—

Rhythmic steps rang out against the pavement as you and Grisham walked down the street together, perfectly content, holding hands. You were having such a good day, with the early evening sun warm on your shoulders as you walked with your beloved.

Well, you were having a good day. It was good right up until you both passed by a man who was standing and talking with a few other people, who gave you a strange look; then you heard him mumble something as you passed. You only heard fragments of what he said, but you just couldn't shake the feeling it was about you.

"You really think... her... someone like him?"  you could make out parts of a whispered question over your shoulder. You gave a small suspicious glance back, but didn't end up saying anything, since you couldn't be sure if it really was about you or not.

You looked over to see Grisham suddenly looking uneasy, and as you round the corner you feel his grip on your hand loosen and then he lets your hand go completely. He drifts a bit further from your side, creating space between you. You intially think nothing of it as you shift yourself back over to him, and reach for his hand to hold yours again.

But you grow confused when you don't feel his hand grab yours again. He doesn't shift away from you again, but even after you not-so-subtley brush his hand with yours, silently urging him to take it again, he won't.

That was odd, Grisham never did much to publically display his love for you when you were out, (in stark comparison to his demeanor when you were alone together) but he would at least hold your hand when you walked together.

Grisham didn't even look back at you when you did, as he seemed to be lost in worried thought. You tilt your head and hum a confused note to him, wondering what's wrong, but he doesn't say anything in response; just sighing a little and frowning, turning subtley away from your gaze.

Now you know something is up, but you don't press the issue any further right now. You were almost home anyways. Grisham remained walking side by side with you for the rest of your walk home, but he remained distant— cold, even— very much unlike him normally. Only the sparse noise of the quiet city street hung between you now.

You still didn't say anything, but now you were upset. Everything had been going so well all day, why did it seem like he was suddenly upset with you? Maybe you had done something? You began to look concerned yourself, retreating into your own mind to think of what could possibly be going on. And then you remembered: things like this had been happening recently, even if you had brushed them off previously. Grisham had been acting with this strange coldness in public, and it hurt whenever you noticed it; knowing what you were missing out on.

Then, as you were practically mid-thought, you were hit with a wave of cognitive dissonance. You both entered his apartment, and he seemingly went back to his calm and caring self as soon as the door shut behind you. Without so much as acknowledging whatever that whole thing was about.

He gave you a warm, loving smile and a soft kiss on your forehead as he took your jacket off of you, hanging it next to his own. Like normal. Like nothing had happened. Now you were totally confused. You were getting mixed signals. Was he upset with you or not?

———

"Afternoon," the doctor greeted you politely as the door shut behind him, "How are you feeling today?"

"I'm fine... How many is it today?" you asked, with a certain amount of exasperation in your tone.

"Just three," he assured you, setting down the tray on a cart. You sighed. That still felt like a lot. But at least it wasn't five. Once you'd even gotten seven, though that time it wasn't him.

"...How much longer am I going to be here?" you asked like you had so many times before. You weren't even sure you were looking for an answer anymore, you just kept asking out of habit. You thought one day you'd get an answer, maybe? That day wasn't today, though.

"You know I don't know that," he replied, almost sounding sorrowful as he prepared the needles.

"You don't know, or you can't tell me?" you added, dissatisfied as you always were with the non-answer.

"I don't know, myself, truly," he clarified, "You know, there are things they don't tell me either."

Usually your questions stopped at that but for some reason or another, today you decided they wouldn't.

"...Would you tell me if you did?"

Grisham paused at that. You had asked him plenty of questions in your time here, and he would always tried to answer them the best he could— or was allowed to. But you had never asked him this before. It should have been an easy answer; of course he would tell you, but... a little part of him didn't want to. Didn't want to lose you, even if that meant keeping you here.

"I would. Of course," he answered after a few moments hesitation. It wasn't an outright lie; but he wasn't sure it was the full truth either.

—

and a lil scene a bit later >:3

—

"The camera in room 628," Grisham began with concern, "I believe it's malfunctioning, it was behaving quite strangely when I visited earlier..."

"Well, uh, that's really an issue for maintenance, but I guess we could—" the nearby camera technician began awkwardly.

"In fact"—Grisham continued as if the camera tech hadn't even begun speaking at all—"I think the footage from today may have corrupted," he said, discreetly pulling two small, neat wads of cash from one his pockets, offering one to each of the techs with a false smile.

"Ah, I... I see... That kind of malfunction..." one of the techs muttered as they accepted the bribe, each slipping it into their own pockets.

Suddenly the doctor's false smile dropped, auburn eyes burning into the tech like hot, blazing flames, "Get it done."

———

When Harmony later checked her phone again, she saw she also had missed messages from a certain head of the Rust Syndicate that she'd been involved with recently. Maybe they weren't quite together, but they had been spending a fair amount of time with each other recently.

Whatever it was, their relationship was something that her friends (and apparently Grisham too) were very suspicious and distrusting of. She thought maybe she'd just text him this time, instead of calling, given the whole thing that happened earlier with her friends... Harmony honestly didn't know why she had freaked out like that, but maybe she had just been taken by surprise...

