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“Naveen! Help me!”
Harmony’s whining, wailing voice called out across the shop she and her fashion-forward friend were in. Naveen paused in his perusal of dress shirts and turned his head her way. He smirked a tiny bit seeing his friend trudging her way over to him, holding out dresses on hangers.
“What do you need help with?” Naveen asked, putting a hand to his chin and already looking at the dresses Harmony was holding.
Finally standing just before her friend, Harmony whined again. “None of these dresses look good! I don’t know what to pick!” She pulled a few hangers out from behind other ones, showing some of her other choices to her fellow Pokémon trainer. “You have such a good eye- you have to help!”
Chuckling a little, Naveen reached out and pinched the fabric of one dress between his fingers. “You usually do fine styling yourself- why’s this one got you so frazzled?”
“Jacinthe’s throwing this party, Naveen. You know I have to look good or she’ll never let me hear the end of it!” Harmony groaned, placing a yellow dress on a random rack next to her. “I’d probably be the talk of the stupid SBC if I showed up looking even mildly frumpy.”
“Mm, can’t have that.”
“Shut up, Naveen,” Harmony pouted.
Looking at her other dresses, Naveen eventually said, “Well, I think you were on the right track already here. These look and feel luxurious- and a nice rich, dark, color would make any outfit seem even more expensive than it might actually be.” He took her choices out of her hands, though, and began putting them back. “Let’s see what we can find- I’m confident we’ll have you looking like a million before the night is done.”
Harmony could have cried, she was so relieved. “You’re a life saver, dude. I definitely owe you some new fabrics after this.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” He smiled over his shoulder at her and they continued their search.
Hours later, Harmony was adjusting the deep purple dress Naveen found for her. He had even hemmed part of it for her, adjusting it to fit her height better in the heels they also found together. Looking herself over in the mirror a few more times, Harmony huffed. “All that’s left is the mask,” she muttered, smoothing out the fabric around her backside one more time, hoping nothing would ride up or crease.
When Harmony had first received the invitation from Jacinthe, she had assumed it was a joke. A Masquerade ball? People didn’t really still do those, right?
But no, according to every even mildly rich person she talked to, Jacinthe at the very least still did these types of parties. “She likes themes,” Corbeau had told her when she asked him. Figuring he’d be a safe person to ask for an honest opinion, Harmony had gone to him. After all, he already didn’t like Jacinthe, so he wasn’t going to lie in order to keep up appearances. He had been carefully toting around a pile of books and folders, putting them away on the shelves of his office as he spoke to her. “Last year’s party was a period dress party. Fancy gowns, powdered wigs- Arceus, it was miserable.”
Harmony remembered pouting a little at how he described it. “Really? That sounds kinda fun,” she had said.
“It’d be fun if it wasn’t completely full of the upper crust of Lumiose,” he had said. “Investors, Pokémon food company CEOs, all those sort of self-important people that bore you to death talking about themselves and how much money they have.”
Harmony smiled then. “You really don’t like other rich people, huh?” He shot her an annoyed look, but didn’t answer. “Why not just tell her no and skip the party?”
Corbeau scoffed at that. “You know firsthand how well telling Jacinthe ‘no’ works.”
“Good point.”
Finishing putting away whatever files he had been organizing at the time, Corbeau turned his attention back to Harmony. He rested his hands behind his body, leaning a little against a console table. “I take it you got an invite?” Harmony nodded and a small, genuinely pleased, smile passed over his face. “Well, I look forward to seeing you there. At least this year’s party won’t be quite so miserable.”
Harmony picked up her mask, frowning as she brushed a small piece of fuzz off of it. She had thrown it together last minute once she picked out her dress, but felt like it was pretty enough. There were fake wisteria flowers dangling off the sides of the mask, and she had managed to glue a bunch of the little purple petals all over the rest, after dousing the main part of the mask in glitter.
Lida had given her the glitter with the biggest grin on her face. “You never know when you’ll need a glitter bomb!” She had declared proudly.
Urbain had been with them at that point and gave them an unimpressed look as he said, “Why the heck would you ever need a glitter bomb?”
“Porch pirates!” Lida shouted, pointing at him. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve had too many packages stolen before I even get to the front door! Glitter is my perfect revenge!”
Urbain turned his gaze to Harmony, but she just shrugged and took the glitter from her friend. “Can’t argue with that.” He just rolled his eyes and went back to whatever he was doing. Harmony couldn’t remember anymore.
The glitter was, luckily enough, purple. It helped to tie the mask in with her dress a little better. The fabric she used to cover the mask itself was a slightly different shade of purple than her dress, but hopefully the glitter and fake flowers hid it. Her dress had a little flower motif on it as well, not too much Naveen had said otherwise it would look tacky. She hoped to Arceus himself that Jacinthe’s fancy friends wouldn’t judge her too much. Honestly, she probably should have worried more about Urbain. He was notorious for always wearing that jacket of his- if he showed up to this thing wearing that, Harmony was pretty sure Jacinthe would execute him on the spot.
Finally coming downstairs, to the lobby of the hotel, Harmony smiled finding Naveen and Lida. “How does it look?” She asked, coming up to them and giving a little twirl.
“Ohhhh you look so pretty!” Lida was bouncing excitedly from foot to foot. “I love the flowers!”
Naveen had his arms crossed in front of his chest, but was smiling and nodding proudly. “It fits like a glove- you’ll fit right in.”
After thanking her friends for the compliments, Harmony mocked wiping sweat from her brow. “I really hope so,” she said. Pausing, she glanced at herself in the hall mirror and adjusted her mask again. “This seems kinda dumb,” she said, “We’re all gonna know who everyone is.” She turned back to the two others. “I mean, Jacinthe’s hair is so striking, it’s not gonna matter how much of her face she covers up, everyone will know it’s her.”
“It’s for the vibes Harmony,” Lida said, wagging her finger. “It’s not like an actual mystery masquerade, it’s just for fun and to be fancy!”
“If Canari is there, do you think you can get me a picture?” Naveen asked.
Harmony rolled her eyes, but smiled. “I’ll see what I can do. Still annoying that Jacinthe only invited Urbain and me, and not you two. I mean, we all helped save the city!”
Sighing dramatically, Lida hung her head. “I guess we’re just not fancy enough!”
