the door pulled open with an ancient creak, and she stood there a moment, squinting at him in bewilderment.

“in the rain?”

then, stepped out of the way so he could come in, still wondering aloud as she did so, “do you really like flying that much?”

lulu was actually not a huge fan of flying herself, although she could sit through it if she needed to.

somewhere deeper in the lighthouse, snorunt turned towards the sound of the door.

THEO BECKETT

☉

"i didn't have an umbrella."

not that it would've made a difference.

he accepted her invitation and stepped in. rain dripped off him, rolling onto the floor by her doorway as he stood there.

"not really. but i don't have TELEPORT."

in one hand, he carried a brown bag that looked equally drenched. oddly enough, however, the containers inside looked dry.

Lulu Flint

☉

“right.”

the sound of theo's voice caused snorunt to hop up from its spot next to cubchoo. it ran, tumbling down stairs, righting itself, and then scurrying as quickly as it could in his direction, before slipping unfortunately on the puddle and careening into the door on its back with a bang.

lulu looked down at it a moment, and then back to theo.

“well. come on.”

she turned away in the other direction, towards the glowing hatch, and down the steps into her chaos. at least she’d taken a few minutes to pick up a little bit, giving them space to eat at a workbench.

once there, she signed into a computer to retrieve a pokéball.

THEO BECKETT

☉

theo simply watched the series of unfortunate events unfold even if he could've potentially stopped snorunt from crashing into the door. he chuckled after, stepping towards the ice-type to pick it up with a single hand.

her voice called out to him, and he nodded, turning to follow.

"okay."

he set the bag down on the workbench, then walked over to fetch snorunt more ice cubes for its troubles.

"feel free to start. it's burgers and fries this time."

Lulu Flint

☉

snorunt made a happy sound upon being picked up, eyes going towards the icebox when they neared it. its tiny fists spasmed in excitement.

“smells good,” she commented, though focused on what she was doing.

a pokéball spat into her palm from the machine, and she carried it over to theo, holding it out to him.

“now you have TELEPORT.”

within the ball was an alakazam—not the evil one.

THEO BECKETT

☉

the icebox opened and the crunching of ice soon followed. he smiled, finding the snorunt adorable even if it was a little needy.

he turned, glancing down at the pokeball. tentatively, he reached out for it.

"thanks. it'll help me show up unannounced."

Lulu Flint

☉

months, or maybe even days ago, she might’ve retracted at his joke. it was a joke, wasn’t it?

”funny,” she commented, before placing the ball in his hand and then turning to sit down.

she pulled the food out and set it across the bench, unsure what was what and if it was all the same or not.

“what’s yours?”

snorunt crunched away.

THEO BECKETT

☉

it was a joke, albeit delivered a little too dry, but on brand.

he pocketed the pokeball, then turned to sit as well. the snorunt was propped on his thigh which bounced a little, providing tons of enjoyment for the little ice-type, no doubt.

"same as yours."

his container opened up to reveal a greasy-looking bbq burger with onion rings as a side.

"i've never tried this place before, so if it's bad, then at least it's bad for both of us."

Lulu Flint

☉

snorunt began to hum lightly, for lack of a better word. the bounce of theo’s leg caused its voice to waver in a way that was, at least to it, very entertaining.

lulu opened her container as well. the burger looked great, although no bats swooped down at the reveal of it. maybe they preferred sugary treats.

theo was all comedy, and lulu gave a weak laugh she didn’t expect.

”i’ve never had onion rings before.”

she tried one, taking a bite.

”that is an onion…” she assessed, seeming unsure at first. then, ”huh.” and ate the rest of it.

THEO BECKETT

☉

theo had only tried onion rings recently. in fact, he had only started trying what he deemed to be real food shortly after he left rocket. so...two years ago? since then, he had found a new appreciation besides chicken on toast.

he found her reaction amusing. chuckling, he watched her eat the rest of it, though soon interjected with packets of ketchup, squeezing it onto her container.

"try it with this."

Lulu Flint

☉

“ketchup?” not her favorite. her face scrunched at him. “on onions? that seems gross.”

but she tried it, and it was fine. “hm.” she nodded her head to the side a little to give him credit.

a few bites were eaten in silence before she said anything.

“i’m not usually like that, you know,” she finally said. “like today, i mean. during training. it’s different with that alakazam.”

THEO BECKETT

☉

was it gross? maybe. but it was delicious, and he found himself dipping his in a healthy amount of ketchup. he ate away at his, otherwise silent until she eventually spoke again.

"i understand."

he took another bite, dusting crumbs off his fingers onto his container.

"why is it different?"

Lulu Flint

☉

she was slow to elaborate, but she’d brought it up with the intention of explaining. letting him in. ‘opening up’.

“last time i battled with it was against silph, at the tournament.” she picked another onion ring up and attempted to pull it halfway apart, but most of the breading just came off. a sigh. “and before that was the glass shop.”

she wasn’t sure if he’d heard about that or not, but certainly most in the upper brass had. not one of her proudest moments.

THEO BECKETT

☉