An Axe to Grind

Summary:

An injury forces a young trainer to retire and take up streaming to relive her hobby. Her last remaining partner, a Haxorus, suddenly surprises her with a deep kiss during one of her streams, much to her dismay. What she once thought was a simple prank might turn out to be something deeper, and she soon unveils feelings her partner has. And maybe some of her own.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

No, not now. Just a few more seconds.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Charli rolled over onto her stomach and lazily slapped her hand on the nightstand next to her.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

She gave a few more half-hearted slaps before giving up entirely and burying her face back in her pillow. Forget it.

Beep. Beep. Be-- Tap.

Cold, hard hands wriggled under Charli's bare stomach, causing her to wince. She was rolled onto her back, then gently picked up off the bed. "Labrys," Charli mumbled. There was a soft hiss. Charli opened her eyes to be greeted by a large reptilian with impressive blades jutting out of his face. "I'm not a sleeping beauty, you know." He nodded. "Sweet talk like that's not going to get you any favors," she said. Charli yawned with a smile, snuggling into Labrys's arms. "Just a few more minutes." Labrys shook her slightly. "Five more seconds then." Charli held up her hand. The second those were up, Labrys began shaking again. "Alright, alright." She stretched as she was set down rightside up.

Labrys ran a claw across her back. "I'm still fine. No flare ups or anything," Charli replied, patting his armored hand. Labrys gave a nod. He was a Haxorus. A large reptilian clad in armor that would make a tank blush. Two large blades stuck out of his face, which Charli had taken the time to cover up with some specially fitted black rubber. For her safety of course, since - Labrys pulled her into a good morning hug - he was quite the handsy fellow. "I'll take my shower and then we'll have breakfast, alright?" Charli said, half of her face smushed into Labrys's chest.

Charli gave another stretch, adjusted her underwear and walked over to her closet to pull out a towel, then walked out of her bedroom, which was admittedly not a bedroom at all. Instead, it was a renovated garage made specifically for her and Labrys. A comfy space for both of them. Her cousin had told her about a similar thing she did for her own Pokémon. Charli probably took it a step too far though, having actually moved her entire bedroom in there. Of course she had to, how couldn't she? She looked back at Labrys, who had laid his head down on the bed. He waved back. She had to.

Setting her towel down on the counter, Charli sized herself up in the mirror. What would look good today? Maybe a band shirt. "Good morning, Charlee Deltas!" she said, putting on her best smile. Hm, maybe not enough flair in the pronunciation. "Charlee Del-tah." She should've come up with a simpler fan name. At least the military motif was amusing. She set aside a hair dryer and comb to be ready for her when she got out. The woman took a glance at her hair, running her hand through it. Might need a trim too. Oh well. Another time. She stepped in the shower and turned it on.

After a quick shower and a styling of the hair, Charli was ready for the day and the screen she would stare at for several hours. Nearly. She had to pick out her clothing for the day. Labrys was already by her closet, waiting to share his opinions on what she chose for the day. "Alright, judge," Charli said, walking over to the closet, "what've we got?" She riffled through several shirts, all with varying designs and logos on them. She stopped and turned to Labrys. "Today isn't a sponsor day, is it?" He shook his head and motioned to his right. "Gotcha, tomorrow. So no need to wear anything energy drink related... Hmm." Labrys reached into the closet and pulled out a more plain purple shirt. "Not exactly in a purple-y mood today, you know?" He nodded and placed it back on the rack.

Charli sighed as she looked over her wardrobe. A random shirt used to serve her well, but now she had to make sure she looked presentable. Even when she was a proper trainer she didn't have to worry about all of this. How many shirts did she have in total now? Who knew how many designer brand torn up pants she owned. What was even the point of that? She used to tear them on her own from hard work just fine. When she was able to, anyways. Charli rubbed her back.

Labrys reached into the closet again and pulled out a worn out shirt that bore the logo of the streaming site Charli used. "I forgot I even had this thing," she said. The woman hoooked her finger into the neck of the shirt. "I always thought it showed off too much boob." She paused. "You know, they probably did that on purpose." Labrys handed it over to her. "Well, I guess you can't go wrong with the classics." The bladed lizard nodded. Charli shrugged and slipped the shirt over her head. "Pants too, please." Labrys bent down and opened the drawer, picking out any old pair of pants. "Thanks, buddy," Charli said. Labrys smiled and patted her on the head. Charli laughed and patted him back, though she needed to stand on her tiptoes to do it.

