Story Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 5: Destination, Part I
Farah sat on the edge of the bed, chatting with Lara while Chris was off getting something to drink. It had been about a week since Lara had been brought in, seriously injured from a tunnel collapse during training in Mt. Moon, and she was mending a lot faster than the staff at the Pokémon Center had predicted. The nurses felt that the Weavile would be ready to leave within the next couple of days, as the most serious wounds had healed nearly completely. Farah had not been surprised to hear that Lara was bouncing back quickly; for years she had known that her sister was a fighter.
Lara held her twin sister's hand. *So, Farah,* she said. *How are things going? Have you made any progress since last week?*
Farah blinked, the motion tugging slightly on the scar that crossed her left eye. *I...well, not really,* she admitted. *It's been...difficult.*
*What's wrong?* Lara asked. *It seemed like you were excited to start something with Chris earlier. Why should it be difficult?*
*It's not difficult for me,* Farah insisted. *He's...he's resisting me. I don't know why.*
Lara sat back against the pillows on the bed she'd been confined to for the past week. *So, what's been happening?*
*Well, a few nights ago...*
Chris and Farah walked back into their hotel suite after spending the afternoon visiting Lara at the Pokémon Center, tired and ready for bed, but in good spirits after seeing how well Lara was doing. They had gotten something to eat on the way home, and were both cheerful, an emotion that neither of them had felt in some time. While in the Pokémon Center, Chris had privately decided that he would begin training again the next day, preparing for what he had decided was absolutely necessary: going back to the Pewter City Gym to challenge Brock to a rematch.
Upon entering the suite, Farah hopped onto Chris's bed instead of going into her own half of the suite, where the bed that she would have been sharing with her sister was located. It was a ploy that she had attempted for the past few nights, and Chris, wary of sharing a bed with her after it had become apparent she was trying to get intimate with him, had made her leave each time. She'd acted extremely hurt when he had done so, however, and he was in a good mood, so he decided that as long as he kept anything from happening it would be okay.
"Alright, alright," Chris said, pretending as though she had worn him down. "If you really want to, you can sleep in here tonight."
Looking happy, the Weavile scurried under the covers, her head popping back out to rest on the pillows. She watched as Chris undressed for bed, but dutifully covered her eyes for the brief moment that he was completely naked. Unbeknownst to him, however, she peeked for a split second, greedily indulging in a glimpse of his body. Farah had plans for tonight, and she figured she would have as much of a look as she wanted later, but she still couldn't resist a sneak preview. Never mind that she had already had his body in quite an inappropriate fashion once before; that had been therapy, and her aim was a little more personal this time around.
Clad in boxer shorts, Chris got into bed next to Farah. After saying their goodnights, although Farah's was more of a purr than actual words, they settled in, and he leaned out of bed to turn off the light. The room was plunged into darkness, and quiet descended as Chris closed his eyes, preparing to fall asleep.
Farah's eyes stayed open, however. She had very good eyesight in the dark, and right now her vision was sharply focused on Chris. The Weavile was trying to decide how she was going to make Chris understand that she wanted him, but her experience with males was limited. For her entire life, she had been her twin sister's lover, and she had never been in any sort of relationship with a male, not counting the favor she had bestowed upon her trainer when they'd first come to Pewter City. She wasn't sure what she should do.
Figuring that it was best to start small, Farah slid closer to Chris on the bed, acting as though she was just shifting in her sleep. She was inches away from him, and could feel the warmth coming off of his body. She watched him carefully, looking for a sign that he was against what she was doing. But all she could see was her trainer lying there, eyes closed, apparently already asleep.
That disappointed Farah. This whole venture was useless if Chris was just going to sleep through it; the whole point was for him to see what she was up to! She glared at him resentfully, wondering how he could have the gall to fall asleep when she was trying to seduce him. Farah brushed her hand over his arm briefly, feeling the smoothness and warmth of his skin. She was filled with a desire to feel that on her body, and she impulsively snuggled close to him, putting herself right up against him.
