And she had left, as if she had never arrived in the first place. As calloused as ever, Porter hadn't even bothered to look back as she boarded her dragon, taking off like a bolt of lightning. The little bundle of terror was gone...for now. He leaned his head back against the cold wall behind him. Leaning so close to the wall brought violent chills down his spine, a mix between the fever and the cold stone. He felt miserable. With nothing else to do, he stared towards the burning fire. Had it been burning that brightly before she arrived?

Honestly, he really couldn't tell. It was hard to recall such insignificant things, or maybe his mind was far more preoccupied with her sudden appearance. Seeing the Champion had roused him from the haze that had clouded his mind for months. He rubbed at his chin, rustling his disheveled beard, were she had so forcefully pinched him. She was never one to hesitate when it came to force. The discomfort from her grip was quick to fade. He dropped his hands back into his lap, not sure what to do now. A part of him wanted to block in the entrance of the cave, seal her out for good, but that would be pointless. Snow wouldn't pose a problem for her. The stubborn thing would dig through it with her bare hands just to torment him.

He shut his eyes, also feeling the urge to just fall back asleep again. Sitting upright took more effort then he could ever recall. She had said a fever, and he honestly wasn't surprised. How long had he been trapped up in this cursed cave? It felt like months, far longer then he had stayed anywhere else. Travel had been almost impossible when he had finally trekked his way up the mountainside. Maybe it had been foolish to believe he could outlast the storm that swept in shortly after he set up base.

...He closed his eyes, only for a moment. His eyelids felt so impossibly heavy that he didn't bother to open them again. It couldn't have been more then a second, maybe a minute.

A minute turned into an hour in a flash.

He wasn't sure what woke him, the roar from the Salamance outside, the sound of her soft gait when she returned to the cave...or the smell of food. He managed to crack an eye open, spying the girl standing in front of the fire again, shuffling the weight of several white bags in her arms. She was setting them down by the fire to keep them warm.

Maybe he could just pretend to keep sleeping, ignore her. Maybe she'd go away- "Ah. You're up. Good." Lysandre could have groaned. No, he wouldn't get off that easy. She was just standing there, looking over at him with that one smirk on her face. The type of smirk that made his stomach twist itself into knots. He returned her expression with a tight lipped-frown.

"Here, food." She unceremonious tossed one of the bags towards him. Lysander gave a growl, barely managing to catch the paper bag. It crinkled in his hands, and he stared down at it to avoid the little blight waltzing back to her Dragon.

"There's more outside, give me a sec to bring it all in." She called out to him, and something about her tone made his skin itch. He could never recall her being such a nuisance before. Maybe her time as a Champion gave her more confidence...or maybe he was still bruised from losing against her. Both options seemed perfectly valid.

What did she buy for him, anyways? He twisted over the bag...and saw a logo staring right back at him.

Pancham Express. The face of the little bear was winking at him

She got him fast food. A growl rose from the back of his throat.

He was going to kill her. Take that pretty little neck, string her up, and shake the living daylights out of her. It would be worthy revenge for this insult. He bared his teeth and almost tossed the bag into the fire...but his stomach growled something vicious. Damn her. Damn her to hell and back. The first warm meal he would have in months, and it would be something he probably couldn't even stomach.

She returned with even more bags. Had he been in a better mood, he might have found the sight humorous. The champion was over-encumbered, awkwardly trying to balance the weight of the food.

Why did she buy so much, anyways? Was she trying to feed an army?

She settled herself down, tearing into one of the bags like it was Christmas. He glared at her from across the fire, and maybe she felt his glare. "What?" was the only remark he received as the girl fumbled with removing the wrapping on her burger.

"Pancham Express. I didn't know you had a sense of humor."

She bristled, staring right back at him, her lips twisting into a frown to match his own. "What's wrong with it?" As if she had any right to be offended.

What's wrong with it? He felt his brow twitch. "How about everything? Are you trying to torture me?"

"Never pegged you for a picky eater." She finally unwrapped her dinner and took a large bite from it, and he could smell the grease from where he was sitting. That wasn't food, that was over-saturated garbage. He crinkled his nose and felt his gut twist. From disgust, and also because the heavy smell was enough to make him nauseous.

"This isn't food-" He pointed at the stupid little logo. "It's grit and grease slapped onto a grill. How could I possibly stomach this?"

"I doubt they put grit in soup...?" He stared blankly at her. Soup? What? He looked into the bag and paused at the small round container. He pulled the cup out, lifted up the plastic lid, and sniffed the contents. It was salty and strong, and he pulled his face away from it. Soup or not, it was just as rich and heavy as whatever she was eating.

