Chapter Text
"Great, thanks for the report," Corbeau says, absentmindedly shuffling through the papers on his desk. "You can go back to work now."
The grunt standing in front of his desk nods and turns to leave and then pauses, turning back. "Oh, I almost forgot," she says. "I saw Kyōya when I was walkin' by the train station." Corbeau just looks at her, then motions for her to hurry it up when she doesn't continue immediately. "Uh, he was pickin' up a girl. I mean like, literally, a girl came outta the train station and he gave her a big hug and picked her up and twirled her around. It was kinda cute," the grunt finishes with a grin.
"Why’re you telling me this?" Corbeau asks, his voice flat.
"Well, you said you wanted us to tell you when we see Kyōya do somethin' interestin', I thought this was interestin'. It wasn't one of his Team MZ members either, I know all of 'em, and they wouldn't be comin' outta the station with a travel bag anyway." The grunt shrugs. "Must be someone from back home."
"Okay," Corbeau says, his voice still flat. "Get back to work."
The grunt nods sharply, her face falling back into a serious expression. "Right away, Mr. Corbeau!" she says, and walks quickly over to the elevator, disappearing into it as soon as the doors slide open.
"What’re you thinking, boss?" Philippe asks as the elevator doors close. "Old girlfriend, maybe?"
Corbeau glances up over his shoulder at Philippe. "I'm not thinking anything," he lies. "It's none of my business." He turns back to the paperwork in front of him, knowing that Philippe doesn't believe him for a second but hoping that he'll let him off the hook this time (which would be a first).
"Right, right," Philippe says, amusement clear in his tone. "So you don't want me to send someone over to follow them and see what they're up to?"
Corbeau sighs, a bit dramatically, dropping his head down slightly to rub at his temples. "No, what I want is to finish this paperwork before going home so it's not hanging over me all night. Can we please focus on the task at hand, Philippe?"
"Sure thing, boss! But if you change your mind, just say the word and I'll send someone over to scout it out."
Corbeau glares back up at Philippe, catching a glimpse of the mischievous smirk on his face. "I'll keep that in mind. For now," Corbeau gestures at the waiting piles of paperwork on his desk, "how ‘bout we get to work, eh?"
Kyōya opens the front door to Hotel Z, holding it open for Seika to come in after him. He's greeted by the familiar sight of Ansha on her little stool behind the front desk, Hoopa floating next to her as always.
Before he can say hi or make any introductions though, he hears, "Ohmygosh, you must be Seika!" from the cozy seating area to their right. The siblings turn in unison, seeing Lida already standing up, excited, and Taunie and Naveen starting to stand up as well to greet them. "It's so nice to finally meet you!" Lida chirps, bouncing over to them. "Kyōya has told us sooooo much about you!"
"And you must be Lida!" Seika responds happily. "I've heard so much about all of you too!"
After they get through the rest of the introductions, including a special one for Ansha and Hoopa, Taunie reaches out her hand to snag Seika's bag from Kyōya, who'd carried it there from the train station. "Let me show you to your room and get you settled in!" she says.
Taunie takes them up in the elevator to the 3rd floor, handing Seika the key to room 302 after opening the door for her and ushering her inside. Kyōya follows along, letting Taunie tell Seika all about the hotel. After all, the hotel is Taunie’s, really. All of the Team MZ members love Hotel Z and are happy to be there and happy to help out as much as they can — especially with Taunie being so busy at Quasartico these days — but it’s mostly Taunie’s love for the hotel that keeps them all there, instead of selling it and moving somewhere slightly easier for the four of them to maintain. Well, that, and they’d have to figure out a new team name if they moved somewhere else.
They get Seika settled in and Taunie leads the way up to the roof, where Lida, Naveen, Ansha, and Hoopa have settled down to wait for them, snacks and drinks scattered over the table in front of them. The chairs that are usually over next to the firepit have moved into the spot in the middle of the roof where one of the long flower planters had been before it was shoved over to the other side, to create a circle around the table where they can all have a place to sit. Well, mostly - Ansha is settled comfortably in Lida’s lap because otherwise there wouldn’t be quite enough seating for all of them, but she looks very cozy and happy to be there. Hoopa floats next to her as always.
Taunie plops down on the end of the couch next to Naveen and the siblings each take a chair. “Best view in the city, guaranteed,” Taunie boasts, gesturing over her shoulder at the expansive view of the city, with the ruins of Prism Tower rising up from the center of it all, the steadily lowering sun almost touching one skeletal side of it. “That’s the building I’m sure your brother has told you about - you know, the whole Ange thing.”
“So you were the one up there? Inside the tower while it was on the verge of blowing up the whole city?” Seika asks her. Taunie nods. “That must’ve been terrifying!”
“I knew my team had my back,” Taunie says, grinning at Kyōya and bumping her shoulder into Naveen’s, causing him to bump against Lida’s shoulder too.
“And Kyōya, you were on top of one of the nearby buildings, right?” Seika asks. “Which one?”
Kyōya lifts up slightly out of his chair to get a good look, thinking back to that night. “Over there,” he says, pointing almost directly ahead at a tall office building, nestled in between Quasartico rising up out of the skyline behind it, and the ruins of Prism Tower in front of it. “That one.” He snags a bag of chips from the table before settling back down in his chair.
“And that’s the part where that guy helped you get up to the rooftops, right?” Seika says, mischief clear in her tone.
Kyōya knows immediately what she means, and glares at her. The rest of the core members of Team MZ immediately know what she means too; both because they were a part of the plan that involved Corbeau and his crew getting Kyōya onto that roof, and because they all know about Kyōya’s inconvenient crush on Corbeau. Ansha is the only one who doesn’t react, not knowing about Kyōya’s crush and not having been there when the tower incident happened.
Taunie snickers, Naveen shakes his head, and Lida lets out an “Oooooo~,” following it up by asking Seika, “Does Kyōya talk about him a lot?”
“No,” Kyōya says quickly, trying to move the conversation along before his sister can embarrass him.
“All the time,” Seika cuts in. Kyōya throws a chip at her, which she catches as it bounces down into her lap. She shoves the chip into her mouth and grins at her brother, clearly very proud of herself.
“Who are you talking about?” Ansha asks, her eyes wide and curious.
“Nobody,” Kyōya tries to say, but gets cut off again.
“Corbeau,” Lida answers, and smiles sweetly at Kyōya over Ansha’s head when he gives her an unamused look.
Ansha considers that for a second, chewing on the small bite she just took out of her chocolate bar. “Kyōya, do you have feelings for Mr. Corbeau?” she asks, as she holds out her chocolate bar to Hoopa so that it can take a bite as well.
Kyōya lets out an embarrassed huff of a laugh, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Um…yeah, kinda.”
Ansha giggles. “That’s very sweet,” she says. “I like Mr. Corbeau, he’s always kind to me. And he clearly admires you a lot.”
Kyōya blinks at her. “He does?”
“Well, we all know you’re his favorite,” Taunie chimes in. “I think the whole city probably knows that by now.”
Kyōya flushes, partially because he’s embarrassed about how much he likes hearing that the entirety of Lumiose might know that he’s Corbeau’s favorite.
“So, do you guys think Corbeau is interested in Kyōya too?” Seika asks, leaning forward in her chair towards the group on the couch.
“Why are you talking about me like I’m not here?” Kyōya mutters.
“Because you’re oblivious and clearly can’t be trusted to judge this for yourself,” Seika quips, grinning evilly at him.
“I kinda do,” Taunie replies to Seika’s question, ignoring Kyōya’s protest. “I mean there’s definitely something there, but whether it’s just favoritism or something more though, I’m not entirely sure.”
“I agree that there’s definitely something there,” Lida says. “And personally I do think it’s, like, romantic and not just favoritism. I mean, Corbeau was so scary when we first met him, and now he’s always like, smiling and joking around when he calls us into his office, and I really think that’s entirely because of Kyōya, because they’re always working closely together on all these things that keep happening in Lumiose.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s romantic, though,” Kyōya points out stubbornly. “Back me up here, Naveen,” he says, looking pleadingly at his friend.
“But don't you want them to tell you that they think Mr. Corbeau has feelings for you too, Kyōya?” Ansha asks, confused, before Naveen has a chance to respond.
“I mean, yeah, in theory,” Kyōya answers, “but if they're wrong and he doesn't, I might get my hopes up too much and maybe get my heart broken.” He sighs. He’s spent too much time musing on what might happen if he told Corbeau about his feelings only to get shut down. “If I tell him about my feelings and he doesn’t return them, he might not want to spend as much time with me anymore. I’d rather just deal with my crush privately and still get to spend time with him than the alternative.” He looks pleadingly at Naveen again, who just shakes his head.
“Sorry, Kyōya, you’re on your own on this one, I’m with them. I think he’s definitely interested in you in a way that he isn’t interested in any of the rest of us, or in anyone else I’ve seen him talk to.” Naveen pauses, thinking for a second. “He cleared your interest—and then that whole thing with tipping Taunie enough to pay off her debt—so quickly too, after only a few jobs that you said he was very hands-on for, which is also unusual. From what I’d heard about him in the last few years, he seems to generally prefer letting his underlings do the fieldwork while he commands them from his office, so even early on he was treating you differently.”
“What interest?” Seika asks, confused. “And what debt?”
Taunie gasps, surprised. “You didn’t tell her how we met him in the first place?” she asks, and then laughs. “Are you serious?”
Kyōya groans and hides his face in his hands. “I was embarrassed about having a crush on him after…all that,” he says, his voice muffled. “You guys know that.”
“Is anyone gonna actually tell me or…?” Seika asks.
Taunie laughs again and jumps into the story, with Lida and Naveen chiming in occasionally to fill some gaps, while Seika and Ansha listen intently. “—and then, well, he was really instrumental to our success in stopping Prism Tower from destroying the city, and we’ve kinda been working side-by-side on some stuff with him and the rest of the Rust Syndicate since then, like on this hyperspace thing we just wrapped up,” Taunie finishes. “Well, kinda but not entirely wrapped up, Kyōya is still doing some surveys before we lose access to hyperspace completely, whenever that’ll be. But it’s all stable now.”
