts in her mind too much for her to even know how far away she was, just that she’d fallen short. She knew she had an emergency out, but with the panic pulling her mind into an abyss, she couldn’t remember it.

Some massive beast smashed into her back, launching her forward. For a brief instant, she felt grass, then nothing. She only knew she had to run. It felt familiar, so terrifyingly familiar, yet she couldn’t remember when. Its memory served only as a looming shadow of terror, more fodder to run from. Some relief came as she put some distance between herself and whatever attacked her.

It was gone; two more appeared. She didn’t give them a second glance before darting away. They shrieked at her; she ran faster until a scent stole her attention. Peace, however brief, forced her to lunge for whatever it was. It brought relief, relief so sweet, and she felt fine.

But she felt so, so hungry. Her stomach wrenched itself into knots, desperate for anything to fill it. Paws forced whatever they could down her throat before she could even notice they were her own. Each bite only made it worse. Each delicious fruit or flower she shoved down her throat forced her into bliss while only feeding her hunger. Already, the food strained her stomach tighter, but she couldn’t stop.

Only once her paws had no more food to reach for could she stop. They rested against the taut mound of her belly while it creaked in pain. She clutched it tight, not sure if it hurt from hunger or fullness.

A warm paw took hold of her, yanking her into its hold. She felt a spike of fear, but she hurt too much to resist. Its sharp claws dug into her legs as it dragged her away. She’d fed herself fat like a good prey, and now she had to finish her role in the life cycle with only a whimper of regret.

She didn’t get quite the warm embrace she’d expected. Instead of suffocating, humid tightness kneading her into a digested lump of bones and ooze, the scales cradled her. She groaned in a mix of pain and fear and felt it hold her tighter.

In that hold, she started to hear him speaking, cooing something. Whatever it was, the soft tone comforted her. She felt secure, safe, and the world slowly came back into focus. Water dripped through her fur everywhere the scales didn’t touch, bringing a slight chill that he guarded her against.

“Max?” Ithos asked. “I think she’s coming to.”

Max leaned into his hold a little bit more. She wanted to figure out where she was, but a painful pulse of ache pulled all of her attention. It felt so full that even her esophagus was a bit stuffed. “What the hell did I eat?” she groaned.

“A lot,” Ithos said. He ran his paw down her head, and she leaned into his touch. “What happened?” His other paw went to her belly to scratch it, and that seemed to make it worse. She winced with a whimper, eyes screwed shut. At least her period finished up a week ago. This was already hell. The worst part, though, was she couldn’t tell if she still felt hungry. Ithos rocked her to remind her he’d asked a question.

“Ka?” Max mumbled. The pain had stabilized enough that she could peek one eye open. “I don’t know. Where are we?”

“That’s okay,” Ithos said. He gave her a light squeeze while Ash shot a confused look at him. “We’re in a Dungeon, remember?” He looked away, cheeks flushing a touch red. “Last time you saw me, you were about to lead a palpitoad away so we could get through. I think your condition got to you, though.”

“I figured that part,” Max grumbled. She already knew she’d blacked out. This didn’t happen to her randomly. All the dread that came from that sat comfortably with the rest of the torment in her stomach, but Ithos’ soft smile made it not seem so bad.

Ithos winced a bit, mumbling, “Sorry, yeah. That was probably obvious,” while Ash shot him another confused look.

“Ithos, are you talking to yourself?” Ash asked. He got two confused glares back, but his own confusion stood strong against skepticism. “Bro, she’s just babbling. Are you guessing?”

“Ka—piii,” Max growled. Of course, that usually came, too. Noticing always turned into the hardest part, too. Usually, she could figure it out when nobody understood what she was saying, or even knew she was talking. “Ka, Pika?” she asked, joining Ash in looking confused at Ithos. Sure enough, he turned like she’d said his name. As she watched, though, she saw a prideful smirk beaming out from under forced nonchalance.

“Yeah, Max?” Ithos said. When Max flinched in surprise, he couldn’t hold back his giggles anymore. “C’mon, don’t you remember?” He pulled her into a tighter hug. “I love decoding this kinda thing!”

“Decoding?” Ash asked. A paw came up to rub at his temple, and he shook his head.

Neither Max or Ithos acknowledged his question, though, too respectively baffled and excited to notice. Perhaps part of it came through, though, because Max shook her head while whispering the same thing, “Chupika?” This time, though, Ithos thought for a second before shaking his head.

“That one’s new,” Ithos sheepishly mumbled. Ash threw his paws up in defeat and plopped down since no one was acknowledging him for now. “I know how it works, but it’s not like I can memorize every word.”

