utah groaned some expletives that gradually turned into laughter as her dog continued to lap at her face. she eventually rounded out her back and rolled vertical again, sipped the beer and placed it on the fridge and pushed up onto her feet, dusting off her rear.

she looked at the boltund, who wagged his tail. grinning at him before bending down, she got gradually closer and closer before landing a quick kiss on his wet nose. having learned by then, jax met her with a tongue up the nostril and she sputtered, reeling back. “ew, jax!” still a giggle on the end, though.

wiping her face on her shoulder, she grabbed a bucket and went inside, returning with a few gallons of steaming water and a wet freezer rag on her neck. she set it down on the floor with both hands and grabbed a box of TSP off a nearby bench, pouring in a bit and stirring it with a wrench, waiting for it to dissolve. the shop was nearly done. sénon would arrive just in time to help her clean the helicopter.

she hoped he had a water pokemon this time. she always enjoyed meeting his new additions, either way.

good company was the best helping hand. a hard worker to the bone, utah didn’t necessarily require assistance, but senon always made the day go by a little quicker. she had to admit, though, on searing hot days, it was nice to subscribe to the misconception that she’d be done before the heat peaked.

after a good scrub, utah set a deck brush down off to the side, the handle clattering against aluminum. she wiped her forehead with the towel across her neck. when he walked up with his pokemon, she was pushing frothy grime out of the garage door’s threshold with a high-pressure hose.

she grinned, not entertaining his pleasantries further. “you’re late!” her voice called over the water, a satirical finger pointed at the other game with her free hand, but her eyes gleamed utterly transparent joy. at the comment about burning everything, she briefly turned the hose on him with a thumb over it, only letting a small part of the jet shoot towards him. “we don’t need your help starting fires around here, joker.” it was true. the lavaridge fire department was a seasoned group.

she then turned to the pokemon, quickly picking out the new additions. “wow a toucannon!” she went to turn off the hose and skipped over, mimicking her dog’s enthusiasm. “where’d you find it?” for obvious reasons, utah was fond of flying-types.

even while she knew what he was describing, the mental image of the toucannon literally smashing its face against a tree was pretty comical.

“you’ll have to take me some time!” she insisted, about the orchard. she then proceeded to hose down the pokemon, who seemed to enjoy it.

moving to the small adjacent hangar with the remainder of the tsp mixture, she ran a free hand over the salamence, and then set in to begin scrubbing the skids with a brush. jax skipped around, still, nipping playfully at the seviper, engaging lightly in a game he probably didn’t really want to play.

While spreading elbow grease she continued conversation. “so, tell me about your travels, cuz.”

“oooooooooh.” her voice lilted, and she nodded her head to each side as she scrubbed. “battle royale.”

she then snorted at him. “hey, the dumber they are, the better it works out for me.” she flashed him a shameless grin over her shoulder. “i try to aim low so they can’t find their way back when i dump ‘em in the hills.” the water squelched as she dunked the brush in the bucket again.

soon, she’d called senon over to help clean out the interior of the helicopter, handing him things to set on a bench, and occasionally throwing a beer can across the garage, making most of them into the far aluminum recycling can. either james or utah, or both, were apparently cracking open a cold one thousands of feet in the air—hopefully, it only happened in the co-pilot seat.

Soon, they’d be done, in time to go inside for dinner, where james would be waiting with a pizza at the kitchen table, likely also eager to hear about senon’s travels.