Work Text:
Kieran found himself once again at the league club rooms pc, sorting though his boxes to find a Pokemon he could deem suitable for trading.
He sighed at his past self for his obsession with only owning ‘strong’ Pokemon, having cleared out his pc from any other distractions. Besides his old Kitamaki team his pc was very barren.
He had been planning on pulling a cool or cute Pokemon from his box for a very special trade, but unfortunately he couldn’t find anything. He had a few whatever Pokemon, but that didn’t feel special enough for his purposes. He wanted something that the person he had in mind would appreciate.
So here he found himself, staring down a few Pokemon he considered for trade. He bat his fist against his leg, his other fist brought up to his chin in contemplation. Which to pick…
His ruminations were abruptly interrupted. “Whacha looking for ex-champ?”
Said ex champion rolled his eyes. “Nothing.”
“You sure about that? You’ve been standing at your pc for twenty minutes now.”
Kieran cast a glance towards the clock. A lot more time had passed than he realized. “Oh… I’ve just been looking through my boxes.”
Drayton raised an eyebrow, looking over his shoulder at the pc screen. “Not enough Pokemon there to spend twenty minutes looking through.”
Kieran scowled. “T-that’s just one box, I-i have multiple!” He did not.
“What’s on your mind ex champ? What’s got your panties in a bunch?”
Kieran’s face scrunched up in discomfort. “Why do you care? We’re not friends.”
Drayton’s smile didn’t move, but something indiscernible changed in his eyes. “Not with that attitude. Come on, standing here staring at that screen can’t be good for you. Talk to the drayster about your woes!”
Kieran shook his head. “Will you leave me alone if I do?”
Drayton nodded and Kieran huffed. “Ok fine. I’m looking for a Pokemon to trade.”
“Your trading? You looking for something specific?”
“Not really. I just want somethin’… special. I went out into the terrarium to find something but nothin’ was appealing.”
Drayton hummed. “Special how? What are you even trading for?”
“Well… I don’t want to say. It’s… embarrassin’.”
Drayton gave him a lazy smile. “Hey I won’t tell! Getting you all pissy again would be more trouble than it’s worth.”
Kieran mumbled some obscenity under his breath. “Promise?”
Drayton held out a pinky finger. Kieran batted it away.
“I want to trade with Juliana.” Kieran braced himself. “Only because everybody else has traded with her so I was thinkin’ I should too!”
If Drayton’s shit eating grin told him anything it was that he didn't believe him. “Hey I wasn’t questioning you! No reason to freak.”
Kieran always felt a strange need to defend himself when things came to Juliana. It probably had to do with the teasing Carmine always did to him whenever Juliana came up. He didn’t quite understand it, or why Juliana would get red faced and jittery whenever someone made the same teasing remarks with her around.
“Well let me take a look.” Drayton offered. “Maybe you just need another perspective?”
Kieran was about to tell him to buzz off, though he thought twice about it. He said he was going to turn things around and be nice, and while he had done that for everyone else, him and Drayton still had their issues.
As a sort of olive branch, he moved and gestured towards the pc. Drayton stepped up to check things out. “You really don’t have much in here…”
Before he could say anything Drayton perked up. “Ooohh… the drayster might have just found you your perfect Pokemon.”
Kieran leaned over to look at the screen. “You mean applin?”
Drayton was currently hovering over an applin he didn’t even remember catching. Drayton chuckled and nodded. “Yep. This is the one!”
“Are you sure?” Kieran asked genuinely. “You're not being a jerk or anythin’ right?”
Drayton nodded, teasing smile not present. “Promise. Applin is a Pokemon with special significance to Juliana. Trust me.”
Kieran contemplated that. While he had his issues with Drayton, especially his insistence on antagonizing him with the ‘ex-champion’ remarks, but Drayton didn’t seem like he would actively lie to Kieran to mess with him.
Kieran eventually decided to trust him. “Ok. Uh… thanks.” He awkwardly shuffled back to the pc and extracted the grass dragon Pokemon.
“No problem. Might as well trade with her now huh?” Drayton gestured to the door, where Kieran saw Juliana and Lacey entering. Kieran’s heart rate accelerated, likely just due to the fact he would have to work up the courage to ask her to trade.
