FSE

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Zane had just enough time to brace himself as he waited for death to claim him. What came next was...

"ACHOO!"

A... sneeze?

Zane slowly peeked one eye open slowly. He saw the Seviper sniffle and coil into itself as it shivered harshly with its eyes tightly shut as if it was trying to get to sleep. The Zangoose was so caught off guard by this that he couldn't stop his confusion from being voiced.

"Umm..."

The Seviper heard this as its eyes peeked open and lifted up enough to spot the Zangoose staring at him. Immediately the Seviper let out a groan of discomfort.

"Oh, for Arceus' sake. I don't have time to be attacked by a Zangoose now of all times," The now obviously male Seviper whined in agony as he curled up even more into himself as if doing so would make Zane go away and leave him be.

"Don't you say that! You attacked me first!" Zane accused the fang snake Pokémon. The Seviper only looked up at him with his eyes with only an angry glare before verbally responding. "I just saw this human cabin after being lost in that storm and I thought fortune was smiling on me because, despite my lack of hands, I was going to be allowed entry here when I found the door left open. Little did I know a monster like you was already here."

He was taken aback by the Seviper's words. "Monster? I'm not the monster here! That would be you!"

The Seviper seemed to roll his eyes at Zane which further enraged the cat ferret Pokémon seeing this. "Oh please. I know how ruthless your species can be. I've been around long enough to know what your kind is capable of."

"Oh, like you're one to talk. I saw you and one of your buddies tear apart a poor Zigzagoon earlier today!"

He blinked at Zane, showing signs of bewilderment. "I did no such thing."

"Bullshit! I saw you!"

"Are you serious? Do all of us Seviper look the same to you? Well, granted I can say the same about you Zangoose. You all look the fucking same."

"Then are you saying you didn't eat that Zigzagoon?"

"No, of course not. You must have run into some of my colony members there."

Zane wasn't sure how to process this. On one hand, he was sure the bastard was lying through his fangs yet on the other hand he did notice the sincerity in his voice. He felt conflicted with how this exchange was happening beyond his expectations. And what did he mean by of course not? Our young Zangoose was puzzled by this as the Seviper turned his head away and rested it against the sofa cushion.

"Well? What are you waiting for?"

Zane shook his head. "H-Huh?"

"Don't mock me. If you're going to kill me then get it over with already." He growled at Zane.

Now Zane was really taken aback by that comment. "Wait, you want me to kill you?"

The Seviper let out an exasperated sigh. "Kids these days. I don't want to die but... I... ACHOO! It's just that I'm in no condition to resist. I was hoping to get warmed up and stop myself from dying from the storm freezing me to my core, but I know you Zangoose can't resist massacring my kind."

"Yeah? I could say the same about you! I bet this is all a ploy to let my guard down and once I get close enough, you strike and tear me apart! Sorry but I'm not stupid."

"Whatever. Believe what you want but I'm not sure I'll survive either way. Your fur can help keep you warm but I got nothing covering me up so if you don't kill me then my hypothermia will. So just do it and put me out of my misery. Add me to your kill count and let me rest in peace after death," With that said, the Seviper just laid on the sofa, shivering far worse than before. Zane could only sneer at his enemy before he slowly stepped up to the creature, extending his claws out as he lifted it high above his head.

"This is it! I'm finally gonna get my first Seviper kill! I'm going to finally prove my worth as future pack leader by taking out this monster. He's not even in a position to properly strike back against me. I guess he really is giving up. I'm going to get this kill easily!" Zane soon struck down but felt his claw meet resistance. He looked up expecting to see the Seviper's tail blocking his strike but found there was nothing there that stopped him. That's when it dawned on him. He stopped himself?!

Zane's thoughts flooded his mind at that moment. "What am I doing? What am I waiting for? Why am I not finishing this? Why am I not completing my own challenge right now? Was I... Was I hoping he would resist me? Was I believing he would actually fight back? Is it because of..."

