Chapter Text
He notices it immediately when he wakes up.
The heating is cranked up much higher than normal.
He drags himself out of bed despite the disgruntled squeaks from Pepper. After he does his morning routine, he makes his way to the door. He takes his coat from Nightshade with a warm thanks and snatches his hat up from Wiggles’s head. The bug type lets out a soft whine and punts. He’ll make it up to him later.
He descends the stairs to find what can only be described as a giant cocoon of blankets.
He just stares in bewilderment at the professor resting on the couch with about fifty blankets around them. They look extremely miserable.
“I am aware that you do not like the cold, but isn’t this… a bit much?” He finds himself asking as he approaches.
“Meeeeeeeeeeh. You don’t get to talk mister walking radiator,” they grumble loudly in response.
A fair point he supposes.
He starts to unravel the older person, much to their displeasure. Once he’s gotten most of the blankets off, he scoots them over so he can sit where they had once rested. Immediately they climb into his lap and make themself comfortable. They let out a content chirp as they bask in the heat that radiates from him. He starts to rearrange the blankets around the two of them.
A snort comes from the kitchen. Ingo looks over to see Emmet smiling warmly at them.
“Good morning Emmet! If it would not be too much of a-”
“Already got ya,” he interrupts as he walks over with a thermos in hand. He holds it out to him.
Ingo takes it and quickly takes a nice gulp of fresh coffee. He lets out a satisfied sigh. “Thank you very much!” He starts to sip it leisurely now.
The other man simply hums as he hands the other thermos he is holding to Larkspur who snatches it up greedily and simply cradles it for extra warmth instead of drinking out of it.
Another amused laugh escapes Emmet as he watches the smaller person readjust themself to get more settled in. “Congrats, you’re Larkie’s nest for the day.”
His silver eyes dart up and to the side as his smile drops into a contemplative frown. “Or at least ‘til the kids drag us all outside.”
“Nooooooooo.” Larkspur bemoans.
“I must ask, how do you regularly work in the Crown Tundra with such a low tolerance?” Actually. “Especially without a single Fire-type to help keep you warm.”
Instead of gracing him with an actual answer, they just blow a raspberry and groan.
Ingo’s eyes dart over to Emmet in hopes of getting an answer from him but the other man is already retreating into the kitchen by the time he looks over.
Eventually, the other grey-haired man returns with breakfast. He puts down three steaming bowls onto the living room table and takes a drink from his own thermos before settling down to start eating.
Ingo peers curiously at the bowl as he gently shakes their drowsing roommate. It’s a pale rice porridge with bits of chicken in it.
Lark groggily leans forward and takes a bowl. They blow on their first spoonful before putting it in their mouth. They make an appreciative sound as they swallow and then proceed to start working their way through the bowl. He thinks this is the slowest that he’s seen the other eat.
He manages to grab his own without jostling his passenger and takes a bite of the porridge. It’s… interesting. The texture is strange. Not bad. He’s not sure it’s good either. It tastes fine if not a bit too salty. After deciding that yes, he is fine with this meal, he starts to eat at his normal pace.
Like usual, Lark is the first done and Emmet is the last to finish.
The dark-haired person lets out a whine as they lean back into him.
“Oh no, food sleepies.”
He barely makes out their mumble.
“Oh no, the food sleepies?”
Emmet looks at the two of them gravely.
“Oh no, it’s the food sleepies.”
After a very serious and very tense moment, they all start to laugh.
Emmet gets up and ruffles Larkspur’s hair before taking all the dishes to the kitchen. They grumble at the loss of ruffling so Ingo starts to comb his hand through their hair in his brother’s stead. They hum happily.
He does end up getting the answer to his question not long after the front door slams open and Hop and Gloria come bounding in screaming. Hop is shouting “Snow day! Snow day!” over and over again while Gloria is just screaming.
Leon and Sonia follow in after the two also yelling “Snow day!” over and over again.
It’s a bit overwhelming if he’s being honest and judging by Lark’s soft distressed keening, they agree.
The older purple-haired man is the first to quiet down. He grins sheepishly at the two of them.
Gloria is the next one to quiet down and elbows their friend to get him to stop yelling.
Sonia stops soon after but doesn’t pause like the others. Instead, she immediately goes up the stairs.
Both Leon and Hop stand awkwardly with apologetic smiles.
The young champion wanders over to them and waves excitedly at them. He gives her his best smile and a wave of his own.
“Hello, I hope you are doing well today,” he greets warmly.
They give him a wide smile and nod vigorously. She reaches over and starts to pat the professor’s cheeks. This elicits a half-giggle half-groan from the still very sleepy person in his lap.
“Yeah, yeah- mornin’ Glory.” They start to giggle. The child also starts to giggle. It takes him a while to get it because it’s not an actual joke. Once it clicks, he joins them in their laughter.
Once they all calm down, the quiet child grabs Lark’s hand and tugs on it. She gives the professor a pleading punt.
“Nooooo, not the Yamper eeeyess,” they groan as they reluctantly let the teen pull them out of their warm nest. Gloria does a little hop and fistbump in victory.
He decides to stand up on his own terms when the brunette looks his way.
“Oh, you’re up, perfect,” Sonia chirps as she gets off the last step of the stairs, Larkspur’s green coat in her hands. She wastes no time in walking over and plopping the coat into the shorter person’s waiting hands.
They waste no time in putting it on and let out a content sigh as they zip it up. They turn to him and spread out their arms.