Juliana noticed him almost immediately. Almost as if she had been looking for him specifically. Her face flushed a little and she sent him a little wave. Kieran waved back and Lacey giggled at something while whispering something to Juliana, causing her to flush even more.
Drayton chuckled and pat his shoulder, making his way to the table and taking a seat, starting a conversation up with Lacey. Juliana stood nearby, stealing glances at Kieran’s directions every once and a while.
Kieran grabbed the Applins Pokeball, steeling his nerves. The others had all traded with Juliana, this was no different.
He pushed his anxious thoughts down, ignoring the voices in his head telling him that she wouldn’t want to trade with him for one reason or another. Him and Juliana had talked about his self deprecating thoughts, and with her help he had finally realized that those thoughts were wrong. His friends did care for him, and they wanted him around.
With Juliana’s affirmations in his head, he made his way to his friends.
Juliana’s face broke into a wide smile as he approached. “Hey Kieran!”
Kieran met her with his own smile. “Juliana! How are you?”
“I’m good! Oh, I was wondering if you wanted to have another picnic this weekend? Ogerpon and the rest of the team have been wanting to hang out again!”
Kieran nodded. He didn’t question how Juliana could seemingly read her Pokémon’s minds, but she was right every single time. He had learned to just take her word for those kinds of things.
Ignoring Drayton whispering ‘again?’ to Lacey, Kieran continued with his question “Of course! There was somethin’ else I wanted to ask, if you don’t mind?”
Juliana nodded. “Of course? What’s up?”
“I was wonderin’ if you wanted to make a Pokemon trade? You don’t have to if you don’t wanna…” A bit of his social anxiety shone through, giving her the option to back out as if that were her only course of action.
Juliana’s smile somehow grew even wider, soothing his worries. “Of course! Do you need to grab one?”
Kieran brought his Pokeball up. “Nah I’ve got mine! Do you need to grab one?”
Juliana nodded. “Let me go grab one, be right back!”
Kieran nodded and watched Juliana make her way to the pc, only turning around when he heard giggling behind him. He turned to see Drayton with his signature grin plastered all over his face, and Lacey with a hand up to her mouth to try and smother her laughter.
“So, you gonna have another fun picnic with Juliana?” Drayton asked. Lacey managed to pull herself together just enough to cross her arms in her signature pose.
“Drayton don’t tease them! It’s just not right!” Lacey tried to be as stern as she could, but even she could not keep a straight face.
“Maybe. She likes to let her Pokemon spend time with other Pokemon. Why?” He was genuinely perplexed. Drayton and Carmine always got so weird whenever him and Juliana talked about hanging out. He still didn’t get it.
“Don’t worry about it. Just remember what I said about the trade yeah?” Lacey gave Drayton a questioning look at that, and Drayton just gestured to watch in lieu of an answer.
Juliana arrived at that moment. “Got mine! You ready to trade Kieran?”
Kieran hooded enthusiastically. “You bet!”
The two swapped Pokeballs, Kieran felt a chill run up his spine at the split second that their hands touched.
“Y-you open yours first!” Juliana requested, cradling her new Pokeball like it was something precious. Kieran nodded.
“Is it ok to open up in here?” Juliana nodded at Kieran’s question, so he released the Pokemon.
A small, green cat stretched out on the ground before him, turning towards him with curiosity in its purple eyes. Kieran looked down at his new companion, cooing at how adorable it was. “Aww, you're just adorable!”
“Meowscarada had an egg a few months back, and it just so happened to be a shiny, so I kept this little guy around! I wasn’t going to replace my Meowscarada, so I thought you might want have her!”
Ignoring Drayton’s muffled ‘all I got was a purugly.’ Kieran turned his attention back to Juliana. “I love her! Now we can match!”
Something about that seemed to really resonate with Juliana, as she nodded so enthusiastically he was afraid her head was going to come loose. “I’d love that! Can I open mine now?”
“Of course!” He responded, reaching down and picking his new Sprigatito and letting it rest on his shoulder. It seemingly has taken a liking to him already.
