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Larry has lived and suffered enough in life to forget at what point, exactly, had he stopped caring for people's blatant disapproval of him. He used to be a master at sniffing out the tell-tale signs of displeasure, like the scrunch between his mother's thick eyebrows when she saw him spend his evenings grooming a flock of Starly, instead of tagging along to the playground with kids his age after school, or how his classmates recoiled when he truthfully revealed his admiration for Normal-types, instead of the flashier, more powerful Pokémon typings capable of blowing their 11-year old minds.
Nowadays, that skill was as rusty as cooking a homemade meal for Larry, and just like how he procured his food, he had no need to be one step ahead in reading people, now that he was a life-long regular at Treasure Eatery. If all that he had to deal with was a hefty scolding from Hassel or a chilling glare from Geeta, there was no need for him to be on the lookout to brace himself. Countermeasures would be taken if his job— or, Arceus forbid, his very life —was on the line, but if that wasn't the issue? A good minute or two of imagining himself back in the comfort of his one bed apartment, with his cuddly team all lumped in his bed, was enough to whisk away the distaste that anyone shot at him.
Turning a blind eye at others' opinions of him had been the best decision that Larry ever made, or so he thought.
Decades and many arguments that he dodged later, here Larry was, his broad shoulders hidden beneath near boiling water, his muscles tensing and betraying the healing properties the onsen has to offer, thinking that he had long forgotten the art of reading others. He only needed to take one glance to know what was coming for him, and his heart sank to the rocky depths of the pool when it registered the frown twisting Kabu's handsome face; an obvious hint that, sooner or later, a complaint would slip from his lover's lips. Larry felt small, under Kabu's scrutiny, as naive and foolish as he was in his teenage years, thinking that perhaps somebody, anybody in this world, could accept his bland, ordinary self as is, instead of tossing him aside for folks with dynamic personalities and their unique shock factors. Of course romance wasn't all rainbow like a younger version of Larry had once dreamed of; he knew that like the back of his hand, as adulthood chewed and spat him out right after he plunged himself into work, after all. There must be a limit to how much Kabu could tolerate his true self.
Larry just wasn't sure if his heart could take any form of rejection from Kabu, of all people. Not when he had tasted just how pleasant it was to be loved and accepted wholeheartedly, just the way he was.
Silence was his best friend for all his life, yet it stretched on too long that it bordered on uncomfortable tonight. Naturally, Larry dared to take a peek and was met, instead, by Kabu inching closer to inspect him, his eyes squinting with sheer focus. Another loud clack of the shishi-odoshi echoing around the private pool was heard before, finally, the corner of Kabu's eyes crinkled, the warm fondness in his gaze returning when he wondered, "How come you never wear your hair down? You're just as charming with your hair like this. It makes you look younger, even."
Larry blinked, startled out of his wits, and all of his worries popped like a bursting bubble when Kabu brought his scarred hands up, breaching from below the water to cup his jaw. There was no room for Larry to escape as Kabu gently steadied him, and he held his breath as his lover's fingers mapped the contour of his face, tracing from his lips and up to his cheekbones, calloused fingertips making their hike until they settled below his bangs. Like magic, Larry was mystified by the adoration glimmering in Kabu's eyes, absorbed by the awe widening them once he started caressing his black locks aside that he, too, eventually, started to relax and melt into his tender touch.
Gone were Larry's apprehension and the consequent guilt that followed for doubting Kabu, as he trusted his lover to carefully brush his hair, letting him tuck a few stray strands behind his ears in the process. Larry could see better now, with his wet bangs out of the way, and Kabu's patient, curious was there to greet him, reminding him that his earlier question still hung in the air.
A darker shade of red dusted Larry's onsen-flushed cheeks when he recalled what Kabu had said, about finding him just as handsome with his shiny Staraptor's nest of a hair. No one in his life ever said that about him before, not even his own family members. Shyly, he murmured, "I used to, back when I went to school and university. It used to fall right above my eyelids like this. Easier to keep and maintain compared to using gels to slick them up daily."
"Really?" Kabu gasped, head now tilted to the side. "Why'd you choose to slick it back, then? Not that I don't love your usual look, it's just that... you already look stunning as is! I would've fallen for you anyway if I saw your hair styled like this!"
