Title: Rest Stop
Summary: He felt utterly exhausted. Maybe, just this once, he can nap on the job... No, no! He must be strong! ...But it's so tempting...
Prompt: 'Close your eyes briefly...' - check my profile for the whole prompt
Note: Technically, this isn't completely like the prompt, but... the idea came and I couldn't stop myself from typing it up. BTW, the characters will be referred to by their English names. Also, a lot of people don't seem to agree with me (and I don't mind, really, cause your opinion counts), but for amusement sake, plus because I think it's funny and possible, Emmet is the older of the two. Yes, frowny, serious-looking Ingo is the younger brother. :3
Disclaimer: Pokemon © Nintendo
Warning: Um, adorableness? ):D Out-of-character, possibly (Particularly on Emmet's part. The English version of the game has him saying pretty simple sentences, but I think he's only like that with people he's uneasy, unfamiliar or uncomfortable with. :D ). Slight cursing. I initially didn't want it there, but it's a brotherly interaction. Some crude language should be expected. :3
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There was a sharp snap, and with the sudden sound, Ingo jumped in surprise.
His eyes immediately opened, meeting with the brash gray eyes of his identical brother. His constantly present grin took much more space on his face than usual, in particular when he began to cackle, his offending fingers dropping to his side.
Out of reflex in response to his irritable manner, Ingo's hand shot up and pinched his brother's nose hard. The other man yelped in shock and fell back away from his vexed brother, both hands coming up to comfort his abused nose.
He glared up at the man that unfortunately was his older brother from his seat on the subway car, lips twisting into a scowl. "Was snapping your fingers at me really necessary?" He snarled.
This did not deter Emmet. If anything, the grin on his face grew further in size, even with a hand partially obscuring it. "You weren't responding to me. And just a few days ago you were scolding me for falling asleep on the job."
With each of those last words, Ingo's face brighten in red. He coughed into a gloved fist as his brother begun to laugh at his reaction. His glare then returned with full force.
To his surprise, Emmet's face instantly sobered.
"Seriously, Bro," he started, with a tone sounding suspiciously like scolding and his smile tipping slightly into a strange half frown, "if you were tired, all you had to do was say so, and I would have gladly taken over your shift."
In response to his brother's words, Ingo fell back slightly into his seat, his body taking in the vibrations of the subway car they were in. His black and red coat suddenly felt so warm, shielding him from the car's air conditioned gust. His eyes once again began to feel heavy as his exhaustion slowly descended upon him.
Beyond his blurred vision, he heard his brother sigh.
"This is what you get for staying up late the other night."
His words once more brought a little bit more meaning than was to be expected. At the very least, it woke him back up.
"What the hell are you implying?"
It's as if the two are destined to bicker with one another.
The sensitivity of before left his face, and Emmet was back to chuckling at his younger brother's reaction. "Exactly what I said."
"Excuse me," Ingo barked, "but who was the one who left those paperwork unfinished?"
Emmet's eyes fell slightly to his side, although that stinking crap-eating grin on his face never left. "Oh, dear, I forgot to do them, didn't I?"
"When was the last time you did your own paperwork, Emmet?"
The man in question snickered at his brother's expected reaction. Before his brother could continue any further, possibly to insult more, the man garbed in white lifted a gloved hand to silence him.
"It's not just the paperwork." He spoke in a matter-of-fact voice. If Ingo was not already quelled, he was now at the gentleness which those words were spoken. His gray eyes looked up at his brother questionably.
"Yesterday, you stayed up taking care of Excadrill, Bro. How is she?"
Ingo's eyebrows shot up, his thoughts scattering a bit before he manages to gather them around again. "Oh, she was doing a lot better in the morning." One hand reached up and removed his black hat while the other was sent through his hair, slightly ruffled.
This detail didn't escape Emmet.
"Looks like someone forgot to brush back his hair." Thus, the teasing returned.
The man in black glared up at him. "Shut it."
Emmet shrugged his shoulders. "Can't blame you for being a little disorderly. Just don't try to show me up, okay?"
A snort came from Ingo's direction. Emmet chuckled. "Yeah, that would be the day. Ingo coming in for work with his shirt all wrinkly, mix-match socks, and a scrubby beard. Which reminds me..."
He lifted a hand to his younger brother's face, thumb passing over his chin.
