FSE

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Brooke pushed a shopping cart down an aisle of boxed goods one Wednesday evening while Luma sat in its top seat with a pink and white fake flower tied around her ear. She was shopping for a couple of items her parents needed and was taking her sweet time since every checkout lane up front was backed up. She swore everyone in Malie moved like a slakoth. "What else? We got the spearow breasts, mago berry juice, tamato seasoning..."

Brooke stopped the cart beside cartons of freeze-dried ice cream and pulled off to the side so other shoppers could pass. She took out her phone to consult her parents' list.

She was at the biggest market in Malie: Lilo's, which was roughly a ten-minute walk from her house. It was a decent setting with bright lighting and an average layout.

Luma had been busy looking at all the different food items in stock, people placing things in their carts and baskets, and employees stocking shelves or helping customers while Brooke pushed her around. Some adults had kids or small pokémon sitting like she was in the fronts of carts.

"Oh, just some seasonings and cereal, then we're done." Brooke put her phone back in her pocket and grinned at Luma. "And a carton of berries to hold you off for the night."

"Vul." Luma swished her tails.

"...Maybe two. I know you've been eating more lately. Downed two malasadas when I took you to Hau'oli last week." Brooke steered around a few other shoppers and stopped at a stand holding various berry cartons. "Uh... I'll point, and you make a cute noise when I'm on one you want like last time."

Luma watched Brooke's finger hover over the cartons. She passed rabuta, babiri, passho—"pi pix!" Luma stopped her at magost berries and raised a paw. They were pink, tangy sweet ones.

"That's one." Brooke grabbed and set it in the cart.

---

"What, you want me to sleep there tonight?" Brooke had the phone pressed to her ear and against her shoulder while putting on black pants to match her tight button-up aproned shirt with 'High Roller' above her right breast in red cursive, then slipped into black work sneakers.

Luma sat on the bed, meanwhile, eating at her carton of micle berries.

"I mean, sure, but no sex. I'm gonna be sleepy." Brooke had almost fallen asleep the last time he tried. "Let me hang up, Parker. I'll see you at twelve. Love you." She slipped her phone into her pocket and patted Luma's head.

She looked up at Brooke with a full mouth and puffed cheeks. "Vpm."

"Try to make those last, Lulu. Mom or Dad'll come check on you in a bit and give you the other." Brooke leaned over and scratched her neck, ensuring her bowl of water on the floor was full, then turned on the TV to a designated channel that ran endless poképrograms, which Brooke had introduced Luma to a couple of weeks ago.

She left the remote on the bed, headed downstairs, out the door into a lukewarm climate. She would arrive before six but still found herself pacing down the sidewalk to the High Roller, which was only ten minutes away. Her manager wasn't that strict, either, and Brooke had never gotten on his bad side, so she could probably get away with being late sometimes. It'd be dumb to do unless she had an emergency, though; she would save it for then.

After waiting tables for over a year now, Brooke had thought about applying for full-time. She and Parker had been discussing the idea of her moving in with him, and she would need to make more money if that were the case.

She was ready to move and start anew with Parker outside of Malie.

Brooke soon arrived at the High Roller's doors and entered, looking at a full house teeming with customers—entire families, standing in the waiting area for available seating while servers bustled about with orders and trays. Most were humans, but a gardevoir and a cinderace were on the team as servers as well, both in the company shirt, apron, and shorts.

"Ayh... Tonight's gonna be a long one," Brooke said. She went to the back where the bustling kitchen was and checked in on a labeled paper atop a counter with a pen, then pulled open a drawer beneath to grab a notepad and pen.

Shouts, fast-paced buzzing, and clanking kitchenware filled the steamy air full of delicious scents while employees manned stations, chefs cooked meals at grills; other workers prepared finished dishes on silver counters in to-go bags or presented them neatly on plates, then set them on a metal counter in rows under numbered tickets that servers took.

Brooke didn't have much to do before her shift started. She sometimes helped clean the kitchen or did other tasks to pass the time, but it was so busy that no one was stopping.

"Yo, Paloke. Brah, you wanna take my shift ten minutes early?"

She turned while slipping the notepad into her pocket and clipping the pen on her pants. "What now? And I'm not your brah." She rolled her eyes. It was a co-worker with a small bowl of ice cream in hand. He was her age with shoulder-length black hair.

He sighed, ending with a grumble. "Have to go give some kid free ice cream and sing Happy Birthday. Don't get paid enough for it, and I wanna go home."

Brooke sucked her teeth. "Ah, go make their night, Kai. It only comes once a year." She heard him mumble while walking into the restaurant.

---

"And you wanted the dessert to go, ma'am?" Brooke stood before the table of one of two customers still dining ten minutes before closing time. This one was an older woman with gray hair from Hoenn who frequented the High Roller.