Chris stirred and opened his eyes, looking down at Farah, and she looked back at him with eyes as large as dinner plates. He was awake when she'd thought he had fallen asleep, and even though she had initially wanted him awake, she was taken aback by the sudden change in the situation.
"A little affectionate tonight, are we, Farah?" Chris said. Farah didn't know what to do, her mind scrambled by this development. Chris sighed. "That's okay. I guess you're just not used to sleeping alone." He shifted, scooping Farah up into a friendly cuddle.
Farah was a little surprised that her plan had apparently worked, but she wasn't one to complain when things took a fortunate unexpected turn. She rubbed her cheek against Chris's bare shoulder, settling in and relaxing. He chuckled a little at her cute behavior, a hand coming down to scratch gently between her shoulder blades. The Weavile purred softly, enjoying the attention and continuing to rub him. She let the tip of her tongue flick against his skin, and felt his muscles twitch a little at the warm, moist sensation. To her delight, his other hand drifted down to rub the fur just above the base of her feathery tail, and she smiled to herself. Everything was falling into place.
Chris realized that he was probably not doing a very good job of holding to his resolution, which had been to discourage any romantic notions that Farah had about him. But he was growing further away from a state of mind that would allow him to care about that, and was easing back into the mindset that had gripped his head the night of his loss at the Pewter City Gym. One of his hands was scratching behind Farah's ears now, and his other hand was making long, slow strokes along her flank. As he was doing this, Farah was gradually shifting her position so that she was lying on top of him, her chest flat against his.
Making a bold move, Farah craned her neck up and began to lick at the underside of her trainer's chin. He took in a sharp breath, sending a thrill of fright through Farah, making her think she had gone too far too quickly. A moment later, however, she felt Chris insert a hand between them, brushing his fingers over the silky fur on her belly. She lifted her body up a little, giving him more room to work. His hand traced lazy circles on her stomach, dipping just low enough to hint at a much sweeter prize.
While all this was going on, Chris's eyes never left Farah's face. He could see the desire etched into her features, and knew exactly where she wanted this activity to lead. And he wasn't entirely sure that he didn't want it to lead to exactly the same place. His arousal would have been apparent to anyone walking into the room, a ridge along his boxers betraying his current mood. Farah was in much the same mood, although she'd had several hours head start to think about this time. The area beneath her tail was beginning to moisten, her head full of thoughts of mating and being with the human she had decided was right for her.
Farah's tongue began to move from Chris's chin, cresting his face to travel the short distance to his mouth. In an instant, her lips were on his, and they were kissing. It was the deepest kiss that either of them had ever experienced. Their eyes closed, and they put their arms around each other, pressing their bodies together. Chris let his tongue slip into Farah's mouth, and she twisted her own around it. She couldn't compare it to any kiss she had ever shared with Lara, because what she felt inside was completely different. This was true love for her, and she knew it without a shadow of a doubt.
Chris knew that he was doing the exact opposite of what he had told himself he was going to, should a situation like this arise, but the sweet kiss of the female lying atop him made that knowledge hard to accept. He had been close to kissing Farah before, but had never actually gone through with it. Now that he was locked in a loving embrace with her, he was trying to remember why they hadn't been able to kiss before. He recalled that the instance in question had been the night that they had first gone up to Mt. Moon for training, but was having trouble bringing to mind the exact circumstances.
His hand started to inch closer to Farah's tail area, beginning to sense warmth and wetness. Farah gasped into his mouth as his fingers found what they had been seeking. He slid his fingertips over her wet folds, and she hissed as he teased her aroused flesh. While he was doing this, faint images began to creep back into his mind. He could see a campsite, and saw Farah sitting next to him, while the pair of them looked up at the starry sky. Their eyes met, and as they gazed at one another, their faces began to drift closer to each other. At the instant where their lips would have met, however, a rustling sound broke the silence, and they looked up to see...
Lara!
