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Eddies 13

Chris dropped onto his air mattress, painfully aware of the warm, soft body cradled against him. His breathing faltered as furred arms wrapped around his chest as he lay back against Skyy, the lucario's warm breath soft against his neck, raising the fine hairs against his skin with its promise of intimacy.

He stiffened, mind in shock as those black lips; so delicate; caressed his neck, and he let out a small, involuntary groan as his body responded to the touch.

He interlaced long fingers into the stubby ones pressed against his chest, squeezing them softly before bringing the paws to his lips. Turning them over, he placed a gentle kiss on both palms. The lucario giggled into his hair, sending tickling vibrations across his neck, and Chris couldn't help but respond in kind. Dropping his face to the paws again, he sniggered into the soft fur, as Skyy's chest shook against his back.

Several minutes passed before the pair gained control of themselves, and Skyy pressed himself against his human friend again, a sigh of satisfaction at his good fortune escaping him in a rush.

Murmuring softly, Skyy said "Thank you..." Puzzled, Chris turned in the lucario's grasp, the furred arms maintaining their hold as he spun to face his friend with a questioning look. Skyy sighed, looking away from the curious glance as the human asked "For what?"

Breathing deeply, the pokemon faced Chris again. "For rescuing me, and protecting me. For being there for me when I was hurt. For being a friend when I desperately needed one so badly. Arceus, for everything!"

Bringing a paw back from Chris's back, he reached up tentatively to caress the bare skin of the human's cheek, watching as the blue eyes softened. As Chris again kissed the soft palm, the human whispered "I regret none of it, Skyy. I've been alone for so long, even around my friends and family, I forgot what it was like having someone there to care for, and to care for me."

Dropping his eyes from the ruby gaze guiltily, Chris said "I don't know what I'm feeling anymore. I'm so confused, a small part of me wants to start running away, and never stop."

As the eyes widened, Chris pressed the furred palm against his cheek, and whispered "And the other part of me wants to grab you, and hold you close, and never, ever let you go...."

Releasing the hand, he stroked the soft ears, running a finger down the lucario's face to his jaw. Leaning forward, soft lips met as the pair drew close, shared breath mingling for long moments until they broke apart, gasping for much needed air. When they locked gaze, they both giggled again, as Chris wrapped his arms around the thin, muscled arms, snuggling against the lucario's fragrant fur with a sigh.

With his face against the long ears, Chris whispered "I think I like you, Skyy", as the lucario leaned back into the caress in bliss.

Breathing out heavily, Skyy rested back and whispered in reply "I think I like you, too", shutting his eyes and simply enjoying the closeness.

As the fatigue from the day finally caught up with them, the pair dropped off to sleep. They didn't register the return of Azil, who opened the tent zip to regard the embracing pair in surprise. Shrugging as he chuckled to himself, the small lizard left the pair alone to curl up before the fire, bedding down in the soft grass under the stars to spend the night in peace.

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Chris woke from sleep with a start as a horrendous roar rocked the tent. Skyy sat up beside him, wiping the sleep from his wide eyes as he looked around, startled. As his brain registered the source of the noise, Chris cursed loudly, reaching down to grab his shorts, tangling his legs in the fabric as he struggled to pull them up. Finally at least partially clothed, he unzipped the tent, signing for Skyy to remain hidden in the tent as he dealt with the situation.

Shivering in the chill morning air, Chris glared at the two imbeciles on trail bikes circling their campsite, stalking across the clearing as one swept past. With a thrust of his arm, he shoved the closest rider as he sped by, sending him flying off the side of the bike to crash into the dirt. The bikers mate slammed on the brakes to avoid running him over and jumped from his machine to accost Chris, as the first rider pulled himself from the ground to join him, tearing off his helmet as he stormed up to him. Fists clenched, he yelled at Chris "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Chris cursed loudly, grabbing the rider by his jacket lapels and dragging him close. "Is that a trick question, retard? I'll ask you the same. What the fuck are YOU doing?"

As the rider's friend approached, Chris glared at him, and spat "One step closer, and I'm going to punch your cock brained friend's head in. Then I'm going to do the same to you. So, stop right there!"

Whether it was the look on Chris's face, or the sudden fear in his friend's eyes, the second rider stopped, and put his hands up placating.

"Hey!" he said "We're just messing around. No need to get pissed!"

With the two riders so intent on him, neither noticed the large shadow drop over them. Chris looked up, a wry grin suddenly cross his face.