Zane sighed as he pulled his claws away but quickly took notice of the Seviper staring up at him seeming flabbergasted by his actions but soon heard his weakened voice speak up to him. "Why aren't you killing me? What could you possibly be thinking, stopping your attack like that? Do you wish to prolong my suffering? To see me wither and despair as you make my death slow and painful instead of granting me a swift death?"

There was silence as the Zangoose was unable to give a response which only angered the Seviper more.

"ANSWER ME DAMMIT!"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

The fang snake Pokémon was silenced by those words as the cat ferret Pokémon looked conflicted, turning away from him.

"I... don't know."

The Seviper seemed to eye him suspiciously but just rested his head down against the couch. "Sure. Just kill me quickly when you do get around to it." With that the still shivering Seviper was trying to sleep as Zane sat down in front of the fireplace but heard the Seviper groan out to him.

"Would you please not block the fireplace? Unless that's your plan by taking all the heat for yourself as I freeze to death."

"Well, my fur's not dry yet either and I'm not taking my chances fighting you for the weird nest you're on."

"First of all, this is a sofa. Humans don't have nests. Secondly, there is a bedroom around here behind one of the doors where the humans sleep where you can warm yourself up using the bedsheets. The bed will be a bigger and softer version of the sofa."

Zane blinked at him. He was skeptical about trusting the Seviper's words, but he didn't really understand a few of them to begin with so he had no room for arguing. He picked himself up and began walking further into the cabin as he spotted a few doors before checking each one and soon finding the bed that the Seviper described.

Zane cautiously walked in and closed the door behind time. This time he looked back and pushed against the door to ensure it was fully closed this time. He turned his attention back to the log bed and felt the top of it. It was extremely soft and once he pounced up onto it, he could feel the warmth of it radiating from under the blankets.

"Huh. He was telling the truth. But how did he know this? Does he live with humans here?" Zane whispered to himself.

He shook his head, realizing that couldn't be it. He said there was a bedroom somewhere around here and not specifically where it would be. But that still doesn't explain why he knows these human words. Zane was too tired at this point to figure this out as he crawled up to the top of the bed and saw the edge of the blankets. He pulled them back and slid underneath them feeling the warmth consume him.

Never in his life has Zane felt so warm and comfortable. Not even when he slept with his father as a kid during the summer seasons. This was much more comfortable than the sofa.

"...But then why did that Seviper not just take this room himself? He knew a room like this was here and he could have taken it himself, but he told me. Maybe it's because he can't open these doors by himself." Zane whispered to himself.

He shook his head again, mocking himself for over-analyzing his situation with this Seviper again. It was just that he really couldn't help it. The behavior this Seviper was showcasing was extremely unlike the species in general from what he has seen and learned about them. Not even trying to kill Zane, let alone defend himself from a potential attack, to speaking somewhat civilly and knowing human terminology, and showing potential kindness by letting him know about the more comfortable and warmer room.

Something bugged him about that Seviper as he quickly got out of the warm bed and walked back to the door before opening it and peeking out. The fang snake Pokémon was still curled up into his coils and still shivering. Actually no, he was shaking even more than before. Zane quickly took notice that the light from the fire was much dimmer than before.

"It must be going out!" His thoughts in a panic.

He could surely get it lit up again like he did the first time but there's no guarantee the fire wouldn't just die out again later. But an idea popped into his head as he went back to the bed and grabbed the top, quilted blanket off of the bed and dragged it out into the hallway.

Zane struggled a bit with how heavy the blanket was but managed to get it over to the front of the sofa before he lifted it up. Then he stopped himself.

"Wait, why am I helping him? He's my enemy. It's because of Sevipers like him that my species has suffered and fought them for countless generations. I shouldn't be giving him a chance to survive. But then why did I not kill him earlier?"

Before he could think more on this, he heard a breathy sigh escape the sleeping Seviper and his eyes went wide at the reason why. He saw the blanket was now on him!

"When did I put that on him? I didn't even realize that I did!"

