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"Blasted hell, did ya see that last play?! What fuckin' rubbish! Ah seen better kickin' from a three-legged Mudbray! How the hell did Jean-Paul even make the championship?! Ah swear it's like he wanted Unova to win! Damn yanks call it ‘soccer’ for cryin’ out loud!"
"Well...I don't think we'd be figuring out any time soon."
"Why's that?!"
"Gloria we got kicked out of the stadium."
"...Oh right."
There was a distant roar of a crowd behind them, barred by the walls of the football stadium. The melancholy parking lot that Victor and Gloria trotted through offered far less entertainment beyond parked cars and the occasional tailgater.
"Well, it's not my fault those dead legged tots dunno how to play!" Gloria angrily scoffed. "Ah wonder if there's a bar or something nearby wit' the game on."
Victor didn't bother to bring up the growing number of restaurants that his girlfriend was banned from. The coming sports season always heralded the emergence of Gloria's...louder state.
It had started with their third date. Victor managed to get his hands on tickets to a game; naturally, she was his first choice. He hadn't known her for far too long but she made some passing remarks about her interest in the game.
It was quite the surprise, seeing her curse out the referee like a Charizard spitting fire.
Their streak of not being able to sit through a full game continued ever since.
"Ya think Professor Magnolia would let us use her telly?"
"Absolutely not."
"She likes you better." Gloria wasn't wrong. Magnolia had a soft spot for Victor, always one to offer help with tasks in both her and her granddaughter's research. No doubt, they found his attitude charming. "Ah dunno, sweet talk her then. We might still catch the second half."
Victor winced. He knew from experience that watching with her from home wasn't much of a change. Having her within range of delicate lab equipment didn’t sound much better. "Gloria, I don't think that's a good idea. You know how you get watching the game."
"The hell's that supposed to mean?"
"Love, you almost threw Hop at the TV the last time we watched a game with him."
In her defense, Gloria did instruct him not to sit within grabbing range.
...Presumably.
Gloria pouted. Giving it some thought, she felt somewhat inclined to agree. What was she to say? She loved the sport and she especially loved to watch it. It was really just the players doing asinine plays that got her riled up.
"Well...alright ye have a point."
Victor must have sensed her shame as she soon felt his arm around her shoulder, bringing her in for a quick kiss. "Don't think too much of it, dear. I know that's just who you are."
"Who...I am."
The sentence rang strangely in her mind for some reason. Gloria briefly looked back at the stadium, mulling over those three words.
Why was she suddenly embarrassed?
"Come on, let's grab something to eat. Not sure they'll let us back into the concessions stand back there."
"Right...Right, yeah." She said absentmindedly as she followed her boyfriend's arm.
--
Gloria assumed that being home, within the comfort of her room, would do more to take her mind away from her frustrations. Fate had decided that wouldn't be the case. All-day long, Gloria had plagued herself, unable to think of anything other than her numerous short-tempered fits.
She was the brash type. That much she knew. It was just how she was raised. She took nonsense from no one and made damn well certain they knew what would happen if they did. She called out Tauroscrap and admitted that it was always fun when she did, even when it resulted in her being kicked out of wherever she was - football stadium in this case.
Maybe that was the problem?
Victor was her polar opposite. He was the picture of a Galarian gentleman - posh accent, charming personality. It was a wonder how the two of them connected as well as they did. They couldn't be any more different and yet they cared for each other all the same, balancing out their faults. Victor, while overall charming and friendly, had the tendency of being a pushover. It was chalked up to his inherent mentality of being a gentleman.
That was where Gloria came in. They dealt with their fair share of rude gits and ruffians who saw the posh, meek young man as an easy target. Gloria protectively stuck to him, her abrasive nature and blunt manner of speaking making them think twice. At the drop of a hat, she could burst into a stream of swears and utterances that would ruin a child's innocence just by proximity. In which case, she would continue to yell and curse further after the confrontation if it weren't for Victor. He was sweet on her like that
Did she embarrass him?
Was she a nuisance?
Her mind plagued itself with these questions as she plopped onto her bed, lazily flinging her beret across the room in frustration. She felt another presence enter her moody bubble, chirping out of concern for his trainer.
"Oh Matchstick," she sweetly patted her Scorbunny's ears. "Did I wake ye, sweetums?"
Her favorite bunny partner chimed with enthusiasm. She at least knew he didn't mind her rowdiness. The little spitfire would run up walls and house roofs just for a thrill.
"Ah don't embarrass you, right?"
A dumb question, she told herself. There wasn't really much that she could do to embarrass a Pokémon already so rambunctious and excitable. His response was only a light chitter for more head patting.
Gloria smiled. "Ah didn't think so."
Even with the small distraction from her starter, her unease returned. She didn't want to lose Victor. He made her feel wanted - loved if she was being mushy about it. Was too much of a stretch for her to believe that he would no longer wish to be with her because of her attitude?
"Maybe...Ah'll skip football for a wee bit."
--
Gloria learned quickly that the universe was out to get her.
The football season had reached its peak. Innate habit had her tracking when the finals were going to be but her growing insecurities didn't even put her in the mood to actually watch it.
Gloria would've liked to think she did a decent job of curbing her interest and keeping from making any further rowdy outbursts. Finding a modest restaurant that didn't have a television showing the semi-finals was impossible with how crazed Galar was with the sport.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.
Not when one of her closest friends was the League Champion's brother.
