Psychic*Absol
Psychic Student
- 2,231
- Posts
- 20
- Years
- Age 35
- on earth
- Seen Dec 20, 2013
*hides from angry readers* >.< Not my fault! I had this chapter ready weeks ago, but again, beta-reading took a bit longer than expected...*cough*
Anyway, next chapter. 0=)
@Beta-Reader: Next time you try to insert yourself into the story without my permission, do it a bit more subtle. XD!
6. Chapter, Part 1: Soberness
The first thing she became aware of was the melodic twitter of a bird directly in front of her room's balcony, enjoying the fresh spring air. Even before opening her eyes, she saw the scenery in her mind: the little Pidgey bending its head to peer into the unexposed room, jumping on the balcony's grille back and forth, not brave enough to fly inside. She could feel the slight breeze on her bare legs, indicating that someone had opened the windows while she had been sleeping. The scents of several different flowers were in the air, an amazing cocktail of nature's gracefulness.
Finally, the psychic opened her eyes, sighing as she did so. The ceiling of her room was a mixture of shadows bathing it into a crème-like brown colour, with other patches shining in a bright white, being touched by the rays of sunlight shining through the windows. The curtains rustled.
Carefully, Sabrina tried to sit up, but a blurry pain in the back of her mind stopped her. Letting out a soft groan, she fell back again, touching her forehead. She had no fever, thankfully, but her head ached. A lot. 'Great, just great.'
After a short moment of steadying her senses, she opened her eyes again, scanning her room. The door to the balcony was in fact opened. The Pidgey had flown away, probably scared by her movements. And on her right side...Sabrina smiled widely. Will was sleeping in the swivel chair in front of the desk, yet he had turned it around to face her. The whole night. He was so...sweet.
She kept staring at him, giggling when she heard his snore. A quick glance at the clock told her that it was already 10 am. She was surprised that she was already awake again after only six hours of sleep, but she had never been a late-riser. Will, on the other hand....
Sabrina closed her eyes as she slowly stood up, careful not to wake him up and not to strain her aching head too much. He had all the right to sleep as long as wanted, as after all, all the worry he had been through yesterday had probably stressed his nerves just as much as hers were after the drinks.
Looking around, the gym leader was startled for a second when she noticed that she wasn't wearing the same clothes as the last evening anymore, yet relaxed just as quickly when she realized that it was only her blazer that was missing. And her shoes, of course. Sabrina had to giggle again. It was...surprising, almost unbelievable that she didn't mind a man undressing her, or that she didn't strangle him to death for committing that crime. Yet with Will, everything was different. Quite different. There was an intimacy between them that could almost not be real anymore. They had only been together for about a month, and yet it was as if they had known each other for a lifetime. Well, not counting little drama concerning Janine...
Another stab of sharp pain going through her head made her fall back onto the bed again, waking Will up. He looked around, confused as to why he was not in his room, and more important, not in a bed, yet when his memory kicked in and he recognised the young woman sitting in the opposite side of the room, he smiled. "Good morning, dear," he yawned, stretching his aching neck.
Sabrina laughed, as seeing him so sleepy was sure funny. "Good morning to you too." He grinned, walking over to her and embracing her carefully, kissing her. She pushed him away playfully after a moment, hiding her face with her arms. "My head hurts..."
Will sat down on the bed next to her, rubbing his neck. "Yeah, not only yours...my back feels as if someone tried to bend it while I was sleeping."
Sabrina had her eyes closed, her arms crossed over her head. "Well, you shouldn't have slept in the chair. That's quite uncomfortable, you know."
Will looked around the plain room. "I understand, but...where else?!"
An evil giggle. "Well, the bed is big enough for two, isn't it?"
Both psychics sharply turned their heads to the door frame, where Karen was standing, leaning against the frame with one hand for stability, a leg crossed over the other. She was wearing an almost transparent silver negligee, and obviously nothing beneath it. Sabrina snorted inwardly. 'That...sl...' She shook her head. She should know Karen by now…
And yet, she couldn't stop the blush that emanated from her cheeks, at the sheer thought of sleeping in the same bed as him. While it was true that during their trip through the Indigo Mountains, they had had to sleep very close together, it had never been that close. And while she felt so much for him, and loved him so much...that was just too far a step. One step she felt not ready to take yet. One day, maybe. She wasn't sure when, but....she just didn't know what would happen to her then. Would it change her? Would it change their relationship? Sabrina sighed, knowing that those were questions she never had to have to ask herself before. She had never before been so fascinated by a person of the opposite gender.
"Karen..." Will sighed helplessly. "Nice joke, but no thanks." He crossed his arms over his head. "She wouldn't let me anyway..." He winked at Sabrina, who sighed and blushed at the same time. Will turned again to Karen, throwing a sharp glance over her scandalous outfit. He knew that that was usual for Karen, having been forced to sleep in the same room as her for weeks now, so it wasn't new for him and his eyes had gotten used to her skin, not paying it any attention anymore. "Why are you even here?"
The dark trainer rolled her eyes. "Am I not even allowed to worry about my colleagues anymore? You weren't in your hotel room last night, so I wondered where you were hanging around...then I met Janine," she glanced over her shoulder quickly. "And she told me the short version of last night's soap opera, so I decided to check up on you two the next morning to make sure you haven't been maiming each other's bones." She laughed at her own joke, yet Sabrina wondered if it was a speciality of dark trainers to find bloody jokes especially amusing.
"No, we haven't been ripping our limbs off, but thanks for asking." It wasn't hard for Sabrina to sound angry, and her headache really helped.
Will shifted his gaze between the two women, noticing the tension. He had been okay with the dark trainer so far, but he was weak as a psychic, unlike Sabrina. That little fact could explain as to why he didn't feel unwell around Karen, while Sabrina did. "I guess we missed the breakfast?" he asked quietly, to change the topic.
Karen shrugged. "The regular time for breakfast is over, yes, but you know the rule. Everyone who has talked to Lance personally has a VIP bonus, and can get breakfast at 10 PM if necessary." Again, she glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "I guess I should be off now. You two seem okay, so my babysitter job is over." Sabrina tensed. 'Babysitter?!?' "There's someone who urgently wants to talk to you now..." she winked at the two psychics, then turned around and walked away quickly, the movements revealing more of her body than absolutely needed, considering that no man aside from Will was around, and if there was one person Karen would never seriously try to attract, it was her fellow elite member.
Both psychics braced themselves for anything then, for it could even be Lance now that wanted to interrogate them. Sabrina didn't know everything about the league's chef's hidden publicity plans, but she was sure their short-timed breakup had bombed quite a few of them. But it wasn't Lance.