“Oh, but Urbain is fancy? Mister Always wears the same jacket all the time?”
After her teasing, Harmony paused. “Where is he, anyway? He’s supposed to be going to this thing too.”
“You know Urbain,” Naveen said with an exhale. “Off getting a last minute mask because he wasn’t prepared ahead of time.”
“Typical.”
So Harmony found herself going to this Masquerade ball on her own. At least once she got to the building she saw a lot of other people in fancy outfits and masks, so she didn’t look like a total goof getting out of her taxi. She had to show her ticket when she got to the door, thankfully they didn’t give her a hard time about bringing a couple pokeballs in her purse, and up the elevator she went. Fancy event or not, she wasn’t leaving the hotel without at least some of her team. It just felt weird going without them.
When she stepped out, Harmony momentarily felt under dressed. The first people she saw were wearing ivory and gold outfits-clearly a couple by the way they were matching. She had a feeling it was probably real gold, knowing Jacinthe’s social circle. Meekly hiding behind the other guests that had been on the elevator with her, she took a peek around the room. Her nerves eased quite a bit as she took stock of all the other outfits people were wearing. There definitely were a lot of people that were wearing some over the top expensive looking clothes, but thankfully quite a few people opted for something nice but less… flamboyant. She definitely spotted some other people wearing simple suits and dresses, too, so that was a relief.
There were flowers and decorations everywhere in this place- a live string quartet was playing in one corner of the room and there were standing tables dotted all over the place. Each one had its own display of flowers, but Harmony noted there were not many chairs or other places to sit. (Her feet would probably hate her for this in the morning. She had picked out some pretty tall heels.) Wait staff were wandering around with trays of food and what looked like water. Even their outfits seemed fancy. All the shimmering silks and silvers were starting to make her head spin.
“Harmony!” A voice called from off to her right. Turning her head, she grinned, recognizing Corbeau approaching.
Waving, she chirped out a cheerful, ‘Hi Corbeau!’ And walked over toward him, meeting him halfway from wherever he had been walking from.
“You look stunning,” he said once he was before her, extending his left hand in what Harmony incorrectly assumed was a handshake. Instead when she raised her own hand, his fingers slipped around her wrist and the base of her palm more than her actual hand, and he lifted her knuckles to his lips, giving them a soft kiss.
Immediately Harmony’s face went red hot. Quickly waving her free hand, trying to fan herself off, but playing it off like she was waving away his comment, she stuttered out, “O-oh, gosh, that-that’s too nice! Honestly though-it-well, Naveen’s the whole reason I look good!” Corbeau was still holding her hand in his as she stammered on. “I mean, really, I was like- completely hopeless trying to pick an outfit for tonight!”
Corbeau smiled up at her. (And how had she not even noticed that she was taller than him in her heels!?) He let go of her hand and said, “Mm. Well, Naveen has great taste.” His eyes trailed over her dress one more time as he spoke.
“Th-thanks, I’ll be sure to pass on the compliment!” She hoped she didn’t sound as nervous as she felt. She had not been expecting something like that from Corbeau, of all people. Ivor, maybe, but not Corbeau. Taking a minute, she looked at his outfit, hoping to calm herself down with a distraction. A sharp, well-tailored black suit. Similar to his normal look, but missing his signature poison drips and purple undershirt. His look was much more monotone in color tonight, minus his normal pink goopy looking eyeglasses chain and a pinkish handkerchief tucked into the pocket of his suit. “You look really nice, too,” she said, smiling. “Your mask is kinda plain, though.”
And it was. Corbeau’s mask was just a simple bit of black fabric that seemed to mold around his eyes, brows, and cheekbones. He hummed, nodding a couple of times. “Yes, well, one has to find some way to accommodate when you have glasses.” He adjusted said glasses on the bridge of his nose as he said it.
“Ohhh that makes sense,” Harmony said. “You really need ‘em, huh? They’re not just part of the Poison specialist look?” She motioned to his glasses chain.
Rolling his shoulders, Corbeau looked off to the side for a moment, probably watching somebody walk by, and said, “I mean, I can see without them, I’m just fairly near-sighted. Things get blurry once they’re more than a few feet away.” Harmony smiled a little. She could just picture Corbeau standing there squinting, trying to read a road sign or something. Cute!
Before she could say anything, a voice interrupted her train of thought. “Harmony!? Damn, you look hot!” Harmony let out a tiny ‘oof’ as Urbain came up and gave her a hearty pat on the back.
Huffing a little, Harmony said, “Thanks, Urbain.” He grinned at her, offering a little wink, and she rolled her eyes with a smile. Looking him over quickly, she said, “Glad to see you actually dressed up tonight!”
His suit jacket was a deep blue, his pants white. Kind of like a fancier version of what he typically liked to wear. Just without his jacket. His hair was combed, but a few strands still stuck loose around his ears. His mask was simple shining red. It looked like it might have been silk, but Harmony couldn’t be sure. Putting his hands behind his head, Urbain smiled some more. “Yeah, I mean-figured I should try and make up for the bad impression I gave Jacinthe the first time!”
“I’m not so sure you’ll be successful at that.”
“Har har,” Urbain snarked back at her.
Rolling her eyes again, Harmony turned her attention back to her other companion. “Sorry, Corbeau, you were saying?”
The leader of the Rust Syndicate simply offered a tight smile. “Nothing, I was just about to ask if I could get you something to drink. It seems all the waiters have is water.”
Harmony hummed in thought briefly. “Actually if they have white wine, that’d be so nice.” He nodded once at that, nodded to Urbain, and walked off toward the bar that Harmony had yet to see.
“I still really don’t like that guy,” Urbain said from behind her.
Dragging her eyes away from Corbeau’s retreating form, Harmony scoffed. “Oh relax, Urbain, he’s a good person!”
“A good person!?” Urbain spluttered. “Did you forget about the fine print debt he tricked me into?”
“You mean the one that I helped pay off? Yes, I recall,” Harmony teased. “And anyway, I said good, not kind. There’s a difference.”
“And what’s that?”
