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Not quite in the heart of Nimbasa City-though a certain group of regulars might argue that it was the heart of the city-a bustling cafe by the name of Barking Bone Cafe attracted many a patron. There was very often a line, both for drinks and pastries, and for the battling area, a medium-sized section of the floorplan dedicated to patron battling, though the employees were allowed to jump in if they were challenged. The battling area was a nice draw, but the food was another good one, homemade pastries sent out still hot from the oven.
And of course, perhaps the main draw, was the owner, Minette.
Incredibly carefree, with a bright and loud personality, Minette was the main baker of the Cafe, and was almost always open for a battle herself, if someone deigned to ask politely about it at least. Jerks were tossed out without a second thought, no battle, and often without any food they had tried to order. Minette often spent time in the dining room area as well, mingling with guests, new and old alike, swapping stories and simply building an atmosphere of friendly kindness.
Of course, no one was really surprised when it drew in more attention, from bigger names. Cafe’s like this were common-good food and battling alike-but Barking Bone had a good personality behind it as well, and Minette drew in a rather large crowd, just with her own stories of competitions with her pokemon. So it really wasn’t a shock when people like the gym trainers, gym leaders even, started to show up regularly.
So no one would bat an eye when Drayden would stop by on occasion. Though his more dark and brooding personality didn’t seem to often fit with the vibe of the cafe, it was a sight that happened more often than not during the off season for the challengers. When Drayden could be in Nimbasa, which was often, he would very easily be found there. There were many a joke all over the internet about the clashing aesthetic that the dragon gym leader often displayed being inside the Barking Bone.
To be fair, no one really minded that much. The cafe was a nice place, and Drayden wasn’t shy about giving the occasional battling tip to anyone who asked him. He became a consistent part of the cafe, someone who most people would see if they stepped foot into the building for any reason, as long as it was during his off season.
On season, it was hard to get a gym leader away from their gym for longer than it takes them to sleep, and some even slept in the gym somewhere, just in case. Drayden wasn’t one of those, but being the final gym leader before the Elite Four often meant that he was bombarded the most, with overconfident gym challengers. He would say half of them he would turn away, as they wouldn’t have the gym badges needed to even enter to fight him. The six weeks a year his gym was open for challenges was a busy one. It wasn’t a long period of time after all.
However, to some, it was a bit longer than they would like.
You see, the general public had noticed some… interesting looks towards the owner of Barking Bone, given, of course, by the one and only Drayden himself. There was a longing sort of sense to them, as he sat at his signature spot in the cafe. Of course, he would be doing paperwork, the table taken over by laptop, folders, papers, anything, but when Minette would stop by, drop him his drink, he always had a soft look in his eyes, which would trail after her as she went. She never lingered long with him, though she was just as kind and polite, perhaps trying not to get in the way of his work. But there were plenty of people who would spot him staring towards her, perhaps a hint of longing in his eyes as she laughed and wandered about the cafe.
It led to many a fantheory circling around. People who didn’t go to Nimbasa often got confused, questioning who Minette even was, but really, it seemed like most people were sure that Drayden had some form of crush on her. No one really speculated too hard on Minette-she seemed the same level of friendly interest with him as she did with everyone-so the joke slowly became Drayden being smitten, like puppy love, as the joke often went.
There were a very select few that knew just how close to the truth those jokes actually came.
Before the start of his season, Drayden had to leave Nimbasa again. The gym leaders had a very set schedule: The first six weeks were for the first gym, the next six the second, so on and so forth, so the last two weeks of November, and the entirety of December, Drayden would be out of Nimbasa and back at his gym in Opelucid. Of course, he didn’t often go there the night before, but considering he was gone through November 20th through December 31st-and often the first few days of January to clean up his gym for his off season-and this was the first year where he actually had a reason to stay out of Opelucid, he trusted his trainers to set up the gym properly.
Of course, Drayden was still leaving before to have a full day to make sure of this, but that still meant he had the night of the 18th to spend with Minette, so the cafe had been closed, and they had spent the night curled up in bed in the upstairs, watching dumb movies together before he had to go, far too early in the morning. Early enough that he didn’t even wake her to kiss her goodbye, instead tucking the blankets around her to make sure she still knew.
Oftentimes, the gym leaders gathered for the first day of the next leader’s gym opening. It was an unofficial tradition, one that Drayden had neutral feelings for, but still did for the others, as he knew well that they cared for it. Of course, Brycen’s gym was still open at the time, so he would be showing up a bit later, but coming up to his gym, he could already see the group of them gathered, all wrapped up in winter clothing. It was the middle of November after all.
“Drayden!” Chili perked up upon seeing him, stamping his feet in the cold. Poking its head out of the top of Chili’s coat was his Pansear, looking mighty proud of itself to be out of its ball and making use as a coat warmer. “There you are, slacker! We’ve been waiting for you!”
Cilan and Cress were huddled around their brother, as if trying to leech the warmth from the Pansear. Their gimmick for their gym was a bit odd-not everyone got a traditional starter after all, Drayden knew he hadn’t when he had started his own journey-but it worked well for them, so he didn’t fault them for it.
“Not slacking. I trusted my trainers to do their job well, and I assume they did.” Drayden stepped up, past the triplets, and Clay who was leaned up against the doorway, enough out of the way so Drayden could unlock the doors and push them open, letting the four of them in. “Where’s the rest of you?”
“Skyla’s on a trip right now, she should be here when Brycen gets out.” Cress answered, quickly ducking past Drayden for the warmth. “I think Elesa had a family emergency so she has to dip out of your welcome this year.” Drayden nodded, shutting the door and glancing around the gym. He was right in the fact that the trainers could be trusted to do this job, setting everything up in here.
