#ntouko

Because of his past of ...flowery speech, it was becoming increasingly difficult for N to get his recently realized feelings for Hilda across to her.

Small N and touko/hilda drabble because I’m trash, I’m still waiting for that reunion, I love the idea of N thinking humans are unnecessarily dramatic and complicated, and I think he would LOVE Alola.  

Super fluffy and a small cameo by my favorite professor/champion and his beautiful scientist wife.

They had reunited, surprisingly, in Alola, fittingly in front of a Ferris wheel that was erected for a carnival going on. They both had shorter hair, and Hilda was a few inches taller than she had been, but when their eyes met it was unmistakable. N initiated the embrace, of course. Hilda, sternly reminding herself that N isn't a flirt, he's just a hugger, and to not think it more than that.

Hilda had written off her crush on N long ago. N was a kind soul with no filter. He expressed how he felt, wholey, and his lack of understanding social queues meant that he didn't fully understand the weight they could carry. She was used to him saying bold things like "we are two halves of a whole", "You complete me", and "Thank you for making me who I am" with no ounce of shyness or concern. He was just an affectionate person. She had learned it was nothing to get excited about. He's just a.... romantic platonic. 

The next few hours were filled with lots of catching up. Stunned at the times they just narrowly missed running into each other. Common acquaintances they had met. They even came to realize that there were times they were at the same big event, moments in recent history, but maybe on different sides of the crowd.

He told her that it was about two years later that he returned to Unova and went looking for her. She revealed that it was sometime before then that she left on in search for her own adventure... and him.

"Why would you be searching for me?" He asked. They both were sitting on the beach, where the had just watched the sun set.

"Well... I guess I missed having you around" She answered shyly. Hilda was not as openly affectionate as N, and a blush crawled on her cheeks. "... and I wanted to make sure you were okay. When you left, you seemed so conflicted."

"Mm. I was." he replied "I had realized how much of the world I didn't understand. How much of people... and even myself I didn't understand."

"Do you feel better now?" she pried.

"Yes. Though... I still have a hard time conveying my feelings to others."

"N? Having a hard time telling people how he feels? I find that VERY hard to believe" She said with a chuckle. This was the man who would tell all of his friends he loved them and give big hugs.  

"Oh, you'd be surprised." He said, leaning back on his elbows and looking at the sky. "Though it gets easier with every friend I make."

"Why were you searching for me?" She returned his question.

He smiled at how appropriate his answer was. "I wanted to tell you how I feel."

She smiled back not missing the irony.

"Well?"

'I've known since we met that our lives were intertwined. That was more than confirmed when Zekrom and Reshiram responded to us. We are two halves of a whole..." There was a pause as he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Trying to gather the rest of his feelings into words.

"Well yeah, I know that. We both know that. You've told me that before."

There was a slight groan of frustration from N as his eyes went to the stars again. "Humans are so complicated."

"How so?"

He hesitated before answering. Questioning if he should put it all out there, but N has never been great at keeping things to himself.

"I can't tell... if I'm not expressing myself correctly and I need to try to be more clear... or if you're just being polite and I should leave it and save both of us from being uncomfortable... " He said agitated. He took a deep breath and continued in a much more calm tone. "Human communication is just filled with so many nuances and unwritten rules that just... no other creature on this planet makes this so complicated." He stood up and stretched a bit.

Hilda was thoroughly confused now. She had never seen N so frustrated with his own words. His truth and ideals were everything to him. Expressing them to the world was his greatest talent. A part of her was stirring with curiosity and hope, but she reminded herself that it only leads to disappointment. She stood up and placed a hand on his arm for comfort.

"Okay, so, hmm.... try expressing yourself... how a creature would? Maybe?"

N stopped in his tracks. debating this in his head. Certainly he would be better at it... and he would for sure know her response, whether good or bad and that was better than where they currently stood. He turned facing towards her.

As he put both his hands on her shoulders she could see the anxiety leaving his face. This was more in his element.

He took a deep breath and cupped her face between his hands. Thumbs behind her cheekbones and fingers carding in the hair behind the ears. Tilted her head up as his bowed down towards her until their faces nearly touched.

Hilda's breath has caught in her throat. She didn't have time to get excited, or tell herself not to get excited before he.... nuzzled her???? She peeked at his smile as he gently went from brushing their foreheads together to  rubbing the bottom of his cheek to the top of hers. She chuckled lightly as she realized again, how much she was still hopelessly in love with him, and she still set herself up for disappointment.

While N still held Hilda's face in his hands, he slowly pulled his face away. His eyes were still closed as he began to speak. Hilda felt like she was cheating by looking at him.  

"You are my other half" he started.

Yup, heard that one before. She thought.

"Wherever you are, you feel like home."

Well, this one might be new, but it was still in the same vein.

He opened his eyes to look back at her.

"You make my soul feel like it's on fire"

Well... wait, that one was DEFINITELY new.

"and I would like nothing more than you choosing me as your mate..."

Hilda.exe has stopped working.

Hilda blinked dazed for a minute. She couldn't let herself get too caught up yet.

"Mate.... you mean like.... Friend?"

uh oh. he thought, maybe this was not going to plan.

"Ah.. no. Not like a friend..."

Okay Hilda, one point for "maybe he likes you back."

"Like a.... girl... friend?" She asked shyly

N wasn't completely sure what the term meant, but he knew he heard "friend" in there again.

"No... I don't think so? Not friends. We're already friends, yeah?"

