Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

It wasn’t enough. Of course it wouldn’t be enough. Fighting the alphas of the various wild zones and making the city a safer place was a good start but watching her pokemon battle wasn’t giving her the rush it used to. She didn’t want to command them to crunch or to play rough; she wanted to be the one to do it. Not to the pokemon of course, she’d never intentionally hurt a creature to appease her own anger but she’d be more than happy to take this surplus of energy out on someone. Flashes of Urbain’s face in her head had her biting her lip until it bled and when the last of the alphas in wild zone seventeen she finally decided that she wasn’t going to get what she wanted by just battling pokemon.

The run back home hadn’t done much for her either other than stress her leg out. She’d almost run into Naveen who she found standing outside the lobby of the condo looking a little lost. For a brief moment she thought about just passing him up and going upstairs to get back to her father and Corbeau assuming both were still there with as late as it was. It wasn’t Naveen who had pissed her off earlier though so instead of doing what her brain told her to do in its emotional state she stopped to listen to what he had to say.

“Harmony, I’m glad I caught you. Corbeau said you weren’t home. Where have you been?” She shrugged.

“I had therapy and went to some of the new wild zones to burn off some steam. What did you need me for?” He looked skeptical but she couldn’t have cared less about if he believed her right now. She was still struggling to self regulate and couldn’t bring herself to try to worry about how her words came across. She probably sounded like she was mad at him which was a shame because she truly wasn’t.

At least not until the next few words came out of his mouth.

“I wanted to ask you if you’d be willing to come talk some sense into Urbain. He’s going mad over the whole pregnancy thing.” She didn’t even have to think before she answered.

“No.”

“No?” He seemed taken aback by how quickly she’d shut it down. She supposed that was her own fault, she’d normally bend over backwards to appease him. Do everything in her power to make things easier for them.

“If I go over there right now and he starts spouting off that bullshit like he was on the call I am going to end up punching him Naveen.” He seemed a little startled by that admission.

“Harmony, this is going to destroy him…” She shook her head again. She absolutely would not be going in there.

“And it isn’t destroying me? He’s not the one dealing with the reality of having this thing inside of him, is he?” She took a step back and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for.” Naveen shook his head.

“No. No you’re right. I let him talk me into coming to ask you to go over there but I-” He tapped his foot on the ground and looked back in the direction of the hotel. “This isn’t fair to you. Especially not after the way he talked to you yesterday and the stealing… Maybe I was too hard on Corbeau, I think Urbain needed this to happen. I don’t like it but he’s-” He cut himself off. “Nevermind, I’m gonna go. Lida’s beside herself right now and I promised her I’d get her some sweets to cheer her up.” He turned to walk away and stopped himself mid-step, “Your dad uh… Seems a little intense. Thank you for making sure Urbain had somewhere safe to be.” She nodded and bid him a farewell, watching him walk off for only a moment before she went into the lobby.

She was covered in sweat from her run and was still brimming with energy but more than that she’d realized she hadn’t eaten anything since the crepes that morning and her stomach was more than a little upset at her for it. It had been growling and gurgling sporadically for hours, annoying her even further. Not enough to actually stop and get something but enough to make her impatiently tap her foot on the floor of the elevator as she waited for it to climb to the top floor.

She didn’t know if she should hope that they were cooking or hope that they weren’t considering her recent triggers with food. Oh well, she’d get over it if they were. She was too hungry to care at the moment. Maybe Corbeau didn’t have plans for some of the things in the fridge so she could go and scavenge like the feral beast she felt like at the moment.

As it turns out though, they were cooking. Or rather Corbeau was cooking while her father sat at the table chatting away with him. They seemed far more comfortable with one another than they were that morning but then again the way the meeting took place didn’t exactly get them off on the best start for the day. This was a heartwarming scene tho and thank Arceus that whatever he was cooking didn’t immediately turn her stomach.

“Harmony! Where have you been? Mr. Crow and I have called you several times.” She froze in her spot, pulling her phone out of her pocket and realizing that she’d never turned the ringer back on. Ugh, of course she’d forget something like that. She had been wondering why neither of them had called her when she’d sent the driver away rather than return to the condo with them but she simply pushed that to the back of her mind.

You’re far too selfish.

“I’m sorry, I was out in the wild zones trying to work through some things.” Corbeau pushed the pan he was cooking in back onto an unlit burner and turned, opening his arms out wide for her. She walked up to him but didn’t hug immediately. “I’m covered in sweat honey, I don’t think you want to hug me right now.” He seemed to think for a moment and then shrugged and pulled her into a hug anyway, she sank into it.

“You had me worried, particularly after Naveen showed up. Is everything okay?” He whispered into her ear and she pulled back from the hug to give him a small smile. She put on a mask so they couldn’t see just how utterly wrecked she was inside. Her dad was tolerant of a lot it seemed but this was something that was for Corbeau’s ears and eyes alone.

“I’m fine, just talked about a lot in therapy. I’m going to go take a shower though, I feel gross.” He chuckled and nodded, giving her an additional squeeze before he let her go.

Thirty minutes later she was back in the kitchen with her father and Corbeau and going through her time in therapy with them, with massive edits of course. Corbeau knew there was more to what was going on but he said nothing about it all to her great relief. She knew an additional grilling session would be happening as soon as her father left to return to hotel Z.

She’d eaten almost an entire basket of bread by herself while they waited for the meal he was cooking to be done and her father had stared at her like she’d lost her mind. Maybe she had because normally she didn’t care for bread but right now she couldn’t get enough of it.

“Harmony, you will spoil your meal.” He’d admonished her after her fourth piece and she stopped mid chew to look at him. He wasn’t wrong of course, she was, but she was also so hungry that it didn’t matter to her at the moment. “Mr. Crow has been cooking for hours. Show some respect.” She nodded and sat her latest victim- a fourth of a crusty baguette- down on her plate.

