I Want To Lay the Very Best!

212 – Cuddle Bug

"You sure you're not turning a little green?" Dinah teased as the cruise ship lilted again. "You've gone all quiet. That's not like you at all."

"You are not-" Sparky stopped, holding up a finger while she swallowed. Brandy was massaging her back and staring daggers at Dinah. "Urp. You are not a Joltik. You don't know me."

"Sorry," Dinah laughed. She didn't snigger playfully like Sparky. Her laugh was of a soft sigh. It was actually the weirdest difference yet. "It's just a little funny."

"I'm going to kick your thick, perfect ass," Sparky groaned, swiping weakly at her. "Once my Agility kicks back in. Stupid Move."

Sparky's Agility move was incredible, but it also made her very sensitive to her place in the world. Sparky could pull a triple backflip standing still, but that was due to an incredible understanding of where she was. The ship's rocking from the battle upstairs was messing with her internal balance, something awful, and all Brandy could do was try to soothe her fur and hope she adjusted to her sudden unfortunate bout of sea sickness.

"Maybe you should go take a breather together," Wren said, tugging at Dinah's cheeks to wipe the smug smile off her face. "I hear getting to the center of the boat helps. I'd love to learn more about you and finish my story about how I met Mercury, but I don't like seeing Sparky miserable."

"I want to see her throw up." Dinah said, "I'd love to see her insides."

"Dinah!" Wren gasped, "She'd ruin her maid dress."

"Oh fuck! Quick, go cuddle her somewhere safe."

Sparky gave her a withering look as she pulled up her legs and let Brandy pull her into her arms. They'd started the first fight upstairs, but Wren had been so fun to talk to Brandy had decided to skip watching it. There'd be replays so she wouldn't miss anything, and it wasn't anyone either of them knew.

"Thanks for being so kind," Brandy said as Sparky tucked her head into her chest. It wasn't even an opportunistic move. Her poor Bug really wasn't feeling well. "Honestly, I thought a Ghost Ace would be a lot different. You're really sweet, Branwen."

"You don't know me," Wren grinned, spinning in her seat with Dinah on her lap. "But I know you'll learn! You love learning about people. I'll finish up the Mercury story later. It always makes me want to throat sweets anyway, and I'm out right now."

Brandy snorted as Wren spun her red squiggly eyes. The little snatches she'd heard of the story made her sound pretty fearless. She'd lost, but not for lack of effort. Brandy could respect the hell out of that. It would be a good fight, but before that, Sparky needed some love.

She got a seat at the very center table, the air smelling sickly sweet from the sticky drinks of the people who'd gone upstairs to watch the fight. The muffled roar of the crowd above as something exploded made Sparky twitch and grab a handful of Brandy's dress. Brandy just petted Sparky's fur, letting her nestle in as she made soothing noises.

"I'm not seasick," Sparky said, her voice so quiet Brandy could barely hear it. "Well, a little, but it's not that bad. Sorry. I lied."

"Needed to get out of there?" Brandy kept up the petting. "I know you don't like Ghosts."

"Eh, it's..." Sparky tailed off and shrugged, a pair of her blue eyes looking up at Brandy. "Dinah's cool. Weird and creepy, but that's all ghosts for you. I'm not scared of them."

Brandy was hoping that'd been it, because it only left one thing if it wasn't, and Brandy had really hoped it wouldn't come up. But it had. So she had to face it head-on.

"You're going to do great." Brandy leaned down to kiss the top of Sparky's head. "I know you will."

"I've never won a fight by myself," Sparky sighed. "We didn't beat Calcine together. I was too scared to fight Mercury. I've never beaten a Trainer on my own. I lost to you!"

"Good!" Brandy kissed her eyes, making her blink to stop her from getting her right on the eyeball and trying to squirm away from the affection. Not that she had a chance. Brandy's grip was iron. "If I hadn't gotten you, I don't know where I'd be. You make everything fun."

"What if I'm not good enough to win on my own? What if I let you down?" Sparky's eyes were darting from Brandy's, looking up, down, anywhere but into her Trainer's.

"Then I'll still be proud of you," Brandy said, squeezing Sparky. "I lost our first Gym, remember? I've fucked up too. You all forgave me. Called me an idiot, I think."

"Yeah, well, you were being an idiot," Sparky giggled. "And we love you for it."

"No changing the subject," Brandy warned. "All you can do is your best, okay? If we lose, we'll do what we did after the Grass Gym. We'll train and come back better. But you are not doing this alone. You will never be doing this alone."

Brandy let her hand trail up Sparky's arms and stroke into the puff of fur on her chest. "I'm going to be with you for this. You've given me these nice eyes, Calcine given me some lovely firm abs, and Morgan..."