Juliana turned and released her Pokemon. She seemingly stared at it for a moment unbelieving, and had to do a double take. Lacey also seemed oddly invested at this particular development as well.
Just when Kieran was afraid he had made some sort of mistake trusting Drayton, Juliana focused all her attention back on him. “Oh… wow Kieran… a-are you…”
When her sentence trailed on long enough to become concerning, Kieran finally spoke up. “I-I hope you like it… I heard applin had a special meaning, so I just knew I had to give one to ‘ya.”
Juliana’s eyes practically sparkled. “Y-you mean it? I-I mean yes, yeah I do! I also… y-you know, feel that way. I didn’t think you would… after everything I… oh I’m so happy!” Juliana looked like she could practically burst with joy. No longer trusting her words, she simply picked up her new Applin, hugged it tight, and made her way out the door.
“Well talk more tomorrow!” Was all she said as she barreled through the doors.
Lacey got up to go follow her. “Oh that was so cute Kieran! I’m rooting for you two!” Lacey gave him a thumbs up before following behind Juliana.
Kieran stood there dumbfounded. He was hoping for something positive, but that blew his expectations out of the water. Applin must be really special for her to have a reaction that extreme.
“Good job ex champ!” Drayton slid over and rested his arm over Kieran’s shoulders. “Pretty smooth! Never say the Drayster doesn’t have your back!”
“I-I mean I guess. I just don’t know why she got that excited for an applin…”
Drayton chuckled. “Oh don’t worry too much about that. Just go with the flow and enjoy things! We’ve been waiting for you two to finally do this for months.”
Kieran finally swatted away Drayton’s arm and turned to him. “Do what exactly?” He couldn’t help but feel like he had fallen into another one of Drayton’s schemes without realizing it, like a cutiefly stuck in a galvantua web.
Drayton’s sleazy smile only confirmed he had a right to be afraid. “Like I said, don’t worry about it. Just have fun and be happy.”
_______________________________________
Kieran slept relatively well that night, in spite of all of his nerves from knowing Juliana had wanted to talk to him about something today. Maybe it had something to do with the applin? At least he knew it had to be something positive, considering her over the top reaction to the Pokemon yesterday.
Him and his new Sprigatito were getting along well. He had elected to nickname her mint, and had even introduced her to his team. He considered adding her to his team once she was fully grown, though he wasn’t sure if she would fit in. He would keep his current team for now, and consider adding Mint if he needed a shakeup.
He reminisced on the past few months fondly. While his time as Blueberry academies resident tyrant wasn’t exactly a fond memory, the following months had been positive. With the help of Juliana he had managed to turn himself around for the better.
He had friends now, the elite four (barring drayton) were good people who looked past his temper tantrum to meet the real him. He reached out to everyone he had kicked out of the League club and apologized, and while they weren’t all receptive or forgiving, he had managed to make it up to a lot of them. They had rejoined the league club and he could confidently say he was on friendly terms with most of their members.
And then of course Juliana. He felt like such an idiot for ever holding her in such a negative light. He had coveted her strength for so long that he looked past what made her truly special, her kindness.
He was proud to say he was making strides to be more like her in that regard. He wasn’t obsessive training or pushing himself anymore, he was just trying his best to be the kind reliable trainer she was. He didn’t need to be her, or even be as strong as her, and he felt much more confident in himself after he came to that conclusion.
He smiled as he finished putting on his school uniform. He was so glad Juliana had given him chance after chance when he was so determined on ruining everything again and again.
He was glad that his applin had brought her such joy, and he was looking forward to whatever Juliana had been planning to talk to him about yesterday.
_______________________________________
Kieran figured if Juliana were anywhere, she might be in the Leauge club room. She spent her weekends either hanging out in the club room or out in the terrarium, and he doubted he would find her out in the vast artificial ecosystem.
He was happy that the room no longer quieted when he entered. Whether that was because he had turned the school's opinion on him around or just because people knew he didn’t have the power to punish anyone he wanted he didn’t know, but he was glad the student body at least didn’t fear him either way anymore.