“Chu pi ka ka chuu?” Max breathlessly asked. Neb had worked with Dungeon Sickness for years at this point, and she couldn’t understand a word. Ithos had to just be guessing really well. Even Max only understood it—it didn’t make sense to her.

“Mostly, yeah!” Ithos cheered. Every little victory had Max’s eyes open wider, and his grin grow larger. “Here, it’s actually really simple!” He was shaking so much at this point from excitement that he had to put her down for her own safety. Max worried he might explode if she didn’t let him go on, so she didn’t stop it. Of course, she was intensely curious herself.

“Okay! So,” Ithos started to say, when he froze in place. He scrunched up his brow in thought before looking up to scratch at the back of his neck. “How do I explain this?” After a second, the light flashed in his eyes again (and his tail made Max have to squint her own with a flash).

“Pikachu!” Ithos declared. Max raised one ear, starting to wonder if he really was just getting really lucky with guesses. “It’s those syllables, right?” Max gave him the courtesy of a nod while doubt started creeping in. “Right! Can you say, ‘me’?”

“You?” Max mumbled, but Ithos shook his head.

“No, I mean the word,” he said with a chuckle. “Say the word ‘me’ in pikaspeak.”

Max raised a brow, but obliged anyway. “Pi,” she said.

“Right!” Ithos cheered, eyes lighting up. “Okay!” He bounced in his seat while Ash started to snicker (Max didn’t blame him). “Now, same thing, but say, ‘you’!”

“Chu,” Max said. Ithos stared at her like he’d just revealed the puzzle’s solution, but she didn’t see it. He’d figured out two words that made different sounds. It wasn’t all that impressive a feat. Whatever he was trying to explain, she needed a bit more information; Ithos seemed to understand as much when he started bouncing some more.

“Okay, fine,” Ithos chuckled. Looking up with a paw to his chin, he said, “Now, say… near, now, here, close, yes, in, and… is?” He thought for a second before nodding. He looked expectantly with the suggestion of a challenge in his eyes.

Max had to stifle a chuckle. He was so cute like this, she just had to humor him. “Pi,” she started. “Piii, pii pi, pi. Pi. Pi.” It started to barely make sense, all of those words only varying in pitch.

“See?!” Ithos cheered, moving on before she could answer. “Okay, now say, ‘far, later, there, far, no, out, and not.” Max did exactly that, with every one coming out as a ‘chu’ of varying pitch. “Great! Now, what, where, that, the, why, and how.” Once again, Max did it, each of these being ‘ka’ with, of course, variations in pitch.

“See?! Pikachu!” Ithos whisper-shouted. They were still in a Dungeon, after all. “Each of the syllables has their own meaning, and it’s all relative.” Max started to smile along. He actually seemed like he’d figured some parts of it out, but he clearly couldn’t wait to explain the rest. “Okay, I bet you can figure the pitch out! Here this one will make it obvious. Say ‘high’ and ‘low’, okay?”

“Chu, chu,” Max said. She nearly slapped herself. ‘High’ was high in pitch, and ‘low’ was low. At this point, even Ash was starting to follow along with his own nods and bafflement.

“See what I mean about relativity?” Ithos asked. Max had forgotten he ever said that word, though, so she shook her head. “Right, okay.” He looked away to scratch the back of his head again. “Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself again.” The cute little chuckle of nerves probably would’ve made Max tackle him if she wasn’t still worried her stomach might explode.

“Hold on,” Ash said. Ithos had just about started explaining more, so he stopped in place with effort that looked like it could kill him. “We’re in the middle of a mission, dude. Can you, like, abridge the rest?”

“Oh,” Ithos whimpered. In an instant, he was back up. “Right, right! Okay.” He turned back to Max with that same fire in his eyes. “Long story short, somehow, it’s like an aural cipher. The syllables always match what you would say, and pitch is used to distinguish between them and convey degr-”

“Dork,” Max chuckled, shaking her head.

Ithos snapped out of his trance a bit, turning to tilt his head at Max. “Huh? I don’t think I’ve heard that one before,” he said.

Max chuckled, shaking her head without being able to take her eyes off him for a second. Talking to Eleos had always been a relief for her. She didn’t have to worry about it understanding her, which was a Godsend when, so often, she had to hide her slips entirely. It made it so much easier on her. That feeling of really being understood warmed her heart then, and it warmed her heart now.

This time, though, felt even more special. Eleos just knew as a natural extension of itself. Her vision started to blur a bit. Ithos spent so much time, so much effort, just for her. No one else they’d ever met had this.