“And continuing to do those surveys means Kyōya has an excuse to drop by the Rust Syndicate Office a lot,” Naveen teases, his expression deadpan but his eyes glowing with amusement. “You have to stop by to get those special scans…oh, and say hi to Corbeau while you’re there, of course.”
Kyōya rolls his eyes, but he knows he can’t argue with that because Naveen isn’t wrong, that is one of the reasons he’s still spending so much time in hyperspace. Also because it’s fun, though. Kyōya really enjoys the challenges that hyperspace holds for him. But, yeah, he does like getting to see Corbeau whenever he collects enough data for a special scan, he can’t deny that.
“That wasn’t very a very nice thing that Mr. Corbeau and Mr. Philippe did to you, Taunie,” Ansha pipes up, with a little pout.
“No, it wasn’t,” Taunie agrees, “but we worked it out, we’re good now.”
“Yes, I see.” Ansha ponders this for a moment. “I don’t think they would do something like that to any of you again.”
“I don’t think so either,” Lida says. “Especially not to Corbeau’s favoritest trainer in all of Lumiose.” She grins widely at Kyōya at the last comment.
Kyōya puts his burning face in his hands again, shaking his head.
“Alright team,” Taunie says, starting to stand up. “I think that’s enough teasing Kyōya for the moment—”
“Never enough of that,” Seika says. Kyōya lifts his head out of his hands so he can stick his tongue out at her, and she sticks her tongue out at him in return.
“—and the sun has almost set,” Taunie continues, looking at Seika with an amused smile. “I think it’s dinner time! Kyōya has told you about my special menu item, right?”
“He has!” Seika replies as she stands up from her chair. “I’m very excited to try it!”
They all scoop up some empty snack bags and drink bottles, leaving the rooftop deck mostly clear of trash, and head downstairs for Taunie’s famous curry and croissants combo.
“I wanna go meet him,” Seika insists the next morning as she and Kyōya discuss their plans for the day from the comfy lounge in the hotel lobby, nearly empty coffee mugs on the table in front of them. They’ve finished eating breakfast with Team MZ and the rest have all gone their separate ways for the day — Taunie to Quasartico, Lida to dance practice, Naveen to his room to work on his commissions, and Ansha taking over the dining room to study her letters with one of her many tutors that her mother sends over.
“You just got here yesterday!” Kyōya argues. “Don’t you want to see the sights first?”
“I’ll be here for a week and a half,” she reminds him. “I’ve got plenty of time to see the city and I’m so curious, I wanna see what he’s like!”
“Ugh,” Kyōya says, “fine.”
Seika giggles. “That was way too easy, you just miss him.” She ignores Kyōya glaring at her and continues, “When was the last time you saw him, anyway?”
“Uh…yesterday morning.” Kyōya grimaces, the tips of his ears turning slightly pink. “Just a quick stop by for a special scan, though. We didn’t really chat, he was kinda busy with some paperwork.”
“Mm-hmm.” Seika grins at him, amused. “And you miss him this much already, that’s adorable.” Before Kyōya can retaliate she stands up. “Okay, let’s go! Lead the way, Mr. Lumiose Native!”
Kyōya grumbles but leads her out of the hotel, and she follows along as he takes her on a shortcut over some rooftops, dropping down in front of a cafe to snag some more coffee and pastries on the way, and then past big green holographic fences, one with a big gate that says ‘16,’ and another that says ‘5.’ As they pass between the two green fences, Seika is able to clearly see the building behind them: a dark, intimidating structure, with leafage in the front and a large purple logo emulating poison dripping smack dab in the middle of the front wall of the building.
“You said Corbeau is a poison-type specialist, right?” she asks Kyōya, who just nods. “So I take it that’s his building in front of us.”
“Hey, you’re smarter than you look!” Kyōya teases, and is rewarded with a smack on his arm. He yelps and rubs the spot where she’d (very gently) smacked him, before continuing, “Yeah, that’s the Rust Syndicate Office building. It kinda stands out, huh?”
Seika laughs. “It definitely makes a statement!”
“It’s a nice view from the roof, too. We can go up there later and check it out.”
“Of course you’ve been up on the roof,” Seika teases.
“Hey! I’ve been on every roof in this city!” Kyōya snips back. “Well, almost every roof. There’s a few that I’m not sure there’s any way to get to the roof of. Quasartico for one. I keep trying to convince Taunie to get me up there but she’s always too busy,” he pouts as they approach the building. The pout quickly disappears when the man and woman standing guard at the entrance to the grounds, who are clearly in the uniform of the group, wave happily at him and greet him by name. “Hey, guys!” Kyōya grins at them. “Is the boss in?”
The male grunt nods, and the female grunt says, “Yup, you can go right up, as always!”
“Thanks!” Kyōya says, walking through. “Oh, this is my sister by the way,” he calls back over his shoulder at them.
Seika waves at them, with a little, “Hi,” and repeats that to the two grunts at the building entrance too. They walk through the door, into a dim lobby, and the two sets of grunts lining the way to a dark-paneled elevator snap to attention. “Okay, that’s kinda intimidating,” Seika admits quietly.
Kyōya snickers. “You get used to it.” He waves at all the grunts as they pass, with another brief introduction for Seika, and they all break formation briefly to wave back at him and then at Seika with small smiles.
“You really do come here a lot, don’t you?” Seika observes after they get into the elevator and the door slides shut behind them. “Everyone seems to really like you.”
Kyōya grins, but doesn’t have time to respond before the elevator pings and the door slides open.
Seika is greeted with another dimly lit room, with dark paneling on the floor and some of the walls, similar to the lobby downstairs. This room, however, has the addition of what she assumes is a battle court in the far back, with rich maroon-colored walls, covered with illustrations of various Pokémon.
And in the center of the room, with a giant golden statue of a Kingambit looming just slightly to the side, are two men at an ornate black and gold-toned desk. One of them, the larger one with a dark mohawk and sideburns which stand out stark against the clean-shaven rest of his head, is standing behind the desk. The other man, the smaller one with a maroon glasses chain that reminds Seika of poison drips just like the giant logo on the building did, is sitting behind the desk, in a chair that looks like it was made with the size of the other man in mind. Seika assumes the smaller man in the chair, who’s currently glowering across the room, is Corbeau.
“Did you need something, Kyōya?” the man Seika assumes is Corbeau asks, his tone sounding somewhat annoyed. The other man just nods in greeting.
“Hi Corbeau, hey Philippe,” Kyōya says, sauntering farther into the room, not seeming to notice Corbeau’s glower. Maybe that’s normal for him, Seika wonders. “I wanted to introduce you guys to someone!”
“Hello.” The single word from Corbeau sounds like a dismissal.
“This is Seika,” Kyōya continues, “my big sister! She came to visit me!”
Corbeau’s head tilts slightly and his whole demeanor changes, lifting to something much more welcoming (and much less intimidating—Seika understands what Lida had been saying yesterday about him being scary). “Ah, sister?” He smiles at Seika, a small quirking up of the corners of his mouth. “Welcome to Lumiose, Seika. I’m Corbeau, and this,” he gestures up to the man standing behind him, “is my second-in-command, Philippe. I hope you’re enjoying your stay in our lovely city so far.”
“She just got here yesterday afternoon!” Kyōya answers for her. “Mostly so far she’s just hung out with the team at Hotel Z and eaten lots of food with us!”
“It sounds like you’ve had a lot of coffee so far today, too,” Corbeau says to Kyōya, sounding amused.
Kyōya huffs a slightly embarrassed laugh, ducking his head. “Maybe,” he admits, shuffling his feet. Seika catches a very brief glimpse of a fond smile from Corbeau, which disappears behind Corbeau’s hand pushing his glasses up his nose before Kyōya can lift his head back up to catch it too. Oh yeah, her brother is really just completely oblivious. She’s sure of it. Especially after his entire demeanor changed when Kyōya introduced her as his sister.
“Ah, but, where are our manners, Philippe?” Corbeau asks over his shoulder as he stands up. The size disparity between the two men is even more stark with Corbeau standing, Kyōya hadn’t been exaggerating about Corbeau’s slight size. He’s kinda cute, Seika thinks, although she also thinks he probably wouldn’t take well to being told that. “Why don’t you make a pot of tea for our guests—” he pauses, looking at Kyōya with a glint in his eyes, “herbal, I think, and let’s move to the couches. Much more comfortable than makin’ you stand.”
Seika and Kyōya are ushered over to the dark, high-backed leather couches, which are in fact surprisingly more comfortable than they look, and Corbeau settles down across from them (well, across from Kyōya specifically), while Philippe bustles around in the back, accompanied by the sounds of an electric kettle starting to bubble.
“So,” Corbeau directs to Seika, “this is your first visit to Lumiose?”
Seika nods. “It’s my first break from school since Kyōya told us he was gonna be staying here, so I thought I’d come see for myself what he loves so much about this city.”
“School, eh? Graduate program I’d guess, since Kyōya introduced you as his older sister.” Corbeau continues when Seika nods again, “What’re you studying?”
“Urban planning,” she answers, as Philippe makes his way over to the couches with a tray full of a teapot, teacups, and a sugar dish.
“Both of you are drawn to the city, then,” Corbeau observes, picking up the teapot and filling the teacups with amber liquid. “Are you from a city?” he asks.
“No, actually,” Seika responds, accepting the offered cup of tea from him and spooning in a bit of sugar. “We’re from kind of a small seaside port, in Paldea.”
“Porto Marinada,” Kyōya adds on, accepting the cup of tea Corbeau passes to him as well, scooping an even larger heap of sugar into his. “Sandwiched in-between the sea and the desert.”
“I’m studying in the big city, though,” Seika continues. “In Mesagoza.”
“Ah, at the, what was it?” Corbeau snaps his fingers, searching for the name, “Uva Academy? Or was it Naranja?”
“Two names for the same place,” Seika clarifies. “It just depends on what path you want to take while you’re there. But, no, they don’t really have graduate programs, and they’re more trainer-focused anyway.”