The name rang clear in Chris's head, and made him immediately jerk his fingers away from Farah's nether regions. Farah broke her long kiss with him, her eyes boring into his, their expression one of confusion and frustration. He paid no attention to that, as his mind came flooding back to him. He wasn't supposed to be doing this. If he did this, he might ruin the relationship that he thought that his twin Weaviles still shared.
Farah nudged him gently, the look on her face saying "what did I do wrong?" Chris pushed her away, depositing her on the bed beside him. She clutched his arm, silently begging him to continue what he had been doing moments before.
"You should...you should go sleep in your own bed, Farah," Chris said, refusing to look at her. "I think that would be best..."
Dejected, Farah lingered for a few minutes, trying to make her trainer look at her. When it became clear he was unwilling to change his mind, she slid off the bed and crept over to her side of the suite, slamming the door behind her.
Cursing to himself, Chris flipped the lights back on. He stared at his fingers for several seconds, seeing the faint traces of moisture that still clung to his skin. His good mood suddenly gone, he slowly got out of bed, went to the bathroom, and washed his hands.
*...and that's the last time I tried anything,* Farah finished. Lara had been listening with rapt attention, not interrupting at all during her sister's recounting of the tale. *I don't know why he's rejecting me. I could tell that before he was interested, but for some reason that's changed since the accident.*
*I'm a little short on ideas myself,* Lara said. She thought for a few minutes, trying to think of a reason, besides the obvious social stigmas, that Chris might be avoiding becoming intimately involved with Farah. She was able to discount the social aspect of the dilemma because, she reasoned, their trainer would have tried to place distance between him and Farah as soon as the first sexual incident had occurred.
The obvious possibility was that he didn't like Farah, but Lara knew that this wasn't true. Chris had always cared for the Weavile twins, and she knew that he loved them like family, but did he love Farah in the way that Farah would like him to? From some hints that she'd picked up on before she and Farah ceased to be lovers, she certainly thought that he had been at least a little interested in pursuing some sort of romantic activity with her sister. Lara wasn't sure if he was really in love with Farah, because of course she couldn't see inside his head, but she did know that she had once walked up on the two of them about to kiss. She certainly knew, by her sister's own admission, that Farah was most definitely in love with Chris.
A sudden thought occurred to her. Chris had begun, in the past month, to place a lot more importance on getting the pokémon on his team to think for themselves in battle. Some of that had involved getting two pokémon to work in tandem against multiple opponents. Lara knew that she and Farah were better at this than Chris's other pokémon, mainly because their bond as sisters and twins gave them an added incentive for each of them to make sure that the other got out of a battle in good health. This battle coordination had been aided by the fact that at the same time each sister was protecting her sibling, she was also protecting her mate. Could it be that Chris was holding back because of some misguided attempt to avoid disrupting a relationship that no longer existed?
*I think I might know what's going on, here,* Lara said. She related to Farah what she had just been thinking about, and when she heard the explanation Farah had to agree that it made sense.
*He cares about us so much...,* Farah said. *I can see him holding back from me if he thought it would hurt us.* Satisfied that they had hit on the truth, Farah experienced a moment of happiness that the barrier between her and Chris wasn't really an impediment at all, until something occurred to her that pulled her back down. *But...but how can we make him understand that we're not that way anymore?*
Lara deflated a little. *I...well, I don't know,* she admitted. *We can't talk to him, can we? Curse the language barrier...*
Farah, however, had an idea. *I believe I know what we could do...,* she said slowly. *We just need to make him start to think that the relationship between us might be over. If he draws his own conclusions and asks me about them, I can make him understand yes or no easily enough.*
*What's your plan?* Lara asked. Farah explained what she was thinking of, and after hearing it, her sister had to agree with the approach. *That could work. But we have to time it just right.*
*Yes. We'll wait for him to get back, and then we'll do it.*
While Chris was getting something to drink, he had a lot on his mind. For one thing, he had his interactions with Farah to think about. Over the last few days, he had found it more and more difficult to understand what was going on with Lara and Farah. Since he had been given the twins by his brother, he had always known the nature of their relationship, and it hadn't ever been a priority for him to put a stop to it. He knew that most other trainers would have tried to discourage such behavior, but Chris wanted his girls to be happy, and allowing them to continue had seemed to make them happy.
