"Friede..?" you mumbled through a yawn, rubbing your eyes. You'd woken up to an unusually cold bed, the sheets beside you empty where your boyfriend had fallen asleep spooning you hours ago.

Friede was sitting at the wheel of the airship, Cap in his lap. He stroked the pikachu's fur absentmindedly. He seemed to perk up at the sound of your voice.

"Hey, sweetheart. Miss me that much?" Friede gave you a smile. But it didn't quite reach his eyes, his voice not as energetic as usual.

You slipped into the large chair beside him, careful not to shove Cap. "What's wrong?"

There was a moment of hesitation. A twitch in his smile. Friede was contemplating telling you everything. His nightmares, his anxieties over protecting the team, the growing threat of Amethio and the Explorers. Anything to crack the mask and be anything but the free-spirited professor who never took anything seriously.

You deserved to know all of him. He knew all of you.

But Friede was a coward in the end. He shook his head, "Nothing, hon. Go back to bed."