“Max?” Ithos said. He laid a paw on her shoulder. “Sorry, I got too excited. Did I-”

“I love you,” Max sobbed, throwing herself around him. He toppled back while she squeezed his chest so hard his rib cage creaked. Giggles squeaked out between sobs that pressed tears out her eyes and down her cheeks, right into Ithos’ chest. Time and time again and again, she’d done this. The slight sulfur scent of her tears dripping and steaming off his scales had been familiar even before. She’d always known why, but now, she’d lived that knowledge.

“So run on She’s training you And she’s got you dancing”

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choshifics · 11 months

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Another First Kiss: Chapter 2

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“’How ‘bout another first kiss?’ she said” Ithos sat in front of a well organized plot of various items atop a blanket, his brand new-used, Rescue Society Issued bag right beside. He had orans and apples up in the top left that he’d counted twice already, yet Max still couldn’t remember how many he said there were. Besides that, he had a few rocks and some spikes that he meticulously organized in the opposite corner.

He looked absurdly prepared; some things never change. She hadn’t even gone to pick her own bag up after seeing the ratty mess they gave Ithos, preferring to munch on an apple she’d swiped while Ithos wasn’t looking. It was their first mission, after all. Besides, it was too much fun watching Ithos. This whole time, he’d beamed from ear to ear as he pulled together all the assorted items he managed to find. Despite the trepidation the night before, he seemed beyond eager to take on his first mission. Looking over his haul one last time, though, he eyed the berries and apples with a furrowed brow.

“Hey, Max?” Ithos asked. “Have you seen,” he started turning to face her and watched her munching on the apple, “—Max!” He hopped up to snatch it out of her paw. He looked over the apple with a frown as he assessed the damage to find she’d eaten about half of it already. “What are we supposed to eat in the Dungeon!?”

“The other,” Max said, turning to check the fruit, “three apples.” One ear fell. No wonder he’d noticed one apple of four go missing. Standing over her, he crossed his arms as he stared down. “Well, y’know,” she mumbled, “gotta have a good breakfast?” Her tail flicked nervously behind her. He’d looked so excited preparing for this. Now, she didn’t even want to look up at him.

“Oh, breakfast,” Ithos mumbled. “Right, I knew I was forgetting something.” He forced out a nervous chuckle and held the apple out, reminding Max’s instincts that food was on the line.

With a painful twist in her gut, Max bit the apple out of his paw and scurried a few steps away to tear into it. An aching hole in her stomach made her make up for every second lost ten times in intensity. She barely tasted as she scarfed it down. Within seconds, she found herself hunched over empty paws with the remains of an apple’s flavor in her mouth.

“Wh-what happened?” she asked, looking around for the discarded core. Sparks bounced from her cheeks as she couldn’t find it. Instead, she caught a glimpse of Ithos counting his fingers. She flopped to the ground, pulling her tail over her head to hide while sparks spewed from her cheeks.

“Hey, are you all right?” Ithos asked, carefully walking over to lay a paw on her back. “Is this that, uh,” he paused to look around, “Dungeon Sickness?”

Max nodded her chin into the ground and forced herself to sit up. “I have trouble being normal about food,” she grumbled. She reached up to scratch the back of her neck. “Sorry.”

“Hey, it’s all right!” Ithos said with cheer so sweet it made her teeth hurt (though that may have been the apple’s stem). “I’m just glad you’re okay!” He sat next to her and rubbed his paw down her back. After she managed to nervously glance up, she caught him on the edge of a chuckle. “Honestly, it’s kinda cute.”

Max looked away to hide her own chuckle, growling, “Okay! Just get your bag packed.” Ithos flinched back a bit until she looked back with a smile. “It’s about time you went on your first mission, don’t you think?”

“Right!” Ithos cheered. He hopped up like a kid Life Day morning, and it wasn’t until he started for his bag that Max realized he had hold of her forepaw. Right as he was about to start dragging her, he paused to look back. Max hopped up as quick as she could while he raised a brow. “Don’t you mean ‘our first mission’?”

“You know it,” Max said with a forced smirk. Ithos side-eyed her, but left it at that and let go of her to head for the bag. Max took a breath of relief. She really needed to be more careful.

Ithos started at the top left, double folding the fruit into a pocket before going over to roll the rocks and spikes up around them. What he thought those would do, Max didn’t know, but he was the one carrying it. Watching him get so prepared while she prepared to go in with basically nothing somehow managed to feel nostalgic, even though she couldn’t remember the last time this happened.

“All right!” Ithos said, fitting the filled blanket perfectly into his bag. He closed the clasp and tossed it over his shoulder to look proudly at Max, a paw on each hip. “Let’s go!”

