[Part 1]

Once again, Hiei allowed herself to purr. To be honest - her girlfriend's, right? Indeed - her girlfriend's reactions to Gardevoir's purring were always a bit amusing. She obviously liked whenever that happened, yet wasn't sure if it was a good idea to bring it up, leading to rather adorable reactions. And now that they were actually girlfriends, Hiei didn't feel guilty feeding into this source of mild entertainment. She was allowed to mess with her girlfriend a little, wasn't she?

And while the dragon was obviously relaxed and comfortable in her embrace, the Gardevoir could practically feel the moment Inabayama registered that purring, and tensed up just a tiny bit, going through the monumental mental effort of pretending she hadn't noticed it.

Adorable.

Hiei made sure to continue with that torment for just a little bit longer, before showing the dragon some mercy.

"You know, I firmly believe that my analysis has near perfect accuracy"

"Uh… Makes sense?.." the dragon blinked, and tensed up just a bit, clearly not sure where that was going, "You ARE the smartest being I've ever seen"

"The only times I can possibly make a mistake is when there's an insufficient amount of data available, or not enough time to process it"

"By 'data' you mean…"

"Information"

"Ah."

"So wherever I've gathered enough data on a subject, and had enough time to process it, I honestly hope that you would be able to take it as truth, Inabayama"

"I mean… Why wouldn't I?" the Goodra looked at her in clear confusion.

"There's one matter in which, while I was not yet able to get the full range of data, the data I was able to gather pointed strongly at one singular conclusion. Strongly enough that the rest of it is unable to outweigh said conclusion even if it does not reinforce it"

"Uhh… And that being?.."

Hiei smiled warmly, gently putting her hand on the dragon's cheek.

"The matter of you being absolutely amazing and wonderful, Inabayama," the Gardevoir stated, noting how her girlfriend froze at that, not expecting this turn of events, "In the time I've known you, you have shown to be bright and warm enough to rival the Sun. Smart enough to create plans I would not be able to come up with. Dependable beyond belief. I know that I have not seen all of you yet, but even what I have seen was enough to convince me, that you are the most wonderful being in the world."

"Wait, I-"

"Perfect. Accuracy," Gardevoir repeated firmly, "Like I said, even if this wasn't the full range of data, I've seen enough to make such an assessment. Even if 'just' this much is the extent of your positive qualities, this assessment would not change for the worse, and I am fairly certain that you are still capable of utterly surprising me"

"B-but-"

"Now, don't you dare to say anything bad about my wonderful, amazing girlfriend. I would not stand for it, you know?"

By this point, the Goodra was shaking, struggling against tears. And in a few seconds, she just silently broke down, and started crying into Gardevoir's shoulder. Hiei ignored large, weighty tears giving her an impromptu shower, and embraced the dragon tightly.

She knew it was not enough. This one talk was not enough. Even earlier, when Hiei stated something similar, she noticed how Inabayama's eyes glazed over in disbelief before her attention snapped towards the more pressing matter of confession. And when the dragon gave her answer, it was difficult not to notice some word choices she made. Not to understand her reaction. Hiei didn't need an empathic link - which she intended to never use in her relationships with the Goodra - to understand what was going on through the dragon's head. No, she knew self-deprecation all too well. Back in her youth, Hiei had to claw her way out of that pit herself.

The domestication of the Goodra's kin made it really difficult for them to survive alone in the wild. Made them really dependent on regular positive contact with someone, anyone. Lack of such positive contact, due to this human-invoked trait, basically amounted to psychological torment. And in case of her girlfriend, those years of social and physical isolation clearly began to eat into her sense of self-worth.

Despite how absolutely WONDERFUL Inabayama was, she still believed herself to be unworthy.

Well, Hiei had enough sense of self-worth for both of them. They could share - at least for a while. And while they did, the Gardevoir intended to use every single day to tell her girlfriend about how wonderful and amazing she was. To shower her in affection she so deserved. To make sure that Inabayama knew and believed on the deepest level that she is worthy. That she is second to none.

In a few minutes, the impromptu shower had finally slowed down, and soon enough ceased along with the sobbing. To be honest, Hiei would've been content with just staying in an embrace like this for the rest of the day, though the dragon tensed up a bit, clearly awkwardly thinking how and where to transition to from bawling her eyes out at just a handful of uncompromising praises.