“Sorry Baba.” Corbeau turned back around to look at them and shook his head with a small smile on his face. She was glad he was enjoying himself because she felt like a child again, being admonished for eating all of the side dishes before their mains were even ready.

“It’s okay sir-Toya.” Corbeau caught himself at the last minute, it was still so strange for her to hear him saying her father’s name but she assumed it must have been stranger for him to say it.

“I taught her to have better manners.” She nodded, slipping her hands down into her lap and sitting up a bit straighter.

After that little interaction dinner had gone pretty well, Corbeau’s food was as always fantastic and her father complimented his cooking several times. He wouldn’t say it out loud but she could see the pride on his face as her father tucked into his second portion. His hand found hers multiple times throughout the meal and though she’d been given the option of having a glass of wine she’d decided to simply drink water for the night. She knew that the ultimate goal was to get rid of the pregnancy but she’d had the entire afternoon to think about it and she didn’t want to cause things to be worse for it. It was a silly thing, but still something she did. It wasn’t fair to the child even if it was just a small clump of cells at the moment.

All it would ever be.

Why did that thought make her have to blink away her tears? She didn’t want the thing so what the heck was going on with her? Yet another thing to blame on hormones she supposed.

Her father left shortly after dinner, not before giving her a huge hug though and promising that he would be more understanding about their unconventional relationship. She didn’t know how to respond to that, she thought he was already being very understanding as it was but she hugged him back regardless and thanked him for being there for her. It was an emotional moment for her, probably more so for him because he’d been crying when he left.

Emotions were still so hard to understand. Before all of this she’d been just another normal woman out there just doing what felt right in the moment and trying to make the world a slightly better place while she carved out a niche for herself. Now she was a buzzing mess of misplaced anger, depression and anxiety. Oh how the world could knock you on your ass in a fraction of a second. A little blip could throw you off course so badly you’d come crashing into the side of a marina when you were meant to be out on the open ocean.

“Harmony, can you tell me what’s bothering you?” Corbeau startled her out of her thoughts and she realized that she was just standing there staring at the closed door in front of her for probably a ridiculously long time. She wasn’t really looking at anything, her gaze turned inward, examining herself and the multitude of injuries. Scars invisible to the naked eye that were affecting her structural integrity.

“I’m sorry, I was just thinking.” She turned to face him and gave him a small smile to help calm his worries. Now that her dad was gone she needed to ask him something. “Did you have a chance to call the doctor today?” It was a long shot but she hoped that maybe he’d gotten a chance to do that while her father was otherwise occupied. To her great relief he nodded.

“The appointment isn’t for another couple of days but it’s scheduled. I gave him enough information to let him know what it was for but given that your father was here I had to be vague about it. He understands though.” She felt a weight lift off of her shoulders and threw herself at him in a crushing hug. Or what would have been one if she wasn’t basically ms spaghetti arms. For as much as she commanded her team and dodged constantly during the rogue battles she was pretty much useless when it came down to actual strength. Something she needed to work on.

“Corbeau. Can we go to the apartment tonight?” He raised a brow at the request and she knew it was odd but… well, she kind of needed the space. For more than one reason.

“Of course, but what for?”

“Dual purpose. I wanted to ask you to help me with something and then maybe ask you to show me the kinds of things you’re into that you haven’t shared with me yet. If you’re interested of course.” He seemed a little started, but a slow grin spread across his face.

“If I’m interested? Honey, if I ever tell you no, assume that I’ve been replaced. You do know that we could do most of those here though, right?” She chuckled and nodded, raising her hands up to cradle his face between them and pull him down for a searing kiss.

“I know.”

Asking Corbeau to help teach her how to fight had been the easy part, having him meticulously correct her stance and make her train her muscles was something else. Hell, would be an apt way to put it. She had never even used most of the muscles he was trying to get her to ‘activate’ whatever the heck that meant but she was determined.

He was teaching her just as much about flexibility as he was trying to show her various ways to utilize what strength she did have. It seemed the majority of it came from her legs so he tried to get her to focus on her arms and core for now. She could do that, she could work up to what she truly wanted. Eventually he planned to teach her how to hit effectively, how to do the most amount of damage for the least amount of effort and how to actually strike someone or something without breaking your hand.

He’d decided that after her father left that they were going to move into the apartment for a while, so they had consistent access to the home gym but also so he could have a couple of the rooms in the condo remodeled. When she’d asked why he’d said that he also wanted a gym there so since the guest room was effectively useless they were going to do away with it. He was also apparently tired of the wood slat wall breaking up the space so he was going to have it removed. She wouldn’t complain, a little re-design never hurt anyone.

The bed in the apartment was so much more comfortable anyway, never mind the fact that it also had spaces for restraints. Spaces that they would most certainly be using as it turned out. She had thought it would be her being tied down, had even mentally prepared herself for it but she hadn’t prepared herself to have him be the one strapped up. He wanted her to see what kind of things she wanted from him while he was unable to take control back for himself. She’d done her best to give him pleasure while she took her own. Digging her nails in and finding new areas to bite. As it turned out the inner thigh was a spot that had him howling. She’d ridden him until her legs couldn’t handle it anymore and when she’d undone the bindings he’d quickly had her pinned beneath him, ravaging her like he’d never get the chance to do so again.

She understood what he’d meant by needing a safe-word when he was worked up because the way he’d twisted her arms behind her as he forced her face down into the bed meant that the only protection she had from the onslaught of pain and pleasure was her voice. She didn’t use it, he never went too far for her but she could one hundred percent understand just how easily he could go overboard with it. He was holding back but even then the experience had been almost transcendent. She’d have to get him to really introduce her into his fantasies. After she was a bit stronger though, when she could actually put up a fight.

For now this was enough. The hours of working out followed by another of intense passion had her so completely drained that almost as soon as they finished cleaning up she’d fallen asleep. She hadn’t even covered herself with the blankets she’d just succumbed to the cold grasp of sleep.