From the way it seemed, it sounded like Grisham himself had some sort of grudge against either Corbeau or the Rust Syndicate, but she had no idea why that would be. Maybe it was something about their pasts? Maybe somehow Corbeau had also gotten him into some kind of debt? (Though she couldn't really see that happening, as for all of Corbeau's cunning, she knew Grisham was just a far more... responsible person than Urbain ever was...)

And Harmony was just thinking about what to message him to not worry him too much, when suddenly Corbeau was calling her. Arceus damn it, she was going to have to answer this, wasn't she?

She tried to fix her hair a little bit and look a little less like a disaster before picking up, seeing Corbeau pop up over her screen. He examined her through the screen, his expression visibly stressed as he did.

"Harmony," Corbeau began sternly, "Where are you right now?" he asked, though he full well knew the answer already.

Grisham's face shot straight up from the book he had been reading, his expression one of mild shock as he swore he recognized that smooth voice over the phone. That couldn't really be him, could it? Had he really been right earlier? He should've known they'd be involved...

Grisham believed that he had been plenty clear about this before to Griselle; he would not be having anyone bothering or otherwise interfering with Harmony's recovery. She needed to get better, and right now she was his to make better. (She had even said so herself...) So he would get him to leave Harmony alone, even if that him just so happened to be his own ex-boyfriend...

"I... uhhh... I–" Harmony's eyes darted between Corbeau on her screen and Grisham across from her, seemingly... startled? As she saw him get up, not wanting a repeat of earlier, she quickly reached for her phone from the air in front of her (fully intent on smothering it again...). However, it seemed as if the poor previously smothered rotom in the phone also did not want a repeat of earlier; and thus flew to the side avoiding her grasp, refusing to be so rudely grabbed again. She tried grabbing at it from her laying position a few more times before she froze, knowing Grisham was standing right behind her again. Rotom hovered just a little higher to adjust itself to his eye level instead (convieniently out of Harmony's reach).

Harmony got red with fluster upon seeing that Grisham was now squarely and unmistakeably in frame with her, Corbeau seemed to get red with irritation upon seeing the other man, and Grisham himself seemed to be... brightly smiling back at him?

"Ah, Beau, what an... unexpected surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you again?" Grisham greeted Corbeau warmly as if they were just friends that hadn't seen each other in a while. Corbeau looked unimpressed at the nickname he'd been called. Harmony's expression shifted to confusion upon hearing it.

"I believe that I called Harmony, not you. Can I speak to her, maybe?" Corbeau deadpanned back at him.

"Oh, but... Harmony's unwell right now. The poor dear can barely speak at all..." Grisham explained sympathetically, though something about him seemed... smug? What he said wasn't technically untrue... Harmony did have to exert herself an awful lot whenever she tried to speak, and when she could manage to, her voice was weak and gravelly.

"Well if she's so sick, then tell me, why do you have her? Shouldn't she be resting?" Corbeau inquired, with his tone sounding like ire concealed by façaded calm.

"And she is. I thought to oversee her recovery myself and take care of her," Grisham responded rather boastfully, like he was trying to make Corbeau jealous.

"I wouldn't say that you're really equipped for that role..." Corbeau remarked, golden eyes narrowing in scrutiny, "How well can you really take care of her, working as much as I know you do running that café of yours?" he challenged.

"Well, we're taking time off, of course. I wouldn't want to give Harmony anything less than my fullest attention," Grisham explained like it was such an obvious answer.

Harmony still felt bad about making him do that just for her sake (and she'd really have to think of a way to repay him, somehow) but he'd really insisted and she just couldn't bring herself to say no for some reason or another; and he just looked so utterly pleased when she said yes... He had a similar look now, but perhaps in a little bit more of a boastful manner.

"And how does Harmony herself feel about all of this? Did you even consider that? Did she even come with you willingly?" Corbeau interrogated him with pointed questions.

"We did sort of kidnap her, Gris. You have to admit that," Griselle interjected in the background.

"You're not helping our case here, Griselle," Grisham turned and sighed to her, giving her a look that said "please quit speaking now". From the look she gave back to him, it was clear she wasn't intent on doing that.

"I'm just saying, that's what happened," Griselle added defensively with an irritated expression.

"It was not kidnapping. We had good reason for it. I wasn't going to leave her there," Grisham rebutted to her emphatically, slightly frowning. Harmony felt rather awkward just sitting there with Absol as they all bickered around her, but she still didn't say anything.

"Harmony, do you need help? Do I need to come over there and get you myself?" Corbeau proposed, trying to speak to her himself while Grisham's back was still turned.

"I-I'm okay here, really..." Harmony was able to respond, weakly.

"I'm curious as to what work of yours is so greatly important that you simply must have Harmony do it? Can you, at the very least be decent and wait for her to recover before putting her back to work for you?" Grisham half-asked, half-demanded as he turned back to the man over the phone.

