“...where are Chandelure and Eelektross?”

Emmet froze, braced Kari more securely against himself, and hastily scanned the room. Once he’d determined they were, in fact, the only ones present-- and there were no light fixtures on the loose-- he let himself relax. The baby in his arms seemed blissfully unaware that anything had happened, and continued to gurgle obliviously.

“They had better be in their pokeballs.” He said, and used an elbow to jostle the side of his jacket where they’d been stowed, testing its weight. Still there. No need for alarm. Probably. He saw the bottom edge shake at the two-fold acknowledgment.

Ingo went quiet in light of that, adjusting Rael’s head to lay more comfortably against his arm, and, once that was done, shot a furtive look at the room’s darkened window. The door on the opposite wall got a similar once-over.

Oh, he was planning something. Emmet turned his attention down to Kari to cover for the smile he felt building.

“Would you mind closing the blinds?”

Easy enough. The slats clattered unpleasantly as they fell into place, but nobody felt the need to comment-- be that with words or ineffectual wailing. Silently, his twin waved him over to sit at the head of the bed with him.

“So long as the both of you remain calm, you’re welcome to join us on the platform.” He said, ignoring the look shot his way.

“That’s not following the rules.” Emmet mumbled under his breath as first Chandelure-- showing a notable amount of restraint in comparison to her previous actions-- and then Eelektross released themselves.

“The blinds are closed and the lights are on. Unless we do something to draw attention to their presence, I don’t believe anyone will notice. Not after seeing mom chase you with Salamence.”

He should have known their mother would be two generations' worth of bad influence.

To the Pokemon, Ingo asked, “Would you like to say hello?”

Chandelure tried to contain herself-- she really, visibly did-- but her subdued pace got lost early in the straight line she traveled, and she zipped over.

Bright, uncomprehending eyes affixed onto this new spot of color, and Ingo carefully angled Rael to see. For them, more than because the passengers had any way to understand, he said, “This is a Pokemon. Her name is Chandelure. That,” He paused to minutely adjust the tilt toward the eel creeping up next to her, “Is Eelektross. They’re dear friends of ours. They’ve been incredibly excited to meet you.”

A glance down confirmed that Kari was just as transfixed as his brother. It was adorable.

In stark contrast to how quickly she’d hovered over, Chandelure gingerly descended and ever-so-slowly reached out with an iron limb. Attention continually flickering up to her trainer, just in case she was doing something she shouldn’t, she tried to pet Rael through his hat. The merry crackling of her flames softened as she hummed in thought.

Eelektross, meanwhile, slithered over to rest his head on Emmet’s lap, watching Kari with big, watery eyes. Unable to sense what Chandelure could, he seemed perfectly content to simply observe as the child burbled to himself-- a noisemaker after his own serpentine heart-- until the ghost came flitting over to inspect the second twin, at which point he decided to swap, too. In spite of his ability, he’d elected to lower himself onto the bed so as to more effectively sprawl over his trainer, and, when his focus changed subjects, Emmet was glad to see the elefish minding his limbs, leaving only his neck to drape lightly over Ingo’s middle.

Emmet had possessed little doubt that they would behave themselves and play nice with the passengers, but it was wonderful to see that faith rewarded-- to watch two of their oldest companions investigate their newest additions with such care.

A stifled chuckle made him tune back into reality, and when he looked, the cause of the amusement was clear: Eelektross bumping the upper edge of its mouth against the side of Rael’s head in a way that wouldn’t be acceptable if they hadn’t known him so well. However, he only had benign intentions, and whined pitifully.

“I know!” Ingo told him, scandalized on his behalf, “He’s too small for you to kiss! What do you intend to do about that?”

The eel’s tail lashed in thought and, after several seconds of intense internal debate, he lifted his body into the air so he might press a sucker kiss to the side of Ingo’s face instead. With a pointed rock of its head, it looked from him to Rael, waiting to see if he’d gotten the message.

“Ah! How innovative!” He said, indulgent, and obligingly stooped down to pass the kiss along, laid gently over their son’s forehead. Eelektross babbled his satisfaction and set his head back down.

After months of fog, it was nice to see Ingo so animated again, even if a soul-deep fatigue lingered in the creases of his eyes. It was a far cry from the complicit lethargy that had characterized the last few weeks of pregnancy, and promised a swift return to form in this matter, at least. That would be a double-edged sword in some respects; his body needed the time to recover, even if his mind claimed he was finally free. The first few weeks would likely pass without a fuss, but beyond that, they might encounter some differences in opinion.

Emmet… saw the hypocrisy. He was electing to ignore it.

He focused on Chandelure instead, who seemed to have decided her spiritual dossier was complete for the time being and nestled into the blanket at her trainer’s side, though she was fully aware of the attention on her. Once she’d made herself comfortable, she shot a look Emmet’s way that could only be taken to mean ‘See? He gets it. I’m a good ghost!’

He felt something in his cheek twitch.

“This is still not allowed.” He insisted, and while he noticed the confused glance sent his way, he didn’t bother breaking eye contact with the sentient lamp, “He is breaking the rules for you.”

In hindsight, Emmet wasn’t sure what that was meant to accomplish; all it did was elicit a smug trill. At his side, Ingo gave up on getting any response, turning to Eelektross instead, who quavered in resignation and inched his head closer to Rael.

While there were no actual words to argue against, Emmet found himself debating circles with Chandelure for several minutes. At no point in this process did Kari make any indication that he recognized the spectacle his father was making of himself. His largest contribution was a hiccup and a follow up gurgle, which Emmet took to mean they were on the same side. That was nice, considering his usual backup was damningly silent on the matter.

That tracked. Ingo had been the one to invite the Pokemon out, after all.

Eventually, Chandelure shut the conversation down, tilting her globe face-first into the blanket and grumpily snuffing her flame to a low ember. Emmet was under no illusion that she was conceding. She was far too stubborn and filled with far too much love.

Belatedly, he looked to the left.

And that explained the lack of color commentary.

His brother had fallen asleep again, head propped back against the pillow, shoulders relaxed. Immediately, Emmet’s eyes darted down to Rael, who was still in his father’s arms, held more loosely than was preferable-- this was, however, a moot concern thanks to Eelektross’s presence, fin laying sweetly along its back as it snoozed and its own head keeping Ingo’s arms where they needed to be, even in sleep.

“Nap time, huh? Okay.”

It wasn’t really that late, but given the past day, he could hardly begrudge this change of pace. Setting Kari in the first of the two cots, he returned to extricate Rael, and had to fight down a laugh as one of the boy’s overseers started snoring. For a long second, he wasn’t entirely sure which it was, and while he decided it was probably his twin, there was no saying for absolutely certain.

With the passengers tucked safely away and the overhead light clicked off, Emmet went to take up his post again. Already, his back screamed at him for the way he always ended up slouching in the chair, and he knew this would come at a very specific price, but he wasn’t going home until the rest of his family was cleared for release.

Eyes closed, he didn’t notice Chandelure creeping up until she settled onto his lap. He cracked one eye open to study her and broke into a lop-sided smile. “Truce?”

A muted whistle answered him as she nested in. Their partners would only be able to stay out for so long before someone came through-- Emmet would need to keep an eye on the time and make sure they were securely back in their pokeballs by then-- but, in spite of the breach of conduct, he couldn’t have asked for a better reception.