Panic settled into the Zangoose as he rushed away into the bedroom, he climbed into the bed and under the remaining sheets and blanket to force himself into unconsciousness. He didn't want to deal with these thoughts anymore tonight as the storm was heard pelting the windows. Exhaustion seemed to finally hit him enough at that point as he felt his mind finally give his body a break as he drifted off into his dreams.

Out in the living room however, the Seviper blinked weakly staring at the door that he saw the Zangoose disappear inside after he draped the blanket over his slender body. He slithered himself under the blanket more as he felt the warmth of the blanket slowly melt his chills away as a small smile crept its way onto his lips as he finally let his sleep consume him.

---

Zane had a quirk ever since he was a kid that when the sun was up, he was up. He couldn't really explain it. It felt like he knew when the sun would rise as a child and was there to greet it every morning. He felt great joy when this trait was still seen in his now prospering adulthood which he felt would greatly benefit the pack at the time but felt major grief when he woke up to the dreaded nightmare storm that nearly ended him, still raging as strong as ever.

He groaned as the realization of his situation that he was stuck in a human cabin with his sworn enemy mere yards away from him made his skin crawl under his lightly crusted fur. He felt his stomach rumble as hunger hit him like a charging Rampardos. Despite how Zane just wanted to avoid this Seviper, he knew if he wanted to keep living for his pack's and even more for his father's sake, then he needed to get up and pray to Arceus he can find food before the Seviper's inevitable attack on him.

Kicking the sheets off of him, Zane rolled out of the human bed and landed on his feet before standing up and stretching his limbs out. He felt his vertebrae cracking as he stretched his arms up and back as he let out a puff of air with each resounding crack. He shook himself out once he was done to loosen up his muscles again as he walked back to the door and poked his head out into the hallway.

He was yet again surprised by the sight of... nothing. The log sofa was empty. The Seviper and the blanket on him were both gone.

Zane felt the anxiety build up again as he crept out of the room, trying to see if he could spot the predator lurking anywhere. But after searching each room in every crevice he was sure the snake could safely hide in was checked, he realized he was really gone. But then that raised the question of why did he leave? He didn't look like he was in the best condition last night and the storm wasn't showing signs of dwindling down anytime soon.

Then yet another realization hit Zane. He had looked in every place when he was looking for where the Seviper could be, and it now registered that there was also no food anywhere he looked. He scrambled to locate any food in every other room and behind every other door he hadn't checked but his search was fruitless, ironically.

The Zangoose felt his heart overflow with worry, fearing he would have to brave the storm again just to try and find food out in the forest, but he had no way of even knowing if he would be able to find the cabin again if he left. As his mind raced on what needed to be done next, the doorknob to the front door began to jiggle loudly, startling him. Perplexed by this, Zane ran over to the door and grabbed the knob as he felt it wiggle in his grasp as he turned it and opened it.

The door propelled open and knocked Zane back and into the ground as he saw the Seviper rush inside, completely soaked as puddles of rainwater dripped off of him and the bundled-up blanket wedged between his fangs. His breathing was raspy and heavy, sounding like he was struggling to breathe.

"What the hell is this?! What mind game are you playing with me!?" Zane screamed at the Seviper as he was quick to slam the door closed.

The snake was trembling too harshly and the words that tried to leave his lips as he released the blanket were unintelligible and shaky. He was too cold to even speak. Zane let out a small snarl of annoyance as he grabbed onto the Seviper and dragged his limp body to the living room floor. "Dear Arceus, you're heavy!"

He pulled the Seviper in front of the fireplace and grabbed the matches and struck a new matchstick across the box and lit it. He threw it in the fireplace before running to the bedroom and grabbing the blanket off the bed and hurrying back to cover the snake up.

However, the Seviper's poison tail was suddenly thrust into his face, flat side facing him. He would normally react to this as an attack but due to the fact the bladed side of the tail was facing away from him, he knew this was nothing more than the Seviper stopping him from getting closer.