Brooke wanted to sit desperately, having been walking back and forth from table to kitchen for hours while putting on a smile and cheeriness she couldn't fade.

"Yes, dear, and I'll be out the door quick." She wore a warm grin.

"No worries. I'll have it and the check out for you shortly." Brooke walked to the kitchen to input the last order of the night, then went to the other side of the restaurant to the register behind a counter and prepared the check on a screen.

Employees were in the kitchen scrubbing dishes and organizing the kitchen. Most servers had clocked out, but a few lingered around and talked, including the gardevoir and cinderace, who currently pushed chairs in under tables and took extra ones from other tables to return them to their original places.

"You look ready to pass out, Palokey."

Brooke looked up, saw Kai, and promptly set her eyes back on the screen to continue calculating the order.

He withheld a chuckle that came out as air through his nose. "It's because I said Brookey, isn't it?"

She shook her head. He'd learned Brookey from Parker and had never let it go. "You'll mature one of these days, Kai. I promise." She passed him briskly after printing the check a minute or so later and slipping it in a folder with a pen, approaching the woman and glancing at the to-go box on the table. "Here you go, ma'am."

"Mahalo." The woman took the folder and opened it, putting on a pair of reading glasses. "Someone else brought the dessert, dear."

"I'm sorry. I was–"

"It's no problem. You always provide great service."

That made Brooke smile. "I appreciate that, and no problem."

After the woman paid and left, Brooke grabbed her to-go bag of sushi she'd ordered and clocked out, signing the line. She spotted Zae sweeping around the restaurant and cleaning tables by the entrance with his tail drooping. He wore shorts.

She looked around and noticed only a couple of other employees talking or cleaning the kitchen before one would have to close for the night. Brooke strolled toward the exit but stopped by the worn-out lucario.

"What's up, Zae?" Brooke said. Zae worked evening shifts and took the pay back to his human family a few blocks down. They weren't here legally but were given jobs and treated as if they were locals.

"Luc." Zae looked up and nodded slightly at the woman before him.

Brooke was the only employee here who went out of her way to interact with the lucario besides Kai, and that was only when he had jokes or gossiped about other employees or customers.

"Don't you get tired? I mean, you're here every single night for hours..." Brooke didn't even know how much Zae got paid. It couldn't be as much as a human would make.

Zae took a breath but shook his head.

"Hm." Brooke could see the fatigue in his eyes. "I know they're proud." She placed a hand on his arm, running her fingers over his thick fur. "I am too." She eyed him.

Zae glanced at her hand, then back up to her with his head slightly tilted.

"See you..." She gave a coy half-smile and let her hand slip while turning away. Moments later, she was out the doors and heading home.

"Sweaty and exhausted..." Brooke would grab Luma and head to Parker's house to shower. At least the night had ended on a good note, with the woman tipping Brooke a few thousand pokédollars.

She looked around upon hearing loud voices before realizing it was laughter from a couple of guys walking by. She felt secure on foot alone in Malie at night. She had yet to have fallen into an unfavorable situation.

Brooke had considered buying something to defend herself several times but never got around to researching effective non-lethal options. She'd take it more seriously if she were back in Akala, but it was mellow at all hours here. If one committed a crime, they wouldn't get away with it and become a pariah easily as with past crimes.

No one was outside besides groups hanging around stores or bars and some individuals strolling the empty streets, along with Spot! cars driving around and taking rides. The people were either retirees or people who had gotten off a night shift themselves.

She also saw pokémon who came out at night to be a nuisance, like mankey climbing buildings and pancham trying to get into locked storefronts.

Brooke stuffed her hands in her pockets and sighed, seeing her residence ahead. She only had to work one more time this week, which was Friday, then the weekend awaited.

After strolling for another five minutes, she approached her door, pulled out the key, opened it, and entered a dark and restful environment. She shut her eyes, slacked her shoulders, and could collapse where she stood. It encompassed and caressed her, but she still had to walk up the stairs. The will to do so rested in the fact that her bed awaited her.

Brooke grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen and dragged up the steps, pushing her door open after reaching it. She turned the fan option on her portable heater and sighed again, glancing at Luma's empty bowls. "Hey, Luma."

"Vip!" She paused her present excitement, then sat up on the bed while shuffling her paws.

"You stayed up all night again binging pokéshows, huh? Brought you sushi." Brooke set the bag on the bed. "Let me change real quick."

Luma had her eyes fixed on the bag, walking over to sniff it. She waited while Brooke washed in the restroom and threw on comfy shorts and a tee.

Luma sat on the bed and watched the end of a tour of a history museum in Galar. It showed a clip of paleontologists sitting at desks, dusting off and separating pieces of fossilized pokémon from dirt behind a glass that observers watched from.

