Feathers for Falkner- chapter 9

~Morty~

"LEAVE ME ALONE FALKNER!" I snarled at the innocent navy haired boy who held my jacket with tender hands and a flushed face. He was so cute. So goddamn cute I wanted—I wanted—
"GO AWAY!" I demanded, rounding on his much shorter build. He looked up at me with his wide aqua eyes, trying to look unafraid, but indeed looking very afraid. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have shown up here today to be ridiculed. If it wasn't for Falkner I wouldn't be feeling this way.

"Morty, come on!" Falkner begged. "I—I'm sorry."

It's not like it was his fault… not in the slightest. He had actually stuck up for me, and here I was taking my anger out on him. With clenched hands and gritted teeth I turned and fled, mentally calling my Gengar to stop Falkner from fallowing me any further. I was spitting orders into the wind while the ghosts nipped at my heels. Places like beaches bothered me because you wouldn't believe how many ghosts wash up onto the shores from the oceans. I couldn't see these ghosts, but I could feel them, everywhere, making my eyes itch and my chest tight.

Gengar lashed out at Falkner gently, manifesting and disappearing as he did so. Falkner was befuddled, shocked at the shadow that threw sand up in his face and made whooping noises. Yellow eyes and lean claws made Falkner gasp and stand back as I made my sweet escape to the docks where no one would follow me.

I didn't glance back to see the group of gym leaders that would have come to Falkner's rescue, and I didn't look back to see if Gengar had actually hurt any of them; I was too disoriented with hate.

I knew from the get go that the other gym leaders didn't particularly like me, but I didn't think they actually made fun of me behind my back. Seeing the future, Bugsy? Please, the only thing I can see coming in the future is kicking your scrawny ass all the way to Unova! And Clair… though I expected as much from someone of her utter repulsion, I couldn't shake the fact that she really meant what she said. The others may have been joking in a way, but she knew—or thought—it was true.

And Jasmine. So sweet, so innocent… so fucking close to sitting on Falkner's lap it disgusted me. I punched a wooden railing as hard as I could on my way up the stairs to the raised dock. Splinters scratched at my knuckles and sent small trickles of blood down my fingers. I barely felt it, or had enough common sense to pull the wood out. I slung myself over the edge of the dock railing where no one could see me, far out above the ocean water and looking back at the sand where the gym leaders stood, fussing over Falkner.

I watched, wondering what else they were saying about me and grinding my teeth in aggravation. Ad Pryce been at this little gathering maybe things would have worked out better, considering he was elderly though, of course the beach was not the place for him. Chuck was too stupid to say anything, though he himself was older in his late thirties and should have made order out of the situation.

I snarled under my breath, muttering things and unsure of how long I would stay like this until I went crazy. Gengar came back to me after a while and despite it all I found the rain a bit too appropriate. It poured, cold and light on my back for a long time, wafting mist around my ears until I had to pull my headband down further to cover them from the cold. None of my ghost pokemon approached me personally, but simply huddled around, unnoticed by the simple eyes of pedestrians racing along the boardwalk.

Minutes ticked away, perhaps hours, quite a long time I thought, before something changed. A very, very large bird swooped in from the sky, and landed roughly on the wooden railing beside me. I jolted in shock, expecting to see Falkner sliding off of it, but finding that the lonesome Pidgeot was far too old to carry anyone on its back.

I recognized it almost immediately. That was Falkner's father's bird. A genuine and loyal  creature by nature, with a motherly gaze. Her feathers were faded, graying around her beak, and even missing some in places around her neck and chest. She was soaked—probably from flying higher up in the clouds—and looked about as miserable as I did.

"What do you want?" I whispered as nicely as I could. Regarding this bird rudely would feel like regarding an elder rudely, and that was something I couldn't do.

She approached me cautiously, like a mother would a baby that wasn't hers, and ducked down to look at me straight on. Her pale yellow eyes still gleamed with the youth in which she once battled, and though they looked immensely sad I found that I appreciated it. She inched towards me, ducking her head lower until her sopping wet feathers were pressed up against my cheek. She crooned in my ear, and I didn't need to speak bird to know she was telling me it would be ok.

But would it?

How could a bird know that things would be ok? I stood rigid as she rubbed her soft face over my and then pulled back with an obvious sigh. I could have sworn she was smiling sadly at me. But how could she smile? She was bird, and birds have beaks… not mouths. I blinked; maybe it was her eyes that were smiling. Either way she turned and flew off before I had the chance to study the expression again.

With a thud I let my head fall on the railing, unsure of what I was doing exactly. How obvious was it that I wanted to be here just to see Falkner? I was furious at myself for such emotions of course, but… how could I hide them?