Now looking like something of a personable streamer personality, Charli sat down in front of her workstation. It was a computer kitted out with all the gadgets and doodads she needed to speak to people across the globe. She had learned her way around them over the years, but it wasn't as though she had any intimate knowledge of them. Charli turned on the monitor and glanced at the computer's clock, nine AM on the dot exactly. That gave her thirty minutes of preparation. "Hey, on here at nine." She turned to Labrys, who took up his position next to her. "That has to be a new record." Labrys tapped on his chest and huffed proudly. "Yeah, yeah, you're a very good alarm clock. Thanks."

Charli clicked through her computer, making sure everything was set. She straightened out her back as she thought back to the times when she didn't have to sit at a computer all day. Training out in the field, going across trails, reaching new heights. Now it was this, and only this. A single back injury took her out for the count forever and forced her to give away her friends. Nearly all of them. She glanced at Labrys. One pissed off idiot who couldn't handle a loss. If he hadn't ordered that attack-- She shoved those thoughts out of her mind. The injury wasn't important anymore. This was her life and she was going to make the best of it. Charli was at least happy that she wasn't stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Though it did feel like an insurmountable barrier at times. A personal mountain she had to cross.

Everything seemed in order for work. Computer, microphone, stream website, screen recorder thing, keyboard, mouse. Oh, and headphones. Charli put on those huge earmuffs and connected them with computer space magic. She would have preferred something like earbuds, but every other popular internet person wore these massive things, so it must've been necessary. One last check of her audio levels and making sure her camera view was presentable. Perfect. "Am I looking good?" Charli asked, spinning around in her chair. Labrys gave her a crude thumbs up and a growl of approval. Charli returned the gesture. "Great! Just hope the viewers think the same."

Charli took a moment to prepare herself mentally. It was time. Click.

"Hello, Charlie Deltas!" Charli said with her best smile and a small wave. Instantly that little chat room off to the side was flooded with various greetings, random chatter, and other nonsense. Most of it was simple hellos and cheers of excitement. Some of it was even directed toward Labrys, who was mucking about in the background. "Say hello, Labrys," Charli said. He gave a two handed wave and a snap of the jaw, upon which several more greetings flooded the box.

"Hope you're all doing well! It was hard to get out of bed but"--Charli stretched--"I managed." Labrys quickly moved next to her and pointed to himself. "Alright, Labrys actually woke me up." The box then filled up with various emojis of laughter. "Oh please, I'll bet a lot of you guys are woken up by your Pokémon." She gave a dismissive wave. "Anyways, today we're going to do something a little different. Contest related. I know, I know, those are for girly girls, but I think it'll be fun!" That wasn't entirely the only reason. Some of her old buddies was going to be in there. One human and one not.

"There's still a lot that goes into a contest too." Charli rolled her eyes in exaggeration. "Not as much as training. Obviously. But it's more about looks than power." She glanced to the chat for approval. There was little dissent among the viewers. Good enough. Better than the time she decided to comment on bug catching of all things. A question stood out from the rest. "Have I entered in a contest? Not one of these judged ones. Only battles. As for if I would, well, I feel like it's harder to pretty your team than it is to have them get stronger."

"I don't really know how they judge these kinda things. I know they have like, categories of stuff they look for but... not as easy as just punching the other guys." Charli's eyes looked over the contestant entries. There she was, sitting on pedestal number two. An all too elegant Dragonair next to a friend of Charli's. She withheld a sigh and unconsciously rubbed her back again. Labrys pointed to the dragon on the screen. Of course she'd recognize the two of them. "Yep, that's Sagaris alright. Her scales seem a little more luminescent, huh? I bet there's all kind of scale polish that goes into her now."

Her chat began to inform her of those categories of judgment. "Soooooo, five categories." Charli ran through them, mumbling their names. "Coolness is going to be this contest. Sounds like a funny way to put it." She glanced back at Sagaris. "Oh yeah, she's got this in the bag." Sagaris was basically the peak of cool. So much so that she refused to evolve solely for the sake of maintaining her sleek form. She also-- She also was one of the first to refuse being given up. Charli shook her head. "I mean, she's got tough competition, sure, but she's definitely got this in the bag." Labrys huffed in agreement. A few of her viewers pointed out the Milotic in the lineup. "Oh my gosh, shut up about that fish." Charli giggled. "They're not cool. They're like drama queens. More of a cute thing." She leaned back in her chair. "Plus, can you imagine trying to fish one up? I've had friends try for months to find just one Feebas. Then you spend several more months trying to get it to evolve. Ugh, I'd rather get anything else."

