[attr="class","rhythm"]

Walker hated airplanes. They didn't have a good reason for it, especially since they themselves could fly on their own. They just hated them. Or that's what they told themselves as the bus bounced along towards Goldenrod City. They told themselves they were anxious about flying in a hunk of metal and not, in fact, anxious about seeing Daniel again. It'd been over two years now, hadn't it? They scrunched their brows and looked away from the view flashing through the bus windows and back at their pokegear. They'd been fiddling it for most of the ride, either staring at Daniel's contact info or starting a text message only to erase it, start again, give up, and go back to it. It'd been over two years since they'd spoken. They'd left without a word and didn't respond to any of Daniel's attempts to contact them. Eventually, Daniel just stopped and it had been radio silence between them for over a year now. They wondered, were they even still a contact in their pokegear? They couldn't blame him if they weren't. You could hardly call their relationship a friendship anymore. Still, Walker needed to talk to him. They were going to talk to him because they'd been avoiding it long enough. It'd been eating at them long enough, festering and tearing them apart from the inside out. They could've called or texted. They could've done anything. Anything would've been better than nothing.

Well, now was the time for anything, right? Just commit and take the leap. It felt like someone was wrapping their fingers tight around their throat, bu they deleted the draft that had been sitting there for the past ten minutes and started again. They didn't give themselves time to hesitate, sending the messages with shaking fingers.

<< Hey, it's Walker. Do you remember me? It's been a long time. I'm sorry. >>

<< I should've called you or texted you. Something. Obviously, I didn't. >>

<< I don't really want to explain it right now. >>

<< I'm heading back to Lyeant. I should be in by 8 >>

<< If you're willing to spare a few minutes, maybe we could meet up and talk? >>

<< I'll explain everything. >>

<< I'll remind you of this before I take off and again when I land. >>

They snapped their pokegear shut and clenched it tight. Part of them wanted to just throw it out the window so they wouldn't have to look at it again. They couldn't see the rejection if they didn't have their pokegear, right? That would be childish, though. Besides, they had to remind Daniel soon. Assuming Daniel even remembered them in the first place. If he didn't, perhaps that was for the better, although it made Walker's guts twist. It would save them both a lot of ache, though, wouldn't it? Daniel wouldn't have to deal with the idea that at one point he was in love with someone with an alien pokemon inside of them and Walker wouldn't have to confront the fact that he'd abandoned Daniel rather than trying to talk to him.

Walker bounced their knee and stared vacantly out the window for the rest of the ride to the airport, listening to the radio on their pokegear, then proceeded through ticketing and security in a daze, snapping back only once at their gate. Right, they had to remind Daniel that they were coming.

<< Reminder text. I don't want to retype it when you can just read the log, so read the log. >>

<< You don't have to meet with me if you don't want to. I'll understand. >>

<< I regret not telling you I was leaving and I regret being too scared to contact you until now. >>

<< I've learned a lot in Johto, though. I don't regret coming. >>

They looked up as someone spoke over the PA, pausing to listen.

<< They're starting to board us. I'll text you when I land. >>

He switched his pokegear into airplane mode before he shoved it in his pocket and grabbed his suitcase. The line was sparse, but that was unsurprising considering the news about Lyeant's political state. It'd been two years since they'd solved the issue of Team Imum, but still they lacked a solid government and instead they were locked in a civil war, although there weren't any active battlefields. People worried it was only a matter of time, though. They boarded anxiously, wondering not only if Daniel would even text them back, but wondering just what Lyeant looked like now. They tried to not think on it too hard. They would know in a couple of hours anyway, so they settled in their seat and tried to take a nap. They couldn't overthink things while they were asleep, after all.

"Good morning everyone, we have begun our final descent." The announcements woke them up, "Please make sure your tray tables are stowed away and your seats are in their upright and locked positions. The time in Lyeant is now eleven thirty-five a.m. and it is a crisp twenty-six degrees outside." Cold today, but the weather was the last thing on Walker's mind. They stared instead out their window over Lyeant's landscape. They knew it long before they left, but knowing and seeing were two so very different things. Lyeant was scarred, carved up, chewed up and spit back out. It wasn't the Lyeant they knew, but it was what it was. The news over the past couple years had prepared them for some of this, but seeing the destruction made their stomach twist. Had they been in Lyeant for this, would they have been able to help stop it? Could they have done something? And if they could've, if they did, where would they be now? Where would Walker be? Daniel? They watched as the destruction faded to the cityscape of Eirenhyre City. Anxiety welled back up inside of them, spiking when the plane jolted upon landing. They couldn't help but wonder if Daniel even remembered him at all. Their head was filled with questions of where they would go from here, if they went anywhere at all. If Daniel wasn't interested in ever seeing them again, maybe they would just leave. They had little reason otherwise to stay in Lyeant. Perhaps go back to Ho— No, no, they were getting ahead of themselves. Now was not the time to make plans for the worst case scenarios, not when things had barely just begun. There was still hope.

There's still hope. They told themselves that over and over again as they stepped into the terminal. They glanced around, but did not immediately see Daniel. Their heart sank, but they told themselves again and again that he might still be here. Or maybe he intended to come, but forgot. They needed to text him again.

<< Are you here? >>

Oh dear arceus, their hands were shaking. This was ridiculous, they decided. They'd hurtled through space at hundreds of miles per second and here they were shaking over a human arceus damned boy. They'd survived Team Rocket only to become a fumbling mess because said boy might very seriously not remember anything about them. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

(tagged)⏤ @tag
(notes)⏤ ouo//