Work Text:
Arven, contrary to how these things usually go, notices it first.
After Area Zero, their little crew is near-inseparable. Whenever they’re not forced apart by classes, they’re together. Whether sharing notes, battling, or just being around each other, they always gravitate towards each other. Even Penny, for all her gripes about how loud Juliana and Nemona are, never seems keen to stay away for long, except to meet up with the Team Star bosses.
All that to say, when Nemona and Juliana come tumbling into the cafeteria, all face-splitting smiles, grass stains, and scuffed elbows tangled together, he’s ever-so-slightly irritated with them.
He stomps up to them, placing his hands on his hips accusingly. “And where have you two been?!”
The two of them both look at him like he’s crazy. “Uh, exploring? You knew this, Arven.” Juliana, despite being almost a head shorter, glares right back at him.
“You two missed lunch, y’know!” Arven crosses his arms, drawing himself slightly taller. “I don’t care if you two are big bad battlers! You can’t help yourselves if you’re hungry!”
Juliana continues her glare, but Nemona smiles, bashful and placating all in one expression. “I’m sorry, Arven. We were just having such a blast, we lost track of time!” He can’t stay mad at the Champion-ranked girl when she’s looking at him so pathetically.
His grumpy facade breaks apart with a sigh. “Fine, fine. Just stop looking at me like a kicked Fidough.” Nemona balks at the descriptor, but before she can protest Arven starts rolling up his sleeves. “You’re lucky your bestest bud Arven is here! I’ll whip you up an Arven Special lickity-split!”
Showing immense maturity, he ignores Juliana mouthing “Lickity-split” to herself in obvious disgust, and turns to the kitchen, already thinking over his ingredients. Definitely needs some protein, a few pinches of salt, something sweet for Juliana, and bitter for Nemona…
In the span of a few minutes, he plates his creations and brings them back out, placing them proudly before his friends. “Bon appetit!” He sits across from them, carefully watching to make sure they finish. Nemona doesn’t seem to notice, taking small bites, while Juliana attacks her sandwich like Mabosstiff.
Between bites, Juliana looks up. “So now that you’re done acting like a helicopter mom,” she ignores Arven’s squawk. “Can we tell you about what we were doing?”
Arven sighs, choosing not to comment on the descriptor. “Go ahead, little buddy.”
After another quick bite, Juliana launches into her tale. Apparently they’d gone hunting for the ex-Titan Tatsugiri, and ended up agitating the entire lake’s population by the end of it. Arven buries his face into his hands around halfway through the story, and he doesn’t remove them once.
(Through his fingers, he peeks at Nemona. She’s still picking and prodding, but she’s eating, if only to mollify the two of them. Arven fervently hopes it never has to come up again.)
-
“Do you have notes on the Kalosian Reconstruction?”
Nemona hums and pulls out a handful of paper. “Only if you have bell curve notes.”
Penny quickly rifles through and pulls out a few papers of her own, her own messy handwriting contrasting Nemona’s prettily organized collection of dates and events. Juliana and Arven were in Home Ec, so Penny and Nemona had begun an impromptu study session, getting in some early work before the other half of their group arrives and they all inevitably get distracted.
Penny’s already curled up in her usual desk chair, squinting at an assignment of Raifort’s, some nonsense about the influence of Lumiose City on the greater region of Kalos, while Nemona chips away at a math assignment that’s probably a teeny bit late by now.
An indeterminate amount of time later, Penny straightens in her seat, cringing at the way her back cracks with tension. “Alright, I need a break, pronto.” She stands, turning to Nemona, who hasn’t even looked up. “Wanna get something from the school store? We’re probably early enough to get the good stuff.”
Nemona doesn’t respond immediately, looking up a beat later to see Penny looking at her expectantly. “Oh! Uh, you go on ahead, I’ll catch up!” She smiles, like this is anything near reassuring.
Penny crosses her arms in her best Arven imitation. “Uh-uh. Didn’t you say you hadn’t had breakfast?”
Nemona makes a face at this. “Yeah, eating too early always makes me nauseous. Why do you ask?” She tilts her head to the side in genuine confusion. Somehow, looking like a lost Sprigatito only irritates Penny more.
“And when exactly were you planning on eating?”
“Soon!”
“How soon?”
“…Soon?”