"...Did you honestly think I'd be stupid enough to bring a sick man a double-pounder with fries?" And to his horror, Porter seemed to find that hilarious. He heard a restrained laugh escape her. "Oh Arceus, I forgot to get you a milkshake with extra whipped cream. Maybe onion rings-" She cackled like a devil.

"Yes. Soup from some drive through, oh what a modern world we live in." Was the only response the man could muster, trying to remain deadpan.

"Hey, I had to stand in a line for that."

"A line? Well, then it must be quality."

"Let's see you find a five-star restaurant open at 3 in the morning." She bit into her burger again, and to his horror managed to swallow it down after only a couple chews. What was she, an animal? He couldn't recall her manners ever being so atrocious...but then again, she had only ever sipped coffee with him around.

He frowned, staring down at the container as if it was radioactive.

"Are you seriously going to be such a baby about this?" He glared at her in response, and maybe his glare enough to warrant a small "Sorry, sorry." She raised both hands as a peace gesture. Might have worked if she wasn't still clutching onto her meal.

"I'm just surprised you can be so stubborn. If I was as malnourished as you, I'd eat anything you'd put in front of me." He felt his lips tighten into a straight line, not looking very amused with the Champion.

"If you were sick, I'd have the decency to not poison you." And, as if to prove her wrong, carefully sipped whatever was in the paper cup. It was warm and almost burned his tongue, but that was easily ignored. He grimaced and pulled his head back. "What IS this?"

"Miso Soup. Sorry, they didn't have Chicken Noodle in stock." And she gave a light shrug. Of course, it wasn't her problem. She HAD a meal that she could stomach. He took another hesitant sip, and then a long gulp. The soup was too heavy and strong, but maybe that was because he had gone so long with little rations of food. It settled at the bottom of his stomach like a boulder. He snapped the lid back on. She looked up from her meal and frowned, except this frown wasn't directed at him. "I got some other stuff, if you think you could stomach it better."

"More take-out?" He sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

She gave another shrug. "I didn't think it'd be a big deal, was all I could get at this hour."

"My needs have been sated." She snorted at that, but it was the truth. He shook the container of soup, realizing that he had sipped down half of the contents. Lysandre frowned, tucking the soup back into the bag. "I don't understand why you brought so much back with you."

She wiped her mouth with her sleeve. It made him cringe. If she had done that at his Cafe, he wouldn't have hesitated to correct her. She would have listened to him then. It was too late to correct now, his complaints would fall on deaf ears.

Thankfully, she had enough manners to swallow before speaking. "Figured your pokemon might be hungry too."

"..." He gawked at her.

"...What?" Now she just looked surprised, maybe his disbelief disturbed her.

"You feed your Pokemon human food?" He ran a hand through his hair, and tried his best to ignore the shiver of disgust that went up his spine from feeling how slicked it was.

"...Well, yeah. Do you expect me to have them live off Poke Puffs? They need protein."

"Porter. I ran the factory that manufactured Poke Puffs. They have protein in them. They have fiber and countless other things as well, all designed to keep a pokemon healthy." He couldn't fucking believe it. The Champion of Kalos had a team of mooches. No wonder they loved her so dearly, she spoiled them rotten. If it wasn't for pokemon battles and training, he had no doubt that they would all be overweight and lazy. "Didn't your mother tell you to never feed pokemon scraps from the table?"

"...She told me the opposite."

He was rubbing his face in his hands in disbelief. "...My team is satisfied. They may not be sleeping with full stomachs every night, but what they eat is enough to sustain them."

She frowned and looked like she was ready to argue with him, but he raised a hand. "There isn't enough room in the cave for some of them, and we'd be better off waiting then letting some eat and letting the rest be aware of it. Wouldn't be proper." And maybe he was hesitant to let any of his pokemon out of their pokeballs. He wasn't sure how they would react to her presence. As deeply as he cared for his team, they weren't as obedient in comparison to Porter's. If they wanted to fight, he wasn't sure if he could stop it.

"You going to head to bed, then?" She tucked her hands into the pockets of her coat, and he wondered if this was when she'd take her leave. He gave a slow nod to her question.

"Well, I'll see you in the morning then." And...he was wrong, yet again. She stretched out her arms and yawned, looking like she was going to sleep on the hard ground rather then leave.

His face fell. "You're not staying the night."

"I flew all around Kalos to get you dinner, and it's subzero outside. Hell yes I'm staying here."

Had he been in better health, he would have stood up and forcefully kicked her out of the cave. That wasn't an option right now, so to his chagrin, she would have her way yet again. He can a dejected sigh and laid himself down on his mat, pulling the warm covers over him again.

"Good night Lysandre~"

...She was going to be the death of him.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Thanks to everybody for the follows and reviews, it's greatly appreciated!