Y'all I requested Zach Mendez (the voice of Lucanis) to sign as Spite for me and he seemed utterly elated. Look at that Spite signature! The Backwards E! Thank you @dread-red-queen for supplying the vid!
He also reposted my rookanis fanart on his insta and made a nice comment...y'all...I think...I think I played it cool.
You can see the post here!!!
Word Count: 2302
Pairing: Corbeau x Female Reader
Warnings: Cursing, Hospital setting
Request: "Okay, so you know how the rogue mega pokemon really like attacking the player? Can we please get Corbeau finding the player in a rough state, and one of the members of Team MZ not really knowing what to do? It could be more of an accident caused by a slip up due to a lack of sleep or something." -Anonymous
Corbeau x Reader Masterlist
Hamilton wrote the other 51.
You never would have expected death to be so cold, or so quiet. Though, you were sure it wasn't quiet, but the ringing in your ears blocked out almost every other noise. You could hear—or feel, you weren't sure—the heavy stomping as it drew closer to you. From your place on the hard concrete, you couldn't do anything to get away.
When you'd destroyed Prism Tower, you all thought that would be the end of it. You didn't expect one final blast of energy to crash through the city like a tsunami, forcing countless Pokémon to enter rogue mega-evolution.
You were already exhausted from your previous battles, but there had been no time to lose. Teams split up to track down the Pokémon and help them. The rest of Team MZ were working together and had managed to quiet 15. Gwynn got hurt, and Ivor tapped out with her after 6. Jacinthe and Lebanne had made it through 9. Corbeau and Phillipe were still going strong at 12. You? You had battled 23.
You didn't know how long you'd been awake. It was at least a day, maybe two. You hadn't stopped to rest or eat, you couldn't. There wasn't time.
You felt a heavy weight and a loud snap in your leg as the Mega Camerupt stepped on it. Slow and agonizing, the pain shot through your body as if you were being engulfed in flames. It scorched every nerve in your body until you could no longer feel anything. You couldn't help but give into the exhaustion, your vision going black despite trying to keep your eyes open. The burning hot was suddenly replaced by a frigid cold, and you tried to focus on breathing. If nothing else, you could still breathe.
You could still breathe.
Just breathe.
Then everything went black.
-
When you awoke, it was with a gasp. You sat up straight, heart pounding in your ears as your eyes tried to adjust.
There were warm hands on your shoulders, then. Instinctively, your hands flew up and grasped the wrists of whoever was trying to gently coax you back down. When you found the wherewithal to turn your head, you found Corbeau's tired face just a few feet from yours.
Dark circles were painted under his eyes, and he looked even more pale than usual. His eyes were as warm as ever, honey-gold and looking at you with a calm and kindness that convinced your heart to start slowing down.
"Shhh, hey, hey," he whispered.
You let Corbeau lean you back onto the pillows, and he sat on the edge of the bed as you took in the room around you. You were in the hospital, that much you could tell, though for how long you didn't know. The clock on the wall read 10:42, but you didn't know if that was AM or PM or of what day. The fluorescent lights had been dimmed, the harsh blue of their glow lessened. Corbeau took one of your hands in both of his, holding it to his chest. His fingers felt so strong and warm compared to yours.
You looked over your body, taking in the IV on the hand that rested on the mattress, and the sling that elevated your left leg, which was encased in a cast from the knee down.
Then you remembered why you were here.
"Are all the Pokémon okay?" you asked quickly, looking at Corbeau.
Corbeau laughed quietly, pulling your fingers to his lips and kissing them before leaning his forehead onto your hand. He shook his head, and you could see him smiling.
"That's really your first question?" he asked, looking up at you again. One of his hands let go of yours, reaching up to brush some of your hair out of your face. "Yes, all the Pokémon are fine. We took care of all of them."
You didn't have time to ask any more questions, because a nurse came into the room then, checking your chart and pressing buttons on the IV machine you were hooked up to. You learned that you'd gotten lucky, and though your leg and foot were broken in two different places, you didn't need surgery. The IV was to replenish your fluids, as you were severely dehydrated when you'd been brought in.
"We're estimating about ten weeks recovery time on your leg," she said. "Could be a little more or a little less, everyone heals differently. You'll have to stay off of it completely for at least the first two. Do you have someone at home who can help you with things like cooking and bathing?"
