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It was late evening when Lebanne took her pokemon out to the park nearest Hotel Richissime. She’d been busy tending to another one of Jacinthe’s tournaments today, and hadn’t had a chance yet to give her pokemon some attention. There was barely anybody out at this hour, but it didn’t matter.
Lebanne was here to spend time with her team, letting them play and run around. After they’d all had their fill of doing so, she opened a box of fancy pokepuffs. They were the ones she’d always seen in the glowing shop windows and hoped to be able to give her pokemon, and when she was younger, she’d occasionally taken to stealing just to snag a few. It was thanks to her salary as a maid now that she could easily afford them, and each of her pokemon were practically running each other over to get a bite of the pokepuffs first.
“Guys,” Lebanne sighed, both exasperated and amused at her team’s antics, “Come on, you’re all gonna get one!”
Despite all the growling and shoving, the first to get to the orange pokepuff in Lebanne’s hand was a pokemon she’d never seen before. It came out of nowhere, with a body like flowing purple fabric and a face shaded mysteriously by its wide brimmed hat.
She’d heard of this pokemon before, seen it somewhere on the internet. Mismagius, it was called.
Lebanne’s pokemon all looked offended at having their precious treats stolen from them by this stranger, but their trainer was busy trying to figure out where this Mismagius had come from.
There wasn’t really anyone around it could belong to.
“Hey, you got a trainer?,” Lebanne thought aloud. “Or are you just hangin’ out here?” Mismagius stared evenly back at Lebanne with an unreadable expression. “I bet you were real hungry, huh?”
It didn’t answer, but it smiled and nuzzled her hand with its cheek. Lebanne couldn’t feel much more than a slight chill on her skin, but it was nice anyway.
“Alright, alright I’ll let you have another for bein’ so cute.”
-
—
“Lebanne, remember how I told you to be back at Hotel Richissime by sunset? It’s dark and I still haven’t seen you.” Jacinthe laid elegantly on her chaise with a pout, her Rotom phone floating idly beside her.
“I’m not coming back,” Lebanne said curtly. “I quit.”
“Ah, ah, but your promise. Remember what you said to me, dearest?”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m outta here.”
The sound of her maid hanging up the phone was like a slap to the face.
At first, Jacinthe convinced herself this was just another one of Lebanne’s little tantrums. She’d be back to apologize by the next day. Getting to be the right hand of such a talented and elegant battler such as Jacinthe should be more than enough for Lebanne to want to stay by her side. But as time passed, Lebanne’s resignation felt more and more real.
This simply couldn’t go on, and so Jacinthe went to find her.
It didn’t take long, as Jacinthe was rather skilled at finding what she wanted. When Jacinthe struck a pose and set up a Jacinthe zone to keep Lebanne on the same street corner as her, the woman looked disgusted, like she wanted nothing to do with her. The socialite did everything possible to maintain her air of nobility, despite slowly falling apart on the inside.
“At least engage in one last battle with me,” Jacinthe offered with her pokeball already in hand. “Isn’t that what you want? To win your freedom fairly?”
“No. I don’t wanna play your stupid games anymore.”
Jacinthe stiffened at how sharp Lebanne’s tone was. She’d almost forgotten she could sound like that.
“I-I apologize, okay?! I know I can be controlling and sometimes I do things just to embarrass you, but-”
“I’m done, Jacinthe.”
A chilling horror filled Jacinthe as Lebanne turned and walked straight through the zone’s barrier. Just like that, she no longer had any power over her.
“Lebanne!”
The sound of her own voice coming out so ragged and desperate sent a shudder down her spine. She’d never wanted something so badly in her life.
The green haired woman stopped and turned only to shoot Jacinthe a glare.
“I said I’m not coming back. You make me miserable. I can’t stand you.”
And just like that, she was gone. Jacinthe had become a silly thing of the past, discarded like a broken doll.
