Well now, he couldn't meet such enthusiasm with any less.

He cupped her cheek gently before he leaned in again, pressing his lips against hers with an eagerness to please, lips moving against hers slowly. The second tasting lasted longer than the first- and it would probably have lasted even longer, if the man hadn't remembered they were near a children's playground.

Though reluctant, he managed to part away from her, licking his lips before he spoke once more.

"Think we'll have to wait until we're home before sharing any further." He muttered with a soft laugh, even as he finally held up his own sandwich towards her... And snatched a bite of hers.

Chewing on it thoughtfully, he gave her earlier words some thought, before humming.

"Any stand in particular you have in mind?" He asked, tilting his head.

Eva had said before she didn't 'really' cook, but maybe she liked the atmosphere of the market enough to swing by often.

Being a seaside City with a large harbor, the market must have been saturated with fish and aquatic meat of all kinds. Eva preferred veggies, though...

"I had a videocall with my daughters a few days ago." He found himself saying suddenly, surprising even himself.

Thoughts of the market were already fading into the background for later. Conversation must flow.

"They seemed surprised to see me in high spirits!" He said with a laugh, scratching at his bed of hair nervously with a smile. He then snorted. "My eldest more or less guessed at why, though she was rather crude about it... and jumped ahead quite a few steps."

No, Gwyn, he hadn't gotten laid... then.

"Despite my best attempts at being discreet, they are already asking about you." He said, dropping his head onto his hand and chuckling.

His daughters could read him easily; the lighter mood, lower stress and higher spirits that came with Eva must have been written all over his face to them.

---

TAG: Eva Morales

Eva was prepared this time and met his kiss with equally enthusiasm. The fingers of her free hand curled behind his neck as she gently pressed into the slow kiss to savor it. Holding hands and kissing in public? The doctor certainly wasn’t going to hear the end of this for a minute.

Pulling away slowly she bit her bottom lip and nodded in agreement, “Of course, yes,” she could feel a desire for more being snuffed out by the laughter of children in the back ground. She distracted herself by leaning forward for a small bite of his sandwich that didn’t take much to chew and swallow. Pretty good! But this hummus was the bomb, “Not on in particular, I guess. I usually just kinda walk around, see what catches my eye. There’s a few good produce stands and one that sells lovely fresh cut flowers,” That one always smelled amazing.

“Oh? That must have been nice,” she commented, listening to his tale about their conversation. A small flush rose in her cheeks at the mention of her, “Oh,” she repeated with a small smile, “What did you . . . tell them?”

Gwyar Wledig

She might have seen it; the way Gwyar's eyes flashed at the mention of a flowers shop.

The gentleman within him screamed at him. Fill Eva's new house with flowers!

Brilliant idea, Gwyar!

"It was wonderful." He said with a laugh, though he was quick to adopt a light, worried frown. "Though I fear they've only gotten more rebellious in my absence. Gwen had strange nail polish..."

It had actually been nail art, but the man didn't know this from that in that respect.

He blinked at Eva's question, before blushing heavily and looking away, scratching at his cheek.

"I... Well..." He began to speak, blushing harder... before turning his gaze back towards hers, smiling. "I told them I felt like I had fallen in love again."

Honesty was the only policy in the Wledig household.

---

TAG: Eva Morales

Eva laughed at the thought of strange nailpolish. If that was the biggest problem then he was a lucky dad, “Well, that’s kids for ya,” she mused. Well, that’s what she’d been told. Eva obviously wasn’t a mom so she couldn’t relate.

Mistakes were made when Eva took a bite of her sandwich as Gwyar continued to speak. She should have waited. The doctor certainly wasn’t expecting anything near what he said next.

Her eyes snapped open as she sharply inhaled, “What?!” she gasped with a full mouth. Immediately a piece of lettuce got sucked into the wrong pipe causing her to cough frantically before gaining control of her breathing again.

Eva sat in an awkward silence as she slowly chewed the bite in her mouth. That was more dramatic than she wanted it to be. She hoped Gwyar didn’t take it the wrong way.

“I’m sorry,” her face was as red as a Cheri Berry, and not just from choking on her sandwich, “That just caught me off guard,” her eyes flashed over to Gwyar’s flushed face.

Gwyar Wledig

Gwyar lurched forward when it seemed like she would choke on her sandwich, an alarmed expression over his face as his hands went for Eva.

She recovered too quickly for him to do anything however, leaving the two in a heavy, awkward silence, Gwyar slowly lowering his arms back to his sides while Eva's coughing settled.

He too, started growing redder the longer the silence hung over them. As Eva spoke however, the man managed a small smile.