I wasted time now, searching the beach as the group tore up and down together, laughing with their pokemon and then barking orders at each other madly. It was all fun and games for them wasn't it? Falkner looked mild in comparison to the rest of them, and I couldn't keep my eyes off of him as they approached the water's edge.

It was cold and raining, what the hell did he think he was doing? That boy would get sick and then I would feel sorry for him. I glared as the group entered thigh-deep and beckoned to him. I walked the dock until I was close enough to hear what they were saying, though still twenty feet or so above them.

"Come on Falkner!" Jasmine held her slender hands out to him, trying to get him to take one so that she could lead him in the water.

"No. Wait seriously guys!" Falkner groaned. "Just hand me that feather, please!"

I examined the water carefully, following his eyes until I saw a large silvery feather floating about in the water. The waves washed it back and forth but all in all it stayed just out of Falkner's reach. He looked very distressed.

"You will have to come in and get it yourself!" Chuck blew his arm through the water, completely at ease with the chill of it, and sent a two foot wave at Falkner as a joke. The bird trainer drew back, flinching and hissing as it slapped him in the chest.

"Cut it out!" Falkner snapped. "Can you please just grab me it?"

Clair snorted with laughter, sitting on her Dragonair as if it was a pool float toy. The thing snickered as well, its blue bead glowing faintly. I could see Bugsy looking conflicted, as if he really did want to grab the feather, but wouldn't give the other gym leaders the disappointment in ending their game.

Falkner groaned, eyes locked with Jasmine, who wouldn't budge because she so selfishly wanted to get him in the water. I grit my teeth, willing Falkner to stay on shore
"Sorry Jasmine. But Falkner won't be getting wet like your vagina any time soon." I snarled under my breath before turning to look down at an invisible Gengar. "Go get the feather." I ordered. He snorted at me before slipping silently beneath the docks to go retrieve it.

"Come on Falkner. It's not that cold…" Whitney cooed, though she was shivering herself.

Jasmine held her hand out further, begging for him to take it. Falkner stayed put though, shaking his head stubbornly and taking a step back. I watched the water carefully, seeing as though the silver feather was invisibly grabbed and pulled under. I knew that was Gengar's doing, so I didn't worry, but the disappointment in Falkner's eyes proved painful. He sulked, thinking that the feather was long gone beneath the water's surface.

"It's too cold for me." Falkner's teeth chattered just from being splashed, so that was no lie, but I got the strangest feeling that it wasn't about the waters temperature that made him hesitant.

"Don't be a pidgey!" Bugsy chirped—sounding more like a pidgey himself than he intended to.

"Knock it off!" Falkner glared, obviously not pleased with the bird jokes. Hit a nerve there Bugsy? I scowled, watching the scene as my only friend back up into the dry sand of the beach. "I'm not coming in." he grumbled before turning and heading up the shore, followed by a faithful Jasmine with growlithe eyes.

"Gengaaa…."
I turned then to see the dark shape of my pokemon slipping back up through the dock boards. He brought a single claw up to me, holding the feather by its quill. I took it and examined it quietly, eyes stretching up past the sleek silver surface that was surprisingly hard and smooth. More like steel than a feather. I twisted it and turned it in my fingers, trying to see where it would glisten in the light—had there been any light out right now.

It grew cold and dark quickly in this season, and I found myself back over the wooden railing, hand throbbing from the scratches and my face flushed while I wondered why this feather had been so important. Time started to roll by again, slowly and troublesome while I pictured the Pidgeot's gaze and the way Falkner so easily ignored Jasmine's hand. Was it just luck that he really didn't want to get in the water? Or was it something more? Soon my head was in my arms and I was fighting exhaustion, having trained all through the night—unable to sleep thinking about Falkner actually.

It was hours later when I decided to lift my head again. The rain had stopped and the sun had broken through the clouds to reveal a bloody colored sunset. Purple splashed against the clouds now and a precise rainbow over the horizon made me curl my lip in distaste. I ignored it, looking back at the sandy beach to see the gym leaders' content with each other around a moist looking fire pit. Chuck was trying his hardest to get it lit, but failing miserably. Everyone was wrapped in huge towels now and looking cozy, leaving no space between them.

I stared at the group, inclined forward around a stump in wonder. My eyes narrowed curiously. Green glass spun in a whir over the flat wood before them, rocking and stuttering to the stop in the most obvious of positions. I swore I wanted to vomit when I saw Bugsy lean over and peck Whitney on the cheek.

Spin the bottle.

Fuck.