A New World, a New Ranger

by ed2481

Interlude Part 5

Abby sat next to a fire place, a dry towel wrapped around her as Kasai lay himself behind her back. They were both in the process of getting dry but they both knew why he was really there, and hopefully Scarlet didn’t.

“I’m... I’m so sorry,” Abby whispered, leaning against his head and giving him a subtle kiss on the cheek. “I didn’t mean too... I didn’t mean too.” Kasai just nuzzled the end of his nose against her cheek and gave a single lick across it as footsteps from the kitchen echoed out of it. Scarlet walked in with two cups of steaming hot liquid and held one out for Abby.

“Here you go, hot cocoa, just the way you like it,” she said as she waited for Abby to take the cup. Abby took the cup and slowly drank it before glancing up at her.

“Can... can you get something for Kasai?” she asked softly.

Scarlet finished her sip of her coffee and glanced at the Arcanine and nodded her head. “Sure, just water?”

Kasai answered with a nod of his head and Scarlet nodded hers in confirmation as she headed back into the kitchen. Abby put her cup down and gave him a tight hug, putting her forehead against his and crying softly.

“I’m so, so, so sorry Kasai,” she murmured softly. “Please, please forgive me, I’m an awful lover.”

Kasai shook his head as he nuzzled her and gave her a lick, but then he nudged her head before turning his head towards the kitchen door. Abby glanced up to see Scarlet walking towards them again, a bowl of water in her hands which she set down in front of Kasai.

She stood back up and wipe her hands across the sides of her hips. “Well... I’ll leave you two alone. The storm should pass soon and... you can be on your way. I’m... going to change out of these wet clothes.” She turned and head off without even waiting for a reply from Abby.

Kasai nudged his nose against Abby once more, a bit firmer than last time. “Arc Arc Arcanine,” he said, gesturing his head at Scarlet’s back.

Abby frowned for a moment and then nodded her head. “H-hey Scarlet? When... when you’re wearing something dry... please come back down here... we should... we should talk.”

Scarlet paused in the middle of the hallway and glanced the side of her head at the young woman. “...alright, it should only take me a few minutes,” she replied slowly as she turned her head forwards and headed into the room at the end of the hallway.

“...” Abby just sat there against Kasai’s warm back, his normal smokey smell had been replaced by that of dying embers but she didn’t care. Instead she just snuggled into his warm fur. “In the future when I’m emotional... don’t grab onto my shirt... that’s a good way to get punched Kasai.”

“Arcanine,” he said slightly dryly, a paw lifting up to rubbed the side of his cheek.

Abby leaned forwards and kissed him softly on the lips. “Sorry again.” Kasai just shook his head and licked her once more before the two just sat comfortably together in front of the fire.

Several minutes pass before Scarlet came back into living room, wearing a long purple nightgown and sat in one of the chairs. Her fingers wrapped against the armed rest. “So... the hot cocoa good?”

Abby looked down at her nearly empty glass and nodded her head before shaking it. “I was a self centered, arrogant little bitch,” she stated quietly. “And I’m sorry.”

Scarlet nodded her head. “Apology accepted... I do hope you realize I’m trying to help you Abby. You’re under a lot of emotional... stress and you need to relive that some way other than continuing your duties as a Ranger.”

“I’ve... been trying but something always gets in the way,” Abby replied, pointedly not looking at Kasai as she said it.

“And that’s one of the reason why I’m having you relieved of duty like this. So you can find the time, hell even find some sort of psychologist to talk to,” Scarlet told her. “Arceus knows you might need to considering it’s been a year and... well, I might be a good talker but I don’t have the license to do it professionally.”

Abby looked down and then nodded. “I... okay, that’s probably a good idea,” the woman said. “Kasai’s a great partner but ‘Arc, Arcanine, Arc’ can only go so far... heh...” she added, glancing at Kasai. The Arcanine rolled his eyes.

Scarlet chuckled lightly. “True...” She took in a deep breath and let it out. “So... we can still have the dinner I planned for if you like. We just might not have any dessert to eat afterwards.”

“That’s... that sounds great,” Abby said with a smile of her own as she rose onto her feet, giving Kasai a pat. “I bet someone’s super hungry right Kasai?”

Kasai grinned widely as he bark, “Arcanine!”

---

“And Revva reared so suddenly that it took Matt and Roxanne by surprise and the two tumbled off her back and into the mud,” Scarlet said, a large chuckle rolling out of her. “Oh, the look on Roxanne’s face as half of her notebooks got covered in it. It also didn’t help Matt was valiantly trying to help ‘save’ them, but only got more mud on them, heh. If it wasn’t raining you could probably hear the slapped she gave him from across the campus, heh.”

Abby let out a belly laugh as she fed Kasai the remains of her Tauros meat, knowing that even though he’d had his own, he’d still take it. “Oh, that’s good, that’s totally what mom would have done to him for ruining her notes!”

“Hehehe, yeah it does, doesn’t it?” Scarlet said with a smile and a small shake of her head. “Still, Matt was ever the noble to her afterwards and I think he bought her some new waterproof notebooks to say he was sorry.”

