parker checks her nose, no joke, sixteen times before leaving her dingy apartment. checks it every which way. from the front. from underneath. from the side. from the other side. by poking, prodding, sticking her fingers in. even raps her knuckles against her skull and stares sourly in the mirror, glaring at her reflection and silently telling it to not fuck this up again. 

but she knows - deep, deep, deep down she knows it's not about her nose. or her brain. those are perfectly sound. they're just a little scrambled. and for whatever reason, nomi makes it worse. and thinking about why nomi makes it worse makes it even worse. 

a poochyena chasing its own tail. 

it's why she's late. well, that and she still doesn't have a teleportation pokemon or anything that can fly. and meteor falls isn't exactly close. for nomi, though, she'd climb the damn mountain, even if it took her weeks. 

she takes the railcar though. is told by the attendant to please be careful and keep an eye out for any distortions or life-threatening rifts suddenly popping out of nowhere. and that the wild pokemon have become somewhat more aggressive. and don't worry! you look like a capable trainer - you'll be fine!

amulius treks beside her. she's following texted directions from nomi and a map that she really should have screenshot because her signal dies as soon as she's gobbled up by the mountain. thank the gods for amulius because he's able to find the secluded spot by smell. or something. she doesn't know. 

but he seems to like the breeze on his feathers. 

she slides out from behind some rocks and then stops, stunned at the figure with her back towards her. nomi's eyes are closed, lashes brushing against her cheeks. her back arches as her lungs swell and she has the loveliest look on her face and parker's heart hurts for no damn reason.

valerian knows they've arrived, surely, but parker thanks the coy sylveon for allowing parker to shamelessly look at nomi before she opens her eyes. and when she does, parker beams and lopes over to her. 

"hey, cupcake."

Naomi Sato
brieeeeefs

☉

nomi blushes. she's blushed around parker before, but really it's the first time parker's actually noticing it. and thinking oh, maybe it's because of me? it's easy to say one and one equals two when it comes right after nomi rakes her eyes down her body like she wants to pounce on her right then and there. 

maybe parker's reading into it. 

and if she's not?

parker looks up at nomi on her pedestal and, given explicit permission, looks down her curves. the little hearts hugging her hips would fit neatly in parker's fingers. one swift tug and - "you're killin' me, nomes."

there's a tugging in her chest, a soft pressure in her skull. the normal amount, though, that usually surfaces when she's around nomi. the part of her that's forgotten, but not quite. after their date, she knows better than to sink her teeth into the feeling when it arises. 

it guides her instead. draws her like a magnet to the rock nomi stands on. parker folds her arms, tucks her chin, lounges against it, and stares up at her through her lashes. 

"super cute. very you. i like it." she grins. "this is a date, by the way."

Naomi Sato

☉

up above nomi, up above the both of them, is a pocket full of stars. meteor falls is open above them, carrying the breeze that thumbs through nomi's hair. the tips curl over her bikini top, pink on pink on pale skin. parker doesn't know if it's simply because she's smitten or if the moonlight is actually making nomi glow.

there's room enough for two on the rock so at nomi's admission, parker grins and hauls herself up. ˙ǝɓpǝ s,ɹǝʇɐʍ ǝɥʇ ʇɐ ɹǝɥ uıoɾ oʇ uɐɯoʍ ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ ɹoɟ ɓuıuoʞɔǝq 'ʇno pǝllɐɔ ǝɥs „'ɹǝʞɹɐԀ„ more tension flickers in her jaw, touches her temples, and she draws in a breath.

„ʍǝ uǝʌǝɹ pıp ɓǝʇ ʇo sʞıuuʎ pıd' pıp ʍǝ¿„ says the reflection in the pool. 

her gaze falls to the wayside as her hands come up to nomi's hips, searching for stability. the water's surface is placid. this light breeze isn't strong enough to cause any waves. nomi is looking at her and parker is ʍɹɐddıuɓ ouǝ ɐɹɯ ɐɹonup uoɯı,s ʍɐısʇ' and she is grinning like a damn fool as she presses their hips together ɐup sɥǝ ıs sǝɐɹɔɥıuɓ ɥǝɹ ǝʎǝs and finding, she thinks, that nomi feels this too. 

this magnetic tug, these years lost, and despite the pain that blossoms on her temples, behind her eyes, it's nothing compared to the overwhelming grief at the idea of turning her back on them. 

so she she is tilting her head, lashes fluttering,

|iqꙅ oᴎ ᴎomi'ꙅ owᴎ
lips on nomi's own

softly, gently, because whatever this is, it's fragile, and their reflections are shapeshifting as parker's hand trails up her back, palm on her neck, fingers cradling her head. 

it is with tremendous effort that she resists the urge to drag them into the water. instead she laughs breathily. some of that ache in her skull recedes. she thumbs nomi's lips. swallows. says, "whatever you want, cupcake."