Now, though, he could tell that Farah was becoming unhappy, and while he figured that some of it had to do with being separated from her sister, he knew that couldn't account for all of it. Whenever he and Farah returned from visiting Lara in the Pokémon Center, he knew that she was glad to see her twin recovering, but the unhappiness that he had been observing in her did nothing to improve. If anything, it was slowly increasing. Chris was clueless as to what could be causing Farah to become like this, but the one thing he did know was that he wanted to do whatever he could to make sure that Farah was happy again.
Finished with his drink, he left the small vending area in the back of the Pokémon Center and began the walk back to Lara's room, where he had left the twins alone. On the way, he stopped by the nurse's station to ask about Lara's condition, and was informed that there was no change and that the Weavile was still healing quite well. Satisfied with that information, he continued on to the room. He was about to knock on the door, to make sure he didn't barge in on anything, when he saw something through the small observation window that made him pause.
Through the window, Chris could see that Lara and Farah were talking. The conversation seemed to be civil, and he saw Farah lean in for what looked like a kiss. He felt a fresh surge of guilt for what he had allowed to happen with Farah several nights ago, but then he saw something that surprised him. Lara reached out and pushed against Farah's shoulder, preventing the kiss from occurring. Farah tried to move in again, but her sister shook her head, pushing back more insistently. Farah hung her head, and Lara put both hands on her shoulders, shaking her head and talking very slowly.
Chris was taken aback. Why would Lara refuse her sister? They were usually all over each other when they had some time alone, or at least when they thought nobody would see. He didn't see how Lara could have found out about what had happened earlier, and he didn't think Farah would want to risk making her angry by telling her herself. What exactly was going on, here? He backed away from the door and stood against the wall for a few seconds, confused.
Farah glanced over her shoulder. *Did he see?*
*I think so,* Lara said. She snickered. *You should have seen his face. He looked like he was called up to the front of a class, and he hadn't read the book.*
Farah laughed a little as well. *Thanks for helping,* she said, leaning forward to give her sister a quick peck on the cheek.
*Any time.*
Later that day, after leaving the Pokémon Center for the afternoon, Chris took Farah and the rest of his pokémon out to Viridian Forest, just south of Pewter City, for some training. They hadn't trained at all since the accident in Mt. Moon, and Chris was growing a little antsy. Even though he didn't have his full team, with Lara still in the Pokémon Center, he felt like they needed to do something anyway. So he packed up some supplies and set off for the forest, intending to train hard all afternoon and into the evening, spend the night in the forest, and return to the city the next morning to check in on Lara.
The training day was every bit as strenuous as Chris had intended it to be. He arrived in the forest around three o'clock and got right to it, starting off with a run through the forest with all of his pokémon. Predictably, Yaphet, his Gastrodon, fell behind rather quickly, but managed to keep everyone else in sight and complete the run a minute after the rest of the group. Warmed up, Chris began to hunt the forest for opponents that his team could battle. Trainers were scarce in the forest, and many of those that he did run across were beginners traveling from Viridian City or Pallet Town to start their journey through Kanto. There were a lot of Butterfree and Beedrill, and the occasional Scyther or Pinsir, which gave his team something a bit more stimulating to go up against. Chris even captured a fairly feisty Scyther female who would make a good addition to his team, if he ever got the urge to mix things up a little.
Throughout the day, Chris gave each of the pokémon he had with him an equal amount of time to battle. They never battled the wild pokémon to the point of fainting, and Chris allowed his team to fight each pokémon with which they went at it until he thought the wild pokémon would be hurt if they continued, at which point he called them off and allowed the opponent to flee. In this way he could give his team experience without harming the wildlife. Farah was by his side the whole time when she wasn't in battle herself, but the two didn't interact much. Chris still felt awkward about their little make-out session a few nights ago, and Farah could sense that he was a little uncomfortable and thought that he was probably still confused over what he had "witnessed" earlier in the day.
