Mistakes
Corbeau + Harmony writing exercise
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It wasn’t supposed to end up like this.
Hyperspace Lumiose can be unpredictable, but nothing can stop Harmony from getting what she wants.
Except for an Alpha Abomasnow.
She cautiously enters the Rust Syndicate headquarters, hand on her side as she slowly makes her way towards the elevator. The judgemental and questionable looks from grunts around her can be felt creeping up her back, her heart starting to race more than it already has.
Why do they have to be so damn snoopy? Just get back to work.
The elevator finally closes behind her, guiding her towards Corbeau’s office to report on the data she’s collected so far. It’s been about five months of Hyperspace surveying, and every time there have been little to no issues.
Unlike today.
The elevator stops with a ding, opening to reveal Philippe already standing at attention,
As well as Corbeau, who looks at her with a smirk until his face completely drops.
Something is off.
She tries her best to walk in normally, not wanting to show any signs of struggle, but Corbeau is not a stupid man.
He immediately rises from his seat, tilting his head as his eyebrows furrow. He looks angry, which isn’t the greatest start.
“You good?”, he questions, crossing his arms and watching her every move, every limp, every urge to not touch her side.
She tries to maintain eye contact, to keep a steady posture and pace, but the pain in her side is making that task impossible.
“Yeah, I’m alright”, she croaks, immediately giving up the second he starts to make his way towards her. One thing she’s learned since working for the Syndicate: no secrets.
He slowly approaches her, calculating and looking her up and down until he hyper-focuses on her right hip.
Busted.
Corbeau gets up in her space, Philippe still watching from a distance with his hands behind his back.
Corbeau gently grips onto her right wrist, moving her arm away from her hip. He looks up at her through his lashes, eyebrows furrowed and stern.
“What happened.” he says flatly. Not even a question, a demand: tell me about this.
She swallows and releases a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been keeping in.
“Just a bit of bruising from a Pokémon encounter. No biggie, nothing I can’t hand-“
He interrupts her, his grip on her wrist just ever so slightly tighter, like he’s afraid she’ll go.
“What happpened”.
She looks down, too afraid to look him in the eyes. One thing she can’t stand is needing help. She doesn’t want to be an inconvenience, but it’s worth it to be one if it means Corbeau won’t lose his shit on her.
“Alpha Abomasnow. Grabbed me and threw me against the wall. Just some bruising”.
He stares at her, a look in his eyes of “let me take a look”, waiting impatiently for her permission.
She nods shamefully in response, staring at the floor as he lifts up the side of her shirt to reveal dark purples, greens and yellows all along her ribs.
His eyes widen, first in shock, then in anger.
“What the fuck? Harmony, this is more than ‘just some bruising’”. He shoves her shirt back down, his hand still gripping her wrist as he pulls her a bit closer to him. He’s still gentle, but the sternness is starting to get to her.
“Harmony, look”.
She looks up at him, frowning, trying to compose herself. Corbeau is the last person she wanted to know about this.
He sighs, controlling his face so he doesn’t look so mad. He’s incredibly concerned for her.
“You were in Hyperspace hours ago. Why didn’t you get help? What went wrong?”.
She can’t admit what went wrong. Her body freezes, hating that she’s been put into such an awkward position.
He waits impatiently, still staring her down, waiting for an answer. Despite his impatience, he gives her some time. Clearly, she’s going through something.
She looks up at him, sighing as she reads more into his face. He may not look pissed anymore, but she knows he’s fuming inside. He can’t hide himself well around her.
“I went in with ground type Pokémon. I tried my best, but they all fainted quicker than I’d like-“
He interrupts her again, confusion written all over his face. She knows her type match ups: why would she do that?
“Were you trying to get yourself hurt?” He scoffs, smirking despite being upset. What she did was unbelievable and very dangerous. “Sunshine, you’re an incredible Trainer, I know that, you know that, everyone knows that. But that was reckless”.