Whatever cordial and facetious attitude he had earlier had disappeared as he now seemed personally offended by Corbeau's attempts to steal Harmony away from him.

She was fine, he could take care of her fine, and he didn't know what else to say to him to get Corbeau to believe him. What did he even know about Harmony anyways, and gave him the sole right to have her?

That should be himself anyways, Grisham thought in the back of his head, barely a tangible whisper of a thought.

Corbeau sighed, oddly calm now, "For your own information, I am not putting Harmony to work. Nor would I have her do so sick," he explained. "But I suppose if Harmony herself is okay with it, and since you seem... passionate, about this..." he began reluctantly.

"...I can stay?" Harmony finished for him, weakly.

"If that's really what you want," Corbeau finally conceded, but he was clearly not happy about it.

"Well, I'm glad we could reach an agreement. Now, Harmony really should get back to resting, like you said..." Seeing that he had 'won' the right to keep Harmony for now, Grisham was back to his usual calm, and reached for the phone to end the call.

Corbeau spoke one more time before he did, however, "–But if I hear so much as one word from Harmony about wanting to leave, I'm coming down there myself to get her." And just like that, without another word, the call was ended, and it went back to just the three of them in the apartment.

Harmony sat there mostly motionless in stunned silence, before she looked up at a (quite satisfied looking) Grisham.

"Do you... wanna tell me whatever that was, or..." Harmony surveyed awkwardly, sniffling.

"He's jealous," Griselle interjected teasingly, stifling a laugh. Whatever the hell was going on, Griselle didn't seem phased by it, choosing to tease Grisham about it instead.

"I- am not," Grisham hesitated ever so slightly in his response, just subtle enough to pick up on.

"You sure sounded like you were..." Griselle remarked with a smug smile.

Harmony was beginning to wonder if they would ever stop bickering for more than an hour or two. So far, she hadn't seen so. She was also beginning to get a hint of suspicion in the back of her head about Grisham's true motivations. But she also hadn't been able to form a normal thought since waking up that day, so maybe it was nothing. It was probably nothing.

———

hope it was worth waiting so long (im sorry) n tell me what you think hehehe >:3 more (actually) soon

—

Thankfully, Harmony picked up quickly, as her cute little face popped up over his screen.

"Oh, hey Grisham," a pokemon then cried happily over the phone—It sounded like her Absol— before she leant down to it and said softly "yes, it's him, I know," before turning back to him on her phone, "What's up?"

Ever since he had helped Harmony when she was sick, her partner Absol had seemingly taken quite a liking to him— when she was there it had run into his room excitedly and had practically dragged him out to show him when she was awake. It would listen to him as if it were his own pokemon, and ever since then it got extra excited whenever it saw him, usually whenever she stopped by the cafe.

"I... require some assistance with something... I thought you may be able to help me..." he began to explain awkwardly. Normally, he never got this nervous about something. But because it was her, he supposed, he felt a bit nervous. Flustered, even.

"Anything," she responded cheerfully, as she pet Absol, who cried at her happily.

Not only had Grisham taken care of her before, but he had also recently helped Harmony with giving Absol a bath and trimming its claws. It was... not an easy process. Even with how much Absol liked him. He was glad to know it still did, even after that whole ordeal.

"Well..." he began quietly before clearing his throat and speaking more clearly, "The heat in our apartment building is currently broken, and we've no idea when it might be fixed... But I was told it could take days," he informed her of his predicament.

"Oh no! Are you alright?? You must be so cold, it's freezing outside!" Harmony blurts out, her eyes going wide with shock, hand coming up to her mouth.

"I'm doing just fine, I've got Charizard with me now, but..." he assures her, turning to show her Charizard to quell her worries before continuing, "But Griselle..." he trails off looking concerned, "Well, let me just say I think she may freeze solid if not for the fuel of her own anger," he finishes, looking quite uneasy now.

"Oh my," Harmony utters to herself in disbelief, "But she has her Pyroar, and Talonflame, too, right?"

"Yes, I'm sure they're keeping her from getting too cold right now as well," he answered her, but couldn't be sure given how he hadn't wanted to disturb her yet. "But we are also looking into staying somewhere while it's being fixed, if it could be a while..."

"Oh! Uh, right! You should come stay at Hotel Z! We've got, uh, heat here, and um, snacks and stuff... I can make you some hot tea, too!" Harmony rushed to offer them her hospitality, stumbling over her words a bit as she did. He secretly found it very cute.

"I can even call you a Lumi Cab to get here, if you want, I don't want you to have to walk or anything..." she added, with a big awkward grin.

"That's quite alright, Harmony. I can arrange for one myself," he declined, politely. "Thank you for your understanding and hospitality," he added warmly, giving her a smile.

He saw her cheeks flush red as she spoke again, "O-o-of course! After all, you've done so much for me... It's only right..." she stammers, playing with her hair nervously. "I'll see you soon then, bye!" she gave him a little wave over the phone.

"Yes, see you soon. Goodbye, Harmony," he affirms, giving her a small wave back before hanging up.

