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Urbain hated big and fancy corporate buildings, and Quasartico HQ was no exception.
Even though Urbain had finally found the person he was looking for - his long lost grandmother, who just so happened to be the CEO of Quasartico Inc. - the building only seemed to get even more uninviting. The harsh white lights in the lobby were making him dizzy, and the low buzz that he always tuned out seemed to ring in his ears tenfold. He could only stare in silent shock at Jett, their conversation pivoting to a direction he wasn't really expecting, and frankly, a conversation he was not equipped to have right now. Urbain could feel the stares of their unfortunate audience - Vinnie, Emma, Floette, and Harmony - all of them waiting for him to say anything to Jett's sudden offer. Vinnie was stoic as always, Emma's head was tilted with a contemplative look on her otherwise calm face, Floette even looked confused albeit a little curious, but Harmony's expression was completely unreadable.
Not knowing what Harmony was thinking terrified Urbain. They had grown close over the past year that Harmony stayed in Lumiose, and it was almost a year on the dot from the fateful day she stumbled off the train that changed the direction of Urbain's life. Little did he know that the random pretty tourist that he asked to film a Hotel Z promotional video with was going to absolutely worm her way into every aspect of his life and drive him absolutely insane.
They still never recorded that video.
Urbain's thoughts about Harmony were only interrupted by Jett coughing into her hand, the older woman eyeing him expectantly. He still had zero clue how to even begin to answer his grandmother's question.
It just didn't feel real. He had just found out that his grandmother was the CEO of Quasartico Inc., they had just bonded over his dead mother, and now she had just asked him to take over the company to continue her legacy and "keep the company in the family". Did she even know anything about Urbain? He was terrible at handling money, and there was no way that Corbeau didn't let his grandmother know about his small debt of 100,000 or 1,000,000 pokedollars and how he had practically tried to ignore it, leaving it to Harmony and Lida to sort out.
He actually didn't mean to leave it to them. As soon as he found out Corbeau was demanding the money back and making calls, he got his ass in gear and scrambled to scrounge up the money by redeeming any favors he had from helping people out in Lumiose. Urbain didn't mean to ignore his friends; he was just so dead-set on paying back that stupid loan so it didn’t become anyone else's problem that… he accidentally made it everyone else's problem. He almost ran himself into a ditch trying to make the money back, only for Corbeau to basically forgive him for it in the end by giving him the cash to pay back himself. Sure, that was great - he wasn't in debt to the mafia anymore - but still, Urbain hated that guy.
This time Vinnie cleared his throat, snapping Urbain back to the present.
Right. The offer. It was hard for Urbain to focus on that when he had so much else he had going on in his life. He still had no idea what to do, and he just blankly stared at his bright pink sneakers, praying that they'd answer for him somehow. So what does Urbain default to when he has no idea what else to do? He thinks about his mom. What would his mom do in this situation? What would have made her proud?
His mother probably would have wanted him to accept. Urbain could finally bridge the generational gap left between his mom and grandmother, ending her biggest regret. He could fix their relationship, actually get to know his grandmother, and everything would be good just like how his mom would have wanted.
Right?
Right.
Urbain closed his eyes and shook his head, his strawberry blond curls brushing against his face, as if the motion would shake all of his doubts away. It worked well enough, the doubts taking a backseat in his mind for at least a moment. His eyes opened again, bright and determined, staring at Jett with a newfound confidence. The words fell from his mouth before he could even think about what he was agreeing to.
"You know what? Sure. I think Mom wouldn't have wanted me to say no."
Honestly, Urbain wasn't quite ready to leave his home away from home - Room 201 in Hotel Z, where his laptop and all his little promotional videos resided. Hotel Z, where Team MZ - his family - were. Where Naveen would stay up late watching Canari streams, where Lida would be bouncing around in the lobby, warming up for her workouts, and where Harmony lived right next door in Room 202.
