
Mount Silver [Base]||Morning (99)
"You're welcome," Blue replied, the gentle timbre of his voice like a salve on Red's mind. "And thank you, too. For everything." For that perfect moment, Red closed his eyes and allowed himself to melt into the warmth of not just Blue's giant chest and tree-arms, but also that warmth of friendship, of happiness... Red had been so starved of them for so long, he couldn't help but instinctively soak it up like a dried sponge. He invited the warmth in, embraced it and let it fill up his blackened, withered soul. It felt as if he'd taken his first breath in years. His lungs and chest ached, his heart raced, and every breath that followed eased the pain and discomfort more and more.
He didn't want to let go, to leave that safe, secure embrace. But soon enough, he heard the flaps of little wings and Mikhail's tiny, annoying voice calling out to them cautiously from the alcove. With one last glance up to Blue, the dumb giant, he gave another quick peck to the other's mouth before slipping out of the hold. "We're here," Red called back, making his way to their shelter without a hint of malice or annoyance in his voice. He stole a last glance back at his old rival, then trotted the rest of the way to the alcove, eager to make sure Mikhail didn't do anything rash. "Anything out there?"
Mikhail, of course, didn't question why Red and the others were out. Instead, the small bat grinned victoriously up at the ex-soldier, allowing a small bag to spill out with berries. With no wild pokemon other than himself to eat them, it made sense that the berry bushes were growing laden with them. "Sure did!" he cried, flapping to hover around his revealed loot. "Lots of good stuff here! Oran, Sitris, Aspear, you name it! And they're all delicious!"
Red gave a slightly humored chuckle, eyeing the bat's belly-- it was a bit more swollen than the last time Red had seen him. "You made sure of that, did you?"
"Sure did! I ate 20!"