"You didn't shave this morning." At this point, Emmet's enjoyment was apparent with his smirk. Ingo could not stand his brother's drawn out implications, and while he would silently admit he put a little too much force in slapping his brother's hand away, he was becoming more irritable.
Irritation plus lack of sleep multiplied to an Ingo equaled an illicit summation.
Lord forbid he ever put himself into this situation again. He feared that if he didn't vent out his enervation in some form, he'd take it out on his brother, a challenger, or, worse, his own Pokemon. Excadrill was already suffering enough as it was.
He heaved a hefty sigh, throwing his head back against the window, his eyes this time closing. Another sigh came out of him, this time one of bliss.
"Yesterday I kept scrambling around, making sure she was comfortable." Ingo had whispered this, so Emmet lean forward slightly on his toes to hear more.
"It pained me to see her with that cast. It was the first time one of her claws was ever seriously damaged."
"You don't need to tell me, Bro. I was there when it happened."
Ingo nodded his head, sleepiness continuing to cover him. He nonetheless felt comfortable, even on a stiff subway seat, the train shaking as it progressed down the tunnel.
"Still hurts to think about it. If I didn't know any better, I'd think she was crying while we were scrambling to leave." His face scrunched up a bit as the image of his mole-like Pokemon came to mind. She was currently at home, nestled against some comforters near his bed, keeping still so as to avoid moving her broken claw which had been broken during a practice match the other day.
After the twins had returned home from their day's work, Ingo would often head for the makeshift backyard their apartment had and would train for around half an hour on new strategies to bring to the Battle Subway. It was during this practice match against his own Pokemon that Excadrill broke her claw which she drove a bit too hard against his Haxorus's tusk.
Their tusks were unbreakable, after all.
The same could not be said about Excadrill's claws. Upon hearing the ear-deafening tear of her talon, Ingo and Emmet didn't think twice before returning their Pokemon into their Pokemon balls and rushing to the Pokemon Center.
Once they had finished looking after her, she had been the only one outside of a Pokeball as they returned home, the girl instead lying against a carriage the Center had been kind enough to offer. Upon reaching home, Ingo got to work ensuring his precious Pokemon was comfortable and taken care of.
Thinking about her in such detail had chased away his fatigue, and his eyes were once again opened. He growled slightly in frustration, straightening himself on the seat while he slapped both hands against his cheeks trying to wake himself up.
"Resting can wait, though. Challengers will be here any minute."
All this time, Emmet had been staring outside the window over his brother's head, also imagining the injured Pokemon at home. While the drill Pokemon did not belong to him, the two interacted enough that he considered them on friendly terms. And there was one thing he could come up with that the Pokemon might do if she were in his position, listening to his brother moan and grip about her.
Excadrill was by no means a gentle creature if the battles she had been involved in were any proof. Even to this day, the Pokemon would occasionally nudge her trainer playfully, though nevertheless hard.
She would have done the same here, shoving her trainer hard against the floor, hoping it's merciless stiffness would knock some sense into him.
Considering her trainer was his younger brother though, who would definitely retaliated with more than just a well-aimed punch to his face, Emmet had to pass on the tempting impulse of following the daring Pokemon's possible reaction.
He instead opted to coughing into his hand, reaching down with his other to pull his brother's hat out of his hands.
The spent man attempted to reach for it, but fell short of reach as his older brother retreated away from him.
"I'm not playing games with you, Emmet, damn it!"
The man in white laughed out loud as he watched his brother unsteadily get to his feet, his laughter increasing in volume when the tremulousness of the subway set Ingo to a one way trip to the floor.
"You really are out of it!"
Ingo growled as he unstably lifted himself with his arms. "When I get my hands on you..."
"Yeah, yeah. Get back on the seat and get some shuteye."
"Emmet..."
"Look at yourself, Bro. How the hell do you think you're going to be battling a challenger tripping over your feet like that?" The derisive tone was still there, but it dropped down several degrees so as to get across. Taking the risk, he approached his brother and lifted him by grasping both his arms, his brother offering no resistance as he was taken back to the subway seat.
"I bet you wouldn't be able to remember what's front and what's back like that. Besides we've been here for two hours already and no one's come."
"Just stay there for an hour at least." Emmet continued. "You can trust me to cover for you that long, no?"
The reprisal was right there on the tip of his tongue, but the weight on his eyes, the urge to sleep was greater than the urge to carry it out. He found himself closing his eyes once more, wishing he could open them back up again to at least glare at his brother one last time for acting... like this.