"Oh, I don't think I have a problem with it" he said quietly. "I think the problem is you've pissed off my big friend here, and he has a short temper. Perhaps an apology is in order?"

When the pair looked to each other, a large clawed hand rested on their shoulders, gripping the jackets tightly. As they turned to confront the newcomer, they paled as Storm leaned down into their faces, dragging them towards him. One of the pair turned white, while the other began shaking as the typhlosion bared his teeth at them, and growled "I'm waiting for that apology now."

The first rider blanched further, and stammered "Whaa.... whaaa...." as his friend almost collapsed in the huge pokemon's grasp.

Storm gave Chris a wide smirk, shaking the pair and said gruffly "I don't think I can eat both of them. Can I save one for later?"

Dropping them to the ground as the first rider screamed in fear, he leant down to roar at them, muzzle gaping showing slavering canines, before he watched them back frantically away on hand and knees, grabbing their bikes and punt like mad towards the tree line. However, as they tried desperately to start their bikes, Azil, who had been walking through the forests to fill in the morning as the others slept, approached the pair from the far side. When the second rider saw him, he let off another shriek, before his frantic kicking met with success. As the two bikes finally started, the pair tore down the path towards the charmander, who leapt out of the way as the two bikers flew through the bush past him at top speed.

Shaking himself off as he picked himself up, Azil stormed towards the human and typhlosion, who stood watching the idiot's departure with a grin. Looking up at Chris in confusion, Azil lifted both paws helplessly and said "Char?"

Chris looked at Storm, and the pair looked at Azil, before breaking into hysterical laughter. The typhlosion wrapped an arm around the human and pounded his back in mirth. When Scott finally made his entrance, appearing from the tree line where he'd gone for an early morning walk, he scowled at his partner in disgust.

"Arceus sake! Can't we go anywhere?" he said, shaking his head in frustration. "This IS supposed to be a covert mission, you big idiot!"

Chris and Storm gaped at him a moment, exchanged loaded glances, then broke up again as they dropped to the grass to roll in mirth.

Cursing again, Scott barged past the confused lucario, who had popped out from the tent as the engine noise died off, and said "Shit, I don't know who the bigger fool of those two is!"

Skyy grinned and approached Chris, who had sat up and was wiping the ears from his eyes. "Oh Gods, that was awesome! I'd love to hear what they tell anyone about that! "The big blue talking bear said he was going to eat us, officer! Honest!", as he tried to contain himself. When the typhlosion finally caught his breath, he leaned over to slap the human across the shoulders with a wide grin, saying "You're alright, kid!" before clambering to his feet and heading back to his tent, still chuckling.

Wincing at the new bruises on his back, Chris turned to Skyy and said "Well, at least one of them still likes us", receiving a flash of toothy smile in response.

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The rest of the trek went without incident, and generally without conversation. Scott continued to scowl at his partner, who feigned innocence at every glare. With the mud drying further overnight, the going was easier, and they made it to the outskirts of Chris's parent's property by lunchtime. As they came to a halt at the edge of the bush lands, Chris gave a sigh of pleasure as he spied his house in the distance, perched on a hill at the edge of the grazing land.

Scott dropped his pack, and rested against a post in the barbed wire boundary fence. "Alright people, from here we need to get serious. There's a lot at stake here, and we can't have any more stupid, OK?" Glaring at Chris, who felt his face heat in embarrassment, he then turned to his partner and said "This goes double for you!" receiving a smirk in reply.

Shaking his head in defeat, the Ranger continued "From here, the potential for things to turn ugly goes up immensely. We don't know if anyone is home, but I gather having you lot invade their house might cause some issues even if Chris is with us, so use some common sense and subtlety, for Arceus sake!"

As the four pokemon exchanged glances, Scott rubbed his forehead and said "Remember, guys. You don't exist here! We want to avoid giving anyone a heart attack, alright?"

As everyone nodded, Scott put on his pack, gesturing for the group to do the same, and swung open the cattle gate at the edge of the wire fence.

Chris's parent's property was big. Over seven hundred hectares of cleared pasture land and crops, and an equal area of uncleared scrub, the closest neighbour was a fifteen minute drive away. Thankfully, this meant they didn't need to keep to cover, although Chris did have some qualms about freaking out his parents with his unannounced arrival.

However, he needn't have worried, as the homestead was deserted. Both his parents' trucks were missing from the driveway, so Chris let himself into the side shed to grab the spare key. He was surprised to see his trashed bike leaning against the central timber shed support, and frowned as he considered the effort that mush have occurred to recover it from the mountain. More to the point, it spoke of a fairly sustained search for him that clearly met with no success. He thought of the stress his folks would have been going through, and sighed. Well, at least he was home now, he mused, although he wasn't fully sure he was looking forward to the reunion. He hoped they wouldn't be too disappointed in him.