Karen glanced at her right, frowning. The hallway was still shrouded in darkness, the lights not turned on yet. 'Something is off here, way off...' Closing her eyes and shrugging, the dark trainer went down the stairs, deciding not to pay it any more attention. 'Would be too much of a coincidence if I were the only darkling here...'
"Uhm, hey...." Janine stepped into the room, wearing a pink sleeping jumpsuit with little red Bunearys all over, even with a hood with fluffy bunny ears attached to it. Sabrina blinked. That was...unusual clothing for a ninja, to say the last. She knew from her experiences with Koga's sister that pink was popular with the female branch of the family, yet Janine made it a bit awkward. "I wanted to check up on you two, too..."
Will grinned. "Just like Karen, eh? Well, we haven't murdered each other yet, and we were just about to decide if we should do it traditionally with knives or take poison, if you have any left."
"Will!" Sabrina laughed so hard that her headache was starting to pound on her poor nerves, but that was just too funny. "If I want to kill you, I would do it with my powers. I have an honour to defend as the strongest psychic!" <Besides, poison doesn't work with psychics, idiot! You should know that by now!>
"Okay, dear, I got it. I really did," he winked again at her, standing up. "I'm going to get some breakfast for us." Sabrina blinked.
"What do you mean, getting some for us?" She had a slight feeling she knew what he meant by that...but no one had ever...no one had ever done such a romantic favour for her.
He grinned, kissing her hair as he walked out of the door. "Well, I want to make up for yesterday, so I thought breakfast in bed would be just as good as an apology, right? Not to mention that I am a gentleman after all."
'Yeah, you are...' Sabrina thought, smiling unconsciously as she watched him leaving. She froze just when he had reached the stairs and stretched her body to be able to look around the door and reach him with her voice. "Hey, how are you getting it back here, then? You can't carry everything!" His laugh was quiet, but only because he was already walking down the stairs.
"Hey, I didn't train my teleport for nothing!"
Sabrina sighed and leaned back, rubbing the side of her head. 'Let's hope he doesn't overestimate his abilities. Sure, he can teleport by now, but....' She opened her eyes again, shaking her head. If he wanted to try, why not? His decision, anyway. And she couldn't help but admit that it was incredible sweet from him. She was lucky to have him back...
"Ehm..." Janine had flopped down in the chair that had previously been occupied by Will, closing her eyes and yawning. Sabrina snickered again. The jumpsuit had furry gloves attached to it and Janine had just put one on unconsciously. 'To think that she is related to Koga, one of the best and most dangerous ninjas...'
"Short night, eh?" the psychic asked, seeing Janine almost falling asleep on that not so comfortable chair. She didn't want her to suffer the same fate as Will, for Sabrina was sure Janine also had her own hotel room and could easily return to that to get some more sleep. Janine had already apologized the previous night and Sabrina didn't see the need for another unbridled talk. Of course she was sure she hadn't been told all the details, for she was sure the head of that operation, Claire, hadn't even told Janine everything, and for another, the young ninja was surely embarrassed by her own stupidity to tell her everything. Sabrina closed her eyes. She knew that her old rival Claire had directly planned this as an attack against her, against her psyche, but that she would go as far as using an innocent, naive girl. No, Janine was not completely at fault. She was simply too young, too inexperienced with the way the league worked.
Just as Will was.
"Yeah, very short night...I couldn't sleep after...you know..." Janine smiled helplessly, her tiredness almost getting the better of her again. Her hair, only yesterday evening having been tied into a tight, short pony tail, was sticking out in all directions at that moment, as if someone had detonated fireworks there. It reminded the psychic of her own comedian, her Haunter. It still loved its bombs...
"Don't worry, Janine, really...I'm not mad at you. Not at all." She smiled."We could become friends, you know? You seem nice, after all."
Janine blinked, her sleepiness making her mind working much slower than usual. "Re-really?" she squealed with delight. "That would be so grea-whaaaa!" Janine threw herself back into the chair when a bright, white light exploded in the middle of the room, startling her. Sabrina smiled knowingly. She knew how a teleport looked like. A beginner's teleport, but a teleport nonetheless. He really was improving.
A thud made her sweatdrop. 'Well, he's still learning...'
"Ouch...." Will had landed on his stomach. Yet, with an artistic performance unbelievable enough to be admired by both Sabrina and Janine, he had managed to keep the tablet balanced on his left hand, neither letting it fall down nor spilling any of the drinks he had brought with him. Sabrina glanced over the tablet, noticing everything he had brought with him...'I should have told him...'
"Ehm..." Janine blinked. She was still trembling a bit, but she was calming herself more and more. She recognized the flash now as a teleport, however, all the teleports she had seen hadn't ended with the person in question in such an awkward and uncomfortable position...
Sabrina smiled at her. "That's probably because you have never seen an amateur teleport. It's a difficult discipline. It doesn't take that much time to learn Teleport in itself, yet perfecting it, specifically the direct direction and the position you end up..." she smiled, glancing over at Will, who tried to get up without covering himself in a mix of their breakfast's ingredients. Smiling, with closed eyes, she used her powers to steady him and lower the tablet to her bedside.
"An amateur I am, huh?" Will huffed, brushing the dust of his clothes. "Well, see it that way, it was the first time I teleported myself and I didn't get split into half!"
"Sweet, dear Will, otherwise, I would have to find your pieces all over the ether and puzzle them together." Noticing Janine's wide open eyes and her pale face, Sabrina laughed. "Yes, it's true, if a psychic isn't careful enough with a teleport, half of his body might end up in the location he wished to teleport to, the other might end up in his grandma's kitchen garden. Or the supermarket's till." She smiled at Will, who seemed to be quite proud at himself. "You still have to get better, Will. Two centimetres off downwards and your chest would have merged with the carpet." Will paled, not commenting anymore.
Janine stood up, stretching herself again, yawning. "Well, I better get going now."
"Hey, I wouldn't mind you staying here. You can eat breakfast with us!" Will nodded, still a bit shaken at the thought of being forever glued to a piece of wool. Before trying to pull anything like that off again, he really had to take a few more training lessons with Sabrina...
Janine shook her head. "I don't want to stress you anymore with that headache of yours."
Sabrina giggled weakly. "It's not that bad. At least not anymore." She threw a short glance at Will, smiling. <After all, I found the perfect cure for a hangover...> He returned it nervously.
Janine laughed. "Well, then you're better off than Lucian anywhere. I heard he ended up in the hospital with alcoholic poisoning!"