The next day proved easier, not just because they couldn’t get interrupted by her dad but also because they’d worked out some of her anger the night before. She’d be paying for it for the next few days but it was worth it. Having to field calls left and right from Naveen, Lida and Urbain had put a damper on her day but at least to Naveen’s credit when she’d asked them to stop he had respected her wishes.

Urbain hadn’t but she hadn’t really expected him to. No, he was still very much so on the whole ‘the father has a choice’ crusade, trying to convince her to change her mind and give him a chance to prove that he could be better. No matter how many times she told him that the choice had been made and that he wasn’t the father he just wouldn’t listen. She’d been left with no choice but to block him again. Of course he’d then started trying to use Lida’s phone to contact her but Lida was still so upset with herself for accidentally making Harmony’s life harder so once she’d caught him doing so she’d locked her phone down.

Harmony had gone to work with Corbeau and her father had joined them there for a while around lunch time and he’d been very impressed with the artifacts in his office. She’d learned that her father had actually briefly considered contacting the syndicate for information regarding where Urbain was before he’d seen Philippe that first day and had figured out that Corbeau was the one in charge. He’d taken to no longer calling him Mr. Crow but rather ‘my son.’ If he noticed just how much that affected Corbeau he didn’t let it show but she certainly did. Every utterance of it had him looking at her father with wide eyes and a small smile that grew wider each time.

It was so adorably wholesome, enough that she could almost forget the circumstances she found herself in.

Almost.

Dinner presented another issue, they all went to hotel Z to dine with Az who was happy to see them all again but the smell of the cooking had once again had her fighting off her nausea. A battle she actually managed to win though not without difficulties. She’d ended up taking her meal to go and she knew by the way her father stared her down that he’d figured it out. He hadn’t mentioned it in front of everyone but he’d insisted that she walk him to his room, alone.

To her great surprise he hadn’t asked, merely handed her the hard shelled luggage that he’d brought with him and instructed her not to open it until after he left and she promised that she wouldn’t. He hugged her and told her that he loved her, reiterated his regret about not being able to protect her.

He didn’t need to ask to know the worries on her mind, he let it rest and for that she couldn’t even begin to be more thankful.

The next day held more of the same. Their morning started with a video call from her sister where she had to formally introduce Corbeau to her and she got to see her nephew for the very first time. He had her mothers eyes. Large round and glittering in the depths. Like morning dew on a moss covered tree. She found the color stunning though her sister had always brushed her off like Harmony was lying just to placate her. She wasn’t. It’s true what they say, you idolize traits you see in others more if they happen to be traits that you don’t have.

Her brother in law made a snide comment about her marrying a white man and her father had quickly put him in his place and informed the both of them that he was from Kitakami as well. Her sister immediately connected the same dots her father had and asked if Kieran or Carmine knew. Once again she had to point out all of the reasons that wasn’t a possibility and she’d mentioned that their mother had an older sister which was news to her. The same spark of hope kindled in his eyes and she knew that he would be digging into that little tidbit later on. The meeting went well, other than her brother-in-law’s nasty comment and the subsequent complaining about her sister’s cooking that likewise had her father fuming.

Her dad had mumbled something about wishing he could ‘end that man’ and Corbeau had immediately replied that it could be arranged before he’d thought to hold his tongue. Things got… awkward after that little quip and it had taken the better part of the afternoon for things to come back around to normal. Apparently she had been the block though because once she disappeared for a bit to the balcony to let her Roselia and Venusaur out of their pokeballs to soak in the evening sun they had seemingly had some sort of conversation to clear the air. She didn’t know what had changed and she wasn’t about to question it because honestly it was uncomfortable to be stuck in the middle of the two most important men in her life in some kind of tiff over a comment about hired murder.

Almost as uncomfortable as realizing that Corbeau’s comment about how he was going to kill Urbain hadn’t been a bluff and that he was more than willing- maybe even eager- to end his life for what he’d done. If she had realized that in the beginning they may not have ended up where they were now but learning it now?... It should have mattered more to her than it did. She should have cared about that more than she did, now it was just another interesting little packet of information that she’d store away for later rather than truly analyze in the moment.

What was she going to do? Leave him because he was willing to kill another human being? Maybe if she was sane, but apparently according to Urbain she wasn’t so why should she pretend?

Maybe that made her a terrible person. Oh well. She was so broken up about it, truly devastated.

Or she would be if she gave a shit. Maybe that was the rage talking, or maybe she was making excuses for the man she loved, her future husband. Either way it didn’t change anything. He was still the man she knew. Her only worries were hoping that her father didn’t try to contract the syndicate to do any sort of assassinations on either a certain jerk with pink and blonde hair or her asshole of a brother in law. Actually, maybe losing him wouldn’t be so bad.

“No. Absolutely not.” Corbeau was pissed off, seething at the audacity that Urbain had to call him in the early hours of the morning. It wasn’t even five am yet and he decided now was the best time to start a video call trying to get Corbeau to let him speak to her. Corbeau for his part had gotten out of bed and taken the call to the living room in an attempt to not wake her up but it hadn’t worked. He was wrapped up in a robe that he’d tied tightly around himself but had forgotten his glasses in the room in his haste to leave so she’d grabbed them for him, padding out into the living space in her pyjamas and handing them to him before she flopped down into her nest of pillows.

“You can’t just keep me from her. She’s still a member of team Mz and I need her here.” She scoffed, of course he’d use her affiliation with his team to try to get around her desire to not see him right now. That’s all he’d been doing the entire time she’d been in the city. Testing her boundaries and seeing how far over the line he could go before she lashed out. She’d been far too tolerant of him up to this point but now that the fragile barrier between her and the festering wrath had been cut she was finding it harder to rein it back in.

“The hell I can’t. You have no right to be asking anything of me let alone her. Not after the way you’ve been acting.”

