Archive of Our Own ^beta

When her trembling fingers pushed the “send” button, along with it, Riya could feel how a part of her soul and sanity flied away all together.

But it was finally done, the goddamned paperwork of this month, month in which everyone at the league decided to change names and addresses and protocols and she had to register every single damn thing of it.

With each of the strong muscles of her swimmer back aching, Riya collapsed into her chair, sighing heavily, to what Glacia got close to her.

“We got it harder when I was  younger and we had to send all the paperwork a week prior the deadline because there were no scans and no e-mails.”

Riya scoffed, “well, I grew up at Pallet Town so I might have an idea of what it was like.”

Glacia shook her head, “if I was you, I’d head back to my chamber and call it a day. You don’t look your finest.”

Hitting snooze sounded like an amazing idea to her pleading, drowsy brain, however, “nah. I’m heading back to Mossdeep. Today Steven is going to attend a geology congress in which this great woman of Galar, I think, is going to talk about sedimentation or something of the likes, and—Steven asked me to pick him up after it to go have dinner together but I thought I could very well attend the conference with him so, yeah, I’m doing that.”

“Are you sure you can fly all the way to Mossdeep, though? I know you’re a champion and a guardian and all, but the body is the body, and when it demands care, there’s only so far you can go.”

Riya shook her head, muttering under her breath ruled by her crude, sleep deprived system, “wouldn’t be the first time I have to take care of myself and get back home not feeling my finest. Once I walked myself all the way back home after Father’s Day festival at elementary, to Blue Oak repeating ‘told you so’ over and over, so, again, I might have an idea of what it is like.”

Such a bitter line to say out loud but, gosh if she wasn’t seeing sparkles due exhaustion now, she could barely rule over her mouth.

Trying to push that awkward suggestion aside, having a difficult time taking it as a joke, Glacia insisted, “Riya... you’re going to fall asleep in the middle of the nice lady’s conference.”

“Probably, but this is important for Steven and I want to be there.”

The older rolled her eyes, “y’alls idea of a date is weird. But, well. You do you, I guess, and say hello to him from me.”

“Sure thing, ma’am, if you excuse me, now I head back home to make sure I’ve got something good to wear, if not, hope Steven doesn’t mind sharing.”

“If he didn’t forget to do the laundry.”

Riya snapped her fingers, “right. More of a reason for me to rush. See ya.”

She was firm to proving a point, to whoever it was needed to be proofed; so Riya flied herself back to Mossdeep, and not only that, no, she also stopped by the store to buy some ingredients for lunch, which she’d prepare herself because no league paperwork was stronger than her.

And she finally arrived at her cozy, ever so safe household, took off her coat, placed the bags over the table, and when the silence hit her-

A heavy wave of dizziness also did.

She had to hold on to the edge of the table, as she felt some weight settling over her chest, making her heart skip a beat.

“Gosh… Am I really this sleep deprived?”

Her reply arrived in the form of her sharp gaze getting blurry.

“Fuck…” she sighed. “Maybe Glacia was right and I need to sleep a bit if I want to make it through the day.”

And her trip to the couch of their humble living room felt as if she was walking under the desert of route 111, the endless sandstorm getting everywhere in her eyes and nose and making her throat feel raspy.

As she curled by one of her sides, Wong got out of his Pokéball, and sent her a judgamental glare.

“Come on, Wong... I didn’t sleep for shit.”

And again, Wong was looking at her in a way that said it all, as if he was a life coach with a book on ‘how to stop lying to oneself’.

“I’ll wake up in half an hour, I’m serious, like- who’s the one to listen to the first alarm always? Me. Don’t forget it is me who wakes up Steven almost every morning no matter how much or little I slept the night before, so, if you don’t mind...”

Giving in, and almost like making a huge sacrifice right here, Wong hopped in the couch with her, and laid between her arms, nuzzling against the crook of her neck.

She wanted to make a joke on the clingy behavior and the sudden change of mind, yet... she ran out of breath again, and her eyes felt heavy, so heavy as if she had received a yawn attack herself, and getting this old familiar body ache that announced something wasn’t alright, she gave in and fell asleep, trying to convince herself that this wasn’t a big deal;

When she told Glacia what she said about being completely qualified to take care of herself since a very young age, she truly meant it: as a kid, sometimes when she fell ill, she had to endure it all on her own as Nadia was trying her very best to make money for the basic living while Norman was too busy not sending money for whatever meds she could need in those cases.

Riya learned since she was little that she couldn’t afford getting sick, and now she was past all of that… she just simply didn’t.