Sabrina and Will stared at each other with a frightened glance. Their colleague had obviously overestimated his own endurance, reminding Sabrina painfully of the fact that she had been drunk herself...
Janine giggled, seeing the look on the two psychics' faces. "Don't worry, he will be alright. No, I have to go, dad probably wants to see me. I don't want to make him wait any longer." She winked at the two psychics and left the room. As soon as she was outside, Will turned to face Sabrina, who had started to pour some tea into a cup. He sighed and sat down next to her, his head resting on his hand.
"There's just something that…kinda surprises me. I mean…" He bit his tongue, making Sabrina wonder just why he was suddenly nervous. She could feel it, being so close to him. "You're such a good psychic....strong...yet....you didn't read my mind." He glanced at her, looking almost offended. "If you had read it...if you had read my true emotions...none of this would have ever happened. What I mean is..." he paused again. "I love you. I loved you all the time. Never, never was there one moment where I seriously thought about giving you up and taking Janine as my girlfriend. I admit I was too weak to just reject Janine from the beginning, blame it on my gentleness, but I never loved her. Just why couldn't you just have found that out earlier and save us all the mess? Why?" He stared at her eyes, hoping, expecting honesty, taking her left hand in his and squeezing it.
Sabrina sighed and smiled. Will was so...cute sometimes. Yet also so naive. "That's easy to explain. I thought you would get it by yourself." She giggled at the sight of his clueless expression. "Will, I don't read the thoughts of those I trust. I read Janine's mind just now because it was a trivial matter. But in general, I don't read minds when I don't absolutely need to. It's an interference in privacy. I just don't do that to people that mean so much to me. And especially not on delicate emotional matters like love." The gym leader shook her mind. "Years ago, I would have done that without batting an eyelash, without caring about the consequences. But not anymore. I trust you, so I let you keep your thoughts for yourself."
Will was stunned. She was wrong; he would have never found an explanation by himself. He had expected many reasons, many psychic reasons that were too complex for his mind to grasp, yet that she simply trusted him that much...it was amazing. He couldn't believe it. He was surprised that she was that...loyal to him. It made him feel even worse for all he had done. "You trust me...oh, Sabrina…I..." he sighed. "Thanks, I guess. I never thought....oh, well." He smiled at her. "Guess I should watch every step of mine from now on, just to make sure I don't hurt you ever again." He smiled. "You're worth it."
Now it was Sabrina's turn to be stunned. She didn't fight her blush, knowing that it just made her cuter. Taking a deep breath, she decided to change the topic, to something she had been...curious about. Even if it was a bit embarrassing. "Ehm, back then, when I saw you and Janine..." Will blinked. "You two...ehm, was that a French-kiss?" she asked, unusally shy for the psychic gym leader.
"It was kind of." Will grinned, leaning back on the bed. "I'm positive Janine never French-kissed before, as it was so awkward."
"I see..." Sabrina bit her lip. She hoped he would have said something else, but for now, she didn't know how to ask. She didn't even know if it was worth asking, but then, they had unconsciously agreed on being honest with each other. Always.
"Could you teach me?" Will opened his eyes wide, staring at the ceiling. Had he heard her right!?! She wanted him to teach her how to...French-kiss? 'Oh my god...'
"What?" he had to ask, just to make sure he had understood her.
Sabrina turned away, blushing. "Well, I just thought, it...ah, never mind." She turned away. 'One day, I will learn it...'
Will was facing her now, lying on his side. "I didn't decline...I was just surprised..." He smiled. "But I would love to."
Sabrina blinked when he leaned to her, gently stroking her cheeks. "Be careful, the tea's ho-" He silenced her with a kiss and the next moment, the tea was the last thing on the psychics' minds.
Playing with the mobile phone between her long, slender fingers, the woman let the sunlight fall over her slightly wavy, blonde hair. Jenny still hadn't found the Espeon. Cynthia closed her eyes in frustration. Of course, even for a professional hunter like her, it wasn't an easy task, catching an Espeon that had spent the better half of its life in the wilderness, never been touched by humanity's hand before. But she needed it; she needed it to finish her plan and get rid of Lucian. That idiot...he had ended up in the hospital with alcoholic poisoning. Officially. Unofficially...well, his fault. He had been gossiping a bit too much...poor guy. Confusion and alcohol didn't mix well, he should know that.
She smiled, bumping her elbow into the ribs of the man sleeping not so peacefully next to her. Cynthia slowly sat up, glancing over him. He was having a nightmare. She sighed. It could be her fault, yet it could be coincidence, who knew? In the end, she didn't give a damn. She was going to give up Lance as soon as she was out of this middle-age-like rubbish tip. She never got why Kanto's people were laughing at Sinnoh, when they weren't better at all. Of course, Sinnoh wasn't trusted by anyone, being a freshly new league with a female champion, but once she was over with that, Sinnoh's citizens would surely had something to laugh about...Indigo's incompetence and a boss who rather slept with the champion instead of taking care of organization, and not even noticing when something went completely wrong. For her, nothing had gone wrong so far.
Sabrina was leant against her boyfriend, smiling and drinking the last sips of the tea. "Shouldn't we get up now..?" Will asked, though he sounded anything but willing to fulfil the task hinted in his question. It was already noon, yet none of them felt ready to get up at all.
"Nah..." Sabrina was comfortable with everything staying the way it was right then. She could spend the whole day in that peaceful haze if nothing hindered her. And aside from Will, there was actually nothing keeping her from staying in bed all day. Grinning, she thought that maybe she even deserved this slip into laziness. She could always excuse herself with her headache, even though it had nearly disappeared by then.
"Aw, come on...." Will sat up, letting Sabrina fall back onto the sheets. She growled. "I'm not tired anymore." She continued to growl. "And you know what?" He smiled at her. "I've got some plans for today..."
"What plans?" Sabrina wasn't sure she even wanted to know what Will wanted to do.
"Well, for once, I decided to visit our dear colleague in the hospital." He grinned. "You know, Lucian. I wanna see how he's doing..."
Sabrina raised an eyebrow. "And make fun of him?"
"Never, of course not." Will smiled at her innocently, but if there was one thing she was absolutely sure of, it was that he was a notoriously bad liar. "And after that...well, I...ehm..." He was suddenly nervous again. "I thought we could go out for lunch together...I mean, I got my first cheque just days ago, so for once, I don't need to be cheap, and I could invite you..."
Sabrina giggled. How sweet of him. "Of course," she nodded at him. "So, let's meet again in two hours, okay? I will catch some more sleep and you have fun torturing Lucian, right?"