Penny sighs, pushing up her glasses to pinch the bridge of her nose. This girl was harder to talk to than her dad. With nothing else for it, Penny stalks out of her own room, grumbling all the way to the school store, picking out a few packages of cup noodles and the heartiest soup the school offers.
After she pays with (definitely legit) LP, she stalks back to her dorm, finding Nemona in exactly the same position. Now though, she seems to be wavering a bit in place. Her pencil isn’t moving, and her eyes have glazed just a bit, like she’s really struggling with the statistics problem. At Penny’s approach, Sylveon uncurls from Nemona’s legs and lets out a worried cry.
In lieu of a response, Penny marches forward and tugs the entire packet out of Nemona’s hands, her pen following soon after. Another beat too late, Nemona blinks, looking up at her in surprise. “Hey!” Not bothering to dignify that with a response, Penny grabs Nemona’s wrists and tugs, unsuccessfully attempting to pull the other girl to her feet. Sylveon, thankfully, is quicker on the uptake, uncurling her ribbons to join her Trainer.
Nemona stands, though Penny can tell it’s out of politeness more than anything. “Really, Penny? I have stuff to do!”
Penny scoffs, even as she continues fighting fruitlessly against the stronger girl. “Please, like you were getting anything done in that state.” Between Trainer and Pokemon (and Nemona’s politeness), they manage to drag her into a seat at the table, where Penny unwraps the soup and sets it in front of her. “There. Bone apple teeth or whatever.” Nemona uncertainly picks up a spoon, which Penny takes as a good sign, and turns to prep her own noodles.
“Those aren’t good for you, you know.” Penny doesn’t even bother turning for the microwave.
“Yeah, but even if I’m not eating well, I’m still eating. So I’m not as bad as you.”
Even as she sits back down, Nemona’s still just playing with her soup, her mind clearly back on the math assignments she’d been forced to abandon. “I swear to-“ Penny takes a breath. “Nemona. Eat. Or I’ll get Sylveon to feed you herself.” Sylveon looks startled at being dragged in so suddenly, before dutifully unraveling her ribbons again in a strangely threatening manner.
Nemona raises her hands in surrender. “Alright, alright!” It’s a slow process, but Nemona begins making her way through. Penny breaths an inward sigh of relief.
I swear, it’s like pulling teeth with her…
-
Juliana loves battling Nemona.
Well, Juliana loves battling in general. If you ask her, there’s no better feeling than the synchronization she feels with her Pokemon in the heat of the moment. And while no battle could ever match their final battle in the middle of Mesagoza, a friendly spar in the Academy’s battle court also does the trick for her.
Juliana had been testing a new team, and lost quite soundly to Nemona this time. Despite her frustration at herself, she can’t help but smile at Nemona’s joyful whoop, a beaming smile already stretching across her face, her eyes shining the way they always did after a good battle.
That was the other benefit of battling Nemona; Seeing the joy it brings her treasured friend.
As usual, Nemona charges across the field. Expecting it now, Juliana braces for the Bewear-level hug. She can’t help but laugh. She’s so happy they’re friends.
“Man, Pokemon battles really are something else!” Nemona lets go, if only to share her continued smile. “Nothing else like it, i tell you!” Juliana nods back, unable to resist grinning right back.
She shakes her head a bit. “Well, we should probably get something to eat now. I heard the cafeteria’s got some new special going on…”
Nemona looks around at the curious faces, some actively palming Pokeballs. “Tell you what, you go on without me!” Juliana looks at her warily, aware of her friend’s proclivities. “Hey, don’t look at me like that! I’ll be right there!”
The two stare each other down for a moment, waiting for the other’s composure to slip. Finally, Juliana sighs, seeing many faces in the crowd turning impatient for a turn. “Fine. But if you aren’t back…” She lets the threat dangle, unable to actually think of a fitting warning.
Nemona seems to understand anyway, nodding. “Don’t worry about me, I won’t be long!”
Juliana doesn’t believe her for a second.
And for good reason, it seems, seeing as she never arrives. Juliana finishes a cafeteria sandwich (not nearly as good as one of Arven’s) and still doesn’t get a glimpse of her friend, despite the steady trickle of returning students, all nursing bruised egos.
With nothing else for it, she finishes her food and matches right back out to the field, where Nemona is currently engrossed in another battle. Lycanroc is pacing the field, watching the opponent’s Talonflame circle, both clearly waiting for an opening. Nemona is tracking the Scorching Pokémon’s path, but she’s wavering on her feet, and with the sight, Juliana’s done waiting.