This time around wasn’t going to be different.

She’ll sleep so she could take out Steven later, attend that conference with him, hold his hand in the while and feel in her own very touch the tension and relaxation of his fingers that announced whether he was excited or too focused, and after that, they’d have dinner by the shoreline, and she would see Steven’s smile all the time, that smile that made her feel cured by simply daydreaming of it.

Today was going to be huge.

Yeah, Steven was called to Devon by his dad who very lightheartedly asked favor following favor from him and would stare at him with hopeful, starry eyes as he completed minor corporative tasks, and that had been kind of bothersome, yet...

At 4 p.m he’d be attending this amazing conference by the marvelous Emma Reinhart, a famous geologist from Galar that had about the hugest mind Steven had ever known about, and after that, Riya would pick him up to have a date together, and to simply imagine how breathtakingly beautiful she would look by the sea had him growing so keen, so-

This perfect bubble of enthusiasm burst as soon as he stepped inside the house, to find Riya curling by Wong’s side on the couch, all ingredients for their lunch over the table, untouched.

Taken aback by this unlikely display of carelessness, Steven knelt by his partner’s side and shook her shoulder delicately.

“Hey...”

Wong hissed.

“Sorry,” Steven chuckled, nervously. “Sorry to interrupt your nap, mate.”

Displeased, Wong abandoned Riya’s side, which allowed Steven to shake her a bit more firmly.

“Hey, dear...”

Riya growled when she opened her eyes, like the daylight was a direct offense to her.

“Everything good?”

She nodded, frowning, “yeah, yeah... just... takin’ nap...”

And even if that was convincing enough as Steven was well aware his partner hadn’t been sleeping good over the never-ending league paper work, he had the feeling he should push a bit more on the matter.

“You tired?”

“I’m good...” and she was quick to insist. “I bought something for lunch... it’s all in the kitchen... prepare it... it’s easy to... I’ll be up in no time.”

“So, do I wake you up for lunch?”

The poor champion looked so worn out, that she blatantly said, “I’m not hungry.”

Maybe... Maybe all she needed was a good rest. Steven remembered this part of the league work and he could absolutely understand where Riya was coming from.

So, helping her boots out at the very least, he left the living room to prepare the most decent lunch he could for both, had it all on his own, and saved some so Riya could eat later.

What was next in line, and he should accomplish before getting distracted and sidetracked by anything else as he for the love of the lord couldn’t be late for Emma’s conference, was taking a shower and dressing up nice, so he did, after that grabbed some money, his keys, a backpack in which he saved some exemplars of sediments and rocks he’d love to show to Emma, and...

He walked by the living room.

And Riya wasn’t just sleeping.

She was shaking.

And at the same time... sweating as she uncomfortably stirred on her place.

This managed to alarm Steven in a matter of milliseconds:

Riya was one handful who mindlessly threw herself into trouble, picking fights until the fights picked her, and in all those times Steven had seen her in stupidly dangerous situations she had always made it out with life without a sweat, she always was standing, strong, powerful, proud, magnificent, staying true to her Sootopolitan blood, no matter how tough the situation, nothing was enough to surrender her weak as...

As she was now.

Shaking.

Holding on to herself in dreams.

Feeling a pit on his stomach, Steven knelt by her side, and shook her again:

“Riya, can you hear me?”

She not only growled, but she also wailed, and trying to ground her in case she was having a nightmare, Steven placed two hands to her face and…

She was burning feverish.

But Steven couldn’t just trust his very own perception, in fact, he was about to double check it since Riya never got sick, she had about the strongest immune system he had ever seen, and no matter how many times Nadia warned her about not drinking cold water right after walking down the sun for hours on end, she still did it and never had suffered a single stroke.

So, this felt weird at best, dead concerning at worst. And Steven went looking for a thermometer in the bathroom, but there were oh so many things saved in there that his brain was trying to play a bad prank on him and make him forget why he was there in the very first place, but Steven managed to get a grasp on his own mind, pick the thermometer, and take it to where Riya was.

After keeping it in her mouth for a couple seconds, it beeped, and...

38.3 Celsius deegres.

Well, it could be worse, this wasn’t as severe as a 39 degrees fever, for example, so maybe a couple of soaked fabrics over her forehead could help lowering her fever until she could re-open those gorgeous cat eyes of hers and explain to him exactly how she felt so he could fish her a pill and get her up.

“Ah, Wong, I’ll need your help here.”

As expected, the Vaporeon sent him a skeptic glare, to what Steven stood, shaking his head.