"What's the problem? I thought you didn't want to die. If you aren't wrapped up, you won't get warmer. So why are you stopping me?"

Zane eyed the tail, keeping on high alert as the shivering tail slowly passed his face and pointed to a door at the end of the hallway. It seemed he wanted him to go there. As frustrating as this Seviper was making him, Zane was quick to oblige as he ran and opened the door. Inside was a room that didn't give the same wild-like feeling as the rest of the log cabin did.

This room was pristine and shining white with unusual human devices inside with a small watering hole only big enough for small Pokémon to fit inside and a big hollowed out hole that could fit that Seviper inside. But he also noticed two rougher blankets hanging on the wall of this peculiar room. His claw ran over its funny texture and looked back at the Seviper who managed to nod at him despite his extreme shivers.

Zane grabbed one and ran over with it before covering the Seviper as much as he could, but he quickly saw it wasn't long enough and was barely wide enough to cover the snake's soaked body but that's when he saw the blanket was taking on a darker tone as the Seviper's tail tried to rub against the blanket. Wait no, he wasn't rubbing his tail against it. Zane realized his intention was to push the blanket along his body to soak up the rainwater and possibly warm himself up by rubbing his skin down as well.

With this knowledge, Zane stepped forward again and nudged the tail away with his claws to avoid being cut by it as he took the task upon himself and began rubbing the blanket into his enemy's body. He heard the Seviper sigh in relief and his body began to settle down as the strong muscles in the seemingly simple body of a Seviper began to relax.

Zane was somehow not surprised by the number of muscles he felt were built into the Seviper as he knew they were strong enough to hold their own in battles against his species who had more limbs than they did but yet he didn't realize exactly what all those muscles would feel like under his paw. It was just like feeling the muscles of other Zangoose but more concentrated in more areas all throughout his body than the body of a typical Zangoose.

"I d-didn't know you Zangoose knew how to massage with those strong paws of yours-s."

Zane stopped as he looked up at the Seviper, smirking at him as he looked back down and realized he had been rubbing his enemy down more than enough to dry him off as he jerked his paws away and blushed in embarrassment as the Seviper chuckled at him.

"Thank you f-for the towel but that fire won't stay alive with the burnt wood in the fireplace. Grab some of the dry firewood next to it on the left and lit another matchstick."

Zane looked at him in surprise saying more human-sounding terms before he noticed the fang snake was right. The fire was hardly burning anymore so he quickly rushed to the new wood and grabbed a few planks before carelessly chucking them in before reaching for the matchbox but was quickly stopped.

"Don't th-throw the wood in like that! Stack it up neatly or the fire w-won't be able to breathe and burn properly-ly."

The young Zangoose was annoyed by his demands, but he seemed to know what he was talking about, so he went in and began stacking the wood as the Seviper guided him. Once he had it stacked up to the Seviper's standards, he took the matchbox once again and struck another matchstick against the box to ignite it before he lit the fresh firewood.

Soon the fire began to rage to life once more as the Seviper threw the damp towel off of himself and tried to place the dry and cozy blanket from earlier onto his body. But after a few failed attempts to do so, Zane rolled his eyes before he took the task upon himself and draped the blanket to cover the Seviper as he coiled in on himself and smiled.

"I... appreciate the help."

"Yeah? Well don't expect me to keep this pampering up for much longer. You are still my mortal enemy, and I will kill you."

The Seviper's eye perked up with an intrigued motion. "Is that so? Then pray tell, why did you not just kill me right now? Or better yet why not just let me die from the cold? If you just ignored me, I surely would have died from hypothermia."

Zane was unresponsive for a moment earning another look of interest. After a swift break of silence, the Zangoose broke it. "I only did it because I need to kill you at your full strength. It is dishonorable to kill someone who's not at their best. To kill someone in a weaker state is very low and shameful even if they are an enemy to your very existence."

"Is that so? Why do you need to kill me at my best, exactly?" The Seviper interrogated him, intrigued by this Zangoose's motivations as of late.