“I have every right as her team leader, Corbeau.” The way he spat out his name had her rolling her eyes, it was so easy to tell just how hard it was for him to even attempt to be civil to him.

“You have no rights, you have nothing. Where do you get off calling me before the sun is even up and demanding that my fiancee goes out to meet you?” Corbeau reached out for her hand but she was slightly too far away so he grabbed her leg instead, pulling it up onto his lap and running his hand up and down her shin. She knew that he liked to be touching her when he was upset so she didn’t pull it away even though it kind of tickled.

“Well, I wouldn’t have called you but my calls all go to voicemail for her.” Corbeau cocked his head to the side, a sharp glint in his eye.

“Have you ever stopped to consider that she blocked you?” Urbain didn’t answer immediately so Corbeau gave him a little taunting smile and added in, “And that maybe if you’ve been blocked then she doesn’t want to see you?” She could hear Urbain blow out a breath of frustration and could only imagine that his face was probably as red as it had been on the video call only a few days before.

“That doesn’t matter, if she's still going to be a part of team Mz then I need her here.” Corbeau looked past his phone then, reaching his hand out to her with a dangerous look in his eye.

“Well then why don’t we ask her?” He pushed his phone out a bit and it automatically began to hover in the air. Rotom really were incredible pokemon. She shifted in her seat, pulling her leg off of his lap and standing so she could take his hand. Once his fingers locked around hers he tugged her forward and pulled her down into his lap, being careful of her hip. She went without much issue and once he had her sitting across him Urbain choked out a sound she’d never heard from him before.

“What the hell is she doing there with you?” She furrowed her brows as she turned to look at the screen. The question was absurd. Why wouldn’t she be there?

“Because she lives with me.” As expected Urbain’s face was red but at the mention of her living with him he’d recoiled. She didn’t know why this was news to him. Sure she’d never mentioned living with him but what else did he expect? That she started dating him and got engaged to him before ever living together? For fucks sake several of the photos people had caught of them together had been the both of them exiting this very building together. It wasn’t as if it was a secret.

“Since when?” She shook her head and put her fingers up to Corbeau’s lips so she could be the one to respond.

“Since you decided that my request not to see you mattered less than your need to break into my room at the hotel. Honestly Urbain, where did you think I just disappeared to?” She felt the chuckle Corbeau was trying to conceal almost as clearly as she felt the way his head dipped to the side of her neck, the way his lips pressed sweet kisses into her chilled skin. She didn’t stop him though she was a bit uncomfortable with the PDA in front of Urbain of all people.

“Arceus I love this new you.” He whispered into her ear and Urbain cleared his throat.

“Can you maybe not feel her up on call with me?” She rolled her eyes and canted her head to the side to give him better access almost just to spite him. Suddenly she was a lot more okay with the PDA.

“Sorry buddy, no can do. You wanted her to talk to you so badly that you interrupted my morning so you don’t get to ask me to do anything.” His hand slid up her thigh, very clearly in the view of the camera. He wasn’t being too overt with his touches but they were just on this side of being indecent.

“Harmony, stop him.” She could, he’d listen. Why should she though? Why should she tell Corbeau to stop what he was doing just to make Urbain more comfortable when he never once thought about her comfort? Maybe she was being a little jaded but oh well.

“You wanted to talk so talk.” Urbain looked a little taken aback, like he expected her to just listen to him like she would have before. After all of the shit he’d said? No.

“I… Look, I just wanted to ask you to come to a team building exercise with us. The last few days have been-” Corbeau dipped his hand beneath her chemise, running it up her back before he clawed his hands and dragged his nails back down. She shuddered at the touch and turned to look at him. He just grinned in response, eyes half lidded and sparkling with glee. He was having quite a lot of fun tormenting Urbain right now. “You know it’s really hard to talk to you when he’s doing that.”

“Sounds like a whole lot of not her problem, Urbain. I’m not skipping my breakfast on your account.” Breakfast? She was confused for all of ten seconds before he sank his teeth into her shoulder. He didn’t break the skin but she had to fight to keep herself from moaning.

“What the hell are you doing?!” She’d like to know as well honestly. With a shift of his hips she could really feel how hard he was getting beneath her and it was almost like this was one of the things that turned him on. Actually… maybe it was? Would this be considered voyeurism?

“Trying to enjoy my morning, if you’re so offended by it. Hang up.” He licked a long line up her neck when she turned back to the phone. At least now she understood what he was doing. He was staking a claim, showing that he wasn’t full of shit and that he was in complete control here. A projected image of how he had her wrapped around his finger that she would certainly break if she asked him to stop. Couldn’t have that now could she?

Urbain’s screen had gone dark so she didn’t have to see his face anymore which was nice because honestly looking at him made her blood boil a bit still. If he hadn’t cleared his throat again she’d have to question if he was even still there.

“As I was saying, the last few days have been a little tense on both sides and I thought that if we all met up and maybe tried to work past this that we could… I dunno, go back to normal?” Corbeau’s hand beneath her shirt moved around to the front, slipping up between her breasts until he had his hand loosely wrapped around the base of her neck, his thumb pressing up against her jaw telling her to lean her head back. She listened to the command, submissive to him by choice so she didn't interfere with his taunts.

“And what would this team building exercise entail?” She asked just as Corbeau shifted how she was sitting on his lap. The second she felt his erection press up against her clothed core she turned her head back to him.

“Harmony, be a dear and hand me my phone? I’m afraid I’m about to lose my composure if he doesn’t hurry the fuck up.” Corbeau purred against her throat and she did as she was asked, leaning away from him to grab the phone and bring it back to his hands. She didn’t miss the way he angled it down to capture the pair of them as they were sitting on the couch before he had it hover there, closer to them. “Unless that’s why he’s taking so long to get his message out and leave us be. Maybe he’s hoping for a show.”

