Things Will Be All Right
Pairing: Hassel x Reader
Summary: When Hassel faces something that is both terrible and confusing you try and be there for him.
Warnings: Anger, hurt/comfort, grief, difficult family relationships.
You dream that you’re a student in Hassel’s Art class that night.
It doesn’t reflect the reality you’ve lived, however, for you’d done all your schooling and graduated in Sinnoh. You’d studied beneath Cynthia and then managed to beat her. It had been her who had introduced you to the man who you’d ended up falling in love with. Her who had laughed when you’d told her about your relationship, saying it was of little surprise to her because you were both as passionate as the other. Only with Hassel it comes out in tears, whilst you tend to scream and shout exclusively. You’d never been a student of Hassel’s though and never known Paldea as a young woman-your dream seemed insistent that you were around the age of sixteen.
In your dream you actually manage to do an art piece that you are proud of and want to show it to Hassel, but when you do such a thing he tells you that it is not good enough and that you must improve. You try to but nothing seems to impress him.
You feel frustrated when you wake and you slam your hand down on top of your alarm clock to switch the thing off, even though it isn’t currently ringing.
Slowly you turn around as you blink blearily. The other side of the bed is empty. The space by your own is taken up with your Lucario [who looks alert] and who is trying to cradle and calm a crying Professor Gible.
“Gib! Gib! Gib!”
“Cario,” Lucario growls.
One of your oldest friends and the Pokémon who you find yourself most attuned to, in spite of being predominantly a dragon-type user, Lucario does not often come out of his Poké Ball without your permission and Gible does not normally cause such a fuss, but it loves Hassel and if something were wrong then-
“What’s going on?” Fear and alarm spike inside your chest. You wonder how you’d been able to sleep at all with the way you are now feeling and with the antics of the Pokémon.
Lucario looks at you meaningfully and you understand enough to bolt out of bed. As you get dressed Gible wails behind you mournfully.
You take the dragon from Lucario as soon as you are ready and make your way down to the Art classroom [Director Clavell has been very generous in allowing you to live at the school despite the fact that you are not staff] holding him close to you the entire time. Lucario trots watchfully alongside you but there are few people up at this time and there is an eerie sort of silence to the Academy with every footstep sounding loud.
When you get to the door you look back at Lucario. He closes his eyes for a second, before he nods. You proceed inside.
Hassel is sitting at the spot you’d dreamt you were in his class. He has his arms folded on the table and his head pushed into them.
At your presence he looks hazily up at you. “F/N?” he blinks. His eyes are red and his face is all blotchy.
You force a wobbly smile at him, knowing that what you’ve feared for a while now must have come to pass and hating to see him like this. Whilst you don’t know how you can make it any better-or if you can. “This little guy was worried about you.” You hold the Gible, who is babbling and eagerly reaching for his master, up. Lucario guards the door.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I just”-
“You don’t have to apologize or explain Hass.” You force a smile at him. Gible begins to cry. You hand him carefully over to Hassel. The man holds him tightly and strokes him, seemingly finding a small amount of comfort for himself as well. As you study him he won’t meet your eyes. “I can go?” you suggest.
Hassel’s head jerks upwards in alarm. He has started to cry again, but in a much quieter way than he would normally. “Stay, please.” You nod and move to sit on his knee. Gible clings to the pair of you. You stroke at Hassel’s hair. Lucario drifts from the door in order to study the tubes of paint that have been left out. “There was a message. I didn’t want to wake you.”
“You know you always can”-
“YOU LOOKED SO INNOCEND!” Hassel is loud. “SO INNOCEND AND PEACEBUL AND I DHOUGHT DHAD I’D PUD EVERYDHING BEHIND ME!” You shake your head and pull his head close to your shoulder, knowing full well from the internal battle that he’s been having over the last few weeks that his past is far from being behind him. “I felt so much of it was done before I even met you”-
“I know, but he was your father,” you try and soothe the hiccupping Hassel.
“Do you think I should have gone to see him?”
“I don’t know,” you say truthfully, running your fingers through his hair as you consider, “But I know you left for a reason and the idea of going back scared you. I understand why it did.” You shiver a little as you think of your own reckoning with the Distortion World. “You didn’t want to get sucked back in.” You hold him tight. He turns to bury his face in the crook of your neck. You rock him gently.
You don’t know how long you stay there like that. How long he cries. All you know is that he needs you now and you will be there for him. Like he has been there for you previously.
At some point though you become aware of a rude noise, which echoes around the classroom.
You turn your head and nearly fall off of Hassel. You have to look back and grip on to his shoulders. You apologize, but he seems to be in a trance and he blinks slowly, as if he’s trying to come out of the state that he’s in.
You look around.
Only to see just in time as Lucario’s paw deliberately bashes into the bottom of one of the paint tubes, squirting blue paint everywhere. Seemingly overjoyed about the thing he covers up his mouth with his paw. “I think Lucario is going to owe you some paint,” you inform Hassel with a bit of a smile. Lucario meanwhile looks affronted by the idea and it makes your grin widen. ‘Thanks,’ you think as your Pokémon and you lock eyes. Lucario has always known how to cheer you up and lighten the mood, even indirectly.
Hassel turns his head and watches as Lucario enthusiastically attacks another tube. You watch as Hassel’s mouth hangs open, but when he looks back at you he has a smile, albeit a tired and watery one, stretched across his face. Feeling happier you brush a strand of his hair back and kiss him gently. The tension seems to leave him. Gible coos.
“Lu-Lucario!” As Lucario gets carried away with the paints you laugh again and bury your head into Hassel’s shoulder. As his grip tightens on you, you know that in time everything will be all right again.