He looked around the room, spotting Drayton lazing about in his usual spot at the table, and Carmine. She noticed him as soon as he did, her eyes lighting up. She immediately made her way over to him.
Instantly assuming he had done something to earn her ire, he opened his mouth to immediately defend himself, though his elder sister cut him off by placing her hands on his shoulders and staring him in the eyes.
A smile suddenly broke out on her face as she pulled him into an embrace. “Took you long enough Kiki! You and Juliana have been so obvious forever! She told me about the Applin, smooth!”
“H-huh?” Kieran questioned, looking up at Carmine's smiling face. She seemed to play off his confusion as embarrassment.
“I’m happy for you and Juliana, you’ve both come so far. I’m glad you two managed to work everything out.”
Kieran was happy, but confused. He certainly hadn’t done anything recently to deserve an emotional reaction such as this. Between this and Juliana’s reaction to his trade he must be doing something right recently.
Carmine gave him a small, content smile. “I’m proud of you Kieran. I’m proud to call you my little brother.”
Kieran gaped like a magikarp. He knew Carmine loved him and who he was, but hearing it always warmed his heart. Especially after she had to watch him go through his emo phase, so knowing she could look at him and be proud despite it all filled him with his own sense of pride.
“Anyways I’ll get out of your hair. Juliana asked me to text her if I saw you, so I’ll tell her your here, ok?”
Kieran nodded wordlessly as Carmine ruffled his hair, pulling an exasperated ‘hey’ from him as she merely chuckled.
“Uh… thanks Carmine.” He wasn’t quite sure what exactly brought this about, but he would never say no to Carmine not teasing him.
Carmine nodded as she pocketed her phone, presumably having texted Juliana Kieran’s location. “You treat her right ok?”
Kieran tilted his head. “You mean Juliana? Of course I will, I promised I’d be better.”
Carmine almost appeared teary eyed. “Ugh, I gotta go before all these emotions get the better of me. I’m just so happy for you!” After one last proud look, she finally departed.
Kieran rubbed the back of his head. At least he was sure he was doing something right, even if he wasn’t sure what that was.
It didn’t take long for Juliana to show up after, Kieran occupied his time by sitting around and doing nothing, rather productive if he had to say himself. His attention was quickly focused on Juliana the moment she entered.
She was dressed in a rather adorable green sweater with yellow floral patterns. The sweater exposed her shoulders, revealing a stark white undershirt. She had a long skirt to complete the outfit.
Kieran floundered wordlessly for a moment, only due to the fact that he had never seen Juliana in anything other than school clothing and for no other reason of course.
The only thing livelier than Juliana’s clothes was her disposition, she was positively beaming. It made Kieran’s heart stutter. “Kieran! There you are!”
“H-hey Juliana!” He waved her over as she approached, giggling all the while. He hoped she wasn’t laughing at him.
“So… I was thinking we could have that picnic today! Then we could discuss things, and have a nice day out!”
Kieran nodded. “Sure, sounds like fun! Do you want me to get changed? I feel a little underdressed…”
Truthfully Kieran didn’t own much clothing besides his school outfits, though he was sure he could scrounge something up for Juliana. He felt a desire to look as good as he could when around her.
Juliana shook her head. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. You didn’t know we’d be doing anything today, so it’s all good.”
“Still, you look amazin’ like that, I feel like I should at least put a little effort into my clothes…”
Juliana’s face turned crimson. “H-haha… thanks Kieran. Y-you also look good!”
Kieran huffed. “Yeah but I’m just in school clothes. And Carmine said I look all edgy with my hair up like this…”
Juliana shook her head, brushing his stray bang to get a better look of his face. “You look good in anything. And I like your hair up, you look cute with it tied up!”
“C-cute?!” Kieran didn’t think anything about him was cute, especially when his sis and Drayton made fun of his hair for being all edgy. “I-I’m not cute!”
“Oh I’m sorry, do you prefer something else?” Juliana pulled her hand away as if burned.
‘Great, way to go Kieran, ruining everything just like you always do.’ Kieran grit his teeth. ‘No, no more thinking like that. You just gotta talk, you haven’t ruined anything.’