As the days passed, Jacinthe descended into pathetic obsession. She spent the majority of her time trying to figure out where Lebanne went. Sometimes she was successful, other times she wasn’t. Any time she appeared before Lebanne, though, either in holographic form or in the flesh, Lebanne would completely ignore her like she wasn’t even there.
It was honestly worse than if she cursed her out or fought with her, like she would have if she still cared. Each time she had to face that reality, that she was nothing to Lebanne, it felt like cutting her skin on the broken shards of something that was once beautiful.
Jacinthe looked like a complete wreck, with bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep that not even the finest makeup could cover. She wandered Lumiose City aimlessly like a lost tourist in hopes of seeing Lebanne somewhere, somehow convincing her to come back. She stopped for a moment on the sidewalk, exhausted from her search, when she heard an annoyingly familiar voice coming up behind her.
“Out here alone without your little friend?”
That slimy little mutt, Corbeau. Maybe it was the exhaustion, but she had no patience for neither formalities nor insults with this man. The best she could do was plaster her practiced smile onto her face and try to wring some information out of him.
“Have you seen her perchance?”
“No. She left you though, didn’t she?” His smug expression made her want to punch him square in the face. If she had only slightly less decorum, she would have. “I’m glad. Even someone like Lebanne has her limits. Face it. Nobody would ever stay by your side if it weren’t for your incessant stalker behavior.” Jacinthe opened her mouth to snap back, but no matter how she tried she couldn’t come up with a retort. The more time that passed in silence, the more a sinking feeling settled in her stomach, realizing he may not be entirely wrong.
Jacinthe grabbed the sides of her head in anguish. It felt like she was going to burst.
She had all the staff at Hotel Richissime, but functionally she was alone. She could just hire another maid any day, but…her cherished Lebanne, she wasn’t just any maid. She took care of Jacinthe like she was precious, listened to her troubles with sincerity, and followed her with an undying loyalty like no one else in the world.
Her presence had become embedded both in Jacinthe’s life and in her soul. To have her absent, was to have a piece of her very self torn out.
Jacinthe awoke with a start, her heart racing and her face dripping with tears.
It was just a nightmare. A terrifyingly vivid nightmare.
And yet, after what she’d overheard Lebanne saying to Harmony, something like that happening wasn’t entirely out of the question, she realized.
She could put her foot down harder, but Lebanne could only grow more and more unhappy. Without that illusion of power she had over Lebanne, though, would she really be inclined to stay?
-
Lebanne cursed Jacinthe in her head as she carried ornate cups of panchamomile tea down the hall to Jacinthe’s room. It was her fault she was turning into a shell of herself. Sure she’d made the promise, but…the maid costume, the suffocating hotel, the constant fancy talk…
She had the cushy life she’d secretly dreamed of as a child, but was it really worth it if this was what she’d turned into?
Lebanne froze at the sight of a ghostly purple figure phasing through the wall into the hallway and straight through the ceiling. It looked like the Mismagius she’d befriended last night, but then again she could just be seeing things.
As she took another step forward, a scream from Jacinthe’s room made Lebanne slip and lose her balance. Her tray of tea crashed down loudly onto the floor and shattered the tea cups, getting the tea absolutely everywhere.
-
Jacinthe’s bedroom door opened with a creak as she poked her head out into the hall, bewildered at the sight of Lebanne on the floor and soaked with tea.
“Forgive me, it was an accident! I’m sorry for spilling your-”
Lebanne’s apology was cut short when she looked up and saw Jacinthe with tears in her eyes.
In two years of serving her, not once had Lebanne seen her cry. The closest she got was throwing a fit in private if she didn’t get her way. It had to be either because Jacinthe always got what she wanted and never had the need to cry, or she was very good at hiding it from Lebanne.
She was still in her flowy nightgown with her bangs poking adorably out of her bonnet, which meant she’d rushed to open the door when she heard Lebanne fall.
“Jacinthe- I mean, uh, my lady, what’s wrong?”
Jacinthe’s eyes went wide as she frantically rubbed the tears out of her eyes, like she hadn’t realized she’d opened the door in her state. In mere moments she was impressively composed again, speaking like nothing had happened.
