Archive of Our Own ^beta

Penny sighs as she scrolls through her phone, sitting in the backseat of a tinted car and waiting for her girlfriend to finish her ad. She had been flown over to Levincia as a part of Iono's subathon, where subscribers who donated certain amounts of money could choose one pokemon for the gym leader or champion to battle with. The bit only lasted a day but it was all day, and each time Penny checked on the stream (yes, she had it up on one of her monitors, what of it?) she could see the exhaustion growing in her Love's eyes. 

The sound of multiple footsteps draws Penny's attention to the window, and she can see a hoard of reporters huddle around the car. ‘Huh,’ she thinks, ‘guess she's here.’

And then– 

“Nemona!”

“Champion Nemona, look over here!” 

“Champion Nemona, I heard that-” 

“Nemona! Nemona! Nemona!” 

A flood of straight noise crashes into the car as the door opens, and Penny's almost blinded by the amount of flashing lights, lifting her hand to cover her eyes and squinting as her girlfriend climbs (or more accurately, flops) into the seat beside her, two security guards keeping the reporters at bay and closing the door behind her. 

Nemona looks… exhausted. She had seen it in the stream but now that Penny’s up close she can see it so much more. She's not even sure Nemona knows she's there, staring blankly at the seats in front of them. 

“Ba-”

“Fucking Hell.” Penny blinks in surprise as her girlfriend cusses, scrubbing her palms across her face before suddenly bursting into tears. 

“Woah, woah, baby!” Penny gently rests a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder and Nemona flinches, looking at her with wide teary eyes. “Hey,” Penny coos as she reaches a hand out to wipe tears from her girlfriend's face, but quickly draws it away when she sees Nemona’s face scrunch up in discomfort. “What's wrong, baby?”

Nemona’s only response is a broken gurgling noise, more tears streaming down her face as she jerks her chin up in a choppy motion, smacking the back of her head against the (thankfully) padded leather seats. 

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. 

Penny winces as Nemona rocks forward or her heels before launching herself backwards, crashing her head against the headrest. “Sweetheart,” Penny cradles the back of Nemona's head, stopping her from giving herself brain damage. “You're going to hurt yourself.” 

“URGH!” Nemona’s lip curls in a snarl and she arches away from Penny’s touch, hunching forward instead and slapping her hands over her ears, her forehead resting on her knees. “LOUD.” 

“I know, love. We're almost to the school.” Penny soothes, frowning as Nemona starts sniffling again. She's never seen her girlfriend this overstimulated before. Iono's definitely going to get an earful about this one. Nemona only whimpers pitifully.

Eventually they arrived at the school and Penny ushered (dragged) Nemona to her own dorm, sensing it may be better than the champion's. She's got dim lights after all, and Nemona’s had enough harsh lights for a lifetime it seems. Speaking of Nemona, she's currently cocooned in a swaddle of Penny’s blankets, wearing her signature eevee hoodie with the hood pulled up, hiding her from the world. 

Penny lets her sleep in for a while before eventually nudging her lump of girlfriend, having prepared a fresh plate of curry and some water. She's not sure Nemona’s had much of either today and she'd be damned if she let her girlfriend go hungry. 

“Baby, wake up for a second.” Penny sits at the edge of the bed and digs past blanket walls and uncovers her girlfriend's (beautiful, amazing, adorably freckled, perfect in every way) face, tapping gently at her nose until her (stunning, gorgeous, astounding) eyes crack open. “Hey,” Penny gently trails her fingertips across Nemona’s features, trying to keep her girlfriend awake. “Are you feeling up for some food?  I made curry.” 

Nemona wiggles an arm out from her cocoon, pressing all of her fingers together and tapping her lips.

Food?

Penny nods, recognizing the sign language that Juliana had taught them. Her brother Florian is nonverbal, so she'd become fluent in Unovan Sign Language and had taught it to the Crater Crew. It came in major handy for moments such as this, where someone was too exhausted to speak. 

Nemona curls her fingers to her palm, holding up her index finger and moving her wrist side to side. 

Where?

“The kitchen, love. I got you some water too. If you have the energy to sit up I can hand them over to you.” 

Penny fusses over her girlfriend, helping her into a more upright position and placing the plate of curry on a trey she had stole -ahem, borrowed from the cafeteria. “Here you go love. Let me get you a spoon too–” 

A tug at her shirt makes her pause, turning back to Nemona, who blows a kiss in her direction.

Thank you.  

“Of course, baby.” Penny leans in and presses a kiss to her girlfriend's brow. “Anything for you, darling.” 

Soon enough Nemona is situated and eating, and Penny grabs her girlfriend's phone and unlocks it (the password is their anniversary. Cute.), pulling up her DMs with Iono. 

⚡️Iono🧲

Nemona

ur nvr doing this again.

Nemos fucking dead rn 

y the fuck didnt you give her more breaks?? 

Iono

lmao hi penpeen 

😘😘😘

Nemona

dont call me that 

😑

Iono

whoops! Sorry~

Forgot only your sweetheart can call you that

Nemona  

whatever

just know nemonas super fucking overstimulated rn 

Iono

yeaah I do feel bad about that 

:C 

didn't mean to work her so hard 

Tell her I say hi!! And I hope she feels better soon! 

Nemona

k 

“Who are you talking to?” Nemona asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Iono. I'm telling her to leave you alone from now on.” Penny huffs. “She says she's sorry though, and she hopes you feel better.” 

“Mmn.” Nemona hums before yawning, making sure to hand Penny her tray before snuggling back into the sheets. “Tha’snice. Gonna sleep f’rever now. G’night.” 

Penny chuckles as she puts the tray by the sink. “Night, sweetheart. I love you.” 

Nemona lets out a grunt and smacks her foot against the bed.

Love you too