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With how much of the two had become a part of each other’s life, it seemed almost unbelievable to Jacinthe that she and Lebanne had only known each other for a few years.
Ever since that fateful victory over the then-punk all those years ago, she had spent much of her time turning her into a proper, polite maid. At this point, besides a few punkish aspects she couldn’t stomp out, you’d have no idea her loyal servant was once battling trainers on the streets.
To her credit, Lebanne had been a good sport about it. While there were the occasional complaints when she thought Jacinthe wasn’t listening, she dutifully followed whatever commands were asked of her.
Which made the audible groan coming from the maid’s quarters all the more noticeable.
Cracking open the door, she saw Lebanne slouch over with her head on her desk, staring at something on her Rotom Phone.
“Lebanne, whatever was that noise about?”
“Apologies, Lady Jacinthe,” Lebanne answered, slightly shocked by her sudden appearance, “it’s just that I got the news that one of my favorite bands is finally coming to Lumiose City this Saturday.”
“Which one would that be?”
“Ice-Type Nine Kills.”
“Can’t say I’ve heard of that one.” It was safe to assume it was some kind of metal band though. Her taste in music was one of the few punkish aspects that had held firm over the years. Even if she mainly listened to it through earbuds, her head banging and humming gave it away. “How is that a bad thing though?”
Lebanne sighed. “Because I probably won’t be able to go due to your duties keeping me busy.”
Normally, Jacinthe would refuse anything that would involve Lebanne returning to her punkish nature. However, she had also never seen the maid quite so distraught over something before.
“How about this? I will allow you to attend this concert after you’ve completed your morning and afternoon duties, and I’ll even allow you to dress in punkish attire as you used to.”
Lebanne turned to her mistress with surprised eyes. Was this really happening?
“Under one condition,” Jacinthe continued.
“What would that be?” Lebanne asked, a bit of both excitement and anxiousness in her voice. She knew there would be a catch.
“You must take me with you to the concert. Someone has to keep you in check after all.”
Having Jacinthe there would certainly make things awkward, but Lebanne didn’t want to risk losing this opportunity. “I accept these terms, my lady,” she replied with a bow.
The rest of the week proceeded much like it usually did, albeit with a little bit more excitement from Lebanne. At least until Thursday afternoon.
Lebanne was about to leave to do the shopping for the day. Before she did, though, she turned to Jacinthe with a request.
“I was thinking of stopping somewhere while I’m out to get you clothes for the concert.”
“Surely you aren’t suggesting I present myself in such a brutish fashion as you intend to?” Jacinthe gasped.
“Oh, nothing like that, my lady,” Lebanne reassured her. “I just figured wearing something more fitting would keep you from sticking out among the crowd.”
Jacinthe seemed to be following her logic, but still seemed unsure about her suggestion. Luckily, she had one more trick up her sleeves.
“You wouldn’t want to get one of your usual outfits dirty at a place like that, would you?”
“I suppose you’re right,” Jacinthe huffed. That girl knew her far too well.
The maid returned a while later with an assortment of bags in her arms. While most of them were from Jacinthe’s usual choices of shops, there were a couple from a store with a darker aesthetic.
After being handed one of those bags, she took a cautious look at its contents. Inside was a lavender leather jacket, a white tee depicting a Scream Tail, a dark purple skirt with chains and pockets, white fishnets not unlike her usual ones, white fingerless gloves, and black heeled boots with thick soles. Overall, while it was rather different from her usual style, it was thankfully less edgy than she’d initially feared.
“These are acceptable,” she finally said as she turned to Lebanne. “If nothing else, I have to give you credit for keeping to my usual colors.”
“You’ve done a fine job at making me memorize it,” she replied as she began moving the rest of the bags to her mistress’s quarters.
The day of the concert had finally arrived. After Lebanne had completed her other duties for the day as promised, all that was left was for the two to get ready.
She would still need to assist Jacinthe with getting changed like usual, though she did get changed in her own outfit, which consisted of her old clothes and a few new pieces she’d picked up alongside Jacinthe’s, on the way.
As her maid entered her quarters in the attire, Jacinthe couldn’t help but feel a bit nostalgic for that fateful first battle of theirs. Seeing her like this, she felt reminded of why she’d taken up the then-punk’s challenge.
