it had been a rhetorical question, but parker's smile loosens just a little bit at nomi's exuberance. she sounds more like herself. but just in case...to keep her distracted, she keeps tracing patterns over her collarbone. kisses her cheek and her chin and her nose and listens with sleepy blue eyes while nomi tells her that her levitating eyeballs have feelings. 

"it's okay," she reminds her, brushing some of her fluffy bangs out of her eyes. she kisses her brows. 

and then she draws back at nomi's frown. a roll of her eyes later, broken with a hum of surprise when nomi kisses her. blue holds crimson and then she hides her face by pressing a firmer kiss against the side of her neck. the arm propping herself up folds as she sinks into her warmth. 

"can kallistalulu go away so i can take my shirt off?" she says teasingly into nomi's ear. 

Naomi Sato
yes, that is how she said it.

☉

if this is the surest way to make nomi forget all about 'this avatar business,' then parker won't complain. and besides, she's tired. too many things are going to change now, but they don't have to change until tomorrow. they can still have tonight. they can still pretend like they're going to go to sleep together, for the first time ever. 

except not ever, her brain whispers, and her brows furrow at the sharp pain. forehead to nomi's neck now, lips searching, she can't see the pain on parker's face and that's more than okay because it melts as quickly as it came at her giggle.

at the sound of her name, maisey harumphs. her back leg twitches. parker lifts her head long enough to look smugly down at nomi. 

"okay, but maisey is a princess. an adorable princess. that is boring a hole into my back. hmmm, but if you'd rather we just go to sleep..."

she trails off and collapses on top of nomi, drawing in the loudest fake snores she possibly can. 

Naomi Sato

☉

she sleeps soundly for the first time in weeks. so soundly, in fact, that come morning, her grogginess remains on her like a blanket and she blinks her eyes open in confusion when she feels her own arms wrapped tightly around someone else. and even more confusing is the fact that it's not confusing at all, that she prepares to wake and put on worn leather boots and a glove of nomi's own making -

. 

and just like that, it's gone like a dream. she blinks a couple of times, yawns widely, chin brushing nomi's bangs, and curls into her. last night, more real, more solid, comes back in waves. 

the good parts, at first. and then the scary parts - nomi's white eyes, her wild erraticism - and then back to the good parts because that is much nicer to remember. nomi's lips, swollen from parker's relentless kissing, parted in ecstasy. fingers fumbling in sheets, over her shoulders, pulling needily at her chest. 

mmm, yeah, much better. 

her light dozing eventually fades and the early riser in her kickstarts. slowly, gingerly, she extracts herself from nomi. unentangled, but before she turns, she kisses her cheek. her shoulder. her bare hip. 

she stares hungrily at her nakedness and thinks nomi wouldn't mind being woken up to parted legs, parker's tongue - no, no, she had a horrible night last night. she must be exhausted. 

so, regrettably, she gathers herself and pads quietly to the kitchen. maisey raises her head as parker passes and she gives her an obligatory pat with one hand; the other digs a crusty out of her eye. 

the clock above her tiny stove tells her it's eight, which is an hour and a half after she usually wakes up. she turns her head, working out a kink, and slowly opens and closes cabinets, gathering everything she needs to put some coffee on. 

and soon enough the kitchen starts to smell like bacon and eggs. in the freezer, she digs around and finds a bag of shredded hash with peppers and veggies. she reads the instructions and sets another pan on for that. the bacon pan starts popping and sizzling and figuring nomi would probably rouse, she pours a cup of coffee for her and crosses the short distance back to the bed. 

maisey has shifted and curled up beside nomi, back pressed against her. 

"good girl," parker says and gives her another ruffle of her ears before placing a hand on nomi's shoulder. 

"wakey wakey, nomes. or not. you can keep sleepin', but breakfast's almost done."

Naomi Sato

☉

parker looks amusedly down at where nomi grips her arm and gives a teasing little flex. mhmmm goes her throat as she sets the coffee down on the little bedside table with its stain-covered top from moments just like this. because kahlua pops into existence and makes her startle, spilling the coffee over the lip of the mug (and on the opposite side of it, not on her hands). 

parker exhales forcefully through her nose. 