Shrugging, Harmony turned to face Urbain fully. “Well, a kind person would never have put that fine print in the contract in the first place. But a good person would make the way to pay off that debt be things that genuinely help benefit the city.” She fiddled with her purse. “And besides, he helped us out saving the city just like Canari and Ivor and even Jacinthe.” All of the stories she had heard since coming to Lumiose had made Corbeau seem so scary when she first got here. But everything she had seen contradicted all she had been told.
“Still don’t like ‘im,” Urbain grumbled, crossing his arms.
Harmony opened her mouth to respond, but, “Sorry to interrupt,” Corbeau’s voice coming back to her left side made her click her mouth back shut. He had a glass in each hand. “You didn’t say if you preferred dry or sweet.”
“Oh!” Harmony jumped away from the table she hadn’t even realized she had been leaning on. “Oh, Mew, I’m sorry Corbeau. I didn’t even think of that! You didn’t have to bring one of each!”
Corbeau only smiled back at her. “It’s all right.”
“No, but now I feel bad! You’re just stuck with whatever one I don’t want!”
“It’s all right,” he repeated, eyes narrowing as his smile softened. “I’m not picky. Growing up poor, any wine was a luxury. I’ve yet to become much of a wine snob.”
Still feeling bad, Harmony groaned a little. “Well, yeah, but… Augh, thank you Corbeau. I’ll take the sweet one. Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” He passed her the glass from his right hand. Harmony carefully took the stem in between her fingers, glad now that she had decided not to wear any fancy gloves. With her luck, the glass would have slipped right then and there and shattered all over the floor.
After taking a sip, happy that it was in fact a nice sweet wine, Harmony looked around Corbeau’s shoulders. “No Philippe tonight?”
“He’s keeping an eye on the Syndicate,” he replied, taking a sip of his own wine. “Someone has to stay and keep things running sometimes.”
“That’s too bad,” Urbain said, making Harmony flinch a little. She had almost forgotten he was so close to her. “Philippe’s fun. I like him.”
Harmony’s eyes narrowed at that statement. Urbain’s eyes flicked to her briefly, and Harmony felt like her suspicions were confirmed by that one quick glance of blue. So Urbain didn’t like Corbeau, but Philippe was fine? The two top members of the Rust Syndicate- both of whom had been part of the debt trick he got sucked into- one of them was okay, but not the other? Harmony frowned, but quickly hid it behind her glass, taking another drink.
She completely missed Corbeau’s answer to Urbain with all her thinking. It was probably fine, though. Jacinthe had just arrived, and all of Harmony’s attention was immediately stolen. “Oh wow,” she breathed. “Jacinthe looks gorgeous.” Both men with her of course turned to look. Jacinthe’s cloud-like hair was styled in a fancy updo tonight, and the dress she was wearing had to have cost more than half of the buildings in the entire city! It shimmered with what had to be hundreds of pearls sewn into it and the fabric almost had an opalescent shine to it. It was white with the faintest hint of the lilac purple Jacinthe seemed so fond of, but had a rainbow shimmer under the light. All the lacework on the dress looked immaculate, even from the distance she stood at.
Sighing, resting a hand against her cheek, Harmony whispered, “I could get married in a dress like that…”
“Greetings and bonne soirée, everyone!” Jacinthe announced, arms spread in a way that somehow looked dainty on her. “Welcome to my Masquerade ball! I am so happy you all could make it!” She gave a quick explanation of where food and drinks were, motioning airily to the wait staff around the room, and said, “There is also the top floor, the roof, for anyone who wishes to have a more private conversation tonight! But of course, there is still music up there as well- only the very best for all of my lovely guests tonight!”
“Oh!” Harmony quickly tried to open her purse, struggling with one hand preoccupied by her glass. She felt someone’s fingers brush hers and take the glass from her, and then heard them set it on the table, but didn’t see if it was Urbain or Corbeau. She whispered a soft thanks anyway and finally pulled out her phone.
“What are you doing?” Corbeau whispered by her right.
“Shh!” Harmony shushed him, pulling up her camera. “Taking a photo for Naveen. He’s gonna die when he sees Jacinthe’s dress.” She snapped a few pics and quickly tucked her phone back away. She’d send them later.
“Did you really bring your pokeballs with you?”
Harmony pouted for a second before turning her head toward Corbeau again. So he was peeking into her purse? Ready to defend herself, she narrowed her eyes. She saw the way he was smirking, though, and quickly shot a smirk of her own at him. “Like you didn’t bring some too, you jerk.” His smirk just grew wider and she knew she was right. “Now, shush, we’re supposed to be listening!”
Jacinthe announced that there would be actual dances every thirty minutes or so, depending on how long the previous piece of music went. Harmony blanched at that- she wasn’t expecting actual ballroom dancing!
“Fuck, I dunno how to dance like that,” Urbain said from her left.
“Me neither,” Harmony whispered back.
“Maybe we don’t have to dance if we don’t want to…” She hoped Urbain was right. If she tried to do an actual dance in these heels, she’d probably fall flat on her face.
Jacinthe spun on her toes, then, finishing her speech by inviting her guests to dance right away. The string quartet started a bouncy sounding tune that Harmony couldn’t place and several couples of people and a few trios went out into the open to join Jacinthe in the first dance of the evening. Scooping her glass back into her hand, stem sliding between her middle and ring fingers, Harmony resolutely decided she would not be dancing. Taking a quick drink and looking around the room, spotting a familiar face, she told the guys that she was going to go see if Canari would let her get a photo for Naveen.
The electric type specialist was wearing a well cut teal suit and what Harmony was pretty sure were just her normal white sneakers, but her hair was down and curled ever so slightly. It looked like she had some shade of blue eyeliner on, but Harmony couldn’t quite tell. She put her hands on her hips when Harmony made her way over to her. “There she is! The hero of Lumiose!”
Harmony laughed awkwardly. “Oh, please, don’t start that.”
“I’m just fuckin’ with ya,” Canari said, playfully slapping Harmony’s shoulder. After that she gave Harmony an exaggerated onceover. Letting out a low whistle, she said, “Damn, girl, you look sexy as shit.”
Now it was Harmony’s turn to hit Canari. About to say something, she jumped a little when she saw Gwynn was also there. She didn’t even hear her walk up. “Hey Gwynn, good to see you.”
“You too,” she said. “Your dress looks nice.”