“Burgh and Lenora went out to grab us breakfast. Figured you could use something to eat.” Clay spoke up, ducking around the large conveyers, trying to figure out the puzzle from underneath it, as he usually did. Drayden figured he either already knew it and just liked seeing it all up again for the six weeks, or just genuinely couldn’t figure it out without walking through it. Maybe he’d let him walk through it to test it’s all working one of these times.
“They figured right.” Drayden muttered, tugging his own jacket off as he pushed open a door to the back area where the trainers would be, if it was late enough for them to be in to finish up the last bits and pieces. Right now, the break area was empty and dark, until Drayden popped on the lights. Off in the corner was a large, rather fortified area where he moved over and let his team out of their pokeballs for a bit, the large dragon types settling into their normal spots.
The other gym leaders followed suit, letting their mons out of their balls, moving into the room to drop their coats on one of the tables. Drayden watched the trio of Lillipups romp around the table legs, tumbling into each other. Cress slid up next to him. “Already thinking of Minette again, eh?”
Drayden grumbled, half-heatedly trying to deny it, but the triplets were already around him, teasing, even Cilan, which Drayden secretly took as a bit of a compliment, as Cilan trusted him enough to do that.
“Poor Drayden, already so sad and his rotation hasn’t even started!” Drayden huffed, turning away from the twins to look over at Clay, who just laughed at him.
“It had to be the Lillipups?” Clay asked, leaning over, and Drayden huffed.
“They’re playing the most. My eye follows movement.”
“So you’re saying you… don’t miss her already?”
Drayden didn’t answer, instead moving towards one of the closets, ignoring the chorus of laughter behind him. They already knew exactly what his feelings were on this. They didn’t need the confirmation or the satisfaction of getting it out of him verbally.
While searching the closet, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He sat up a bit, pulling it out and unlocking it, seeing a text from Minette.
Minette <3 : Just woke up, hope you’re doing alright over there, that the trainers got everything set up nice for you! Heading down to open up shop, I love you <3 <3 <3
Drayden smiled faintly at the message, pausing for a moment, before quickly typing back an ‘ I love you too ’ before clicking off his phone and pulling out a mat to go where he stood, heaving it over his back and walking back out.
By this point, Burgh and Lenora had found their way back, hands full with what little breakfast take out options that were open right now in the city. Drayden knew there weren’t many, and had tried them all before. None of them quite lived up to Minette’s, but out here he’d make due until she had a second to come and visit him in the gym.
“Drayden!” Burgh grinned, setting down his bags to let the triplets descend upon it like rabid dogs. Drayden huffed, setting the mat down next to him to endure Burgh’s hug. “Look at you, already working again and you haven’t even given us a chance to sit down and eat!”
“I will, once my mat is down. Nothing else can be done there until it is.” Drayden went to heave it back up, only to find Lenora picking up the other end, making it a two person job instead of one. He decided against arguing with her, as he knew she would just then try to completely take over, and the two of them moved it out into the main gym area, to where Drayden would stand for the next six weeks waiting for challengers to make their way through to him.
Lenora only let him roll it out and center it, before stepping in front of him. “C’mon you. Back to food. Heaven knows you’d just waste away into nothing if we let you.”
Drayden sighed, standing, his back and knees popping as he did. He followed her back into the break area, settling down in one of the chairs. Cilan slid a muffin over towards him, and he picked at it for a few bites, eating slowly.
“Oh, just because it isn’t Minette’s, don’t just pick at it.” Burgh teased, and Drayden huffed, picking it up and taking a full bite just to spite him. Burgh laughed, following suit with his own muffin, as Drayden’s phone vibrated again. He unlocked it, letting the other gym leaders talk around him.
Minette <3 : Everything set up okay? I know you said you trust your trainers, but I would hate for you to be trying to set it up while hopefuls are trying to get in.
Drayden smiled faintly, typing for a few seconds before he sent off his confirmation, just as Cress leaned too far into his personal space, grinning. “No one else it could be!” Cress declared confidently, and Drayden shifted, pushing Cress’s chair away, and almost out from under him.
“Shush.” He muttered, putting his phone away, ignoring the urge to check it as it vibrated again. He was down to the last crumbs of the muffin anyways, and he really needed to get to work. The other gym leaders often helped him, but he waved them off as some went to stand with him. “Finish eating. I don’t have any heavy lifting to do.” With that, he went back out into the main gym, as some of the trainers began to clock in themselves, heading over to double check that everything was where it needed to be.
Minette woke up alone. She knew it was coming, but it still made her a bit sad when she did. She had been tucked up into the blankets, though she knew she usually ended up kicking them off sometime in the night, so that eased it a bit. She settled in bed for a long moment, relishing the warmth. She didn’t want to get up, not quite yet, but the cafe needed to run. With a long suffering sigh, Minette shifted, pushing herself up and letting the blankets fall. Time to get started.
But first. Minette leaned over, picking up her phone and sending off a quick text to Drayden, before moving to grab clothing out of the standing dresser. As she finished getting dressed, her phone went off as well, and she glanced back at it, grinning.
Dray <3 : I love you too.
He was probably busy, double checking everything. Or the other gym leaders were negging him. Minette giggled softly, glancing around the room for a second to see if any of her pokemon were up and about. She usually kept them out of their balls, since they didn’t take up too much room, a practice Drayden tried his best to mimic, but his own pokemon were far larger than Minette’s. They really needed to get a place bigger, that wasn’t just above the cafe, but that required telling people, so here they would stay for a bit longer.