Despite it all, he sigh, this time one of complete and utter bliss, his body finally letting go and relaxing to such a degree, he didn't mind resting against the less-than-suitable-for-sleep subway seat.
"Wake me up when the hour is up, Emmet." He whispered, hoping his voice was loud enough to carrying over the noise of train and rail.
"Sure."
"…I mean it."
"I got you."
"…"
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"Gehehehe…."
"Awww…"
"He looks so…"
"Holy…"
"Is it all right for him to…"
Occasionally, words appeared to float over his head, slightly disturbing him out of a place he rather not leave yet. He mostly didn't pay it any mind though, aside from shuffling into a new position in hopes of enticing the blanket of sleep back around him.
He knew not how long it took, but another comment managed to pry through his subconscious.
"You want pictures? Sure. It's okay."
At a moment's notice, his heart suddenly did an accelerated jump, which woke up the rest of his body.
His wide eyes caught his stunned brother and the guilty looks of two challengers - one girl, the other a boy - hovering over him before his eyelids abruptly secured him against the stinging assault of the overhead lights.
"Ugh…" he groaned, lifting his hands with difficulty to add another layer against those awful lights. "What the hell are you guys doing?" He managed to croak.
"Welcome back to the world of the living, Bro!" Emmet said instead of answering. Ingo's natural frown bent down a bit more than usual as he noted with displeasure that those words were said with far too much cheer than should be permitted.
"Hi, Mr. Ingo," came the shy voice of the girl challenger he had seen. It sounded familiar, which goad him to attempt a second time, by his notion, to open his eyes.
Though they watered a bit in the endeavor, his gray eyes met the blue eyes of the famous female challenger from Nuvema Town, Hilda. The girl shuffled a bit in what appeared to be embarrassment.
"Did you sleep well, sir?" the other voice asked. It belonged to the boy, Hilbert, who moved to his friend's side, a look of concern and relief enveloping over his face. "You were seriously knocked out there."
"Huh?" From within, his brain was still in the process of stirring, and it took him the last few seconds of a minute to process the meaning of his words.
The next minute was introduced with a rough SMACK of his fist slamming against his brother's shoulder. Emmet's hand immediately went towards the injured appendage.
"Ow! Damn it!"
"I told you to wake me up in an hour!"
"I tried! But you were knocked out like a light!"
"You're unbelievable!" Ingo threw his hands in the air in frustration before falling back into the subway seat. "This is why I didn't want to do this!"
"Because you knew you'd sleep like a log?" Emmet yelped and dodged to his left to avoid Ingo's kick.
"How long was I out?" he chose to say, dreading to hear the answer.
"About four hours."
"Oh, God," His face found themselves in his hands.
"Are you okay, Mr. Ingo?" Hilda inserted hesitantly.
"Yeah, we came by earlier, and you were asleep then, too." Hilbert helpfully provided. Ingo's head snapped up at this, with him ignoring the sharp throb of pain developing at moving his neck so quickly.
"Earlier? Are you serious!" It took all of the willpower he could muster, the small amount that wasn't still asleep, to not screech those words out. Ingo gritted his teeth before he bit out. "Emmet, how many challengers passed through here?"
He was not going to say, 'How many challengers saw me asleep like a doofus?'
Another person would have probably stayed quiet and attempt a getaway through the adjoining doors or subway windows, moving or not.
Emmet did neither of those things.
The man in white awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, looking at anything and anyone except Ingo before answering. "Um, about twelve."
Ingo promptly rose from his seat, ignoring the wave of dizziness that hit him as soon as he stood on his feet, a Pokeball held in one hand in a threatening manner. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't order Haxorus to skin you right here and now."
At the intimidation, Emmet slowly inched away from the menacing presence before him. "Because I am your loving older brother?"
For the following few minutes, Hilda and Hilbert resisted the urge to laugh out loud at the white-clad man's yelps of pain as his younger brother kicked at him mercilessly onto the subway floor. When the beating came to its end, the pair of duos felt the train slow to a stop.
"A rest stop? Already?" The disbelief weighed in Ingo's voice.
"Yeah, it seems the trip is done." The boy challenger confirmed.
"But our challenge..."
"It's okay, Mr. Ingo." Hilda said, a smile on her face as she continued, "Mr. Emmet already explained your situation."
