Chapter Text
As the redhead idly stirred a straw in her glass of cherry soda, she came to realize the awkward silence that followed her question, and a familiar irritated look crossed her face; aquamarine jewels darting to look Ash’s way, as if she expected him to break the silence. All she elicited from the soot-haired teen though, was a mere awkward clearing of the throat as he looked away, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.
Of course Ash wouldn’t help here. An unwise thought on her part…
“Brooock,” She called out, snapping her fingers to get his attention back. “Hey, Brock.”
The older teen turned around, bewilderment read on his face. “Uh...what did you say?”
“I said,” Misty spoke clearly, her words laced with a familiar bratty insistence. “Brock, do you think you might like boys, too?”
The question left him at a loss for words again. For the longest time, Brock had been solidly convinced he was straight. Simply girls, and that was that.
Never before had he considered there might be more to it.
Not a fan of impatiently waiting for him to break the silence again, Misty tucked a part of her shaggy, ginger bob behind her ear and spoke out once more. “I’m just saying, I hear a lot about this guy, and a few others from you. Are you sure you don’t have crushes on all of them or something?”
“Woah, wait,” Ash interjected, tapping the redhead on her shoulder to get her attention (his hand was promptly smacked away by her seconds after). “What guys? I’ve never heard about any of this…Uh, Brock?”
A playful smirk spread across Misty’s face, and she took this opportunity to indulge in some playful teasing. Pale, freckled hands clasped together, and she spoke in a dramatically comic way, imitating a lovestruck Brock. “Oooh, MISTY! You should’ve SEEN him! The way he spoke to that Gyarados…Such passion! Such courage!”
As Misty’s teasing continued, it’d elicit quiet snickering from Ash, and a red blush that’d slowly crept up on Brock’s face.
“That Pokémon Connoisseur...I haaave to meet him again ~ ! I just have to ~ !”
“I don’t sound like that,” Brock snapped at her, spilling sauce from his ladle onto the ground. “Knock it off!”
A ginger eyebrow cocked upwards in a smug satisfaction, Misty found herself being once again bothered by Ash’s voice coming from beside her. “Wait...a Pokémon Connoisseur?”
“Uh, yeah,” Misty affirmed, then proceeding to take a long sip from her drink.
“I think I know who...” Ash said, then pausing in thought. Once he got the name, he snapped his fingers in a moment of clarity. “Cilan!”
“Ci..lan?” Misty echoed him, though saying the name with much more confusion. To her, he was nothing but a stranger.
“Yeah, he’s --” Before Ash could continue, he was met and cut off with Brock suddenly colliding with the table, nearly knocking it over as he’d practically slam his hands on the wood; clear excitement over potentially finally hearing the name of the man he’d had on his mind for so long.
“CILAN?! YOU KNOW HIM?!”
“Uh…” Caught in surprise, Ash wasn’t sure how to respond. “Y-yeah? He, um. He was a friend I made back in Unova. He and I hung out a lot…”
As if Misty’s previous teasing had captured him perfectly, Brock appeared lovestruck. “Ah...that’s his name...heheh, it’s a real pretty name.”
Ash was then met with a smirk from Misty and a condescending “See? I wasn’t that far off.”
A little snicker from her comment, an idea came to Ash’s mind: Maybe describe the guy, just to make sure he and Brock were on the same page. Cilan wasn’t the only Connoisseur Ash had met in Unova, but he’d certainly been the one he knew most well. “So, Brock, just so I make sure we’ve got the same guy...was he tall? Dressed up in a fancy suit? Green hair? Did he have a Pansage with him, or something?”
Red face, Brock nodded, a dreamy sound in his voice. “Yeah, that’s him...I took care of his Pansage for him.”
“I didn’t know you guys met,” Ash said, folding his arms. “Cilan was a real nice guy...I’d love to meet up with him again and catch up.”
Wanting to feel included again in the conversation she’d started, Misty chimed in once more. “Why not give him a call? If you’re not gonna do it for you, at least do it for Loverboy over there.” She’d point a thumb over at Brock as she called him ‘Loverboy’. The poor guy was still lost in thought, red faced and staring off into space dreamily.
…Suddenly, a smoky scent was picked up from all three of them.
Brock scrambled back over to check up on his food...and tears of frustration pricked his eyes as he realized he’d gotten so sidetracked with the conversation he’d forgotten about cooking and let their lunch burn.
With a loud sigh...Misty pulled out her phone and opened up GrubbinHub.