The sound of voices greeted (y/n) as she woke up. A pillow was clutched to her chest and a familiar Rockruff lay curled up near the pillow beneath her head. "Oh, that's the professor's Rockruff." Wait, where in the world was she?

        (Y/n) sat up in the bed to be met with the surroundings of the loft in professor Kukui's lab. Silver wasn't there with her, but she hadn't expected him to be. Well, maybe a little bit. It would have been nice to catch sight of his face as he slept, for it was truly a sight to behold.

        The Rockruff, the professor's faithful helper of sorts, woke up and gave her a high pitched yap of greeting. With a smile, she returned the greeting with a head pat before sliding out of the bed. As she decended the ladder with Rockruff in one of her arms, she caught part of the conversation that Silver was having with Kukui.

        "Ah, I see. And he's been unresponsive up until today?" Kukui was saying.

        "Yeah, I woke up this morning and he was out of his pokéball. He seems fine, but I just wanted to make sure," Silver said. (Y/n) stopped halfway down the ladder when she caught a glimpse of the giant blue pokémon standing next to Silver. Everyone looked at her when she did, the pokemon included, which only served to embarrassed her.

        "Good morning," she shyly uttered before sitting Rockruff down. Her greeting was returned by the professor whereas Silver settled for a warm smile. (Y/n) noticed that his hair was pulled back despite her having been asleep. He usually always let her do it. She tried not to stare too long, but Silver became concious of the fact very quickly.

         "I heard you did an excellent job at the Tapu Festival here on this island!" Kukui exclaimed. "I kind of feel bad for missing out." He had been on another island for the festival to take care of his wife and son. "I don't mind you staying here to get away from the crowd, but next time be careful. Silver told me that you overworked yourself."

        "I'll try," (y/n) said with a nod. "Who's that pokémon?" The blue giant stood taller thank Kukui though he seemed like a very gentle pokémon despite the sharp features that (y/n) caught sight of.

        "This is Feraligatr. He's my second pokémon partner," Silver explained. "He's been asleep for over half a year now, and I wanted to make sure that he was okay." Silver set his other pokémon free. "And this is Murkrow." The small bird happily rested on Silver's outstretched arm while swaying side to side. "They've both been hiding in their pokéballs for a long time until now."

        "Nice to meet the both of you," (y/n) waved at the pokémon, glad that Silver finally had his partners back. She would be devastated if none of her pokémon responded to her for over half a year.

        "I still think they're alright. I ran some checks on the two of them, and it seems like they only were just staying dormant. As for why, I'm not sure, but I assure you that they're perfectly healthy. Although, I would still stop by a Pokémon Center just to make sure they've got all of their energy back," Professor Kukui said to Silver. They boy nodded in response.

        "Thank you again, Professor, for everything. Oh, and tell Professor Burnet that I said hi!" (Y/n) headed towards the door.

        "Leaving already?" Kukui asked. He raised an eyebrow, and (y/n) missed the barely noticeable glance he gave Silver.

        "Yeah, I really need to get home. I left my phone, so no one has been able to call me. I'm pretty sure Lillie or Hau still have my pokémon, and I have to make sure that Koko returned safely," she answered.

        "I'll walk you there," Silver offered. No, that was more like a statement that he wasn't going to let her refuse. "I'll be back before you leave, Professor," Silver gave his regards and returned his pokémon. (Y/n) gave Kukui one last wave before they headed back to Iki Town. The duo had nearly reached the town when Silver stopped with a short sigh.

        "Here," he pulled his hair free of its ponytail. "It looked like it was bothering you." Silver handed the hair tie over to her.

        "No, that's not it. It was nothing really," (y/n) immediately denied his claim, but he still hadn't pulled his hand away. Besides, he had already undid the ponytail, and she couldn't say she didn't sneak a few looks at the hairdo that she hadn't done herself.

        "It's just the same as before, right?" he said.

        "Right...he did say he wanted to keep things as they were for now." (Y/n) took the hair tie from his outstretched hand, approaching him hesitantly. "This just doesn't feel fair," she thought as she reached up to tuck his hair behind his shoulders again.. She yelped in surprise when Silver pulled her to him, trapping her to his chest.