Kieran gently grabbed Juliana’s hand, grip loose enough so she could pull away whenever she wanted. “No, it’s ok. I’m just not used to people saying stuff like that to me. I… I like hearing you call me that.”
Juliana’s eyes widened, but a smile quickly broke out on her face. “Ok, well you’ll be hearing it a lot more if that’s the case!”
Juliana, much to his surprise, gripped onto his hand tighter, as if telling him that she absolutely did not want to let go, and took her place beside him. “Well, wanna head out to that picnic now? I’ve got a great place in the costal biome picked out!”
Kieran nodded, not trusting his own voice, letting Juliana pull him along to their destination.
A bit after the two had left and no one else was left present in the club room, Drayton opened a single eye, a sly grin forming on his face. Looks like everything was going to plan.
He had felt a little bad for using Juliana to knock Kieran down a few pegs, and while she may have been too kind to hold him accountable for that, he might as well try to return the favor. And if that favor also ensured Kieran’s happiness so he never had a repeat of his tyrannical reign? Well that was just a cherry on top.
_______________________________________
Kieran had to admit, Juliana knew what she was talking about when it came to good picnic spots. She had led him to an elevated cliff side on the coastal biome, out of the way from students and overlooking the ocean, it was perfect.
Juliana was currently making the sandwiches for their Pokemon, so he helped by setting up the table. He was also on Koraidon monitoring duty, which entailed ensuring the oversized lizard didn’t sneak up and start gobbling up the sandwiches Juliana had made for all of their Pokemon.
“Alright, all done!” Juliana finally finished the last sandwich. “Let me tell you, if I thought making sandwiches for seven Pokemon with widely different tastes was time consuming, thirteen is even worse!”
“Sorry about that.” Kieran said abashedly. “It’s even worse with my Pokemon, since they’re all so picky.”
Juliana waved him off. “It’s not a big deal. Arven had me babysit his Pokemon once, and his are even worse. He’s such a good cook and spoils them all with the best meals, so my paltry sandwiches pale in comparison.”
Kieran frowned. “Your sandwiches are great! I’d take them over anything Arven could make.”
Juliana rolled her eyes. “Kieran, Arven is studying to be a chef, he’s set to start working at the best restaurants in all of Paldea.”
“Still, you put so much love into all your sandwiches that no other food can compare.”
Juliana played with her braid, unable to meet his eyes. “Heh… thanks Kieran.”
Kieran was about to say something else, though stopped when Juliana’s eyes widened. “No, Koraidon stop! Those are for everyone!”
Kieran looked over just in time to spot Juliana’s mount Pokemon inhaling every sandwich it could quickly gulp down.
Looks like he ended up failing on Koraidon monitoring duty.
_______________________________________
Once Juliana had finished making an entire new batch of sandwiches, the two trainers and their teams could finally enjoy their meals.
Kieran glanced around, glad to see how well their teams were getting along. He had trained this team with the sole intention of battling, so after he calmed down it had taken some time for his Pokemon to adjust to the calmer atmosphere as opposed to their former schedule, which involved non stop training and battles.
He felt awful about it, though he could at least be assured that his Pokemon did genuinely love battling and the strength he helped them achieve. Now he let them enjoy life and have fun battling, just like he did.
He turned his attention back once he felt a tugging on his jacket, looking down next to him to see Ogerpon pulling on it. If you had told him a year ago that he would be friends with the Ogre he wouldn’t have believed you. But here he was, sitting right next to her while she pulled on his and Juliana’s shirts to get their attention.
“What’s up Ogerpon?” Juliana asked, letting the grass pokemon grab her hand. She reached over and grabbed Kieran’s hand as well, holding on to both of them.
“Aww, she just wants to hold hands.” Kieran was glad Ogerpon was friendly with him. He really hadn’t treated her right, but all she ever saw was the kind boy who helped convince Kitakami that she wasn’t the villain of her own story. The ogre really was way too nice for him, similar to Juliana in that regard.
Eventually, Ogerpon spotted something that interested her and shot off like a rocket, leaving Kieran and Juliana to laugh at her excitement.
“So, how’s Sprigatito?” Juliana asked, turning to look at him.
