to say a bit more about alain and cor.beau's dynamic, alain is a complicated aroallo guy with commitment issues who won't settle down in one place and cor.beau is a grayroace person with abandonment issues who loves lumiose and would never leave the city, so there's a significant amount of angst as their relationship develops...
for some more context, some basic info about alain can be found in this post! he's someone who really values freedom and never gets too attached to specific places, things or people. despite making friends wherever he passes, the relationships he builds aren't too deep and he loses contact with those friends easily once he moves away. his approach to friendships is tied to his desire for freedom, but he's also had long-time friends in the past who pushed him aside once they started dating and so he became cautious about getting too invested in friendships.
meanwhile, cor.beau loves lumiose because it's the city they consider home. since he used to have nowhere to call "his" and was left by people dear to him in the past (lysandre disappeared and his parents might have left him early on, though it's unclear when and if it was intentional or not), he learned to really cherish what he has. they're afraid of losing anything again, yet end up getting attached to alain, who will surely leave lumiose at some point...
cor.beau and alain began interacting regularly after the whole ambroisie investigation. their relationship started as simply professional, but alain had always behaved in a friendly and casual manner around cor.beau. as the events of the game unfolded, the two had many opportunities to learn more about each other (sometimes by going through dangerous situations together) and cor.beau started wishing he could be friends with alain, though he didn't know how to do that or whether alain considered him a friend or not (he did). then, one day, alain introduced them as his friend to someone else, which made them really happy (despite them not showing it).
meanwhile, alain started thinking about how he really enjoyed being around cor.beau and how it was a shame that he'd leave them at some point, as if that fact was already decided and unchangeable. his mentality was to enjoy what they had as much as he could while he was still in lumiose.
not long after the events that happen at the end of the game, alain decided it was time to leave the city. he began packing his things and said goodbye to some people in advance, but emma and the kids from team mz (who were friends with alain as well) could tell that he didn't really want to leave. he said goodbye to cor.beau and they wished him well, but didn't ask him to stay (because how could they)? thanks to emma and taunie + the player's meddling, though, cor.beau told alain how he really felt in the end and alain did stay (because how could he not)? from that point on, alain began to actively seek to develop a deeper bond with cor.beau.
alain and cor.beau's relationship status as friends remained unquestioned by both sides for a while, until someone (perhaps philippe or taunie) happened to point out to cor.beau that he and alain seemed close, implying the possibility that there was something romantic going on between them. that actually made them ponder about it, because alain did things that might be interpreted as romantic in society's eyes (for example hugging or what might have been flirting). of course hugging is not inherently romantic, but cor.beau knew it was not common for two masc-presenting people to be so physically affectionate with each other. he also believed the flirting was likely not serious, but after hearing that comment he started wondering if "friends" was really the right word for what was going on between him and alain. that was also when they realized (after much reflection) they had developed romantic feelings for him, which was difficult for them to understand because they'd never felt that way about someone else before. cor.beau then admitted his feelings to alain / asked him how he felt about him.
alain felt conflicted because he'd never been interested in having a romantic relationship, but when cor.beau questioned his actions / feelings / intentions, he realized he really saw him as something other than a friend- he just couldn't identify what kind of feelings he harbored towards him. he knew, however, that he didn't want a romantic relationship and that his feelings were not romantic in nature. despite his initial desire to distance himself from cor.beau due to being uncomfortable with the idea that they might want to date him, he ultimately told them that he didn't know how to define their relationship, but that he wanted them to remain that way. he also stated that he wasn't romantically attracted to them. his interactions with cor.beau became rather awkward for a while as alain figured out his own feelings / how he wanted to handle things with cor.beau and cor.beau processed what could be called a rejection.
after some time, alain and cor.beau finally had a proper conversation about their relationship and agreed to an unlabeled relationship. alain was ok with how cor.beau liked him romantically and cor.beau was ok with how alain liked him non-romantically. that initially worked for them both, until cor.beau started feeling uneasy with the idea of not having a label for their relationship, because he'd been abandoned by others in the past and not having something "solid" he could grasp scared him. once cor.beau brought it up and they talked things out, they settled on not labeling what they had, but calling each other "partner" and making it clear that it was an exclusive relationship.
alain would never stop travelling, but he did make lumiose his "home" once cor.beau asked him to stay. once in a while he goes on trips that last from a few days to a month, but he always returns to his partner's arms with a warm hug... their relationship is kept a secret because cor.beau doesn't want to put alain in danger — there are people who might try to harm him if they find out that he's important to them (though maybe the two stop hiding it in the future? i'm not sure about that yet). most people would be surprised if they found out about their connection because they seem like complete opposites (the serious and dangerous boss of the rust syndicate and the carefree and friendly courier), but they actually complement each other nicely...
i feel like i talked a lot about how alain and cor.beau's relationship develops, but ended up not saying much about how they interact with each other... uuuh here are a bunch of random facts > alain is very physically affectionate and while cor.beau enjoys that, it takes him a while to get used to it. they enjoy battling (both as a team and against each other). cor.beau finds alain's presence calming because of how carefree he always is. alain stops by the rust syndicate to leave cor.beau food and chat with him for a bit when he's doing deliveries close by. back when they were not so close yet and cor.beau was trying to befriend alain, they would pay him to deliver unimportant things to him just so they could meet.
that's all for now... thank you for your attention <3
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