FicWad

Hey guys, I'm back with another chapter! Once again, thanks for the feedback so far, it means a lot. I hope you guys enjoy this one./]

White sighs in contempt, stretching her arms high above her head as the wind gently billows her new jean skirt. "It's so nice outside. It's so great to be back out again."

N nods in agreement, taking in a deep breath of the fresh afternoon air with a small smile. Steven also chuckles, who was also seemingly uplifted by being able to travel again.

After N's injury and White's blood loss, they had ended up booking the hotel room for a handful of days in order to let the pair rest and heal up. Although they all greatly appreciated the rest, it was making them all a bit stir crazy. They were glad to be back to traveling again, healed up, healthy, and ready to go.

The trio continue along the route, noting that it was beginning to become a bit more chilly as they were traveling farther up in the region. They were definitely growing closer to their destination, Snowpoint city. The name definitely suited the city. If they were this far away and already getting a bit cold, who knew what lays in store for them once they actually reach the city.

White definitely notices the cold airs more than Steven and N, since she was still dressed in her jean skirt and off the shoulder black tee that she had bought back in Jubilife city with N.

As the wind continues to blow upon her, it begins to lightly lift up her skirt, and she quickly pats it down in frustration.

[/Damn skirts, I really wanted another pair of jean shorts. But I just couldn't say no to the sale…

N and Steven notice by now that the petite girl was shaking from the cold winds. At the same time, both men shrug off their outer layers to hand to the girl. N takes off his white button up, leaving on his black sweater. Steven takes off his suit jacket while leaving on his white shirt. "Here." They both say in unison to the shivering girl, but look at each other with a glare as they realize that their intentions to White were the same.

"You should take mine, White. It's made of nice soft cotton!" N says as he brings his white button up shirt closer to her. N really didn't want White to wear Steven's shirt. He wanted White to snuggle and become warmed by his clothing, and although he didn't want to admit it, he wanted his shirt to smell like her later…

"He's a fool, White. Take mine instead. It's made of much thicker material and will keep you much warmer than his shirt ever would," Steven flashes a victorious grin to N, and he glares back.

White looks between the two shirts with the expression of someone who was being overwhelmed. She shakes her head, lightly pushing the shirts back towards the two men. "Really, don't worry about me. I don't need them..." She shivers again, and the guys push their shirts back towards her, making it clear that they weren't going to give up.

White sighs, a small smile making its way upon her lips as she gives in. "Alright fine… Thanks, both of you." She takes both of the shirts and shrugs them over her shoulders. Since both the clothing articles were much too large on her and went nearly to her knees, she looked like an oversized teddy bear.

They continue their trek ahead, and Steven and N find themselves staring at White. They both thought she looked so adorable in their clothing.

Though I'd definitely prefer if she were wearing only mine and not his too. They both think in unison as they both look at each other again in annoyance.

Suddenly, Steven's xtransceiver rings loud and clear from his back pocket. Steven raises an eyebrow, confused as to why someone would be calling him at the current moment. He pulls it out and answers it. N and White watch in curiosity as the video feed loads in on the device, revealing an older looking man on the other end of the screen.

"Steven! How have you been, son? How is the Sinnoh region?" The older man exclaims in joy, looking extremely happy to be talking to Steven.

Steven rolls his eyes, but keeps on a smile. "It's fine Dad so, what's up?"

Steven's so called father seems to have noticed N and White peering over Steven's shoulder from the video feed. The old man's eyes light up in excitement. "Steven! You brought along some friends? I never see you with friends!"

Steven looks away, blushing furiously as he evades the whole no friends statement. "Yea, they're traveling with me for now. Anyways, why'd you call?" He seems to be desperately attempting to steer the conversation away from the whole no friends deal.

His father seems to be completely oblivious to his son's embarrassment. "It's so rare to see you with friends! I thought you'd be a loner forever with your weird obsession with rocks! Haha!" Steven blushes deeply as his father laughs hysterically. He calms down after a few moments. "Anyways, Steven, since you have some friends with you, would you like to take them shopping at my company? I have a building nearby. You can all spend to your hearts content, it will go on my bill. After all, you should always treat your friends."

White's jaw drops at the mention of him owning a company. What surprised her even more was that this man was so casually offering to spend so much money on some strangers Steven had just met. It all seemed a bit strange to her, but she didn't question it.