Harmony smiled. “Thank you. See, that’s a normal compliment,” she said, scowling at Canari. Canari only rolled her eyes. “I love the ghost type Pokémon print on your purse,” Harmony continued to Gwynn, “Is it just Litwick? I can’t quite see.”
Gwynn held up her bag with a little smile. “Litwick and Shuppet.”
“Nice! Hey, Canari, sorry to ask but my friend Naveen wanted me to see if I could get a pic,” Harmony spoke, quickly putting up a hand, “No pressure, though, I totally get it if you say no.”
Shrugging, Canari said, “Eh, sure, I trust you not to just post this shit all over social media.” Gwynn ended up joining their photo too, but it looked cute either way. Once Harmony tucked her phone away, she turned back and said, “I love your suit, by the way, Canari. Teal is such a pretty color.”
Grinning, the streamer did a few poses, flexing her arms. “Nice, right? I thought about wearing a dress, but it’s kinda easier to move like this.” As if to demonstrate she kicked one leg out and threw a few mock punches. “But enough about me- you looked like you were having a hell of a time over there earlier.”
Mid sip of her wine, Harmony’s brows furrowed. “Hm?” Swallowing, she cocked her head to the side, glancing over her shoulder briefly toward where she had been standing earlier. “I don’t follow.”
Gawking at her, Canari just stood there blinking for a minute. Harmony felt nervous now. “Wh-what? Seriously, what’s going on, did I miss something?”
Canari shared a dumbfounded look with Gwynn. “You serious?” She looked at Harmony like she was stupid. “Urbain and Corbeau over there acting like a couple of pissy Zangoose fighting over you, are you kidding me?”
Blinking, Harmony quickly turned her head to look back at the area she had been in before. “I… Ur… Urbain and-and Corbeau?” She looked back at the streamer. “Oh no, that was just Urbain still being salty about the whole secret debt thing Corbeau pulled! Honestly, he’s just still holding a grudge about it.” Canari frowned at her, and Harmony said, “Seriously, they’ve just kind of butted heads ever since. I’m sure that’s all.”
“She really doesn’t see it, holy shit,” Canari muttered, leaning closer to Gwynn. When Harmony continued to stand there looking bewildered, Canari stepped forward, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her down, along with Gywnn, to talk further away from some of the crowds.
“Harm, girl, I’m gonna explain this to you real fucking simple, okay?” She spoke, once the three of them were far enough away to hopefully not be overheard. “Those boys want you. We literally saw you as soon as you got here- Corbeau made a fuckin’ Beeline directly for you as soon as he spotted you. And the fucking hand kiss? Bro, come the fuck on- who does that if they’re not trying to get some action? For Celebi’s sake, I think the last time I saw some shit like that was in a cheesy rom-com from the 80s. And the minute Urbain showed up he looked like someone spit in his coffee.” Harmony opened her mouth and Canari quickly put her hand up. “Not done. When Corbeau went over to the bar, I saw Urbain’s pissy face. Bro was mad that Corbeau got to it first.”
“But I-,” Harmony started to say.
“Still not done,” Canari said, physically putting a finger to her mouth. “When Corby came back with the wine, Urbain looked ready to challenge him to a battle. And when Jacinthe was giving her fancy speech, when they weren’t just fucking staring at you they looked ready to rip each other’s heads off.” Poking Harmony’s nose with each word, she ended by saying, “They. Want. You. Girl.”
Staring at the streamer, Harmony didn’t say anything for a while.
She just stood there feeling her face slowly heat up.
“Are you sure?” she finally asked, voice quiet and warbly.
“It certainly looked that way to me, too, if it helps,” Gwynn said.
Harmony ran her fingers through the hair around her temple for a moment. “But… but they’re both just friends, you know? I mean, I- Urbain literally lives in the same hotel as me- we’re part of Team MZ together! And-and I- I mean Corbeau is.” She swallowed. “Corbeau is… Wouldn’t they have said something by now?”
“I mean, I don’t exactly think there was much time for love confessions with the fucking city almost getting destroyed,” Canari said, folding her arms.
Exhaling lowly, Harmony downed the last of her drink. “I think I need more wine.”
Gwynn held out an open hand and took Harmony’s glass to go get more for her. She paused before leaving, holding her other hand out. When Harmony blinked at her, Gwynn said, “Unlike Corbeau, I’m not buying this for you. Just gimme your card.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.”
“So what’re you gonna do?” Canari asked, leaning against the wall nearest their little hiding spot. She grinned like a Sharpedo then. “You gonna turn ‘em both down? Can I watch?”
Thankfully Gwynn returned with Harmony’s wine and card after that, so she didn’t have to answer right away. She took a few big gulps of the wine, feeling like she needed something to steel her nerves. She inhaled deeply, opened her mouth, and-.
“Ah, there you are my friend!”
“Oh thank fucking Arceus,” Harmony whispered before quickly switching her face to a bright smile and turning toward Jacinthe. “Jacinthe! Hiii~!” She exchanged a hug and cheek kisses with the other woman, happy for a way out of this conversation with Canari. “You look amazing! Your dress is unbelievable!”
Jacinthe bowed her head a little, proper as always, “Ah, you flatter me! Isn’t it lovely? I had it designed special just for tonight!”
“It’s gorgeous,” Harmony affirmed. Jacinthe said hellos to Canari and Gwynn as well, pouting when she noticed Canari’s sneakers.
“Harmony! You simply must dance tonight!” Jacinthe announced, then, excitedly clapping her hands together.
Choking mid sip of her drink, Harmony shook her head. “Oh-oh n-no thanks, I’m really not much of a dancer!”
“Oh but you must!” Jacinthe pouted exaggeratedly. “You are the guest of honor! The savior of Lumiose! You must join me for a dance!”
Harmony felt herself sweating again. For a completely different reason than she had been just a moment ago. “Jacinthe,” she whispered, “I literally have never done any kind of dance like that before. I don’t know how!”
Jacinthe casually waved her hand. “We will find you a partner who knows how- they will lead you!”
“No, no Ja-Jacinthe, you don’t understand! I’ll fall on my face!” She tried to argue with the other girl, but Jacinthe was having none of it. She called Lebanne over to them and told the taller woman to go and find someone for Harmony to dance with.