Was it dangerous to submerge your whole body into the onsen? Larry was considering it if Kabu kept showering him with his sweet compliments. He wasn't sure if his poor old heart could take it, physically-speaking. "Geeta pointed out that the hairstyle made me look unkempt and unprofessional. Said it doesn't align with the League's code and all that. I can't exactly say no to her when she's the one who personally recruited me."
"Ah, well, that's a shame. You look so soft and cute like this. I wouldn't mind if I get to see you like this each time we meet up for your lunch breaks," Kabu sighed, ending his longing with an adorable pout that, once more, tugged at the strings of Larry's feeble heart. His lover almost looked lost in his own thoughts afterwards, stroking his damp hair with a pensive air, and as Larry let him, he wasn't imagining the tinge of sadness obscuring those onyx eyes either. Before he could ask what was wrong, however, Kabu suddenly confessed, "You know, now that you mention it, I wish I could've gotten to meet you sooner. I'm glad that I got to know you at all, don't get me wrong! But there must be a good chunk of your life that I don't know, right? I wanted to be there to see you take on Sinnoh's gyms, to enjoy Paldea for the first time like when you moved there, or to witness your growth as a Pokémon trainer and person in real time, but instead I was... hundreds of kilometers away from you, and we weren't fated to meet just yet. It must've been nice to share those precious milestones together like all those younger couples, no? Traveling back in time doesn't sound so bad if I could thrive right beside you from the very start."
Oh.
This was far from how Larry expected for tonight to turn out.
Kabu always striked Larry as someone who has his eyes set on the future, driven forward by his constant need to learn and improve, only ever glancing back at his past to guide him in making the right choices. And yet, tonight, his lover almost seemed like a different man altogether, with his downcast eyes and the small, but bitter smile he shot at him, losing the warm, fiery glow that Larry was helplessly attracted to as he mourned their missing chances.
Even when Larry was beyond clueless and cared little about love before Kabu crashed into his life, deep down, he understood where his lover's point was coming from.
Pasio was flooded with couples from all ages and backgrounds, as this secluded region quickly turned to be a place where lovers could start a new chapter together. Both of them had the luxury of meeting all sorts of them, courtesy of Kabu doing the socializing. They ranged from the innocent, sweet love that Ethan and Silver recently found on the island, to the long-lasting friendship that became the basis of Sonia and Nessa's chemistry, to even witnessing Steven and Wallace reach greater heights with their Champion status. All that Larry did was quietly observing their foundation from Kabu's side, and a glaring difference stood out in his inexperienced eyes:
Everyone else was far from settled in their lives, while both Larry and Kabu have long found the perfect rhythm to dance to, and slowly but surely, they've gradually found a harmony to sway in a duet, their footing gaining confidence with each step forward. They already leapt right past any hurdles that your typical couple would face together and landed right in a peaceful zone; it should be a blessing, yet all those stepping stones they skipped crept up quietly from behind them, swallowing them whole when they least suspected it.
Now that Larry stopped to think things through, he couldn't deny the ache that squeezed his heart, once he reviewed the many memories that they missed out on making— all because their lives were intertwined so late compared to other couples.
"Yeah, you do have a point. I've always wondered how you fared, moving to Galar so young and leaving all of your loved ones behind, or why you chose to specialize in Fire-types compared to other types," Larry croaked out, the lump lodged in his throat doing nothing to block his vulnerability from speaking for itself. His own hands rose to settle right on top of Kabu's, and he gathered courage from the sympathy shared in his lover's pained smile, trusting that his next words would be received with sincerity. "They're all questions that I could've learned the answers to if we were lucky enough to spend our youth together, but in the end, that's not how our love story unfolded, so my curiosity is left as questions that occasionally pop up in my mind and, more often than not, I forget to bring up to you. It is sad, isn't it?"
An onsen, private as their couple pool was, was certainly not the best place for a difficult conversation like this. For once, Kabu's strength crumpled as he caught onto his mistake, pulling his hands away from Larry's hold once he caught onto the bleak atmosphere now looming between them.