“Of course I know what I’m doing!” No, he didn’t, but he had to be quick for his loved one. “Just—Ah, let me go grab some towels, you’re going to soak them, alright? Riya is strong, I don’t think she’s going to need much more than that to get rid of a fever, I mean, not even Kyogre and Groudon could make her surrender, what can a fever do to her?”

Not stopping to see Wong’s reaction, Steven got to the kitchen where they saved smaller towels, grabbed a couple of them, and when he was about to head back to the living room-

His PokéNav rang.

As the sound seemed to annoy Riya, Steven was quick to pick it up and, damn, he got so abruptly grounded back to the rest of reality that didn’t orbit around his sick partner.

“Hello, Steven?”

“Ah, hello, Ronald.”

Ronald was one of his friends that he met in this internet forum about geology and that would be his partner in every conference they happened to attend together, and for that, his call could only mean one thing.

“Where do we see each other today? I was thinking by the red door of the Lilycove Forum, I don’t know if that would suit you.”

For a second, Steven longingly stared at his backpack, ready to be taken into that awesome geology conference, and then...

He longingly stared at the person he loved the most suffering as if a doom had settled upon her, and even if Steven held this small hope that Riya was going to react soon so he could go attend this conference that got him thriving through these last boring days at Devon...

Riya was more important than anything else could ever be.

Squeezing the device with pity, sighing heavily, Steven replied, “something came up. I won’t show up.”

The line remained silent for a couple seconds, “you sure? Because if you’re late, I can always save you a seat.”

It was an odd that Riya got better soon, yet, then again, he wouldn’t ever drop her to go attend any other thing.

“Sure. Thank you for calling up, though, I always appreciate that you don’t leave me alone.”

“It’s a shame, but I’ll record the conference for you if I can.”

“That’d be great, now, if you excuse me...”

“Sure. I won’t steal more of your time. I hope whatever thing going on that’s as urgent as to make you miss this turns out fine.”

It was about Riya, it would turn out fine.

… Wouldn’t it?

“Thank you, Ronald. Goodbye.”

And he hung up, to toss the phone aside, to get close to Wong, and get him to soak the towels for him.

With care and listen despite his rush, Steven placed the chilly clothes over Riya’s forehead, getting too absorbed by the silence, until...

“S-Steven?”

To listen to his name being spoken in such shaky voice... made his heart shrink.

“I’m here,” Steven cupped her cheek, and insisted, “I’m here.”

Riya let out one struggled, pained sigh, and Steven felt his heart dropping when he realized how his partner was looking for the touch of his free hand.

One hand allowed the other, and the comforting factor he always found in Riya’s touch wasn’t there anymore; her hands were always so warm, strong, reassuring, but now... these were loosely grabbing his, and to try stimming with them for comfort seemed like could hurt her.

“I’m here,” Steven repeated, as he was fully aware words weren’t getting through Riya right now, but if she only could feel it... “I’m here, I’m here, with you, it’ll pass soon.”

When her system finally assimilated the watery clothes on her forehead, it seemed to soothe down enough to send her to sleep, not so peacefully, but at least she seemed less irritated.

And Steven didn’t even realize he lost minutes on end twisting her locks and staring at her non stop thinking of all sorts of scenarios, until Wong splashed some bubbles at him: Riya hadn’t feed him yet, after all, and, well... If Riya would be awake, she’d want him to do this.

Maybe getting up for a while and trusting in Riya’s strength was enough for now, because remaining there to imagine how he’d call an ambulance if this got severe  didn’t seem like the healthiest option there.

It was in the middle of feeding Wong that Steven reminded how, every time he fell stress ill, Riya would give him one of Nadia’s infusions, and like he had an eureka moment, he rose up from his spot beside Wong, grabbed his PokéNav to text Nadia, asking her for the recipes so he could help Riya faster and better, and-

These were all in Sootopolitan, and yes, Nadia said this would get Riya better in no time and that he didn’t have to worry much, but he needed a translation for all of these, and Nadia stopped replying all of the sudden, to what Steven thought maybe she got busy at her shop, and-

He sighed...

What was he supposed to do with this now?

Well, Riya saved a Sootopolitan dictionary somewhere. He could spend the time looking for it and translating all of these names and numbers and measurements instead of boiling in his own worries.

Riya couldn’t tell what was worse.

To be asleep to the awful dreams of her desperately seeking for help as she felt hot like Groudon had awoken again for everyone to ignore her, or to get back to her conscious self and have her head drumming horribly and her entire body churning.