Giving Harmony a quick once-over, she said, “Preferably someone larger than she is, so that she may step on their toes without fear of breaking them.”
“Hey!”
Beaming cheerily, Jacinthe said, “The next dance does not start for twenty minutes or so- plenty of time for Lebanne to find you a partner!”
“Jacinthe, this is such a bad idea…”
“Well I’m having fun,” Canari said with a grin beside her. Harmony hit her again for the comment. Clapping her hands together in front of her face, Canari hissed excitedly, “Oh I can’t wait to see Corby and Urbain’s faces when you go up and dance with someone else!”
“Canari!” Harmony whisper-whined. But it was too late. Jacinthe’s eyes lit up before narrowing to slits as a devious smirk spread across her lips.
“Oh-ho?” She turned her mischievious gaze around and scanned the room. “We have ourselves a case of jealousy, do we?”
“N-no, no we don’t!” Harmony said, trying to get Jacinthe to stop looking around the room.
“We sure do!” Canari said at the exact same time. Pushing forward, leaning into Jacinthe’s space, she pointed off toward one end of the room. Jacinthe’s grin turned predatory when she spotted Corbeau over there. “Corby’s been rizzing Harmony up ever since she got here and Urbain is pissed about it!”
Swiveling her head back around, still grinning, Jacinthe said, “So then if our lovely hero were to dance with someone, say perhaps Ivor, then they both would be particularly unhappy wouldn’t they?”
Canari rubbed her hands together like an evil super villain, giggling maniacally. “Ooooh-ho-ho, they’d be so jealous if it was Ivor!”
“You guys, I really don’t feel comfortable with purposely antagonizing my friends,” Harmony tried to say, but was quickly shushed as Lebanne came back.
“The only person who knows the dances that’s big enough in case she trips is Ivor,” she informed them.
As the other girls quietly celebrated, Harmony hung her head and grumbled out, “Of course he is.” She took a large swallow of her wine, then. Looking at Gwynn, she wondered if maybe she could sneak away without Canari or Jacinthe noticing. Putting a finger to her lips, hoping Gwynn wouldn’t rat her out, she began trying to slither through the crowd.
She only managed to get halfway to the elevator before a hand gripped her arm. Wincing, she turned and looked back at Lebanne.
“Come on, don’t make me do this,” she whined pitifully. “I can’t dance, Lebanne!”
The dragon specialist at least had the decency to look sad as she pulled her back toward Jacinthe. “Sorry, you know how it works here.”
“Hey.” Harmony nearly jumped out of her skin- that was Urbain’s voice. Both women stopped and looked at him. “Everything okay? Harm, you good?”
“No,” Harmony whined miserably. Lebanne only shook her head.
Urbain moved in closer, putting a hand on her shoulder, and asked, “What’s going on?”
“Jacinthe’s making me dance,” Harmony sobbed out.
Blinking in surprise, Urbain looked at Lebanne. “Seriously?”
“She doesn’t have a choice.”
“That’s kinda fucked up, Lebanne,” he said, frowning at her. “Are you dancing with Jacinthe?” He turned his attention back to Harmony as he asked.
Shaking her head sadly, Harmony said, “Ivor.”
Urbain seemed to visibly bristle at that. “She picked your dance partner for you? You didn’t even get a choice in that?”
“She said he’d be big enough that I wouldn’t break his toes if I stepped on him.”
Now Urbain was scowling. But unfortunately, the break between the dance numbers seemed to be over, as Jacinthe and several other people were making their way back out to the dance floor near them. Harmony was led away from her friend.
“Harmony! Good to see you!” Ivor greeted, smiling warmly at her. Harmony replied with a stilted smile and a much less enthusiastic ‘Hi Ivor.’ Looking down at her, he said, “Lebanne tells me this will be your first waltz!”
“Y-yeah,” Harmony said, trying to calm her nerves. At some point her wine had been taken away from her and right now she was sorely missing it. “I’ve uh-never done this before.”
“Don’t worry,” Ivor said, offering her a hand, “It’s pretty easy once you get started. I’ll lead, you just follow along!” He carefully adjusted her hands and his own, which she appreciated. Still wasn’t looking forward to it, but at least he was trying to be gentle with her. “It’s a three step pattern,” he whispered just before the quartet began playing.
The music was beautiful- slow and smooth and seeming to bounce around the room. If only Harmony had been able to appreciate it. She was just trying so hard not to trip over herself or Ivor that she couldn’t really focus on much else. The first time she accidentally hit his foot, she winced in sympathy.
“Sorry,” she muttered, trying to keep track of her feet.
“Just relax,” Ivor told her in a softer voice than she was aware he was capable of. “You’re doing fine.” Harmony scoffed at him, finally lifting her head up so she wasn’t staring down at her own feet. It was a little bit easier to ignore that she probably wasn’t doing this right when she wasn’t looking down, at least.
He beamed at her. “See? You are a natural!”
Rolling her eyes, Harmony said quietly, “I wouldn’t say that, but thanks.” She still tripped a little bit and kept accidentally knocking her toes into Ivor’s, but she tried to keep her mind off of it. Instead she looked at him. “You look really nice, by the way,” she said. His normally unruly hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and his grey suit looked nice on him. The orange undershirt actually looked pretty nice with it, too. Although, the fabric of both seemed to be straining against all his muscle right now. Maybe when his arms were loose by his side it wasn’t as noticeable.
“As do you!” He closed his eyes as he grinned. “Definitely the prettiest girl here!”
Scoffing again, Harmony quipped, “Okay we both know that’s a lie. Jacinthe is literally right there, dude.” Ivor just chuckled at her. “But thank you, I appreciate it.”
“Who did you come with?” Ivor asked as the quartet transitioned into another piece.
Rolling her shoulders, accidentally stepping on him again and apologizing, Harmony said, “No one really. I mean, I was hanging out with Urbain and Corbeau for a little while, but…”
“And you did not ask Corbeau to dance with you?” Ivor asked, looking perplexed. “He knows how to waltz!”
“Mm, Jacinthe didn’t really give me a choice, actually.”