“So you’re not a wonder trainer like your brother?” Corbeau asks, his eyes glinting again as he takes a sip of the tea.
Seika laughs. “No, and Kyōya wasn’t even a trainer last time I saw him, let alone a wonder trainer!”
“No?” Corbeau asks, surprised.
“You knew I didn’t have any experience as a trainer before coming to Lumiose,” Kyōya says.
“I knew you didn’t have much, I didn’t realize it was none,” Corbeau replies. “That’s even more impressive, then.” He looks back at Seika. “I’m sure Kyōya has told you all about his adventures as Savior of Lumiose?”
“Hey, come on,” Kyōya whines, “I’ve told you not to call me that.”
“It’s your title, Kyōya,” Corbeau says, the teasing note back in his voice in full force. “You earned it fair and square, many times over.” He shrugs, a mischievous grin directed at Kyōya. “I don’t make the rules.”
The flirting is almost unbearable, and Seika looks away, catching Philippe’s eye. It looks to her like the man is holding back a laugh, and she can see why. If she’s annoyed having to put up with Kyōya whining about his crush over the phone, she can’t imagine how annoying it is to witness the two of them constantly if this is what they’re like.
“Oh yeah, I’ve heard all about his adventures,” Seika responds, just to try to get a word in before they can continue flirting. “And I got to hear about some of them from Taunie’s perspective yesterday, too!”
“And you’ve seen Prism Tower—well, what’s left of it?” he asks.
Seika catches a grimace from Kyōya out of the corner of her eye as she nods.
“It was a small price to pay to stop the destruction of this city,” Corbeau says in Kyōya’s direction, his voice softening briefly. He looks back at Seika. “So you haven’t seen your brother in a Pokémon battle at all?” Seika shakes her head and he continues, “Would you like to?”
Seika looks over at her brother, who shrugs, but he looks pleased at the thought. “Sure!” she says.
“Kyōya?” Corbeau asks, “You up for a battle?”
“With you? Always,” Kyōya answers, with a rakish grin. Seika holds back a groan at the continued flirting as they all stand up and walk over to the battle court, her and Philippe standing outside of it near the large desk, and Kyōya and Corbeau taking their places on the court itself.
“I’ve been keeping up with my training,” Corbeau calls across the court, “are you ready to lose this time?”
“Ha! I hope you didn’t prepare expecting my usual team,” Kyōya calls back over. “I’ve switched things up a bit from all my time in hyperspace.”
“Bring it on,” Corbeau taunts, bringing out a dusk ball and preparing to throw it. “I’m ready for anything.”
“The only time you’ll defeat me is in your dreams,” Kyōya shoots back, readying his own pokéball.
The two of them smirk at each other, their eyes blazing, and begin the battle, tossing out their Pokémon (well, in Corbeau’s case, more like spiking the ball at the ground).
Corbeau’s eyes widen as he sees what Pokémon Kyōya has thrown out to go against his Arbok. “Is that an ALPHA GOLURK?!”
Kyōya just snickers, and commands the giant, looming ghost to use Earthquake.
“Are they always like this?” Seika murmurs to Philippe, watching Corbeau’s Arbok just barely hang on long enough to get off a Toxic.
Philippe snorts. “No,” he says, as Kyōya’s Golurk takes out the Arbok and Corbeau switches in a Roserade. “Sometimes they’re worse.”
“How do you put up with it all the time?” Seika asks, amused at Philippe’s answer. It really does seem like the only person who doesn’t know that Corbeau is flirting with Kyōya is, well, Kyōya.
Kyōya swaps in a Corviknight to tank the Roserade’s Giga Drain and Seika barely catches sight of Corbeau swearing under his breath.
“Oh, what’s the matter?” Kyōya taunts, catching it too. “Did I already take out your only Pokémon that has a fire move?”
“I’ve gotten pretty good at tuning them out,” Philippe answers Seika, his expression mischievous. “I take it Kyōya has told you a lot about Mr. Corbeau?”
Seika rolls her eyes, watching Corbeau swap in a Barbaracle after Kyōya’s Corviknight also tanks a plus-Shadow Ball and knocks the Roserade out in return with a Brave Bird, the Barbaracle throwing out hazards to whittle down the small remaining amount of the bird Pokémon’s health with Stealth Rock. “I’ve heard so much about him,” she answers.
Philippe snorts again.
“From your perspective,” Seika continues, “what’s holding them back? I mean, I can tell that my brother is oblivious, but Corbeau doesn’t seem to be, so what’s his excuse?”
Kyōya sends out his partner Meganium when his Corviknight faints from hazard and recoil damage, obliterating Corbeau’s Barbaracle with a single Giga Drain, the health restoration almost making up for both the Poison Jab and now the poison damage it’s starting to take from the Barbaracle. The Meganium holds on long enough to get off an Earth Power to Corbeau’s swapped-in Garbodor before it gets knocked out with a Gunk Shot.
“Professional boundaries, I think, for one,” Philippe answers. “Most of the time the two of them spend together is in a work setting, and Mr. Corbeau doesn’t want to overstep too many boundaries.”
Kyōya’s Golurk is back on the field, taking heavy poison damage but still with enough health left to take out Corbeau’s Garbodor with another Earthquake.
“Mr. Corbeau has also worked very hard to be a person who is extremely difficult to say no to,” Philippe continues, “and with something like this, I think he wants to make sure Kyōya doesn’t feel any obligation to say yes to anything he might not actually want.”
“Has he considered that Kyōya could be perfectly capable of saying no to him, but might just want to say yes to everything he asks?” Seika asks.
Philippe shakes his head with an amused smirk. “He’s stubborn. Once the boss gets an idea in his head it’s hard to shake it out of him. Believe me, I’ve tried. And, as much as I think he should be confident about what Kyōya feels towards him, I'm not sure he fully is.”
Kyōya’s Golurk finally goes down from the remaining poison damage and a Waterfall from the Gyarados that Corbeau had sent out, but not before getting off a Thunder Punch, taking out a big chunk of the Gyarados’s health.
“My brother isn’t exactly subtle,” Seika snickers. “But, well, the flirting already doesn’t seem very professional.”
“Mr. Corbeau just can’t help himself on that one,” Philippe replies. “He’s very fond of Kyōya.” His mischievous smile turns into something softer. “It’s nice to see him so happy. Even if they’re annoying as hell,” he finishes, his smile back to mischievous.
“You wanna help me do something about it?” Seika asks.
Philippe looks at her, intrigued, and nods.
“Sounds like we have to get them to spend time together outside of this office,” Seika continues.
Corbeau’s Gyarados finally falls too, with an Overdrive from Kyōya’s Toxtricity. Kyōya quickly swaps in a Delphox as soon as it happens, anticipating Corbeau’s final Pokémon.
“Got anything in mind?” Philippe asks, and then says, “Oh, you’ll want to watch this though,” jerking his head towards the battlefield.
“Got me on the ropes again, eh, Kyōya?” Corbeau calls over as he sends out his Scolipede, met with a smirk from Kyōya. “It’s getting fun now, though. Come on, Scolipede, let’s show ‘em what we’ve got left!” His eyes flash as he braces himself, his hand going to the badge on his lapel, rainbow light streaming out of it as his hand makes contact and he directs the energy towards his Scolipede. The light grows, swirling around his Pokémon, enveloping it in a bright glow.
Kyōya follows suit with a wide grin, raising up his left wrist and pressing his fingers to the stone embedded in his mega ring. The rainbow light streams out and encircles his Delphox, Kyōya’s burning eyes clear even through the glow. When the lights on the battlefield fade, the two mega evolved Pokémon face off, Kyōya’s Delphox protecting itself against an Earthquake. It still takes a good amount of damage but it holds on, and lets loose a Blast Burn that nearly shakes the foundation of the building.
Corbeau’s Scolipede, with just a small bit of health left after its own Protect, takes out the last bit of health from Kyōya’s mega Delphox with a Gunk Shot while Delphox recovers from the massive impact of its Blast Burn. Corbeau’s eyes flash. “What else you got for me, eh?”
Kyōya just grins at him and tosses out Kyogre, his grin widening even more as the legendary Pokémon automatically reverts to its primal state.
“You’ve gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me,” Corbeau mutters, the words at odds with his exhilirated expression.
Kyōya laughs delightedly, and sends his Kyogre across the battlefield with a plus-Surf, completely annihilating any hope Corbeau might have of coming back from this, easily knocking out his Scolipede and ending the battle.
Corbeau shakes his head with a small grimace, his expression changing to a lopsided smile as he meets Kyōya’s eyes across the battlefield.
Philippe claps, and Seika joins in. Both Corbeau and Kyōya glance over at them, looking slightly startled as if they’d forgotten anyone else was there. Corbeau nods his head towards the two spectators in thanks, and Kyōya smiles happily at them, before they look back at each other and walk forward to meet in the center of the battle court.
“That Kyogre reveal was foul,” Corbeau says, sounding extremely proud.
“Thank you,” Kyōya replies, looking very pleased with himself. “It was a great battle. As always with you, Corbeau.” He reaches out his hand for a fist bump, and Corbeau does the same, their eyes locked on each other.
Seika and Philippe glance at each other, both trying not to laugh.
“Battles with you are always fun,” Corbeau agrees. “Here, let me heal your team for you. And then, ah, can I see that alpha Golurk again?”
Kyōya nods, letting Corbeau heal up his team before bringing the Golurk back out to show it off.
While they’re still distracted with each other, and with the massive Pokémon, Seika mutters to Philippe, “Would you guys want to come by Hotel Z for dinner at some point? To get them together out of the office?”
“Hmm, I'm not sure that would be well received by the rest of Team MZ,” Philippe ponders, “but it does give me an idea.” Kyōya and Corbeau are almost finished on the battlefield so he hurries through the rest of what he wants to say, “Ask that again when they’re back over here and I’ll take it from there. And let’s keep all this between the two of us.”
Seika nods as her brother and Corbeau come back into the office, Corbeau shaking out a damp bit of his sleeve that got caught up in Kyogre's match-ending Surf.