Fuck, she really felt bad. It had been a long while since she felt this awful. Riya had been a kid the last time she felt this weak out of exhaustion:

Nadia was outside, throwing hands with Pallet Town’s major saying she needed to pay for a permission to harvest in certain portion of her land, and even if Riya wanted to be strong for her, for her ever so hardworking mom, the fever was too unbearable, the headache deadly, the dizziness frustrating to tears, that she crawled to the living room to call Norman:

“Dad, please… I f-feel b-bad, I n-need you! Come home, please…”

Norman growled, “Riya, there’s pills in the bathroom. I’m fixing up my documents for Johto, this is important.”

“B-But…”

“It’ll pass. Grab one of your mom’s herbs in the while. You just stayed late finishing your homework, this happens to everyone, don’t make a big deal of it.”

And like that, he hung up.

Because there was always a dream more important to chase than her.

Usually, she would be able to stare at this with the maturity her age and new lifestyle had provided her of, but this- this felt quite the same like back then, and to have these thoughts make her feel trapped, so much that she had the imperious need to get back to herself, and-

“Wallace? Hello? Are you still there?” Steven growled, and tossed the phone. “Now I not only have to be worried about Riya, but also worried about Wallace not getting intoxicated! Gee, he’s lucky he’s handsome and everyone will want to handle his annoying drunk ass because… Ugh! If his timing isn’t the worst sometimes…”

He puffed.

“Well, he said text Lisia, so… Hope she replies soon…”

Riya incorporated, to barely keep her eyes open, and desperately she searched for a hint of wherever she was, whatever time it was, and-

7 p.m.

“Steven!”

She noticed how he jolted in his place, and rushed to her quickly as an immediate response to her frenzied state.

“Darling, you’re-”

But just one thing was all over her mind, one thing written in eye straining letters:

“What are you doing here?!” She asked through her hyperventilations. “Y-You w-were supposed to be at your conference!”

Her partner wrapped an arm around her, distressed, yet putting off such loving, patient expression, “I didn’t attend.”

“B-But, why?! Y-You… really wanted to…!”

“You are sick, I couldn’t leave you alone.”

In any other situation Riya wouldn’t have reacted this way, she would’ve taken it with the serenity all good Sootopolitan kept, yet, her head was drumming so bad she wanted to puke, the slightest move of her pupils sent the world around her spinning and she felt dirty and sweaty and useless, so, she burst down in tears.

“I’m so sorry…!” She cried, as if she had received the worst news.

“Riya, no, please-”

“We were supposed to attend together, you looked so very forward to this and,” she stopped to bitterly sob. “I-I couldn’t be stronger… I always get fucking sick at the most important moments!”

Steven planted a kiss to her temple, making his lips linger there as he shushed her and squeezed her tight between his arms, “it’s not that bad, I’m…”

Did his voice quiver?

“I’ve been so slow at getting you better, like- I’m a moron who cannot read Sootopolitan despite his best friend and partner being guardians, not even while using a dictionary, but-” Steven twisted the locks of her hair in a way that felt clumsy enough for her to perceive his nervousness. “Argh. I called Wallace to translate your mom’s recipes for me, but he was drunk as hell because apparently, he won the Melemele contest spectacular and I think he isn’t well either but- he told me to text Lisia so she could translate the recipe of the infusion you always give to me and- and you know what? I’ll text Amaryllis and Antara too, just, hang in there, Riya, please, just-”

He stopped for a second, which helped Riya process all that he had so quickly rambled about, and if she was about to reply to it in any way:

“Damn! The soup! Gosh, if I ain’t stupid!”

Steven left her side abruptly, rushing to the kitchen, which led Riya to realize that, at the end of the day, the facts were the same:

Steven shouldn’t be here. Wallace shouldn’t have the closure of his Alolan contest season ruined by her. Lisia, Amaryllis and Antara shouldn’t have their evenings ruined by her. Steven shouldn’t have his conference ruined by her. He shouldn’t be here, putting up with her childish cries, preparing herbal teas and soups, once it was done, staying by her side all the time as she drank from the medicinal beverage when his brain couldn’t handle boring tasks.

She shouldn’t have let herself afford to be sick. She should have known better than this.

Dear lord if this hadn’t been quite a day.

Even if Nadia told him to not worry much because the infusion would be enough, he had acted all paranoid and alarmed all of Wallace’s family, that always had felt his, for nothing: once Riya drunk from the herbal infusion, she got the actual rest she had been lacking of all those days, and the fever decreased.

Now, in the stillness of their home he was debating over whether he should keep watching at pictures of the amazing conference Emma offered, or if he should call Wallace with the poor excuse of checking up on him as a way to distract himself from the unbearable discomfort his brain went through every time his plans changed…

And from one moment to another, he felt Wong walking by him, and making him a sign to go where Riya was.

