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Gou shook as he held Rabbifoot in his arms. The fire pokemon had stopped fighting the hug and gotten rather comfortable, but refused to meet anyone's eyes.
He stared down at his lap, concerned. Had Gou forgotten him? No...from the way he was being held he didn't think so.
His trainer was shaking. Not visibly and his tears had stopped long ago, but he could feel it in the fingers that rested gently in his fur.
He let his feet heat a little to warm his trainer, maybe he was cold? He didn't want to do anything too embarrassing, he'd grown past that, he'd evolved past such shows of affection, but...he wanted his Gou to be okay.
His shaking didn't stop and he made a little worried chitter. To his surprise, Gou startled at the noise, controlling his jumpiness before Satoshi could notice.
Gou probably knew Satoshi was already worried after his slight breakdown, but the black haired boy was probably waiting until they got home to talk. The other passengers had already been staring and he didn't want to embarass Gou or Rabbifoot further.
Satoshi stood up suddenly.
"Satoshi? What's wrong?"
He plopped down in Rabifoot's unoccupied seat, and rested his head on Gou's shoulder.
His friend wasn't the most comfortable pillow in the world, but he wasn't doing this for himself.
"Tired. It's naptime."
"I- um-"
Satoshi didn't respond and eventually Gou relaxed in his seat. Rabifoot noticed his arms loosen from tight to merely snug and he closed his eyes enjoying the sway of the train and the comforting presence of his human.
It had been a while since they had sat like this, he felt he had to be more mature, and it was nice to just exist.
They arrive back at the lab late in the night. Most of the Pokemon were asleep so Gou resolved to check up on them in the morning and hopefully spend some time with them. He felt beyond exhausted.
He wasn't used to being so emotional. He felt vulnerable and he didn't like it.
"Welcome back, you two."
"Hi Koharu…"
"Why do you sound so tired, you slept the whole way back."
"And you didn't? When Rabbifoot woke me up there was drool-"
Gou punched Satoshi in the shoulder and he grinned as he whipped his hat off, slapping it over Gou's head to block his vision while he ran upstairs.
Rabbifoot reappeared at his legs with a glass of water from the kitchen.
"Ready to go upstairs?"
The rabbit pokemon nodded.
"Already...night Koha...see you tomorrow."
"Gou? You ok?"
Gou didn't fully turn around, "Yeah."
"...That's convincing. Call me for anything, okay?"
"M'kay."
Rabbifoot tilted his head, looking at Koharu. She was frowning back at him, looking like she wanted to tell him something but merely nodded towards Gou.
Rabbifoot put the water on Gou's desk.
"Oh, was that for me Rabbifoot?"
He nodded before hopping up onto Gou's bed.
Gou looked really happy to see Rabbifoot in his usual spot instead of over by the window like he had the past week. He seemed happy too but he couldn't quite get his smile to show as he picked up the glass.
Rabbifoot didn't take his eyes off Gou as he lifted the glass to his face. It slipped from his hands, water splashing all over the floor.
"C-crap…"
He ran out, grabbing a rag from the hall closet, quickly wiping up the water.
A purple wisp shifted out the room.
He felt his whole body start to shake as he let himself fall to a sit on the floor. He hears Rabbifoot make a surprised squeak and the noise of paws thumping on the floor.
There are paws prying his fingers from the rag.
"Ra…"
His hands pull at the front of his sweatshirt, "Sorry...I don't know what's wrong…"
Paws pat at Gou's hands but the soft touches only make him more upset. By the time a dishevelled Satoshi arrives at their room, hair still wet from his shower, the other boy is crying, a confused Rabbifoot at his knees.
"Gou?! Gou, what happened?"
Gou knows he's an ugly crier, he always hid his face when he used to end up crying at school. He tried to shove his face into the neck of his sweatshirt as he answered Satoshi with an apology. He knew what was wrong. He'd almost pushed away the best friend he had, his partner, like he pushed everyone else away. He was terrible, the worst, and he didn't deserve anyone in the room. He didn't deserve Rabbifoot trying to curl onto his lap to help him. He didn't deserve Pikachu and Gengar's worried stares.
Gengar had probably gone to fetch Satoshi for him.
He definitely didn't feel like he deserved Satoshi sitting across from him.
"Gou, what're you sorry for?"
"I...I almost left Rabbifoot...and he-he didn't want to go- I'm a bad friend-OW!"
Rabbifoot slapped Gou with his ears, a small puff of fire escaping his mouth.
"It's true though, Rabbifoot I - ow! Stop that!"
"I don't think he agrees."
Rabbifoot turned around, standing on Gou's thighs between the two letting loose with a round of chittering that they'd never heard from the pokemon, even as a Hibunny.
Gou's eyes were wide, he didn't understand exactly what his pokemon was saying but after a kick to the stomach and Rabbifoot sitting back down, almost stubbornly, he understood he had worried the pokemon. It was his choice to come along and his choice to stay.
The fact didn't make Gou feel any less terrible though.
Satoshi stared at him, and Gou stared back, his eyes red.
"...are you going to scold me too?"
"Can I hug you?"
"U-um.."
At that moment Gou's vision narrowed to just Satoshi. Rabbifoot rolled his eyes and climbed off his trainer's lap, standing near Pikachu.
"...you can…" Unspoken was the fact that Gou didn't understand why Satoshi wanted to hug him. Gou didn't even like hugs from people that much, they made him uncomfortable, but he melted with Satoshi's arms around his shoulders and his chin over his shoulder. Satoshi smelled of soap from his shower, his hair still a bit damp, and his arms felt warm through his back.
"You deserve good things Gou…"
They stayed that was until Gou began to feel warm enough to fall asleep, until he curled his own arms around his friend, letting his eyes droop closed as Satoshi hummed something comforting and until Pikachu, Rabbifoot, and Gengar had realized this wasn't a short hug and had stolen the top bunk. Rabbifoot stared at his trainer until he was sure Satoshi was taking care of him and let his eyes droop close as he hefted an almost asleep Gou onto the bottom bunk.
He falls asleep to the Alolan champion whining about where he was supposed to sleep.
Gou awakens to a self satisfied Pikachu alarm clock, Satoshi tucked against his side, and Rabbifoot in the middle of persuading his Rotom phone into taking a picture. His eyes feel heavy after all the excitement from the day before. He is slow at noticing, his eyes distracted by Satoshi's sleeping form within reach. Satoshi is using him as a teddiursa and he finds he doesn't mind at all. At the ping of the picture Gou shoots up, panicking, his face red as he knocks Satoshi onto the floor.
"Rabbifoot, no! Why!"