———

Alright. Now that that was sorted, Grisham just needed to tell Griselle. Hopefully she had calmed down—and warmed up— a bit from before. He took in a deep breath before approaching her door, Charizard standing just behind him, before gently knocking a few times.

A muffled cry of "WHAT?" came from behind the door. He opened the door to see her, as expected, with Pyroar and Talonflame surrounding her in her bed, as she sat upright in a cocoon of blankets, with just her head sticking out of the top.

"You look... comfortable," he remarks at her.

The pokemon both turned to look towards him, and she glared at him, "Don't you dare judge me right now," she threatens from within her cocoon.

"I've found us a solution," he informs her with a little smile.

"Really?" she replies sarcastically, raising an eyebrow in suspicion, as if she doesn't believe him.

"Yes, really," he repeats back to her in the same tone, "We're going to Hotel Z," he explains.

"We'd better be—" she begins to protest before he interrupts, knowing what's she's going to say, "Yes, we're getting a cab there."

"Alright, fine," she agrees, shifting a bit inside of her comfortable envelopment, "Give me a few minutes..."

"Of course," he obliged before leaving again. It was unclear whether she meant to pack or to un-swaddle herself. He didn't ask.

—————

the thought of griselle wrapped in a bunch of blankets trying not to freeze and thus looking like a swadloon (expression and all) is very funny to me. i do have more right and so there will be a part 3 (later today) but i wanted to split it just i wanted them to be separate (sorry to have to make yall wait more but it's what i decided was best)

———

With both of them now in pajamas and having finished getting ready for bed, it was time for Harmony and Grisham to actually get into bed together. They both hesitated at the bedside for a moment and exchanged a look that said "we're really doing this, aren't we?".

Harmony almost wanted to ask him if this was really, truly, what he wanted one more time; she knew there would be no going back after this. Now they would always be 'friends that have slept together' instead of "just close friends", even if they were sort of doing it out of necessity.

This didn't have to be such a difficult thing. They were both (semi) responsible adults, they could handle a couple nights together... It didn't have to be a romantic thing, either, but given that the events of the night were unfolding in the way that they did, it was beginning to feel more and more like perhaps both of them... wanted it to be, but neither of them wanted to be the one to actually say it...

They hesitated at the bedside not because they wanted to remain apart, but because they both knew getting in bed meant admitting they wanted just the opposite, actually.

They remained in a bit of an awkward silence, as they exchanged one more quickly broken glance and Harmony finally sat down on the bed.

"Do you... want anything before bed? Tea, maybe?" she offered, trying to stall even for just a bit longer. And it was obvious that's what she was doing, as they had both just finished brushing their teeth; but she just couldn't think of anything else to ask.

"Oh, no, but thank you, Harmony. Perhaps for breakfast tommorrow, though?" Grisham suggested, smiling warmly back at her. He sat on the bed himself, and found it to be surprisingly soft and comfortable; and perhaps even a bit more comfortable than his own was...

"I hope it's not too warm in here for you... I uh, I get cold easily..." Harmony explained sheepishly, sliding under the covers.

"Well, it's certainly much better than freezing," Grisham adds.

"Yea, I guess it is," Harmony laughed nervously, "I'm, uh, I'm glad you're here," she admitted quietly. Grisham looked very slightly surprised at the latter part of her statement as Harmony then scrambled to correct herself, realizing what she had said.

"I mean– uh, not like– here, with me, but– um... like... just here in general—"  she stammered, "I'm just, uh, happy to help you, and stuff, cuz, uh, I like you..."

Grisham could only stare at her as she continued to stumble out what sounded like some kind of confession. He was only growing more surprised as he did.

"Uh, I mean I like how nice you are! I-I-I... I don't know why I said that..." she realized each word she said was only making things worse, yet she tried to continue anyways, "I just- I- I'm-" she stuttered, practically losing the ability to speak, "I'M GLAD THAT YOU'RE HERE CUZ YOU'RE REALLY NICE AND I DON'T WANT YOU TO BE COLD," Harmony finally blurted out, practically covering her entire face with her hands in embarrassment.

Grisham was actually very amused at her outburst, breaking into a light fit of laughs at how she kept trying to correct herself over and over. Harmony whined a long high pitched moan of embarrassment as she quickly turned away from him and tried to bury herself entirely under the blanket to hide. She was so red in the face now that she reminded Grisham of a Charmeleon.

"Alright, I understand, Harmony," he teased her, still laughing lightly, "You can stop now," he thought to tell her to put her out of her misery, however amusing it may have been to watch.

"PLEASE," she squeaked from under the blanket. Oh Arceus, she had done it now. Did she actually just accidentally confess to him?? Whilst sounding that stupid?! AND he was laughing about it??

Done for. She was so done for. He totally knew now...

"I'm glad to be here as well, I love you too," Grisham replied innocently, unaware of the word he'd just used.

Harmony was too busy spiraling over her own embarrassment, panicking at how she could messed up so badly like that, until she heard a certain 4-letter "L" word (that certainly wasn't 'like') float nonchalantly into the air beside her.