Steven turns around to face White and N, his face still a bit flushed from earlier. "So, how about it, guys? Would you like to take a little shopping trip to my dad's store? We can probably buy some winter supplies there for the route to Snowpoint city."

White nods eagerly, and N just goes along with it.

Later…

The pair step into the grand store owned by the Stone family. The exterior had already surprised N and White enough, it seemed modeled after a Greek palace, with intricate columns holding it up. After they went inside, they were surprised by the massive size of the store as well as the amount of items it had. The store seemed to have millions of fancy shelves filled with everything and anything you could ever want or need.

White's eyes light up as she sees all the various things in the store, but particularly at all the traveling gear. She always was in need of a nice new backpack for traveling through the regions, since her current one was falling apart, She decided she would use Steven's father's kind hospitality to buy some new gear. She heads right over to the outdoors section as N is still staring around in wonder.

They said pick anything I want… But there's nothing I really truly want, other than White…

N looks down at the fancy marble flooring, wondering about what he could possibly ever want other than White's affection. He ends up looking lazily through random rows of clothing as he finds himself thinking of White again.

Meanwhile, Steven is also looking around the large store. Currently he was looking for something to pick out that White might like. He wanted to impress her and make her happy. After browsing through the gigantic store for a while, he looks around to see what White was doing. He sees her a few aisles away, looking quite frustrated as she walks back and forth in the outdoors section.

Steven walks closer, wondering what she was looking around so desperately for. As he grows nearer, he hears her mumble under her breath, "Where do they keep the damn backpacks?"

He chuckles lightly at her cute frustration. Little did she know, the backpacks were located a few aisles away from the one she has been pacing back and forth in. Steven continues to laugh under his breath as he heads over to the backpack aisle, deciding that he would help White out by surprising her and finding her a nice backpack.

He scans through the aisle, eventually picking out a cute pink backpack which has many cute Eevee designs across it. He noticed that it matched her Eevee themed tee shirt she always wore, and he thought she would quite enjoy it.

He heads back over to White, and sees she is still looking around, but it seems she still had not found any backpacks. Steven taps her on the shoulder gently from behind, gaining her attention as she turns around. Meanwhile, N notices from farther down the store that Steven and White appeared to be talking.

"I heard you say you were looking for a backpack, White. I thought you might like this one." With a slight blush to his cheeks, Steven hands the pink backpack with the Eevees on it over to White.

Her eyes glimmer in excitement as she takes in the adorable designs of the backpack. From the other end of the hall, N walks closer to them, wondering what they were talking about. White continues to look at the backpack. Upon further inspection, she realized it was a large backpack which had many compartments in it which would be useful for her while traveling. She looks up at Steven with a big smile. "Thank you for finding this! It was exactly what I was looking for! You always know just what I need, Steven."

A dull pain throbs in N's heart at White's loud declaration. He wished he had found something that White would like, too. Currently N felt like Steven was outshining him in every way.

He's rich, he's from a nice family, he is a former champion, he wears a suit, and he seems to be a gentleman who always knows what to say to girls to make them happy… He is so much better than me… White says she won't go to him, but why would she not? He has everything I have, plus more. He could provide for her so much better than I ever could.

Steven pats White on the head with a big grin, and N growls under his breath, not liking when he did that. N thought that the head pats were a little intimate gesture that was shared between him and White, but Steven didn't seem to think so. "You're welcome, White." Steven says, still smiling down at her. He notices N's approach, taking in his jealous expression. He directs a little victorious smirk in his direction before going back to talking to White.

That… That bastard! He always looks so confident and sure of himself, it makes me angry… N clenches his fists together tightly in frustration. He wanted to make White happy as well, and he definitely didn't want Steven to outshine him and steal White away.

N steels his resolve, deciding he would find something in the store that White would really wanted to make her smile more than Steven ever did, and he wanted to see her eyes lighten in excitement for something he did.

He begins to think deeply as to what he could get White that would really make her happy. His mind begins to trail back to the time back in Jubilife city when she had gotten him the Zorua plush. He vividly remembered when she gave it to him, since it was the first time someone ever gave him a gift. He remembered how his heart swelled with joy and he had felt like he was soaring through the clouds. He wonders to himself if she would enjoy it just as much if he also got her a pokemon plush.

