That Summer | Raihan x Piers [Pokémon]

Chapter 16 ❀ Awkward Invitation

"Hey Piers. It's been a while."

And a long while it truly had been. Piers couldn't remember the last time he had heard Raihan's voice. Compared to then, it was expectedly deeper and somewhat hoarser. Having to look up in order to meet the other's gracious turquoise orbs wasn't anything new, but he had gotten so much taller — it was quite impressive to see in person from up close.

"Yeah..." The pale young man replied, averting his gaze as he nervously scratched the side of his head. His Gym Trainers all remained quiet and were a tad dumbfounded to witness their boss acting so out of character. They hadn't known him six years ago, so the only side of Piers they ever really got to see was the passionate singer at his concerts.

"What are you doing here? I thought you didn't come to the opening ceremony." Raihan asked somewhat awkwardly, not used to the silent treatment the other was giving him. Of course, it was understandable, but on the other hand the caramel-skinned male felt almost embarrassed when it seemed like he was the only one who was excited about their coincidental yet fateful reunion.

"Well, I have my reasons. I had somethin' to take care of around here, so I dropped by." The cyan-eyed young man countered, lying through his teeth and hoping his underlings would catch on without ratting him out. They did seem to understand that their boss was trying to hide something from the dragon-type Gym Leader, at least enough as to not involve themselves.

Raihan felt a bit stupid for having drawn that answer out of the shorter individual. Of course Piers had his reasons for not coming here — he was the reason why the spiky-head had refused to show up in Motostoke every year until now. Silence befell them, or at least so much that the only sounds surrounding them were the chatter of people who walked past them.

The taller male had approached Piers, but now that they actually stood face-to-face, it was so much harder to talk than he had originally thought. His mind seemed to have blacked out, and even if he did find the words he wanted to tell the shorter man, the lump in his throat just wouldn't allow them to be voiced.

He had to do something quickly though, otherwise Piers would get on his train and leave, return to Spikemuth and never show himself again. Raihan had finally gotten ahold of him, and he wasn't about to let such a golden opportunity slip right through his fingers. He could feel eyes drilling holes into the back of his head, and that's when it dawned him: He had been here with Nessa, Sonia and Bea before running off, and speaking of them...

"Since you're already here, I wanted to ask you if you'd like to come to the get-together tomorrow evening." Raihan finally spoke, fiddling with his orange hairband the instant he felt Piers' cyan eyes back on him. The shorter male was quite visibly surprised and confused as to why he would get an invitation when he had been anything else but friendly towards his fellow Gym Leaders.

"Us Gym Leaders always go out for drinks after the ceremony, so I thought it'd be nice if you joined us once. The others are all worried about you." The taller individual continued, not sure if he was speaking the entire truth or if he was desperately trying to get Piers to say yes. He did remember Kabu asking about Piers once, so his conscience was reassured a tad.

"Um, will the others really be fine if I come? I'm not exactly close with any of 'em." The spiky-haired young man countered, not wanting to hit Raihan with a blunt 'no' but obviously not wanting to go to the meeting either. He was certain that by saying those things, he'd play it the safest and perhaps manage to talk himself out of his current situation.

"Of course! Kabu, Melony and Opal can't wait to see you again!" Assuming that the latter's vague reply was indicating that the slim male was actually considering it gave Raihan hope. Piers didn't exactly know how to feel about older people looking forward to meeting him again, but he later figured out that the reason behind that was that all three mentioned individuals used to already be Gym Leaders back when he had battled them during his Gym Challenge.