This is my side of an art trade with the lovely @sharktunarts her OC, Terra, and Corbeau 🫶😛
“You’re late. What are doing all the way in the North district?”
Terra huffed. “Look, it’s not my fault!” She hauled herself over a ledge, and onto a lower rooftop, her red rotomphone following behind her head. “A little girl lost her fletchling. I had to chase, like, every bird in the street down!”
Corbeau went silent for a moment. Before Terra found something snarky to say, Corbeau hummed. “You’re just great at finding trouble, aren’t you?”
“I guess, seeing as how I’m stuck with you watching my every move.”
“I wouldn’t have to if you weren’t wasting my time!”
Terra grunted as she pulled herself onto a ladder and began to climb. “You say I’m wasting your time, but you seem to have a lot of time set aside for following me around.”
“Tch. Maybe if you were doing what I asked of you, like what is in your contract, I wouldn’t have to babysit you!”
“Hey! I’m getting your jobs done. I haven’t failed a single one yet!” Terra brushed him off, stepping around a patch of grass on the rooftop. Various budew stared her down as she passed. “I’ll be there in 5, okay?”
Terra hung up on Corbeau before he could respond.
~
It took 7 minutes, and two declined calls from Corbeau, for Terra to arrive at the cafe where they agreed to meet.
Corbeau was already present, sitting at a table outside with his back to her. She recognized the purple chain from his glasses draped across his suit, and the unmistakable cut of his hair from afar..
A few meters away, Terra stopped in the street. She took a breath to compose herself in an attempt to avoid looking as thought she'd been rushing. Terra repositioned the loose pieces of hair that hung around her face, pushed her sunglasses up her nose, lifted her head, and squared her shoulders before approaching the table. The closer she got, the stronger the coffee aroma lingered in the air, and the glint of two ceramic mugs sitting on the table with Corbeau caught her eye.
Corbeau’s legs were crossed, palms resting on his knees. He peeked at her through his glasses as she circled around the table, the circular lenses catching a flare of sunlight when he tilted his head over. “Look who finally decided to show up.”
“What’s this?” Terra pointed to the white mugs on the table. One sat before Corbeau, and the other was pushed to the seat across from him.
“Coffee.”
Terra scoffed. “Coffee?”
“Yes.” He wrapped his hand around the mug in front of him. “You took long enough that I already went through the trouble of ordering drinks.” Corbeau pointed to what Terra presumed to be her mug. “Disgustingly sweet. Just the way you like it.”
For just a moment, Terra just stood at the side of the table. She glanced at the coffee, then Corbeau, then back at the coffee again. “You didn’t poison it, did you?”
“You’ll have to find out.” He lifted his own coffee to his lips, taking a slow, dramatic, sip from the mug. As he lowered the drink, he grinned. “Come on. Sit. I don’t have all day.”
Terra didn’t sit.
Rather she continued to stand at the side of the table as she cautiously took her mug, savoring the warmth of the heated ceramic in her palm, before lifting it to her nose. She didn’t actually think he poisoned it, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious. The drink smelt normal, and when she lifted it to her lips it tasted wonderful. Sweet, without hardly any of the bitter coffee taste, so much so the drink was many shades lighter than Corbeau’s. She smiled into the mug, before wiping the grin off her face and setting it down.
He did remember how she liked her coffee.
“Well?” Corbeau frowned and motioned to the chair across from him again. “Sit down.”
“How much was the coffee?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“How much?”
“Just sit down! We have business to discuss.”
Terra huffed, and sucked her cheek in. She tapped her foot on the cobblestone road, her shoe clicking with the contact. “No.”
“No?”
“No.” Terra glanced up and into the coffee shop. She inspected it through the window, eyes glossing over the pastry cabinet inside. “I’m hungry.”
“You’re hungry? Seriously?! You’re not really going to-”
Terra walked off, pushing the cafe door open. It creaked, and the bell overhead chimed as she made her way to the front counter. As she ordered, she could feel a pair of snake eyes glaring at her from beyond the glass, though it did nothing to deter her (though the barista seemed to notice, and looked a little uncomfortable as he kept glancing over her shoulder. Terra dropped some extra cash in the tip jar as an apology). When the barista stepped away to get her pastries, she turned around and stuck a tongue out at Corbeau. His eye twitched and veins popped out from his forehead.