None of hers were around the room, so she turned back to her phone, sending another quick message off, before sliding into her dress pocket and into the kitchen, to find something small and quick to eat before she went down to start the process of baking for the day.
Lillipup bounded up and after her, circling around her feet. She laughed, leaning down to pet him, which only ended with her petting all of them, as they circled around her for their turns. Except for Silvally, who still had some trouble trusting the other mons, but even he was stuck close by, close enough that she could lean around the others to give him a pat too.
Once she had extracted herself from the pile of pokemon, she moved into the kitchen, with Lillipup and Yamper following, her two main hopefuls for her to drop something for them to eat. She glanced towards their bowls of food, and the whiteboard above it, where Drayden had stuck a sticky note. ‘Don’t believe their lies, I fed them before I left.’
Minette laughed, leaning down to pet Yamper, who was doing his best puppy dog eyes up at her. “You got ratted out, didn’t you?” She cooed, scratching around Yamper’s chin, which sent his tail wagging, before she stood again to make some eggs real quick, the mons still settled at her feet. She did sneak them a bit or two before she seasoned it, swayed by their little whines.
Once she had eaten, she let her mons follow her downstairs into the cafe itself, where she clocked in, and unlocked the back door, for when employees started trickling in. Her mons found their little places around the cafe, where they would sit unless someone challenged her, with Silvally settling in the back away from prying eyes, and near Minette.
Her phone vibrated, and, before she properly got started, she glanced down at it, smiling.
Dray <3 : The trainers did good, just as I thought they would. It’s only things I need to do left.
Minette smiled, sending back a happy little cat face, before sliding her phone into her pocket once more, and going around to preheat the ovens, pulling dough she had prepped last night to start sectioning everything off into their respective pans.
She lost herself in this work, repetitive and calming, setting her timers as she slid things into the ovens and hummed along to whatever music had started playing over the speakers in the cafe. Some of the kitchen staff must’ve come in, and she was right as they began to trickle in and start on their duties around the area. Time passed rather quickly like that, and it was all too soon where the cashiers were settling hot trays full of baked goods into their spots, turning on all the machines up front as well.
With most things ready, Minette went up front to unlock the front door, pushing it open and- oh… oh yeah.
Usually, Drayden would stay upstairs until she was actually open, and then he would be the first in, settling in his booth. She glanced over towards the booth, which would be empty of him for the next six weeks, and sighed.
“Missing him already?” One of her cashiers, Raphael, called out. He was grinning at her, working on getting his bright blue hair up in a ponytail.
“It’s weird when he’s not here!” She defended herself, despite knowing none of her employees knew the truth.
“I know, that booth being used by someone else always feels wrong.” Raphael huffed, dropping his arms, glancing over towards the booth himself. “Like, regulars avoid it, even if they go all over, it’s like his booth. We should get a plague with his name on it, stick it there.”
Minette laughed, shaking her head. “That might just freak him out, Raph.” Raph shrugged in response, slipping his oven mitts back on to go grab another tray to slide into the display case. Minette followed him back-after a quick round to pet her mons-and started once again on her baking, though this time with a faint sad feeling.
Of course, she knew he was fine, and where exactly he was. Everything was fine, but… well he wasn’t here. And he wasn’t going to be for over a month. She sighed, staring down at her dough for a long moment, before shaking her head, resolving to keep her mind off it while at work. She could be sad later.
Still, Silvally stood from his spot, padding carefully over, and pressing his head against her back, standing there in quiet comfort. She couldn’t pet him again, not with her hands covered in dough, but she smiled anyways, knowing he knew she appreciated him.
The morning rush came and went, and Minette stepped out to help the cashiers clean up the dining room, focusing more on the battling area. The weather effect moves always made a mess, even with the drain in the floor and the area closed off with tempered glass. She glanced up towards Drayden’s booth again, and frowned, trying to get used to not seeing him there as she cleaned.
The bell rang above the door, and Minette glanced up, greeting already halfway out of her mouth, when she paused. :”Skyla? What are you doing here?”
Skyla grinned, stamping the snow off her boots right outside the door before properly stepping into the cafe. Her Swoobat was up on her shoulder, leaning against her head and half asleep. “My trip cut out early, so I figured I’d stop by before I headed down to Opelucid. Grab some treats for the gang.”
Minette set aside the squeegee mop, grinning. “Well, they won’t be fresh by the time you get up to Opelucid, but I do have a batch of cinnamon rolls coming up in around five minutes, I can get that for you.” Lillipup skidded around the corner of the glass and through the doorway of the battling area, circling Skyla’s feet and yipping. Her Swoobat shifted and half glared down at Lillipup, nudging Skyla’s head, who then opened her pokeball to let the bat rest without Lillipup barking. Rockruff was drawn by the noise, circling around Skyla’s feet as well.
“Sorry about them.” Minette grinned, moving over to snatch Lillipup off the floor. “I’ll go grab the cinnamon rolls, Raphael will get you all rung up.” She ducked back into the kitchen area, as Raphael waved a hand from the cash register. She set Lillipup back down, letting him scamper off towards Silvally, who very valiantly tolerated Lillipup snuggling up against his side.
Once she had the cinnamon rolls out and bagged individually for all the gym leaders, she came back out with them all in a large bag, seeing Raphael had taken over her previous cleaning of the battling area. She moved over to hand off the bag to Skyla, who took it but set it on the counter. “Why don’t you come with me, hm? They can handle it for a day, and I’m sure Drayden would love to see you again before he properly started.” She kept her voice low, which Minette appreciated.