Will had never liked the smell of hospitals. It reminded him of the dreadful day just a month ago, when he had rushed to Indigo's Main Pokecenter, with Sabrina lying in his arms, already unconscious and just seconds away from death....when he had burst into the building and Nurse Joy had taken his dear from him, injecting that weird antidote into her almost brutally, but since every second had counted back then, it had been necessary. And then the weeks Sabrina had been comatose, and he came to the hospital every day, every day the same atmosphere and same smell and he couldn't do anything to wake her up; he could just wait and hope...
Will shook his head. He had to remind himself that that had been long ago, and that Sabrina was okay now and he was there to visit a guy he couldn't really care less about. Yet, maybe it was his manners that told him to come there, even though everything else in him refused to set one step into the bright, white, sterile object. He took a deep breath and opened the milky blue door to Lucian's room, bracing himself. He was really not there to make fun of Lucian, as in fact, he didn't even know why he was there, so he blamed it on his gentlemanlyness.
Lucian looked the worse for wear. He was pale, his hair dull and not really wavy anymore, being rather flat by being laid on for some time. He wasn't wearing his usual red suit anymore, of course; just a plain white hospital gown, which looked quite...embarrassing, to be honest. Now Will was happy that he hadn't decided to bring Sabrina to the hospital too as after yesterday's excess, she would have murdered him had he seen her wearing this. Or, maybe not. She seemed not to have minded him undressing her at all. "Good morning...or should I say, good afternoon?" Lucian looked sharply at him and if looks could kill, Will would then be two floors downwards in the morgue.
"To hell with the morning...," he growled. "I would have rather stayed asleep." He pointed to a small tube that was attached to his left wrist. "Thank god they know how to treat you right. With that glucose infusion, the hangover stays away."
"Great..." Will couldn't hide his disappointment. So Lucian didn't have to deal with headaches, but his beloved had. It was unfair. "I didn't really get what was going on yesterday anyway...care to tell me?" he asked with sly grin.
Lucian raised an eyebrow. "Why should I tell you?"
Will bent his neck sheepishly. "Because I know Teleport now and could bring some reporters with me who would love to portray you with such an amazing wardrobe on?"
Lucian just kept staring at the fellow psychic trainer sardonically. "You can't threaten me with that..." he whispered sharply. "I'm just as good of a psychic as you are, if not better."
"Really?" Will laughed. "You're the first one to tell me..."
Lucian closed his eyes. "Of course. Cynthia made sure that my abilities and hers were kept hidden from the public."
Now Will was really getting interested in the conversation and he couldn't wait to tell Sabrina, almost daring to use telepathy, but then, if Lucian was really psychic, he could intercept the message. And on the other hand, his own telepathy wasn't that good that he could be sure if it reached Sabrina. "Cynthia is also psychic? That's news to me...really."
Lucian sighed. He looked almost...sad now. But why? "Yes, Cynthia's psychic, and not even a bad one. I can't judge how she would fare against your girlfriend, but one thing is certain: she can beat me easily. Of course, I am a weak psychic, having gotten my powers only because of my Pokemon, in contrast to Cynthia, who had hers since her birth." Will couldn't help but notice the similarities between them and Sabrina and him. It was almost the same... "That's probably why she was able to attack me last night."
"She attacked you?" Will blurted out, before looking around to make sure no one had heard him.
Lucian nodded. "She did. I suppose I was telling too much about our...plan."
"Would you mind if I ask about that plan?"
The Sinnoh trainer glared at Will. "You know that I will get in trouble for that? Besides, there's not much that I know. Just that Cynthia wanted to cause some scandal here in Kanto and that she will use the post office affaire to help her. No more. She doesn't tell me anything, you know..." The psychic trainer sighed. "She is always that reserved..."
"Yeah, I know..." Will rolled his eyes, thinking that if one of them had to be described with the word 'reserved,' it was Lucian. Probably the reason why she dumped him and left with Lance. That guy really scarified himself for the league, and Claire, now that Will thought about it. Lance didn't get enough credit for all of his doings, actually, only being spit on when he brought up the topic of money.
"By the way, have they found your Espeon yet?" Will asked, hoping that the change of topic would make both of them feel easier.
Lucian just stared at him with a deep lack of understanding. "Espeon? What Es-"
Both psychics suddenly heard the door being opened and when Will caught glimpse of a black shoe, he decided that it was safer to teleport away, even risking being merged with random things. For all he knew, Lucian was the stronger psychic and Cynthia, being even stronger than Lucian, could be a real danger for him, after Lucian had told him about their plans.
Lucian shivered when the tall, slender woman walked into the room, her shoes causing a melodic clack on the floor. "Lucian, my sweetheart..." She smiled at him and it was all the more sinister. She touched his chin, kissing his cheek. The furry ends of her coat tickled his skin. "I know you want to get me back. But you have to play fair for that and stay quiet, understood? I will sort everything out." She smiled at him and for once, for once, it was a real, compassionate smile. 'Maybe Jenny is right...' "I'm not mad at you, but you'll have to wait for me to sort everything out."
Will re-appeared just outside of the hotel room, coughing and leaning onto the white, spotless walls. Teleporting was a lot more energy-consuming than it looked like and it continued to amaze him how Sabrina had managed to teleport over twenty people in a physical state where not even walking was possible for her anymore. It told him a lot about her strength, yet he was nothing in comparison to her, and it was very likely that he was nothing in comparison to Lucian or Cynthia, either.
He had to stable himself for a moment, to catch his breath and stop the swirls in front of his eyes. Teleporting sure wasn't as easy as it looked like for someone not able to wield psychic powers, and he still had to learn a lot. If he hadn't suddenly felt that danger, that dark foreboding emerging, he wouldn't have taken the risk. Sabrina was right: one moment of losing concentration might cause unpleasant consequences. And teleporting to the wrong direction was the smallest one of these.
Quietly, he opened the door to see if his dear was already awake. To his surprise, she was, already getting dressed. He just stood in the doorframe, helpless, mesmerized by her unearthly presence. He stared at her, not wanting to interrupt her, not wanting to make his presence known at all. He felt he was interfering with her privacy. Yet deep inside, he knew he wasn't. They were so close, and if there was one thing both of them didn't mind, it was the other watching.
Sabrina turned around, not surprised at all to see him. She had felt his presence minutes earlier, and let him stay in his dreamy haze while undressing. She didn't mind, as he was too much of a gentleman to dare to touch her without her clear permission. "Are you ready?" she finally asked, acknowledging his presence at last. Will nodded.