“Alright, that’s it! Fight’s over!” Lycanroc looks at her in annoyance, and the opposing Trainer opens their mouth, but Juliana just glares at them with enough force to shut them up. “Nemona, with me, now!” She hates yelling, especially at her friend, but she’ll do whatever it takes to get through her hard head.
For the moment, Nemona silently recalls Lycanroc and walks to Juliana’s side. She spares a brief “I’m watching you” gesture towards Nemona’s would-be opponent, before grabbing her wrist and taking off down the halls.
Neither of them say a word until they arrive. Without prompting, Nemona sits down at a table, and Juliana rushes to the counter to get her something before the kitchen closes. When she returns, however, she instantly knows something is wrong. Nemona is sitting completely straight in her seat, back ruler stiff, hands folded in her lap. The enthusiastic light is gone from her eyes.
Juliana immediately turned on herself. She had definitely taken it a bit too far there. She sits down next to Nemona, placing a hand gently on her arm. “Hey Nemo?” The familiar nickname seems to register. “I’m really sorry, I shouldn’t have shouted like that before.” Nemona opened her mouth, probably to absolve her, but Juliana shook her head. “No, no. I had no reason to yell. That was my mistake, okay?”
It was a slow process, getting Nemona to believe that not everything is her fault. But eventually, she nods, just once. Without further prompting, she starts on the food Juliana provided.
Juliana forced down her frustration. She’d overstepped for sure, but Nemona couldn’t keep this up forever. It was going to come back to bite her sometime…
-
Juliana let out a curse, happy the rushing wind in her ears tore the sound away. She eyes her Rotom Phone carefully, searching the radius Penny had marked on her map.
Arven had been the one to notice, pointing out that no one had seen Nemona since she left to train. After flagging down the others, Penny had managed to hack into Nemona’s phone, activating its camera. They saw the shore of Casseroya lake, but no Nemona. As soon as she heard, Juliana had abandoned her class, grabbing her Corviknight and rushing up to the lake as fast as she could, Penny using online reference photos to mark a potential area.
Finally, she arrives, and hovers over the area. She only needs to search for a moment, spotting an Orthworm, Goodra, and Pawmot circling around, all non-native Pokemon. She quickly taps Corviknight’s armored back, before pointing at the gathered Pokemon. “Dive!”
Corviknight caws, and with a speed that would make a Staraptor feel inadequate, dives down to the surface. Nemona’s Pokemon rush up to them, but Corviknight fields their questions as Juliana runs up to Nemona’s prone form.
She seems okay, relatively speaking, but very pale, breathing very shallowly. Juliana fights a sob. Nemona should never look like this. Still and weak and dull. She forces her tears back and focuses on the job at hand.
It’s a bit awkward, and she’ll definitely have to keep a close eye on her, but between their sets of Pokemon, they manage to get Nemona somewhat secure on Corviknight’s back. She recalls the other girl’s Pokemon and takes off, flying as quickly as she can back to the Academy.
She manages a quick call to Nurse Miriam, explaining the basics of the situation. The nurse gives her a grim expression, but promises to have a bed ready. Then she alerts Arven and Penny, which reassures and worries them in equal measure.
Finally, Corviknight spirals into a gentler dive in front of the Academy, where Clavell and Miriam both wait with grim expressions, a cot held by the combined telekinesis of Miriam’s Hypno and one of the school’s Kirlia. Juliana hands Nemona over with no small amount of reluctance, and watches her disappear into the building.
Clavell places an awkward hand on her shoulder. “Thank you for your help, Miss Juliana. I’m sorry you had to take care of such a task by yourself.” She doesn’t reply, and Clavell releases her. “You should head inside, I understand that your friends have been in…quite a state of worry for some time now.” That was enough to get her to move. She nodded to Clavell, recalled Corviknight, and rushed inside.
-
It was a while before they could enter the office. Everyone is pretty sure Miriam lets them in too soon, but no one’s sure.
They all tumble in at once, and even from her bed, Nemona beams at the sight of them. “Hey guys!” None of them mention how taunt the expression is, how her eyes still seem a bit dull, how her hands are shaking on top of the covers.
Juliana is quick to claim a spot on the bed by her legs, Penny curls up in the visitor’s chair, and Arven grabs a second chair from an unoccupied bed to drag over. (Miriam sighs but doesn’t comment on this.)