When they were done with the training, the sun had long since dropped beneath the tops of the trees. Chris found a nice spot to camp for the night in a quiet area of the woods, a little ways off the established path. He set up his tent and dug a small fire pit in the ground, starting a campfire and getting dinner going. When the hard work was done, he finally sat down with his pokémon and waited for his food to cook while they ate their pokémon food. Farah sat next to him, waiting to eat until he was ready.
After the rest of the team was finished eating, Chris recalled them to their poké balls so that they could get some much-earned rest, and he and Farah finally began to eat. They were quiet for most of the meal, and listened to the sounds of the forest. A few straggling trainers passed along the path several hundred yards away, but nobody seemed to notice them. Chris was a little too tired to socialize with anyone anyway, so that was something that he was thankful for.
Chris kept glancing over at Farah in the middle of his dinner, and caught her glancing at him at the same time. He was starting to tire of the awkward silence between them, which had persisted for the past several days, and wanted to find some way to break it. What an ironic thought, to want to break the silence between two people who couldn't understand each other's language. Searching for something to say, he cast the net of his mind out and seized the first topic he could think of.
"So, uh, it was a nice day today, wasn't it?" Chris asked lamely. Farah made a small noise of agreement, her eyes directed at him. The awkward silence continued, with Chris berating himself inside for coming up with such a lame thing to ask about. Nobody ever wanted to talk about the weather...What was he thinking?
Farah watched her trainer, a little amused by his apparent discomfort. He seemed to be trying awfully hard not to look at her, but at the same time he was attempting to be friendly towards her. She wondered what was going on in his head right now, whether he was really thinking of the past day or if he was pondering something...else. She decided to make the first move, and scooted closer to him on the ground, thinking that might break him out of his little internal conflict. Chris looked down, and finally cracked a tiny smile, to which she smiled back.
Come on, Farah thought to herself. Go ahead and ask. I know you're wondering. Just get it out, already. She repeated that thought as hard as she could, hoping that it would somehow come across to the man sitting next to her. Something must have gotten through, because Chris took a breath and began to speak.
"Farah, I've got a question for you," he started, his words sounding as though they were breaking through a dam of silence and reservations. He chuckled a little nervously before continuing. "I know you can't really answer in words, but how are things going between you and Lara?"
Farah shrugged, a noncommittal expression that conveyed to Chris the information he needed to formulate his next question.
"Are you girls still...you know, together?"
Finally, Farah said to herself, relief flooding her body. She shook her head emphatically, inwardly ecstatic that he had caught on but outwardly showing an expression that she hoped looked like resigned regret.
"I thought so," Chris said. He looked down at the remains of the food on his plate, and picked around a little with his fork. "Don't be mad, but I sort of...was spying on you two earlier today. I saw what happened."
Farah arranged her face into a surprised expression, looking down a little, playing her part well. Even though this was what she and Lara had wanted to happen, she couldn't let that on. Besides, a little deception never hurt anyone, especially if the deception ended in a result that both parties ultimately wanted.
"I'm sorry," Chris mumbled. "I feel like this might be partly my fault..."
Quickly, Farah clutched his arm, and he looked at her in surprise. She shook her head insistently, trying to reassure him that it wasn't his fault at all. It's not anybody's fault. It's just...what is.
"What are you trying to tell me?" the slightly confused human asked. "Are you saying it's not my fault?" Farah nodded. "Was this a decision both of you came to, without me?" His Weavile nodded again. "Then...you girls aren't mad at me?" A decisive shake of the head.
Chris felt unparalleled alleviation of guilt flow through his body. He felt free from any burden that he might have experienced if it had turned out that he was responsible for turning his girls against each other, and he visibly relaxed against the ground. It wasn't his fault at all. He hadn't done anything that the Weaviles thought was wrong, and had, in fact, been worried about something that he shouldn't have been worried about at all.
