Vocal Strain [Piers x Reader]

Chapter Thirty Three

        Your head was reeling after you met all the people that had managed to get their hands on a VIP ticket. You had become victim to many camera flashes, signatures, and conversations about your performances or your ability to battle. It seemed to drag on for hours, following the same routine. A new person would come in, you would shake their hand and greet them, Raihan would follow your lead, and then the two of you were bombarded with questions or information that the strangers decided you should receive, often telling you about their dreams or the things that your music had managed to inspire within them. You attempted to be as supportive as you could manage, sharing words of encouragement with each person that happened through the door, but you could only do so much with the amount of people that had managed to trudge into the room and dull your senses. 

        By the time it was over, your voice felt so worn that you were capable of hibernation. Your cells were buzzing after the adrenaline had finally vanished from you completely and your shoulders ached from how much you were moving around on stage. You rubbed your shoulder as the last VIP fan vacated from the room. 

        "Gym Leader Marnie is here," the security guard spoke up. "She has a VIP ticket, but she says that you have dinner plans. Is our job done here?" 

        "Oh, yes." You smiled. "You can go on and end your shift. Thank you so much for your help."

        After the security had taken their leave, you stretched and felt your back give a small pop. Marnie was waiting, and you'd be damned if you let something like exhaustion get in the way, despite your horrid sleep schedule and absolutely tarnished vocal chords. You had missed Marnie and you had definitely missed Piers. 

        "You're going to celebrate with dinner, huh?" Raihan asked, his stare evident.  

        "Yeah, I guess celebrating is the word for it," you chuckled. "We did get a lot of stuff done and I'm still wrapping my head around it all. But, I haven't seen Piers or Marnie a lot, since we started. I was starting to think that he was still avoiding me. It'll be nice." 

        Raihan slightly tilted his head back to turn his blue eyes away from you. He had probably expected to join whatever celebration you had been planning to have, since you both accomplished the event together. Though, it had completely escaped your mind that he wasn't against your intentions, anymore. He was a friend. Earlier, he had even voiced the fear he had, about the workload finally coming to an end. And he had put plenty of love and care into it. And sure, Piers had voiced his jealousy, but he was sure to understand after you had reassured him, right? He had probably been busy and that was most likely why Piers hadn't talked to you. 

        "Would you like to join us?" you asked slowly, hesitant. 

        "I wouldn't want to get in the way," the dragon-type gym leader exclaimed, though there was a slight bitterness behind each word. "After all, you've been worried about him and we've been in each other's presence every single day, almost." 

        You could hear the hope in his voice, despite the bitterness. The hope that you would just ask him to come anyway, despite his words. You knew that he could care less about getting in the way of you and Piers, with that weird goal of his. He just wanted you to voice it, give him a victory. And though, it would be funny to toss that hope right out the window, you didn't want to be that mean. 

        "Yeah, whatever." You scoffed, fixing your bag around your shoulder and grabbing your guitar case, which also had your folded microphone stand inside. "If you're coming, let's go." 

        A toothy grin tugged at the corner of Raihan's lips, proving that he thoroughly appreciated the victory that you had let him receive. His arm slipped around your shoulders, as you had started to walk towards the door. As it did, you shot him a glance.