The Conductor (Jolteon x Vaporeon)

Chapter 11 - Medic

Aria sat alone on the three-cushion couch within the siblings' den, slouched over with her head in her paws. When she was the only one here, it felt empty and lonely. She couldn't believe that she just helped attack an innocent Pokémon, guilt and shame repeatedly jabbing at her.

"I knew I should have listened to my gut, now I've hurt someone I don't even know and Ash is in complete shambles.. I've never seen him look so.. destroyed.."

Aria had been stressing out over the events of the day ever since she had arrived at the siblings's den, guilt tripping herself over and over. She felt that her actions had enabled Ash to get so deep into trouble, slowly convincing herself that this was her fault somehow. She didn't know why.

Normally, she was the voice of logic, the calm and collected tone in these types of situations, and yet here she was, feeling like she had completely spun out of control of everything, the wheel of fate slipping from her paws. Was the jolteon going to report them? Were they going to be imprisoned or ostracized for their violence? The mayor clearly liked the mon, he was sure to listen to anything he said.

"Dammit.. please get home soon, Ash, I'm losing my mind.."

As if Arceus had been listening in and decided to answer her prayers, right then and there, she heard the click of a door. Her large, cat-like ears perked upright, and she turned her gaze towards the front door of the den, greeted with the sight of not one, not two, but three Pokémon walking through, all with huge smiles in their faces and their fur all in a mess.. except for the one that didn't have fur.

Ash came in first, wearing a big, toothy grin on his face, chuckling about Arceus knows what. His typically well-groomed mane was all in a tussle, likely residue from the earlier outbreak. On his back, with her paws over his shoulder and legs through his arms, was Vanessa, her long, spined tail curling around in front of the duo to keep it out of the way. She had a huge smile on her face, giggling like a child as she was ferried around by her big brother.

Shortly behind came that strange jolteon, seeming just as pleased as the other two, quietly chuckling as he watched the siblings' antics ensue. They narrowly avoided a huge disaster as Vanessa's head just narrowly ducked under bumping into the top of the door frame, her top fin bending back as it brushed past it.

Aria jumped off of the couch, feeling a wave of relief wash over her as the two familiar figures and their new plus-one came into her sight. Things must have turned out alright if they had all come back together looking as happy as could be. Her emotions were still a bit tangled, mainly with guilt and shame, but she was feeling much better now that things seemed to be working out.

"V! I'm so glad to see you're alright!"

The vaporeon grinned at Aria as she slid off Ash's back, running up to the espeon and leaping in for a hug. Aria wasn't much of a casual hugger, thanks to her sensitive fur, but she figured she could make an exception for an occasion like this. She scooped Vanessa up into her arms and twirled around with her for a moment, setting the water type down after their momentum had come to a halt.

"Y-Yeah! Although, you should really keep your boyfriend in check, he gets into t-trouble when you don't keep a close eye on him.."

Aria sighed, laughing under her breath as she shook her head, turning a condescending gaze towards Ash. The flareon in question had an unamused expression, lips pursed into a goofy looking frown, glaring back at the smug espeon. He didn't mind being called a troublemaker, but that was just plain demoralizing.

"I'll make sure to put him on a leash next time, then. Maybe that'll keep him from running into trouble?"

Ash tensed up and froze, face growing flushed, his pouting turning into shock. The red was almost visible through his orange fur as he looked away, diverting his gaze elsewhere to keep anyone from looking too closely. He knew that responding in any way would just allow the espeon to tease him further, and he didn't know how much he wanted to put up with that right now, so he instead tried to change the subject. He brought a paw to his mouth, awkwardly forcing a cough.