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Her duty was to protect.
Nabi the Mienshao trained for years under a harsh but firm master, an Urshifu by the name of Shui. He was gone, spending the rest of his days in solitude after leaving the town in her hands. He taught her everything she needed to know about fighting and how to use those skills to protect. She had mastered both her own instinctive martial arts and her master’s, a style known as wushu.
She was good. The townsfolk felt safe with Nabi in charge. They looked up to her, cherished her, and gave her the name “Custodian.” She was quite fond of the term. Preferred it over the stuffy “Sheriff” title she held. Cleaning up messes was a specialty of hers, after all.
She was a bulwark; a barrier any Pokémon must pass if they wanted to cause trouble in their small town.
Unfortunately for all of them, something had already broken through.
And, Arceus dammit, she was such a pain in the ass.
“Oi! Ya done trying to stare holes into that stack of papers yet? Cause I gotta tell ya, it ain’t doing shit.”
Nabi took a slow breath before she spared a glance up from her pile of paperwork to level a blank look at the offending voice.
A wide, shit-eating grin leered at her, a Weavile standing much closer to her own face than she expected.
Nabi stumbled back, falling to the floor while her chair toppled over. The meticulously organized papers scattered everywhere around her in the surprise attack.
“Reshiram’s Blazing Flame, Jessie! What were you thinking?” she asked as she looked past the snickering Weavile towards the door. No one appeared to be peering through into her office. She let out a breath in relief before turning to glare at the offending Pokémon.
Jessie continued to snicker and in answer stuck her tongue out at the Mienshao. Nabi’s deadpan stare was her own response.
“Classy, Jessie. Real mature for a grown Pokémon to be acting this way while the Sheriff is trying to do her job ,” she said, standing up off the ground and turning to pick up the loose scattered papers surrounding her.
A shard of ice struck the floor near her a moment later, startling Nabi. The Mienshao eyed the shard, a single paper stuck underneath it; it was a blank form, nothing important. It never was.
“Ya gotta be that stuck up all the time, Nabs? I’m just having fun here,” she pouted, throwing her claws behind her head and moving to lean against the wall behind Nabi’s desk.
“No, I just need to have an ounce of professionalism while I’m working, Jess,” she snapped, but not with any real venom behind it. She knew Jessie was bored and felt genuinely apologetic for taking as long as she has. “I’m sorry, by the way. This…problem child is a nuisance, as per usual.”
“What, ‘ol Caleb? Nah, he’s a sweetie on the inside, that Lucario. And dontcha worry that pretty little head of yours,” Jessie said, smirk glued to her face. “It’s fun, y’know, seeing ya work. Seeing the lady being all proper like.”
She pushed off the wall and meandered over to where she struck the floor with her attack, pulling out her loose shard with a tug. The Weavile looked to her right, spotted the open window in Nabi’s office, and expertly chucked it outside.
“Jessie! There could be other Pokémon out there!” Nabi exclaimed, flailing her arms in distress.
Jessie just greeted her with that same toothy smile before she moved to help clean up the papers off the floor. Curse her, Nabi thought. Curse her for how effective that look was.
“Relax, ya’ silly goober. There’s that whole feast happening over at ‘ol Miss Callahan’s farmstead. Ain’t no way anyone just walking around all willy-nill-”
“Now, what do we have here? ‘Errything alright in there, Nabi?” a voice called from outside, freezing both the Mienshao and Weavile in their tracks.
Nabi just stared daggers at Jessie. The Weavile shrugged helplessly, her stupid smile still etched on her face.
“Oops?” she whispered, all conspiratorial.
“Oops?! You balmy fool! Now hide, quick!” Nabi hushed back. She gesticulated urgently for Jessie to get moving. The Weavile glared at her, but complied; not, of course, before sticking a middle claw up at her. Taking a deep breath, Nabi turned toward the window. “Things are fine in here, Castor! Don’t you worry that head of yours none, I got it handled .”
“Whatever you say, sir,” Castor said, his firm voice flying in through the window. Resolute and stoic as ever. Castor was Nabi’s first deputy, a Sneasler that moved in from a mountainous region close by a few years back. The sound of his footsteps from the window trailed off, signaling the deputy’s departure.
Nabi sighed, turning around to chide Jessie again when she felt a weight crash into her, knocking her to the ground in a huff. Nabi’s eyes flashed to meet Jessie’s, a fire burning in the Mienshao’s at the challenge. Again, that smirk was there, along with a devious complexion on the Weavile’s face.
“Oh, come on, sir . How long do we have to hide? I ain’t do nothing wrong in years,” she said, licking her lips in exaggeration. “Other ‘Mons, they know we’re close, Nabs. Why ya always gotta put on this front, huh?”
Nabi didn’t hesitate. She reached around quickly with her whip-like appendages before wrapping tightly around the Weavile before she could react, trapping the dual Dark/Ice-type’s arms to her side, before being lifted off the ground with ease.
Jessie’s eyes bulged a bit at that, smirk gone and replaced with a confused stare dangling above Nabi. This confusion only grew as, with the same fire burning in Nabi’s eyes, the Mienshao brought her down close to her face, and whispered, “Because I love you, you great yack.”