"Because I'm going to bring back my first kill to solidify my placement as future leader of my pack and I need to kill you at your full strength in order to show my pack I am strong enough to lead them."

"But why not kill me now and make that task easier? It would be simple to out me now and just claim you easily won that battle. You'd have no one to dispute you."

"To lie to my pack would not only be immoral but to have to lie to myself to keep up a false truth would be damaging to my heart even more."

Zane noticed the Seviper looked shocked by his words. "That was an... unexpected response. But I certainly am not complaining since you're allowing me to live, even if only for a bit longer."

"Yeah, but you nearly ruined that for me by going back out into that storm! Why did you even do something so asinine? If you died out there, I would have lost my best chance at killing you myself!"

"I figured neither of us wanted to starve to death while we're trapped in here, so I volunteered myself to resupply ourselves with enough food for a few days, just in case this storm goes on for much longer. It's bundled up in the blanket you lent me."

Zane glared at the Seviper as he felt heat pool into his ears. "Whatever poor Pokémon or Pokémon eggs you poached while out there is sickening and I will not take part in eating that. Unlike you Sevipers, we Zangoose have standards."

"Oh, for Arceus' sake, would you just look!" The Seviper seemed irritated as he shouted at Zane.

Zane didn't like the tone of the Seviper but he obliged him and cautiously approached the wrapped blanket as he slowly peeled layers open, expecting a very nauseating sight. But then the familiar aroma filled his head, and he opened his eyes to see a plethora of berries and vegetables strewn about inside. He looked at the Seviper in surprise.

"Where's your food?" Zane asked, puzzled by the food presented to him.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me! Where's your meat? The food you eat? You seriously don't expect me to believe you risked your life to just get all this food for only me!"

"No, of course not. The food is for both of us."

"Stop lying! What heartless carnivore eats berries?!"

"I do!"

Zane glared at him with clear suspicion as the Seviper huffed.

"Fine, don't believe me. All you judgmental Zangoose are the same."

"Excuse you. You have some guts to try and call me out!"

"I can see that all you've been doing is judging me from the moment we met! I'm not wrong and you know it!"

Zane felt his anger spike up as he went to retaliate against his words but found himself unable to.

"Heh. That's what I thought. Can't even defend yourself when you're caught."

"Shut it, you old Seviper!"

"There you go judging me again."

"Am I wrong?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. I'm only twenty-eight. Yet, I think it's now fair for me to judge you and assume you're fourteen based on how childish you're acting."

"I am not!" Zane shot back, insulted. "I happen to have turned eighteen a while ago."

"See? Doesn't it hurt being judged before you get to know someone?"

"You're my enemy! Why would I want to get to know you?"

The Seviper shook his head. "How would I know? You never know what development might take place from learning more about your enemy. I believe there's a tactical brain inside that head of yours. I can tell you're brighter than most Zangoose I've encountered with your motives for keeping me alive and not lying to your pack by killing me when I am unable to defend myself as easy glory.

You might be able to learn some insights on how a Seviper thinks and acts on the battlefield. What tactics we may deploy while fighting your kind or perhaps learn about a future attack that may or may not be planned against your pack. How will you know if you don't try?"

As much as he wanted to off this Seviper now, he did have some valid points. He hated to admit it but if there were such things he could learn, it would prove to be a major boon in his favor when he becomes pack leader. Even if it felt like the Seviper was setting him up by mentioning a possible attack on his pack, he shouldn't let such an opportune moment go to waste. Not when he has the time to do so due to the storm keeping him trapped in the cabin and the Seviper needing time to recover and get his strength back. Zane folded his arms as he looked at the snake.

"Fine then, Seviper. Let's talk."

"Glad you see the light in this scenario. But it is customary to call one's you've met by name, as to make future conversations civil."

"Then tell me."

"You should tell me first."

Zane deadpanned at the Seviper. "Are you really going to do this?"