It startled him, how not okay he was with leaving. He really wasn't ready to leave Team MZ (especially Harmony) behind, but he also wasn't ready for his mom to die either, so at this point he figured he just had to get used to life throwing curveballs at him every step of the way.
Urbain had already committed, though. To what, he wasn't sure. He could keep lying to himself and say it was to fix what his mom never got to, but he wasn't really sure if that's what he wanted right now. He hid his hesitation with his trademark smile, masking all of the turmoil he was feeling inside with his pearly whites.
He turned to Harmony and tilted his head slightly, meeting her intense gaze with his own pleading one, searching for any kind of support in his dear friend's eyes. "Hey," he starts slowly, false confidence exuding from his smile and posture. "You get why I have to do this, right?"
Harmony - the person who became his best friend in a matter of weeks, his partner in crime, the Savior of Lumiose, the one who saved him - sounds absolutely devastated.
"But… Team MZ…"
He's never heard her voice so soft before. This wasn't the Harmony he was used to, the one who never backed down from a challenge. She sounded like she was already defeated.
His mask breaks for a moment, eyes downcast, and his smile shifts more into a grimace. The words tumble out again before he could even think about what he was saying.
"Please don't say that. It'll just make this harder."
Harmony looks absolutely crushed. Urbain couldn't bear to look at her anymore, and he quickly plasters on another smile, looking to Floette at his side instead, "You were listening, right?"
In the end, he parted with Floette, giving her to Harmony to hopefully live a happy life back at Hotel Z where she belonged.
Where he belonged.
Urbain handed Harmony the Floettite, the cool stone feeling heavy and cold in his fingers. It felt abnormal, compared to the warmth of Harmony's hand as he gently placed it into her palm. He savors the fleeting warmth, and as Harmony grips the stone in her hand, Urbain wonders if she knows that he's also gifted her his heart, too.
She probably didn't care in the moment though, considering how upset she looked. The mega stone was clenched in her fist as angry tears pricked at the corner of her eyes that were boring into her hand.
He tries to salvage the situation. "It's all right," he tries to reason, "even if we're apart for a little while, we'll always be Team MZ." His voice falters as Harmony sniffles, the hand clenching the Floettite now roughly rubbing at her eyes as tears begin to drop down her face.
Urbain winces, his smile wavering. "I'll… come say what I need to later, but… could you break the news to Lida and Naveen?"
Harmony looks like she wants to kill him.
He could feel Vinnie's disapproving look behind him, and feel Emma's surprised expression too. He even felt Jett's calculating stare, but all that mattered right now was how Harmony was looking at him, and she was looking at him like he had just stomped on her heart.
I'm a coward, Urbain thinks, bitterly. Not only did he entrust Harmony to break the news to their two best friends instead of having to face them head on - because he really wasn’t ready to say goodbye - he was also too scared to tell her how he really felt. It's not like it mattered right now though, because Harmony looked absolutely crushed and Urbain was rethinking his entire life and what led him up to this point. He would rather die a thousand deaths in Prism Tower than have Harmony cry because of him.
As he spiraled, he could faintly hear Jett - his grandmother - give some kind platitudes to Harmony, and whatever polite conversation they were having was ending.
Urbain could only stare at Harmony and think of what could have been, plastering another fake smile on his face.
“Let’s all keep doing what we can to make Lumiose the best place it can be!” He awkwardly sticks his arm out for a fist bump. What was he doing? Urbain wants to melt into the floor and die. Harmony returns the fist bump, not as enthused as him in the slightest.
She still manages a closed eye smile for him. Urbain ignores the dried tears on her face. He ignores how strained her smile was. Urbain was just selfishly relishing in the fact that she was smiling at him, even if it was out of disappointment.
Urbain inhales and closes his eyes, mirroring her expression, ignoring the tears he feels burning in his eyes. He holds them back, not wanting to embarrass himself further in front of her.
He really hated fancy corporate buildings.