Hilda's mind was too busy processing the "no" into the "points for just friends" category to fully comprehend the rest.

"Like... partners?" She was running out of platonic definitions for the word *MATE*.

"Uh.... Yes?"

N had heard the term "Life Partners" before in regards to humans who mated for life. He thought this must be a better fit than whatever made a "girlfriend" different than a girl who is your friend.

Hilda suddenly had the realization hit her. Pokemon partners. They had always worked together wonderfully when they worked as a team. He had already expressed to her that he thought she was the ideal trainer. Of course it was hard for him to express with his conditioning that made him against battling for most of his life. A wave of embarrassment and relief washed over her.

"Of course we can be double battle partners! Did you want to go freelance in a region or go back to Unova?" She startled to ramble as N slowly turned crestfallen. " I don't know if they would allow double champions, but seeing as we've both been champions before, if we present them with a solid team I don't see--"

"NO!" He exasperated, then continued in a calmer, but urgent tone. "Not.... not pokemon partners... Mate like.... wife? ...um" N didn't really grasp the whole concept of marriage or why people did it, so he searched for different words. "Lover!..." At that Hilda's face though blank, was slowly turning as red as a tomato as N continued "Mother of my ch--" he was not able to finish that line as Hilda let out a loud yelp.

Hilda.exe has stopped working. Reboot required.

She was feeling faint, or like she was dreaming, or was she dead? She could feel the color leaving her face and she opened her mouth to test her ability to speak. Her knees must have buckled under her as she suddenly felt sand under them. Someones hands found her shoulders to keep her upright before she could tilt any other way.

Her eyes focused and she could see it was N holding her up. She thought he was saying her name? She felt a rush of heat as her blood started to flow again and the spots swam out of her vision.

N was sure he had done something terribly wrong now. He was holding Hilda up. Her eyes had never closed, but they had glazed over and they were just now starting to focus again.

"Hilda! Are you okay?!"

She straightened to support her own weight without N, though he didn't remove his hands. She wasn't ready to try standing again yet, so she didn't mind.

"Yes... I'm okay. I..." her brows drew closer together slowly recollecting what they were talking about. "Did.... did you just say you love me?"

This question confused N as much as he thought was possible. He thought he had made it abundantly clear that he's loved her for a while now, along with all of his close friends.

"Hilda, I've loved you for a long--"

"YEAH BUT LIKE I MEAN... YOU'RE *IN LOVE* WITH ME?"

N was sure he couldn't be more confused, but here he was. His brain doing mental gymnastics. (Insert pic of math lady meme.)

"Is.... is *IN* love different than just love?" He asked, clearly exhausted. 

Hilda saw the sincere confusion and worry in his face and she started to understand the communication barrier between humans and the rest of the creatures in the world. She started to feel her eyes water as she looked at this man she loved so much. This kind person who feels so much and so deeply.

She smiled. "You were right... human communication is really difficult"

"If being in love with someone means you can't imagine a life with out them, and you think about them more than anyone else even though you haven't seen them in years, and..." he stumbled over his words. Hilda felt tears start to brim and tried to bury her face in her hands. He wouldn't let her. He knew he was on a roll and he couldn't back out now. If he lost eye contact he knew he would lose his nerve. "and...  you just want to hold them until you fall asleep and wake up still holding them, then.... Yes!!! I'm in love with you!"

They stood there, both on their knees in the sand facing each other. N had one of her hands in his, held to his chest. His other hand held her face, she laid her hand on top of it. She was looking at the determination in his eyes now. He was breathing slightly heavy. His hair a windswept mess and she was sure hers wasn't any better.

"I... love you too." was all she could get out, barely above a whisper.

His face cracked into a grin. In a playful mocking tone he asked "But are you ~IN LOVE~ with me???"

Hilda was too overcome for any more words. All she could muster was to nod her head and flash a smile. She leaned over and wrapped her arms around his neck while he slipped his around her waist.

Down the beach, there was another couple walking along the waves. The man had his hair pulled back in a low bun, a goatee, and sunglasses even though it was dark. She had thick textured hair the color of platinum and a green hair clip holding the back of her hair up off her neck. They both had skin tones from the deep pallets that most of the locals had. She tapped his shoulder and gently jerked her head in the direction of Hilda and N.

"What's going on there?" He asked.

"Marriage proposal I think." She replied.

"Awww" he said as he wrapped an arm around his wife. "Oh! I recognize her! She's a former champion!!"

"Hmm, really? I met the guy a few days ago. We gave him a tour of the research lab. He's insanely smart... a little odd.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I've never seen someone so connected with pokemon while also being able to break down equations in quantum mechanics. We actually offered him a position at the lab after the tour. He said he would keep in touch, but he had some things he had to take care of first."

"Well hey, maybe this was one of them! We should go congratulate them!" He said as he started to tug her as he walked in that direction.

She smiled as she begrudgingly let herself be dragged. "You just want any excuse to celebrate."

Check out this mix on @8tracks: My Dearest (an N/Touko mix) by magutracks.

My Dearest Supercell Feat. Koeda | Technicolor Tim Meyers | Step To You Kushi | Manatsu no Spica Daisuke Ono | Energy Marina Inoue | Nanairo no Compass Mamoru Miyano | thank you & smile Tetsuya Kakihara | Harmonized Finale UNISON SQUARE GARDEN | Pure Love Satoru Kousaki | I Wish Shoji Meguro | For Good Idina Menzel/Kristin Chenoweth | Farewell (Refrain) GAME FREAK & Shota Kageyama