You thought about your tiny hotel room, and just the idea of being stuck there for two weeks was giving you cabin fever.
"She can stay with me," Corbeau said without hesitation, and the nurse nodded.
"We'll have the doctor come check on you one more time," she said, writing something down on your chart. "But I think we should be able to get you out of here by the end of the day."
"Thank you," you said as she left the room.
You sunk back into your pillows, staring up at the ceiling and trying to process everything. Ten weeks for your leg to heal. Two whole weeks of bedrest. Your Pokémon were going to get so antsy.
"I hope that was okay," Corbeau said. "You don't have to stay with me if you don't want to, I just wanted to give her an answer."
"I don't want to impose," you said, not looking at him. You hated feeling like a burden. You always took care of yourself.
Corbeau brought your fingers back to his lips and kissed them softly.
"When are you going to learn that I want to take care of you?"
“How did I… get here?” you asked, changing the subject. Corbeau was quiet for a moment, but he didn’t object.
“That Camerupt was the last one,” he said. His lips were tight, recalling the memory. “When Phillipe and I found you, you were already unconscious. I thought you were dead.”
Corbeau wasn’t looking at you, instead staring at some fixed point on the wall. When neither of you were speaking, the only sound in the room was the quiet beeping of your heart rate machine. It did little to ease the cold tension in the air.
“You screamed when I picked you up, though,” he continued. “And I got you here as fast as I could.”
“I don’t remember that,” you said. “When…how long have I–?”
“That was about 10PM last night,” Corbeau said. “Lida told me later you’d refused to sleep at all. You were awake for what, forty hours? Did you even eat anything? What were you thinking?”
You pulled your hand from his and rested your palm against his cheek. You let your thumb graze over the violet shadow under his eye. You knew he wasn’t actually angry with you, there was no venom in his tone, only worry.
“Did you sleep at all last night?”
-
Just four days into staying at Corbeau's apartment was when you started to feel like you were going insane. And it wasn't his fault, he was perfect. He'd been working from home so that he could be there for whatever you needed, and when he absolutely had to leave, he arranged for Lida or Urbain to be there in case you needed them.
Your first day there had been full of visits from your friends, flower deliveries, and phone calls from anyone who had your number giving the same offer of if I can do anything, let me know. But your life having to stop for a while didn’t mean that it was the same for everyone else. As the visits and calls slowed down, your boredom grew.
Mostly you slept, it turned out that recovering from extreme exhaustion and healing a broken leg made you really tired. The pain medication probably helped with that too. Corbeau had you set up in his bed, across from which was a large TV. He'd purchased a mini fridge, set it up on one of the nightstands, and every night it was stocked with water, soda, juice, and snacks.
You read, played some video games, and watched TV, but you were still getting stir-crazy. When Corbeau wrapped up work that day, he came into the bedroom and asked you what you wanted for dinner.
"To sit at the table," you replied, pouting at him. He shook his head.
"Doctor's orders," he said.
"Please," you begged. He was standing next to the bed, and you reached over to grab his hand and pull him onto the bed with you. He sat down carefully, overly cautious about jostling your leg. You put your hands on either side of his face and looked directly into his eyes. "'Beau, I'm going crazy. What's the difference if I'm sitting in here or out there?"
Corbeau looked at you intently, and you tried to convey just how much you needed to get out of this fucking bed with just your eyes.
"Fine. But you're putting your leg up on a chair."
You pulled his face to yours and kissed him hard. You couldn't believe how excited you were to sit at a dining table. Letting go of Corbeau's face, his glasses now slightly askew, you scrambled to get to the edge of the bed so you could stand.
"Oh no you don't," Corbeau said. In an instant he had his arms under you, and he was standing up. You squeaked a little in surprise and wrapped your arms around his neck.
"Now this, I could get used to."
When you were sat at the table, leg propped on the chair in front of you—which Corbeau, of course, put a pillow on—you reveled in the bliss of simply being in a different room.
"Can I please have a scotch?" you asked in your nicest voice.
"With all the pain meds you're on?" Corbeau asked from the kitchen, not even turning around. "Absolutely not."
"Ugh," you slumped forward, letting your head fall to the table.
After dinner, you were desperate for any reason to not go back to the bed again. When Corbeu was done taking care of the dishes, he came back to the table, and you knew he was going to pick you right back up and bring you to his room. He picked up his drink to finish it off.
