noah finishes his burger, and beats kyle back with his shoe. he wipes his mouth with the napkin- but his smile sneaks past its folding white corners.

"my brother likes pokeblock candies, so maybe we can get those at least." noah stacks their trays for them, placing kyle's garbage and bowl on top of his. "oh! and some wine."

noah kicks back a little more firmly before leaving to discard the trays. he returns, pulling his bag from the seats and threading his arms through the loops.

"when can i meet your parents?" noah asks as he begins to walk. the airport features various sculptures of hoenn pokemon: a large wailord carved in argillite stands prominently from one plaza. "do you think they'd like me?"

kyle lopez

"well, i gotta meet them eventually if i wanna marry you, duh." noah says, tugging kyle along by the ends of his fingertips.

the wailord sculpture's gaze stares forth. as if it were a departing airplane, the massive whale breaches some invisible surface. noah wonders too, if leaving hoenn for a little while would mean freedom from the chaos. although in capable hands—and with his own—noah begins to feel the inevitable threat of moving shifting underneath his feet like plates.

"and that answer doesn't work." noah laughs and punches the other's arm. "you're their kid. how could they not like you, dumbass."

kyle lopez

"you're calling me a weirdo," noah scratches his cheek, "so i guess you have questionable tastes too." his smile leads them as he affirms his happiness—notwithstanding kyle's partial jesting.

they come to a quieter place of the airport. various waiting areas with rows of connected seats, electrical outlets and the occasional massage chair look out at a vista of the runways. the stores are nearby, stocked with chocolates and hoenn t-shirts.

"kyle?" should the man turn to face him, noah steals a kiss before planting another one on the other's cheek. "i'm really pumped for this, man. do you think you'll end up staying in hoenn? or would you wanna end up living somewhere else?"

kyle lopez

they say coincidence is no rare event. that improbable events are simply commonplace scenes made miraculous by humans unable to comprehend probability. the circumstances of their migration are similar. such a revelation strikes noah- and perhaps, their meeting at the dog park, as fantastically destined as it may have felt, was an inevitable meeting of one plus one.

noah's grip pulses back. the swinging reminds him of a mightyena's tail.

"settling together sounds nice." noah repeats, his face warmed by kyle's mumbled sentiment. "and if you run, you gotta make sure i can catch up."

the crowds are a whisper here. sparse bodies dot the seats like distanced totems reading newspapers.

"i think i'll be okay just living with you in some quiet place. eventually." noah admits. he rests his head on the other's shoulder- but quickly snaps it back when he realizes how awkward the pose is to hold while walking. "just you and our pokemon."

kyle lopez

noah raises an eyebrow curved like the crescent moon presiding over that memory. his snicker melds in with kyle's awkward laughter. the list grows. the possibilities of whatever "quiet" could entail grow louder.

"i'm not sure now," noah scratches his neck, "but i wanna help rebuild that outpost now that i think of it. it's summer after all. mmm, maybe after vacay."

the squeeze of his hand had only encouraged him.

"why not?" noah says to the idea of the store. he bumps into kyle forcefully. "aight so, you can retire and we'll run a little shop of kyle merchandise."

kyle lopez

"good. more for me then!"

the airport path curves back into the heart of its layout. there, shops line each side of the carpeted path. tourists stroll around with their suitcases plastered in stickers— but noah's bag is bare, save for the water bottle stuffed in its mesh pouch.

"nothing wrong with planning ahead, babe." noah chimes. "time's been going too fast anyway. but uh, souvenirs, right."

he leads kyle by the hand, bringing him inside an open lobby with several sectioned off stores. shelves and aisles of goods, ranging from cookies to books, fill the space.

noah plucks a tester bottle with navy blue glass and an etched logo of an empoleon. "how about this?" he sprays the cologne on kyle's shirt.

kyle lopez