📚Lost at sea

Yuuto meets someone familiar that he’s never met.

Characters: Yuuto, Jess, Kenjiro

Warnings: Heavy drinking/alcohol usage, irresponsible drunkeness

Wordcount: 2,466

Vibe: Funky altered reality but heartfelt

Original AN:

character interaction thing between jess and yuuto

i wrote this at like 1 am so if it doesnt make sense dw about it

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Yuuto slammed down his drink.

“Ah ha, I guess I could tolerate dinner with you for one more night!” he said, obviously a bit inebriated.

It had been a while since Yuuto and Kenjiro had properly hung out together, not since the incident, at least. But Yuuto was living in Olivine full-time now, and Kenjiro had thought it would be nice to invite his old friend to dinner.

So there they sat, in Kenjiro’s crowded kitchen slash dining room, eating and drinking late into the night. Mostly drinking.

“See, I knew I remembered you liked how I grilled magikarp. It’s all I can seem to fish up nowadays, good to get some use out of those dang things.” Kenjiro replied, taking a final sip out of his nearly empty glass. He set it back down on the old wooden table with a clink, but kept his hand on the glass.

“I can give it to you, that’s one thing you don’t screw up half the time” Yuuto said, letting out a chuckle. Kenjiro looked playfully offended and went to check the fridge for more alcohol as Yuuto finished eating.

It had been like this between the two forever. There was no harm done in it, and the two seemed to enjoy exchanging playfully catty quips with each other. The two of them had been hardened by time, and it was of the least of their worries to take hits at the other’s ego.

“Dawhh, shit,” Kenjiro said as he rifled through his small fridge.

“What is it, Ken?” Yuuto asked, finishing his drink off as well.

“I haven’t been to the store in a while… I’m all out, sorry bro.” Kenjiro said, referring to the lack of any more alcoholic beverages in his fridge.

“That’s a shame, but I think I’m sober enough to get home by myself.” Yuuto said, scooting out of his chair and preparing to move to grab his coat and make a swift exit, but he was stopped by Kenjiro’s hand on his shoulder.

“Dude, I have a better idea. Have you seen the stars out at sea around here?”

“What?”

“What I mean is why don’t you come with me, and we can get some fresh air on the boat. It’ll be great!” Kenjiro said, practically annunciating his words with hand gestures.

“No way, we’re both probably drunk and we’re going to get our asses arrested or drowned. Or both. I’d hate for the first time you see my husband to be when a junior lieutenant brings us to his doorstep for drunk boating.”

“C’mon, I wasn’t gonna take us that far out on the water! Plus, look, I’ll bring Aoi! If you fall in the water, I get to laugh at you, and she’ll rescue ya! It’s a win-win!” Kenjiro said with a laugh.

Yuuto rubbed his temples a bit.

“Ken, you… are a beacon of poor decisions. So I say, whatever, I guess I’ll look at the stars with you. It’s not the dumbest thing I’ve done.”

Kenjiro grabbed his fist in a triumphant pose.

“Knew I’d convince ya!” he turned over to his sleeping pokemon, a large feraligatr with a bullet scar in it’s chest. “C’mon Aoi, we’re goin’ for a boat ride!”

Upon hearing the words ‘boat ride’, Aoi, who had been sleeping peacefully as the men drank the night away, quickly awoke. She blinked and yawned, before stretching and getting up, happily wiggling and nearly knocking over knick-knacks that Kenjiro had lined up on various shelves.

Yuuto sighed as the three of them left Kenjiro’s small house. He got his coat and scarf on, and headed out into the sweet spring’s night air.

Kenjiro’s house was right on the docks, with his boat parked right nearby. The old porchlight of Ken’s house buzzed and flickered as the two friends made their way to the boat – Aoi having already excitedly dived into the water. Despite the amount of alcohol he had consumed, Kenjiro was easily able to jump onto the repaired fishing boat, and had to help Yuuto up in the dark.

As the bug pokemon chirped in the darkness, the friends were off. Kenjiro seemed to be fairly adept at piloting the boat in his current state, though it could’ve been due to Aoi’s help underwater – Yuuto couldn’t tell.

“You look like you’ve done this while drunk before. Please tell me this isn’t a normal occurrence for you.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it!”