"Yeah, it is," Kabu agreed, shrinking on himself, looking so small as shame coursed through him. "I'm sorry, Larry. I ruined the mood tonight, didn't I? It's not always a bad thing, us meeting late in life. Our milestones don't just end once we enter retirement age, and there's still so many years ahead of us, too."
Love was a foreign concept for Larry— it still was, even after all the wonderful, insightful dates he had enjoyed with Kabu, after seeing the world in a whole new lens thanks to the sun that now illuminated his dull days. Seeing their romance gradually progressing didn't erase the fact that he was awkward around the edges, or how he was still a plain and simple person underneath. No matter how many times Rika had badgered him to be earnest in expressing his affection, even if he had to forsake his pride and be cheesy about it, Larry's devotion was as clumsy as a baby Girafarig learning how to walk, and it was a miracle that Kabu was patient and endeared by him.
Ever since they first met, it was always Kabu who never failed to lure a hand out for him, acting like the guiding light to show him the way home. He was always there with his small, tender smile, welcoming Larry's weary venting about his boss with open arms, accepting his frustrations without a hint of judgment in his quips. If anyone else claimed that Larry was hard to read, Kabu did it with the ease of scanning an open book, perfectly knowing if Larry needed a pick-me-up afterwards with a new dish to try out or a quiet, onsen dip to fully unwind.
Larry was still clueless, yet gathering Kabu's scarred hands felt like the right thing to do, and he followed his heart without letting his mind second-guess. Now that Kabu was stunned in his shock, it gave Larry the opportunity to distract him, peppering butterfly kisses all over the faded burns usually hidden beneath his League-issued glove. It was funny, Larry thought, of how his heart soared as free as his Flying-type team just from witnessing the blush rising up from Kabu's neck, stopping right at his cheeks and complimenting the pure disbelief in his eyes nicely.
"We're bound to talk about this sooner or later, Kabu, and your concerns are valid," Larry insisted, instantly pulling Kabu until their bodies were pressed flush once he spotted a hint of hesitation shifting his lover's meek gaze away from him. The small yelp that slipped from Kabu's lips was cute, and it spurred Larry on to offer his wild idea. "If it's any consolation for you, I could ask my mother to forward the pictures she kept from my school days. You won't be impressed by my messy Smoochum hair, but it'll be better if we could catch up with photos and videos, right?"
Again, the shishi-odoshi resonated with another deafening clang. Kabu blinked several times, the cogs in his mind turning with the pace of a Slugma until, finally, a snort was punched out of his lover's lungs, triggering the flow of melodic laughter that Larry yearned to hear tonight, and that was all he could hear in the soft buzz around the onsen. His lover closed the distance between them to smother his laugh into Larry's chest, and he gladly enveloped Kabu in his arms, spinning them around the pool like the happy twirls that his heart was doing.
"Well then, thank Arceus that we have all the time in the world, right?" Kabu replied, parting just enough in their hug until their noses graze each other, all to let out an amused giggle that further brightened his shine. "You can look over mine first once we're done here, as I still keep my old photos on my Poryphone! You probably won't like how grumpy I was in my younger days; the press always grilled me for looking so scary because of it!"
It was Larry's turn to chuckle now, a teasing glint flashing in his eyes, knowing what was going to hit Kabu. "Compared to that, I think my buzzcut era might send you running."
"Wait, you've cut your hair that short before?!" Kabu squeaked, bringing one hand up to brush his fingers along Larry's lush mane, eyes blown as wide as plates. When all that Larry could respond was with an eager nod, Kabu cupped his face and exclaimed, "The only thing that I'm running from is this onsen! Come on, let's wrap things up here; I don't think I can physically wait any longer to see those photos, Larry!"
Some mysteries of the world remained uncovered. But, as they huddled close in their yukata and sipped on blissfully cold, bottled milk, giggling as they exchanged precious photographs from days long gone, Larry found the key to one of them sparkling in the crinkle of Kabu's eyes, his chuckles beckoning him to unveil this cherished treasure. Love, Larry grasped, may not be like the fairytale that adults wanted you to believe as a child, but for him?
A love as simple and heartfelt as the one that Kabu willingly shared with him, where they both could hold each other's hands in the face of their differences and obstacles in life?
Well, this love was more than enough for an average joe like him.