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Train rides, by all means, were not meant to be nerve-wracking.
Yet, as Bede sits in the plush seats of the Galar Bullet Train, he can’t help but think that, somehow, they’re the most nerve-wracking thing in the entire world.
But it’s the not the train he has qualms with. It’s not the lush seats fluffed to the extreme or the glass table that he feels uncomfortable with. It doesn't include the jit-jit-jit of the train upon the tracks and it certainly doesn't include murmuring noises of the passengers around him.
No, rather, his qualm is with the girl sleeping on his shoulder and the sly look Hop is giving him.
As it so happens, the three of them are on a trip to meet Marnie. The trip in of itself is of little importance – they’re all meeting up in the Wild Area to quell an unstable Pokémon Den – but it’s the process of it all that has Bede sweating.
After a series of events that included: awkwardly bumping into Gloria, being teased by Hop for his sudden appearance of a speech impediment, and a dating joke that thankfully went over Gloria’s head, he was finally sitting upon the train and dealing with this.
“So,” Hop says, flashing an impish grin that makes Bede all the more uncomfortable, “how long have you had the hots for Gloria?”
He startles immediately, flinching so hard that Gloria stirs in her sleep on his shoulder. Bede flushes red, heat searing his face, and he holds a shaking finger to his lips as he snaps: “S-Shut up!”
“Relax, relax,” Hop holds up his hands, “she’s a heavy sleeper. She won’t wake up to hear you confess your undying love for her.”
“What undying love?” He growls, keeping his voice to a furious whisper as he glares at the dark-skinned boy across from him.
“Yours, naturally.” Hop observes him for a long, long second before continuing. “I’ve seen how you look at her. You’re like a lovesick puppy. It’s adorable, honestly. Never would’ve thought high and mighty you would fall for her so badly.”
“You keep speaking as if I have a crush on her.”
An eyebrow raises. “Don’t you?” Hop leans in. “Or…are you in denial?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He sniffs.
Hop holds up his hands. “Look,” he says, “I just want to know your intentions. If you like Gloria, it’s my job as her friend to make sure nothing happens to her. That includes protecting her against any woefully bad attempts to woo her.”
“Last I checked,” Bede snorts, “you weren’t her older brother.”
“And last I checked, you weren’t so badly in love with Gloria that you couldn’t manage a proper sentence around her. Remember my brother’s wedding? You could barely talk around her without stuttering every time your hands touched hers."
His ears burn redder. “I wasn’t in the right mindset at the time,” he mutters.
“You looked ready to jump off the nearest cliff when she asked you to the wedding,” Hop hums in what can only be agreement. “But, seriously, are you ever going to confess to her or what?”
“I never took you for the romantic type.”
“You’re dodging the question, B.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Again, dodging the question.” Hop gives a loud sigh. “Look, I get it. You got feelings and your pride’s got too big of an ego to admit it. But, as a friend to a friend and a rival to a rival, you can’t keep beating around the bush. It’s awkward enough watching you pine after her like some lovestruck Lillipup.”
“I do not pine.”
“Tell that to Marnie.”
He scoffs. “What does Marnie have to do with this?”
“She’s the one who saw you poking your head around a flower shop the other day. The kind of flower shop that, y’know, guys go to when they want to-“
Bede moves fast, leaning forward with careful precision to slap his hand over Hop’s mouth while also maintaining Gloria’s head on his shoulder. There’s an audible muffle of protest from Hop and a wave of his limbs, before he settles for flailing at Bede’s arms and pushing him off.
“Alright, alright, I get it, I do.” Hop grumbles under his breath. “Still, you can’t dance around all this forever. If you don’t confess then maybe one day Gloria will just up and find another rival to fall in love with.”
It’s a cruel thing of Hop to say. Bede’s heart twists in his chest at the mere thought, unease taking hold of him.
Yeah, he likes Gloria. It’s a no-brainer conclusion even he has come to conclude about himself. It’s hard to deny. His heart stutters like crazy in his chest whenever he’s close to her, just as its stuttering now as her head rests on his shoulder. If he looks too close, if he pays too much attention, he can notice the way her brown locks fall between her eyelashes or the way her lips, so pink with lip gloss, part and then close as she breathes in her sleep.
The thought of her finding someone to fall in love with, someone who was undoubtedly more qualified than him, it sent his heart sinking. He liked his closeness with Gloria, even considered it a privilege. Not many had the chance to say they were rivals (and best friends) with Galar’s beloved Champion.
Yet, the mere fact that he was nothing more than that – just a rival, just a friend – made him realize his position in her life. He was not special. He was not like Leon, her (almost) undefeated mentor, or Marnie, heiress to the Galarian Knight’s legacy. He was just Bede, Chairman Rose’s protégée and distant descendant to a historical figure no one knew anything about. He had no right to claim a spot at Gloria’s side. No, not at all.
“If she…if she falls in love with someone else,” Bede says, staring down at the polished surface of the table below him, “then I’m not going to get in her way. And why would I? She’s got her own life to live and so do I. I’m not going to intrude upon that because I’m selfish.”
Hop appraises him with raised eyebrows. There’s a hum that resounds from the boy’s throat, a noncommittal noise of surprise, and then Hop flicks his gaze to Gloria. The girl rises, oblivious to the discussion that has just occurred before her, and she rubs at her eyes. When she notices the boys staring at her, she frowns, eyebrows furrowing as she gazes at each of them in turn.