“But that doesn’t replace all of my hard taken notes, idiot!” Abby mimed her mother, getting her Kalosian accent just right. “No, I have to REWRITE THEM!”

Scarlet blinked before a large giggle of laughter burst out of her. “That’s exactly what she said,” the woman said with a large smile, shaking her head. “Oh, you even sounded like her for a moment.”

“I know my mom,” Abby said with a chuckle. “I heard that accent so much that I’m kinda surprised that I didn’t pick up a little of it, heh.”

“I think it’s because she only used it around Matt, he seemed to like that accent a lot,” Scarlet said, closing her eyes and smiling at a memory.

“Whenever they kissed,” Abby said, nodding her head. “Or... other things which I’m not going to think about at the moment.”

“Hehe, hey I understand. When I was around thirteen years old I suddenly realized what all the... noises my parents were doing in their room when I was a young child,” Scarlet said with smile while shaking her head while rubbing a hand across her forehead. “Though I understand why my mother was a bit... anxious sometimes when I accidentally disturbed them by knocking on the door.”

“Err... walked in on them once,” Abby said, glancing down. “Let’s just say, I ALWAYS knocked after that.”

Scarlet chuckled lightly. “Hey, we were young kids back then, we really didn’t know any better.”

“Right, heh,” Abby said, blushing and feeding the overjoyed Kasai another chunk of meat. Kasai chewed with a big smile on his face.

Scarlet takes in a deep breath before standing up. “Well, I think we should probably call it a night,” she stated, her arms stretching out as cracked her neck to the left. “You’re welcome to take the guest room.”

“Normally I would but Kasai and I-I mean I already booked a hotel room,” Abby said, quickly correcting herself. “But... do you mind if we come over tomorrow?”

Scarlet smiled and shook her head. “Not at all, you’re always welcome in my house Abby.”

Abby got to her feet and then crossed the distance between them, hesitating for a moment before pulling Scarlet into a hug, resting her head against the older woman’s. “Thanks... Sca-” she paused for a moment before finishing, ”... mom.”

The woman’s eyes widen slightly from surprised as she slowly wrapped her arms around Abby. “You’re... welcome,” she said slowly, her mind still processing at being called ‘mom’.

Abby held her there for a moment before letting her go. “Do you have any spare rain jackets?”

“Yeah... they’re in the closet next to the door. Take whatever one fits ya,” Scarlet, pointing a hand down to the front door. “And... be careful still when going out in the rain. Don’t want you to scrape your other knee, heh.”

“I’ll have the best Arcanine in the world with me to keep that from happening,” Abby answered, patting Kasai as he came to stand beside her. “Right Kasai?”

Kasai nodded his head. “Arcanine!”

Abby smiled and pet him once. “Right then, thanks for dinner, we’ll see you tomorrow,” she said before glancing down at Kasai. “Come on Kasai, let’s go see if our hotel serves dessert.”

Kasai smiled and the two headed to the front door where Abby quickly grabbed a yellow raincoat and heading out into the not so pounding rainstorm. Scarlet watched the door close shut before smiling slightly. “Hope the two of you have fun,” she said softly, remembering the coded term Roxanne used some towards Matt. Scarlet shook her head before working on cleaning up the dishes.

Comments

[ParadigmShift]

Myeeeeehhhh....

I want them to see eachother after the wedding...myeeeeeeeehhhh..

[ed2481]

5195445

Waiting on Zeus

[Deathpony]

Well they certainly don't act like they ever fought

[ParadigmShift]

5195457 *whines similar to a dying cat*

[Danbrixton]

5195508
5195457 Ed! you have a dying cat!

[Kenshinryuu]

Nice interlude, I can't wait to see what comes next. Though it appears Abby wasn't as good an actor as she thought... or Scarlet is a natural mom and can see when her kid is hiding something easily.

[RandomPerson65]

Wait, Roxanne and Matt? The characters from Absolution are Abby's parents?

[ed2481]

5196526

Kinda, see the comments section from the last chapter

[RainbowShyBrony]

Dessert Menu:

Baked Alaska
24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_leiqe9PlGO1qeylawo1_500.jpg

Chocolate Lava Cake

Torchic Flambé

Blue Blazer cocktail

Flaming Toros on a Stick

Jose the Jalapeno on a Stick

Fire Island Pizza

And to finish them off:

...Hot Sauce

[Serpentking789]

5196555
Based on the understanding of the dessert I've gathered from the wikipedia page, that "Baked Alaska" you have a picture of may technically be a "Flame on the Iceberg" (what with it being on fire rather than actually baked), which is a slight variation of the dessert found commonly in Hong Kong.

[RainbowShyBrony]

5196679 Thank you Captain! Your powers have proven useful once again!

[ParadigmShift]

5198486 ...What?

Dude, that was seven WEEKS ago.

[Deathpony]

Also forgot to add that I do like these interludes, they add background to the fic

[Eonflare]

I wonder if she feels like this situation is repeating with her 'inner Ninetales' now. Hurting others without even realizing it.