“Great! I named her mint, and the team really likes her! I’m thinking of making some sort of strategy around her, though I’d probably switch her back and forth with another team member. I wouldn’t want anyone to feel left out.”
“That’s fair, I never like to replace Pokemon on my team for long. I don’t want any of them to feel lonely.”
Kieran nodded in agreement. “How’s Applin?”
“He’s great! Next time I visit Kitakami we should pick up a syrupy apple, I could match your hydrapple!”
“For sure!” Kieran was more focused on the assurance that Juliana would visit Kitakami again in the future. “Maybe you and the others could come visit for the next festival of masks? I think they’re plannin’ on makin’ it more accurate and featurin’ Ogerpon in a more positive light.”
Juliana nodded enthusiastically. “Sure! Though, maybe this time we could just go… alone, just the two of us?”
“S-sure!” Kieran’s heart skipped a beat. “That’ll probably be easier on my wallet as well. I spent a bit too much to send you and your friends tickets to Kitakami…”
“I can buy my tickets this time. It was sweet of you to buy us tickets the first time.” Juliana’s face turned a little red. “If you want, I could repay you by sending you tickets to Paldea over the summer? I’d love to show you around!”
“Y-you want me to come to Paldea?!” Kieran always figured Juliana would be content to lose contact after she had solved all of his issues. He didn't understand why she would want to stick around longer than she had to.
“Of course, then you could meet my mom! Plus everyone would love to see you again! Nemona has been studying double battles just for your rematch!”
“Oh Wowzers.” Kieran still wasn’t used to people actually liking him around. “It’s a plan then!”
“Speaking of…” Juliana cleared her throat. “I was thinking of catching the ferry into the mainland tomorrow, maybe we could go to a restaurant for a date! Unless you had something else planned.”
“Oh I didn’t have anything in mind. I’d love to-” Kieran’s mind caught up with exactly what Juliana said longer than it should have, short circuiting him. Juliana seemingly didn’t notice.
“Great! Lacey was telling me about this really cute restaurant, and-” Kieran couldn’t really pay attention to anything else Juliana said, much as he tried. His poor brain was still fried from one single word.
‘Date.’
_______________________________________
Juliana waved him away hours later, telling him how much fun she had throughout the day. He waved back wordlessly, still stuck on one single word.
The moment Juliana disappeared around a corner Kieran rushed over to the one person he trusted enough to talk to about these sorts of things.
That’s how Kieran found himself banging away on Carmine's door, desperate for her advice at the moment.
Carmine opened the door with an exasperated expression. “I swear to Arceus Kiki if the world isn’t ending-”
Kieran pushed past her into the room. “I need to talk to you.”
“I got that.” Carmine rolled her eyes. “What’s up? You didn’t screw anything up did you?”
“I- no? Maybe, I don’t know!” Kieran was beginning to panic, so Carmine helped ground him by gripping his shoulders.
“Breath Kiki, what’s up?”
Kieran took a few deep breaths in and out, just like he practiced. “Alright, I’m ok now.”
“Now. What’s up?”
Kieran took a seat at Carmine’s desk. “So, Juliana asked me on a date.”
“… ok? I kinda figured you’d two would be going out after you gave her an Applin.”
Kieran sputtered. “What would that have to do with anything?!”
Carmine settled down on her bed opposite of him. “You know, trading an Applin as a love confession? The old Galar tradition where it’s like, a promise to stay with someone forever or something like that?”
Kieran’s face blazed quickly through every shade of red as he comprehended what Carmine was telling him. He sputtered out a few very intelligent phrases.
“Wait so you weren’t confessing to her?! Why’d you trade her an Applin?!”
“Drayton told me to!” Kieran groaned. “He told me it had ‘special significance’ to Juliana!”
“That toothpaste haired bozo…” Carmine grumbled several obscenities under her breath. “Ok, well either way it’s fine. It might not have been what you intended, but it’s fine.”
“It’s fine?!” Kieran parroted. “What do you mean it’s fine?! I don’t know what I’m gonna do?!”