Oh Arceus, he’s giving him a better angle.

Several seconds passed in silence where Urbain would have had time to respond to her question yet seemingly decided not to. Corbeau continued on in his place.

“Well, you aren’t answering me so I have to assume that’s what you want. So what’s it gonna be? Should I push these flimsy little pyjamas to the side or rip them like you did to her underwear? Hmm?” A small noise came back through the microphone, one that sounded like an angry huff but Urbain ultimately said nothing so Corbeau continued. “Or maybe I should ask her to get on her knees for me, put her lovely mouth to work. That’s something you never got to experience, right? I bet you’re dying to know just how good she is with her tongue.” She blushed but didn’t stop him as he reached up to cup one of her breasts through her chemise.

“Shut the fuck up Corbeau.”

“Oh so he does speak. Were the previous options not good enough for you? I have more to offer if those don’t meet your standards.” He kissed his way up her throat again before tilting her head toward him to capture her lips. She caved to the demands of his tongue easily, just letting him do as he wished with her. She wanted to see how this played out, and she’d be lying if she said that she hoped this would get it through to Urbain that she no longer cared about his comfort. “Maybe you want to see her under me? Hear the way she screams my name the way I know she never did yours.” Urbain made a loud noise of frustration.

“What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you doing this? I just wanted to ask her to come to a team event.”

“What’s wrong with me is that you dared to call me in the first place. Interrupting our sleep and bothering us with your stupid plea just to get her to acknowledge your existence again. You’re cutting into my time with my fiancee and I don’t much enjoy that you dragged us out of bed just to sit here and whine when you didn’t get what you want.” His hands stilled on her body and he turned his face towards the screen. “Now, she asked you what the team building would entail, I suggest you answer her quickly and get off of this call because I’m not stopping for your comfort.” The hand around her neck slipped back down her chest to remove itself from her chemise and instead dip down between her legs. “Unless Harmony here tells me to stop, that is, unlike you I can actually listen to, comprehend and respect the word no.”

“You’re never going to let that go are you?” Now it was her turn to level a glare at the screen. Of course she wasn’t going to let it go, what kind of bullshit question was that?

“Never. You’re wasting time Urbain, I’m getting impatient.” He slid his finger up her clothed center, pressing with enough pressure to make her gasp and tilt her hips forward.

“Just… Can you please stop? Just for a minute so I can actually speak?” Corbeau huffed against her neck and pulled his hands away from her.

“You have sixty seconds.”

“I figured that we could all go to the new wild zones, try to catch some new pokemon to help with Mabel's research together or just battle one another to see how far we’ve all come. We used to work well as a team but we haven’t really done anything together in months.” She considered it.

“You mean aside from having Harmony go up against three different rogue megas back to back?” Corbeau supplied and she nodded.

“Everyone will be there? Not just you?” Urbain made a little noise of affirmation and she mulled the thought over.

“Fine.” She surprised all three of them when she said it, she didn’t want to see him at all but she’d go for Naveen and Lida. She did say she was going to stay in team Mz after all. “Where are we supposed to meet?”

“Outside of wild zone seventeen at noon.” She nodded and grabbed the phone.

“I’ll be there, but Urbain?” He made a little noise. “Don’t call us again. If you need to reach me, ask Naveen.”

“Okay.” She didn’t wait for him to say anything else before she hung up on him and sat the phone back on the table. Corbeau was getting handsy again, the sixty second time limit was more than up and he wanted her.

“Awww sweetheart, you couldn’t let me have a little fun?” He removed his glasses and nuzzled into her neck, nipping at her skin. “It would have been so much fun to tease him. To fuck you while he watched knowing that I get to have everything he covets.”

“Oh Arceus, you would have wouldn’t you?” He pressed himself up against her again.

“Absolutely. Want to call him back?”

“No.”

She hated every part of this plan, meeting up with all three of them at a wild zone in the name of ‘strengthening the bonds of the team’ like fighting beside one another would actually do anything for the team. She wasn’t used to battling beside someone else. The only times they’d had to do something of the sort was during the rogue mega battles and she wasn’t too keen on those times either because it mostly ended up with her being the primary target and having to dodge not only the rogue pokemons moves but theirs as well. Lida especially was quite bad about using wide sweeping AoE attacks while her pokemon was right next to Harmony.

At least here she wouldn’t have to worry about that as much… Probably.

No, she only had to worry about the annoyance that was building in her every single time Urbain threw himself in front of her to protect her when one of the pyroars got too close. She knew realistically he wasn’t really trying to protect her but rather the child that he’d already mentioned multiple times that he viewed as his. Every utterance of it being a thing made Lida and Naveen uncomfortable and made her mood tip further in the negative direction than it was already sitting.

About an hour in she’d finally snapped at him.

“If you talk about me being pregnant one more freaking time Urbain I swear to you that I will leave right this damn minute and consume a truly record breaking amount of plan B in the hopes that it take both me and this clump of cells you insist is already a child out in one fell swoop.” She swiped up the next pokeball from her satchel and tossed Juno out into the field. Urbain noticed as the large houndoom spun around to face him and raised her hackles up when she’d noticed how upset Harmony was.

Naveen pulled him off to the side and muttered something about her being scary when she was pissed. She realized they had never seen her truly angry before, upset yes but angry? No. She hadn’t even really been angry the day she’d confronted Urbain, not like this anyway.

Lida stayed off to the side, not wanting to upset Harmony further by crowding her space. She’d already apologized for her outburst the other day and admitted that she should have left the room or something before she freaked out about the news. Harmony forgave her but still planned to keep her at arms length for now. It sucked because she didn’t really have any female friends she could talk to about any of this. The closest she had to one was Yelena and Harmony couldn’t really talk to her without disrupting her work day which she wasn’t willing to do just to vent despite Yelena saying that it would be more than okay.
T
he rest of the exercise had gone off without a hitch. They’d completed one of the research tasks put forth by Mabel and she’d gotten a skarmory out of the deal. A pretty little thing that had quickly grown interested in her feraligatr who wanted nothing to do with her after she’d displayed her razor sharp wings for him.