She hadn’t eaten anything yet, so, with a bit of shame, Steven served her a bit of the soup he accidentally left over the stove for way too long, hoping it at least sufficed as a soft enough first nourishment to have after a fever, that it wouldn’t make her mood worse.

So, when he got back to the living room, he found her already awake, seated, her eyes open as she stared absentmindedly to the wall, and Steven felt utter relief washing all over him, even if it was foolish, even if the strong one between the two had always been Riya.

“Hey.”

Riya turned to face him, and she smiled through puffy eyes, seemingly feeling better now.

“Hi, Steven.”

Slowly, testing the field just in case Riya wanted time alone after her former meltdown, Steven approached her, placed the soup bowl over the center table, and as she didn’t oppose to his presence, he sat beside her.

And…

Grabbed her hand.

It was sweaty and cold at the same time, yes, but at the very least the touch was firm and strong this time around, giving back to Steven all the safety he needed to feel, the fuzzy sensation finally returning to his chest.

“I made you soup.”

“Why, thanks, you really didn’t have to.”

She dropped his hand for a moment, to grab the bowl and eat from it, and Steven felt already guilty and pathetic enough at his failed attempt, that he rushed to ask, “how horribly does it taste?”

Riya chuckled, “it’s not horrible. The veggies feel a bit overcooked, but it’s good, you did an amazing job.”

She must really adore him with all of her heart to praise him over such unaccomplished little task as it was cooking a soup.

“Are you feeling better?”

His partner nodded, “yeah. Those herbal infusions do wonders, I swear to god, we owe a lot to mom nature.”

Chuckling at said comment, Steven kissed her forehead, then skipped to her cheek, then, lovely, to her chin, and tenderly, to her lips.

“I’m glad that’s the case. You worried me.”

Nothing was commented on that, not immediately, Riya just kept on eating from her soup until, keen to play up strong, she placed the bowl over the tiny center table, and replied, “you should only worry about Wallace. His pretty but drunk face will be in every magazine next week, paired up with someone new he probably won’t even recall about.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he answered quickly. “Y’all Sootopolitans are going to be the very end of me, I swear.”

And Riya turned away, getting coy, ashamed all of the sudden, but Steven put a hand to her cheek, and even if sometimes he struggled to look people in the eyes, this never happened with Riya, one look was always enough to express her all that he couldn’t find the words to compel.

“I’m sorry that I broke down before,” she finally gave in. “It’s just that… ah… I’m not used to people canceling their plans to take care of me. That’s why I try to not be a bother most of the times.”

Even if she didn’t explicitly say it, Steven had learned to read between her lines and silences, like she was his favorite book he had read over and over, and knew that this statement came from a long buried yet very hurt place.

But he had already showed Riya all the places where the other left him scars. She knew it all, and Steven knew this vulnerability wasn’t only for her to witness, but to also share.

Lowering his tone to a very subtle whisper, like this was something so holy only she could hear, Steven said:

“I’d cancel any plan over you, you know that?” He started off, very solemnly. “Your pain is also my pain… and… how would I even go outside to any conference knowing that a piece of me is suffering, all alone?”

Her eyes watered up again: this was what Riya, not just champion Riya, but a pig tailed Riya from Pallet Town needed to hear, Steven knew, and as such, he allowed her to hide her face on his chest, blushing, disarmed, unable to find the words to reply to what she always expected to hear.

“And that’s why you are my Shiny Stone.”

His eyelids flickered as his cheeks tingled at such words, and he squeezed tighter, feeling like he was wrapping the entire world and its ever so beautiful, so catastrophic ocean between his frail, skinny arms.

“I love you, Steven.”

“So do I, Riya. Every day a bit more.”

She chuckled, quite moved, her voice shaking a bit, “can I hug you like this for a bit more? Maybe… forever?”

A wide smile spread across his lips in a way so offensively happy that it hurt his cheeks a bit, and he nodded, to peck Riya’s head with utmost love and adoration and gratitude, and nod, “sounds like a plan worth wrecking all my other plans.”

Even if he had being clumsy, very clumsy, and probably Wallace or Nadia could’ve handled this situation way faster and without so many issues, Steven knew one thing for sure:

He had not only cured Riya’s exhausted, consequentially feverish body, but, he had also cured a bit more of that golden heart of hers; little for all he still had to do to pay her back for leading him to the daylight and never letting go of him, for taking his hand, wrecking his plans, and setting him free.