A silver brow lifted in question. "Huh?"
The subway doors opened.
"We'll come back another time." she said, instead of answering, her smile growing slightly as she turned to fully look at him. Ingo squirmed a bit, a blush forming in his face. It felt rather uncomfortable being smiled at like that (being smiled at by Emmet did not count). The girl, however, was unaware of his dilemma and turned to her partner, who nodded and turned to Emmet, who at this point was already on his feet and in the middle of dusting himself.
"We hope our gifts will help you out." Hilbert told him with a wave.
Emmet nodded his smile brighter than usual, waving back. "Thanks again."
"We'll be seeing you then, Mr. Emmet and Ingo!" he called out as he and Hilda made to leave.
"Hope things will get better for you, Mr. Ingo!" the girl yelled.
The subway doors closed before Ingo could make a move to follow them or question them further. The train commenced again, and his still sluggish body soon fell back to the subway seat. He glanced over at his brother warily.
"What was that all about?"
At first, Emmet didn't answer. Instead he walked over to the opposing end of the train and picked something up from the other side of the seat, which he then proceed to bring towards his direction, effectively throwing it onto his lap.
Ingo glanced down onto the knotted cloth, hands working to remove the knot. Once open, his eyes took in the Pokemon treats ranging from Poke Hearts, to Poke blocks, and Poffins with a sense of caution.
"What's this...?" he began.
"Isn't it obvious?" Emmet finally spoke. It wasn't a degrading tone; it was one of amusement. "They're Pokemon treats. For Excadrill." He said the last part gently.
Ingo met his brother's eyes.
"All of the challengers that passed here, all of them asked if you were okay. When I told them about Excadrill, they all reacted with concern.
"One of the challengers suggested making a gift basket - well, not really a gift basket, but you know what I mean - to give to you."
The younger of the twins suddenly felt overwhelmed with an emotion he doesn't feel quite that often.
"See, look, they even wrote on a card for you." Emmet drew out from inside his coat pocket a thick looking sheet of paper, and handed that over to his brother as well.
Ingo took it from Emmet gingerly, his eyes gazing over the words: 'Don't feel down, Mr. Ingo.' 'I'm praying for Excadrill.' 'Both you and your Pokemon are tough cookies.' and so on. The paper had been folded in half to imitate a card, so he unfolded it to reveal its hidden messages.
It wasn't just words. The paper was decorated with several markings and drawings from the trainers. He looked down at one corner and chuckled slightly at a drawing of Hilda and her Audino, evidently drawn by herself. The other trainers had done similar things, either writing out more words of encouragement or doodling little sketches in hopes of drawing out a laugh. He would at least admit to himself that their efforts were admirable.
"This was very thoughtful of them," he commented, folding the paper in half and setting it within the cloth.
"Sure was."
He glared at Emmet. "Don't dare believe this will make up for what happen earlier. How do you expect me to live this down?"
The white man smiled. "Try not to sweat the details. At least we have these to give for Excadrill."
Ingo growled. His brother merely laughed, loving his younger brother's reaction. He knew his brother; this was just his way of reacting to the goodwill of these trainers. The blush coloring his usually pale face said it all. He was fully aware of his own speaking habits, but Ingo had his own defects as well.
The man was known to be solemn and aloof by the trainers who frequented the Single Trains. Seeing the man in such a vulnerable position had been a bombshell for those few people who had seen him (and a shocker for the man in question, who would rather let the ground swallow him whole than let people see him so exposed). Emmet could guarantee that within the next hour, most of the visitors would know of Ingo's predicament. His brother knew this as well, as he continue to finger the blue Oshawatt patterned cloth.
"You're enjoying this, idiot." He growled.
"Enjoying it for the both of us, since you can't loosen yourself up for a change. But don't worry, I'll make it up to you somehow."
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Home at last for the past two hours, and returning from the blistering summer evening outside, Ingo sighed in relief as he made to remove his white dress shirt and toss it over to a nearby hamper. His Crustle shrieked from behind him, and he obliged, making his way into the living room with the Bug-Rock Pokemon on his legs.