“And you think I’m the cute one?” Max chuckled under her breath. “What’d you say?” Ithos asked. A tiniest bit of his confidence faltered, too small to even notice, yet it was far too much for Max’s liking. “I said you look great!” she said. She scurried up beside him and grabbed his arm. “C’mon, let’s go!” Before he had a chance to say a word, she’d already started yanking him along. Within a few steps, though, he caught up and passed her. He started tugging her a bit before forcing himself to slow.

“Oh, right!” Ithos said. He slowed his pace to let her catch up while looking around for any eavesdroppers. Once he knew he was in the clear, he leaned down to whisper, “Pikachu are usually more comfortable on all fours.”

Max chuckled, letting her paw slip down his arm and wrap around his paw. She may as well make the most of the time she had. “That’s all right,” she hummed. “I’m pretty comfortable like this.” Ithos flushed and turned away while Max considered kicking herself for being so cheesy. Not only that, but she had a bit of doubt creeping into the back of her mind.

She wasn’t supposed to be there. She wouldn’t be there for long, and they’d definitely never so much as flirted. This Ithos didn’t know who she was two days ago, but she’d already spent years with him. Years she forgot, but the more time she spent with him, the more memories returned. If Grovyle showed up tomorrow, she’d have to leave. Would she even get to say goodbye?

“Hey, Max?” Ithos asked. He poked her side with the paw she held. She looked up to see his worried eyes staring down at her. “What’s wrong? You look sad all of a sudden.”

“Nothing!” Max said, forcing a smile. Ithos twisted his mouth before turning back to the path ahead.

“If you’re sure,” Ithos said. Max tried not to look, but felt his frequent worried glances her way. When her forced smile started to fade, he squeezed her paw. “Let me know if you need anything, though, all right?” His lips suddenly pulled into a smirk. “I am part of a Rescue Team.” He grabbed the flap of his bag to proudly display his ‘Junior Rescue Society’ badge. “That means I help people, you know.” Max shook her head while a chuckle forced its way past her melancholy. “Wooow, you must be so brave!” she giggled. Without thinking, she started leaning against his arm. Somehow, despite knowing she wasn’t supposed to be there, she felt like she belonged. They were already on the outskirts of the town (which Ithos called Serene Village), so they didn’t have to walk far to get out of it. Ithos led the way since Max let him pick the mission, and he was eager to lead them there. The path didn’t look remotely familiar to Max, but she was pretty used to not recognizing places. Despite her typing giving her a literal internal compass, she was really bad with directions.

Holding his paw in hers, she was glad she’d stayed so comfortable walking upright.

“Okay,” Ithos hummed. He pulled Max around one last right turn and stopped after a few paces. “It should be right through here?” He glanced around, suddenly looking a bit uncertain. “Well, around here, anyway.”

“Around here?” Max asked, looking around with him. “What do you mean? Do you know where it is?” She couldn’t see any sign of a Dungeon entrance around them. It looked like little more than a path with a dead end that lead to a normal forest.

“Yeah, it’s about here,” Ithos reiterated. Max wanted to challenge him, but she couldn’t come out and say he was wrong about something she wasn’t supposed to know anything about yet. “Well… shouldn’t they have these things clearly marked?” she asked. “I mean, Mystery Dungeons are pretty dangerous, right?”

“Oh right, sorry,” Ithos said, shaking his head. “You’ve never even seen one. You must be really confused.” He smiled awkwardly down while nervously scratching the back of his neck. “Yeah, they can be dangerous. They’re constantly shifting, though, so you can’t just mark their borders.” He looked at Max to see if she was following along and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Max said. She was stuck nodding along as if he had made even the slightest bit of sense. Dungeons didn’t work like that at all. He was wrong, and she had years of experience to back that up, yet she couldn’t reference even a single day of that. Was she supposed to fall for this with him? Hopefully he’d catch on after they waited around for a bit.

“Oh, I think it’s here,” Ithos said. Max hadn’t felt the slightest shift, though. She started to wonder if he confused a forest he got lost in for a Dungeon. “Hey, I know it can be disorienting, but it’s all right.” He turned her to face him and grabbed her shoulders, beaming down at her with a smile. “I’ve got you, all right?”

“Th-thanks,” Max stuttered, cheeks sparking as she turned away. Idiot or not, she’d missed hearing him say that. She looked around to humor him and found the path behind them had disappeared. “What?”

The forest around them had shifted all at once. The dead end path turned into a rectangular plot of dirt path surrounded by trees far too thick to even try going through. Ithos let go so she could jerk her head around, but she could feel him on standby. He was right. It had sucked them in, and she hadn’t even noticed. She didn’t even feel it agitating her instincts like Dungeons always did.

“Hey, hey, it’s all right,” Ithos said, grabbing her shoulder. “I’ve still got you.”