Farah noted his reaction, and knew that her point had gotten across to her trainer just as she had hoped it would. She started to climb onto his lap, and he set his plate aside to make room for her. The Weavile settled in, giving a pleased purr as he scratched her ears. The lengthy period of awkwardness now, finally, appeared to be over, and the two partners could act around each other as they always had in the past. Suddenly overwhelmed by a strange sense of satisfaction, Farah twisted around and hugged her trainer tight. She felt him shake a little with silent laughter, and his hand rubbed her shoulders. They sat together for a few minutes, content in the moment.
After a while, Chris spoke again. "So...," he said slowly, "earlier...I mean, a few days ago...You guys were already...?"
Farah knew what he was asking, and looked up at him, nodding. She watched a number of reactions flash across his face. Confusion, amusement, interest, and finally his expression settled on realization.
"Oh," Chris said simply. He didn't really know what to do or say in response to that. He was starting to sort things out in his head, the foremost thing being his feelings for Farah. It had been only a short while ago, after all, that he had come to terms with the fact that he was somewhat attracted to her. Those feelings had been forcibly shoved aside when he'd made the decision to keep some distance between himself and Farah in order to keep the peace between himself, Lara, and Farah, but now that he knew things were officially and peacefully over between the twins those feelings were starting to surface again.
Though Chris knew what he would have done had he found himself in this situation, actually being faced with it had rendered him a little frozen. To buy himself a few moments to think, he just continued holding Farah and brushing her fur with his hand. She sighed and nuzzled his chest, starting to feel warm and fuzzy in his arms. His hand stroking her back felt so good, and she gently scratched his back with her claws through his shirt.
Chris swallowed once, his throat bobbing slowly up and down. "Hey, Farah...?"
Farah turned her head up, gazing at Chris. The light from the flickering flames of the campfire shone in her eyes, creating dancing flecks in the glimmering orbs. They looked at each other for a number of seconds, in complete silence apart from the crackling of the fire. Smiling softly, Farah tilted her head to the side, making a small purr and leaning in towards Chris.
Before Chris quite knew what was happening, Farah's lips had touched his. As soon as he felt that soft touch, he melted against her. His arms wrapped around her body, clutching her to him, and he pressed into the kiss. The Weavile moaned softly, her lips parting, inviting his tongue to slip inside. Chris accepted her invitation gladly, and lost himself in the intricacies of Farah's mouth. It felt so sweet, so wonderful, and so free to finally surrender to the desire that he had been suppressing for so long.
Farah was elated, and felt as though she were floating on a cloud, held as she was in her trainer's arms, locked in a loving embrace with him. She traced a clawed hand up his back, rubbing his shoulder and plucking at the fabric of his shirt. Her body shifted to press more fully to his chest, and she whimpered as she felt a hand descend along her spine, halting at the base of her tail. Chris dug his fingernails into the thin fur there, scratching roughly. Tingles of pleasure began to shoot up her back, and she started to grow more and more aroused.
After an untold number of minutes, Chris broke their kiss, staring at Farah with much more than friendship in his eyes. She looked back with the exact same emotions in her own expression. Chris touched his fingers to her face, tenderly brushing her cheek, and Farah rubbed against his hand, closing her eyes and sighing. The light around their campsite started to grow dim as the fire died down, eventually becoming nothing more than a small pile of glowing embers.
"Farah...," Chris murmured, resting his chin on the top of her head. "It's getting late...We should go to bed..."
Farah made a noise of agreement, slipping out of Chris's lap. He watched her walk past the remains of the campfire to his tent. Looking back at him, she traced a clawed finger along her hip, and Chris felt a thrill go through his body when he saw the sultry look on her face. Farah continued into the tent, letting the flap close after her.
Trembling, Chris stood up and followed her, stopping at the tent entrance. He took a deep breath, his heart racing, and reached a hand out to open the tent flap.
Here goes nothing...Chapter End Notes::Insert usual giddy excuse for a cliffhanger here.:
To be continued..