“Well?” Corbeau asks Seika, giving up on his sleeve. “What did you think of the battle?”
“It was so exciting!” she replies. “You were both amazing!”
Kyōya beams at her.
“Heh, thanks,” Corbeau replies. “Kyōya is really something special though, eh?” Corbeau keeps going as Kyōya’s face gets red. “I’ve never met a trainer with his skill and strength, and it’s even more amazing that he's accomplished all of this in such a short time.”
“Come on, Corbeau,” Kyōya mutters, his face really red by now.
“Hey, someone’s gotta brag about you, since you won’t do it yourself,” Corbeau teases, smirking at Kyōya.
Kyōya ducks his head, attempting to hide an embarrassed grin along with his blush.
“I think we’ve taken up enough of your sightseeing time for the day, though,” Corbeau says, giving Kyōya a break from his intense gaze and turning his attention to Seika. “You’d probably like to get outta this gloomy office and back out into the warm Lumiose sun, eh?”
“This has been really fun, actually!” Seika replies. “Are you guys gonna come by Hotel Z at some point while I’m here to join us for dinner?”
Kyōya glances over at her in confusion. She can feel the ‘What are you doing?’ radiating from his gaze.
Corbeau looks surprised, too. “Ah, not really our place, but thanks for the invite. You’d have to run it by that Team MZ leader first anyway, so she’d know how many of her signature dishes to make,” he says, amusement sneaking back into his voice.
“Boss, I have an idea,” Philippe cuts in.
“Always a dangerous opening,” Corbeau quips, “but continue.”
“Well, it wouldn’t be a complete experience of Lumiose City without sampling the best of her cuisine,” Philippe says. “And we know Kyōya is a bit low on funds from spending more time exploring hyperspace than battling in the Infinite Royale these days.”
Kyōya shakes his head. “I’d ask how you guys know that I’m low on funds but…”
Corbeau just smirks at him.
Philippe continues, “It would be a pity if Seika has to leave the city without having a chance to fully experience our famous Restaurant Le Wow.”
“I see where you’re going with this, Philippe,” Corbeau cuts in. “But are you sure you’re not just suggesting this ‘cause you want an excuse to try their brand new menu item?”
“Well, that’s not the only reason I’m suggesting it,” Philippe replies, with a sheepish grin.
“I suppose it’d be a pity to miss out on such an experience,” Corbeau muses. “Alright then, we’d be happy to treat the two of you to dinner at Le Wow,” he says to Kyōya and Seika. “Tomorrow night around 6:30 work for you?”
“That sounds great!” Seika says, “Thank you so much!” Her eyes meet Philippe’s briefly, and he winks, a quick flash that would be easy to miss.
“Yeah,” Kyōya chimes in, “that’s really nice of you guys. We’d like that a lot.”
“Philippe, call and make the reservation,” Corbeau orders, “and we’ll see you both there tomorrow at 6:30,” he finishes, directing the last part to the siblings.
After they say their goodbyes for now, Seika and Kyōya step back into the elevator to leave. “He wants you so bad,” Seika mutters to her brother as the elevator door closes.
Kyōya glares at her. “Shut up until we’re out of the building,” he hisses.
“You act like this whole place is wired,” Seika teases quietly, as the door pings open to the lobby.
“That’s because it probably is.”
Oh. Oops. Seika doesn’t say anything except goodbyes to all the grunts as they pass through on their way out. Kyōya takes her around the corner to another cafe and then stops.
“Okay, repeat that,” he demands.
“He wants you soooooooo bad,” Seika dutifully repeats, with a bit more embellishment than the last time.
“You really think so?” Kyōya asks, his eyes big and pleading, like a pathetic little Fidough.
“Mm-hmm,” Seika says, grinning at him. They sit down at the cafe and order more coffee and pastries, and when they've arrived she asks, “Hey, Corbeau doesn't know you're gay, does he?”
Kyōya shakes his head, looking confused. “It hasn't come up so I don't think so, why?”
“It seemed like he did not like you bringing a girl by to meet him, until he realized I'm your sister. I think he got the wrong idea at first, and I think he was jealous.”
“Jealous, huh?” Kyōya thinks on this for a second. “Are you sure?”
Seika shakes her head. “You didn't notice his bad mood when we walked in, and how it completely changed when you called me your sister?”
Kyōya shrugs. “Sometimes he's cranky when I stop by, but he usually cheers up by the time I leave. It's not that unusual, he’s just kinda mercurial like that.”
Seika just blinks at him, waiting for him to realize how that sounds — what it might mean that his presence often pulls Corbeau out of a bad mood, and for that to just be a normal everyday thing. “You are so clueless,” she says finally, giving up on waiting for the other shoe to drop for him.
Kyōya whines and drops his forehead down to rest on the table. The motion pops his hat off his head and he grabs it and puts it on the table next to his coffee. Seika laughs and ruffles his hair and he smacks her hand away without lifting his head.
“At least we've got plans to see him again,” Seika says. “You'll get to spend more time with him outside of work stuff! You haven't really gotten to do much of that, right?” She tries to phrase it in a way that doesn't clue him in at all about her conversation with Philippe, and the extra background information she had gleaned from it.
“Yeah, that'll be nice,” Kyōya says, lifting his head back up, a small smile on his face. “Even that time we met up for coffee together was for hyperspace stuff, because he wanted something from Grisham. Also, Philippe was there. I mean, he will be tomorrow night too, but still, it won’t be for work reasons tomorrow.”
“Do you think we should dress up a little?” Seika asks.
Kyōya thinks about it. “Yeah, maybe. I'm sure they'll show up in their usual suits but I guess if we show up in jeans we might feel a little underdressed. Especially since we’ll be having the standard dinner experience and not the battle courses.” He sighs. “I really only have one nice outfit though, and I'm not sure if it’ll be too fancy.”
“Unlike you showing up to Lumiose for your failed ‘short stay’ with a single change of clothes, I brought some cute outfits with me. I'm sure there's something in there that will coordinate with the one you have, so you don't feel totally overdressed.”
Kyōya nods, and the siblings finish at the cafe while discussing what sights Seika might want to see throughout the rest of the day.
Kyōya adjusts the flowy piece of fabric around his neck as the late afternoon light filters through the dusty hotel window, centering the material in the metal clasp that hangs between the points of his shirt collar. “You don't think it's too stuffy?” He gestures to the suit as a whole as he asks Seika, who is sitting on the edge of his bed all ready to go to dinner, looking pretty in her cute dress.
“I think you look great!” she says. “But why did you buy it if you think it's too stuffy for you?”
“It was a gift,” he says, tugging on the shirt cuffs, still examining himself in the mirror. “But I haven't really had a chance to go shopping for anything else, even if I had the funds right now.” Kyōya grimaces. He really needs to plan some nights to grind the Infinite Royale once Seika goes back home. He’s got enough food and coffee money plus a little extra to last through her stay at least, but probably not quite enough to go shopping for a fancy outfit on top of that.
And he really should do something about his satchel, he thinks, turning slightly to see the bright red circle of the satchel standing out against the paisley maroon pattern of the suit, looking slightly scuffed and totally out of place. He supposes he could leave the satchel behind for the night, but what if an emergency happens and he doesn’t have everything he needs to deal with it?
A nicer satchel is another thing he doesn't have, though…except he suddenly remembers the piles of clothes and accessories he'd been given in some of the stranger pockets of hyperspace, the gifts from the too-real-feeling mirages of his friends. They've been sitting at the base of his wardrobe, untouched, since he'd received each of them.
He walks over to his wardrobe and rifles through the clothing stacked at the bottom of it, seeing if there's anything that would match better than his usual satchel. Definitely not the Falinks one from hyperspace Ivor, or the frilly pink one from hyperspace Jacinthe. Hyperspace Canari’s Tynamo satchel at least wouldn't clash, but it's too cutesy for the nice suit, and the bright red and black logo pattern of hyperspace Grisham’s isn't really much better than his own usual one.
So…that leaves the one he'd gotten from hyperspace Corbeau. He picks it up and examines it and, well, it does match somewhat nicely. At the very least it doesn’t clash horribly or stick out like a sore thumb. But, does he really want to show up to dinner with Corbeau (and Philippe) wearing something that is so clearly connected to Corbeau, even if it wasn't technically a gift from him? Kyōya just feels like it might be too obvious, like it might raise too many questions, even though he's already told Corbeau about what happened in those hyperspace distortions.
“On second thought, let's just wear jeans,” Kyōya says, dropping the satchel back into the bottom of his wardrobe.
“Ah, ah, ah,” Seika cuts him off, getting up from the edge of his bed and stalking over to the wardrobe. “What’s that?”
Kyōya sighs and picks the satchel back up to hand to his sister, who only has to look at it for a second before she understands.
“This is the satchel that you got from the fake Corbeau who was mean to you and told you he didn't want to be friends, isn't it?”
“Sure,” Kyōya confirms, standing up from his crouch in front of the wardrobe. It's maybe not exactly what he feels happened, but, “Close enough.”
“It definitely does go better with this outfit than your usual satchel does,” she says, looking between it and Kyōya’s suit. “I think he might like seeing you wear it too,” she says with a grin. “Come on, don't you want to see his reaction to you wearing something so obviously his? What if he's into it?” Seika waggles her eyebrows at Kyōya, and he rolls his eyes back at her, his face feeling flushed.
She does have a point, though, especially if she’s right about Corbeau having been jealous about Kyōya bringing a girl by to meet him before realizing Seika is Kyōya’s sister. Best case scenario, one that Kyōya hardly dares to hope for, he might even like Kyōya wearing a symbol that marks him as Corbeau’s. On second thought, Kyōya also might like wearing a symbol that marks him as Corbeau’s. He might like that a lot, actually. It’s just that he would like to wear it when he is actually Corbeau’s (if that ever happens), instead of just pining over him, but he supposes he could just wear it for one night and see how it feels (and see how Corbeau feels about it, too). If nothing else, he does have the excuse of not having any other options that go as well with his only nice suit — which is true, if maybe not the whole truth.
“Okay, fine,” Kyōya says, and swaps out the satchels.