End of Chapter 6, Part 1
Anyway, next chapter. 0=)
@Beta-Reader: Next time you try to insert yourself into the story without my permission, do it a bit more subtle. XD!
6. Chapter, Part 1: Soberness
The first thing she became aware of was the melodic twitter of a bird directly in front of her room's balcony, enjoying the fresh spring air. Even before opening her eyes, she saw the scenery in her mind: the little Pidgey bending its head to peer into the unexposed room, jumping on the balcony's grille back and forth, not brave enough to fly inside. She could feel the slight breeze on her bare legs, indicating that someone had opened the windows while she had been sleeping. The scents of several different flowers were in the air, an amazing cocktail of nature's gracefulness.
Finally, the psychic opened her eyes, sighing as she did so. The ceiling of her room was a mixture of shadows bathing it into a crème-like brown colour, with other patches shining in a bright white, being touched by the rays of sunlight shining through the windows. The curtains rustled.
Carefully, Sabrina tried to sit up, but a blurry pain in the back of her mind stopped her. Letting out a soft groan, she fell back again, touching her forehead. She had no fever, thankfully, but her head ached. A lot. 'Great, just great.'
After a short moment of steadying her senses, she opened her eyes again, scanning her room. The door to the balcony was in fact opened. The Pidgey had flown away, probably scared by her movements. And on her right side...Sabrina smiled widely. Will was sleeping in the swivel chair in front of the desk, yet he had turned it around to face her. The whole night. He was so...sweet.
She kept staring at him, giggling when she heard his snore. A quick glance at the clock told her that it was already 10 am. She was surprised that she was already awake again after only six hours of sleep, but she had never been a late-riser. Will, on the other hand....
Sabrina closed her eyes as she slowly stood up, careful not to wake him up and not to strain her aching head too much. He had all the right to sleep as long as wanted, as after all, all the worry he had been through yesterday had probably stressed his nerves just as much as hers were after the drinks.
Looking around, the gym leader was startled for a second when she noticed that she wasn't wearing the same clothes as the last evening anymore, yet relaxed just as quickly when she realized that it was only her blazer that was missing. And her shoes, of course. Sabrina had to giggle again. It was...surprising, almost unbelievable that she didn't mind a man undressing her, or that she didn't strangle him to death for committing that crime. Yet with Will, everything was different. Quite different. There was an intimacy between them that could almost not be real anymore. They had only been together for about a month, and yet it was as if they had known each other for a lifetime. Well, not counting little drama concerning Janine...
Another stab of sharp pain going through her head made her fall back onto the bed again, waking Will up. He looked around, confused as to why he was not in his room, and more important, not in a bed, yet when his memory kicked in and he recognised the young woman sitting in the opposite side of the room, he smiled. "Good morning, dear," he yawned, stretching his aching neck.
Sabrina laughed, as seeing him so sleepy was sure funny. "Good morning to you too." He grinned, walking over to her and embracing her carefully, kissing her. She pushed him away playfully after a moment, hiding her face with her arms. "My head hurts..."
Will sat down on the bed next to her, rubbing his neck. "Yeah, not only yours...my back feels as if someone tried to bend it while I was sleeping."
Sabrina had her eyes closed, her arms crossed over her head. "Well, you shouldn't have slept in the chair. That's quite uncomfortable, you know."
Will looked around the plain room. "I understand, but...where else?!"
An evil giggle. "Well, the bed is big enough for two, isn't it?"
Both psychics sharply turned their heads to the door frame, where Karen was standing, leaning against the frame with one hand for stability, a leg crossed over the other. She was wearing an almost transparent silver negligee, and obviously nothing beneath it. Sabrina snorted inwardly. 'That...sl...' She shook her head. She should know Karen by now…
And yet, she couldn't stop the blush that emanated from her cheeks, at the sheer thought of sleeping in the same bed as him. While it was true that during their trip through the Indigo Mountains, they had had to sleep very close together, it had never been that close. And while she felt so much for him, and loved him so much...that was just too far a step. One step she felt not ready to take yet. One day, maybe. She wasn't sure when, but....she just didn't know what would happen to her then. Would it change her? Would it change their relationship? Sabrina sighed, knowing that those were questions she never had to have to ask herself before. She had never before been so fascinated by a person of the opposite gender.
"Karen..." Will sighed helplessly. "Nice joke, but no thanks." He crossed his arms over his head. "She wouldn't let me anyway..." He winked at Sabrina, who sighed and blushed at the same time. Will turned again to Karen, throwing a sharp glance over her scandalous outfit. He knew that that was usual for Karen, having been forced to sleep in the same room as her for weeks now, so it wasn't new for him and his eyes had gotten used to her skin, not paying it any attention anymore. "Why are you even here?"
The dark trainer rolled her eyes. "Am I not even allowed to worry about my colleagues anymore? You weren't in your hotel room last night, so I wondered where you were hanging around...then I met Janine," she glanced over her shoulder quickly. "And she told me the short version of last night's soap opera, so I decided to check up on you two the next morning to make sure you haven't been maiming each other's bones." She laughed at her own joke, yet Sabrina wondered if it was a speciality of dark trainers to find bloody jokes especially amusing.
"No, we haven't been ripping our limbs off, but thanks for asking." It wasn't hard for Sabrina to sound angry, and her headache really helped.
Will shifted his gaze between the two women, noticing the tension. He had been okay with the dark trainer so far, but he was weak as a psychic, unlike Sabrina. That little fact could explain as to why he didn't feel unwell around Karen, while Sabrina did. "I guess we missed the breakfast?" he asked quietly, to change the topic.
Karen shrugged. "The regular time for breakfast is over, yes, but you know the rule. Everyone who has talked to Lance personally has a VIP bonus, and can get breakfast at 10 PM if necessary." Again, she glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "I guess I should be off now. You two seem okay, so my babysitter job is over." Sabrina tensed. 'Babysitter?!?' "There's someone who urgently wants to talk to you now..." she winked at the two psychics, then turned around and walked away quickly, the movements revealing more of her body than absolutely needed, considering that no man aside from Will was around, and if there was one person Karen would never seriously try to attract, it was her fellow elite member.
Both psychics braced themselves for anything then, for it could even be Lance now that wanted to interrogate them. Sabrina didn't know everything about the league's chef's hidden publicity plans, but she was sure their short-timed breakup had bombed quite a few of them. But it wasn't Lance.