Naomi Sato

☉

in this scant half-second, where her stomach drops and she is tangled in nomi and the water is rushing up at them, she is somewhere else. their reflections near and then they shatter, washing over them, passing through them, and the pain returns. immediately. harshly. she fears her nose might bust, but something shifts. changes. 

like she's giving into something.

under the water now, nomi's hair is stretching out around her. she looks like a damn mermaid. parker stares up at her with wide blue eyes, thinking about her rasped words. the truth in them. the need tugging at invisible strings parker's felt, but could never find. 

her feet find purchase on the rough stone of the natural pool. bubbles slip past her lips, onto nomi's too, because she's closing that distance between them as she pushes them up to the surface. 

water sloughs off of them in a sudden rush and parker's lungs are begging for a breath, but she's too busy molding her lips against nomi's to care. too busy entwining her hand in her hair, reaching roughly for her thigh to coax her onto her hips. 

i've wanted you so badly too. the low groan in her mouth is as close as she gets to speaking the words back. 

Naomi Sato

☉

nomi's presence has haunted her flat. phantom grazes on the small of her back while she's showering; whispers that give her goosebumps when she's stooped over the stovetop; the tv left on in the other room because if she was half asleep, she could almost think it was nomi's laughter in the next room over. 

and how does she tell her this insanity, this shit that should by all means be a dozen red flags to the woman in her arms? she's agonized over it, napkins stuffed in an ever-bleeding nose. 

she can't explain it, the way it's clicking into place now. she's always been better with this language. to know raw emotion, unfiltered by their own clumsy cadences. 

nomi drawls her name and parker cuts her off, answering demand with greedy glee. past bleeds to present in the way she clasps nomi against her. knuckles bump against the cave pool's uneven edge and parker twists. the scrapes on bare skin don't matter as she leans her weight back, swollen lips breaking free of nomi's to trail over her chin, down the hollow of her throat.

her tongue skirts the line of her bikini top. fingers trail nomi's spine as parker sinks lower in the water. 

Naomi Sato

☉

nomi's leaning into it, into her, practically taut with anticipation. parker's muscled arms roll against her skin, hands losing their gentle drifting and sinking into their shared heat. nomi's hair falls lank around her shoulder and her fingers fidget with the heart-shaped metal. she really should have taken these off before hoisting nomi up to her shoulders. 

parker growls in frustration and teethes at the loose bottom. fingers sink into nomi's waist to support her so she can duck her head in between the fabric and the object of parker's desire. it falls to nomi's knees, her calf, and parker doesn't really know where they end up. 

hooked around her ankles or kick off into the water? she'll never know. 

because nomi says ah and that's all the yes parker needs to open her mouth and press nomi against her. warmth hits her tongue. one arm slung around the small of nomi's back, the other over her thigh, fingers splayed on hips.

it's a watercolor dream, and it's dribbling down her chin, and she is chasing memories with a fervor marked by countless nights of pleasures like this.

Naomi Sato

☉

if parker hadn't been so focused on the task at hand, she may have realized just how loud nomi is. as it stands, with nomi's thighs squeezing her ears, wet hair still a curtain around her as she braces against the rock, well, it's safe to say parker's in her own little world. 

and what a world it is. 

nomi shudders into her mouth and parker squeezes her close, her tongue a slow, teasing pressure to drag on the aftermath a moment longer. but then she shakes her shoulders, palm on nomi's spine, and helps shimmy her back down to her waist. 

blue eyes follow the glistening trail left over her own chest as her hips wriggle. 

with nomi keeping her arms full, she can't wipe the mess off her mouth. not that she cares. she's grinning wickedly, so hard her cheeks hurt, and her chest is rising and falling quickly, in tandem with the fluttering of her heart. 

nomi's bikini bottoms drift along the surface of the water a few feet away.

"so," she says, still beaming, "y'like?"

Naomi Sato

☉