He just smiled and shrugged his back since he had no shoulders to do so making Zane sigh out.

"It's Zane."

The Seviper then began to giggle quietly. "Not a very creative name for a Zangoose."

"Are you trying to start something here by insulting me?"

"It's just ironic since I was also born with an unoriginal name myself. I find the irony of it humorous. I'm Severus."

Zane felt his lips quiver into a small smile and a small chuckle escaped him unintentionally. "Wow. That is ironic."

"Told you," Severus began laughing more as Zane sealed his lips tightly and looked away. He didn't want to give Severus the idea they are now buddy-buddy by laughing with him.

"Now before we start conversing, I think it's in our best interest to eat before we starve. Mind bringing me a few oran berries and one rawst and one tamato berry please."

Zane was once again surprised to hear a request like that. He wouldn't have thought a flesh-eating creature like him would know what berries to ask for. Then again it is common knowledge what oran berries are capable of, yet he was skeptical when he asked for a tamato berry or even the rawst.

"Are you sure about that? I get why you would want oran berries, but you do realize tomato berries are..."

"Oh please, stop pestering me and just give me them."

Zane grimaced as he grabbed the requested berries and placed them in front of Severus. He saw the forked tongue lick the air, smelling the berries as the snake let out a soothed moan.

"The smell of oran berries is so sweet. The scent alone is always a nice way to relax my nerves and calm me down. I can just lie here and smell them for hours if I could," Severus confessed with his eyes closed as he was enveloped with the scent.

This surprised Zane as he remembered many times in the past when he was upset how he would sneak off to the pack's berry supply and smell the oran berries himself due to Zander's bullying and daily stress he felt from the pressure of others for what was expected of him.

Zane didn't even realize he spoke as he whispered, "I do too."

Severus looked at Zane and smiled. "Really? Who would've thought we'd share a common interest."

"Yeah... I never would have thought that," Zane thought as he eyed Severus eat one of the oran berries in one swallow before he turned his attention and began reaching for a tamato berry.

"Hey, wait! You should really know that berry..." But before Zane could say more, he saw Severus just glare at him with the tamato berry halfway in his mouth. His eyes alone told him to knock it off and let him eat in peace.

Zane shrugged as he filed his arms and looked away in a huff. "Whatever but don't cry when I tried to warn you."

Severus stuffed the tamato berry the rest of the way into his mouth and swallowed it down before he instantly began panting as his eyes began to water as the heat of the tamato began to hit him.

"See? I tried to tell you but..." Once again Zane was cut off as he saw Severus immediately swallow the rawst berry down and then an extremely satisfied grin slowly builds on the Seviper's face.

"Hot damn! I'm so happy I found those berry's bushes when I did. I almost gave up hope of finding them both!"

Zane blinked in confusion. "Wait... you intentionally went out of your way to find tamato berries, knowing how spicy they are?"

"Of course! Tamato and rawst berries are my favorite combination of all time!" The eyes of Severus seemed to sparkle as he began speaking. "The raw spice and power from the tamato berry igniting the taste buds for a fiery flavor then doused by the cooling and fruity juices of the rawst berry to create a relaxation for the overloaded senses to enjoy the instant sensation of the spicy and tangy flavors mixing together in one setting! It's simply divine to experience these wondrous sensations!"

Zane was slack-jaw at this raving Severus was on. It seemed he truly did enjoy berries as much as he claimed. The way his eyes dazzled as he went on about the different flavors as he spoke like a true connoisseur made Zane doubt his earlier skepticism about his intentions.

"Have you tried it yourself?"

"N-No. I don't usually eat multiple berries at once. I like to finish one before I go to the next. Besides, I don't really like tamato berries. They're too spicy for me." Zane looked a bit ashamed as his ears drooped and he rubbed his arm with his paw.

"Oh, you must try this! I promise you won't regret it!"

"I'm not sure about this. I can't exactly swallow it whole like you."