“I think he’s gonna really like it,” Seika teases.
“Yeah, yeah,” Kyōya shakes her off. “I just hope he doesn’t think it’s weird or something.”
“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that,” Seika says. Kyōya wishes he had her confidence about this, but it’s easier for her to be confident about Corbeau’s feelings for him when she’s not the one who would get her heart broken if they’re not returned.
They do final touch-ups on their outfits for the evening, Seika helping comb Kyōya’s hair into a nice shape for him, since he’s so used to just tucking it under his hat all the time these days and he’s not wearing that tonight. Then they’re off, saying goodbye to Team MZ who have already gathered around the dining room table, Taunie still in the kitchen finishing up preparing their dinners.
“Have fun, you two!” she calls faintly through the open doorway to the kitchen.
“Thanks, Taunie!” Kyōya calls back. “See you guys later,” he says to the rest of the team, and then he and Seika are off to Le Wow.
They walk in silence for a few minutes, the cool early evening air feeling nice against the thick, high-quality material of the suit. Kyōya tries to keep his mind clear, and makes sure to point out interesting things along the way to Seika, like where he found a shiny Fletchling on a lamp post one time, and successfully caught it without scaring it away. Oh, and another lamp post where he hadn’t been so lucky, and had watched the sparkles disappear as that Fletchling flew away as fast as its little wings could go.
“Are you nervous?” Seika finally asks. “You’re a bit…bouncy,” she says, “and I know it’s not from too much coffee this time.”
“Is it that obvious?” Kyōya asks, with a grimace. He really hasn’t spent time with Corbeau outside of a work setting, and he’s not sure how it’ll go.
“Maybe just because I know you so well,” she replies. “I think you’ll feel better once we’re there anyway, you and Corbeau match each other’s energy well.”
Kyōya likes the sound of that. “It’s just up here, around the corner,” he says, and as they turn the mentioned corner they can see Corbeau and Philippe waiting for them outside, in their usual suits as expected. Philippe catches sight of them first, and waves before saying something to Corbeau, whose eyes then find Kyōya and Seika. Corbeau's cute little resting frown turns into a small smile, and Kyōya can’t help but smile back.
“You both look very nice,” Corbeau greets them with as they approach. Philippe nods in agreement.
“Thank you,” Seika says.
“Yeah, we thought we might feel a bit underdressed showing up in jeans,” Kyōya replies, still grinning in Corbeau’s direction.
“Is that Asami’s work?” Corbeau asks Kyōya as they go inside, Philippe talking to the hostess at the front.
“It is,” Kyōya confirms as the hostess grabs menus and leads them to their table, somewhat surprised at Corbeau picking up on that so quickly. “It was a gift from her.”
“Is there anyone in this city you’re not friends with?” Corbeau teases.
“I’m sure there must be somebody,” Kyōya jokes back. Seika was right, he feels better being here now. He can just talk to Corbeau like he usually does, no overthinking needed.
They settle down at the table—Philippe across from Seika, and Corbeau across from Kyōya—and they spend a minute looking through their menus, before their waitress comes over.
“I’m surprised you’re here for the standard menu tonight instead of the battle menu,” she says to Corbeau and Philippe. Clearly they’re regulars.
“Our visitor here isn’t a trainer,” Corbeau explains, gesturing to Seika. “She’s just here to enjoy the food and experience the best of our lovely city.”
“Oh, welcome to Lumiose!” the waitress says, beaming at Seika, who smiles back. “I hope you enjoy your stay, and your dinner here tonight as well!”
“Thank you, I’m sure I will!”
The waitress takes their orders, and disappears to pass it along to the kitchen.
“So,” Corbeau turns his attention to Kyōya again, “did Asami just give that lovely suit to you ‘cause of your charming personality, or did you help her out with something?” His voice is teasing as it usually is, but the words about his personality still make Kyōya’s face feel warm.
“She wanted to battle against a mega evolved Pokémon,” he answers.
“Ah, against her Florges? Well, what mega did you use?”
Kyōya quirks up an eyebrow. “You seem to know her well if you immediately recognized her work and if you know she uses Florges,” he says, distracted from answering the question.
“Asami designed my suit,” Corbeau replies, admiration clear in his tone. “My glasses chain, too. We spent some time together while she worked on them. She’s a very talented designer.”
Kyōya is not jealous. Nope. He has no reason to be jealous, not a single one. He doesn’t even know if Corbeau is into women, so he could really have no reason to be jealous. Not that he’s jealous in the slightest. Not that he knows if Corbeau is into men either.
“She did a great job,” Seika pipes up, when Kyōya doesn’t immediately respond.
“Uh, yeah, she really did,” Kyōya adds. He tries to shake the pernicious feelings, pushing through them with, “I can’t imagine you without the glasses chain, it seems like such a part of you.”
“Well,” Corbeau’s eyes glimmer, “I do actually take my glasses off when I go to sleep. They’re not permanently attached to me.”
“Except when you fall asleep at your desk,” Philippe cuts in. Corbeau glares over at him, unamused. Philippe just smirks back.
“Fine, except for then,” Corbeau allows. “But you didn’t tell me, what mega did you use?” he asks Kyōya again. “I’m curious.”
“Excadrill,” Kyōya answers.
“Good choice,” Philippe says approvingly.
Corbeau clicks his tongue, looking disappointed. “Steel, not poison, eh? Too bad.”
“I didn’t have a poison Pokémon that could mega evolve on my team at the time,” Kyōya says. He’s pretty sure Corbeau is teasing, but he still wants to explain himself.
“Well, why not?” Corbeau asks, his expression not giving much away, except for that glimmering in his eyes. “Personally, I don't think a team is complete without a poison-type mega.”
He's definitely teasing. “You know, Corbeau,” Kyōya teases back, “I have some Pokémon on my team that don't even know any poison moves.”
Corbeau shakes his head. “You should probably do somethin’ about that.”
Kyōya can't help but laugh, and Corbeau's fake disappointment turns into a small smile.
The waitress appears with their dinners after that, and they accept them gratefully and start to eat.
“So, Seika,” Corbeau says, directing his attention to her now, “type preferences aside, have you thought about picking up a Pokémon yourself while you're here in Lumiose, with your brother to show you the ropes?”
“I've been considering it,” she answers. “I'm just having a hard time deciding which one I'd like to start with.”
“It's too bad most of the best first partners are at pretty high levels,” Kyōya says. “I feel like she might click well with one of them, but I think 20 is the lowest level you can find any of them at in Lumiose, and that's too high for a trainer just starting out.”
“Have you talked to Mable?” Philippe suggests. “I'm pretty sure helping new trainers get started is part of her job as the Acting Director of the Pokémon Research Lab.”
“That's a good idea, actually,” Kyōya replies. “We should stop by there at some point before you leave,” he says to Seika.
“Make sure you call her Professor Mable,” Corbeau tells Seika. “She loves that.”
“Are you trying to get my sister killed?” Kyōya asks, aghast.
Corbeau grimaces. “That's right, I forgot you'd be seeing her in person rather than dealing with her hologram,” he says. “I'd recommend not doing that then.”
“If I let Seika get murdered, our parents will definitely never forgive me,” Kyōya says, and then sighs. “And they're upset with me enough already.”
“Why’re they upset with you?” Corbeau asks. “I didn’t think Lumiose’s favorite do-gooder would be someone who’s at odds with his parents.”
“Well, I wasn't supposed to stay in Lumiose this long, for one,” Kyōya replies, shaking his head at the do-gooder comment. “Plus, I'm not studying anything like Seika is, and I don't have a traditional steady job of any kind. They don’t think being a trainer is sustainable long-term, so they're really not sure what to do with me. They’re pretty traditional.”
“I think they're starting to come around,” Seika tells him. “And of course when I go back, I'm gonna tell them how well you're doing here.”
“Thanks,” Kyōya says, shooting her a grateful look.
“You were just coming here for a vacation, right?” Philippe asks.
“Yeah,” Kyōya says. “That's what it was supposed to be but…” he thinks back, "I think deep down I knew I was gonna stay. I never actually bought a return ticket, even though it would have been a lot cheaper to buy both tickets together if I had gone back.”
“Something was calling you here,” Corbeau says, his expression unreadable.
“I think so,” Kyōya says. He remembers the pull, that he couldn't shake the thought of traveling to Lumiose. “I'd only seen it in pictures, but I even dreamed of it occasionally in the few months before I came here.”
“I've felt that call,” Corbeau says. “I hope they come around, though. I’d imagine it must be tough to go against your parents’ wishes.”
“Your parents were supportive of you becoming the boss of the Rust Syndicate?” Seika asks, misunderstanding the implications of what Corbeau had said.
Kyōya tries to cut her off, knowing it's a sensitive topic, but Corbeau just shakes his head at him.
“It's alright, Kyōya, but thanks for the concern.” He turns to Seika. “I grew up on the streets,” he says simply.
“I'm sorry,” Seika says with a wince.
“I won't lie and say it was easy,” Corbeau says, then gets that mischievous glint back in his eyes, “I think I turned out alright though, eh?” His expression gets serious again. “But I do think it must be…uniquely difficult to go against the wishes your parents have for your future, or for the path you find yourself on to not be the one they expected of you.”
“Well, thankfully it's easier from far away,” Kyōya says with a sheepish grin. “It was definitely much easier to tell them over the phone that I'm staying in Lumiose indefinitely than it was to tell them to their faces that they're probably never getting grandchildren from me because I'm gay.”
It's harder to say that out loud in front of Corbeau than he'd expected, but he's glad to get the words out, glad to get that out into the open. Coming out to his parents had been more difficult, anyway. At least he wanted Corbeau to know.
He just really wishes he could read Corbeau's expression right now.
“Yeah, thanks,” Seika pipes up after a few seconds of silence around the table, “you're leaving the brunt of the grandchildren hopes and dreams to me!”
“Sorry,” Kyōya winces. “I mean it's not impossible, just…”
“Much less likely,” Seika finishes. They've had this conversation before. “Our parents have always told us they want lots and lots of grandkids,” she adds to Corbeau and Philippe. “I don't think they're gonna get that wish, at least not to the extent that they've always said they wanted.”