She saw Ivor looking a little sad then and quickly waved a hand in a placating manner. “Oh! No, no, I didn’t mean it like that, Ivor! You’re a great dance partner!” He didn’t look quite convinced. Whispering a little, Harmony said, “To be honest, I think Corbeau probably would have killed me by now if I had stepped on him as many times as I’ve stepped on you.” Ivor smiled then, chuckling again. “Besides, doesn’t the one leading have to be taller when you do a dance like this?”
He shook his head, saying, “No, of course not! Anyone can lead if they want! You could even lead me if you knew how!”
“Now that would be a sight,” Harmony snickered to herself.
Ivor led her through another song and slowly she got more and more comfortable with the movements. She still stepped on him a few times, but at least she was getting better!
At one point his gaze had wandered to the crowd around them, and Harmony looked with him. She waved when she spotted Urbain, smiling as best she could over Ivor’s bicep blocking her vision. She had yet to find Corbeau again, though- but Ivor must have noticed him, because the next thing he said was, “You and Corbeau would look good dancing together.”
Spluttering in shock, cheeks going hot, she squeaked out, “Ex-excuse me!?”
“Well your dress matches his hair!” Ivor defended himself.
“O- oh…” Harmony felt the heat drain from her face just as quickly as it had come. “Does it? I didn’t even realize…” She looked down at herself, observing the shade of purple she had on.
Smiling, not seeming to notice the emotional roller-coaster he had just put her through, Ivor continued, “Not like me. Not many people wearing orange here tonight!”
Still feeling a little shaky, Harmony laughed weakly. “Orange is a hard color.”
The song was slowing down now. Harmony asked someone near them how many songs were left this time and she was told this next one would be the last for this portion. She exhaled in relief, but her relief didn’t last long.
“Mind if I cut in?”
Harmony actually did jump that time. Practically whirling around, she found Corbeau standing there looking at the two of them expectantly.
“What are you doing?” Harmony hissed, looking nervously between the two men.
“Asking you to dance,” Corbeau answered simply.
“Yeah, but!” She peeked over her shoulder in Jacinthe’s direction. “What if Jacinthe gets mad?”
“She can fucking deal with it, then,” Corbeau snapped, stepping forward and sliding his hand into hers. He laced their fingers together and smiled when Ivor bowed and moved away. Harmony swallowed hard, feeling like she had a Magikarp lodged in her throat all of a sudden, but the music was already starting up again. She had to just quickly move her hands into the correct position and fall into step with Corbeau.
Feeling like her nerves were fried by a super effective electric type move, she murmured out a quiet, “Sorry if I step on you.”
“I can handle it.”
She was so terrified of accidentally squashing Corbeau’s toes, but she just couldn’t bring herself to look away from his face. He hadn’t stopped looking at her since they started dancing and Harmony found she physically couldn’t look away. Corbeau was always so intense- had been ever since Harmony met him earlier this year. But this felt… different. All of that intensity was directed right at her. Nothing to distract him or pull his attention elsewhere. It was… a lot. Kind of overwhelming, actually.
Finally forcing herself to blink and look away, she said, “You’re staring.”
That seemed to knock a little bit of that intensity away, thankfully. He blinked a few times and loosened the grip he had on her hand. (She hadn’t even noticed how tightly he had been holding on until now.)
“Sorry,” he said. When she didn’t look back at him, he asked, “Am I making you uncomfortable?”
She shook her head. “Mm-mm. I’m just really fucking scared I’m gonna break your foot.”
He laughed at that. “Scolipede stepping on me would break my foot,” he hummed. “You would probably just bruise it- maybe fracture it, at the most.”
She frowned at him. “That’s not funny, Corbeau.”
“Got you to loosen up, though, didn’t it?”
Smiling and shaking her head, she whispered out a quiet, “You’re such a jerk.” But he had been right. It did calm her down a bit. This was a little bit more familiar territory. Not the dancing, of course, that was terrifying. But the banter was nice.
As they continued to sway and step to the music, Corbeau’s face fell to its normal, almost disinterested, look. He kept watching Harmony as he led her.
“…You could have asked me.”
Surprised, blinking like a Rowlet, it took Harmony a moment to understand what he meant. “Jacinthe picked for me,” she said, grimacing a little. “I didn’t really want to dance at all. But, well, you know how she is… Trying to tell her ‘no’ and all.” He hummed quietly, nodding once in understanding. He adjusted his hands, pulling Harmony a little bit closer against him. She let out a tiny squeak before taking in a sharp gasp of breath, startled.
“This part of the song speeds up a bit here,” he said just before the music did exactly that. It ended up making her have to cling a little bit more harshly onto Corbeau’s shoulder and hand. Her teeth worried her lower lip as she repeatedly flicked her gaze down toward her feet, trying as hard as she could not to step on Corbeau. One, two, three – one, two, three.
“Fuck!” She stumbled, feet getting tangled over each other, and would have completely fallen to the floor if not for Corbeau. Instead she ended up tripping into his chest, feet ending up clumsily criss-crossed over each other and partially on top of his, with her fingers digging painfully into his shoulder and arm. He made a small ‘oof’ noise as her forehead bumped into his sternum, one leg moving backwards to brace them both upright, but luckily stopped her downward momentum.
It had to be by the grace of Arceus that the song ended right around Harmony’s little tumble. None of the other dancers collided with them, and people were too distracted with clapping to really notice her fuck up.
Keeping her head down, she let out an unhappy sigh before muttering, “Sorry.”
His hand squeezed her hip a little and he spoke quietly in response. “It’s all right. That one took me a while to learn, too.”
She still kept her head down, but peeked up at him through her lashes. “You didn’t trip and fall on your dance partner, though, did you?”
“No, I’m pretty sure I knocked over a vase.” Taking a moment to help her right herself, Corbeau smiled. “You did fine, kid.”
Annoying her always seemed to help distract her from any anxiety or worry she had. As soon as he called her ‘kid’ Harmony puffed out her cheeks and pouted at him hard. Hands on her hips, she snapped, “I swear, Corbeau, if you keep calling me kid, I’m going to challenge you to a one on one battle royale right fucking now.”
He actually laughed brightly at that- head thrown back and everything. “Now that would be fun!” He grinned at her, eyes glinting with his obvious excitement at the idea. “I’d never turn down a battle with you.”