“Oh, it’s tempting Skyla, it really is…” She sighed softly, glancing over once more towards Drayden’s booth, which had somehow been empty all day, like the patrons had been expecting the gym leader to wander in at any point to take his spot.
“So take it! You know they wouldn’t mind if you took a day off, even if it started now.” Skyla shifted, sliding the bag onto her arm. “I won’t fight you if you say no, but it would be a nice surprise for Drayden. Besides, you gave me an extra anyways, since Elesa isn’t showing up, you might as well take that spot.” She grinned, and Minette stood there for a long moment, debating it, before sighing, shaking her head.
“I really can’t, Skyla, I would love to. Maybe later, in the middle of the season? So we don’t go the full six weeks.” Minette smiled slightly, and Skyla good naturedly groaned, but was still smiling at her.
“I get it, I get it, you don’t wanna abandon your cafe. Besides, if you showed up in Opelucid the day before his season started, that might add to those rumors going around.” Skyla teased, and Minette huffed, shaking her head.
“Okay, you, go on. Get the cinnamon rolls to them before they completely freeze over and I have to come up there to make them fresh!”
Skyla grinned, turning and waving as she went. “As if that’s actually a threat, Minette!” She called over her shoulder, pushing the door open. “I’ll see you then!”
“See you!” Minette called back, waving until Skyla was out of view of the windows, and sighed, moving over to retake her position cleaning in the battle area from Raphael. As much as she’d love to, winter was a bit of a busy season, everyone wanting a warm place to battle and something good to eat. She had a feeling it was going to be swamped very soon.
And dear god, she had been right.
Not even three days later, the cafe was swamped near constantly, needing nearly double the number of people on staff to keep everything running as smoothly as possible. She knew it was coming, and dear lord, did the rush deliver. People were in the cafe all the way up to close, and almost nothing could be done early.
As she dragged herself up into the apartment above again, silent as usual during this time of year, she sighed, grabbing her phone to get something delivered. It was nearly two am, but she was hungry, and there were places open, something she was forever grateful for during these times. Her pokemon were already up here, usually getting brought up at some point after close, before the major cleaning is done. Minette settled on her couch, propping her feet up on the coffee table and closing her eyes, exhausted. She was so tempted to fall asleep there, but she knew she needed to eat something.
With a groan, she stood, pausing to glance at her phone. Nothing from Drayden since he had sent the good luck wishes when she had complained how late some of the guests had stayed. He did some late hours on his battles, knowing some people had weird schedules. She didn’t remember off the top of her head exactly what his hours were during his season, but she knew that Drayden had set them himself, and, with most of the battles being appointments, with some walk-ins allowed, he had to be booked full. People who missed last year, or just failed, people finally eligible, he brought all sorts.
Still… she did miss him.
Minette sighed, scrolling up and down in the messages and re-reading the ones there, frowning down at her phone in the near silence of her apartment. With how busy it was, she really doubted that she could keep up her promise to visit sometime in a couple weeks, but oh did she want to. Being able to hug him again? It would be so worth it.
As would some other benefits to being with him again. She laughed softly, glancing down at herself, before grinning, a bit of an evil idea worming its way into her brain. She could, of course, show him exactly what he was missing.
Drayden did not fare much better than Minette in the busy scale. He was booked through for a while, battles scheduled through til ten pm, and yet he still got out near midnight, with those going over their scheduled times, despite all his careful planning. Exhausted, he still had to make his way to the small part time apartment he kept in Opelucid, which just left him even more exhausted, even if it really was only a five minute walk away from the gym. It’s why he had gotten it, to make life easier without having to sleep in his gym, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t debate on days like this.
He grabbed food on the way over, missing Minette’s baking even more with each passing day. He couldn’t wait to go home, her baking being one of the many many reasons as to why. Drayden pushed open the door with one arm, groaning softly and glancing down at his phone, seeing no new messages from Minette yet. He hoped she wasn’t still up cleaning the cafe, it had to be nearly 2 am in Nimbasa now.
With a soft groan, he settled down on the couch, to eat and unwind for a bit, click through mindless television to have something on in the background before he crawled into his little bed to do it all again tomorrow. He was exhausted by the entire routine of being a gym leader at this point. He did have an idea of who he wanted to take over, Iris was shaping up wonderfully, and he was sure she was going to be amazing when he retired from being a gym leader. It would be so nice to not have to travel every winter out here. Some people tried to schedule their battles on Christmas. Honestly, if he didn’t get confirmation if Minette could manage to come out, he’d take it.
His phone pinged at his side, and Drayden glanced over, picking it up, smiling faintly as he saw a text from Minette. He took a bite of his food, only to nearly choke on it when he saw the picture attached to the Miss you~ <3 message she had sent.
Minette had dragged the top of her dress down as far as it could go without actually exposing anything substantial, her breasts spilling free from the confines. She pressed them together as much as possible, grinning at him from where he could really only see the bottom of her face. Drayden took a breath, setting aside his food for the moment, shifting on the couch to make this all the easier for himself.
With that sent off, Minette changed into pajamas, so she could grab her food from the late night driver, who got a rather generous tip for being out this late. She slipped into her room, to eat as much of her food as she could as quickly as she could. She was genuinely exhausted, and eating quickly meant she could go to bed sooner.
Honestly, maybe she should have eaten slower, but Minette could deal with the tummy ache that would follow, simply because she wouldn’t be awake to actually experience it. With that, she set aside the container-the mons were good, they wouldn’t mess with it, and she could throw it away in the morning when she wasn’t so bone dead exhausted-and snuggled up in the blankets, dragging Drayden’s pillow close to her, as it still smelled just a bit like him.
Her phone pinged.