“How’re you feeling, Nemo?”
Nemona just laughs, the sound a bit weaker than usual. “Well, much better than before! Sorry, Juli! That was a bit embarrassing…” She sheepishly rubs the back of her head, the motion strange without her usual gauntlet.
Normally they’d all just let it slide, move on and not push. Everyone in the group has skeletons, things they’d rather not discuss, and usually everyone’s happy to simply let these things slide.
Arven doesn’t, leaning forward onto his knees. “Nemona. You passed out in the middle of nowhere. Anything could’ve happened if we hadn’t got there first. You get that, right?” Nemona’s already pale features fade further at the seriousness in Arven’s voice. Like someone lifting a heavy weight, she forces up another smile.
“Well, it’s a good thing I’ve got you guys looking out for me, right? I’ll be back up in no time and-”
“Actually…” Miriam drags out the word, sliding back into view. “I’m gonna need you to stay here for a day or two at least. If you’ve exhausted yourself to this point, you need to slow down for a little while and let yourself recover. Non-negotiable, dear.”
At this, the first flickers of panic enter Nemona’s eyes. “Wh…What? No, I…I can’t stay. I’m fine! Really!” She waves her hands placatingly, which doesn’t help her case in the slightest, given their continued shivering.
Miriam’s expression gets as close to stern as any of them have ever seen it. “Really girl? I saw how you were when you got here, you’re not-”
“I’ll stay here all night, I won’t get up at all! I’ll be fine tomorrow!” She desperately grips the sheets, balling her hands into fists. “I…I have things to do, Miss Miriam!”
“And I understand that, but-”
“I’m meeting La Primera! A-And I have homework I need to do! And Miss Dendra asked me to help in Battle Studies! S-So! So I have to be there! I have to…to…!”
“Nemona, I know you want to take care of those things, but you’re in no condition to-”
“I’m in perfect condition! Watch!” She makes to swing her legs off the bed, and even the ninety degree turn makes her head spin, which gives Arven and Juliana enough pause to gently push her back into the bed. “No, guys! You don’t get it! I-I-”
“No one wants to see you like that again, Nemona.” Every head turns to Penny, her glasses opaque with light glare. She doesn’t look back at any of them. “That was scary. Real scary. If…If anything had happened to you…” She can’t finish, but Nemona gets the idea, her face crumpling with misery.
“But…I have so many things to do…”
“And you can’t do any of them if you aren’t taking care of yourself first.” Juliana grabs her hands, forcing her to meet her gaze.
Arven crosses his arms, nodding seriously. “All those assignments and stuff, you can just push them back if you’re here. Get an extension or something.”
Penny uncurls just a bit. “And I can talk to Geeta for you. You know she’ll understand.”
Juliana squeezes her hands. “And I’ll help Dendra tomorrow. It’ll all be fine, Nemona. I promise.”
Nemona looks at them all miserably, on the very verge of tears. How did she ever go without these amazing people, this little semicircle of friends that she knew she could treasure? How could she have ever tried to do this alone? She pulls one hand free from Juliana’s, just to wipe her eyes on a corner of her sheets. “Thanks guys. Really.”
Juliana swallows harshly, but still reaches her newly freed hand to poke Nemona in the forehead. “You can thank us by eating three square meals a day, missy.”
“And…And tell us if you need us to help! I can hack any scheduling conflicts you have!” From anyone else that would sound like a joke, but they know Penny is dead serious about it.
“And if you don’t have anything else to eat, find me! I’ll set you straight, Prez!” Arven flashes a big smile and a thumbs up. “You can count on me!”
Nemona laughs, the sound still watery, but the most genuine sound they’d heard from her since they arrived. “Okay, okay! I’ll come to you guys! Pinky promise!”
Miriam clears her throat again. “Okay, I think that’s enough for today. Nemona needs her rest, you three.” With no small amount of grumbling, the three of them trail out, though everyone spares one last look at Nemona. With another quick Look from Miriam, the three scatter to the halls. The poor, beleaguered nurse sighs. Nemona can’t help but laugh at her plight.
Something at her core, a ball of tension she didn’t know she’d been carrying, eases slightly. She remembers their serious expressions, the genuine concern for her wellbeing, the fire in their eyes as they all offered to help her bear some of her burden. It makes her want to cry all over again.
Instead, she sleeps, feeling more loved than she could ever remember feeling.