~~~~~~~
Karen glanced at her right, frowning. The hallway was still shrouded in darkness, the lights not turned on yet. 'Something is off here, way off...' Closing her eyes and shrugging, the dark trainer went down the stairs, deciding not to pay it any more attention. 'Would be too much of a coincidence if I were the only darkling here...'
~~~~~~~
"Uhm, hey...." Janine stepped into the room, wearing a pink sleeping jumpsuit with little red Bunearys all over, even with a hood with fluffy bunny ears attached to it. Sabrina blinked. That was...unusual clothing for a ninja, to say the last. She knew from her experiences with Koga's sister that pink was popular with the female branch of the family, yet Janine made it a bit awkward. "I wanted to check up on you two, too..."
Will grinned. "Just like Karen, eh? Well, we haven't murdered each other yet, and we were just about to decide if we should do it traditionally with knives or take poison, if you have any left."
"Will!" Sabrina laughed so hard that her headache was starting to pound on her poor nerves, but that was just too funny. "If I want to kill you, I would do it with my powers. I have an honour to defend as the strongest psychic!" <Besides, poison doesn't work with psychics, idiot! You should know that by now!>
"Okay, dear, I got it. I really did," he winked again at her, standing up. "I'm going to get some breakfast for us." Sabrina blinked.
"What do you mean, getting some for us?" She had a slight feeling she knew what he meant by that...but no one had ever...no one had ever done such a romantic favour for her.
He grinned, kissing her hair as he walked out of the door. "Well, I want to make up for yesterday, so I thought breakfast in bed would be just as good as an apology, right? Not to mention that I am a gentleman after all."
'Yeah, you are...' Sabrina thought, smiling unconsciously as she watched him leaving. She froze just when he had reached the stairs and stretched her body to be able to look around the door and reach him with her voice. "Hey, how are you getting it back here, then? You can't carry everything!" His laugh was quiet, but only because he was already walking down the stairs.
"Hey, I didn't train my teleport for nothing!"
Sabrina sighed and leaned back, rubbing the side of her head. 'Let's hope he doesn't overestimate his abilities. Sure, he can teleport by now, but....' She opened her eyes again, shaking her head. If he wanted to try, why not? His decision, anyway. And she couldn't help but admit that it was incredible sweet from him. She was lucky to have him back...
"Ehm..." Janine had flopped down in the chair that had previously been occupied by Will, closing her eyes and yawning. Sabrina snickered again. The jumpsuit had furry gloves attached to it and Janine had just put one on unconsciously. 'To think that she is related to Koga, one of the best and most dangerous ninjas...'
"Short night, eh?" the psychic asked, seeing Janine almost falling asleep on that not so comfortable chair. She didn't want her to suffer the same fate as Will, for Sabrina was sure Janine also had her own hotel room and could easily return to that to get some more sleep. Janine had already apologized the previous night and Sabrina didn't see the need for another unbridled talk. Of course she was sure she hadn't been told all the details, for she was sure the head of that operation, Claire, hadn't even told Janine everything, and for another, the young ninja was surely embarrassed by her own stupidity to tell her everything. Sabrina closed her eyes. She knew that her old rival Claire had directly planned this as an attack against her, against her psyche, but that she would go as far as using an innocent, naive girl. No, Janine was not completely at fault. She was simply too young, too inexperienced with the way the league worked.
Just as Will was.
"Yeah, very short night...I couldn't sleep after...you know..." Janine smiled helplessly, her tiredness almost getting the better of her again. Her hair, only yesterday evening having been tied into a tight, short pony tail, was sticking out in all directions at that moment, as if someone had detonated fireworks there. It reminded the psychic of her own comedian, her Haunter. It still loved its bombs...
"Don't worry, Janine, really...I'm not mad at you. Not at all." She smiled."We could become friends, you know? You seem nice, after all."
Janine blinked, her sleepiness making her mind working much slower than usual. "Re-really?" she squealed with delight. "That would be so grea-whaaaa!" Janine threw herself back into the chair when a bright, white light exploded in the middle of the room, startling her. Sabrina smiled knowingly. She knew how a teleport looked like. A beginner's teleport, but a teleport nonetheless. He really was improving.
A thud made her sweatdrop. 'Well, he's still learning...'
"Ouch...." Will had landed on his stomach. Yet, with an artistic performance unbelievable enough to be admired by both Sabrina and Janine, he had managed to keep the tablet balanced on his left hand, neither letting it fall down nor spilling any of the drinks he had brought with him. Sabrina glanced over the tablet, noticing everything he had brought with him...'I should have told him...'
"Ehm..." Janine blinked. She was still trembling a bit, but she was calming herself more and more. She recognized the flash now as a teleport, however, all the teleports she had seen hadn't ended with the person in question in such an awkward and uncomfortable position...
Sabrina smiled at her. "That's probably because you have never seen an amateur teleport. It's a difficult discipline. It doesn't take that much time to learn Teleport in itself, yet perfecting it, specifically the direct direction and the position you end up..." she smiled, glancing over at Will, who tried to get up without covering himself in a mix of their breakfast's ingredients. Smiling, with closed eyes, she used her powers to steady him and lower the tablet to her bedside.
"An amateur I am, huh?" Will huffed, brushing the dust of his clothes. "Well, see it that way, it was the first time I teleported myself and I didn't get split into half!"
"Sweet, dear Will, otherwise, I would have to find your pieces all over the ether and puzzle them together." Noticing Janine's wide open eyes and her pale face, Sabrina laughed. "Yes, it's true, if a psychic isn't careful enough with a teleport, half of his body might end up in the location he wished to teleport to, the other might end up in his grandma's kitchen garden. Or the supermarket's till." She smiled at Will, who seemed to be quite proud at himself. "You still have to get better, Will. Two centimetres off downwards and your chest would have merged with the carpet." Will paled, not commenting anymore.
Janine stood up, stretching herself again, yawning. "Well, I better get going now."
"Hey, I wouldn't mind you staying here. You can eat breakfast with us!" Will nodded, still a bit shaken at the thought of being forever glued to a piece of wool. Before trying to pull anything like that off again, he really had to take a few more training lessons with Sabrina...
Janine shook her head. "I don't want to stress you anymore with that headache of yours."
Sabrina giggled weakly. "It's not that bad. At least not anymore." She threw a short glance at Will, smiling. <After all, I found the perfect cure for a hangover...> He returned it nervously.
Janine laughed. "Well, then you're better off than Lucian anywhere. I heard he ended up in the hospital with alcoholic poisoning!"
Sabrina and Will stared at each other with a frightened glance. Their colleague had obviously overestimated his own endurance, reminding Sabrina painfully of the fact that she had been drunk herself...