Minette had honestly thought he was asleep when she had sent off her little gift. She almost wanted to just slip to sleep and let whatever message it was simply sit until the morning. However, curiosity got the best of her, and she rolled back over, patting at her nightstand until she found her phone and clicked it open.
Oh was it worth it.
Drayden had unzipped his pants, not quite letting his cock fully spill out, but the bulge definitely could, pressing the fabric up and leaving very little to her imagination, not that she really needed it to know exactly what was under those boxers. Attached to the image, just as she had with hers, was a message.
Dray <3 : Miss you too sweetheart. Have a good night.
That teasing bastard. Though, to be fair, she wasn’t much better, having actually started this whole thing. Minette groaned softly, pressing her face into her phone. God, if only she actually had the energy to carry this through. It certainly seemed like he knew she didn’t, but still, she sent off a quick message in response.
Minette <3 : You tease >:(
Dray <3 : You started it, you know. I’m just keeping the same energy. Why are you still up?
Minette <3 : late day :(, i spent ages just trying to clean up the kitchen, never got the chance to even help the cashiers. You’re also up late.
Dray <3 : Time difference, I’m not up as late as you. Had some battles run late. You should head to bed sweetheart. We can continue this on a day where we’re not both so swamped, hm?
Minette <3 : ughhh, fine, but i’m not happy about it.
Dray <3 : Love you
Minette <3 : I love you too. Go to bed.
With that, Minette had to put her phone to the side, plugged in, and rolled over for real this time, still curled up around his pillow, slipping off to sleep with a faint smile on her face.
Drayden had broken halfway. It was something all the gym leaders talked about a bit with this, how, once you hit half way, it was smoother sailing, that it marked being able to count down the days, it was finally starting to coast downhill. Three weeks. He had gotten through, and god was he still just as exhausted as he was day three.
Still, it meant that he was officially half-way done, and that much closer to be able to actually get home and to Minette. They hadn’t managed to both have a calmer day to finish what they had started before, though that hadn’t really stopped either of them on sending something to entice the other. He could barely get the shower selfie from a few days ago out of his mind still. He hoped it wouldn’t take the full run of his gym, to get home to her, for this tension to resolve, but if it came to that, he would enjoy it to the fullest.
It was coming up on his lunch break, but he was still stuck in a battle, down to a one v one, that he was not fully confident in winning. He knew the other gym leaders were in the back, as another tradition they had of popping in at the three week mark, so he couldn’t be late, but he didn’t want to rush this and have it feel like they didn’t win the badge fairly.
Though, at this point, they really had earned it. His poor mon was down low, and he had already used up his allotted potions for the fight. The potential was grinning, and in fact, did earn his badge in one final move, something Drayden congratulated, passing off the badge and hearing his friends cheer as he stepped back out of the gym.
Drayden huffed, stepping off his platform. He had allotted two hours of lunch today, knowing they had a tendency to go over his one hour lunches. Today was lighter anyways, he could afford the extra time out of his spot. He was so grateful to the trainers that helped him set up this entire scheduling, so he would have the time for these traditions. He wasn’t the biggest fan of them himself, but the others seemed to love it, and Drayden didn’t mind doing them.
He huffed, setting his pokeballs back onto his belt for the time being, since they were going to be out and about back in the break room with everyone else’s. It could be crowded at times, but that didn’t bother any of the large group most of the time. Drayden shifted, pushing the door to the break room open with his shoulder, then looking up when he realized it was oddly quiet.
They were there, all looking at him with near identical looks on their faces, and Drayden almost took a step back out, almost left them there, when he realized.
Minette was sitting at one of the tables, grinning at him, Silvally settled at her side and staring him down.
“Oh…” He smiled, moving over, sweeping her up into a hug just as she tried to stand.
She laughed, wrapping her arms around him. “I missed you too.” She mumbled into his chest, and Drayden just held her for a moment longer, grinning.
“Okay, okay, break it up, you’re sweeter than anything Minette could bake right now, no one needs cavities-” Burgh stepped over, pushing Minette’s chair a bit more out of the way. Drayden shifted, setting Minette back down carefully.
“Three weeks, Burgh, in a completely different time zone. You live in the same city as you boyfriend, you can go back every night during your season.” Drayden grinned, as Burgh shrunk back a bit, hands in the air innocently.
“Okay, okay, fair enough.” He moved back over to sit, and Drayden settled in the empty chair next to Minette. The few tables in the break room, usually all separated around, had been pushed together into one big table to fit all of them.
Conversation flew around him, keeping most of them entertained, but Drayden didn’t register most of it, letting it pass him by. It had only been three weeks, but three weeks is a long time to be away from someone. He wasn’t looking forward to the next three weeks, but, well, that didn’t matter right now. Because he had Minette with him now.
“God, and here I thought you guys couldn’t get any sweeter.” Drayden rolled his eyes, turning his attention away from Minette, who seemed to have just realized Drayden was watching her eat and went bright red at the realization, and instead turned towards Lenora, who was grinning, as if daring him to actually say something about it. He stared her down for a long moment, and she didn’t even blink.
“Three weeks.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re welcome for dragging her up here.” Skyla spoke up, leaning forward against the table to look at him. “She almost didn’t come.”
“It’s busy!” Minette defended herself. “I wanted to, obviously I’m here, but the cafe is so busy right now, I didn’t think I could.” She frowned, and Drayden settled a hand between her shoulder blades, rubbing lightly.
“I know, I know.” Skyla laughed softly. “I’m just teasing, but my point stands, I had to nearly drag you out so you’d stop trying to go back and check ‘one more thing’.” Skyla did air quotes, grinning at her.