Once Lebanne was finished, the two finally headed off to the concert venue.
“So what’s the deal with this band, anyways?” Jacinthe asked.
“Well, their style isn’t too different from most other metal bands, but what has set them apart is their themed albums. They hit it particularly big with their horror movie-inspired albums.”
“Sounds interesting.” Jacinthe had never really been much of a fan of horror, not being too keen on gore. While she had dipped her toes into the genre, it was usually only with the films that had been highly praised, such as that Silence of the Mareeps film.
Once they reached the venue, Jacinthe could immediately see why Lebanne had suggested getting her some more punk-adjacent clothes. The crowds were full of punks, emos, and goths. Had she worn one of her usual outfits, she’d have likely caught some confused looks.
“Hey, Lebanne!” The pair’s attention was drawn to a couple of punk girls, one with pink hair in twintails and the other with red hair with spiked ends, who were excitedly making their way over to them. “Hey, you guys!” Lebanne answered back as the two brought her into a hug.
“It’s been so long since we last saw you!”
“Well, I have been kept rather busy.”
“You must be Jacinthe,” the red-haired girl commented. “Lebanne’s mentioned you in the group chat.”
After the four made their way to their places in the venue, Lebanne and the red-haired girl started chatting. Meanwhile, the twintailed girl turned her attention to Jacinthe.
“I take it this isn’t your usual scene.”
“Definitely not. I’m mainly here to keep an eye on Lebanne.”
“Nice to know someone’s looking out for her. I’m glad she found someone she can turn to, especially since us and the other punks were really her only friends for a while.”
“Really?” Lebanne had never talked much about her past.
“Yeah, when she first came to Lumiose, us punks were the only ones she was really close to initially. Probably was a little worried about people knowing she was trans.”
Now that was something Lebanne definitely hadn’t mentioned. Though Jacinthe supposed it would explain why a proud punk would willingly agree to a deal that would involve her dressing pretty.
“Anyways, we should probably quiet down soon. The band should be coming on any moment now.”
As Jacinthe expected, the concert was not something she’d have gone to if it wasn’t for Lebanne.
The intense metal music, combined with the violent imagery of the lyrics, reminded her of why she’d been adamant in making the former punk into a proper maid. The loud noise of the crowd giving her a bit of a headache certainly wasn’t helping matters.
That wasn’t to say she was having a completely horrible time. For one, she did find the band’s less metal-heavy works, like the song about the Murkrow, or the one about a werewolf, somewhat enjoyable.
But what was really keeping her going was Lebanne. Usually, the maid acted rather stoic around her mistress.
Right now, however, she was showing a passion Jacinthe had rarely seen since their first match. Watching her hold on to her friends and join the rest of the crowd in singing along, her excitement ended up somewhat rubbing off on her.
Seeing her beloved maid having the time of her life, she couldn’t help but smile a bit.
As the band’s final song of the night came to a close, the crowds began dispersing.
“Hey, Lebanne, we were thinking of grabbing some food after the concert. Wanna join us?”
“I’d love to, but I think Jacinthe might be ready to head back home.”
“Then it was nice to finally see you again! Hope we can meet up again some time soon!”
“I hope so too!” Lebanne called out as the pairs went their separate ways.
“Those two seemed nice,” Jacinthe commented as they made their way back to the hotel.
“Yeah, a lot of punks are really nice people when you get to know them better.”
“You know,” Jacinthe added, “one of your friends mentioned you were trans. I’m surprised you never brought that before.”
“I never had a reason to bring it up. I’d already started transitioning a couple years before we met. I assume that isn’t a problem though, right?”
“Of course it isn’t. I was just a bit surprised to learn that.”
“By the way, what did you think of the concert?”
“It was okay. The less intense songs were nice, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of most of the others.”
“Figured as much.” As much as Lebanne would have loved for Jacinthe to become a fan tonight, she knew that almost never going to happen.
“There was one thing I particularly enjoyed,” Jacinthe added as she turned to her maid.
“What was that?” Lebanne asked, before she was suddenly pulled into a kiss by her mistress, turning her face as red as her spiky-haired friend.
As she pulled away, Jacinthe gave a teasing smile to the now stunned maid. “Take a guess.”