She cuts him off, looking off to the side as she whispers to him, unprepared for his reaction:
“You told me it was an electric type hyperspace.”
He freezes, his grip on her wrist now deadly, his skin going cold in an instant. There’s no way he would fuck that up.
Right?
He shakes his head in disbelief, letting go of her wrist to immediately check his Rotom Phone. It flies right in front of his face, his eyes razor sharp and locked onto his screen.
“Electric? Are you serious? No, it was an ice type hyperspace. I told you that-“
Fuck.
She’s not wrong.
He misinformed her? When was the last time he fucked up that badly?
He triple checks everything; the messages, the readings, the screenshots, the directions.
Yeah, she’s right: he told her electric type.
No wonder she brought so many ground types.
He lets out a short breath in disbelief, his knees feeling like they want to give out.
This is his fault.
He turns to face away from her, unable to grasp at what’s playing out in front of him. This isn’t good.
“What the fuck. Harmony, I-“
He can’t bring himself to even look at her.
She sighs, trying to figure out what to do. She didn’t want him to be so upset..
“Corbeau. It was an accident, I understand. It happens. It was honestly inevitable-“
“Harmony. I hurt you. It wasn’t just an accident, I hurt you. Badly”.
There’s not much she can do or say right now to convince him that she’s alright, that the bruising looks worse than it actually is. Yes, she’s in pain, and yes, he fucked up, but she shouldn’t have been so reckless as to only put one type on her team. She’s a strong Trainer, but alpha Pokémon are no joke.
He shoves his face into his hands, pacing his office. Clearly, Corbeau isn’t the best at emotionally managing himself.
Philippe grimaces, still standing in place. He knows better than to say his two cents. Let Corbeau feel what he needs to feel.
Harmony, on the other hand, isn’t aware of this hidden rule.
“Corbeau, it’s fine. I-“
Corbeau snaps, throwing his hands to his sides and glaring at her.
“Fine? You think this is fine? For fucks sake, Harmony, don’t baby me!”.
She freezes, realizing it’s best to not emotionally manage someone as unhinged as Corbeau. This is a big deal for him, and she knows that he’s worried.
He walks past her, shutting his eyes as he tries to think, his heel bouncing as he tries to regulate his breathing.
“I never-“
He chokes up, hanging his head in shame as he feels his throat tightening up.
“I never fuck up.”
He tries to breathe, unable to, his mind going a mile a minute. His father, Giovanni, Lysandre, Philippe.
He doesn’t fuck up. People like Corbeau don’t fuck up.
He can’t fuck up.
“I’m sorry. Harmony, I’m so sorry”.
His eyes sting, a small tear falling down his face, every single pent up emotion from the past few months building up.
What if she didn’t escape on time? What if she was trapped there? Would she have been alone forever?
Harmony approaches Corbeau, placing a hand onto his shoulder, his body jolting in response to a touch so foreign.
It feels like fire at first, burning through his coat and jacket, searing onto his skin and tightening his back.
Until he loosens, releasing the tension in his shoulders, slumping them as he eventually sheds a few more tears, not letting her and Philippe see him.
No words are exchanged.
Only through patience and recognition can Corbeau hear what Harmony is saying.
He lets her touch his shoulder blade, her hand rubbing soothing circles.
He doesn’t deserve this.
But he lets it continue, the touch so unusual to him, so oddly soothing, calming.
When was the last time he was babied?
No,
Comforted.
He turns to face her, letting her see the redness in his eyes, his eyelids puffy and swollen, so vulnerable and small.
“Let me fix this. I want to take care of you and fix my mistake”.
She nods, giving him a reassuring and patient smile.
“Of course, I’d be happy to have your help”.
————
Wrote this in like 30 mins so sorry if there’s mistakes. Wanted to write a Corbeau flaw since it’s easy to write him as this perfect man. He’s the boss of a mafia, he’s gonna be toxic (see what I did there).
Corbeau learns that it’s not other people’s job to emotionally manage him.