“I AM worrying about it, Ken.”

“Worry about it… less, then?”

There was some silence between the two, then nothing. Kenjiro went back to piloting the boat, and Yuuto found a seat outside the cabin of the boat. The salty wind blew through his hair, slightly chilling. As he readjusted his scarf, Yuuto looked up, and found himself in awe.

Kenjiro was right; he thought, looking up to the stars. They were as clear as day, and clusters and galaxies dappled themselves across the night’s sky. Blues, purples, pinks, all un-disrupted by light pollution and existing in their full glory. It seems Kenjiro had noticed too, as he had stopped the boat and exited the cabin, looking up towards the sky as well.

Suddenly, a woman’s voice called out.

“Hey! You two! What are you doing out here at this hour?”

Kenjiro made a screeching noise, and Yuuto just felt himself jump at the unexpected noise. His first thought was that it was the coast guard, but he visibly panicked more when he saw the woman was on the boat.

Kenjiro felt around in the dark for something, and found a coffee mug he had laying around. He snatched it, and held it in a defensive position between him, Yuuto, and the mysterious woman.

“Don’t come any closer!! Tell me how the HELL you got on this boat without me noticing!” he said, stumbling over his words in a drunken matter.

“Haha… what?” the woman said as she eyed Kenjiro up and down, looking confused.

She was wearing a beachy-print shirt, a tank top, and shorts, and obviously didn’t seem to mind the cold. For a moment, there was silence. Yuuto somehow felt like he had overcome all of his inebriation, blinked a bit – feeling more awake. He leaned to look past Kenjiro and at the woman, and while it was dark, he couldn’t help but feel like he had seen her before.

But that’s impossible, right?; he thought. She’s speaking in a thick Alolan accent. The only other person from Alola I know is-

Yuuto’s thought process was cut off by the woman’s waving to get his attention.

“Hey! You there! I’ve been looking for you!” she said, as Yuuto was able to make out her smiling brightly as his eyes adjusted to the dark.

Kenjiro was about to say something, but the woman didn’t wait and pushed past him and grabbed Yuuto’s hands.

Suddenly, the world around Yuuto vanished, and the sea turned into the starry sky above. The woman pulled Yuuto up from his sitting position, then let go of his hands and stepped back a bit. It had become brighter, and as Yuuto was able to take a good look at the woman, he finally realized who she was.

Jesminder.

She looked just like the pictures, only brighter – which certainly must’ve been in part because of how happy she was to see him.

Yuuto stood idly by, in complete shock. He wasn’t entirely sure if he was dreaming or drowning or in some sort of ghastly haunting. Jess just looked at him, confused.

“Hey, you alright, dude? You look like you just saw a ghost or something.”

“I… uhm…” was all Yuuto could mutter out, still trying to take in the sudden mystical change in surroundings and the woman standing in front of him.

“Well, I guess this was a bit sudden and awkward, but I wasn’t expecting you to come right on through on your friend’s dingy at this time of night – I just had to take my chance!”

“Yeah, uh, uh-huh…” Yuuto muttered. He just about felt like checking his pulse to make sure he wasn’t dead.

There was a moment of silence before Jess shrugged and stuck her hand out to Yuuto, as if offering a handshake. Hesitantly. Yuuto returned it, and Jess closed her eyes in a smile.

“Name’s Jess, though I figured by your reaction you already know who I am.”

“I’m Yuu-” he started saying, but was cut off.

“Oh, I already know plenty about you! I’ve been watching you – I uh, hope that doesn’t come off as creepy at all.”

“Not really. That’d be the least weird thing here, honestly.”

Jess let out a snicker.

“I suppose so! Well, why don’t we take a seat, and we can catch up a bit?”

Yuuto looked down, reminding himself that he was standing on what looked like an infinite abyss, which made him a bit dizzy, causing him to catch his balance. Jess picked up on his discomfort and spoke up.

“Hey, I get it! It’s a bit weird the first time around.” Jess paused and looked around.

“Look, I know! Yuuto, have you ever tried dancing before?”

“I… can’t say I have, no.”

“Well, there’s nothing like the present! C’mon, I’ll get you going!”

