Precious fluff! It blew my mind when I discovered: we actually wrote a Guz fic with no cussing. HE DON'T TALK GAHAH!
Guzma yawned as he trudged through Poni Meadow, the aftermath of training from that morning making its presence known. He'd been lucky that Hala had taken him on despite everything, but the training sessions never failed to wear on him. Granted, he wasn't making it easier on himself by heading out to the Battle Tree every day – the trips alone kept him out late, not to mention how wiped out he was from battling afterwards. That left him with a couple hours before, bright and early, Hala would be expecting him so as to begin the day's training. But damn, with his team at the top of their game (and more varied than ever, thanks to Plumeria and Nanu's influences), he just couldn't pass up the opportunity.
It was obvious he'd have to take a break from it eventually, though. He'd done the math: over the past week, he'd gotten about twenty hours of sleep, total. He was in the middle of debating whether to skip the next few days or not when movement to his left caught his attention.
A small swarm of Cutiefly, joined by the occasional Ribombee, were buzzing around over the pond, playing. The bug fan paused for a moment, then squatted to watch, moving slowly so as to not scare the fairy-bugs away. The rhythmic patterns the small bugs flitted through was a calming sight, and his eyes began to droop at the display. Before he could really catch himself, he'd fallen asleep.
He woke up only about an hour later, luckily, absolutely covered by the fairy-bugs he'd been watching before. The surprised flail he made in response was enough to dislodge most of them as he sat up, instinctively looking at his watch. An unintended detour, yeah, but he'd still be able to make it if he hurried. The remainder of the tiny Pokémon, as well as those that had managed to re-land on him, were shaken off as he hustled to his destination, completely oblivious to a smiling figure half-hidden behind a low hanging branch.
The Tree was still open when he got there, fortunately, allowing him to squeeze in a few battles before having to head out. He'd forgotten about the accidental nap entirely by the time he'd gotten back to Melemele, and probably would've continued to if it didn't happen again the next day, and the day after that. It was probably unhealthy, he wagered, to be conking out every day in a meadow while watching bugs fly around, but like hell was he about to complain about the extra rest.
After a few weeks of the routine, it was disrupted. A Ribombee had crawled directly over his face, causing him to sneeze himself awake sooner than usual. He was about to shoo it off, but a soft voice stopped him before he could.
"Shh. Don't move." Darting his eyes over, he could see the Fairy Trial Captain – Mina, right? – kneeling close by him, pencil flying over the paper of her sketchbook. A few discarded attempts were on the ground next to her, some of them being inspected by the fairy-bugs that hadn't gotten a seat on his person. Sensing the questions brewing in Guzma's throat, but not wanting the Pokémon to disperse just yet, Mina continued speaking, not pausing in her work. "You're a natural lure for bugs. Don't talk just yet, you'll scare them away."
Still pretty tired, and now mildly interested, Guzma complied with the request. It's not like he had plans to move just yet. They sat there – or laid there, in Guzma's case – in silence for a little while, maybe about fifteen minutes if Guzma's timing was right.
The sound of a Pokémon being returned caught his attention, causing him to open his eyes again. The Ribombee that had decided to take a walk on his face was missing now, as were most of the bug-fairies, having been startled off by the movement. He went ahead and sat up, dusting himself off as he got to his feet. A few straggling Cutiefly still resided in his hair, not wanting to lose their chosen perch just yet.
Mina was still scribbling away at her sketchpad, albeit standing now, so he took that to mean he was free to go. Before he could get far, though, he felt a light tug on his sleeve. Turning, he was presented with a page from the fine artist.
It was of him, expectedly enough, but from a few days ago, when he'd changed up the routine by leaning on a rock instead of lying on the ground. He was still heavily decorated by the bug-fairies, who had adopted him as their own personal landing pad. There were a few rough sketches around it, as well as some cartoony Cutiefly doodles in the margins.
"You're a good model. You should let your team out next time." The Trial Captain offered in lieu of an explanation, gathering up her rejected papers from the ground. "It'd make for a more interesting piece than just Cutiefly and Ribombee."
Guzma blushed slightly, unbeknownst to the easily-distracted Fairy Captain as she wandered away again. She'd obviously been hanging out around the Meadow a lot, and he had to admit, she drew him pretty damn good. As he rolled up the paper to put in his hoodie pocket, not wanting to crease it by folding, he wondered if she'd come back the next time, too. Also: how could he go about getting Pinsir and Golisopod to chill out long enough to be sketched?
Deciding to skip the Battle Tree for today, he started the trek back to Melemele instead. Maybe he would take a shower when he got back.
Hala gave a knowing look at Guzma's flushed complexion when the bug-trainer went to bed early that night. Tomorrow was a big day!...maybe.
FIN