Charli noticed there was a whole group photo of the contestants. There was anything from a Drapion to a Gliscor. "Hey, Labrys." She patted him and pointed at the screen. "Out of the girls, which one is the prettiest?" More laughter poured out of the chat. Labrys only gave the screen a brief look before turning his head back to Charli and tapping on her, prompting even more laughter. "On the screen you kiss ass," she replied with a giggle and a slap of his armor. Labrys grunted and turned his attention back to the screen. He stared for a while before pointing off at the side, toward one of the gussied up showgirls in way too much makeup. Charli made sure to circle her with the cursor for her audience. "Seriously? I was talking about the contestants!" Charli's giggled turned to full blown laughter.

A new saying dribbled into the chat amid the laughter. "You just know?" Charli asked, winding down from her laughing fit. "What does that mean?" Her question only seemed to prompt even more amusement. "It means..." She scrolled up, trying to catch the message. "It means you're fucking--" She gasped and started laughing all over again. "No, no, no, no, no. That's not true. Look, I know I've been out of the game for a while, but I'm not that desperate." Charli shook her head. It was an embarrassing thought for sure, yet more comical in her mind. Yeah, she had heard of some people actually fucking their training partners. Those people probably got a little too worked up. Charli glanced over at Labrys. She doubted he'd even fit, though admittedly she had never even seen his 'thing.' Ugh, now was definitely not the time to think about that.

"Whatever. Whatever. Back to the event." Charli took a deep breath, pushing out the last of the giggles. "OK, so, they don't have the usual line up like in tournaments. They do it all in one go." The chat box kept going on with the stupid phrase, pulling Charli back into a fit of laughter. "Quit it! Look"--she paused to giggle--"Labrys, lean down." He obeyed instantly. Charli leaned over and gave Labrys a peck on the cheek. He let out a heavy breath. "See? Done. He's a good boy but he'll find his own armor woman." The Haxorus softly rubbed his cheek. Charli cleared her throat. "Anyways, you all probably notice my girl there, Sagaris. She's a fighter, but she's got the glamour and style for this." Charli looked to the proud trainer next to Sagaris. She almost wished that was her, as much as it was some weird beauty pageant. Coolness pageant. Whatever.

"I wonder how you even become a judge of one of these. How well do you judge what's cool?" Charli grabbed a ball cap off her table and put it on at a sideways angle. "See? How many points am I worth now? It's ridiculous." She looked at Sagaris again. "I mean, Sagaris is already 100% cool anyways. How is a Drapion going to compete? Accordion much?" Charli sat up straight. "Oh, it's starting." She tossed the hat away, letting it fall where it may. "Can you bet on these at all? No? Well what's even the fun then?" She narrowed her eyes. "Not that I condone gambling, of course. Don't be silly," she said with a smile. "But you all know where my money would be."

The event kicked off with a markedly less impressive opening than a tournament. It seemed like a popular enough event, just missing the grandiosity of what Charli was used to. The camera started with a run past the entire lineup of contestants posed to perfection. "Good form," Charli said. "Can you do that?" she asked, tapping on Labrys. He straightened himself out to a perfect posture. "It was a joke." Labrys still remained at attention much to her amusement. "Alright, you made your point ease up, soldier."

The little chat box erupted into cheer once Sagaris flew by the screen. Charli couldn't help but join in. "Woo! You can do it!" she yelled, arms stretched up in the air. Made her wish she had a Dragonair t-shirt now with how excited she was. Fortunately she had already added some soundproofing to the room for the sake of not annoying the neighbors. After the announcements and reveals, the contest was on. A contestant was brought up once at a time to do a move, then slink back to their position. "What, that's it? Anyone could do that," Charli said with a shrug. "I guess they do have some pizzazz."

Then it was the Dragonair's turn. Charli started clapping loudly, and Labrys joined in. Sagaris slithered over to the center of the room, then froze. In a moment, she disappeared in a flash of water to to one side of the room, then slithered. "That's what I'm talking about! Aqua Jet! Those other suckers never had a chance!" Charli paused and thought about it. While impressive, how could you even judge something you hardly even saw? This contest was getting increasingly silly, but whatever.