“They'll just have to get over it,” Corbeau says, his voice maybe the softest Kyōya has ever heard it, the warmth of it feeling somewhat at odds with the content of what he’d said.
“You have to live your lives, not theirs,” Philippe adds in agreement.
“Yeah,” Kyōya says, and then winces again. “Sorry to bring the mood down.”
“Don't worry about it,” Philippe says.
“Thanks for trusting us enough to share all that with us,” Corbeau adds, meeting Kyōya’s eyes with an intense, and still unreadable, gaze.
Kyōya nods. “Anyway, no matter what my parents might want me to be doing instead, I know this city is where I'm meant to be, and I'm not leaving,” he says stubbornly, trying to regain his equilibrium.
“Lumiose is better with you in it,” Corbeau says, still in that soft tone that Kyōya had never heard before tonight. “Besides,” his eyes start to glimmer with mischief again and his voice lightens, “the Savior of Lumiose can't just leave Lumiose, that wouldn't make any sense.”
“Hey!” Kyōya protests and kicks lightly at Corbeau's feet under the table.
Corbeau just laughs, not moving his feet out of the way. “Like I said—”
“Yeah, yeah, you don't make the rules,” Kyōya finishes for him. They grin at each other, and Kyōya feels his heart pounding in his ears. His emotions are all over the place, and he's not quite sure what to make of Corbeau's reaction to all the information Kyōya just let loose on him, but he doesn't think it's negative. Not with Corbeau smiling at him like that.
And his mind just keeps turning over the phrase, ‘Lumiose is better with you in it,’ in that soft, warm tone that's so unlike anything Kyōya is used to from Corbeau.
The waitress comes by again to clear their empty dinner places and take their dessert orders, helping even more to break up the slight tension that had settled over the table with the heavy topics.
“You know, Kyōya,” Seika starts as the desserts are dropped off. There’s a worrisome conniving glint in her eyes, and Kyōya braces himself for what she might say. “Maybe our parents will be less worried about you staying here if we find you a boyfriend.”
He glares at her, and tries very hard not to look over at Corbeau. So much for breaking the tension.
“What’s the nightlife scene here like?” Seika continues, looking over at the two men on the other side of the table. “Any cool clubs?”
Philippe snorts. “Not my scene, you kids have fun with that though.”
Corbeau shrugs, Kyōya sees it out of the corner of his eye as he still tries not to look in Corbeau’s direction. “Not really mine either, sorry.”
“No?” Seika asks Corbeau. “You don’t seem that much older than us, you don’t know anything about the nightlife of this city?”
“He’s a work-a-holic,” Philippe teases.
“Guilty,” Corbeau says, with another shrug. “Although,” he continues, sounding thoughtful, “I was talking to Grisham the other day, and he mentioned Griselle keeps talking about this new place that she wants to check out. It sounded like she wants someone to go with, and Grisham isn’t really that interested in going. You could stop by the cafe truck and ask her about it, I’m sure she’d enjoy it if you went with her.” He looks at Kyōya, “But I admit, I'm surprised that Team MZ haven't sampled any of the city’s nightlife yet. I’d have thought you'd all be of legal age for that.”
Kyōya nods, finally meeting Corbeau’s eyes again. “Yeah, we are. Naveen and I are 20—my birthday is in like two months though—and Taunie and Lida are 21.” He shrugs. “We've just been so busy with everything that's been happening. Plus, usually if I have a free night I'm spending it in the Royale.”
“I see I'm not the only work-a-holic at this table,” Corbeau says with a small smile.
“I guess not,” Kyōya replies sheepishly. “I also don't have anything to wear to a club,” he says to his sister.
“We can fix that,” Seika beams at him, and he starts to worry again about what she's gonna say next. “If I'd thought about it, I would've brought some of your cute outfits—maybe one of the skirts you have—from back home, but I guess I'll just have to take you shopping instead. You're letting me stay at Hotel Z for free and taking care of most of my meals, I can buy you a cute little skirt to go clubbing in.”
Kyōya blinks at her, once again trying very hard not to look at Corbeau. He does like wearing skirts sometimes, it's fun to feel cute like that. “Okay,” he says quietly. “Sure.”
“Yay!” Seika says, clapping. “We'll go see this Griselle tomorrow and get the details about the club and then we'll go shopping for a cute outfit!” She glances back across the table. “You're welcome to join us at the club,” she offers to Corbeau. “I'm gonna try to drag the whole of Team MZ along too, maybe you could stand to take a night off from work and have some fun with us, especially since you seem to be friends with Griselle!”
Kyōya finally looks back over at Corbeau, who looks slightly shell-shocked. Kyōya can't tell if it's in a good way or a bad way, though.
“I'll consider it,” Corbeau says, his voice somewhat flat. “I suppose if Griselle manages to rope Grisham in as well, he'd be happy to have me along, too.” He clears his throat. “No promises though—like I said, it's not really my scene.”
“You should join them, boss,” Philippe says, and ignores the unamused glare Corbeau sends his way. “Go out and have fun while you’re still young.”
“I’m not that young anymore,” Corbeau mutters. Philippe raises an eyebrow at him.
“Really though,” Seika cuts in, “how old are you?” Kyōya kicks at her shin under the table with the side of his foot but she ignores him.
Corbeau looks at her for a second, considering. “How old d’you think I am?” he asks finally, his expression back in that resting state that is impossible for Kyōya to read.
“Kyōya, how old is he?” Seika asks, turning to look at her brother expectantly.
“He hasn’t told me, either!” Kyōya protests.
“Okay, Kyōya,” Corbeau directs at him, “how old do you think I am?”
Kyōya thinks for a minute. “When I first met you,” he says finally, “I thought you were probably around 30.”
“And what d’you think now?” Corbeau asks.
“26?” Kyōya guesses.
Corbeau’s expression remains unreadable. “Your guess, Seika?”
“I was gonna say 27,” she says finally.
“Kyōya’s closer,” Corbeau admits. “I’m 25.”
“Oh, you’re definitely still clubbing age,” Seika says, with a big innocent-seeming grin at him. “I’m only two years younger than that.”
Corbeau huffs a laugh and shakes his head. “Like I said, I’ll consider it. And, uh, I do appreciate the invitation.”
“Of course,” Seika beams at him. “It’s been fun spending time with you guys!” She glances over at Kyōya for a second and he gets that nervous feeling in his stomach once again. “I can see why Kyōya talked so highly of you.”
“Seika…” Kyōya whines, embarrassed.
Corbeau huffs another laugh. “You might wanna give your brother a break,” he tells her, “or he might lock you outta your room and make you sleep out in the hotel courtyard tonight.”
That doesn’t really help, because now Kyōya is aware that his face must be bright red with how fiercely his cheeks are burning. Thankfully, the waitress comes by again with the bill, handing it to Corbeau, giving Kyōya a much-needed breather.
Kyōya takes the opportunity to glare at Seika, trying to convey, ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ with the look.
She just shrugs at him, looking pleased with herself, and he hears, ‘As your big sister, it’s my job to embarrass you,’ from the expression.
Kyōya shakes his head and looks back over to the other side of the table, catching Philippe’s gaze on him, a small smirk on the man’s face. Philippe just nods at him, then starts to stand up as Corbeau hands the bill back over to the waitress and starts to stand up as well. Kyōya isn’t quite sure what that’s all about, but it seems like a good sign, somehow.
They walk outside together into the cool night air, as Seika says “Thank you for taking us to dinner, it was really delicious and I had a great time!”
“Yeah,” Kyōya chimes in. “Thank you guys so much. This was really great!” He glances at Seika. “Sorry about my sister, though, she wasn’t well trained.”
“Hey!” She elbows him in the side and he yelps way more dramatically than the motion deserved.
Corbeau and Philippe laugh lightly at the siblings’ antics.
“It was our pleasure,” Corbeau says. Philippe nods in agreement.
“And we’ll see you tomorrow night,” Seika directs at Corbeau, who smiles sheepishly.
“Maybe,” he allows, glancing over at Kyōya, his expression once again unreadable. Kyōya’s not sure what his own face is doing right now either, though, except he knows he’s blushing. He just hopes the streetlights are low enough to hide how red his face feels.
They say their goodnights and turn to leave, but Corbeau stops them. “Ah, Kyōya.”
Kyōya turns around to look at him. “Yeah?” he asks.
“Nice satchel,” Corbeau says, his mouth turned up in a lopsided grin.
“Oh, thanks,” Kyōya says, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Didn’t have anything else that matched this outfit well enough.” He’s not sure he needed the excuse but it slips out anyway.
“It suits you,” Corbeau says, his voice quiet, his eyes blazing. “Have a good night, Kyōya,” he finishes, and his eyes finally leave Kyōya’s to turn to Seika, “and you too, Seika.”
They wave goodbye again and walk off back towards Hotel Z. Kyōya waits until they’ve turned the corner a bit of a ways down the street from the restaurant before turning to his sister and repeatedly smacking her anywhere he can reach. “You are a MENACE,” smack, “a TERROR,” smack, “and a DANGER to SOCIETY!”
“Ow, ow, ow!” she says, as she bursts out laughing. “I’m helping!” she insists, ducking out of the way of more slaps. “I helped, I helped, stop hitting me!” she laughs.
Kyōya lets out a dramatic moan of disgust as he stops attacking her. “What if he thinks—”
“No!” Seika cuts him off. “No what ifs, no overthinking, he wants you so bad and tomorrow night one of you is gonna make a move if I have to shove you together myself!” She shakes her head at him. “He barely took his eyes off you all night, he flirted with you constantly, he was so extremely gentle with you when you were talking about our parents and when you came out, and he really, really, seemed to like the thought of you in a skirt.”
Kyōya blinks, taking it all in. “Yeah?” he asks finally, his voice quiet and uncertain.
Seika sighs. “You can't be this oblivious, Kyōkyō. Come on, you have to see it, it's so obvious how much he likes you.”
Kyōya wants to see it, wants to believe it, but…he sighs. “I've just never liked anyone this much,” he admits quietly. “It’s a little scary.”