Janine giggled, seeing the look on the two psychics' faces. "Don't worry, he will be alright. No, I have to go, dad probably wants to see me. I don't want to make him wait any longer." She winked at the two psychics and left the room. As soon as she was outside, Will turned to face Sabrina, who had started to pour some tea into a cup. He sighed and sat down next to her, his head resting on his hand.
"There's just something that…kinda surprises me. I mean…" He bit his tongue, making Sabrina wonder just why he was suddenly nervous. She could feel it, being so close to him. "You're such a good psychic....strong...yet....you didn't read my mind." He glanced at her, looking almost offended. "If you had read it...if you had read my true emotions...none of this would have ever happened. What I mean is..." he paused again. "I love you. I loved you all the time. Never, never was there one moment where I seriously thought about giving you up and taking Janine as my girlfriend. I admit I was too weak to just reject Janine from the beginning, blame it on my gentleness, but I never loved her. Just why couldn't you just have found that out earlier and save us all the mess? Why?" He stared at her eyes, hoping, expecting honesty, taking her left hand in his and squeezing it.
Sabrina sighed and smiled. Will was so...cute sometimes. Yet also so naive. "That's easy to explain. I thought you would get it by yourself." She giggled at the sight of his clueless expression. "Will, I don't read the thoughts of those I trust. I read Janine's mind just now because it was a trivial matter. But in general, I don't read minds when I don't absolutely need to. It's an interference in privacy. I just don't do that to people that mean so much to me. And especially not on delicate emotional matters like love." The gym leader shook her mind. "Years ago, I would have done that without batting an eyelash, without caring about the consequences. But not anymore. I trust you, so I let you keep your thoughts for yourself."
Will was stunned. She was wrong; he would have never found an explanation by himself. He had expected many reasons, many psychic reasons that were too complex for his mind to grasp, yet that she simply trusted him that much...it was amazing. He couldn't believe it. He was surprised that she was that...loyal to him. It made him feel even worse for all he had done. "You trust me...oh, Sabrina…I..." he sighed. "Thanks, I guess. I never thought....oh, well." He smiled at her. "Guess I should watch every step of mine from now on, just to make sure I don't hurt you ever again." He smiled. "You're worth it."
Now it was Sabrina's turn to be stunned. She didn't fight her blush, knowing that it just made her cuter. Taking a deep breath, she decided to change the topic, to something she had been...curious about. Even if it was a bit embarrassing. "Ehm, back then, when I saw you and Janine..." Will blinked. "You two...ehm, was that a French-kiss?" she asked, unusally shy for the psychic gym leader.
"It was kind of." Will grinned, leaning back on the bed. "I'm positive Janine never French-kissed before, as it was so awkward."
"I see..." Sabrina bit her lip. She hoped he would have said something else, but for now, she didn't know how to ask. She didn't even know if it was worth asking, but then, they had unconsciously agreed on being honest with each other. Always.
"Could you teach me?" Will opened his eyes wide, staring at the ceiling. Had he heard her right!?! She wanted him to teach her how to...French-kiss? 'Oh my god...'
"What?" he had to ask, just to make sure he had understood her.
Sabrina turned away, blushing. "Well, I just thought, it...ah, never mind." She turned away. 'One day, I will learn it...'
Will was facing her now, lying on his side. "I didn't decline...I was just surprised..." He smiled. "But I would love to."
Sabrina blinked when he leaned to her, gently stroking her cheeks. "Be careful, the tea's ho-" He silenced her with a kiss and the next moment, the tea was the last thing on the psychics' minds.
~~~~~~~
Playing with the mobile phone between her long, slender fingers, the woman let the sunlight fall over her slightly wavy, blonde hair. Jenny still hadn't found the Espeon. Cynthia closed her eyes in frustration. Of course, even for a professional hunter like her, it wasn't an easy task, catching an Espeon that had spent the better half of its life in the wilderness, never been touched by humanity's hand before. But she needed it; she needed it to finish her plan and get rid of Lucian. That idiot...he had ended up in the hospital with alcoholic poisoning. Officially. Unofficially...well, his fault. He had been gossiping a bit too much...poor guy. Confusion and alcohol didn't mix well, he should know that.
She smiled, bumping her elbow into the ribs of the man sleeping not so peacefully next to her. Cynthia slowly sat up, glancing over him. He was having a nightmare. She sighed. It could be her fault, yet it could be coincidence, who knew? In the end, she didn't give a damn. She was going to give up Lance as soon as she was out of this middle-age-like rubbish tip. She never got why Kanto's people were laughing at Sinnoh, when they weren't better at all. Of course, Sinnoh wasn't trusted by anyone, being a freshly new league with a female champion, but once she was over with that, Sinnoh's citizens would surely had something to laugh about...Indigo's incompetence and a boss who rather slept with the champion instead of taking care of organization, and not even noticing when something went completely wrong. For her, nothing had gone wrong so far.
~~~~~~~
Sabrina was leant against her boyfriend, smiling and drinking the last sips of the tea. "Shouldn't we get up now..?" Will asked, though he sounded anything but willing to fulfil the task hinted in his question. It was already noon, yet none of them felt ready to get up at all.
"Nah..." Sabrina was comfortable with everything staying the way it was right then. She could spend the whole day in that peaceful haze if nothing hindered her. And aside from Will, there was actually nothing keeping her from staying in bed all day. Grinning, she thought that maybe she even deserved this slip into laziness. She could always excuse herself with her headache, even though it had nearly disappeared by then.
"Aw, come on...." Will sat up, letting Sabrina fall back onto the sheets. She growled. "I'm not tired anymore." She continued to growl. "And you know what?" He smiled at her. "I've got some plans for today..."
"What plans?" Sabrina wasn't sure she even wanted to know what Will wanted to do.
"Well, for once, I decided to visit our dear colleague in the hospital." He grinned. "You know, Lucian. I wanna see how he's doing..."
Sabrina raised an eyebrow. "And make fun of him?"
"Never, of course not." Will smiled at her innocently, but if there was one thing she was absolutely sure of, it was that he was a notoriously bad liar. "And after that...well, I...ehm..." He was suddenly nervous again. "I thought we could go out for lunch together...I mean, I got my first cheque just days ago, so for once, I don't need to be cheap, and I could invite you..."
Sabrina giggled. How sweet of him. "Of course," she nodded at him. "So, let's meet again in two hours, okay? I will catch some more sleep and you have fun torturing Lucian, right?"