“Thanks,” Max said. She started leaning into him a bit. She wasn’t scared like he thought, but feeling his scales against her fur helped anyway. Unlike Eleos, Ithos adapted his balance to her presence and leaned a bit against her as well. It felt more natural, more comforting.

“If you need to take a minute, we can,” Ithos said. Max nodded as she brought her paw up to grab the one he had on her shoulder. She had gone nearly years without his touch. Now, she could grab his paw whenever she needed it, wanted it. She wasn’t even sure if they’d ever held paws before, but it was hard to let go. It felt like finally being in the right place again.

They only had so much time together. She tried to ignore it, but a constant pit of worry in her gut knew that once Grovyle figured this all out, she’d be gone. She pulled Ithos in to hug his arm while trying to hold back the tears.

His free paw came to her head. Ithos gently brushed her head fur down to the back of her neck with a smile while she melted into him. With every stroke, she felt the timer more. Keeping time right fell to the wayside as their limited time together tortured her. Every second might be her last. She might not have ever told Ithos how she really felt before. This could be her last chance.

“Fuck it,” Max whimpered. In panic, in passion, time be damned, she hopped up to wrap her arms around his neck and tackled him to the ground. Before he could even yelp, she pressed her lips against his beak.

Ithos threw her off. “Max!” he yelled, rolling back up at the same time as her. “I-what was that?!” Max froze in place while her cheeks combusted into a storm of sparks and embarrassment. “We—I met you yesterday.” Right. She’d known him for years, and he’d known her for hours.

Oh God. He’d known her for less than a day. And she kissed him.

“I-I’m sorry!” Max sputtered. If only time had collapsed around them. Whatever that did, she’d prefer it to that moment. “I just thought, I don’t know, it’d be romantic? I’m sorry!” She dropped down to the grass and pulled her tail up to hide under. Why did she think he’d want that—and why did she keep kissing perfectly platonic friends?! “Look, Max, I’m sorry,” Ithos said, not stepping an inch closer. Max felt the distance. “I like you, okay? I didn’t mean to give the wrong impression. You’re, y’know, sweet!” Max tried to push her head into the dirt with her tail with limited success. “I just don’t like you like that.” If she’d known how she got there in the first place, she would’ve loved to zip right out. “Max?”

Unfortunately, Max was stuck there. She turned her muzzle up to say, “Please give me a minute.” Message sent, she got right back to hiding under her tail.

“Right, sure,” Ithos mumbled. “But, hey! We can still be friends!” Max couldn’t help a grumbling whimper at that. Despite wanting to help so bad, Ithos really sucked at it. “Sorry for, y’know, throwing you like that.” It hadn’t even been half of the minute Max asked for, and already he’d forced her to roll up and sit (keeping her eyes anywhere other than on him).

“Sorry for tackling you,” Max said. She tried to stay up, but it was too much. Within seconds, she had her face buried in her paws, grumbling incomprehensible babble she was glad Ithos couldn’t understand.

“Hey, don’t worry about it!” Ithos mumbled. Even with her eyes in her paws, Max could see his forced cheer. “Besides! You’re, y’know, uhh. Soft!” His award winning sweet talk made her want to spontaneously combust permanently. “And… yellow! It looks great on you!” She’d be concerned if it didn’t. “And, well, plenty of pokémon like, ah, beefier girls?”

“Beefy?” Max half-whimpered, half-chuckled. She was pretty sure Eleos called her that one before. It was getting hard to stay embarrassed with Ithos humiliating himself like this for her sake.

“Sorry!” Ithos sputtered, throwing his paws up. Max finally built up the courage to look up and watched him look around desperately for a better compliment. “You’re… pretty?” He looked up at her with a desperate, forced smile while his tail flickered and flared in embarrassment.

“Ithos,” Max mumbled in disbelief. This had to be the most humiliating moment of her life. Yet, seeing him desperately try to recover again and again with compliments ranging from mediocre to insulting had her fighting a chuckle. She couldn’t believe he’d be the one coming out of this embarrassed, and yet. Eventually, seeing his horrified face was too much. She burst into giggles, and he let out a sigh of relief.

“Can we just move on?” Max asked. She pushed up to her hindpaws and dusted off her fur. With a few trepidatious steps, she made it by his side without glancing anywhere near him once. “Also,” she mumbled, “Pretend this never happened?”

“Yep,” Ithos chirped. His paw started to reach out before he caught it, course correcting in a panic to punch her shoulder. “Sure thing, ah, pal.” Max tried to covertly look for the nearest rock to crawl under and die. She was pretty small. It shouldn’t be too hard for her to find one that fits. She wasn’t picky, either. She could always use the mini mountain of pebbles in Ithos’ bag.