"Has taught you to be a massive sneak."

"She has." Brandy smiled proudly. "They're both with us in spirit, and as soon as Mercury rings that bell, they'll come out and save our asses if they need to. You know they'd both love the chance to be the hero."

"Morgan would be insufferable."

"You can be insufferable back. You have my permission."

Sparky didn't relax, but her breathing did even out. She kept her face buried in Brandy's chest, but the gentle buzz of electricity in her fur was soothingly pleasant. She didn't seem to mind Brandy's fingers digging deep, working out the stiffness in her joints and relaxing her body. It was a lovely excuse to hug Sparky tight, not so much she got squeezed, even if the bug would love that. Just a nice, tender hug.

"Love you." Brandy whispered, "And you're a badass, seriously. We're going to make that ghost scared of you."

"I'll give her nightmares," Sparky mumbled, squeezing her back.

"She's just a bad copy of you. You look better. You tell better jokes."

Brandy nudged up Sparky's head and licked her over the lips. "I know you fuck better than her. No chance that oversized plush toy can match the real thing."

"Yeah. Yeah! I can't believe I'm getting butterflies over a copy of myself," Sparky groaned, "She's going to copy my moves, you know?"

"It'd be weird if a Mimikyu couldn't, well, Mimic you." Brandy looked over to Wren and Dinah. They were both pretending not to watch, but they totally were. She waved at them, making Wren cough on her drink in surprise. "She's not a Ditto. It'll be one Move at a time."

"With all her own Moves on top," Sparky sighed. "Weird ghost shit."

"We'll deal with it." Brandy rubbed her thumbs on the side of Sparky's cheek. "I've got a lot of experience handling bratty Joltiks."

"You do?" Sparky perked up, nipping at Brandy's fingers. "Sure you don't need some tips?"

"Not from you, you big brat." Brandy kissed her nose. "Cheered up?"

"Absolutely." Sparky snuggled in tight. "Would you believe this was all a plot to be smothered by your boobs?"

"As if you couldn't do that any time you wanted." Brandy smiled. "And I wouldn't say you were smothered. Just gently pressed. If we win, then I'll smother you."

"I'm going to end her fucking life."

Brandy laughed and spanked Sparky's ass as she helped reorientate Sparky to a seat in her lap. "Ready for this?"

"All I need is a kiss from Calcine for luck, but failing that, yeah, I'm ready." Sparky's hands were shaking a little, but her eyes were bright, and her body was firm. "Want to see something funny?"

"Try me."

Sparky pointed to a table near the empty stage. Tansy, the excitable Rockruff, was lying on her back across the table, arms and legs in the air as the ridiculously tall Lapras, Marina, scratched her belly. Saffira was watching her adoringly while Maple shook her head in disbelief, clearly trying to hold in a laugh. Jade green bracelets dangled off both their wrists.

"Maple and Saffira are going to fight? Oof, that's rough for Saffira. Her whole team is going to be weak to Water."

"Well, two of them," Sparky said. "We don't know who she got as her third. Maybe she covered her weakness a bit."

Brandy didn't doubt that Saffira had a ton of spirit, but forward planning didn't really seem to be her strength. Not that Brandy could really talk. Her whole team was weak to Saffira's Rock Types. It'd be a tough fight if they ever went at it. They all had a soft spot for a woman who could fold them in half.

Maybe that's why Brandy wasn't super upset to see Mercury again. She definitely could do that.

The ship's speakers buzzed to life, a cheerful sing-song voice coming over loud and clear. "I hope all competitors have enjoyed yourselves so far. The first match is drawing to a close, and we'd like to keep a brisk pace. Can Brandy Joyce and Branwen Maddock please come to the top deck and contact one of our staff."

Maple flashed Brandy a smile and a thumbs-up as she gathered her things. She'd be watching, of course, which meant Saffira would too. Brandy would have to be sure to impress them both. Wren was up smoothing her labcoat out. She blew Brandy a kiss and wiggled her fingers as she set off towards the stairs, Dinah poking out a tongue as she went that stretched out into a long black tentacle that whipped about madly behind her as she turned and sauntered off.

"I want a tentacle tongue," Sparky grumbled.

"You can't be trusted with one." Brandy laughed. "Come on, let's go show everyone how far we've come."

Sparky's eyes lit up at all the cum jokes she'd just been gifted. Brandy put up with them all. Sparky had earned a few awful jokes without reprisal. It made the walk upstairs a little less nerve-wracking.

Their first tournament fight. Brandy couldn't wait to show her beautiful Bug off to the world.