She tore the blanket off of her head, turning back to Grisham utterly dumbfounded, "You... HUH?!"

"I just said that I like you too," he repeated inncorrectly, oblivious to the mistake he made, a tad bit confused at her large reaction.

"No, that is NOT what you said!" Harmony practically hissed her bewildered words at him.

"Really? What did I say? Perhaps you misheard?" Grisham suggested, just about as confused as Harmony was now, as he truly hadn't caught his slip-of-the-tongue earlier.

"I know what I heard, and what I heard was 'I love you'!" Harmony near-yelled at him (despite the late hour), the pent-up tension inside her finally boiling over.

"I— Oh my..." Grisham muttered quietly, suddenly completely serious as he soon began to resemble a fire type himself.

"Wait, did you actually mean that?!" Harmony didn't think she could've gotten more surprised. Any more, and she was sure her heart would come apart worse than it already was.

Grisham took a long, slow, deep breath, as he turned to Harmony who was now sitting upright in the bed, her mouth still hanging open incredulously.

He took her hands gently back into his, looked deeply into Harmony's grey eyes, and spoke just two words: "I did."

———

yayyyyyy my pookies 💖💖💖💖 i love them so much :3 hope y'all liked it!!

—

Winter in Lumiose City brought a lot of things, twinkling lights lining the streets, a soft white blanket of snow, seasonal activities, and of course, the biting cold; the kind of cold that settled into your bones and refused to let go. Griselle was especially not fond of that last one. She could bear the winter, but she absolutely did not enjoy it by any means. It was at least marginally better than the sweltering heat of the summer, which she greatly detested, and at least it wasn't filled with pollen to make her miserable like spring was (except for when that girl and her haphazard Meganium came by).

Much like Grisham kept Charizard outside its pokeball when he was working, during the winter Griselle would often have her Pyroar out as well, which made standing out in the cold all day at least a little more tolerable.

At the very least she could look forward to the relief of coming back to the comfortable warmth of apartment building she and Grisham lived in. That is, until she walked into the building on a particularly cold day, expecting to be hit by the usual wave of warmth that would normally wash gently over her, but feeling nothing change but the absence of the wind. Not a great sign of things to come.

Normally, they'd both put their pokemon away once they got inside, but with the unexpected chill that now hung in the hallway, they both silently agreed to keep their fire-typed partners out a little a longer.

"Ugh, why is it so cold in here, too??" Griselle complained as she went inside their apartment, digging her hands deep into Pyroar's mane, searching for warmth there instead. Pyroar gave a contented bellow as it nuzzled up to her.

"I suppose we shouldn't expect much when it's been so particularly frigid as of lately..." Grisham muses with a hint of concern.

"Well, unless some rogue pokemon used blizzard in here recently, I'd expect it to be a little warmer..." Griselle remarks with irritation.

Then, someone who had been walking down the hall as well, still wearing their winter coat as too, poked their head into the still open door.

"Oh, did you not hear?" the neighbor inquires, giving a curious yet worried look at them.

Griselle whipped back around to the sound of the neighbor's voice, "Hear what?" she responded cautiously.

"Central heating's down right now, has been since this morning..." the neighbor explains sympathetically. Both of them looked shocked for a second before Griselle could feel rage boil inside of her, despite the low ambient temperature.

"Is there an estimate as to when it'll be fixed, at least?" Grisham asked the neighbor with a frown.

"No, unfortunately. Not yet at least," the neighbor replied, frowning herself.

"But from what I heard earlier it could take days," she added, sounding rightfully concerned.

"DAYS?!" Griselle shouts, now seriously fighting the urge to punch something.

"Surely that can't be right, can it?" Grisham laments, his tone now a mix of shock and worry.

"I'm sorry, I truly don't know myself," the neighbor apologises sincerely, looking sorrowful.

"Well, thank you for the information, anyways, Miss," Grisham replies politely yet mournfully, closing the door as the woman turns to leave.

Great. Just great. Absolutely wonderful. Now they would be stuck without heat for who-knows-how-long in the dead of winter.

"What are we going to DO, Gris?!?" Griselle rants, "We— I'M going to freeze!" she continues, panicked as much as she was angry.

"Well I'm not immune to the cold myself, Griselle," Grisham corrects her.

"WHATEVER!" she huffs, storming into her room, Pyroar following in behind her, before she slammed the door shut.

—

Grisham thought it was probably best to give her a while to cool off— or, warm up, actually. He was a fair bit more temperature resistant than her. As such, he was content just keeping his coat on, though he kept Charizard out as well. He went over to the sofa to sit and think of some kind of solution.

"What are we going to do about this, Charizard?" he asked, as he reached up to stroke the orange pokemon on the head. Charizard gave a puff of steam from its nostrils as he did.