And then she kissed her. Nabi closed just the minimal hair’s breadth distance between their lips, holding the Weavile’s body tight against her own, loosening her grip just a touch to allow Jessie control of her own arms again. Those arms quickly moved under hers, grabbing tight at the fur up and around her shoulders, pushing into the kiss with hunger. A few moments, maybe minutes, neither were sure, before Jessie pulled back and stared hungrily into Nabi’s eyes, red meeting red.
“And ain’t that the problem, sweet thing? I want them to know. I ain’t scared of no retribution,” Jessie huffed, panting a bit.
“But I am, Jess,” Nabi whispered, barely audible. “Reshiram only knows how worried I am, a Dark and Ice type Pokémon in a small little town of Fightin types?”
Jessie responded with a sneer, but Nabi cut her off before she could voice her complaint.
“Yes, yes, I damn well know you can handle yourself. It’s not that…well, not really,” she said, turning to break their eye contact for only a moment to collect her thoughts before returning her gaze. “I know this town. I love this town. But I don’t trust everyone. I don’t trust them as a whole not to make a rash decision, if certain things were to be made public knowledge.”
“What, like we bang?” Jessie scoffed.
Nabi flushed. “Zekrom’s Spark, never change Jessie…but yes, that. And all it implies.”
They sat there for a bit, taking in each other’s face, slowly recovering from their brief tussle. A far-off look seemed to take over the Weavile’s eyes for a moment, before she muttered, sounding more afraid than she’d ever been in all the time Nabi knew her.
“You ashamed of me, Nabs?”
Guilt tore through Nabi, the words and expression on her lover’s face a one-two punch that took her breath away. She attempted to respond, but hesitated. Was she? No, she loved this beef-headed Weavile, but the fears of what others would think overwhelmed her. But then, what was that feeling, if not shame?
Jessie caught the hesitation on her snout and closed her eyes, turning her head to the side, and letting out a sigh.
It was so much like a sound Nabi would make that Nabi could not stand to hear it again, nor see that expression any longer.
“No, Jess. I’m not ashamed. I’m just…worried. Very much so. But I see how it looks. Work with me?” she asks, using her arms to turn Jessie’s face toward hers, trying to convey as much genuine care as she truly felt.
The vacant look on Jessie’s face turned a little more open at her words, a little more of her energy from before, as she said, “Alright, lady, ya got my attention. Whatcha got?”
“We try your idea. We don’t flaunt anything, but we don’t hide, either. In exchange, you gotta be less brazen with your actions, and you need to let me know if anyone gives you trouble. And if you find trouble…run. Don’t fight anyone. Come and find me. We deal with whatever happens together. Sound okay?”
Tension filled Nabi as she waited on a response, seconds feeling like minutes. Finally, the Weavile spoke.
“You’re telling me we get to show off, and if anyone throws up a snuff, we get to kick their ass together?” she asked, starting off slowly, but picking up speed as she raced through her question. That damned smile appeared again, and her red eyes lit up. “No shit I’m okay with this! Let’s do it. All else fails, we leave this backwater town behind, eh?”
Jessie moved into hug Nabi, pushing her head and crown into Nabi’s neck. Nabi felt a little wetness collect in her fur as Jessie chuckled a bit into her side. Chuckles escaped Nabi too, as she held on tight. The last part of Jessie’s statement gave her pause, however.
Shui gave her a duty. This town was under her protection. The Custodian persevered and preserved. She loved this town. Would she be able to leave it all behind if it came to that?
She didn’t have an answer. In her mind, she much preferred fighting tooth and claw for Jessie while the inevitability of their acceptance came to pass. Naïve at best.
Still, not like she had to have an answer now. Holding her beloved, she nuzzled back, basking in the comfort her weight provided.
“So, uh, you want this Coba Berry soup, sir?”
Jessie jerked to look at the voice, bonking her head into Nabi’s. Both of the Pokémon on the ground groaned out in pain. Jessie rolled off Nabi, away from the voice at the door to Nabi’s office, while Nabi turned to look at the intruder. Her first deputy, Castor, stood there holding two bowls of soup, a bored expression on his face.
“Yes, that sounds lovely, Castor. Mind leaving it on my table while I clean up?”
He nodded, moving to place a bowl on her desk. The Sneasler turned around with his own bowl of soup, moving to his own smaller office somewhere else in the building.
“You two are really cute, by the by. Nice to see you again, Jessie. You make Nabi happy.”
His words floated through the door. Nabi and Jessie both stared at where he left, the sound of his own door shutting after a few seconds, before their eyes met once again. Jessie was the first to speak.
“Did ya tell hi-”
“No, of course I didn’t!”
Nabi sighed. Castor knew. Of course he did. Well, she supposed it could be worse than having one of her closest allies in maintaining order also be a staunch supporter of her new public relationship. Her soft joy at that melted a bit when she saw a devious look grow on Jessie’s face again, a trickle of fear moving down her spine.
She jumped up off the floor and moved to the door, glancing side-to-side at the opening to make sure no one else was around. Nabi was close behind her, moving to stop whatever plan she had cooked up.
“Jessie, wait–”
“She ‘Cast-or’ lot in with me, deputy. Of course it’ll work out!” she shouted toward his door. No response, but a light chuckle muffled its way through. A smug look overtook her features, and she turned to throw a wink Nabi’s way.
Nabi just grumbled.
“I’m going to regret this decision, aren’t I?”