"You do realise that from now on I shall demand more snuggles, right?" Hiei asked, still unwilling to let her girlfriend go.

"You know… I was just about to ask for the same thing," the dragon smiled.

"Good we are on the same page then"

"I wouldn't mind skipping a day or a few here and there for hugs"

"Just… Not too much. We need to complete our mission before winter comes."

"Before winter? Why?"

At this, Hiei had to take a deep breath. Honestly, taking Inabayama's mind off the awkwardness was a good idea, but this topic was rather… Heavy. Judging by the glint in the Goodra's eye, she noticed that pang of hesitation.

"I'm usually sleeping through the entire winter, unless woken up early by something. And when I wake up, I'm… Less than lucid"

"Less than lucid?"

"Or rather, I'm violent, ravenous and completely unaware what I am doing. By the time I come by, there's quite a lot of blood everywhere. The Pokemon on the mountain knew not to venture to anywhere near my abode starting with the first snow, and up until I visited them first. And made sure to leave live sacrifices for me to encounter"

"That bad, huh"

"I don't want to leave you, even for a few months. I don't want to hurt you. And I can't control myself in that state. Which is why, I'm usurping the throne of God before winter comes"

"Well, we've got some time, since it's the middle of spring…" the dragon shrugged, and then froze "Huh… I was really lucky that I didn't come to the mountain a few weeks earlier, huh"

"…" at this, Hiei looked away, "Yeah."

[Part 2]

Inabayama was not sure what she did to deserve such an understanding, patient and kind girlfriend, but she surely was glad she did that. (Also holy crud, she had a girlfriend!)

To be honest, the fact that Hiei apparently slept through the entire winter and was murderously cranky and hangry after waking up did little to faze Inabayama. So did her own luck in not coming to the mountain early enough to meet Hiei in that cranky state. It was the fact that the dragon would've had to spend the winter months someplace away from the Gardevoir that felt far more pressing - but this is why their deadline of finishing this godhunt by winter was important, wasn't it? As long as Hiei successfully kills Arceus and usurps his throne - however she intended to accomplish such a thing - before the winterfall, they'll be fine.

Though that thought did raise a question about what they were supposed to do in any snowy areas, and especially on mountaintops. Their goal WAS at the top of a mountain, and it could get fairly cold on some of the higher ones. Not the one where Hiei stayed, obviously, but a mountain chosen by a literal god was kind of a safe bet to be both high, and snowy.

Inabayama didn't like snowy, and apparently neither did her girlfriend.

Hm…

Maybe they needed to find some sort of a human contraption that generates heat on the go. Or recruit a Pokemon that could do just that. They wouldn't even need to be strong, just somewhat sturdy, and good enough at following instructions.

She better bring this matter up once they cross this lake.

Not now though.

Right now, the dragon was kinda busy resisting the urge to snicker, because she got REALLY relaxed in her girlfriend's embrace, to the point where some of her limbs bent funny, and Hiei obviously didn't notice yet.

Now, let it not be said that Inabayama did not have any bones. She totally did.

These bones, however, were a little bit different from those of regular Pokemon. The dragon was also a slug, so her bones made sure not to hinder her… Sluggishness?

She had a few really hard bones - the skull, the spine, the ribcage - that protected the most important internal stuff. Then, she had more bendy bones, like in her arms and legs and horns. Those were fun, as she learned to control her muscles in such a way that she could basically bend, squish and stretch these as she seemed fit. This allowed her to fit through any place her ribcage could, despite her wide, powerful build suggesting otherwise. Or to escape from a grapple even from one of them four-armed strong Pokemon, because most grapples don't do much when you can just bend your limbs at any point. Or to move her horns like a set of prehensile limbs, which was her favourite trick to surprise an opponent.

But right now, the most important part was that it allowed her to relax her limbs to such a degree they could bend funny in Hiei's embrace.

The Gardevoir probably wouldn't be mad when she realises, right? It's not like Inabayama purposefully did that. The dragon herself only noticed after the fact, though… She KIND of wondered just how far she could take it before noticed. Not to the point of the Goodra comically spilling all over her arms like a thick blanket, obviously - Hiei would probably notice that. Though maybe close enough? How close?

Eh, thoughts for later.