“Oh, sorry,” Seika says sarcastically, “I thought you were the same brother who stared down a giant rampaging tower, mega evolved Zygarde for the first time in known history, and stopped mega Darkrai from sucking the entirety of this city into an alternate dimension. My bad.”
Kyōya lets this sink in for a minute. “Okay, maybe you have a point,” he says finally, feeling a bit sheepish. “But, it’s just that I’m good at that stuff. I don’t know if I’ll be good at—” he waves his hand vaguely, “relationship stuff.”
“So you’ll learn, like you learned how to be an amazing Pokémon trainer in just a few short months,” she says. “You’ll figure it out,” she assures him.
He sighs again. “I hate when you’re right,” he mutters.
“So, like, always?” she teases.
He shakes his head at her and bumps his shoulder into hers, jostling her as they walk back towards the hotel to go to sleep.
Corbeau tries to focus on his work. He’s usually really good at putting everything else out of his head and getting done what he needs to, but, today…well, it’s not going well. He keeps getting knocked out of his work with memories from last night’s dinner that keep popping up unbidden.
Sometimes it’s the sadness in Kyōya’s big eyes when he was talking about the disappointment of his parents. Sometimes it’s the kick of Kyōya’s feet against his, the warmth of Kyōya’s smile radiating across the table. Sometimes it’s the blush, rising high in Kyōya’s cheeks as he was teased mercilessly throughout the dinner by both Seika and Corbeau, in very different ways. Sometimes it’s the satchel with Corbeau’s signature poison drip pattern, secured against Kyōya’s hip, marking him in a way that makes Corbeau want to leave more marks, different kinds of marks, so everyone knows Kyōya is his. And sometimes it’s the imagined scene of Kyōya in a cute, short skirt, in the dark of a club, smiling brightly as he pulls Corbeau closer…Corbeau shakes his head, trying to clear that last one.
Last night’s dinner was both a resounding success, and a complete nightmare. He feels much closer to Kyōya, like he really got a chance to get to know Kyōya better outside of the chaos of everything they’ve been working together on over the last few months. He’s got confirmation that Kyōya is gay, that he’s single, and (if Corbeau is being honest with himself, which comes and goes) relatively solid confirmation that Kyōya is interested in Corbeau as way more than a friend, mostly in the form of an almost unreasonable amount of Seika teasing her brother. A resounding success.
Unfortunately, that now means Corbeau probably has to do something about all of that. Of course he wants to, in theory. He desperately wants to. He just has no idea where to start. That’s the nightmare part.
“You are going tonight, right?” Philippe asks from where he's been doing his own work on one of the couches, probably noticing that Corbeau hasn’t made a single mark on the page of his paperwork that he’s been trying to work on for the last half hour.
Corbeau sighs and drops his pen on the desk, watching it skitter across the dark surface. “I know I probably should,” he mutters.
“Yeah,” Philippe agrees, “you should.”
Corbeau is about to snip back at him when his Rotom phone pops up in front of him with a phone call. Griselle. He answers it, and her bright red and blonde hair fills his screen.
“I hope you’re not thinking of wearing that tonight,” is what she opens with.
“Hi, Griselle,” Corbeau says. “D’you need something?”
She smirks at him. “Kyōya and his sister just left the cafe, they’re on their way to go shopping for a clubbing outfit. But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
He pushes his glasses further up his nose. “How would I know that?”
“I thought you had a tracker on Kyōya,” she teases.
Corbeau rolls his eyes. “It’s not like I’m constantly checking it, it's just for emergencies at this point.”
“Wait, you actually still have one on him?” she asks, her eyes dramatically wide. “I was kidding.”
He just shakes his head. “What do you want, Griselle? I’m busy.”
“No you’re not,” Philippe says from across the room. Corbeau flips him off without looking, and hears Philippe snicker.
“Well, you’re really gonna have to find something else to wear for tonight,” she says, her voice dripping with derision.
“Okay, what the hell’s wrong with my suit?” Corbeau asks, offended.
“Nothing, obviously,” Griselle replies, batting her eyelashes innocently at him. “You just can’t show up to a club as ‘Rust Syndicate Boss Corbeau’ and expect to be able to enjoy your night instead of having half the club immediately disappear and the other half swarm you to try to get favors out of you. Oh, also, you’ll look stuffy and out of place.”
Corbeau glares at her, unamused.
“I’ll be at your apartment in five minutes to help you dig through that big-ass closet of yours and try to help you find something suitable for clubbing,” she continues brightly.
“I’m not there right now,” Corbeau protests, “I’m still at work, clearly.” He gestures at the view of the battle court behind him.
“Well, hurry the fuck up, then!” Griselle hangs up.
Corbeau sits there for a second. “I haven’t even said for sure that I’m going yet,” he says, to nobody in particular.
“Sounds like you've got no choice now,” Philippe says, laughter clear in his voice. “And you’d really better hurry up or Griselle is gonna break into your apartment before you have a chance to get there. And knowing her, she’ll do it by smashing a window and then you’d have to get that replaced.”
Corbeau sighs and readjusts his glasses on his face. “Guess I really don’t have a choice,” he relents. It’s not the end of the world, honestly. At least it stops his mind from going in endless circles. Better to just get out there and do what needs to be done then sit around trying to puzzle it out.
Okay, so, he’s doing this. Exactly what ‘this’ is, he’ll figure that out as he goes.
“You got everything under control here, Philippe?” Corbeau asks, standing up.
“Don’t worry about me, boss, I’ve got it covered. Go have fun. See you tomorrow.” He pauses. “Maybe.”
Corbeau raises an eyebrow at him.
“I’m just saying,” Philippe says with a shrug, “I’ve still got it covered if you decide to take the day off tomorrow. You know, if you’re uh…laid up.” He smirks.
Huh. Double entendre aside, Corbeau hadn’t really thought that far ahead, but he supposes…if everything goes right tonight, maybe he can afford to take a day off work. Or at least the morning. “We’ll see what happens,” he says finally.
“Okay, boss, but if you don’t show up for work tomorrow morning, I’ll know why and I’ll handle it. You’d better get going, though,” Philippe reminds him, “or Griselle’s gonna get antsy waiting for you.”
“Yeah, yeah, right,” Corbeau says and heads over to the elevator. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says, stepping into the elevator. “At some point,” he says over his shoulder as the door closes behind him. “Maybe.” He's not sure if Philippe hears the last word or not but it doesn't matter.
He wouldn't tell Philippe this, but he is grateful for the way Philippe has constantly tried to push him out of his comfort zone with Kyōya. Corbeau had seen right through the dinner invitation that Philippe had suggested to Kyōya and Seika but to be honest, he'd been looking for an excuse to spend time with Kyōya outside of hyperspace surveys, especially since that’s all slowed down a lot now that the danger has passed and Ansha’s dream has been achieved.
And, well, as stressful as it had been at the time, he thinks hyperspace Lumiose and all the chaos that came along with it may have been the best thing that happened to him. It definitely brought him and Kyōya closer together, at the very least.
He's pulled out of his thoughts as he arrives at his apartment building, taking the holovator to the roof to find Griselle waiting for him outside of his apartment’s rooftop door.
“Took you long enough,” she says as greeting, grinning at him.
“Remind me why I'm lettin’ you do this,” Corbeau replies, unlocking his door and holding it open for her.
“You have no choice,” Griselle says happily as she walks into his apartment and kicks her shoes off onto the mat sitting next to the door for that purpose. “Got anything to drink?” she asks over her shoulder, heading in the direction of his bedroom. Griselle and Grisham had crashed at his place at various times in the year or two after the fall of Team Flare while they tried to figure their lives out, so she knows her way around pretty well.
“Pregaming already, eh?” Corbeau calls after her, stepping out of his shoes as well and walking over to the kitchen. He slips off his suit jacket, hanging it on the hook on the wall as he walks by it.
“Just berry juice or something,” she calls back, disappearing into his room.
Corbeau tosses his Scolipede out of its ball as he walks over to the kitchen and it settles down immediately on its cushy bed in the corner of the living room. He grabs a few various berries from the bowl on his counter, walking back over and dropping them into the food bowl next to Scolipede’s cozy corner. As he walks back into the kitchen to look through his fridge, he hears Scolipede nibble on some of the berries.
The Pecha and Occa blend should be good, he thinks, pulling out the carton and pouring two glasses of it before putting the carton back in the fridge. He looks back over to the corner to see Scolipede curled up to take a nap and smiles as he heads into his bedroom with the two glasses to see what chaos Griselle may be causing in there.
His closet door is open and he peeks in. “Drink?” he asks, holding out the glass to Griselle, who is currently rifling through his pants hangers.
“Yeah,” she says, glancing at him just long enough to grab the glass before continuing to sift through his pants with one hand. “Did you throw out everything that's not black slacks?” she asks him, sounding annoyed.
“No,” Corbeau answers. She looks at him. “I donated ‘em to a homeless shelter.” He ignores her muttered obscenities and leans against the door frame, taking a sip of the berry juice.
“Even those tight purple jeans you had?” she asks after another few seconds.
“Yeah, those too.” He sees her shake her head, but she flips through one more time as though she expects to find something else.
“Do you at least have something in a different cut than your usual slacks?” she finally asks, giving up on trying to tell the difference between the very similar articles of clothing. “Maybe a slightly slimmer cut? A little longer in the leg?”
“Hmmm,” Corbeau thinks for a minute. He might, actually. He walks over to the back wall and picks out a pair that really does look like every other pair of pants hanging there, but he's pretty sure these are more of the cut she's looking for. He puts his drink down on an empty surface and takes the pants off the hanger, shaking them out before holding them up against his waist. “Yeah?”
Griselle considers this for a moment. “Good enough,” she says, “but you're gonna need something else…” She starts opening and closing drawers until she finds what she's looking for — his ties and various other accessories. “Ha! Perfect!”