The living room glowed that evening, the sun's rays bouncing off the dark mahogany color Emmet had chosen that year for their furniture, the room colored a dark pink. It gave the room a rather ruddy appearance, signaling a pleasant end to a pleasant evening. Ingo couldn't find it in himself to complain. He had survive the day, having felt admittedly refreshed after his nap, and to top it off the challenges of today were pretty entertaining. Now finishing his pre-roster training with his Pokemon he was now on his way to see his Excadrill, who he had avoided since arriving home. Walking past the living room table, he grabbed the Oshawatt mottled cloth before heading to the kitchen.
His eyes took in the ready-made dish on the kitchen counter, and he smirked to himself, as he grabbed himself a plate. He left the kitchen through its second exit, turning right towards the direction of his room. Before entering his room, he stopped, taking a peak to his right into the large space in the utmost north end of the apartment that was their office. Inside, sitting behind one of the two desks was Emmet, stooped over some papers, one of his rare frowns on his face, his right hand holding up his head by the temple. Even from his place outside of the room, Ingo could hear his older brother grumbling under his breath.
He couldn't help himself. He sniggered, attracting his easily-distracted brother from his work.
"Make sure to fill out the papers relating to the Wi-Fi trains, you hear?" he haughtily reminded him.
Emmet answered with a non-sophisticated hand gesture. Ingo merely laughed, heading towards his bedroom. He gently turned the doorknob, and as quietly as he could pushed the door open.
"Excadrill?" He whispered softly, poking his head through the crack of the door. His precious Pokemon lifted its head off the cushion it laid over at the end of his bed, grunting in acknowledgement of his presence.
He laid his plate on his bed, his other hand still holding the cloth package, bending down to focus on his Steel-Ground Pokemon. He stroked the girl under her chin, producing a purr out of her.
"I was so worried about you all day, girl." He breathed, eyeing her broken claw uneasily. He felt himself tremble as he recalled the day before. "I could barely sleep last night after everything that has happen." He closed his eyes.
He was unprepared to being pushed off his feet by his Pokemon.
"What the hell-? Excadrill!" he cried out, eyes flying open as he fell on the floor with a thud. The cloth bag slipped from his hand and hit the floor with him, its contents spilling all over. "Why'd you go and do that for?"
Emmet's laughter can be heard from across the hallway as Ingo irritably watched his Excadrill attempt to devour the treats with only her mouth. He placed his face against the hand previously holding the package, shaking his head at the silliness of everything.
Here he was worried about her all day when now she's being all 'Miss Manageable'. And on top of that he had needlessly caused visitors of the subway worry about him.
Then again the feeling had been good. He couldn't deny it. It felt nice to know there were other people aside from him concern for his precious Pokemon. For him as well, but every time he thought about it, his face turned red, so he rather not. Thinking about his Pokemon was better.
"Is this your way of telling me to suck it up, girl?" he questioned her, scratching her now behind the ear. She cooed softly, and he couldn't help smiling at her. He picked up a treat and placed it against her maw, withdrawing his fingers when she bit down on it to grab another one.
"Tough luck, girl. I bet you didn't know there are a lot of people out there that were worried about you. Isn't that nice, huh?"
The Drill Pokemon looked up at him with a condescendingly look. He chuckled at it.
"Oh, are you saying you already knew? Silly me for being inattentive, huh?"
Excadrill rolled its eyes and sighed.
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After assuring everything was on schedule, Ingo prepared to start another day in the Gear Station. The night before everything went accordingly; his Excadrill ate her fill in treats, Ingo had continued to torment Emmet to finish the paperwork, and he managed to watch late evening soccer before heading to bed at ten. He was well-rested and ready to tackle the day after leaving things aptly at home.
In fact, he was actually humming a short tune as he made his way to the first train of the day when he heard it.
"So Hilbert? The pictures? Did Hilda develop them?"
Thus, everything went a bit off course.
He stopped dead in his tracks, an aura of crossness surrounding him as he made his way towards the source of the voice.
"What pictures are we talking about here, Emmet?"
"O-O-Oh! H-Hi, Mister Ingo."
"Wait, Ingo, what are you planning to do with that Pokeball?
Sleeping early provides its quirks, he would tell anyone. He was up and ready for any challenges the day threw at him. Any challenges at all.
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A/N: And that is that. :D The ending seems kind of rushed but - Holy Moly! This went over nine pages on Microsoft Word! I didn't plan for it to be this long, but then I started getting more ideas and - pffft! But, yeah. This should of been out like weeks ago, but the extra length, and the extra details, but whatever. Hope you liked it. :3