“I’ll take the lead,” Ithos said. He readied himself to get moving, but waited for Max’s go ahead.

“Good idea,” Max said, falling in line behind. Ithos nodded and started heading for the nearest offshoot of the path. Unfortunately, she had to give up on finding a rock. She just kept her eyes trained on his back to follow behind. The thin path he’d found kept unreasonably straight. Max had expected it to wind in and around itself, but it only had ninety degree turns.

It made it impossibly easy to zone out while she followed. She kept her eyes on his back, tracing the subtle twists and flexes it did while he walked. The motion led her eyes down in search of the real action and struck gold. His legs kept a much straighter gait than she could, the subtle suggestion of strength rubbing against the slightest bit of pudge with every step.

Once she found her eyes lingering around the base of his tail, she slapped her cheek.

Ithos jumped around, frantically looking at the minuscule corridor they found themselves in for the source of the sound. “Did you hear that?” he said.

“Yeah, what was it?” Max asked, hopping around to hide her wide eyes. She pretended to look around as well, praying that he’d buy this. As she did, she noticed a speck of white in the corner of her vision. She looked closer and found a white… checker? “What?” She bent down to pick it up. It was just a white disk. “It looks like a board game piece?”

“Oh, good find!” Ithos said. “Here, I’ll keep it in my bag.” He put out his paw and eagerly waited for her to give it over.

Yet again, Max stared up at him in hopeless confusion. She hesitantly obliged, mumbling, “Okay?” He snatched it up and dropped it into the front left pocket of his bag. “What, do we need to be prepared for a surprise game of checkers?”

Ithos nodded along to the joke as if it was remotely close to the truth. “Almost,” he said. “Backgammon.” Max was now certain he was messing with her, though she did deserve it. “Every dungeon has one,” he mused as he glanced around them. “This one’s pretty harmless, at least.” Once satisfied looking for whatever he was, he nodded. “Keep an eye out for more of those.”

He started forward without noticing Max stuck in place. “What the hell does Backgammon have to do with a Mystery Dungeon?” she whispered. Dungeons were supposed to be full of feral pokémon that wanted you out of their territory. She simply wouldn’t believe that had changed—and she certainly wouldn’t believe it had changed to fucking Backgammon.

Max realized he’d been walking away this entire time and dropped to all fours to run after him. She hadn’t lost sight of him, but she was a bit insulted he hadn’t even noticed. On her approach, she watched him scanning the ground as he walked, as if actually looking for those pieces.

Ithos suddenly stopped to grab another piece (this one black) off the ground. When he went to toss it into the front right pocket, Max snatched it out of his paw. She brought it right up to her eyes to examine it. It was a simple wooden piece that fit comfortably in her paw with a coat of black paint that didn’t quite cover up the grain of the wood.

“Max?” Ithos prodded, flinching away when Max held the piece up to his face with a glare.

“What is this?” Max asked. Ithos stared at her for a second and tentatively answered, “A Backgammon piece.” Max narrowed her eyes at him, and he looked at her like she was the insane one.

“Ithos,” Max said, barely holding back a snarl. This had to be a joke. He was messing with her. “Why is this here?” She brought it back down to reexamine without any idea what she was looking for. “What are you trying to pull?” Despite her best efforts, though, Ithos continued to stare down at her, baffled.

“This Dungeon’s Lotus is Backgammon,” Ithos repeated, much slower this time. He very carefully reached forward to pluck the piece out of her paw and put it in his bag’s right front pocket. “That’s how Mystery Dungeons work, okay?” He kept a closer watch on her this time to make sure she followed. “At least, most of them.” Max kept staring up at him, losing her own certainty. He wasn’t dropping the act. She couldn’t even see him holding back a smirk, or a chuckle. If anything, he looked worried.

“Max?” Ithos said, lightly shaking her shoulder. “Here, it’ll be easier to show you. Are you okay to keep going?”

“Sure,” Max said. She tried to shake her head out of it. Maybe that attempted kiss had shattered reality already, and this was the result. Ithos gave her a nervous look before nodding and heading forward. This time, he kept better watch to make sure she was following. Max half-expected Grovyle to drop out of time and strangle her for meddling.

Ithos shot out his arm to stop Max as they reached another field. He was already surveying the place, but Max ducked under his arm to take a look for herself.

She was losing her mind.

All around, she saw scattered boards, dice, and pieces for Backgammon. None of the boards had enough pieces, yet the place as a whole had to have twice as many pieces as necessary for a full set. Every inch of the place had some bit of Backgammon.

“All right, the coast is clear,” Ithos whispered, turning back to look at her. “You keep an eye out, I’ll try to grab what I can.”