I think she would enjoy it… I remember how excited she got when she saw all the pokemon plush's for sale at the market. I think she'll like it if I get her one...But should I? Is it the right choice?

N finds himself being stuck in a conflict for the next few minutes, thinking deeply about whether or not he should get her a plush. Eventually, he decides that it would probably make her happy, since he knew for certain about her love for pokemon and cute things. He goes off in search of the plush aisle of the store.

I'm not going to have Steven's dad buy this for me. Although he said he could pay for us all in his own store by putting it on the company bill, I want to do something for White with my own power. I want to buy her something that I truly worked for.

After finding the plush department, he was sure White would love the gift he had picked out for her. There were so many cute pokemon dolls in the aisle, and it was hard to choose. He ended up picking out an Eevee plush since it would match her shirt and new backpack.

As N heads towards the checkout line with the plush in hand, he keeps a careful eye out for White. He didn't want her to see the plush just yet, since he wanted to give it to her properly later as a nice gift. He passes by more shopping aisles and sees White and Steven at the end of one, still appearing to be talking.

N overhears their conversation.

"Are you sure you don't want this, White? I think it would look quite lovely on you." Steven is handing over a very fancy looking white lace dress to her, and she gently pushes it away. "You don't need to get me anything more, Steven. But thanks." White resumes to her casual browsing of the items, and Steven feels a bit dejected.

It was obvious that he was trying to impress White with the wealth of himself and his family, but it obviously wasn't working on her. N was very happy that it turned out this way.

Steven… White isn't the type of girl to be swayed by wealth alone. Plus, she really was never one for dresses. She always talked about how much she loved her jean shorts and comfy tees. You claim that you love her but you hardly know anything about her…

N continues towards the checkout, making sure that White hadn't noticed him with the present. At the checkout counter, he takes out his very small sum of spare cash that he had, which was barely enough to pay for the plush. After purchasing it, he carefully stuffs it into the fancy shopping bag, a smile growing upon his face at the thought of doing something for White that would make her happy.

The trio continued to shop for a while, but didn't buy much else. N didn't want anything else, and Steven already had everything he wanted. White ended up buying a lightweight jacket for the travels to Snowpoint city, and that was it.

As they step outside the shop together after finishing everything up, Steven receives another call on his xtransceiver. He answers it, and it seems to be his father again.

"Dad, what's up?" Steven asks.

The old man sounds almost nervous, like he was afraid of something. "I will need some help in a few days from now… We need your presence at the conference tomorrow since you are the vice president of the company. I really do need you there, especially since the other company is one of our big business partners." The old man looks sheepishly to the side, knowing Steven wasn't going to like this.

Meanwhile, N and White listen in. They are both surprised to hear that Steven was the vice president of the huge family company.

Steven sighs deeply. "Another company conference? Is it really essential that I attend it?" He trails off in silence, and the old man nods from the video feed. Steven sighs again as he accepts his fate. "Fine, where will I need to go this time?"

The old man seems to brighten up a bit at this. "Well, it's not all bad news. We will be having our conference on our cruise line's business section. It just so happens that the ship will be arriving in your area soon at the port, and you can board there. You will be able to relax for a day or two on the ship before we have the conference. You can even bring your friends, if you like. There is going to be a formal ball that I'm sure they would be interesting in attending."

White's eyes widen at this.

What the hell? They have a ballroom and a company room on a cruise line? Just how rich is this family? Though I have to admit, a cruise vacation does sound nice…

Steven considers his father's proposition in silence, and his father notices this and decides to sweeten the deal. "Plus, we have a large pool on the ship. You and your friends can use it as well, if you like."

N finds himself thinking of White in a bikini, water dripping down her body as she splashes the water against him playfully. He mentally slaps himself, trying to force the lewd thoughts away.

Steven gives in. "Alright, I'll go on the cruise and attend the company conference." He looks over to N and White. "Would you guys like to come with?"

N and White both answer in unison. "Yes, please!"

Little did they know, they would regret this decision later. The cruise line definitely was going to be more than a vacation…

Yay, another chapter done! The story arc of Steven will be climaxing soon, and it's definitely going to get... Interesting. I hope you guys enjoyed, and please leave some feedback, it means a lot to me. Anyways, please stay tuned for the next chapter![**]