Jess reached out her hand to Yuuto, who hesitantly grabbed it, having not entirely processed the situation still.

Jess pulled him closer and stepped back rhythmically, expecting him to catch on and do the same, but Yuuto just awkwardly stumbled.

“Wow, ok, let’s start from the top, then,” she said, letting go of Yuuto’s hand and stepping back a bit.

“Let’s go from here – just try and copy how I move, alright?”

“Alright, I’ll try.” Yuuto said with a cautious smile.

With that, Jess gave Yuuto a smile and started moving slowly, so Yuuto could follow along. And so he did, mimicking Jess’s movements, and slowly picking up the pace as she started dancing faster.

Eventually, Jess stopped moving, and began clapping her hands rhythmically, repeating ‘1, 2, 3’ after herself. Yuuto got what she was trying to do, and continued trying to dance to the beat she had created. He seemed to pick up on it fairly well, and in what felt like no time, he continued dancing around the starscape without Jess’s assistance.

After a period of just dancing, Jess stopped clapping and moved over to Yuuto, catching his hands while they were in the air.

“Now, why don’t we pick up where we left off? Let’s catch up.” she said, extending her arm out to Yuuto once more.

And once again, Yuuto grabbed her hand, but he seemed more confident this time. As Jess pulled him in towards her, Yuuto stepped in time with the rhythm he had created in his head, and in no time the two were dancing together among the stars.

But they weren’t just dancing – no, they had some catching up to do. Jess told Yuuto a little more about herself and who she was, and Yuuto gave her updates of what had been happening in his life – admittedly, he found it a bit strange to refer to Diego as his husband around Jess, but she just laughed it off and told him it was alright. In fact, Jess thanked Yuuto – while watching, she wasn’t quite sure what Diego would do without him.

“I suppose I wouldn’t know either, but he’s truly a wonderful person.” Yuuto said, his pace slowing a tad.

“Which reminds me, actually, he’s been doing a lot better since Basil… ‘came back’.”

Jess stopped, and looked at Yuuto with a dumbfounded expression.

“What do you mean… ‘came back’…?”

Yuuto stopped dancing as well, and realized what he just said was a bit hard to take at face value. He sighed, and looked around.

“I guess… it’s a long story…” he said. Yuuto had become familiar enough with this strange astral plane he was in that he felt comfortable sitting on the ground, which felt warm. He motioned for Jess to come join him, and she quickly followed in suit.

So, the two sat there, and Yuuto explained the odd situation surrounding Basil. How he was convinced they had died until they mysteriously appeared in the kitchen one day. He mentioned how they missed Jess a lot, and Jess’s expression saddened.

“There’s… nothing I can really do, but it hurts so much knowing how they miss me.” she said, moving to lay on the ground, looking up at the stars above.

“I wish there was something I could do. Anything.”

Jess looked at Yuuto, obviously pained.

“You’re doing a good job, Yuuto. Keep taking care of them for me, alright?”

Yuuto responded, but his words fizzled out into nothingness, as did the world around him.

–

Yuuto awoke with a pounding headache and gripping nausea. It was clear that he was badly hungover, so Yuuto avoided opening his eyes, lest the light worsen his headache. He felt around, and was able to tell that he was in a bed of some kind. He plunged his head into the nearest pillow he could find and groaned.

Nearby, Yuuto could hear a sizzling noise as Kenjiro flipped what smelled like fish on a hot pan. He could hear Kenjiro shuffle around a bit after hearing his groan.

“So, you’re finally awake, huh?”

Kenjiro moved over to Yuuto and crouched by the bed where Yuuto laid, and gave him a pat on the back.

“I haven’t seen you blackout in YEARS, dude. I think we partied a bit too hard last night, huh?” he said with a laugh. Yuuto just groaned in response.

So it was all a dream?; he thought, still disoriented from the experience. I didn’t really meet her, did I?

He just let out a loud exhale. Yuuto promised to himself that he wasn’t going to get this drunk ever again.

Still, he remembered everything from the dream as clear as day, and remembered Jess’s request.

Take care of them for me – it pinged in his head constantly. And as he thought to himself, Yuuto was sure he’d keep his unsaid promise to her. He’d make sure they would be all right.