Letting her shoulders sag, Harmony rolled her eyes. “You are so weird,” she said, shaking her head and smiling. “Honestly, only you would be excited to be threatened with a Pokémon battle.” She started to walk away from the dancefloor, faltering a bit when she noticed Canari making an obscene gesture at her from across the room. Face going pink, she returned with a gesture of her own and kept walking.
She grabbed a water from a waitress walking by and went to an empty standing table. Resting her elbows on the top, she drank half the glass in just a few gulps.
“Worked up a sweat?”
Harmony smiled. “Hey Urbain.” She finished the other half of the water before speaking again. “Like the little disaster I had at the end there?”
“It was not a disaster,” Corbeau said as he also came over to the table with a water of his own.
“Only because you managed to catch me,” Harmony argued.
Urbain leaned himself over the top of the table by her side. “What was up with you and Ivor?” He asked, smiling. “You two looked like you were talking up a storm.”
Waving her hand absently, she said, “Ah, he was just trying to distract me from how nervous I was.”
“Didn’t know we were allowed to just come up and butt in like that, though,” Urbain said, eyes sliding from Harmony over to Corbeau. “Thought people were supposed to dance with the same person the whole time.”
From behind his glass, Corbeau scowled. “If you ask politely, you can ‘butt in’ as much as you want.”
“Hey.” Harmony straightened herself out- standing up between the two of them. “Guys, can we not do this right now? I know you don’t really see eye to eye, but can we at least try to be civil?”
“I will if he will,” Urbain immediately spat, still glaring at Corbeau.
Corbeau continued to scowl right back. “I’ll be right back,” he said, setting his glass down, turning, and walking off in the other direction.
Immediately after he was out of sight, Harmony turned to glare at Urbain. “Seriously?”
“I told you, I don’t like him!”
“I don’t care if you don’t like him, Urbain! You’re being rude!” Harmony huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “There’s plenty of people here that I don’t like, but you don’t see-!”
He interrupted, throwing one hand out in the direction Corbeau went, hissing, “Yeah, but you’re not being forced to hang out with any of the people here you don’t like!”
His dislike of Corbeau seemed so excessive for a simple fine print trick. One that didn’t even end up causing him that much trouble in the end! It almost seemed… Was Canari right?
Frowning, Harmony tilted her head to the side, looking him dead in the eye. “Urbain. Why don’t you like Corbeau?” He looked down and away from her, chewing on his lip. “Seriously, you’re okay with Philippe- what’s the problem with Corbeau? What’d he do to piss you off so much?”
After chewing his lip until it was red and irritated, Urbain sighed. “I don’t like the way he looks at you,” he admitted.
“The way he looks at me?” Harmony repeated, still frowning.
Urbain looked at her, frown hard on his face. His hands were clenched by his sides. She stood there, waiting for him to say something. Quirking a brow up, she continued to wait.
All at once, he stepped forward, into her space, and slid his lips onto hers.
She jumped back with a gasp, hands quickly pulling up in front of herself. She blinked at him, her mouth hanging open in surprise.
His shoulders drooped, then, and he sighed. All the fight seemed to drain out of him then, and Urbain just looked tired. “Sorry,” he said after a moment. “I just… I really like you…” He looked away for a second before looking back at her with a sad little smile. “If he weren’t in the picture, do you think I’d have had a chance?”
“He?” Harmony repeated. “I- Urbain, you think I’m saying no because of Corbeau?”
“I’ve seen the way you look at him, too,” he said, still with the same sad smile. She stared at him, face feeling both hot and cold at the same time. She… didn’t know how to respond to that. “Sorry. Guess I just got so jealous of how much you liked him- I kinda got carried away.”
After a moment, he gently patted her on the shoulder. “I’ll try not to be so rude to him, but I can’t make any promises.” He sighed.
“Can I at least get a photo of how much taller than him you are in those heels?”
Harmony let out a little hiccup of a laugh. Shaking her head with a smile, she gave Urbain a hug. Squeezing him in tight, she said, “I’m sorry, too.”
Looking at her face, Urbain snickered. “Can’t believe short kings are your type.”
“All right, you’re kind of ruining the moment here,” she squeezed him again. “Go enjoy the party. Maybe you and Canari can place bets on my love life together. I’m sure she’d enjoy that.”
Urbain grinned at her, then. “That sounds like my kind of party.” Giving her one last hug, he ended their conversation by saying, “He’s so lucky, and he doesn’t even know it yet. I expect absolutely none of the details next time I see you. Literally, if you tell me anything, I may throw up.”
“Thanks, Urbain,” Harmony said with a smile and a roll of her eyes.
She gave him a little wave as he walked off. Shaking her head, she took a minute to check her make-up in her phone. Thankfully nothing got smudged and she didn’t cry, so no mascara got onto her mask. Lifting her head, she looked around the room.
After walking around for a solid fifteen minutes, she finally gave up and walked over to Lebanne.
“Hey,” she greeted. “Did you see where Corbeau went to a bit ago?”
“Roof,” Lebanne said, cocking her head in the direction of the elevators. “Saw him hit the ‘up’ button before getting in like twenty minutes ago.”
“Thanks.”
Getting into the elevator, Harmony hoped that he hadn’t already left and Lebanne just hadn’t noticed. It didn’t really seem like the kind of thing Corbeau would do, but with the way the night was going, Harmony didn’t want to completely rule it out.
There were actually more people up on the roof than she had been expecting there to be. Definitely less than down a few floors, but certainly not empty. The group playing music up here included a saxophone, and she took a moment to just stand and listen to it. The vibe up here was totally different than downstairs. Much more relaxed.
It didn’t take her long to find Corbeau up there. He was standing off to the side, by some rooftop hedges, petting an Emolga that must have lived up there.
“Making friends?” She asked as she walked over.
Inclining his head, golden amber eyes flicked in her direction. “Sorry, lost track of time- was I gone too long?”
She hummed, shaking her head no and watched him continue to pet the little Pokemon. He was quiet again, but seemed much less tense than he had been downstairs with Urbain. Shifting a little, placing a hand on his shoulder to balance, she asked, “You cool if I take off these heels? My feet are killing me.” He only shrugged, letting the Emolga go with one final pat to the head. Once she had them off, she let out a big sigh of relief. “Oh, Mew, that feels so much better.” Squinting at Corbeau, she said teasingly, “Be lucky you’re not expected to wear stuff like this at fancy events.”