Well, that was going to be a fun dynamic that she’d have to navigate later on. Maybe she could get Philippe to teach her how to care for its wings, make some good pairing knives or something out of her feathers.

“Okay, great work team. You guys want to head over to Nouveau and get some coffee?” Urbain asked as he walked up to them, wiping sweat from his brow after almost getting singed by the last pyroar that was still wandering around the zone.
Honestly she couldn’t imagine drinking a hot cup of coffee after that but she was still buzzing with energy.

“Sure, I could go for a croissant or something. I’m starving.” Lida announced as she bounced from foot to foot. Naveen just brushed his hair back in the flamboyant way he did and agreed that he could go for something small so Urbain turned his attention to her.

“Wanna come? I’ll pay.” If it hadn’t been for the hopeful look in Lida’s eyes she’d have turned him down on the spot but unfortunately she was still affected by them so she’d agreed.

“Fine. I’ll tag along but I don’t really want anything.” He seemed a little upset by that but he got over it quick enough as all of them set off. Lida kept talking about how she couldn’t decide between a regular croissant or a pain aux chocolate and Naveen mentioned that she should flip a coin. That didn’t sound that bad actually, a chocolate croissant. Though maybe that was just her unbearable sweet tooth talking because she’d been a fiend for anything sweet or sour for the last few days. Actually for the last two weeks if she was being honest, it had started gradually.

Shortly after they started on their walk she’d pulled out a cigarette without even really thinking and caught Urbain and Lida both staring at her like she’d lost her mind. She grumbled to herself and pulled it back out of her mouth before she could even light it, annoyed with herself for going for that despite the fact that she told herself she wasn’t going to do that anymore until after the termination.

She flipped her lighter instead, much to Naveen’s dismay. He’d worked out that it was an anxious habit of hers so he knew she wasn’t doing too well at the moment despite her putting on a mask of indifference.
Once they’d ordered their drinks she’d seated herself at the furthest table from the other patrons both because she didn’t want to be too close to Griselle but also because she couldn’t stand the smell of whatever it was that was brewing slash cooking in the truck. She was rather glad that she had decided not to get anything now because her stomach was churning yet again.

If we ever decide to have a kid I’m going to invest in nausea relievers.

“So… have you and Corbeau set a date yet?” Lida asked, pulling her out of her thoughts for a moment. Urbain was bristling beside the girl, he very obviously didn’t like the question. Harmony just shook her head.

“No, I told you it’s going to be a long engagement.” Lida nodded, mouthing an ‘oh that’s right’ while Urbain began to bounce his leg under the table.

“What’s the point of a long engagement anyway?” She ran her fingers over the uneven tabletop, using the texture of it catching on her fingertips to calm herself a bit.

“Urbain, I don’t really think you should be getting into this right now.” Naveen chided, leaning his head on one hand while he scrolled through social media on his phone with the other. Urbain brushed it off.

“Why not? I just want to know what the point is because by the time you say yes you oughta know they’re the one, right?” He looked at her with what most could probably see as simple curiosity in his gaze but she could see past it. He was deliberately ribbing her under the guise of friendly banter. Trying to call her relationship with Corbeau into question. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“You think so?” She didn’t even look at him as she said it, running her fingertip along the table and picking up a fine layer of dust. For as much care as they put into their coffee here they sure didn’t put anywhere near as much into their tables. Urbain clicked his tongue against his teeth.

“Well, yeah. I mean I think if you feel like you need to wait a while that’s just your mind telling you that you aren’t sure about it.”

“Urbain, you sound like you’re trying to put doubt into her head. Isn’t that the last thing she needs right now?” Lida called him out on it while Harmony pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Corbeau. She wasn’t really paying him any mind but Lida’s concern was appreciated.

Wanna go to the royale tonight after dinner with dad?

“I’m just worried about my friend. Don’t you guys think she’s rushing into this?” Naveen made a little noise as he scrolled to a new post but she could tell it wasn’t in response to Urbain but rather to a Canari post. Her phone pinged with a reply and her lips tipped up in a small smile.

Absolutely. I just had a meeting that has me needing an outlet anyway.

“See! Naveen agrees with me. Harmony, are you sure you want to go through with this? I mean if you aren’t absolutely sure about it then should you really be engaged to him?” She flicked her gaze back up from her phone to Urbain and put on the best questioning look she could muster. It was so painfully obvious what he was trying to do right now, she could play into this, have a little fun.

“You don’t say.. Hmm, maybe you’re right, Urbain.” He looked so proud of that line of logic, she’d fix that. “So what do you think I should do? I could call Corbeau, tell him that I don’t think the long engagement is a good idea.” The grin that spread across his face was fabulous, not because she enjoyed it but because she knew it’d be falling off in just a moment. He nodded.

“I mean that only seems fair right, you tell him you aren’t ready just yet and to wait a while before he asks again. Till you’re ready to actually get married.” She nodded and forced a forlorn look onto her face.

“Oh, he’s not going to be happy about this.” Urbain reached across the table to grab her hand and she quickly pulled it away from him. She glanced down at her phone and dialed Corbeau’s number.

He answered on the second ring, phone hovering in front of him while he sat at his desk, glasses perched on the edge of his nose and a wide smile pulling at his lips as he saw her on the other end of the video feed.

“Well hello mon coeur. What can I do for my lovely fiancee?” He purred the term of endearment and she watched all of their eyes go wide at it too. Of course they all knew what it meant. Why hadn’t she led with asking about that instead of the other phrase? That would have undoubtedly been less awkward.

“Well I was just sitting here with the team and Urbain brought up something that I hadn’t thought about before.” She turned the phone so that the team could all see him and he could see them in turn.