“I could ask you the same. You look a mess!” Jacinthe extended her hand down towards Lebanne. “My dearest, you aren’t hurt, are you? Come, let me help you get cleaned up.”
“Oh, uh, you don’t have to. I can clean myself up.”
“I insist, chérie. Let’s get you out of that tea stained outfit.”
Lebanne entered the violet daydream that was Jacinthe’s room and paused when her lady took one of her own nightgowns from her dresser and placed it in her hands. She’d never offered Lebanne her clothes before…
For some reason it was almost sinister. It wasn’t unlike her mistress to lay it on thick with a sickly sweet demeanor only to get excessively strict with her later on.
Still, seeing as Jacinthe would probably see it as rude to deny her generosity, Lebanne undressed and put on the frilly nightgown. It was the slightest bit tight on her and not really her style, but otherwise it was wonderfully soft and comfortable.
Jacinthe’s pretty pink curls spilled like hyacinths out over her shoulders as she set her bonnet aside. It reminded Lebanne that ever since the day they first met, Jacinthe’s beauty alone was enough to make her weak.
If Lebanne looked close enough, though, she could still see a hint of bittersweetness in her lady’s face.
“You look adorable,” Jacinthe mused. It was clear she loved to see her maid blush. “But your braid’s nearly come undone. Come sit, I will fix your hair.”
Lebanne nodded and did as she was told, kneeling and taking a seat on the bed in front of her lady.
She felt nimble hands delicately undo her braid and take the ribbons out, carefully braiding it again with expert care. It was nice. Save for when Jacinthe had done it for her the first time, nobody had done this for Lebanne since she was too small to even remember.
There was suddenly this fuzzy nostalgic quality to Jacinthe’s room, though it was nothing like anything Lebanne knew in her old life. Maybe it was that sense of comfort from wearing her lady’s nightgown, sitting on her soft sheets, breathing in the sweet scent of her perfume.
It almost felt like those rich girl slumber parties she’d always seen on TV and envied as a child, except now she got to have one for herself.
Jacinthe had composed herself quickly. For a moment as she continued to braid her maid’s hair, Lebanne was almost convinced she’d imagined seeing Jacinthe teary eyed when she heard a sniffle coming from behind her.
Lebanne felt her heart twist at the sight of her lady in tears again.
She brought her hands to Jacinthe’s cheeks without a second thought, gently cupping her face and wiping her tears.
…
“Sorry,” Lebanne stammered, quickly taking her hands away. “I just- it breaks my heart to see you cry like this.”
“It’s alright, dearest,” Jacinthe sniffed. “I was just being silly.”
The green haired woman furrowed her brow. Some kind of roaring passion blazed inside her as she went over all the possible things that could’ve happened in her head. Was it one of those trainers she’d invited yesterday? If they’d dared to hurt Jacinthe’s feelings, Lebanne would crush them.
“Did something happen?”, Lebanne asked at last.
“No, darling, really, you needn’t worry about me.” Jacinthe mustered her brightest smile, but when she noticed Lebanne’s demanding expression, she dropped it ever so slightly. “Well, I did have the most awful nightmare.”
“Well, what happened in the nightmare?”
Jacinthe looked almost surprised, like she hadn’t expected Lebanne to genuinely want to hear about something as childish as a nightmare.
Only the sound of rain faintly tapping on the windows filled the silence as Jacinthe paused to think. She looked out towards her curtains as if she couldn’t bear to look at her maid.
…
“You decided you’d had enough of me and quit.”
Lebanne could hardly believe something as simple as that was enough to put Jacinthe into such a state.
And yet…it was then that Jacinthe’s pretty violet eyes met hers again. “The times you’ve been there with me have been the best moments of my life,” she murmured. “I can’t think of any other trainer who makes me feel this way.”
Jacinthe’s words, they felt almost like a flowery confession of love.