“Go out with Juliana?” Carmine was much too calm about this for Kieran’s liking. “I meant what I said, it was a smooth way to ask her out. Might as well roll with it.”
“But I don’t like Juliana! And she definitely doesn’t like me!”
Carmine gave him the most deadpan stare he had seen his older sister give anyone in his entire life. “Really? That’s what your worried about?”
“Yes!” If Kieran wasn’t so genuinely distressed Carmine would be laughing hysterically at him.
“Do you really think you don’t like her? She was all you could talk about when we first met her in Kitakami. And you two have been practically glued to the hip ever since she knocked you out of her funk.”
Kieran blushed. “I-i don’t know what you're talking about. B-besides, it’s not like she would ever like me anyways.”
“Kiki, she's head over heels for you.” Carmine huffed out. “I mean it, she couldn’t make her crush any more obvious if she tried.”
“T-there’s no way!” Kieran curled up on himself. “S-she probably just feels bad. I’m the weird obsessive kid who held a grudge against her for months and was a massive jerk to her. Nobody would like me after seeing that display. Not to mention…”
“What?” Carmine's voice took on a displeased edge.
Kieran gestured vaguely to his whole self. “Y-you know what Carmine. I-I’m not even a real…”
Carmine shot up from her bed and crouched down to his level. “No, don’t you even start. You are my brother, you got that?”
Kieran didn’t respond so she doubled down. “I want to hear you say it Kiki.”
“I-I’m your brother.” Kieran sniffled, on the verge of tears. Carmine rubbed at his glassy eyes.
“Damn straight. So I don’t want you saying any fake crap like that again ok? And Juliana sure as hell doesn’t care about all of that. You remember how happy you were when you told her about that and she accepted you instantly? That’s the kind of girl Juliana is.”
He did remember that, quite vividly. The easygoing smile on the brown haired girls face as she immediately accepted who he was and changed what she called him without issue. He was so scared he was about to ruin his first real friendship, but then she accepted who he was without any difficulty. It was that moment that he truly fell for her.
“Listen Kiki, I technically shouldn’t be telling you this, girl talk and all that, but since Juliana thinks you two are already dating I think it’s fair game. She likes you. Told me herself.”
Kieran had to double take, wiping away the last tears in his eyes. “R-really?”
Carmine nodded. “Yup, I was her confidant for that kind of thing. She used to gush about you. Plus, why else would she accept that Applin and ask you out?”
Kieran looked away sheepishly, realizing that he had panicked over nothing. “I guess it was pretty obvious…”
Carmine chuckled. “But what about you Kiki? How do you feel about Juliana?”
Wasn’t that the question. He had never thought about it too deeply, any feelings he experienced for Juliana were also the first he felt for a friend at all, not having any since her. Were his emotions romantic or platonic? He never really had any friendships as close as theirs, so he had nothing to compare his feelings too.
“I-I’m not sure.” He eventually conceded. “I really looked up to her when we first met, I wanted to be just like her. I thought that meant being as strong as her, but it took me a while to realize that I just wanted to be as dependable and kind as her. I didn’t want to beat or surpass her, I just wanted to be someone that people could rely on, and I wanted to be someone Juliana could trust. I wanted to be a wall she could lean on when she was tired, someone who could stand side by side with her. I guess I just want to be by her side, forever if she’d let me.” Kieran’s eyes widened. “Oh.”
Carmine grinned. “I think you got your answer Kiki.”
_______________________________________
Kieran was waiting at the ferry, note in hand waiting for Juliana to arrive. Camine passed along the time Juliana wanted to head out for their date, and he had made sure to get there a few minutes early to mentally prepare himself.
It really shouldn’t be that nerve wracking, he had technically already asked her out, and she had said yes! He knew what her response would be, and yet his heart was still racing.
He had to get himself together, make sure he did this right. Juliana deserved only the best.
“Kieran!” Speaking of.
Kieran turned to spot Juliana practically skipping down to him. Kieran could swear she left rose petals in her wake. She was dressed a bit more practically today, jeans and a simpler green sweater, likely due to the fact they’d be walking around much more today as compared to yesterday.