His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, his tie discarded somewhere, and the top few buttons of his shirt were open. This was your favorite look on him, so relaxed and unguarded, and you loved that you were the only one who got to see him like this. It was distracting, how good he looked. Maybe you should let him take you back to the bedroom and—
No. You definitely weren't recovered enough for that, yet. You blurted out the first thing you could think of that could keep you at this table.
"Do you know how to play gin?" you asked. Corbeau eyed you over his whiskey glass.
"I do know how to play gin," he said, setting his drink down.
"Do you... have cards?"
"I do have cards."
"Do you want to play a hand?"
Corbeau sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. He sat down again, taking one of your hands in his and looking at you with an expression you couldn't quite read.
"Y'know, it's really stressful for me that you don't seem to want to take care of yourself," he said. You smiled softly, reaching your free hand out and placing it on his forearm.
"You don't understand," you said, looking him in the eye. "I do want to take care of myself. I want that more than anything, but I have to be allowed to be part of deciding what that means for me. I promise I'm not going to try to go run a marathon tomorrow, but I need to be able to decide when I can come out to the dining room for dinner, or to the couch, or hell, out to the balcony for some fresh air. Part of taking care of myself means making sure I don't go fucking batshit."
Corbeau laughed softly, looking down at your linked hands thoughtfully.
"You really value your independence, don't you?" he asked.
"More than most things," you agreed. "I've always taken care of myself. I've always taken care of others. I mean, I wasn’t in this city for more than twenty minutes before I started taking care of it. And honestly, I'm not very good at accepting help."
"I don't want you to feel like you're alone," Corbeau said, frowning. "I want to be able to take care of you, too."
You picked up his hand and pressed a kiss to his fingers before holding it to your heart. You loved this side of him, that was so caring and nurturing and never wanted you to feel a bad feeling.
"I want to be able to let you," you said. "I promise I'll ask for help when I need it. I promise I'll let you dote on me and spoil me as much as I can handle. And I promise in like thirty minutes when my meds kick back in, I'll let you carry me back to bed. I really liked that."
You laughed a little as Corbeau rolled his eyes.
"Okay," he said. He stood up and took a step around the table, taking your face in his hands and kissing you warmly. "One game of gin, but be warned, I will kick your ass."
You smiled up at him, love swelling in your chest.
He'd probably do shit like this and scare our protags like bro they're literally tourists and got into this mess because a friend owes the Rust Syndicate money 😭😭😭 the whole plotline with Corbeau is so dumb I take everything back I said before the game came out abt him... He doesn't need to be evil he's perfect as is... Short king and probably my fav Pokemon character/character design!!!
And all of this is done out of greed, apparently (despite the fact that constantly releasing and "abandoning" games is a terrible business move that won't actually make you any money)
What ACTUALLY happened:
OM Team makes the original OM game
Game absolutely blows up, the servers become overloaded and are unable to keep up with the volume of players
Servers become too outdated to continue using long term
OM Team makes Nightbringer, giving the OM franchise room to grow again, and using servers that aren't nearly as obsolete and overtaxed
Meanwhile, the parent company (NTT Corp) spends multiple years making atrocious business decisions and mismanaging their subsidiaries, including Solmare
NTT Corp makes extremely bullshit decision to wrap up the OM games because they no longer want to fund the development of otome games AT ALL
OM Team is forced to make a hasty and unplanned conclusion to NB's main story, leaving the OM franchise in an uncertain position going forward
OM Team doesn't want to let the OM franchise die, promises to still release new content and projects
OM Team finds other game dev studios to collaborate with, and are now making a new OM game so that the franchise can keep living
OM Team takes fan demand into serious account, and heavily priorities romance in the new game, with deeper and more intimate relationships (something the fans have been begging for)
And this is all factual. This info has been confirmed by the old mods/staff of the official OM Discord, as well as multiple data miners who were able to see firsthand how outdated and overburdened the servers actually are. NTT Corp's business moves are very public and can easily be viewed online. None of this is a secret.
I'm not saying that the games are above criticism, or that nobody is allowed to have opinions about the new game coming out. All of that is fine. But there's a huge difference between an opinion, and outright misinformation. And the OM fandom has a huge problem with uncritically believing misinformation at face value and repeating it/spreading it around - which is at both the games AND the fans' detriment overall.