"That's okay. I could've been... less direct about it." He said, a small chuckle slipping out. Because just the fact that Eva hadn't shot him down yet was... well, encouraging in its own way.

He leaned forward slightly, nodding.

"But I meant every word." Gwyar was many things- but shy was not one of them.

"I hope you don't feel... pressured." He was, however, sensible.

---

TAG: Eva Morales

Pressure? Yeah, no pressure. (Lots of pressure). Eva didn’t know what it was like to fall in love, let alone have a healthy relationship. Up until this point in her life she never had the opportunity. Between medical school and war and fleeing to Hoenn, her lifestyle wasn’t quite suited for having a partner. It wasn’t like anyone wanted to be her partner anyway.

How did she really feel about Gwyar? That was a question she hadn’t explored yet. After all, they hadn’t known each other terribly long. He was very aesthetically pleasing with a surprising amount of energy that matched hers. He was kind, treated her well, a perfect gentleman, great in bed . . . If we were going by strictly primal urges, he’d be the perfect mate. What wasn’t there to love?

Still, that wasn’t an emotion Eva had explored yet. She was honestly hesitant to let herself. What would happen if she needed to go off to battle? Fight Rocket again? If she let herself fall in love, how could she so willingly leave it behind?

“It’s fine,” she smiled, perhaps a bit timidly, “I’m just not sure what to say. No one's ever said something to be like that before.”

Gwyar Wledig

"I understand." Gwyar said, trying to return her smile with one of his own.

He was asking a lot of her, he knew; they hadn't known each other for a terribly long time, after all. But Gwyar had been in love before; once. And Eva was not the first woman with whom he attempted to build a second relationship with, but she was the only one for whom he had felt this way.

Sometimes you just knew. Real chemistry was hard to miss when it was there.

"You don't have to say anything immediately." He said, looking away as he rubbed at the back of his neck, before trying to smile again, eyes seeking hers. "Things as they are now... are wonderful. Just being with you is enough."

---

TAG: Eva Morales

There was a knot in her stomach she couldn’t shake. Somehow, this made things . . . different, but intriguing. Was this her opportunity to, well, give it a shot? Maybe. The thought of letting him in was honestly terrifying, mostly because she didn’t want to hurt him.

Eva’s hand reached for his as she met his gaze, “Thank you for understanding,” she squeezed gently, “Things right now are wonderful,” she hesitated momentarily while she still struggled with her emotions, “I just need some . . . patience, I guess. I’ve never been in love. Not even quite sure what it’s supposed to feel like,” Honesty, right? She laughed nervously, leaving her hand on his. It made her sound so immature and inexperienced.

Gwyar Wledig

Gwyar smiled, slowly lifting her hand until he could press his lips against it.

"I'll wait." He said with a chuckle. Patience? He had in spades. And Eva was worth waiting for.

And if she still wished to continue with things as they were now after he had gone and confessed like that- well, they couldn't be terribly off-sync.

But enough about that; the subject made Eva nervous, and it was unlikely she was would figure her feelings out in a single day.

Even if abrupt, a new topic needed to be breeched.

He looked around for a moment, making sure nobody could possibly be listening... before leaning in close.

"I've another assignment with the league." He said; officially, his first job was the race- alongside Eva, of course. "It concerns your colleague- Dr. zenji jabami."

---

TAG: Eva Morales

She smiled brightly as he lips pressed against her hand. His patience meant a lot to her, more than he probably assumed. Despite the importance of the topic, she was happy it was changed to something else but hearing her colleagues name was something did expect, “Oh! Well, that sounds interesting,” she had a hunch she knew what it was it was for. Primal Energy fragments. Much like Gwyar there were things she couldn’t share. Curious they were asking him to accompany the professor though. Perhaps he had more of a reputation from his Galar days than she knew.

After a moment of consideration her look turned to concern, “Be careful, please,” if it did concern Primal Energy it would be dangerous. A body sat in a morgue waiting for her examination because of it.

Gwyar Wledig

As she assumed, Gwyar knew nothing of primal energy. His task was much more in line with his current line of work; probably why commissioner dahlia goode had contacted him directly.

"Quite so." He said, nodding with uncharacteristic seriousness.

He was confident in his abilities; but this would be his first time dealing with Hoennian Rockets; a much bolder brand than the few ones that were occasionally dealt with on Galarian and Kalosian soil.

Despite not sharing any real details, Eva seemed to somehow intuit just how dangerous the mission could be.

The man attempted to shake off the curve to his brow, giving the blonde a soft smile.

"I'll be back safe and sound." He said simply, before leaning over to kiss her lips once again. "Let's cook something together to celebrate when I do, okay?"

He had a promise to keep now.

Seemed like the Rockets' luck would be poor.

---

TAG: Eva Morales