The contest continued on with various absurd comments from both the viewers and Charli. It was surprisingly entertaining, but she still wasn't sure how it worked. Maybe she was just a dumb trainer. Labrys seemed to have lost interest quite some time ago, and was instead wandering about the house. Occasionally she would glance over at him, making sure he wasn't getting up to trouble. Maybe she should get something to entertain him while she's busy. Eventually he settled next to her, having dragged a bean bag chair over to her desk.

"Well, that's the end of it." Charli closed out the window. "As we all expected, Sagaris won. So whoever betted against her better pay up right now!" She exaggerated a cough. "Not that I support gambling, again!" Charli said with a smile. She switched over to the special donation messages and started reading through them. "Oh quit it with the 'you just know' junk." Why did that still make her laugh? "I swear, you guys are gonna be wearing t-shirts with it soon enough. Go to another channel for that." She shooed the camera. "Thanks for the hundred bucks!" she said in delight, spinning around in her chair. Something caught her leg.

"Labrys? Something wrong?" Charli asked. His claws were wrapped around her leg. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before pulling her closer and leaning in. His sheathed blades locked her head in place as he opened his mouth and probed her mouth with his large, wet tongue. An intense warmth washed over Charli. Her mind was too slow to react. Her body relaxed and her eyes closed. This was wrong. Her eyes snapped open and she pulled herself away. Labrys turned away suddenly, eyes wide open. "Wellthat'senoughstreamfortodaythanksguys." She blinked. Something was missing. "Charleedeltas." She held the power button on her computer, shutting everything down, then she immediately stood up and put her hand on her forehead. Labrys stood up along with her.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. That was the rest of her career down the drain. Just after she finally got something. Fuck. "Labrys, what was that?" she asked, still staring at the blank screen in front of her. He looked at the screen and then back at her. That didn't happen. It couldn't have. Labrys let out a low whine, then pointed between them. "Labrys! That wasn't...!" She sighed and started tapping on the desk. "That was a different kiss." She copied his pointing. "You and I. We don't kiss like that." Labrys huffed and slapped his tail against the ground. "No, don't argue." She stared at the screen again. "OK, maybe it wasn't that bad. Maybe it was off camera." Fuck. Why now?

Labrys deflated somewhat, then walked off. She couldn't blame him. Maybe she gave him the wrong idea with that joke, but he was smart enough to know otherwise. He would-- He did. It must've been a bad joke. He was taking the gag too far. Damnit, damnit, damnit. Charli sat back down and turned on her computer. All she could do now was mitigate the damage. With what? A lie? Like anyone was going to buy that you totally didn't French Labrys on the stream. Whatever, make it vague, apologize later. She hastily logged onto a social media site and stared at the blank white box. Just buy yourself some time for now. Charli sighed. "Sorry about the disconnect. See you guys soon." How soon? Who knew. Maybe never at this rate. She copy pasted the simple response into the rest of her social media sites, doing her best to ignore the mounting messsages in each one.

Charli shut off her computer and retreated to her bed, where she promptly pulled the sheets over her head and wished to vanish from reality. "Fuck." It felt like the world had flipped instantly and was sitting on top of her. People had done worse on the internet, and she wasn't one to fuck up, but it was hard to imagine that she could keep her one job. Her last one was stolen from her, so why would this one stay? It got hotter, but she refused to pull herself free from the sheets. Labrys's taste still lingered on her tongue. It was a bizarre feeling. When was the last time she actually had a kiss? Charli covered her eyes. Shut the hell up.

Who knew how much time passed as Charli moped under the sheets. She didn't really pay it much mind as she repeatedly wished to start the day over. Eventually, however, sweat got the better of her, and she brought herself out for a fresh gasp of air. Labrys perked up. He was sitting next to the bed, towering over Charli. "What are you doing?" Charli asked flatly. Labrys sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm fine, just... I don't know what the hell I'm gonna do now." She paused. "Maybe I'll get a real job like dad always said, huh?" The joke did little to lift her spirits, but it pulled it out of the mud at least. Labrys shook his head and patted her. "Thanks." Charli sat up, unwrapping herself from her suffocating cotton prison.