Chapter Text
Harmony walked into the building, her shoes clacking against the pristine floor.
The Quasartico building was nice, in a sense. It was clean and sleek, simple, minimalist. It was nice, but certainly not a place that Urbain would be hanging out in for long periods of time.
He seemed much more at home in Hotel Z. The issue was that he hadn't come back to the hotel for a few months and Team MZ was worried.
After the whole Ange situation, the entire team realized that they should really keep an eye on him.
They didn't feel comfortable broaching the topic with him, and knowing Urbain, he would shoot down the topic any time it would be brought up. As a result, they simply observed him, made sure he wasn't alone. They cared so much for him, they tried to make sure he knew that.
So much for that. He hasn't been answering any of their calls. Not only that, but Urbain, being the CEO of Quasartico now, was always super transparent with the people of Lumoise.
He knew the people, and they knew him in a way they didn't with his grandmother. However, lately, he's been absent with public displays, more secretive.
It was around this time that he left Hotel Z.
Harmony sighed and walked up to Vinnie, a duffel bag slung over her shoulder.
“Harmony. A pleasure to see you.”
She nodded in response. “Same here. Listen, can I see Urbain?”
“Do you have an appointment?”
Harmony shuffled her feet slightly. She was sort of hoping to get in without one so that Urbain couldn't refuse her. Well, he could, but at that point, she'd already be there and it would be harder to.
Vinnie sighed. “I'm not supposed to do this, but I'll page you anyways. You just have to do one thing for me.”
Harmony stared at Vinnie.
“I need you to get him to relax. He… I can't say much myself, but if you can, get him to talk. I promised I wouldn't tell you, but he can't keep this up forever.” His lips were pursed, his expression hard to read behind his glasses.
“It's what I'm here to do,” Harmony whispered.
“I had a feeling. Go up, then. His office is on the top floor.” He smiled.
Harmony passed the entrance and went to the elevator instead of stairs to the basement.
The elevator was quiet, soft music playing, and soon enough, she made it to the top floor.
There were a few doors in this hallway, so she checked each one.
There were a few meeting rooms, one that led to maintenance, and a bathroom that had a shower. She supposed that, since they handled Pokemon and put an emphasis on presentation, cleaning up after Pokemon battles would be important.
The last door, the grandest, was locked. She knocked.
“Hello?” The voice was familiar and she smiled at hearing it.
“Urbain, it's Harmony! Unlock the door for me, will you?”
The door slid open, revealing the room.
One of the walls was a window revealing the Ange in the distance. There were a few couches and chairs around a table that looked frankly uncomfortable, even despite the throw pillows on them.
On another wall was a display of different pokeballs and relics, the centerpiece being Urbain's jacket illuminated with lights.
Urbain himself was sitting at the desk opposite the door, slouching over paperwork. His face was in a smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes, which had dark eye bags under.
“Wow, they actually managed to force you into a suit.” She pointed at his clothes. He wore a formal vest, a light blue, with a golden tie. His undershirt and pants were white. He had two lapel pins on the collar of his vest, held together with a golden chain. They were, as more formal outfits, tight-fitting. She would be remiss to say that, if she hadn't known Urbain, he would've looked good.
“Yeah, I mean, my grandmother kind of left a reputation to uphold.” He chuckled.
“Mmm, yeah. You look good.” She threw the duffle bag at him. “Now change, you look absolutely uncomfortable.”
Urbain peered at the bag in interest and opened it up. “Did you head into my room?” He laughed.
“Well, someone's gotta clean it. Amenities on the drawer, when you come back.”
He smiled. “Well, I can't change. Still at work, so.” He slouched even further.
“Then after you clock off. Or maybe you could take a break?”
“I still have to help Lumoise City.” He looked out the window.
Harmony pursed her lips. “Fine, then.”
“Anyways, any reason why you're here?”
“Do I need a reason to visit our beloved leader?”
“You don't mean that.”
“I don't?” Harmony crossed her arms and sat on the desk. Urbain didn't say anything about it.
“I mean… nevermind.”
Harmony didn't push. “Soooo, Lida, Naveen, and I were talking and we realized we never celebrated your promotion here, and I've come to drag you to the hotel to celebrate. I mean, it's not a Team MZ meeting without your signature croissant curry.”
“Aw, but didn't I give you guys the recipe?”
“Listen, I've tried, but I still don't know how you got the curry to stand up like that.”
“Oh, I can show you how to do it.”
“I mean, sure, but it doesn't taste the same as yours.”
Urbain went quiet. “How's Lida and Naveen, by the way?”
“Oh, they're doing okay. Team MZ's been holding down the fort while you're gone.”
“Glad I left the team in capable hands.” He sat back, realized how he looked and slouched again.
“What do you mean by that?”
“You're great, Harmony. If anything were to happen to me, you'd be the best leader for Team MZ, maybe,” he paused, “even greater than me.”
He simply smiled as if it was a simple compliment on her outfit or battle prowess. For anyone else, it would just be a simple compliment, minus the comparison.
However, Harmony watched as he fought tooth and nail to head up the dangerous tower that could've killed him, how he would enthusiastically throw himself into danger with no respect to his own safety. She knew of how he would hide injuries from Pokemon, for slight scraps of landing on concrete from a decent height, too small for his Rotom to catch him from. She knew how he'd sacrifice anything for the betterment of the city, including himself.
She was horrified. “Urbain. You know we… need you as our leader, right? We want you as our leader. I would've never met them if not for you, they wouldn't have met each other if not for you. You're not just…”
It was just then that an alarm went off on Urbain's phone.
His already (sort of sickly) pale face grew whiter. He smiled, wide, not the smile she associated him with. He showed no teeth, a polite smile, held back.