Okay, solutions. Obviously they could not stay here, especially if the woman had been right. Even if the cold wasn't a problem for him, he did not want to deal with Griselle's cold-induced ire for any longer than he absolutely had to. If only there was somewhere they could stay for a short while... A hotel would likely be best, but which one? He was sure that they probably couldn't afford even a single night somewhere like the Hotel Richissime, let alone more than one. He sat and thought about it with Charizard for a minute, thinking it over before deciding to check his rotom phone.

As he pulled it out he remembered what he had been doing before all of this— he had been speaking with Harmony, a trainer whom he admired who was not only a regular at Noveau Cafe; but had even stayed in his apartment before while he had taken care of her after she had fallen ill while on one of her visits.

Then he remembered, she was a part of that Team MZ group, the one based out of the Hotel Z, wasn't she?

Maybe that was it, the answer to their frigid problems- he'd had to ask her to confirm, but it was a step in the right direction.

Harmony had been very flustered, but more importantly, very grateful to him for taking the time and energy to care for her, and had said how much she wanted to find a way to repay him (in a way that he would accept, since he refused to take her money when offered. It was entirely his decision to help in the first place, and he had sort of kidnapped her too, so he rejected it outright)

Even knowing how she had told him to ask her if he ever needed help with something, he felt... hesitant to do so? Maybe he was just a little flustered himself, embarrassed by the situation, or maybe by how cute he thought she was. But he knew he needed to do this, again reminding himself that staying here and freezing was not an option. So reluctantly, he dialed her number, forcing the redness to leave his cheeks as he waited for her to pick up.

—————

—

"Gris, are you... okay?" Griselle reached out to his shoulder over the pokemon with concern, seeing his panic. He was absolutely not okay. Grisham's mind raced, his pulse quickened, his breathing became panicked.

"I... I've got to find her..." Grisham muttered before shooting back up to his feet. "Stay here. I don't know if I'll be back," he instructed Griselle. He had already began dashing away after Absol (with Charizard close behind him) when she called out behind him.

"Wait, Gris, what the fuck is that supposed to mean?! Don't die!" she yelled after him, confused and concerned.

Whatever she had called to him, Grisham didn't hear. Except for that last part. Arceus, his girlfriend had better be alright, or at the very least still alive. He couldn't even begin to think of what he'd do if he'd lost her, Grisham refused to even think about the possibility.

Absol raced around the plaza, frequently checking that Grisham and Charizard were still following close. Grisham wondered where the pokemon would take him, as he sprinted down the canalside, trying to apologise for both himself and the pokemon for nearly running into multiple people standing there as well.

What if a wild pokemon had attacked her? What if another person did? If that were true, Grisham didn't know if they would survive. Something awful came over him, feeling an odd familiarity to the route they had been taking.

Around this street, down this one, thru this one, until they reached Magenta Street. Grisham had hoped and prayed that the pokemon would continue running past that Arceus-forsaken place, but Absol stopped right outside the door of the old Lysandre Café, pawing to be let in.

"Not here. Not here. Anywhere but here... Anywhere but this damn place..." Grisham thought as he swung open the door. He briefly called back Charizard as he passed through the forgotten labs' open passageway, releasing it once again when he got to the bottom.

"Show me where she is, but stay close to me, alright, Absol?" Grisham affirms to the pokemon. She cried and gave a nod, staying just ahead of him as she led him down the darkened hallways. They navigated through hallways past piles of fallen rubble, with no sign of Harmony anywhere, until they reached a long corridor with a single room blocked by a veritable mountain of rubble at the end.

There was a strange pokemon cry from the end of the hall. A heracross, maybe? Grisham couldn't be sure what exactly lived down here, but he was fairly sure he'd never seen a Heracross down there before. Absol broke away from in front of him and ran down the hall, and then howled reaching the pile of rubble. A distinct cry echoed back, undoubtedly from Heracross, Harmony's Heracross. She must've been back there.

"Harmony! Harmony, my love, are you there?!" Grisham called out to her as he caught up to Absol.

"G-gris? Gris, h-help... me... please...!" Harmony called back to him weakly, recognizing his concerned voice as her boyfriend's, her own voice strained and unsteady.

"Hang on, my love, I'll be right there!" he calls, "Please, just stay with me..." Grisham pleads, his voice beginning to break.

Absol scaled the rubble one step at a time, bowing her head to let Grisham take hold of her scythe-horn for support.

"I-I-I... I fell... please... be... be careful... Gris..." Harmony warned between sharp breaths as her partner scaled the rubble as she had.

Thankfully, with Absol's support, Grisham reached the other side without incident.

Two large yellow eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness were standing over Harmony and intially worried him, before Grisham realized they were the eyes of Heracross; expression blank as ever. It stood over her protectively, making sure no wild pokemon attacked its wounded trainer. It moved a bit further away to stand guard to give Grisham some space.

"I'm here, my love, I'm here," Grisham soothed as he rushed to his partner's side, to where she still lay helpless on the floor. He took her free hand into his own, it felt cold, and her grasp was weak. It wasn't a good sign. She was still breathing, but it was shallow, laboured, and fast.

