Let The Grass Grow (Leon x OC)

Chapter 11 - Oysters

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skinny love - japanese breakfast

satellite - harry styles

hard to explain - monica martin

anywhere - madison cunningham

thirsty - lauren sanderson

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Nessa was as beautiful in person as she was on TV. She reminded Quinn of the sea shimmering like diamonds in the sun. She was both cool and warm.

Heads turned as they walked to their table. It was evident that the water-type gym leader was Hulbury's prized gem. The way they looked at her was that of awe and pride. It did not seem to phase Nessa in the slightest, water rolling off a Psyduck's back.

The three women — Nessa, Quinn and Sonia — slipped into a cozy booth in the upper corner of the restaurant. It was tucked away from the other tables but still gave them access to the spectacular view of the city and ocean. The round battle arena was just in sight, peaking over the water line like a shiny industrial sea monster.

"You know, I have been wondering about all those Wishiwashi," Nessa was saying, unwrapping her silverware and smoothing the starched napkin over her thighs.

"Yeah, their numbers rose a pretty dramatic 60% since last year," said Sonia, "I still haven't figured out what brought them here."

"Whatever it is, I can hardly blame them," a waiter appeared with tall glasses of water, an orange slice floating daintily amongst the ice cubes. He set them down on the table. "I too would swim miles just to catch sight of the lovely Nessa."

Nessa smiled but rolled her eyes. "Cut that out. I didn't come here to be flattered, Rocco. I'm here to eat."

Rocco smirked. "Why not both?"

Quinn felt the hot snake-like coil of envy in her belly.

Everything seemed to come easy to the other woman. Not only that, but she seemed so unaffected by everyone's adoration of her, which only made her cooler in Quinn's eyes.

While others let themselves be taken by the tides, shoved and set adrift by every rise and fall of the sea, Nessa was solid. Sure of herself. She was deeply rooted in the silt like an exquisite piece of coral. The waves simply passed overhead.

"Compliments don't fill a hungry stomach," Nessa said. "Speaking of, can you go ahead and put in an order of oysters for us?"

"Right away," Rocco said and left.

"I've never had oysters before," Quinn remarked and then internally cringed. Surely that made her sound small town, uncultured.

But Nessa clapped her hands. "Oh, how wonderful. I'm so excited for you to try them."

Quinn was filled with emotion: another hot blaze of envy but also a gentle sigh of admiration. It was easy to see why she was a fan favorite among the gym leaders.

"So," Nessa began, "it's really quite swell to finally meet you after all this time. I was starting to think that maybe Leon just made you up."

Sonia snorted a laugh.

Quinn looked between the two women, not quite understanding.

Sonia may have been familiar with Galar's premier league of Pokémon trainers by proxy of her research (and due to the fact that she had once been a trainer herself) but Quinn never had anything to do with them. This had always been Leon's world. To hear that Nessa already knew of her was a strange intersection of what Quinn had once thought were two very separate parts of Leon's life: his career and whatever category she fell into. But then again, there seemed to be a lot about Leon that she hadn't allowed herself to see. Until now.

"Oh? Did he mention me?" Quinn asked after taking a sip of water.

Now it was Nessa's turn to laugh. It sounded like smashed sea glass, rough but beautiful. "Mention you? He did more than that. I must've heard a thousand times about his music friend in Sinnoh. He's terribly proud of you."

"He was probably over-exaggerating," Quinn said with a crimson blush, "I do make music but it's nothing to write home about."

"Do. You said do," Sonia pointed out excitedly, "Does that mean you've started writing again?"

"Well, sort of. I've been trying."

"Have you met Piers?" Nessa asked. "You really must. I think you two would get along swimmingly."

At that, Rocco returned with an ornate plate of  fifteen oysters. They were arranged in a circle, resting atop a bed of fan-like cabbage leaves. He passed out little forks to each of them.

Nessa licked her lips, sending a spark of electricity up Quinn's spine. She almost laughed aloud at the absurdity of her next thought: do I like girls?

She had never given much thought to her sexuality. There were plenty of times Quinn had admired a striking woman but that attraction was easily muddied by what she, at the time, perceived as a yearning to be them. Perhaps she wanted to be under them, too.

Quinn continued to watch Nessa as she used her little fork to unearth the flesh from the concave of the oyster. Then she brought the shell to her lips, tipping back and letting the meat slip into her mouth.

When she placed the empty shell back on the plate, she met Quinn's gaze and smiled. "Your turn."

With a little hesitancy, Quinn mimicked the other woman, downing the oyster like a shot. It wasn't as fishy as she thought it was going be, possessing only the best qualities of the ocean: salty, tangy (she guessed lemon had been used in the seasoning) and fresh.

"Well, what do you think?" Nessa asked.

"Delicious," said Quinn.

Conversation came easy. The three of them were a natural trio, and their rapport allowed Quinn to disappear in the moment.

Sonia held her hand under the table. Quinn gave her hand a squeeze.

They could've carried on that way for hours, finding new topics to chew on and silly nothings to laugh about. Quinn would've liked that very much. But just as Nessa was about to put in another order of oysters, a young woman dressed in the Hulbury gym uniform came rushing up to their table.

"Nessa," the girl wheezed, doubling over. She must have ran the whole way here. "We have a problem."

Nessa's dark brow rose. "What's the matter?"

The girl shook her head. "There's no time to explain. You have to come right now."

Nessa, fluid as water, flagged down Rocco and handed him a couple of crisp bills. Slipping out of the booth, she looked to Quinn and Sonia with an expression that did not belay the apparent urgency of the situation. Her face was a calm sea. "Well, ladies. What do you say we have ourselves a little adventure?"