"i'm never gonna get used to that." and then a pause as she remembers nomi's wild eyes, desperate pleas. "eh, never say never."

the sheets are discarded all at once and nomi swings out of bed. last night, it had been dark - all the lights turned off, her eyes half-closed, relying on taste and touch to navigate nomi's body. night-touched, blanketed by ethereal hours strung out of time. meteor falls felt much the same - blurry around the edges because it felt so ephemeral. 

but this. now. she is standing against the backdrop of parker's home, among her things, her cheeks flushed, still a bit puffy from last night. and it is so painfully real. 

she shivers.

so she goes to kiss parker on the cheek and parker thinks, well, that's not enough, and snakes an arm around her waist. turns her head against nomi's lips and yanks her flush against her by the small of her back, mouth parting and - oop. 

she chuckles and dislodges to kiss her nose. "i got a spare toothbrush under the sink too."

Naomi Sato

☉

it's rude not to wait, right? she's thinking that as she chews on a piece of bacon. thinking and staring at the mostly-closed bathroom door, head tilted just a bit to see a sliver of nomi in the mirror. she catches a glimpse of her rummaging for the toothbrush, sees her leaning over the sink, and then startling. 

the bacon drops out of her mouth and maisey is upon it in seconds, having been patiently waiting for the opportune moment to pounce. parker starts towards the door, but nomi comes out anyway, mouth ringed with toothpaste and parker's...decorate bowl of rocks in her hand?

her brows furrow. "uhh, what? is that the brand? i thought they looked nice..." 

yep, in a glass bowl nestled along some smooth river rocks and a couple of fake succulents. she tried to match the picture she saw on the magazine and then she found the shiny rocks and thought, oh, i know the perfect place. 

"are they tacky? they're tacky, aren't they?"

Naomi Sato

☉

nomi is very...passionate about her rocks in a bowl apparently and parker doesn't know whether to be confused or find the entire thing hilarious. it's a weird mix of both as nomi stomps up to her, mouth twisted in exasperation, but lips still covered with minty toothpaste. and if that weren't distracting enough, parker's eyes have dropped from nomi's own and onto her chest. 

appreciating her girlfriend's body and not really hearing the words 'extremely powerful' and 'attuned to her pokemon,' but amulius' name makes her look up again. 

something clicks. her eyes light up and she's about to make some remark like, oh yeah! that must be what @isaac threw at me to make mul' go all flamey on his arms, but nomi's tone takes a desperate, dark edge and before parker knows it, glass has shattered on the floor and her girlfriend's suggesting she's going to lose her. 

parker blinks owlishly, stunned, and lurches to action when maisey pads over to investigate. "no, you stay back, girl. fuck. nomes, pull your feet up. i don't want you to get glass...okay, hold on."

she steps carefully back into the kitchen area and rummages around for her small broom and dustpan. it's hard with one hand, 'cause the other she has clamped hard on maisey's collar to stop her from possibly stepping in glass. 

while she cleans, quietly, she tries to wrack her brain for what the DRK triad is. last night is a bit of a haze, but she remembers that they're at least not from this dimension. and also they've tried to kill them and end hoenn. or something to that effect. 

and up until now, they also had their own unown. kattywampus came from holo - that's what nomi said, right? 

parker leaves the glass-filled dustpan on the kitchen counter, out of maisey's reach, and gathers the mega stones in her hand. she crouches in front of nomi, mouth a thin line. 

"you're not gonna lose me. i'll be better about this stuff, but nomes, you gotta understand that this is new to me. up until i met you, i haven't had to deal with any of this shit. i was - am - an errand boy, only my errands are punching people's faces in who owe rocket money." 

she balances the blaziken's mega stone on nomi's knee, rolling it with the tips of her fingers. "if it makes ya feel any better, i think i used it once. fuckin' merlo and i went on a hellventure into the border together and he threw me some kinda friendship bracelet that made it work."

Naomi Sato

☉