He smiled a little. “I’ll take your word for it.”
“Sorry about Urbain, by the way,” Harmony said, setting her shoes on one of the few chairs on the top floor. Did Jacinthe have something against being able to sit down? Honestly. “He shouldn’t give you any more shit now.”
Corbeau shrugged once again. “It’s fine, I’m used to being disliked.” Casually rubbing a hand against the back of his neck and cracking it, tilting his head side to side, he said, “You get accustomed to it in my line of work.”
“Hmm... Well, I like you. In spite of your line of work.”
A small noise, somewhere between a laugh and a scoff, was Corbeau’s response to that. He didn’t look like he entirely believed her, but didn’t argue. The band up on the roof was playing a slow, melodic piece right now. Soothing, almost.
“You know- since I didn’t really get a choice the first time, are you okay if I remedy that right now and make my own decisions?” Harmony asked, putting her hands behind her back and smiling brightly.
Brows furrowed, he frowned. “I understood none of that sentence, Harmony.”
Rolling her eyes, she said, “I’m asking you to dance, Corbeau.” He blinked, surprised. But didn’t immediately answer. So Harmony continued. “If you don’t wanna, that’s totally fine-I mean, I did almost knock you over earlier. And I probably will step on your toes at some point, but you know it’s-.”
“I’d love to,” He interrupted, smiling.
When he extended his left hand, Harmony was a bit confused. “Here? You don’t wanna go over to where those other people are dancing?”
“Right here’s fine,” he replied. Carefully situating both of their hands, he moved in close to her. Chests pressed flush against each other, he started to lead her through a few of the motions. “You know, when this dance was first invented, it was considered vulgar for the time,” he said, voice hushed.
Harmony smirked. “Oh yeah? Why?”
“Well,” he snaked his arm tighter around her waist, pulling her along with him. “This dance is all about being close to your partner. Sharing the same space.” His leg pressed between hers briefly as he kept up the steps. “Body against body- you breathe each other’s air.” A quick twirl away from him before he pulled her right back in. A tiny exhale of breath left her as they gently collided. “Close enough to kiss… At the time, well, people said it was akin to public sex.”
“Huh…” Harmony whispered, “Imagine that…”
They had stopped dancing at that point, but neither moved away from the other. Her eyes kept flitting over every part of his face. This close, his eyes looked like they were pools of liquid gold. She could see them repeatedly moving from her own eyes, down to her lips, and back.
“Harmony…”
His nose nudged against hers for just a moment-before she tilted her head slightly and pushed forward to slot their lips together.
Almost instantly Corbeau let out a soft moan, hands quickly sliding to her back, yanking her in as close as he could get. Sighing into his mouth, she let his tongue slip in past her teeth and kissed him. Sharing each other’s air- yeah, she could see that now. He tilted his head just a touch more, deepening the kiss and sliding his lips against hers with more force.
“Mm!” Harmony broke apart from him with a soft gasp. He stood there panting, out of breath, eyes only holding a sliver of gold visible now. Pupils blown wide, he swallowed, looking at her.
She was also still catching her breath after that, but she had a question she had to ask. “Do you have a forked tongue!?”
The way he chuckled after that had Harmony feeling tingly. He stuck his tongue out from between his lips in answer. The split ends wiggling independently. She swallowed, now, no longer feeling tingly- that feeling was quickly replaced by a warm sensation strongest in her face and between her legs.
“Fuck, that’s kinda hot, Corbeau.”
He surged forward and kissed her again, wrapping his arms around her like the coils of a snake.
She wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that. Licking into each other’s mouths and only breaking apart for brief moments of air. She smacked his hand once when it wandered too low for her liking, though.
Slipping his mouth off, Corbeau asked between gulps for oxygen, “So-so you and Urbain?”
“No,” Harmony replied, pecking his kiss-swollen lips with a little smile. “Well, maybe on his part, but I never felt the same.”
“Good.” His attention moved from her mouth onto her neck and he nipped the skin there.
She hissed and poked him in the chest. “Ah, no teeth.” When he nibbled at the juncture between her neck and shoulder again anyway, she moved her hand up to push his jaw. “Seriously, if I go back to the hotel with bite marks, Lida’s going to lock me up for a year.”
Corbeau hummed, mouthing up the length of her neck instead, then, and purred, “You could always come back with me.”
“She’d lock me up for twelve years if I did that.”
“Big jump from one year to twelve,” He teased, pulling his head back to grin at her.
“She’d probably lock you up, too, to be fair,” Harmony said, grinning right back at him. Pausing to think it over, she said, “Canari’d probably be happy, though. She’d probably congratulate you in person.” When he raised a brow at that, she huffed. “Don’t ask, it was a whole thing down there tonight.”
“Noted.” He finally loosened up a bit after that, no longer squeezing her against him, but remained close.
“You’re staring again.”
“Sorry,” he said, smiling, “Just- this isn’t exactly how I pictured finally kissing you.”
She wanted to tease him for that, but all she could feel was warm at that. “You imagined this?”
“Far too much,” he muttered, moving back in to kiss her again. “Philippe was beginning to think I needed to see a doctor with how unfocused I was.” She mewled happily. When their lips slipped away from each other again, he said, “I had been hoping to actually ask you out first. Court you properly. Just been so damned busy with the Syndicate I hadn’t had time.”
“You still can, if you really want to,” she offered with a coy little smirk.
He rolled his eyes. “Kinda missed my opportunity, there.”
“Well, then how about just the courting part and you can tell people that you made the first move?”
“Just the courting.” He kissed her softly one more time before pulling back again. “I like the idea of telling people you wanted me so bad that you were the one to initiate.”
Laughing, shaking her head, she muttered, “You’re such a jerk.”
Humming, he rubbed his hands up and down her back a few times. “I thought you said you liked that?”
“I said I liked you in spite of your work and you being a big jerk, don’t get it twisted.” He laughed as she said that, throwing his head back again. She laughed along with him, feeling overwhelmingly happy.
“Well, I was right about one thing,” he said, moving so he was just holding one of her hands and leading her to stand near the railings overlooking the city.
“Yeah? What?”
Smiling just over his shoulder, he said, “This year’s party was much better than last year’s.”