Lebanne’s kneejerk reaction was to bare her teeth and blow her off, but…to do that, her heart would have to be in it. To vehemently detest Jacinthe as much as she wanted to pretend she did.
Lebanne felt her cheeks heat up as she struggled between her heart and her pride.
Jacinthe drove her crazy in every possible way, but she didn’t hate it. Not entirely.
It was easy to blame Jacinthe for all her problems when she was by herself, but when they were together like this…it became much more complicated. There were many moments where it felt like Jacinthe was her friend rather than her boss, and then moments like these, where she felt like far more than a friend.
But what would that mean, for them to change their dynamic?
Lebanne couldn’t be sure she was ready for a definitive answer. All she knew was she was perhaps a bit more fond of her lady than she thought.
But, to say that out loud would be to admit defeat.
“Oh yeah? No other trainer? Not even Harmony?”
That was her shiny new toy, after all.
“No, of course not.”
Jacinthe, always eloquent to an almost annoying degree, seemed to struggle to find the right words. Lebanne couldn’t help but find it cute. “Nobody can fill your role. You shine so brightly on the battlefield, but in a different way than any other. To see you battle others, it fills me with an envy that stings like poison powder.”
“You mean to say you want me all to yourself then,” Lebanne deadpanned.
“Why, yes, I think that’s a lovely way of putting it.”
There she was. Her shameless rich girl smiling ear to ear.
Lebanne let out a sigh. She knew what the risk was when she went and made that promise that became her undoing.
And yet, despite everything, Lebanne found her lady- Jacinthe’s antics charming. Though she didn’t like to admit it, there was always this warmth that bubbled up inside her whenever Jacinthe was particularly possessive of her like this.
“I fear as though I’ve been too strict with you in the past,” Jacinthe continued, her tone genuine once more. “I want to apologize if I’ve made you feel upset, or as though you don’t matter to me. I want to hear from you. I want to know what it would take for you to stay, if it weren’t for your promise.”
Lebanne stared at Jacinthe for a moment like she’d started walking upside down on the ceiling.
She was in a mood to negotiate. Bratty Jacinthe who always insisted on having everything her way or no way was finally in the mood to listen to her for once.
The truth was it wouldn’t take much to make her stay. Even as things were now. There were things she wanted back, but…
“I want you to let me battle again.”
“Really? Not to take off the maid costume?” Jacinthe raised her brows comically. “Or do you like that now?”, she teased.
Lebanne clenched her fists.
“That’s-” Not fuckin’ true and you’re putting words in my mouth! “There are more important things, my lady. My love of battle being the main one.” Lebanne cleared her throat, sitting up straight and composing herself the way she knew Jacinthe liked. “Fighting together when the city was in danger…It was the first time in a while I’ve seen you genuinely care about something other than seeing trainers get better. I want to be able to feel more of that, battling side by side.”
Jacinthe shifted to sit at Lebanne’s side and gave a pensive hum. She was quiet for a long time, milling everything over in her head.
“Well…I suppose if it would make you happy, I could see to it that we do some more double battling.” Lebanne stiffened with surprise for a moment as she felt Jacinthe rest her head on her shoulder. And yet she didn’t protest.“It would be nice to see you shine some more,” she continued quietly. “Especially if it meant you staying by my side.”
Jacinthe’s eyes fluttered shut as she entwined her fingers with Lebanne’s. Something about it felt right somehow.
Lebanne decided that at least for now, she’d let her heart have its way. She couldn’t hold back a little smile as she brought her lady’s hand to her lips and watched Jacinthe get flustered at the gesture.
The translucent form of Mismagius watched them from in front of a painting Jacinthe had on the wall. The moment Lebanne locked eyes with it, it phased back into the wall.
The maid was able to put together a few pieces of the puzzle now, of why Jacinthe had woken up like this, and let out a sigh.
“Well, I’m not going anywhere soon, if that makes you feel any better.”
Someone had to take care of her and make sure she didn’t get a million restraining orders. But that part she left unsaid.
“Magnifique. A maid like you is hard to come by these days.”