Max started to ask any question that might help, but none came. He’d already headed over to grab pieces off the nearest board. If this was a prank, she at least appreciated the dedication it took. She genuinely began to question her grasp of reality. This had to be a different universe.

Without anything better to do, Max did as he asked. They’d been in the Dungeon for at least half an hour at that point, so she tried to tune in to her awareness. Despite how long they’d been in, though, it hadn’t extended at all without her prompting. In fact, her instincts were barely more than usual, and that could’ve been from the intense confusion.

It was nice, confusing as it was. They hadn’t left her, but the little break from her constant worsening battle with them in Dungeons gave her much needed time to relax. She watched the entrances around them carefully, but no one seemed to come.

“Max,” Ithos called, waving her over. She scampered over, keeping her eyes on the lookout along the way. After one last scan, she looked up to Ithos’ beaming face. “Here, you wanna pick the board?” He gestured across a scatter of three. Max walked over to each of them, still confused why she was doing this. They all looked like Backgammon boards, albeit of varying wear and tear.

“Is there a wrong answer?” Max asked, pushing up to her hindpaws. She could get a better look at all three at once, but that didn’t really help. She looked timidly back at Ithos for help, ears flopped down. “Oh, no!” Ithos said, rushing to her side. He pat his paw on her back a few times and smiled. “Just whichever one you want!”

Max let out a breath of relief. So long as she didn’t get them killed by choosing the secretly evil game board. She didn’t know what to expect anymore. “All right, then,” she mumbled, scanning the three of them. “This one?” She grabbed the left one and closed it up. “The handle looks the easiest to carry?” Snapping the latch shut, she tried to hold it by her side, and the corner hit the grass. “Oh.”

“N-no worries,” Ithos chuckled out in the most even tone he could.

“Here, let’s swap!” He took the game board out of her paw and tossed the bag over her shoulder. The strap hadn’t been adjusted, so it hit the ground on her left while the strap slipped right off her side.

“O-oh.”

“Don’t worry,” Max mumbled. She bent down with a chuckle, shaking her head slightly. “I’m used to it.” She grabbed the strap and tightened it until it could hang off her shoulder without hitting the ground.

“Used to it?” Ithos asked. Max froze. She didn’t have anywhere to hide her panic this time. “How?”

“I… adapt fast?” she said with a thin attempt at a smile. Ithos had a brow raised, but he was smirking, too. She didn’t know what he suspected, but she could feel him probing her. “All right, then,” Ithos chuckled. He turned and headed off. “Keep your secrets, shortstack.” Max let out a breath of relief. When she straightened up, she saw Ithos smirking back at her. He merely shook his head and continued on.

Max scurried up behind him. With the bag, she had to stay upright. It wasn’t designed with a quadrupedal posture in mind, but it was surprisingly light. She curved around to his right side and kept her eyes peeled for any potential ferals. Aside from a few amused glances, Ithos didn’t acknowledge what happened.

“So, how many floors does this place have?” Max asked. Even if he didn’t want to pry, she wanted to put it behind them. It wasn’t until he responded that she realized she’d dug herself deeper.

“Dungeons do have floors, don’t they?” Ithos mused, tapping his chin. Max flinched away. Yet still, he didn’t acknowledge it. “I’m not sure, but our objective’s on the third, so at least three.” He had no reason to let her keep getting away with this.

“Oh, right,” Max said, still failing to stay calm. “What’s our mission, anyway?” It had to be something easy, so she hadn’t really paid attention to their objective.

“A caterpie got lost,” Ithos said. “Her brother thinks she’s in here. They’d come in on a dare, but he lost track of her.” Max nodded along, making sure not to stare blank in shock that their first mission was a rescue. Ithos lightly pet her back with a quick scratch through her fur, suggesting she hadn’t quite succeeded. They went into another tunnel, but it was still wide enough for them to walk side by side.

“Look, it’s all right,” he said. “You don’t have to tell me what you don’t want to.” Despite the promise, his smirk looked more like he was holding back a laugh. “But if I guess right, you have to tell me. Deal?” Max brought her paw up to laugh behind it. Somehow, she knew she’d heard those exact words before. The way he tilted his head back to look over his shoulder at her strained against the block in her head, trying to burst free. She felt her lips fighting her cheeks again.

“All right,” she finally answered. She stopped to turn, extending her paw. “Deal.” Grovyle would kill her if Ithos ever guessed right, but Max was certain that would never happen.

“Perfect,” Ithos said. He switched the board to his left paw and snatched her right paw up in his. After one firm up and down, he let go and gave his paw a curious glance. He held it up to his eyes and looked between it and her a few times. Max rolled her eyes at the theatrics until he snapped his fingers to point at her and said, “You used to be a guy.”

