~ ✰ ⋆ ☽ ⋆ ✰ ~
"darling~! we have guests over! could you come out and help me with dinner please?"
a lock clicking resounded through the mostly empty room, a pre-teen rising from the desk chair they had resided in.
"of course, mother! one moment, please!"
they responded to their mother, who was surely waiting impatiently behind the closed door.
silver slipped on their house shoes and tied their long black hair up with a pristine white ribbon before finally opening the door, seeing exactly who they had expected.
"hurry up! these are very important business partners, and if i lose this deal because of you i will be extremely upset! let's go."
the statement was harshly whispered into their ear as they were gripped tightly by the shoulder and led into the kitchen.
the outfit they wore was essentially their school uniform except in monochrome instead of a deep navy; the white collared shirt underneath the argile patterned vest they wore complimented the pleated skirt that clung to their waist, the look being finished off with some fleece lined tights and shiny new mary janes partially covered by their white leg warmers. it had been getting colder recently.
under better circumstances, they would have loved the cute yet simple outfit, but after wearing practically the exact same thing for years on end, they began to despise it more and more.
with their back straightened and a tight smile carved into their thin lips, they finally entered the dining area.
"this is my daughter, madilyn! she goes to the same academy as your daughter, sir."
their eyes grazed across the unfamiliar people sitting at the table, the mother and father seeming to look the exact same as the other guests your mother has introduced them to.
the one who caught silver's hazel eyes, however, was a girl in a lovely pink dress.
her hair, similarly to theirs, had been tied up with bows, although into pigtails. her brown hair complimented her lightly tanned skin and green eyes, framing her face in practically the perfect way.
their eyes must have lingered on the girl much too long, as she shyly waved at them from her seat.
their smile softened slightly as they awkwardly waved back, cheeks warming at the acknowledgement.
"so, madilyn, what courses are you taking at the academy?"
they blinked at the mention of their name before meeting the eyes of the father, trying to consistently hold eye contact throughout their answer.
"im taking mostly business-centered classes, sir, although im also dabbling in a few pokémon-health related ones as well."
these classes werent at all the ones they had wanted, and instead were picked by their parents. they had always leaned more towards the artistic classes rather than the more 'practical' ones their parents had insisted on.
"ah, a well rounded schedule! you should convince my dear shauna to take those as well. she insists on being a pokémon performer although that isn't at all a lucritive take in life whatsoever, and can be extremely competitive. i'd much rather she became a trainer or something similar."
"madilyn is actually working to become a professional trainer! would you show them your pokémon, darling?"
their mother's voice was sickly sweet asking the question, and silver nodded before releasing the two pokémon attached to their belt holster and calling for the eevee that had been sleeping in their room.
they each fell into line perfectly, a ghastly, a swablu, and an eevee. the latter two had bows with bells attached adorned on an area of their body, eevee her neck and swablu the base of his tail, a sign that the two of them had a loving trainer.
ghastly, unfortunately, couldn't adorn any accessories, although silver loved him as much as swablu, eevee was naturally their favorite, as she had been their partner since they were a toddler.
"AWW YOU HAVE AN EEVEE? THAT'S SO CUUTE~"
silver jumped at the exclamation from the girl who had stood up in her seat to get a better look at their pokémon. her eyes were sparkling, hands pressed to her cheeks, as she awed at the fox-like pokémon.
"SHAUNA!! what have we told you about volume control? im so sorry about her, we've been trying to put her in behavior-management classes to control her actions."
the mother's cheeks flamed in embarrassment as she scolded her daughter, shauna deflating embarrassedly.
"ah- i-it's okay! i get this reaction from others quite a lot. she is rather cute!"
silver's face brightened at the praise from the girl, and shauna smiled sweetly at them. they returned both ghastly and swablu, leaving eevee out as per usual.
"what were you planning on evolving her into?"
"she's going to evolve it into a glaceon! isn't that right, darling?"
they had actually planned on letting the sweet eevee evolve whenever she would like to and into whatever she would like. that wasn't their choice to make, so they wanted to leave it up to her.
silver had put off evolving eevee for this exact reason; each time their mother would tell them to, they would say they were busy with the copius school work they were assigned, or that the eevee wasn't feeling well.
this had been working for the past few years, but their mother's patience began to run thin. they would need their eevee to evolve by choice soon, or else she would be forced to become something she may not want to be.