Drayden huffed a laugh himself. That did sound like his Minette, so worried about the cafe keeping business. “I don’t blame you.” He murmured, and Minette smiled over at him, shifting to lean against his chest, as he dropped his arm over her shoulders.
“God, cavities. Let’s ignore the love birds over there-” Skyla turned back to her conversation with Elesa-who had actually been able to get away for this tradition-and Drayden, very maturely, stuck his tongue out at her, before turning back towards Minette, who was laughing at him, the whole point of him doing it. He smiled at her again, just happy to have her back, even if only for a day for the time being.
The meal passed, as his lunch break did, but he still didn’t quite want to get back to it. Though, to be fair, he still had some time, he had given himself an extra half hour that he didn’t need in order to have a moment to decompress before getting back into it. He loved the other gym leaders, they were his friends, but some of them were a bit too high energy for his liking.
Of course, they started packing up to leave, and Drayden wanted to make an excuse, something, just to have Minette to himself for a moment, when Elesa spoke up instead.
“Lets give them a moment, hm?” She grinned over at them, like she knew exactly what he was thinking, but he resisted the urge to give a glare in response. She was the one letting him have a second with Minette, after all. “No need to gain any more cavities in their presence.”
Their goodbyes were spread, Skyla warning Minette not to take too long, though there was no way her threat of leaving without her was very unlikely to actually happen. And with that, they were alone, together, after three weeks.
He wasted very little time, moving to lift her up on the table and kiss her. Minette laughed into it, holding onto his shoulders, wrapping her legs around his waist. “Inpatient much?” She teased, and Drayden responded by nosing into her neck and biting down, forcing her to cover her mouth quickly so she didn’t make too loud of a noise. He worried the skin there, wanting to leave a mark, hopefully multiple. Wishful thinking had him wanting to leave one that would still be there by the time he got back, which probably wasn’t going to happen, but it wasn’t going to stop him from trying.
Minette snuck her free hand down between them, undoing the button of his jeans, giving her just enough space to sneak her hand in, cupping his quickly hardening cock in her hand. Drayden groaned into her neck, pulling back slightly to kiss her again.
“You’re a tease, you know that?” He mumbled, shifting back down to worry a few more marks into her skin, pushing her dress down a bit. No need to have them all be visible after all. Skyla probably already knew exactly what was going on, but there was no need for it to be too obvious, if you discounted the hickey already on the side of her neck. Minette huffed, pulling her hand free from his pants to pull him close and rock her hips against his.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I do it on purpose.” She grinned, then had to cover her mouth again as Drayden uncovered her nipple, dragging his teeth across it. “Fuck, Drayden…”
“No, yeah, I’m just gonna go check on them!” Skyla’s voice echoed with how loud she was. She had to be halfway across the gym, but that was on purpose, he knew. Drayden shifted away, pulling Minette’s dress top back up, as she rebuttoned his jeans. He lifted her back off the table, then cupped her face and kissed her, just because he could. Skyla called back to the group again, something that Drayden wasn’t paying attention to, then pushed open the door.
“C’mon Minette. I know you don’t wanna pull yourself away from him.” She teased, and Minette sighed, leaning against him for a moment. “But we do have to be getting back soon.”
“I know…” She shifted, kissing him again, just once more. “Three weeks. See you then, yeah?”
Drayden smiled slightly, holding her close, just to have her near for as long as he could. “Yeah. Three weeks.”
Three weeks that couldn’t pass quickly enough. Minette was desperate for it at this point, just to have him home to have him sleeping next to her. She didn’t like sleeping alone, she got used to it because she had to, but when his pillow had stopped smelling like him, Minette hadn’t managed to get a good night's sleep for a couple days. They had done a facetime over christmas, though for some reason there were some people coming in for walk-ins on Christmas Day, which Minette thought was some bullshit, but it’s not like she was really doing anything that day, considering she had been closed. He had set up the phone in a way that she could watch the battles go down, and, if she were honest, it felt like he was showing off in a way for her. Not that she was complaining.
Still, it was late, and she wanted him home. The third day of January had her curled up on the couch, clicking through TV channels with Lillipup curled up on her chest asleep, the other mons scattered about the living room also sleeping, except for Silvally, who was sitting staring at the door, as if waiting for Drayden as well.
Drayden had to clean up his gym, put everything up for the year, and there was no way he was going to miss seeing the triplets off onto the start of their season, even if he was a day or two late, but he would be able to come home today. At any point. Minette kept checking the time, like it would make it go faster, get him home any faster. She had set her phone to the side, since she knew he wouldn’t be able to send any messages while on the plane back, and was thus just… waiting.
He said he had gotten a later flight in, that he’d be home near midnight, and it was really only near eleven, but Minette wanted him home already. Six weeks was too long without being able to lay with him in bed and eat random sweets and watch dumb shows on the cooking network.
It was also rather annoying, considering he had started ramping up the random texts and pictures he would send. She had a new phone background because of it-Drayden fresh from a shower, towel hung low on his hips, the glint of a smirk in his eyes over the phone he was taking the photo with-but it was still frustrating, even when she retaliated when she could.
Minette yawned softly, shifting slightly onto her side, Lillipup sliding off her chest and onto the couch, where he shook his head, then hopped onto the floor to go cuddle with Yamper and Rockruff. She spared a glance at her phone, still nothing, then settled on a random channel to play in the background, letting her eyes slip closed for a moment. She could just rest her eyes for a moment.