"That's why I'm jealous of Pokémon like you! You can enjoy the taste much longer than I ever get to! I don't have the luxury to eat berries slowly and savor the taste since my only teeth are my two giant fangs. Trust me! You will love tamato berries after this!"

Zane groaned as he looked back at the pile of food as he saw the pleading eyes of his supposed enemy and he felt himself cave as he trudged over and grabbed a tamato and rawst berry in each paw before coming back to the floor and sitting down a small distance from Severus, pouting as he stared blankly at the tamato in hand.

He glanced over at Severus who watched him expectantly, waiting for him to take a bite. Zane quickly gave in, both the anticipation of the Seviper waiting and the obvious hunger he felt himself from not eating yet, as he took a decent bite out of the red berry with his eyes clenched shut.

His eyes popped out of his head as the red pattern on his fur overwhelmed the white as it all vanished under the growing red before a steam whistle sounded and steam shot out of his ears as he began crying and heaving from the insane heat!

"The rawst berry, you buffoon! Eat the rawst berry!" Severus yelled at him.

Zane dropped the tamato berry and held the rawst berry in both paws before slamming his mouth down into the blue berry and taking a big chunk out and chewed it down. That's when it hit Zane! The sensations of the hot and cold swirling in his mouth as the cooling rawst extinguished the heat of the spicy tamato but the lasting flavors of both berries gave him a sensation he'd never felt before! The furriness he felt lingering on his tongue and the way his jaw tingles in the aftermath made a smile so joyously pure and real quickly overtake his features.

Severus smirked at him. "I told you. I knew even someone like you would understand. How about this time you try taking a bite from both berries at once? Having both flavors at once may make that special taste begin and last longer. I prefer eating them one at a time but from what I've tried, having both at the same time can yield some fantastic results and I'm willing to bet it will work better for you since you can't eat berries whole."

Zane liked the idea as he picked up the tamato berry off the ground, brushed it against his fur to clean off the dust and dirt that may have gotten on it, and lifted both berries up before biting down on both.

Sure enough, the new and overwhelming flavor of the two berries mixing together as he chewed made him moan out in delight.

He then heard more chuckling coming from Severus as he looked over, his mouth still full. He questioned the Seviper with a raised, inquisitive eyebrow.

"I'm sorry. It's just... you look like a Skwovet with your cheeks puffed out with those berries stuffed in your mouth!" Severus began laughing harder as he rolled around under the blanket, unable to stop his uncontrollable laughter.

Zane felt his cheeks heat up as he swallowed his food and he looked away embarrassed, hiding his shame from Severus. He couldn't let his worst enemy see him like that.

The Seviper noticed this however as he felt bad for laughing at him as he lifted his head off the ground.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset with that comparison. I just can't help but speak my mind when I see something I find cute." He confessed which made Zane tense up.

"C-Cute?"

"I mean sure. I'm not ashamed to call things out as I see them. You may be my enemy and want to kill me but I'm not gonna deny how cute you looked."

Zane was really taken aback by this statement as his face flushed even worse than before and his pulse accelerated at being called cute.

"I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable," apologized Severus.

Zane responded with his back now fully facing him. "Let's just keep eating for now. We can talk more later."

Severus looked down in disappointment at himself because he believed he made the Zangoose upset as he ate another oran berry whole. That was far from the truth as Zane had only done so to keep his blushing face out of sight of the Seviper. He felt no resentment towards Severus at all. In fact, he may have felt more flattered which was the last thing he was expecting.

He knew what he liked as a child as he was taught about the many different relationships that were seen in the pack. Yet despite the male couples he saw and all the same aged Zangoose who showed interest in other males growing up, he felt none of those males really ever looked his way or complimented him in such ways. Well, none other besides his father but that was just to make him feel appreciated and not really a thing he could be flattered about. But he felt those Butterfree flutter in his stomach at the very thought as he recalled how Severus called him cute. Both Pokémon continued to eat in silence as their thoughts weighed heavily on both of the cabin occupant's minds.