Hop must have been paying her back for the TV.
It was a familiar routine: Victor gets his hands on some tickets, offers to bring her along, she gets that nasty eye from the bloke behind the ticket counter, and so on.
Somehow, Victor's presence both comforted and mortified her. His company was always welcome to her, his usual chatting her up about whatever popped into his head. He loved to talk and especially loved having someone to talk to.
“Gloria?” However, it took her a minute to see that he was talking directly to her. “Gloria are you alright, love? You’re looking like you’re up in space."
Perhaps this was her chance. Victor was an understanding person. Surely, he could console her troubles away before they consumed her whole.
"Well..y'see Ah-"
Her sentence cut short as she felt a sharp push against her arm. Without so much as a pause, she turned to the culprit, a much taller passerby who wouldn't notice if he knocked a Yamper over. Her brow furrowed almost instantly.
"Oi, ya daft-"
Gloria caught herself, silencing her own mouth with a palm.
The human Alolan Exeggutor, confusedly turned around, unaware that he'd almost fallen victim to a screaming match.
Gloria shrank feeling some curious eyes fall on her in the middle of the crowd. Most importantly, she felt Victor standing behind her.
Not here. Not again.
"Um..." She uncharacteristically squeaked. "'Scuse me."
The stranger paid her little mind, back to minding his own business. The tense atmosphere was finally gone but it left her feeling winded like a punch to the gut. She almost flinched from the sudden feeling of something grabbing her hand.
"Well, that bloke was rude." Victor chimed. "I'm surprised you didn't tear into him."
"...Right. Yeah."
He looked at her with concern in those annoying cute eyes of his. "Are you sure you're alright, love? Were you going to say something?"
She swallowed.
"It's nothin'. Ah'm fine, ye paranoid Sassenach." No. No, she wasn't. If it wasn't for her casually earnest smile, he would've been able to tell. "Let's find our seats then, yeah?"
Gloria shuffled along before Victor could pry any further. It was too soon, she had decided. At least let him enjoy the game first before she could ruin it for him.
Easier said than done.
They entered the stands, the faces of a great sea of spectators focused on the starting game. Somehow, Gloria felt the collective eyes of hundreds - no. thousands fall on her. Like they were expecting her to break any second now. She had gotten this far. It was too late to back out now.
The game began. Matched up were Galar's home team against Hoenn and it showed. For whatever reason, Galar had gone full defense. An utter fool decision; that's what they wanted. Even a child knows that those hotheads were monstrous when they were aggressive. It probably had something to do with the constant humidity down there in-
She curbed her interest flat, along with the urge to scream at that goalie who barely even tried to catch that last ball. Avoiding the game was a chore in itself. Now she was stuck at the one place she had no choice but to watch. Wading through the restlessness and irritation, Gloria slumped in her seat. Why couldn't she just keep quiet?
Resorting to counting the clouds, her head raised to the sky that shone down onto the field, managing to reach a solid three before a concerned hand snapped her back to reality.
"You are aware that I can tell you're not watching the game, right?"
Gloria tried to perk herself up, force herself to at least look like she wasn't agitated out of her mind.
That damned face of his won out again.
"Oh for Arceus sake, I cannae keep lyin' to mahself."
The boisterous crowd cheered from the goal she hadn't bother to look at.
"Lying about what?"
"Ah...Ah thought-Ah thought that I was embarrassin' you. The both of us."
"Embarrassing how?"
"Because..." Gloria sighed as she struggled to get the words out. She was far less versed when it came to speaking of her feelings than speaking her mind. "Because, Ah'm...loud." Ironically, that last term came out no louder than a Whismurr.
Her face reddened when Victor fell silent. It was beyond unnerving to see him quiet and unreadable. What could he possibly be thinking that wouldn't at least let him offer up a chipper smile?
"Is...is that it?"
Her pupils shrank. "...Y-yeah that's...whaddye mean 'is that it'?!" Red had stained her cheeks but from something other than embarrassment.
"Gloria, I know you're loud. I like that you're loud. That's nothing to be all red in the face over." he chuckled. "So to speak."
"But-But Ah keep gettin' us kicked out of places!"
"So?"
"You blitherin'-the bloody hell do ye mean 'so'?! The last time Ah got us kicked out the stadium because-well...Ah-Ah thought-And ye said 'that's who Ah am' and-and-"
"Gloria, I said it was who you are because I love who you are. So what if we get our arses tossed out here and there?" Victor's hand squeezed hers. Still, she had no explanation as to why such a small act was able to silence her, but Gloria was glad that it did. "Least then, I'm with you, love."
"...You're a damn lovesick buffoon."
"I mean it! I love you to bits. I'd never want you to change who you are if you weren't comfortable with it in the slightest."
"Ah know, Ah know." Gloria failed to hide her blush but she couldn't care less about that at the moment. "You're still a daftie."
Victor smiled sweetly. "Whatever you say."
The sounding jeer of the crowd had briefly interrupted their conversation. Victor didn't need a glance to know exactly why.
He gazed back at her, his eyes pointing towards exactly what she assumed they were. He grinned cheekily. "You've earned it."
Gloria smirked. At that moment, she felt a giant weight lift from her shoulders. For the sake of clarity, she took a deep breath before turning her attention to the football field. The noise of the crowd had been silenced by her ears.
"JEAN-PAUL, YOU JELLY LEGGED OAF!!”