So of course, she was asleep when Drayden came home. He smiled faintly seeing her curled up on the couch, snoring softly, the blanket having slid down to just barely hanging on her hips. He set his bag to the side of the door, that could be dealt with later, kicked his shoes off, and was briefly distracted by Silvally, who ducked his head against Drayden lightly, careful not to hurt him. Drayden smiled faintly, crouching down to pet him. “Missed you too.” He mumbled, then stood again, Silvally going over to sit next to the cuddle pile that Minette’s other pokemon had made on one of the pillows scattered on the floor.
He moved over to the couch, pushing the blanket to the side, smiling faintly at her wearing a pair of his sweats as pajama pants. Drayden shifted, slipping his arms under her and lifting her up off the couch. He left the TV on, since it would shut itself off in a little bit anyways, and carried her to the room, setting her on the bed so he could pull his shirt off, kicking his pants off into a corner. He debated, rather briefly, if he wanted to put on pajamas himself, but decided against it, instead crawling into bed next to her, and pulling her close to his chest.
With that, he thought he’d fall asleep shortly, and get her waking him up in the morning, all excited to see him home. She had made sure to take the day after he got home off so they could have it together after all.
Instead, as he settled, started to drift off, he felt her shift in his arms, then trail a hand along his hip, tracing the line of his boxers, slipping her hand under them. Drayden groaned softly, eyes opening just enough to see her grinning up at him.
“Inpatient.” He murmured, rocking his hips lightly against her hand, and Minette laughed softly, leaning up a bit to kiss along his neck, biting a few marks into his skin on the way. “Couldn’t even let me sleep off the jet lag.”
“Mmmm, no, I couldn’t.” She laughed, stroking his slowly hardening cock. “So long without this? Can you really blame me?”
Drayden huffed, bringing a hand up under her shirt to cup her breast, rubbing his thumb along her nipple. “No, you’re right… I really can’t.” Minette laughed, sitting up to pull her shirt off, then pushing him onto his back to straddle him, rocking her hips against him lightly. Drayden settled his hands on her thighs, rubbing slowly further up her thighs.
“Trying to go to sleep without letting me even get a chance.” She mumbled, leaning down to suck along his neck again, trailing a few marks down his chest as well. Drayden huffed, sliding his hands up onto her hips, fingers dipping below the waistband of her sweats.
“You were already asleep.” He argued lightly, and then yelped as she bit down on his shoulder.
“Well you should’ve woken me up.” Minette declared, sitting up again, rocking harder against his cock, which was straining his boxers by now. “Can’t leave you like this, now can I?”
Drayden decided against mentioning that it was her actions after he had laid them down that had caused that particular problem, instead rolling the two of them to the side, pinning her under him with the simple shift. He grinned, sliding his hand under her sweats, pressing his fingers against her clit. She whined softly, as he rolled his fingers slowly, teasingly, slowing further when she broke and tried to grind against his hand.
“You’re so mean to me…” Minette whined, and Drayden laughed softly, leaning down to kiss her, sliding his fingers between her folds lightly, dragging them against her hole, pressing the barest of pressure there, just to keep her whining against his mouth. She grew wetter, making the slow slide easier. “Dray, please-”
“Oh, sweetheart, let me take my time with you.” He murmured, pressing a finger into her slowly, a bit at an awkward angle with her still wearing her pajamas, but he made it work. Minette moaned softly, eyes sliding half closed. “I want to relish this.” Drayden dropped his head down into her neck, dragging his tongue and teeth into marks down her shoulders. “Make you mine again…”
Minette whimpered, head falling back, one hand tangled in his hair and the other holding onto his arm as he worked his fingers into her slowly, starting slowly with one, then two, scissoring them lightly, just enough to stretch her a bit, to let her feel him pressed inside her like that. She clung onto him, whining softly as he pressed his fingers up, pressing against her g-spot as he pulled out just enough to leave barely his fingertips inside her, thrusting them back in nearly as slowly.
“You’re so gorgeous like this, all spread out for me…” Drayden smirked down at her, watching the way the blush spread across her face, down her shoulders, up her ears. “Making such pretty little noises for me, sweetheart, and you’re so wet for me already.” He kissed along her neck, tracing where the marks were starting to show properly.
“Drayden, please…” Minette whimpered, trying to hide her face in his chest. He let her for now, his free hand in her hair, holding her there as he shifted slightly, managing to press a third finger into her slowly. She whined, mouth falling open, rolling her hips against his hand. “Please-”
“I’ve got you, baby…” He shifted, thrusting his fingers up against her g-spot again, pressing his palm down against her clit, letting her rock her hips against his hand as he did. “So good for me, such a pretty little thing, all desperate for me. I haven’t even gotten your pants off, and you want to cum already?” He teased, and Minette whined again, sending a half-hearted glare up at him.
That was more than fine by him, considering that was kind of the whole point, getting her to cum as many times as he could ring out of her tonight. They were rather exhausted-he hadn’t been kidding about the jet lag he had mentioned earlier-so perhaps it wouldn’t be record breaking, but he would be damned if it was less than three.
And the first hit her like a wave, building and crashing over her in the same gentle rock as he fucked into her. She tensed, mouth open in a soft whining moan, rolling her hips against his hand, and Drayden just rolled his fingers up into her through it, rocking his own hips against her leg as she shook apart in his arms.
After a second, Minette twitching slightly in overstimulation when he pressed his fingers against her clit, he pulled his hand free, but shifted away, tugging her sweats down, showing she had just been wearing them. Drayden huffed a laugh, pressing a kiss to her sternum, trailing kisses down her stomach as well. One of her hands slid into his hair, the other settling against her chest.