“I'm sorry, Harmony, but we need to cut this short. You need to go, now.” He stood up, opening drawers in his desk and rummaging through them, looking for something frantically.
“What?”
“I'm sorry I haven't been around a lot, but I'm really busy trying to make Lumoise better-”
“Urbain, do you see yourself?” She yelled. “Do you see how you're hurting yourself? You're thinner, and I see your eye bags. You can't help other people if you can't even accept help from your friends No, you can't help other people if you can't help yourself. You're going to…” she trailed off her angry tirade. “I… we didn't want to tell you directly, to let you say it yourself, but…”
“Harmony, please-” He moved around the desk walking past her to the door, yet never taking his tired eyes off of her.
“No! You need to take a break, Urbain! You can't keep doing this to yourself!” She made a grab for his wrist, careful to not hurt him, but to stop him.
He was holding something, and as she grabbed for it, it fell to the clean floors with a clatter.
She watched as it rolled, rattling as it did.
It was a bottle of pills, filled. The lid must've been loose because the pills spread out across the floor.
Urbain quickly fell to his knees, frantically picking up the pills as if he didn't want her to see them.
“Urbain-”
“Harmony, just go.” His voice was hard, yet shaky.
She took a step towards him, and she watched as he whipped his head up to make eye contact with her.
It was just then that two of his pokeballs by his desk opened up, allowing two twin beams of light to reveal his Meowstic and Manectric.
His Meowstic let out a warning cry, a chittering thing, and Urbain's face fell.
“Guh- Harmony, I really mean this, you need to leave now. Get Vinnie on your way out.”
“But-”
“Harmony!” He pushed her away, his eyes shaking before his Manectric growled, pushing her out of the room. Once outside, the door shut, leaving Urbain inside, being supported by his other Pokemon as they left their balls.
Manectric gave her a whine, an apology, before dashing downstairs.
Harmony just stood there. She didn't know what just happened.
Vinnie ran up the stairs and saw her.
“Harmony. Are you all right?”
She just looked at him. She spoke a lot with Urbain, and she doesn't quite know how much more she could take.
“Okay. Listen, Urbain needs my help right now, but call your friends. I'm not letting him hide this anymore.” He turned, pulled out a key card and entered the room, the door closing behind him.
She nodded and sent a text to a group chat with only Naveen and Lida.
They sent some worried texts back, asking her to call them. She couldn't.
They asked if he actually tried. She replied that she doesn't know anymore. He's probably okay, though. He's alive. Vinnie has him.
They sent resolute texts that they'll be there in a few minutes and they'll meet her in the lobby.
As expected, they came as quickly as possible. Naveen was holding a green blanket, a favourite of Urbain's. On one side was stitched together fabrics, one side, just plain green. It was Urbain's idea, as Naveen was staring at his spare fabric, unsure of what to do. It wasn't as neat as a real quilt, but Urbain loved the feeling of it.
Lida was holding a drink. At first, she thought it was hot chocolate, but it just seemed to be warm milk, likely with some honey inside. She saw them, tension in their frames, and wordlessly guided them up the stairs (the quiet of the elevator would be too much) to the top floor.
They just stood in the hallway, waiting.
After what seemed like an eternity, Vinnie opened the door, allowing it to close behind him.
“Is he okay?” Lida was the first to say.
“He's fine now, relatively speaking. Listen, you're going to get an explanation from him, but you must not stress him out further.” He saw the cup in Lida's hand.
“Is that coffee?”
“No, sir, it's just warm milk and honey. I would've gotten a hot chocolate, but that would've taken too long.”
“Lots of sugar wouldn't help him either. You made a good choice.” He gave her a soft smile, as if to calm her down.
“I'll take this and the blanket to him and make sure he's ready. I'll open the door then, okay?”
They nodded.
“He'll be okay,” he softly said to placate them before turning.
The door suddenly opened, and the trio walked inside.
Urbain was seated on the uncomfortable-looking couch with his Manectric's head in his lap over the blanket. He was petting him softly.
His Meowstic was sitting on the back of the couch.
Urbain himself was staring out the window at the Ange. His vest and tie were loose, hanging loosely at his sides, and his undershirt was slightly unbuttoned at the top, not quite enough to reveal his undergarments, though. His lapel pins must've been taken off at some point. “I'm serious, Vinnie, I think I need some stronger stuff. These haven't been helping at all.”
He looked so tired, so miserable. Harmony knew they all were kicking themselves for letting it get this bad. He didn't turn to look at them.
They stood frozen for a minute before Naveen went to the opposite wall and opened up the case holding his jacket before putting it around his shoulders.
Urbain didn't acknowledge him, but his face pinched ever so slightly more.
Lida sat down in an armchair opposite the couch, knowing that if she stood, she wouldn't be able to stop pacing. Still, her leg bounced.
Naveen, after giving him his jacket, sat on the arm of the armchair Lida was in, arms crossed, gripping at each other.
Harmony stood at the back of the armchair, watching Urbain. He didn't look away from the Ange.
She could tell the moment they locked eyes on the bottle of pills on the table, opened. They both let out a sharp inhale.
Vinnie stood at the arm of the couch, hands behind his back.
They sat in silence for an eternity, before Naveen broke it.
“Your suit's nice, but it doesn't suit you. It's too tight. I need to make you something that's looser yet still fancy for you. You look uncomfortable.” His voice was strained, getting quieter as it went on.
For the first time, Urbain turned to look at him, a ghost of a smile on his face. “That's what Harmony said, too.”
He exhaled, weary. “You have a lot of questions. Let's get this over with.”
Lida nodded before standing up.
“Yeah. Yeah! Let's start this Team MZ strategy meeting.”
Urbain looked at her for a moment before softly chuckling.
He couldn't hide anymore, he knew this. This was a long time coming.