“What?” She grumbles. “Is there something on my face?”
Hop gives a nervous laugh. “No, no, not at all!” He waves his hands. “We were just discussing strategies on taking down the Pokémon Den. Right, B?”
“Stop calling me-“ Bede pinches the bridge of his nose, all adrenaline fading as he continues, “yeah, sure. We’re facing a Rampardos, right? So, I was thinking that…well, if I have my Reuniclus set up our defense, we have Hop’s Eldegoss poison it, and Marnie uses her Sirfetched to whittle its health down then you can use your Leafeon to do the rest and get it catchable for us.”
The lies come easily to him and, thankfully, Hop follows along.
“If we do it this way, we’ll be able to calm the Rampardos.” He snaps his fingers. “Plus, we get a shot at getting a real live fossil. Isn’t that cool?”
“Mm, I guess.” Gloria yawns. “Back in Sinnoh, Rampardos were pretty common. Roark and Bryon used them pretty often for gym matches. They’re pretty cool though. Just…hard to train.”
“Says the girl who’s got a pact with one of the most hard to train Pokémon around.”
“You leave him out of this,” Gloria huffs. “Besides, it’s not like I see him much these days anyways. I miss him.”
Bede nudges her with an elbow. “Getting soft?” He asks.
She nudges back. “Maybe. But I can still kick your ass.”
“Try me.”
“Alright, enough flirting you two.” Hop’s overly friendly voice rings out and Bede snaps his head to positively glare at the boy. “Remember, we’ve got to meet up with Marnie at the station and walk all the way over there. Save your energy for the battle at hand.”
“Yes mother,” Gloria rolls her eyes.
Bede snickers at Hop’s scandalized expression. The dark-skinned boy crosses his arms, shaking his head, before launching them all into a conversation on battle strategies. Bede participates with thoughts sparking in his mind, Gloria chiming in beside him, and Hop occasionally piping in his odd additions.
They continue like that all the way to the train station, an air of ease around them as conversations about crushes are forgotten.
Gloria’s almost certain that something has happened during the time she fell asleep on Bede’s shoulder. There’s a certain apprehension in the air, a certain sense of hesitance from Bede and mischief from Hop. She knows the two boys have trouble getting along – often to the point of bickering like children – but she’s surprised to see them eyeing each other as they step off the train platform.
Their eyes speak with an invisible conversation, silent words finishing a discussion that she’s been left out of. She’s thought multiple times of calling them out on their strange behavior, eager to know the reason behind the tension between them. She gets that moment when Marnie manages to gain her a reprieve.
Marnie appears as she always does: with an elegant flourish of her skirt and an attitude almost reminiscent of a lady. She greets Bede with her stoic eyes, appraising the white-haired boy as he greets her with a Pokeball on his fingertips.
"Let's battle," he says.
“Must you make a spectacle out of everything?” She asks the boy. Yet, she readies a Pokeball of her own even still, releasing her Morpeko.
“You know it’s tradition at this point to do this every time we meet.” Bede sends out his Alcremie. “Knight to knight, of course.”
“You’re incorrigible,” Marnie says the words with disappointment but the smile on her face betrays her excitement. “Fine, let’s do this.”
Gloria gives an exasperated sigh. She should expect no less at this point and yet she finds herself yet again surprised by the way Marnie and Bede size each other up. The two distract themselves in a battle of superiority, leaving Hop and Gloria to themselves on the train platform.
The girl makes her way to Hop, grinning at the way his gaze catches on Marnie. She nudges him, garnering his attention, and speaks.
“If you keep staring at her like that she’s going to think you’re crazy.”
“Will not.” Hop huffs. “And what about you? By that logic, won’t Bede think you’re crazy?”
She ignores his bait. “What were you talking to him about? On the train?” She pauses. “You two have been acting weird since I’ve woken up.”
“Ooo, you noticed?” Hop grins. “And here I thought you were totally oblivious.” The boy hooks an arm around her neck. “But, you know, maybe we were talking about your big fat crush on Bede. After all, he did seem curious about why you were asking about his favorite kind of curry the other day.”
The implication sends her face burning red. She pushes him off, turning to him with indignation. “You did not tell him anything about that!...Did you?”
“Maybe I did and maybe I didn’t.” Hop grins. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”
Gloria’s gaze flicks to the boy. He’s still absorbed in battle, his Reuniclus now in place of his Alcremie, and he looks at Marnie’s Polteageist with apprehension set in his jaw. He doesn’t recognize Gloria’s lingering gaze upon him and she prefers it that way, not wanting to let an inch of her feelings seep through.
“Considering he isn’t acting too differently,” she says, “I’m going to guess you haven’t said anything.”
“Yet.”
She squints at him. “Yet?”
Hop whistles. “No, no, nothing. Just thinking out loud.”
“Just a reminder," she says with a smile that could slice through metal in his direction, "but if you so much as tell him that I like him, I'll be sending that one after you in a heartbeat. But, so long as you don't say a thing, we're good. Got it?"
“Woah, you’re getting scary now Gloria. Fine, fine. I won’t say anything. I like myself alive and well, thank you very much.”
She glares at him and he holds up his hands. However, before he can say anything else, Marnie’s voice calls out to them.
“Hey, you two! If you have enough time to chitchat you have enough time to join us in a double battle! Now come here and fight!”
Gloria turns to Hop. “You heard the lady,” she says.
The boy jumps forward, waving his hands to beckon her after him.
“Then let’s battle!”