Kieran also made sure to dress up a bit more than usual. He was wearing a blue hoodie with gold highlights, and white shorts similar to his blueberry league attire. He had even managed to brush his unruly hair into a somewhat decent shape, despite that one lock that always pulled itself back up front and in his face. He just gave up on that strand and told himself it added a bit of charm to the hairstyle.
“Hey Juliana! You look great!” He hid the note behind his back.
“Thanks, you do too! I like the hoodie.” She complimented. He was glad he wasn’t as poorly dressed as yesterday.
“Well, ready to set off! I think the ferry is supposed to leave in about ten minutes.” Juliana was already making her way to the boat, stopped by a gentle hand on her wrist.
“H-hold on a sec?” He asked, prompting Juliana to confusedly nod. “I’ve got something I want to say first.”
“Ok, shoot.”
“So, about the Applin I traded you.” Kieran took in a breath. “I didn’t know about the whole using an Applin to ask someone out thing.”
Juliana tilted her head. “Wait seriously? I guess that’s not a thing in Kitakami huh?” Juliana paled rapidly. “Wait, if you didn’t…”
Juliana began to hyperventilate. “Oh Arceus Kieran I’m so sorry! I just assumed you knew, it’s a super popular way to ask people out, but now I screwed up everything-”
“W-wait hold on Juliana!” Kieran held a hand out, stopping her spiral. “Here. This is for you.” He reached out with his other hand, presenting her with the note.
“W-what’s this?”
“Just read it. It’ll explain everything.” Kieran promised.
Juliana nodded and opened the seal, wiping away the forming tears so she could read properly.
‘Dear Juliana,
I’m not quite doing this right, since I kinda already asked you out with the applin, but I wanted to make sure I did this the best I can.
I can’t express how thankful I am to you. For giving me chance after chance after chance no matter how many times I screwed up and was a jerk to you. Your kindness and patience are your greatest virtues.
You give people so much, and never ask for anything in return. Carmine told me people gave Applin as a way to wish they could spend the rest of their lives with someone, and I really wish I could spend the rest of mine with someone as amazing as you.
Even if I accidentally already asked, I wanted to purposefully ask this time, cause that’s just how important you are to me.
So Juliana, would you go out with me?’
Juliana sniffled. “You should have led with that, you jerk! I thought you didn’t like me!”
“S-sorry! I just wanted to clear everythin’ up!” Kieran defended himself. “C-can ya forgive me?”
Juliana huffed playfully. “Hmm… only if you tell me how you feel about me.”
Kieran blushed. “D-didn’t you already get that from the note?”
Juliana smiled slyly. “I just wanna make sure there are absolutely no misunderstandings this time.”
Kieran gulped. “A-alright. I… I like you Juliana. Like, really really like you.”
“Hmm… one more time.”
“I like you!” Kieran exclaimed rather loudly, attracting the attention from a few passersby.
Juliana laughed. “Good. Cause I really like you too.”
_______________________________________
Drayton was rudely awoken by something slamming down hard onto the table he was napping at.
The dragon tamer lazily raised his head up to spot a livid Carmine towering over him. “Sup, what can the drayster do for you?”
“Don’t play dumb with me bozo!” Carmine exclaimed. “You know what you did. Why are you messing with Kiki again?”
“Messing? Whatever could you be talking about?” Drayton let a lazy grin slide onto his face, unable to fully hide his amusement.
“Ugh you know what I mean! You made him trade and Applin with Juliana when he didn’t even know what it meant! You know how sheltered he is!”
“Oh he didn’t know? Huh, color me surprised.”
“Ugh, you-”
“Come on Carmine, those two have been dancing around each other for months. Something had to be done.” Drayton leaned back in his chair. “It’ll all work out in the end, trust me.”
Just as she was about to argue, her attention was pulled away by someone entering the room. Two someone’s to be exact.
Kieran and Juliana had evidently returned from their date. They were holding hands and giggling to themselves, faces lit up like Christmas trees.
Carmine bit back some scathing remark she had for Drayton and smiled softly, looking at her younger brother with pride evident in her eyes.
Dayton settled back down into his crossed arms. “Looks like everything worked out, just like I said it would.”