She chugs the rest of her drink and puts the empty glass down next to Corbeau’s and starts rifling through the drawer. After picking up and discarding a few things, she pulls out a thin Ariados-silk scarf that had been a birthday gift last year from some of the Rust Syndicate grunts. It's black down the center, with his bright maroon poison drip pattern running up the sides. Then she grabs one of his belts out of the drawer and removes the buckle from it, dropping the band of the belt haphazardly back into the drawer.
“This is gonna be your belt,” she starts to explain, and then is derailed by her Rotom phone popping up in front of her face with a new-text chirp. “Oooo,” she says, sounding excited, her eyes wide. “Seika just texted me a picture of Kyōya in his new outfit for tonight.”
Corbeau blinks. “Can I see?” he asks, even though he's pretty sure of what Griselle’s answer is gonna be.
“Absolutely not,” she says, beaming at him, then looks back at her phone. “Rotom, text,” she commands. “O M G so cute! He's gonna lose it!”
“Am I the ‘he?’” Corbeau asks, once again already knowing the answer.
“Rotom, send,” Griselle commands, and her phone plays the sent-text chirp and disappears back into her pocket. “Of course you are,” she answers with a smirk.
Corbeau shakes his head, resigned. “How long’ve you known, anyway?” he asks. They haven't really talked about Kyōya before, or at least not about Corbeau's feelings for Kyōya.
“What, that you guys are completely obsessed with each other?” she asks. Corbeau inclines his head, indicating that's obviously what he's talking about. “Since you made him come meet you by the truck to annoy Grisham into giving you some of our Hoennian salt.”
“Was I that obvious?” Corbeau asks. He doesn’t think he was even being particularly flirty then.
Griselle nods emphatically. “Oh~, Kyōya~,” she says, pitching her voice lower, “don’t you think a meal shared with someone you feel comfortable with is the perfect start to a day~?”
“That’s not what I sound like,” Corbeau grumbles.
“Oh~, Kyōya~,” she continues, unfazed, “thank you for single-handedly saving Lumiose from Prism Tower~. You’re so strong and powerful~.”
“Are you done?” Corbeau asks, glaring at her.
“One more,” she says, in her regular tone, before switching back to her very bad imitation of Corbeau. “Oh~, Kyōya~, I’m leaving this in your capable hands~ Your very strong and powerful and capable hands that I want all over m—”
“Are you done?” Corbeau asks again, more emphatically this time.
“Yes,” she replies, looking very proud of herself.
Corbeau pushes his glasses back up his nose and then sighs. He may not sound like that but…well, he did kinda say all those things. Maybe not quite that way, or quite to the extent that Griselle is teasing him about doing, but he can’t argue with the main substance behind it. “What about Kyōya?” he asks, trying to get the spotlight off of himself. “What’d he say that clued you in on his end?”
Griselle hums, thinking. “It’s just the way he looks at you, really,” she says finally. “The way he smiles so sweetly at you, even when you’re being obnoxious.”
“He smiles at everyone,” Corbeau says, but Griselle shakes her head.
“Not like that,” she says. “I know he’s our friendly little neighborhood Yamper and he wags his cute little tail at everyone he passes by, but the heart eyes he makes at you,” she whistles in a descending tone, “whole different level.”
Huh. Cute. Both the image of Kyōya as a little tail-wagging Yamper, and the fact that apparently he has a special smile just for Corbeau.
“You like him a lot, don’t you?” Griselle asks, only a light teasing left in her tone, now mixed with a bit of softness. Corbeau supposes he must’ve had a fond expression on his face. Philippe usually points those fond expressions out to him after Kyōya has just left the office.
“Yeah,” Corbeau admits with a small sigh. “I really do.”
“Never thought the day would come where someone would swoop in and melt your cold, shriveled heart,” she teases lightly.
“I’m as shocked as you,” he jokes back, and then continues softly, “it really took me by surprise.”
Griselle pats his shoulder, somewhat awkwardly, but Corbeau can read into her good intentions. “Let me finish digging something good enough out of this boring closet of yours so we can get you laid tonight,” she says, with a smirk.
So much for good intentions. Corbeau rolls his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Griselle says sarcastically, heading over to the shirts hanging in his closet, avoiding the section that’s just entirely his usual purple ones, “is that not what you want? Like, is that not the entire goal of going to the club tonight?”
Well, she’s not wrong, but, “I was thinkin’ of it more as an opportunity to make our feelings clear to each other,” Corbeau says.
“And then after you do that, bringing him back here to fuck him,” Griselle says, grinning over her shoulder at him. “Or get fucked by him,” she amends, flipping through his shirts, “I don’t know what you’re into. Oh!,” she says, not giving him a chance to respond, “I think I found a good one.” She pulls out a moss green button-up shirt, with embroidered outlines of Roserade flowers scattered around. “Okay, put all that on, I wanna see how it all looks together.”
Corbeau takes the outfit and walks towards his bathroom to change, shaking his head at Griselle's antics.
“Hey, you got any other shoes besides those purple-tips?” she calls after him.
“There should be somethin’ in there somewhere,” he calls back, and closes the bathroom door behind him to change into the different clothes. She didn’t give him the belt yet, but he assumes by the design of it that she does mean for him to tuck the shirt in, so he does that, buttoning it nearly up to the top button. He glances at himself in the mirror. It looks alright, he supposes. Nothing special.
Maybe the belt is the finishing touch, he wonders, as he walks back out into his bedroom, where Griselle is perched on the edge of his bed, waiting.
“Put this on,” Griselle commands, handing him the scarf-belt. “It’s gonna hang there,” she points to the space between two belt loops on his right hip. She glances over him as he starts threading the scarf through his belt loops. “You’re gonna have to unbutton at least two more buttons on that shirt, by the way.”
He raises an eyebrow at her.
“We’re going slutty,” she says. “Well, as much as we can now that you’ve apparently given away all your fun clothes.”
“I’m not sure I had anything that could’ve been considered ‘slutty’ even before I got rid of any of ‘em,” he replies as he finishes pulling the scarf through the belt loops, but he complies and undoes two of the buttons.
Griselle reaches forward and pulls the shirt more open, Corbeau’s chest tattoos peeking out slightly from the sides.
“Too far,” he says, and pulls the shirt back slightly closed, just enough to cover the tattoo edges.
“The tattoos are sexy,” she complains. “You should show them off. They make you seem cool. You need more of that.”
“I’m not trying to pick up some random guy who doesn’t already know me,” he reminds her. “I just wanna look nice for Kyōya—and not make a scene as the Rust Syndicate Boss—I don’t need to go overboard tryin’ to be somethin' I’m not.” He relents a bit though, and lets the shirt fall open enough to show a hint of the designs there. Maybe not even enough of a hint to be seen under dark club lighting.
“So you’re admitting you’re kind of a loser?” Griselle teases. She ignores Corbeau rolling his eyes and continues, “Does Kyōya know about the tattoos already?”
“Not yet,” Corbeau answers.
“Well, he'll find out tonight,” Griselle says with a wink. “Here,” she says, holding out a pair of shoes that Corbeau had forgotten he owned. “Put these on. Oh, and do you have any of your old pairs of glasses? You can’t go in with those, even without the chain.”
“Maybe in that drawer over there,” he points, and she jumps up to go dig through it.
Corbeau sits down at the edge of bed, next to the spot Griselle had just vacated, and puts the shoes on as she finds a glasses case and snaps it open, pulling out a pair of slightly large black-rimmed glasses that are flat across the tops.
“Those’re sunglasses,” he says. “Well, they change into ‘em when it’s sunny,” he amends, after Griselle looks at the mostly-clear lenses and back at him with an eyebrow raised.
“Okay, and it’ll be nighttime so you don’t have to worry about that. Put them on.”
Corbeau takes his regular glasses off, lifting them up and around to neatly take the chain with them. He snaps them shut and puts them down on his bedside table, the poison drip chain curling around them. Then he puts on the glasses Griselle is holding out to him. They’re a slightly older prescription but it’s good enough.
“Stand up,” she orders, and once he does she grabs the ends of the silk scarf around his waist and feeds them through the rectangle of thin silver metal that she’d pulled off that other belt. Then she steps back and admires her handiwork. “Check that out and let me know what you think.”
Corbeau walks over to his full-length mirror in his closet and looks at the finished product. The cut of the pants does make his legs look a bit longer, which is always nice, and his trim figure stands out more than it usually does, especially because it’s usually hidden under his oversized-fit suit jacket. The shirt fits him nicely, and does show off a decent amount of his toned chest, giving just a hint of the tattoos on it. The shoes have a small heel, and he thinks that adds to the illusion of longer legs. The scarf around his waist is a nice accent, too, making the outfit more interesting overall.
“You’ll get to feel slightly taller for once,” Griselle grins at him from the closet doorway. “Well, maybe back on the same level — I think Kyōya had a mini last-minute growth spurt since he came to Lumiose. His shoes have a smaller heel though,” she continues, pulling back out her Rotom phone to check the picture Seika had sent her.
“You’re really not gonna let me see the picture?” he asks, ignoring the jab about his height—he knows he’s short. She might be right about Kyōya’s late growth spurt though, Corbeau has kinda felt like he’s looking up slightly more at Kyōya these days.
“Not a chance,” Griselle chirps. “You’re just gonna have to come see it for yourself.”
Corbeau sighs. He wasn’t really expecting a different answer, though. “Where’re we going, anyway?” he asks.
“Just meet me and Grish at the coffee truck around, like, 9:30? We’ll head over together and meet up with Team MZ, and Seika, at the club.”
“You actually managed to get Grisham to agree to go?” Corbeau asks, somewhat surprised.
“Just like you, he has no choice,” Griselle says smugly. “Also, he kinda wants to see this for himself.”
“I’m glad my attempt at gettin’ into a relationship is so interesting to you guys,” Corbeau deadpans.
Griselle just grins at him. “Okay, you’re good enough, I gotta get back to work for a few hours,” she says, and turns to head out. “See you later! Don’t forget I know where you live, if you even try to think about not showing up!”
“You’re standing in my apartment, Griselle, I think I’m aware that you know where I live.”
She just disappears with a final, “Bye~,” the front door slamming behind her as she runs out back to the café truck.