Grabbing the key from the nail it hung on, he returned to the front porch where the rest of the group waited. As he opened the screen door, fumbling with the key as he popped it in the lock, a frantic barking started from inside the house. Swearing softly, he turned to his friends and said "Shit. Dad left Nanook in the house. He's friendly, and won't bite or anything, so don't hurt him, OK?"

Storm looked at him with a frown, and said "What's a nanook?", before stepping back as a hundred pounds of wolf-like dog thrust through the partially opened door, barking at the group while running madly around Chris. Cursing, the typhlosion stepped back a few paces, extended claws pointing at the creature as it approached. Before things got overly messy, he was grabbed by Scott, who stopped him from attacking the enthusiastic creature.

Snatching his collar in embarrassment, Chris held the malamute firmly, restricting his antics, although the dog continued to pull towards them. With a groan, he straddled Nanook's back, gripping the dog with his knees as Storm recovered his poise, pointing a clawed finger at the dog and said "What the fuck is that?"

Chris couldn't help himself. Looking at the bemused pokemon, he sniggered, breaking out in a wide grin. Skyy had stepped back down the stairs to escape the chaos, but shouldered forward to drop to a knee before the happy malamute. Reaching out a hand tentatively, he grinned as the sniffing turned to happy licking, as he gave the ears a rub.

"It's like a growlithe" he said to the others. However, he frowned as he listened to the creature, and said to Chris "But I don't understand what it's saying!"

Chris laughed, pulling Nanook to the side and gesturing with his free hand for the rest of the crew to enter the house. "I'd be surprised that you could understand him, since he can't actually talk. But he seems to like you a lot." Grinning wryly, he continued "Then again, he likes everyone a lot, so fat lot of good he is as a guard dog. Best he could do is lick an intruder to death!"

Skyy raised an eyebrow, pausing in his head rubs and receiving a nudge from the dog to continue. "He can't? So, how do you communicate with him?"

Chris chuckled. "Badly. He's a malamute. He does whatever the hell he wants to do. But no animals here talk; not to humans anyway. There are some smart ones for sure, but nothing like pokemon."

Skyy digested this new information silently, examining the big creature as it licked his arms ecstatically. Scary place then, he pondered, rubbing the furred head behind the ears as the dog's tongue dropped out in satisfaction. Not a place to get lost in.

Once they had made their way through the house to the large kitchen, Chris let go of the malamute, who promptly made friends with everyone present. Chris moved to the fridge, checking inside and sighed in satisfaction as he dug out some beers from an already opened carton, passing them to the two other humans and the typhlosion. Storm had a juice, and Azil shook his head, declining the drink. However, the best he could manage for Raikou was a large saucepan full of ice water, placed on the kitchen tiles. Shrugging off his apology, Raikou said "It is alright. I am satisfied", and went back to lapping up the cold liquid with a contented rumble.

Dropping to a dining chair at the large pine table, Chris leaned back and gave a sigh of pleasure. "Welcome to Darken Ridge. This place has been in my family for two generations. Make yourselves at home!"

Taking a long pull of the icy brew, he looked up as Skyy groaned, shoving the dog away as he enthusiastically tried to sniff under the lucario's tail. "Does he have to do that?" the pokemon complained, as the group laughed at the malamute's antics.

"He likes you" said Chris with an evil smirk, before collaring the dog and taking him outside.

Skyy frowned "Yeah, I like him too, but if he thinks I'm going to sniff his arse to show it, he's got another thing coming!"

As they laughed again, Chris returned to the pantry, dragging out some pasta and onions. Raiding the fridge again, he reached into the freezer for some mince, which he tossed into the microwave to defrost. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm starving. I'll get some dinner started, and while it's cooking, I'll show you to some rooms and the showers"

Storm gave a sigh, chugging the rest of his beer and belched loudly. "Hot water? Oh Arceus, yes!" Tossing the empty to Chris, who fumbled the catch with a chuckle, he followed the verbal directions down the long homestead hallway, with Scott following in his wake. Jasper headed down the corridor after them, taking a second spare room, while Raikou took time to wander through the rest of the house, exploring.