"y-yes, mother. would you like me to set the dining table?"
the woman curtly nodded, sickly sweet smile still clinging desperately to her face. she let go of the child's shoulder and gave it a slight pat before lightly shoving them in the direction of the much larger dining area. they swiftly walked inside, eevee following, and shut the large double doors as soon as they were able.
letting out a deep sigh, they grabbed the fancy china that had been set out for the special occasion, and began placing.
after fully setting the table, silver went into the kitchen to check on how the food was coming along. they halfheartedly glanced at the frilly pink apron that hung on the wall, adorning their birth name, stopping to stare at it for a moment silver frowned at it, and kept walking to the kitchen.
the cooks greeted them happily, although nervous. mostly due to their mother's influence.
"how's dinner coming along?"
"very well, miss. should be done in a few minutes."
they nodded curtly and went back into the large dining room, deciding to open the curtains and allow some natural light to flood the room.
soon, the kitchen staff carried the large dishes out to the dining table, and silver's mother as well as the guests flood into the room. she sat at the head of the table, the business man sitting next to her.
their father then walked in from his office which was adjacent the dining room, always working and never allowing anyone to disturb him. he introced himself to the rich couple, and sat down to mother's right, next to the young girl.
this left the only available seat for silver at the other head of the table, right across from their mother and right next to the girl as well.
they flushed lightly as they sat down next to her, offering a shy smile before straightening and placing their hands in their lap, trying not to fidget with their fingers too obviously.
shauna returned the smile, and sat in the chair with a much more laid-back tone. shoulders slightly slumped, hands tucked underneath slim thighs, and eyes wandering the room filled with supposedly expensive works of art.
silver took a deep breath to try and calm their nerves before waiting for the rest of the table to begin eating, watching the business man struggle to refuse their mother's offer, however tempting she made it sound.
eventually, the food was eaten, and the offer accepted. their mother excused them from the table and they happily walked back into their minimalistic room.
soon, however, they heard a knock, and prepared for the worst. the guests must have left by now, they assumed, and they must have done something to upset mother.
"c-come in!"
they gripped the end of their skirt tightly; praying to arceus above that she would go easy on them.
"hi! my parents said i should hang out with you so we can get to know eachother. also i was getting, like, super bored sitting there listening to them talk business and stuff. im shauna!"
thankfully, it had been the young girl from dinner. she smiled sweetly at them, but not in the way their mother smiled. no, this was entirely different. her posture invited them in, seeming relaxed and pleased.
"oh, okay! i-i caught your name before, hah.. um i doubt you remember mine, though so.. im-"
"madilyn, right? your mom talks about you a lot! says you're super smart and always excelling in school. i wish i was that smart..."
she cut them off in a perfectly pleasant way, brightening their mood tenfold. she had complimented them, and remembered their "name"?! wow. they gave her a soft smile.
"thank you. it's nice to meet you, shauna."
~ ✰ ⋆ ☽ ⋆ ✰ ~
waking up crying from a dream about shauna wasn't unusual. in fact, silver dreamt about her most nights, the grief over losing her never really subsiding.
they sat up slowly, sniffling and trying to unclog their now stuffed nose. reaching for the tissues placed conveniently next to their bed, they blew their nose and grabbed a second one to wipe their eyes.
reaching their arms up to the ceiling and stretching, they looked at the small analog clock that sat on a couple old sketchbooks next to their matress;
"7AM...? yuck."
their faced scrunched up at the notion of waking up early for once, and they decided to simply get up now instead of taking a short nap before breakfast and risking feeling grumpy the rest of the day.
standing up on the comfortable matress, they stretched their legs this time before putting on their regular outfit.
a cropped, sleeveless turtleneck that fit them very snugly, a pair of wide, high-waisted gray jeans with star shaped pieces of fabric sewn on and a few large rips, a belt to hold their pokemon, and finally, their infamous letterman jacket. this jacket had been the first gift they ever received from guzma, and they decorated it accordingly.
two button-pins adorned the front right side, one being the non-binary flag and the other simply being kirby. on the left, a metal pin shaped into the team skull logo, as well as a metal rectangle with their name plastered onto it. and finally, on the back, a large, felt S had been ironed onto the fabric, clearly standing for the first letter of their name.
putting on their fishnets and some black combat boots, they were finally ready to leave their room. picking up espeon, they walked out into the surprisingly deserted hallway, not a single grunt in sight.
locking the door behind them, they set down the stairs, their destination being the kitchen.
this room was empty as well, and they were surprised that not even guzma had awoken yet. peaking into the fridge, they saw several items; some being a little too far past their expiration date and many that were perfect for exactly what they were craving that morning.
they decided to put their plan into motion: operation family omelette breakfast was a go!
let's just hope silver doesnt screw anything up.