“Very well, let’s hear it.” Urbain blushed again but repeated what he’d said to her and Corbeau sat back in his chair, lacing his fingers together. “I see, and what do you think of that sweetheart?” She put on a frown and made a show of thinking about it.

“I think he has a point.” Urbain looked very smug about that and Corbeau frowned. She tapped her fingertips against her bottom lip for a moment before she shrugged, “I mean, a long engagement doesn’t really make sense, right?” He seemed to get it then and a small smile tried to work its way through his frown.

“I suppose it doesn’t if you think of it that way.” He leaned forward in his chair and canted his head to the side. “Well, I guess we had better fix that then. I know I’m sure, are you?” Urbain’s smile dropped a bit and Lida’s jaw dropped open a bit. Naveen, as always, was unphased. Harmony had to question if he was even listening to the conversation.

“Wait no that’s not what I-” Urbain started but Harmony just flashed Corbeau the brightest smile she could.

“I’m sure.” He clapped his hands together and gave her a brilliant grin, she knew he was enjoying this. He didn’t get to torment Urbain earlier that day so this was a great chance for him to do just that.

“Fantastic mon coeur! So I guess the question now is should I get Philippe to go get the license today or tomorrow?” Urbain jumped up out of his seat.

“Wait! That’s not what I meant! You guys are rushing into this!” She looked up at Urbain with a fabricated mask of confusion on.

“What’s wrong, Urbain? I thought this was what you were talking about. I mean if we’re sure then you’re right and a long engagement doesn’t make any sense.” He opened and closed his mouth like a magikarp and Lida finally clued into what was happening and couldn’t contain her laughter. Urbain whipped his head to her and scowled.

“I- I just meant that maybe you guys shouldn’t be engaged because it’s so early into your relationship.” She shrugged again.

“Well, that was sort of the point of us agreeing to a long engagement. It wasn’t because we weren’t sure but because we were. We just wanted to give it a little more time for us to plan the wedding.” Corbeau sighed and started tapping his foot on the ground off-screen.

“Harmony I think Urbain just doesn’t like the fact that we’re together. He can’t be happy for us so he’s trying to get us to break off our engagement.” She looked up at him like the news shocked her even though it didn’t and he immediately put his hands up.

“I just think you two are making a mistake rushing into this, that’s all!” She shook her head and stood up. Griselle walked up with their orders and asked them to keep it down since they weren’t the only customers there. Harmony nodded and Urbain sat down swiftly.

“Well, you’ll have to excuse me for not giving a damn about your opinion Urbain.” Corbeau stated deadpan into the camera and then flashed the biggest smile possible as he addressed everyone else. “Naveen, Lida. We’re going to be hosting a dinner tomorrow night to celebrate our engagement with Harmony’s father before he has to leave. I’d like to invite you both to join us.” Naveen finally looked up from his phone at being addressed and had to ask Corbeau to repeat what he’d said but he was quick to accept though he had immediately looked over to Urbain afterwards probably expecting some kind of petulant reaction. Which Urbain delivered on, sitting back down in his seat and glowering down at his cup of coffee.

“Is it going to be at your place like last time?” Lida asked and Urbain shot her a look of betrayal that she either ignored or genuinely didn’t notice. He didn’t know they knew where she was staying. Hmm, at least they’d kept that secret for her.

“No, it’ll be at hotel Z. You’re both welcome to come celebrate with us.” This was news to her, but she’d ask about it later. For all she knew it was just something he made up just now to torment Urbain but she didn’t hate the idea. It meant that Az could be involved which would make her dad happy.

“Yeah, we’ll be there!” Lida announced with glee, honestly she might be even worse than Urbain at reading the room but Harmony shrugged it off.

“I’m getting tired so I think I’m gonna head home.” She announced to no one in particular as she grabbed her phone.

“Come to the office instead. I have something that just got delivered here for you earlier anyway.” She was curious about that but shrugged and agreed bidding him a goodbye before hanging up with a promise to see him soon.

“Wait! Do you uh… I can walk you there!” Urbain jumped back up out of his seat and she shook her head.

“No thank you, I can make it there on my own. You guys enjoy your coffee.” She pulled her lighter back out on the way there, flipping and closing it fast enough that she didn’t even hear Urbain running up behind her until he was at her side. “What are you doing? I said I was fine to get there on my own.”

“I know you did but I- Well, I’d just feel better if I was the one that walked you there.” His eyes glanced down to her stomach and she felt a ripple of disgust go through her.

Of course that’s what he’s really worried about.

“Fine.” They walked together in relative silence. Urbain tried-and failed- to start up conversations multiple times but he kept cutting himself off which worked well for her because she wasn’t really in the mood to talk with him. Thankfully Nouveau wasn’t too far from the Rust syndicate offices and once they approached the gate the grunts parted for her without question but stopped him in his tracks. “I’ve got it from here. Thanks for the escort I guess.”

“Yeah uhh.. W-wait Harmony! Can you maybe unblock me?” She looked back at him and thought for a second. She didn’t really want to but as long as she kept his personal chat muted it should be okay.

“I guess I can do that. Just give me a while, I’ll message you when I get to it.” He beamed at her and she waved him off before going inside. That wasn’t the acceptance that he thought it was but that wasn’t her problem right now.

Corbeau was happy to see her though he was decidedly less than enthused when his men had told him who had walked up with her. She told him the entire story about how everything had started and also about the threat she’d made to Urbain while they were still in the wild zone.

“Well look at you Harmony, you’ve found your spine. I knew you had it in you.” He reached his arms out for her to pull her into his lap and she went without question and was rewarded with a kiss. “Just to be clear we’re still waiting on the wedding, right?” She chuckled and pressed a bunch of little kisses into his face.

“Yes, I only called because he encouraged me. I knew I could count on you to understand though.” He let out a breathy chuckle that had her shivering.