“Drayden…” She mumbled, and he just looked up at her for a second, smirking, before kissing down her thighs as well, down one and back up the other, one hand coming up to hold one of her thighs up, keeping her open for him.
She jerked a bit, still over sensitive, as Drayden dragged his tongue up her cunt, pressing it against her clit and rolling small circles there. Her hand tightened in his hair, holding him there, as her other hand came up to cover her mouth. Drayden hummed, licking along her hole, pressing his tongue into her just slightly, before dragging it back up along her clit, stopping for a second to seal his mouth around it and suck for a long moment, something that had her thighs jerking and trying to shut around his head.
“Fuck, Drayden…” Minette whined past her hand, and Drayden chuckled softly, sending a spark up her spine as the noise vibrated his tongue just a bit. He kept the motion up, pressing his tongue into her for a moment before sucking at her clit, keeping her whining and rocking her hips against his face, holding his hair like he actually wanted to go anywhere. He shifted, bringing his free hand up to press two fingers into her, focusing his tongue and lips on her clit, sucking and rolling it against his tongue as he rocked his fingers into her carefully.
Already, she was building back up again, whines reaching higher and higher, rolling her hips against his face in a desperate attempt to hasten the process, fingers tight in his hair, something he very much didn’t mind. A soft chorus of whimpering slid past the hand over her mouth, begging him for something she would never need to ask for. He shifted, holding her closer himself, rolling her clit between tongue and teeth, curling his fingers up enough and-
This one hit her harder, her back arching up, the hand over her mouth barely able to properly muffle her cry, and Drayden grinned, fucking his fingers into her through it once more, pulling back enough to kiss the spots on her thigh irritated by his beard before he pulled back to sit up, keeping his fingers in her, thrusting them hard into her, as she whined, clinging onto his arm, panting, her own hand sliding down between them to rub at her clit, legs shaking.
“Can I get another that fast?” He chuckled, the question answered as Minette’s head fell back in another cry, legs clamping closed around his hand as he rocked it up against her, her body shaking in the force of it. “God, Minette… you’re a fucking treasure…”
Drayden pulled his fingers free carefully, shifting to push his boxers down, groaning softly as the pressure that had been building released when his cock sprung free from it’s confines. Distracted as he was in trying to get naked as quickly as possible, Minette took advantage and rolled them to the side again, her on top of him. He groaned, rolling his hips up against her the moment they made contact, and Minette laughed softly, rocking back against him.
“All that, and you haven’t been taken care of at all…” She crooned softly, straddling over his hips, shifting up to adjust herself properly, bringing a hand down to his cock, stroking him slowly. Drayden groaned, hands settling on her thighs, head falling back. “I think that’s a shame, hm?” With that, she slid down onto him, bracing her hands on his chest as his cock filled her.
They settled like that for a moment, relishing in each other after so long apart. Minette leaned down, kissing him as she started to roll her hips slowly, balancing herself carefully on his chest. Drayden huffed, rocking his hips up to match her, sliding a hand into her hair to hold her close. She moaned, ducking her head down into his neck, panting softly. “Fuck, I missed you…”
“I missed you too, sweetheart.” He murmured, settling a hand on her hip, rubbing his thumb in small circles, rocking up against her. “Wanted you with me that whole time…”
“Me too…” Minette shifted, changing the angel enough so he was trusting up against her g-spot, and she whined softly, biting down on his shoulder at the shift. “Wish I could’ve followed you up there… that you didn’t have to go…” She panted, legs shaking slightly.
Drayden huffed softly, shifting to roll them, giving her legs a break. He hovered over her, picking up the pace of his thrusts just a bit, bracing himself against the pillows. Minette whined, arching up against him, wrapping an arm around him to hold him close to her. “So good for me, all spread out like this…” He mumbled, curling himself a bit to tuck his head into her neck and suck another mark, as if trying to make up for the time lost.
Minette shivered, head falling back against the pillow, legs shaking. “Fuck… Drayden, please…” He huffed, pulling her hips up to thrust into her hard, panting softly.
“Fuck, Minette…” She whined softly, covering her mouth with a hand again, shaking against him. He slid a hand between them, rubbing a bit clumsily at her clit, groaning. She rocked against him, head falling back, panting.
“Drayden-” Minette gasped, legs tightening around him, her back arching up and back as she came again, crying out around her hand. Drayden groaned, dropping his head against her shoulder and thrusting harder, panting. “Please-” He bit down on her shoulder, clinging onto her as he came as well, hips stuttering in his motion.
They lay like that for a long moment, before Drayden shifted back, then flopped to the side, dragging Minette close, eyes already closed. Minette laughed softly, poking his side. “Don’t go falling asleep on me now.”
“Jet lag…” he mumbled into the pillow, peeking open an eye to look up at her, smiling. “Then you decided to get me up again, when you were sleeping already.” He teased, and Minette flicked his ear, which made him vaguely swat at her hand. “We’re cuddling, sleep time.”
“I need to pee.” She wiggled free from his arms, and Drayden groaned softly, flopping over onto his back to watch her go into the bathroom. He was tired, but he wanted to fall asleep with her in his arms again, after missing out from it for so long. Minette wandered out a little bit later, glancing up and laughing softly. “You didn’t need to wait.”
“Yeah I did.” He mumbled, rolling back onto his side, and holding up his arm, letting her slide back into his arms and curl up against his chest. Drayden wrapped his arms around her, yawning softly against her hair. Minette laughed softly, leaning up to kiss his chin.
“Missed you.”
“Missed you too.” He smiled down at her, watching as she settled against him, eyes falling closed. And, despite how tired he himself was, he watched for long enough to see her fall asleep, before slipping off into sleep himself.