Terra laughed. A grin lingered on her lips as she turned and thanked the barista, taking two warm plates from his hand. She carried them back outside, pushing the door open with her hip before setting the plates on the table, one by her drink and the other by Corbeau’s.
Corbeau eyed the flakey croissant on the plate, and then her, and then the croissant again. The veins on his forehead relaxed as he closed his eyes and shook his head. “What are you even-“
“There.” Terra flopped into the chair across from Corbeau. “We’re even. Now we can get down to business.”
Corbeau huffed through his nose, and closed his eyes.
Terra took a slow, victorious sip from her coffee.
When Corbeau opened his eyes again, a smile grew on his lips. “Perhaps you were right. I was a bit hungry as well.”
Terra raised a brow. “You’re agreeing now?”
With a nod, Corbeau lifted his croissant and tore a small piece off one side. It broke with ease, bread flakes falling onto the plate below. He then dipped the croissant into his coffee, swirled it around, and took a slow, savory bite.
Terra blinked.
“This was a good idea.” Corbeau took another maliciously slow bite. “Who knew.”
“You’re just wasting time now!” Terra threw her hands into the air. “You were the one that wanted to get to business!”
“Well, we shouldn’t let this lovely pastry go to waste.” He frowned. “Besides. If you didn’t want to waste time, you would’ve gotten here on time.”
Terra groaned, slouching back in her seat. “I told you it wasn’t my fault! Sorry that some of us have a heart.“
Corbeau just shook his head.
Silence passed the seconds between them.
Corbeau took another piece off his croissant.
Terra glanced between her croissant and coffee, and pressed her lips into a line. Her stomach growled.
Had she even eaten breakfast? Probably not. The past few weeks she’d been so busy she’d skipped a few meals- there simply wasn’t enough time to sit down and eat if she wasn’t with Team MZ.
Her stomach growled again, and her resolve crumbled.
With a dramatic huff, Terra grabbed her croissant and took a bite. She washed the pastry down with her drink, the sweet creamer melting her tense shoulders.
“I don’t know how you drink that disgusting stuff.” Corbeau scoffed, dunking another small piece of pastry into his drink, the black liquid seeping into the breading before he took another bite. He hummed, almost contently, but it was so quiet Terra wasn’t sure she’d actually heard him do it.
“I don’t know how you drink that bitter crap.” Terra pointed to Corbeau’s half eaten plate, now covered in croissant flakes. He’d eaten quickly- maybe he was even hungrier than Terra was. “Plus, now you have food floating in your drink.”
Corbeau rolled his eyes. “It's a delicious Kalosian tradition. You should try it.” He glanced over her mug, lips curling in disgust. “Though, maybe not. I don’t know how it will taste with such a sweet drink. Nasty, I’d assume.”
“I’ll pass.” Terra wrinkled her nose.
A bird cried overhead. Suddenly, a fletchling swooped down, landing on the edge of the table.
Terra jumped, and instinctively covered her croissant with her palm.
She missed how Corbeau straightened almost protectively at her reaction.
Realizing it was only a bird that had startled her, Terra groaned. For a moment she thought it was the fletchling she’d rescued this morning, or maybe the one that she’d accidentally woken up when she fell into a tree the other day. She couldn’t tell for sure, none of the markings on the pokemon standing out, but either way she worried it was a bird seeking revenge.
The fletchling's head twitched as it looked around with large black eyes that Terra could see her own reflection in. It seemed to stare at Terra, only briefly glancing at her food, and then Corbeau’s, before hopping off the table to scour the ground in search of leftover crumbs.
Corbeau hummed across the table. He tore what was left of his croissant into two smaller pieces, and then split one into an even smaller piece. He tossed it to the ground for the pokemon that took it without hesitation. Bread in beak, satisfied with its venture, the fletching took to the skies once more.