“That almost makes up for not letting me have my fun this morning.” She swatted his arm and rolled her eyes.

“Sorry, next time Urbain calls you I promise I’ll let you take it as far as you want. Now, you said you had something for me?” He ran his hands up her sides for a moment before he opened a drawer and pulled out a sealed envelope, waving it in the air for a moment before he squished her up to him and whispered into her ear.

“I’m gonna hold you to that.” He dropped the envelope into her waiting hand and let her shift herself a bit so she was comfortable. “It was addressed to you so I’m not sure what it is but, I figured you might like to open it here and not with your father tonight.” She nodded and flipped it over, it was just a basic plain white envelope with her name written in an elegant scrawl on the top. She shrugged and opened it up to reveal a bright pink soft touch card and once Corbeau caught sight of it he sighed, dramatically leaning back in his chair and staring up at the ceiling. “I should have known.”

“Should have known what?” She pulled the card out and opened it up to read the message inside out loud. “We at the society of battle connoisseurs would like to formally extend an invitation to join us for Le Super-Tournoi de Jacinthe which will be held at the hotel Richissme on Wednesday the thirteenth of May at five pm. Formal attire is required and we request that you not wear pink?” She looked up at Corbeau who still hadn’t torn his gaze off of the wood slats above them. “What is this?” He glanced at her from underneath his glasses, taking a deep breath before he replied.

“Another one of Jacinthe’s stupid parties. She holds them every so often to keep her little mob of snobs appeased. If you keep reading I bet there will be something about us bringing our teams and how refreshments will be made available to all who participate blah blah blah.” She giggled at him as he made little hand puppet motions with each new utterance and she couldn’t help but to lean back into him even though it kind of hurt her hip.

“You know you’re cute when you’re being so dramatic.” He rolled his eyes but smiled at her.

“Only for you, mon coeur.” She went back to reading only to realize that he was right on all fronts but there was something more. Towards the bottom of the note there was a section penned in glittering silver ink.

“Wait. There’s something else here.” She lifted it up a bit to try to decipher the illegible scrawl but the overlapping loops of the person's handwriting made it next to impossible for her to make out. “I can’t read this.” She tilted it towards Corbeau who lifted his head to look at what she was trying to show him. He adjusted the way they were both sitting so he could take the letter from her while maintaining his hold on her and almost immediately tossed it away from them with a shout.

“FUCK!”

“What’s wrong?” She tried to stand up but he held her back against him for a moment longer before he let her.

“She knows about us. Of course she fucking does. We haven’t been as vigilant about the PR as we should have been.” He pushed his chair forward towards his desk after she took a step out of the way and slammed down on the intercom. “Renee, have a basket delivered to Jacinthe. Bourbon, pink roses, and a bottle of my reserve, actually make it two.” The intercom flared to life a moment later.

“Of course boss. Should I add a card?” He growled out a string of curses before he pressed the button down again.

“No need. She’ll know it’s us. Leave the bottles unlabeled.” Harmony was terribly confused but she went to go pick up the card and envelope which had separated from one another and had fallen into the recessed flooring. When she bent down to grab the note though something fell off of the back and fluttered back down into the sand.

“What the…” She bent again to grab it and when she picked it up she almost dropped it all over again. Staring back up at her was a picture of her and Corbeau standing on the balcony of the condo with her father, from just a few days ago, her ring prominently displayed as she sucked on a cigarette. More silver ink stared back up at her and yet again she couldn’t read whatever it said so she’d dropped it on his desk for him to see. He read it over again for just a moment and clicked down the intercom again.

“Renee, add a card and a bottle of Glarian red to the basket.” Renee responded with a quick ‘yes sir’ and Harmony furrowed her brows in confusion. She didn’t know what the gift was for or why he needed to add to it. Corbeau looked up at her and spun the card upside down for her. “Read it backwards.”

Congratulations to the beautiful couple, I expect an invite to your upcoming nuptials. Don’t disappoint me.

“Why was it written upside down and backwards?” He ran his hand down his face.

“Because Jacinthe is an extra bitch who likes to make my life a living hell. For five whole years she sent me daily cards written in a cipher just to tell me inane shit like what new restaurants or cafes to try or if one of my men was caught with his fly down and I had to read all of them because occasionally she’d slip in useful information. Incredibly useful information actually…” He pointed at the picture again, tapping his fingers over the text twice before he continued. “She’s keeping tabs on you more than me. I can promise you that.” Harmony shuddered but picked up the picture, flipping it upside down just the same as the card and was horrified when she read the next bit.

If it’s a girl it should go without saying that Jacinthe is a wonderful name, no?

“How the fuck does she know?!” He dropped his head into his hands.

“I don’t know for sure but my guess is she either had someone follow me into the store to buy the tests or the doctor has some explaining to do.” She thought about it for a minute. One of those options was far worse than the other but neither really made sense.

“Corbeau.. If it was the doctors office wouldn’t she know that the plan is to get rid of it? Why would she suggest her name then?” He shrugged.

“I don’t pretend to know what goes on in her head, I just know that if we don’t show up to that stupid party she’s not going to shut up about it or stop bothering us.” She nodded, and looked back down at the picture.

“I guess we have to go shopping again then.” He sighed at first but then stopped for a few seconds and she could see him piecing something together in his mind before something clicked into place for him and a slow wicked grin spread across his face.

“I know just the place.” He stood up and swiped the card and picture off of his desk, tossing them back down into his drawer before he grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the building.

“Wait! Corbeau, where are we going? Don’t you still have work?”

“Nope. My last meeting for the day was hours ago. Now come on, I just thought of another way for us to have some fun.” He turned back to her and graced her with the most devilishly handsome smile she’d ever seen in her life that literally left her speechless. She had no choice but to follow him, a blush crawling up her neck and taking up residence on her cheeks. She’d do terrible things to put that smile on his face more often.

Terrible things indeed.