        "You really don't have to act any differently around me," he mumbled. "If I knew it would bother you this much, I'd have just let you do my hair in the first place." He stared her in the eyes with a glint of mischief. It was unfamiliar to her, but (y/n) welcomed it without a problem. He was becoming bolder, a trait about him that she was starting to like. "I know how you feel. I'm not going to turn your emotions away just because I said I wanted you to wait." He freed her and snuffed out the chuckle building within him. Was he always this straight forward? (Y/n) could have sworn he hadn't always been this sly.

        "I'll keep that in mind," (y/n) said before continuing her initial action. Once again, Silver's hair was pulled up and out of his way. They continued their walk making small talk here and there just as usual. Yep, (y/n) definitely wasn't wondering what other parts of his personality that Silver had yet to show her. She had gotten to see it all the night before while they talked. It had her wanting to bring those hidden traits out of him just so that she could see them again.

        "(Y/n)! Silver! Alola!" Hau called to them from the distance with his signature grin. "Did you two enjoy the fireworks?" he asked when they had meet each other halfway between their approach.

        "Definitely! Your colors were bright and happy as always," (y/n) spoke.

        "I'm surprised they lasted for so long," Silver noted. "It almost seemed endless."

        "We usually save them for the whole year so there are always plenty," Hau explained to him. "I hope you guys found a good spot to watch from. I wasn't in town, but I heard from Hala that it was hard to see with everyone running to get their color requests in."

        (Y/n) was thankful that Hau hadn't suspected any "suspicious" activity between her and Silver as Lillie likely would have. It was customary to watch the fireworks in pairs, and since Hau was already aware that he, Lillie, Moon, and Gladion would be leaving (y/n) to herself, it didn't even occur to him that there was anything more to Silver's presence during the fireworks. As for the colors (y/n) chose, that could easily be explained away should anyone ask.

        "Oh, right. I left your pokémon with Lillie. She stayed over at Moon's place. They tried to call you over, but Lillie forgot that she also had your phone. Don't worry, I don't think you missed much. Lillie was too tired to head back home." Hau paused for a moment and looked past them. "Well, there he is. I was just about to mention our second favorite blonde." Hau's mood was certainly more cheerful than usual.

         They all looked in the direction that Hau waved in. Gladion was walking towards them with a tired look on his face. "I need my coffee, right now," he spoke before anyone could say anything to him and walked right past them with a bag in hand from the Pokémart. "I'll talk later, probably." They all knew he wouldn't.

        "He stayed the night with you I'm assuming?" (Y/n) stared after him in slight concern. "He wasn't still stressed was he?"

        "Nope, not at all. I've never seen him sleep so well. He's just not a morning person at all." Then in a quieter voice akin to a whisper, Hau leaned in towards them and said, "I think he finally told you know who about you know what."

         "Did he really? How do you know?" (y/n) asked.

        "I just know. I'm not sure what made him finally do it though. He talks to Silver more than me these days." Hau pouted and stuck his tongue out at the red headed boy. "You've got to tell me how you do it. Gladion's always running away when I catch hold of him for too long."

        "I- Sorry, I didn't-" Silver was cut off when Hau draped an arm over his shoulder.

        "Relax, I'm just joking around with you. Although...if you make me some malasadas, that would be nice too. You aren't busy today are you? I still have some leftover ingredients."

        "Weren't there some malasadas left over from the festival?" Silver wondered.

        Hau feigned a broken heart. "Everyone tore through the ones you made before I even got the chance to grab thirds. They just aren't the same, Silver. You have to believe me!"

        "You have no idea who made which set of malasadas, do you?" (Y/n) called him out remembering that everyone helped to pitch in.

        "Don't tell him that, I need more!" Hau whisper yelled while hiding his face with one hand so Silver couldn't see him. The trio erupted into laughter at Hau's silliness. They were having fun already and the day had only just started.
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I just love how Hau is literally the life of the entire Pokémon Sun/Moon group. He's more of a sun than Sun is! Until next time you spectacular readers!