"What's hurt? Can you breathe? Can you move?" he questioned as he assessed her condition. Every injury he saw felt like a dagger to his own heart, but he needed to focus on getting her out and getting her help.

"M-m-my my arm... and my... my leg..." Harmony whimpered out weakly. His eyes went pinpoint as he saw her leg in the dim light, now with a nasty, bloodied gash down the length of its backside. She wasn't losing much blood now as the injury slowly dripped crimson onto the floor, but from the sight of her leg and the scene around her, she'd lost  something significant. Not enough to be fatal, or, that was what he could only hope.

He needed to get her out of here, now. He couldn't get her over the rubble, immobilized as she was. He'd have to get it out of the way quickly and without hurting her any more. He stared at the imposing mound, trying to think of something, anything, when he noticed yellow eyes looking up at him again. Heracross gave a cry, flexing its armored muscles.

"If you... protect me... he knows... rock smash," Harmony offered weakly.

"Listen... to him... 'kay?" Harmony turned to her pokemon and managed to faintly muster a smile with the command. By now Charizard had managed to get into the room, safe as well, standing ready behind its own trainer.

"Charizard, can you please cover us as Heracross here clears the way?" Grisham asked to his pokemon, who quickly obliged and stood with his wings spread like a shield as soon as Grisham had carefully been able to move Harmony a few more feet away.

They huddled closely behind the lizard's wings with Absol as the beetle charged forward powerfully, gleaming with charged power. A loud bursting and a few seconds of dust settling later, a large amount the rubble had been mostly pulverized, and there was now a narrow passage between the previously blocked hallway's two sides. It was least big enough to that Grisham could carry Harmony through.

"Stay with me, stay with me, my love, stay with me, please..." Grisham pleaded to Harmony, fighting to remain concious, eyelids fluttering, looking up into his eyes.

"'m... sorry, darling... 'm... trying, ok?" Harmony's voice was just barely a whisper now.

Grisham tried and failed to fight back his tears as he looked back into her grey eyes, "Harmony, my love, please... you've got to stay..."

———

wow i made that arguably more of a cliffhanger. my bad. i'll have more (hopefully) soon. i promise she's gonna live. really. she will. (he doesn't need to know that though >:3 muahahaha) also, consider this a potentially a draft i might change it when i upload to ao3, (idk if it's good enough... maybe i just need sleep)

———

The elevator ride had been mostly silent, apart from when they got on, when Harmony offered to hold their bags, to which Grisham declined for the both of them, insisting she didn't need to do any more for them than she already was.

"I can't thank you enough for doing this for us, Harmony," Grisham expressed his sincerest thanks to her as she opened her door and invited him inside.

"Please, I'm just happy to be finally doing something for the two of you for once..." Harmony expressed her own gratitude with a sheepish grin. "Are you sure you want me to stay? I really don't mind staying in the lobby tonight..." she questions, making sure this was really what he had wanted.

"Nonsense, dear Harmony," Grisham interjected, as he took her hands into his to further assure her.

"I could never allow you to deprive yourself that way for my sake." He released one of her hands to place his on his chest.

Harmony felt her face get red hot at his touch, letting out a squeak in her flustered surprise. His hands were warm against hers, his touch was so gentle and comforting, his voice so soothing and sweet just like honey. She almost protested when he let go, as Grisham looked between her surprised face and her other hand, still held in his own.

"Oh," he exclaimed softly, realizing what he had done without even thinking. "Forgive me, that was... rather inappropriate of me..." he muttered, now flustered himself.

"Oh, uh, it's alright... I-I didn't mind..." Harmony stuttered, as they were now both quite red & embarrassed.

Harmony then took a side-step away from him, attempting to reduce the tension between them. "I'm, uh, just going to grab a quick shower before bed, but um, make yourself comfortable, okay?" Harmony continued to struggle her words out and fidget nervously, but looked over at Grisham warmly, almost fondly.

"Alright, thank you, Harmony. I will." He gave her a small nod as she quickly shuffled herself into the bathroom.

Harmony resisted the urge to squeal as soon the door shut, sliding down the bathroom wall onto the floor. Oh no, oh no, she thought; if he continued that be that cute all night? She was as good as done for. Normally she wouldn't be red-as-a-charmeleon until after she got out of the shower, but that certainly wasn't the case tonight.

Harmony barely registered the hot water cascading over her, as all of Grisham's sweet words replayed in her head. The way he looked at her, like she was something so precious. The way every touch from him was so gentle, so loving. Arceus, her heart threatened to come apart completely right then and there. She tried, (and failed) to get his visage out of her mind, as the steam and sweet scent of her soap and shampoo danced through the air, swirling around her, clinging to her.

She was so distracted that she had to call out her Florges, Gardenia, to help her. Harmony occasionally had Gardenia help her bathe, usually when she was too weak or tired to by herself but still needed to. Right now she was just... otherwise incapacitated, but the pokemon was happy to help all the same.