He smiled. It was a soft, almost gentle smile, the realest one Terra had seen him wear.
At that moment, Terra thought Corbeau looked cute.
…what!?
Corbeau turned back to her, and nodded his head towards the croissant still hidden under her palm. “I didn’t know you were so protective of your food.”
Terra shook her head. “I’m used to wingull.” She reached for her coffee mug, glancing at Corbeau over the top of her sunglasses. “Those birds are monsters! They’ll dive at you for any crumb of food you have, and they’ll fight you for it too.” She grimmed, her lips lingering at the edge of her mug. “This one time, a wingull took my earring literally right off my ear!”
“I didn’t realize they could be so vicious.” Corbeau laughed, covering his lips with the back of his palm, “I suppose if you get homesick, you can always take a trip to the coastal region. I hear wingull are plentiful there.”
Homesick.
Terra swallowed her coffee, but the word got stuck in her throat.
Homesick.
Was she homesick?
She missed a few things. Terra missed Tori and the rest of her team, her parents, and her friends, of course, but did she miss her home?
Terra thought of returning to Hoenn; reuniting with her fans- the crazy ones that would probably be waiting at the airport for her-; hiding whenever she wanted a cigarette or a glass of wine again; the horrible brand sponsorships.
She glanced over at Corbeau for a moment.
This meeting could never happen in Hoenn, not without the appearance of paparazzi or intrigued stares and rumors about their champion that would spread like wildfire.
…
Now that Terra thought about it, she wasn’t quite sure that she did miss home.
Terra didn’t know how she felt about that.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Terra shrugged, “maybe if I ever get some personal time. I’m so busy working myself to the bone for a crummy loanshark that I don’t know if I’ll ever see a free day again! And on my vacation too!”
Corbeau raised an amused brow. “How unfortunate. Perhaps you should be more careful about who you associate with.”
“Maybe you should be more careful about who you give loans out to.”
Terra’s phone suddenly rang, the rotomphone flying out of her bag and into the air in front of her. Urbain’s name crossed the screen.
“Speak of the devil.” Both Terra and Corbeau mumbled.
Their eyes widened and jaws dropped as realization hit that they spoke in unison. The shock turned into a mutual glare.
“Hey, Terra!”
Urbain’s greeting forced Terra to fix her face. “What’s up?”
“Vinnie just called. We have some pokemon to help.”
Terra frowned. She knew exactly what he meant- more rouge mega pokemon. It seemed like they were becoming more and more frequent with every week that passed. That fact made her a little uneasy.
“Okay. I’ll be right there.” She hung up her phone. Suddenly she grabbed her coffee mug, and chugged it all at once.
“Leaving so soon? After I dragged myself all the way out here?” Corbeau huffed, but it lacked his usual bite. Terra stuffed her croissant in her mouth and met his gaze. There wasn’t any real annoyance written in his face, she’d seen his annoyed expression enough times to know that. “You’re never going to pay me back at this rate.”
Terra finished chewing, and stood as she swallowed the pastry. “I told you: you should be more careful who you give loans out to.”
Corbeau raised his hand and waved her off. “Your next job is going to be double the work”
“If you make me pick up trash, I’m dropping the bag in your courtyard.” Terra pushed her chair in.
“Don’t give me any ideas.” Corbeau laughed.
“I’m being serious.”
“As am I.”
Terra huffed, but the corner of her lips twisted up into a gentle smile.
For a moment, she lingered.
She hadn't realized how relaxed she’d felt sitting across from Corbeau. Now that she was up, and had more fires to put out, she found herself not wanting to leave.
If she didn’t have poor pokemon to save, maybe she would’ve sat back down and kept talking with him.
A fletchling flew overhead.
“Look, I’ll talk to you later. Just text me the job.” Terra nodded, forcing herself to turn and begin towards Hotel Z. She broke into a sprint after a few sluggish steps to keep her momentum going.
Corbeau watched her leave, golden eyes following her trail before she disappeared down an alley and out of sight. “Be safe.” He mumbled, his voice not making it any further than his lips.
He ignored the aching in his chest as he finished his coffee.