With jazzy hands, they exclaim, “Heated jacket!”
His mouth falls open into an ‘o’ shape as he starts to clap. “Oh! I see! Bravo!”
With that, they turn and go to the hall closet and start to rummage around.
He feels a poke on his shoulder. Looking back, it’s Emmet.
The other man is already bundled up from head to toe.
He looks back to Larkspur. He looks back at Emmet.
The other man is only moderately bundled up from head to toe.
He also has a pair of gloves, a winter hat, and a scarf in his extended hand. Ingo instinctually takes them and starts to put them on. The gloves are thicker than the ones he owns, clearly made for snowy activities. The hat fits comfortably over his head, though he bemoans having to leave his own hat behind. The scarf feels a bit suffocating around his neck. He might have to ditch it later if it proves too uncomfortable.
He gives the other man a dip of his head. “Thank you-”
He’s yanked towards the open door by an impatient young girl. His hand goes up to secure his hat unnecessarily.
“Ah, is it time to depart? Well then, young Gloria, allow me!”
He quickly overtakes her and points his free arm at the snowy outside and bellows,
“All aboard!!!”
Cheers sound from behind him as the rest of the group follows the two of them out the door.
It doesn’t take long before the group starts to set up for a snowball fight. Lark eagerly starts to plan and lead the fort-building efforts with Emmet acting as their co-engineer.
Hop and Sonia volunteer to build their fort first. Leon is openly sulking to the side at the fact his brother chose to team with his mentor instead of the former champion. Emmet takes the time to give him a consoling pat on the back.
Ingo, Lark, and Gloria have all decided to sit out on the fight.
Even with their jacket, the cold is clearly still very uncomfortable for them. Grabbing up snow and getting it lobbed at them probably wouldn’t help. Gloria didn’t want them to be left by themself so they also decided to sit out. As a result, Ingo offered to sit out so that the sides were even.
So once the battlefield is crafted, the two teams start their very fierce battle.
He sits to the side and watches aptly. Lark settles close by his side, likely to soak in the heat from him.
(He’s moderately envious of them. His butt is already soaked from sitting on the ground while they sit on what he can only assume to be a cushion of air above the slowly melting snow.)
Hop nails Emmet square in the back and Sonia catches Leon in his throwing arm. The two are very dramatically crippling to the icy ground. Sonia rolls her eyes with a fond smile while Hop and Lark laugh.
A familiar yip catches his attention and drags his attention away from the snowball fight. He looks over and-
His heart leaps into his throat when for a brief moment he sees an achingly familiar black-haired child crouching next to a small red and white vulpine creature.
He finds himself feeling empty when he blinks and the scene changes to that of the brunette champion by her red and black Zorua.
She has a feather toy in her hand and the small fox determinedly bats at it. Maybe one day the little Dark-type will finally vanquish the fowl beast.
“Something on your mind?”
He looks over at Larkspur. “Hm?”
They tilt their head. “You have that look on your face.”
“Look?” He blinks. “What look?”
“The one you get when you think about Hisui,” they answer matter-of-factly.
He flushes. “A-ah. I didn’t realize I had a specific look for that.” He scratches his cheek.
Lark hums before prompting, “Is this a talking thought or a vibing thought?”
…
“Are there any records of the Yuki of your universe befriending a Zorua?”
“... No. Afraid not. Yours did?”
The corners of his mouth pull up slightly into a sorrowful smile.
“Yes. Yes, they did. They didn’t like me at first. I think the Zorua and them bonded over their shared bitterness,” he answers with a wistful tone.
“Hm, why’d they not like you?”
He’s sure Larkspur could make an educated guess with what they know. But still, he leans back and explains it to them.
“The warden the preceded me, lady Yoko, had recently been injured to the point of being unable to continue her duties in such a dangerous place as the Coronet Highlands. The danger of the area also meant that Yuki was still too young to properly take the mantle of warden.
He closes his eyes and can practically see both of them. Yoko’s appearance is so faded in his mind’s eye now. It’s been years since her passing- surely almost four by now. He had only known her for roughly two of the years he had spent in Hisui. Yuki is also fading from his memory. He struggles to remember the exact shade of the child’s eyes.
“Within days of my arrival, Sneasler made her fondness of me very clear. I’m sure it upset most of the Pearl Clan to see their Noble choose an outsider, much less one that didn’t even understand the importance of what was happening. Still, Yoko respected Lady Sneasler’s decision and asked that I become her successor.”
He feels a weight rest on his left side and a small creature crawl into his lap. He absently starts to pet the little Zorua as Gloria settles into his side.
“Yuki was understandably outraged. I cannot imagine what it must have looked like in their eyes. I, an outsider, came into their home and took their position- took the position of their beloved mentor. And their mentor simply lets it happen- encourages it.
The last two years they got to spend with her were full of the two of them arguing over my presence.”
He lets out a sigh and opens his eyes. Gloria immediately shoves herself into his field and view and wildly signs, “More stories please!” over and over again. He chuckles.
“Ah, alright. And what stories do you want to hear?”
“I wanna hear more about Dawn!!!”
“Of course,” he says with a fond sigh. He really should have guessed.
And so, while the others continued to lob balls of snow at each other, he regales Larkspur and Gloria with tales of his Hisui.
He can’t help but wonder how the people of Hisui had faired after his departure.
He’s sure that whatever hardships they faced, they all made it through just fine.
After all, they all got to their destinations just fine in this universe.