She felt Gardenia's three-fingered hands gently work their way through her scalp, rubbing gentle circles in the suds. And it only made her issue worse, Grisham's gentle voice echoed in her head louder, and she felt her body burn with longing for his soft touch, like a blazing fire; totally consuming her heart.

Eventually, Harmony finally finished rinsing herself off, with Gardenia ensuring her hair was clear as well. As a thanks for helping, Harmony switched the water to a refreshing cool temperature, and she generously sprayed all of the flowers wreathing Gardenia's face with it, to which the nymph-like flower pokemon enjoyed immensely. Shaking the excess water from her petals, Gardenia cried melodically in appreciation before floating out of the tub. As Harmony carefully stepped out herself, her pokemon grabbed and gently draped a towel over her trainer's form.

"Thank you, Denia," she thanked her loyal partner pokemon, securing the towel around her body. She quickly checked her phone which she left on the counter by the sink, and realized that her 'quick' shower had actually ended up being 30 minutes. Oops.

Normally Gardenia would also brush her hair and help dry her off as well, but instead, this time, she ushered Harmony out of the bathroom back to the bedroom where Grisham was waiting. With just her towel. Which was long enough that it did cover all of her... parts, but not by much.

——

Grisham looked up from where he was sitting when the bathroom door opened, seeing Harmony emerge from the cloud of escaping steam, guided out by her Florges, and still half-naked, with just a towel wrapped tight around her body.

He himself had changed into a tshirt and shorts for bed, appropriate for the cozy warm temperature of the hotel room, far from the frigid air of his own apartment. He had also taken down his two-toned hair from its usual ponytail, letting it fall loosely around his shoulders. His café uniform sat folded neatly on the table beside him.

"Oh," he gasped as he saw Harmony, scantily clad. Grisham found he could not tear his gaze away from her body, taking in the beautiful sight of every one of her barely hidden curves. He realized he must've been staring, when his orange eyes locked with Harmony's grey. She looked flustered again, potentially more than she had before, but that may have been from the light pinkish flush over her entire body.

"Oh, my, sorry... I... didn't mean to stare," he stammered, quickly bringing a hand in front of his eyes, blocking his own vision.

"It's okay, you... don't have to do that," Harmony reassured, referencing the way he hid his face from her. Florges suddenly floated past her from the bathroom and over to him, with a towel over her arm, holding a hairbrush and a comb. She placed the towel on the table next to him, and handed Grisham both the brush and comb (much to his confusion.) She cried at him and twirled around and then cried back at Harmony, beckoning her trainer over to him.

"Gardenia, no—" Harmony reprimanded her pokemon and sighed deeply, "We are not going to make him—" she stopped mid-sentence, pinching at the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry about her, I-I don't know why she did that," she stuttered as she apologized to Grisham, who was still confused about what he had been handed, and what about it she expected him to take offense at, apparantly.

"Florges helps me in the shower," she explains, looking at the pokemon who lights up at the mention. "She usually brushes my hair afterwards, too..." She gave her pokemon a side-eye. "...But apparantly she wants you to do it..." Harmony continued, sounding embarrassed as she looked back to him. "Which you absolutely don't have to, by the way," she clarified before her explanation sounded like a demand.

"Ah, I see. May I, anyways?" Grisham mused, gesturing at her with what he held with a soft smile.

"You... want to?" Harmony questions why he'd want to do something like that.

"I'd love to," he affirmed happily, "If you'll let me, of course."

She shuffled over to him slowly, as if she just naturally gravitated to him.

"Are you sure?" she asked, looking back at him guiltily after she had already knelt down to her knees with her back to him.

"I'm sure, Harmony. I help Griselle with hers all the time, so I'm quite experienced with this sort of thing," Grisham informed her to ease worry.

He began to brush slow, gentle, deliberate strokes through her wet hair. Harmony fought not to fluster every time Grisham's hand brushed the back of her neck, but was ultimately unsuccessful, the tips of her ears going pinker with each sucessive touch. Harmony couldn't help but let a small moan of pleasure escape her as he continued.

"Does that feel good?" Grisham guessed, hearing her contentment.

"Yea... so good, Gris..." Harmony replied, voice soft and airy.

Grisham hummed a pleased note himself, "Good, I'm glad. You've got lovely hair, Harmony," he remarked warmly.

Harmony felt her heart flutter at the compliment. She felt like she could just melt, right there in that moment...

To say that Grisham didn't think his evening would've ever gone this way, was an understatement. He was staying in Harmony's room, with her, and now he was drying and brushing her hair. They were so close now. Closer than they'd been in a while. The last time he'd had with her like this was when she'd gotten sick.

Externally, he remained calm and composed like he always did, but internally he was on fire, with a red-hot flame of passion engulfing his heart.

———

aaaaaaa soft grisham aaaaaaaa ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 he's so cute,,,, also meet another of harmony's support pokemon. she also wants her trainer to get together with him (if you couldnt tell) i had this part mostly finished for a bit but ive been putting off putting it up until now forgive me yall 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

tagging @littlesugarbug and @houndenny (if you u want a tag just lmk :3)