Brooke tugged her tee so it fit well and looked at the TV program, tilting her head for a moment with confusion spelled on her face. She looked at the remote on the bed. "Did you change the channel or something?" She slumped onto the bed beside Luma and lay back, setting the bottle aside.

"Ugh." Brooke's lower back and calves held slight soreness. "Ughh." One would think her body would be used to walking and carrying platters and drinks all night on top of her now lacking fitness routine, although it wasn't nearly as tiring when compared to her first few months on the job. To be fair, tonight was busier than usual.

Brooke sat up after a minute and scratched Luma's back, taking a few sips of her water. "We're gonna go to Parker's after you eat to spend the night." And they'd have to leave soon before Brooke passed out in bed.

Luma perked and swished her tails.

---

They were out walking to his place within thirty minutes since Luma had eaten faster than usual. Brooke had on her parka. "Kind of cold out, huh? Bet you love it."

Luma looked around, having to squint to make out anything a block away in poor lighting. "Vul?" She spotted a familiar pokémon, which was a light blue blur at the moment.

"Ugh." It was some wild glaceon who lived on the streets of Malie; Luma had befriended her a couple of weeks ago after straying off from Brooke while she was talking with a friend. "You can say hi..." Brooke set her down and watched Luma trot beside her, padding along.

Luma saw the glaceon sit while waiting on the sidewalk ahead by a closed market, approaching in under a minute. "Vulpix!" She grinned, stopping before her.

"Glace. Gl ceon?" She greeted and asked why Luma was out so late, then glanced at Brooke, who stood at a distance.

"Vul. Vlpi px." Luma tilted her head down the road and swished her tails. She'd said they were going to her other home.

The glaceon nodded. "Glacey. Glaceon." She stood and stepped back, looking at Brooke.

Brooke let Luma say goodbye before picking her up again. "Thank you. Night," she told the glaceon while walking off. Brooke wondered if it had an owner or something. That glaceon didn't seem to act as a wild one would.

They arrived within the next five minutes and got settled. Brooke currently showered to wash away work-related steam while Parker was in the bedroom and Luma was in the living room with Pyro.

They were on the couch while the creepy lycan was grooming himself on the carpet by the kitchen. They'd discussed her life before Parker and Brooke, along with food.

“Vulpi pi, vulpix.” Luma told him about her parents and a few experiences in the wild, including an incident when she'd gotten separated from them for a whole scary day and had to hide in bushes from predatory pokémon.

Luma had also gone over the many kinds of sushi she’d had since living with Brooke, stopping briefly only to ask Pyro if he liked each type.

He'd listened and answered while keeping a grin the entire time.

“Torra torrcat.” Pyro said he enjoyed sushi, but not nearly as much. "Cat." He then stated he preferred PokéChow.

"Vulpix?" She wore a puzzled enough expression that it appeared as if he'd offended her.

Meanwhile, Brooke had just gotten out of the shower and dried off, slipping on one of Parker's shirts and one of several panties she kept at his place for times like this. "I feel muchh better," she said while exiting the restroom and tossing her phone onto the bed.

"Glad to hear. You looked dead when you got here," Parker replied. He was also in a tee but wore pajama pants.

Brooke sat on the bed and crawled to him at the center where he was sitting. "Whatcha got?" She saw a glass of dark blue liquid in his hand.

He took a sip. "Wine. Want some?"

Brooke lay down and rested her cheek on his leg. She figured. "Need, but not oran. I don't know why you insist on getting sour ass wine all the time." She stretched her legs.

Parker chuckled and reached to set it on the nightstand, then ran his hand over her head and sifted his fingers through her hair. "I can get you something sweeter from the kitchen. Chill out."

"Nah." She pulled herself up into his lap more, turning onto her stomach and resting her chest on his leg. "I just wanna wind down," she mumbled, barely opening her mouth to speak.

Parker rubbed her back with both hands. "'Nother rough night?"

She closed her eyes and groaned under her breath as he pressed his digits into her back. "Mh, not really," she drawled. "I mean, it was busy almost the whole night, but it flowed—besides this one guy who got pissed at me because someone forgot his sauce."

Parker also tended to her shoulders, squeezing them. "This one guy?"

"'Ae… I wasn't even assigned to his table. I don't think he was from Malie. Forgot everything about him." Brooke got sleepier by the minute, and the massage sped up the process. "I guess I've been more tired recently."

"From what, babe? Ever thought of asking for a day or two off?"

Brooke slowly sat up and rubbed her tired eyes. "I don't wanna sit around, and I want to keep adding to my savings... I'll feel better after Friday."

He pulled his hands away. "But you know your health is more important, right?"

"It's not that serious." She grinned. "Now turn off the light and snuggle me to sleep."