~~~~~~~
Will had never liked the smell of hospitals. It reminded him of the dreadful day just a month ago, when he had rushed to Indigo's Main Pokecenter, with Sabrina lying in his arms, already unconscious and just seconds away from death....when he had burst into the building and Nurse Joy had taken his dear from him, injecting that weird antidote into her almost brutally, but since every second had counted back then, it had been necessary. And then the weeks Sabrina had been comatose, and he came to the hospital every day, every day the same atmosphere and same smell and he couldn't do anything to wake her up; he could just wait and hope...
Will shook his head. He had to remind himself that that had been long ago, and that Sabrina was okay now and he was there to visit a guy he couldn't really care less about. Yet, maybe it was his manners that told him to come there, even though everything else in him refused to set one step into the bright, white, sterile object. He took a deep breath and opened the milky blue door to Lucian's room, bracing himself. He was really not there to make fun of Lucian, as in fact, he didn't even know why he was there, so he blamed it on his gentlemanlyness.
Lucian looked the worse for wear. He was pale, his hair dull and not really wavy anymore, being rather flat by being laid on for some time. He wasn't wearing his usual red suit anymore, of course; just a plain white hospital gown, which looked quite...embarrassing, to be honest. Now Will was happy that he hadn't decided to bring Sabrina to the hospital too as after yesterday's excess, she would have murdered him had he seen her wearing this. Or, maybe not. She seemed not to have minded him undressing her at all. "Good morning...or should I say, good afternoon?" Lucian looked sharply at him and if looks could kill, Will would then be two floors downwards in the morgue.
"To hell with the morning...," he growled. "I would have rather stayed asleep." He pointed to a small tube that was attached to his left wrist. "Thank god they know how to treat you right. With that glucose infusion, the hangover stays away."
"Great..." Will couldn't hide his disappointment. So Lucian didn't have to deal with headaches, but his beloved had. It was unfair. "I didn't really get what was going on yesterday anyway...care to tell me?" he asked with sly grin.
Lucian raised an eyebrow. "Why should I tell you?"
Will bent his neck sheepishly. "Because I know Teleport now and could bring some reporters with me who would love to portray you with such an amazing wardrobe on?"
Lucian just kept staring at the fellow psychic trainer sardonically. "You can't threaten me with that..." he whispered sharply. "I'm just as good of a psychic as you are, if not better."
"Really?" Will laughed. "You're the first one to tell me..."
Lucian closed his eyes. "Of course. Cynthia made sure that my abilities and hers were kept hidden from the public."
Now Will was really getting interested in the conversation and he couldn't wait to tell Sabrina, almost daring to use telepathy, but then, if Lucian was really psychic, he could intercept the message. And on the other hand, his own telepathy wasn't that good that he could be sure if it reached Sabrina. "Cynthia is also psychic? That's news to me...really."
Lucian sighed. He looked almost...sad now. But why? "Yes, Cynthia's psychic, and not even a bad one. I can't judge how she would fare against your girlfriend, but one thing is certain: she can beat me easily. Of course, I am a weak psychic, having gotten my powers only because of my Pokemon, in contrast to Cynthia, who had hers since her birth." Will couldn't help but notice the similarities between them and Sabrina and him. It was almost the same... "That's probably why she was able to attack me last night."
"She attacked you?" Will blurted out, before looking around to make sure no one had heard him.
Lucian nodded. "She did. I suppose I was telling too much about our...plan."
"Would you mind if I ask about that plan?"
The Sinnoh trainer glared at Will. "You know that I will get in trouble for that? Besides, there's not much that I know. Just that Cynthia wanted to cause some scandal here in Kanto and that she will use the post office affaire to help her. No more. She doesn't tell me anything, you know..." The psychic trainer sighed. "She is always that reserved..."
"Yeah, I know..." Will rolled his eyes, thinking that if one of them had to be described with the word 'reserved,' it was Lucian. Probably the reason why she dumped him and left with Lance. That guy really scarified himself for the league, and Claire, now that Will thought about it. Lance didn't get enough credit for all of his doings, actually, only being spit on when he brought up the topic of money.
"By the way, have they found your Espeon yet?" Will asked, hoping that the change of topic would make both of them feel easier.
Lucian just stared at him with a deep lack of understanding. "Espeon? What Es-"
Both psychics suddenly heard the door being opened and when Will caught glimpse of a black shoe, he decided that it was safer to teleport away, even risking being merged with random things. For all he knew, Lucian was the stronger psychic and Cynthia, being even stronger than Lucian, could be a real danger for him, after Lucian had told him about their plans.
Lucian shivered when the tall, slender woman walked into the room, her shoes causing a melodic clack on the floor. "Lucian, my sweetheart..." She smiled at him and it was all the more sinister. She touched his chin, kissing his cheek. The furry ends of her coat tickled his skin. "I know you want to get me back. But you have to play fair for that and stay quiet, understood? I will sort everything out." She smiled at him and for once, for once, it was a real, compassionate smile. 'Maybe Jenny is right...' "I'm not mad at you, but you'll have to wait for me to sort everything out."
~~~~~~~
Will re-appeared just outside of the hotel room, coughing and leaning onto the white, spotless walls. Teleporting was a lot more energy-consuming than it looked like and it continued to amaze him how Sabrina had managed to teleport over twenty people in a physical state where not even walking was possible for her anymore. It told him a lot about her strength, yet he was nothing in comparison to her, and it was very likely that he was nothing in comparison to Lucian or Cynthia, either.
He had to stable himself for a moment, to catch his breath and stop the swirls in front of his eyes. Teleporting sure wasn't as easy as it looked like for someone not able to wield psychic powers, and he still had to learn a lot. If he hadn't suddenly felt that danger, that dark foreboding emerging, he wouldn't have taken the risk. Sabrina was right: one moment of losing concentration might cause unpleasant consequences. And teleporting to the wrong direction was the smallest one of these.
Quietly, he opened the door to see if his dear was already awake. To his surprise, she was, already getting dressed. He just stood in the doorframe, helpless, mesmerized by her unearthly presence. He stared at her, not wanting to interrupt her, not wanting to make his presence known at all. He felt he was interfering with her privacy. Yet deep inside, he knew he wasn't. They were so close, and if there was one thing both of them didn't mind, it was the other watching.
Sabrina turned around, not surprised at all to see him. She had felt his presence minutes earlier, and let him stay in his dreamy haze while undressing. She didn't mind, as he was too much of a gentleman to dare to touch her without her clear permission. "Are you ready?" she finally asked, acknowledging his presence at last. Will nodded.
End of Chapter 6, Part 1