Max froze in place, her jaw went slack, and Ithos burst into laughs. She yanked her paw back, cheeks spewing sparks while she looked it over with the closest eye she could manage. “D-do I—the shake?” she stammered out.

“Maybe,” Ithos sang. He plopped his paw on top of her head and started ruffling her fur. “But the real giveaway was when you screamed at the lake about being a girl.”

Max smacked his arm with the back of her paw, barking, “Asshole!” He just laughed harder, switching the board game to his other paw again to rub his smacked arm. “Come on, I already have to worry enough about not….” She trailed off as she glanced back to her perfectly heart-shaped tail. “Right.”

While she was distracted, Ithos snuck around to her right and tugged her into a side-hug. He made her yelp, but he graciously kept his reaction to reserved chuckles. “I was trying to figure out why you kept looking so happy when you saw it,” he said. He tilted his head to rest it on top of hers. “It was a long shot, but I couldn’t really think of anything else.”

Max could only shake her head. She had too much focus dedicated to keeping her cheeks from shocking the both of them. It really wasn’t that impressive a deduction, all things considered, but it absolutely made her more nervous. She nestled into his hug for the warmth and tried to pull nerve from its comfort.

“Hey,” Max started to say. She still needed to find the right words, but Ithos didn’t urge her. “Just don’t… treat me like it, okay?” She tried to shrink away, only for his head to follow. A few of the nerves bounced away while she had to resist rolling her eyes. “Like I used to be… y’know. That. Can you just treat me like I’m a girl?”

Ithos tugged her into a tighter hug, then suddenly let go. “Yeah, of course!” he said, ruffling her head fur like a little sibling. “I wouldn’t dream of treating you differently.”

Max let out a sigh of relief. They started to move forward again, and her smile grew wider. Maybe this Ithos was better than she gave him credit for. She wanted to reach her paw out to his again, but shrank away at the thought. She’d pushed her luck as far as it would go already.

They ducked out of another narrow passage into a much smaller field with a shimmering wall on the opposite side. “That must be the next floor,” Ithos said. He watched Max staring up at it in barely concealed terror with open curiosity. The only barrier she’d seen this clear collapsed her mind in on itself near instantly. “You all right?” Max swallowed her trepidation and nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “Just give me a second.” She tugged the bag a bit forward to stuff her paw in until she felt the badge. “In case,” she went feral, “things get hairy.” Her paws held it tight.

They only had one. If she blacked out while she had it, Ithos might be stuck in there, but Ithos wouldn’t know she needed to leave if she started fading. It usually would’ve been an easy choice for her—she wouldn’t sacrifice Ithos—but she started shaking thinking of last time. It still affected her speech after a few days. She didn’t want to lose any of this time.

“Here,” Max said, shoving the badge towards him. He slowly brought up a paw to grab it, eyeing her with worry. “You remember what I said about instincts?” He nodded, flipping the badge over in his paw. “If I start to lose it, hit the badge and run, all right?”

“Run from you?” Ithos said. He immediately shook his head at the thought. “No, I can’t just leave you behind!”

“You have to!” Max shouted. “I might-” She could remember the last conversation she’d had with Ithos before she left. She attacked him and ran away. He started trying to give the badge back, but she shoved it over to him. She looked up with wet eyes, gritting her teeth. “Don’t let me hurt you.” She had to bite her cheek to keep from adding, ‘again,’ to the end.

After some hesitation, Ithos finally took the badge. He tossed it into the Backgammon case to free a paw, then held that paw out to her. Max tilted her head, but slowly put her paw in his.

“If you need to go, but you can’t tell me, squeeze three times,” he explained, squeezing her paw to demonstrate. “Anywhere I can feel it, all right?” He let her paw go, smiling down, and she cradled the paw he’d squeezed. “First place you can reach. I’m never leaving you behind.”

“Ithos,” Max growled. He didn’t get it, too sweet for his own good. As he looked down on her, though, she knew he’d made up his mind. She wanted to scream at him that he was more important, but she held back. “All right.” She took a breath to brace herself for the next floor while a warmth bubbled into her heart. Through the frustration, she glanced up with a hint of relief. “Thank you.”

“Of course!” Ithos cheered. He squeezed her shoulder, and she had to force herself not to lean in to the touch. “We’re a team!”

Taking another deep breath in, Max sighed, “Thank you.” Just that one touch gave her all the confidence she needed to go on. Well, almost all. She started to ask if they could hold paws while they went through before shaking her head. She looked up with a nervous smile and said, “Let’s go.”

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