Azil dropped to a crouch in front of the large TV in the lounge, looking at the huge screen curiously, until Chris showed him how to use the remote control. As the blank screen lit up with moving pictures, the pokemon's eyes widened in amazement, and it wasn't long before he was happily channel surfing, taking in everything from news to infomercials with a quiet intensity. When Raikou returned, dropping to the carpet beside him, Azil barely noticed as the two watched the shows with fascination.

While Chris continued cooking, Skyy dropped to a kitchen chair, watching his friend as he went about preparing the meal. Chris seemed different here; more relaxed, not to mention happier, than Skyy had seen him. The edge of frustrated anger the human seemed to have was gone, and he was glad to think Chris had finally a chance to get over all the trauma of the past few weeks.

After dicing the onions finely, Chris tossed them into a frying pan, adding the tomato paste and dried herbs, before dumping the spaghetti into a large pot of boiling water. Stirring both vigorously, he dropped the wooden spoon onto a spare bowl. Placing both arms on the counter, he arched his back, leaning forward to straighten the kinks from his spine. With a sigh of pleasure, he dropped onto a chair opposite Skyy, taking another pull from his warming beer and belching contentedly.

Seeing the amused glance passed his way by the lucario, Chris grinned and said "I hope you like Spag Bog! It's a staple around this place, my dad being part Italian and all".

Skyy thought about it, and said "I have no idea what that is, or where he's from, but I like what I smell!" Wrinkling his muzzle, he leaned forward to catch the enticing aroma from the frying pan. The simmering concoction smelt pretty damned wonderful, he thought, forcing himself not to salivate over the aroma.

Chris chuckled, finishing his beer and stepped back into the kitchen to stir the pots and grab another drink. Raising an eyebrow, he nodded towards Skyy's empty cup questioningly, but the lucario shook his head. Sitting back down, Chris watched his friend, and asked "So, how you holding up?"

Skyy grinned toothily, and nodded. "Doing pretty well. At least now I know why you smelt funny. This place really is totally different from home."

Chris laughed. "Depends on your definition of home, mate." Looking around the warm, inviting kitchen, he sighed in satisfaction. "I grew up in here. This is home!"

Skyy looked suddenly troubled. "But... What will you do?" he asked.

Chris glanced at him. "Do? Oh, you mean, stay here or in your world? Well, all my family is here, and... Well, I was hoping you'd like to stay here with me for a while. Hopefully, if Raikou's OK with it, we can travel between the two places as we need."

Skyy was relieved. He was glad Chris had gotten home safely, but the fear he'd remain when Skyy returned to his world had niggled him. "How will I go here, do you think?"

Chris grinned. Well, on the farm, really well. If Nanook loves you, everyone will love you."

However, the question of what would occur away from the farm remained unanswered.

Suddenly, a loud voice from the lounge room called out to them.

"Char!! Char cha charmander!"

Grabbing his drink, Chris headed into the lounge with the lucario in tow, to see the enthusiastic charmander jumping up and down, pointing at the TV. Turning up the volume, Chris caught the tail end of a news report detailing the failed search for him, recovery of his bike, and that the police had called off the search earlier that week. With a groan, Chris dropped to the lounge and rubbed his head. When Skyy dropped besides him, resting a furred arm around his shoulder in sympathy, he looked at his friend and shook his head.

"Shit! I hadn't realised how many people would go looking for me. That's going to take some explaining!"

When he looked back up, he spotted Storm and Scott standing in the entrance to the room, looking somewhat grim. "Yes, it will" said the human Ranger, and shrugged. "But it could have been worse. They could have found your body. At least this will have a happy ending."

Storm, still drying himself off with a very sodden bath towel, rumbled "Yeah, but it will also bring us unwanted publicity. Keeping this under wraps might be difficult."

Scott jabbed him in the ribs, and said "Oh, this from Mr "I'm gonna eat the motorcycle riders" himself!" Clearly, he was over his annoyance at the morning's incident, and laughed when the typhlosion grabbed him in a head hold, rubbing a pawed knuckle through his hair.

This, of course, was the moment when the front door swung open, as Chris's mother backed into the hallway with an armload of groceries. As the two Rangers froze, she called out "Honey, are you home? I didn't see your car....", but stopped as she turned to confront the huge blue and cream monster wrestling the stranger in the hallway. As the three exchanged stares, Storm released his partner guiltily, who dropped onto the timber floor with a thud, and gave the woman a wide smile, long teeth flashing in the hall light.

Wiggling clawed fingers in a friendly hello, he said "Hi, Chris's mum! Nice to meet ya!"

"Oh! Hi!" she said quietly, before her eyes rolled up and she fainted, collapsing in a pile of grocery bags in the hallway.

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