[Pokémon X&Y] Oblivious
Aug. 11th, 2023 11:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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teamflareTitle: Oblivious
Fandom: Pokémon X&Y
Pairing: Professor Augustine Sycamore/Lysandre
Rating: G
Summary: The most infuriating thing about Lysandre's size, in truth, was the ease with which he existed in the world.
Notes: Just a little thing written for the prompt "being aggressively tall." Did you know that the ability Oblivious (which originally prevented pokémons from being affected by Attract) now works on Intimidate? I found that out while writing this heh.
AO3 Link: Here.
The most infuriating thing about Lysandre's size, in truth, was the ease with which he existed in the world.
Sure, sometimes, he'd get distracted or miscalculate. He'd forget he needed to bow his head so he wouldn't hit it against a door frame, and there were circumstances where charisma and adroitness couldn't make up for the fact that the world was simply not built with you in mind – like trying to fit in a car or a crowded elevator. Most of the time, though, when Augustine would stumble over a gap in the road or a discarded book on the floor, and Lysandre was the one to catch him to make sure he didn't fall on his face, it just further highlighted Augustine's clumsiness.
How could a man this tall even see where his feet were? The mind boggled.
"How tall are you, anyway?" Augustine asked, slumped over his chair after a hefty homemade dinner and three glasses of wine.
Lysandre leaned forward, his eyebrows drawn in thought. "Over two meters. A dozen centimeters over, if I recall."
"Huh," Augustine said. "You feel taller."
Something about his phrasing clearly struck a chord, because Lysandre's frown deepened. He squared his shoulders.
"Do I?"
Augustine stared at him. He'd joined his hands together over the table, and the cup of coffee sitting in front of him looked ridiculous in comparison. He could have probably crushed it in one fist with little effort. Without his jacket and the fur collar adorning his neck, his silhouette was different, less imposing, but he was still unnervingly wide.
"Yes." Lysandre tilted his head, waiting for him to elaborate, so Augustine added, "It's your hair, I think. You're always standing so straight, too."
"Is that a bad thing?"
His growing confusion was becoming amusing.
"No, but the stereotype for tall people is that they're always hunching over. You don't do that."
The thought of him doing that, in fact, seemed ridiculous.
"Actually," Augustine went on, "you do the very opposite. You're always towering."
Letting out a soft, considering hum, Lysandre brought one of his imposing hands up to tug on his beard. With his narrowed eyes and his thoughtful expression, he looked so much like one of those dragon pokémons from Alola that Augustine couldn't hold back a smile.
"There is value in appearing larger than your potential opponents, I believe," Lysandre said once he'd finished digesting Augustine's words. "You, of all people, know that pokémons will often use abilities to Intimidate others."
The confidence with which he'd delivered his verdict was commendable. He wore the measured smirk of a man who'd made his point. Augustine wet his bottom lip.
"Who are you trying to Intimidate, then?" he asked. He paused, letting his eyebrows raise a notch. "Me?"
Lysandre blinked at that. His facade of good-humored aplomb didn't falter, or at least not so obviously that someone else would have noticed. The corners of his lips twitched. His shoulders flinched. He straightened his back, either to reassure himself or to signal that he wasn't as affected as Augustine might have suspected.
"Of course, I would never regard you as my opponent, Professor," Lysandre said. He spoke evenly, but the hand playing with his beard had stilled. "Though I'm certain you would prove to be a worthy one."
His words were meant to be complimentary, surely, yet there was a sudden tension there that Augustine wasn't entirely sure he understood. Nor was it the sort he was hoping to foster between them. He picked up his wine glass to twirl its stem around his finger.
"I doubt I could hold my own against you in a pokémon battle, let alone a physical one," he said. He kept his eyes downcast, watching the overhead lights of the café as they caught on the glass and made it shimmer. "But there are games we could play where size isn't as important."
He glanced back up, at Lysandre's face, his carefully neutral expression. He looked a little paler, though Augustine thought he could spy a slight flush blooming on his cheekbones. Then, as he was about to open his mouth to reply, Augustine winked at him.
All the tension evaporated at once. Lysandre frowned. He cleared his throat.
"Professor," he murmured, "I'm afraid you've lost me."
Throwing his head back against his chair, Augustine laughed. In the end, perhaps the most Oblivious out of the two of them wasn't the one you'd expect.
Fandom: Pokémon X&Y
Pairing: Professor Augustine Sycamore/Lysandre
Rating: G
Summary: The most infuriating thing about Lysandre's size, in truth, was the ease with which he existed in the world.
Notes: Just a little thing written for the prompt "being aggressively tall." Did you know that the ability Oblivious (which originally prevented pokémons from being affected by Attract) now works on Intimidate? I found that out while writing this heh.
AO3 Link: Here.
The most infuriating thing about Lysandre's size, in truth, was the ease with which he existed in the world.
Sure, sometimes, he'd get distracted or miscalculate. He'd forget he needed to bow his head so he wouldn't hit it against a door frame, and there were circumstances where charisma and adroitness couldn't make up for the fact that the world was simply not built with you in mind – like trying to fit in a car or a crowded elevator. Most of the time, though, when Augustine would stumble over a gap in the road or a discarded book on the floor, and Lysandre was the one to catch him to make sure he didn't fall on his face, it just further highlighted Augustine's clumsiness.
How could a man this tall even see where his feet were? The mind boggled.
"How tall are you, anyway?" Augustine asked, slumped over his chair after a hefty homemade dinner and three glasses of wine.
Lysandre leaned forward, his eyebrows drawn in thought. "Over two meters. A dozen centimeters over, if I recall."
"Huh," Augustine said. "You feel taller."
Something about his phrasing clearly struck a chord, because Lysandre's frown deepened. He squared his shoulders.
"Do I?"
Augustine stared at him. He'd joined his hands together over the table, and the cup of coffee sitting in front of him looked ridiculous in comparison. He could have probably crushed it in one fist with little effort. Without his jacket and the fur collar adorning his neck, his silhouette was different, less imposing, but he was still unnervingly wide.
"Yes." Lysandre tilted his head, waiting for him to elaborate, so Augustine added, "It's your hair, I think. You're always standing so straight, too."
"Is that a bad thing?"
His growing confusion was becoming amusing.
"No, but the stereotype for tall people is that they're always hunching over. You don't do that."
The thought of him doing that, in fact, seemed ridiculous.
"Actually," Augustine went on, "you do the very opposite. You're always towering."
Letting out a soft, considering hum, Lysandre brought one of his imposing hands up to tug on his beard. With his narrowed eyes and his thoughtful expression, he looked so much like one of those dragon pokémons from Alola that Augustine couldn't hold back a smile.
"There is value in appearing larger than your potential opponents, I believe," Lysandre said once he'd finished digesting Augustine's words. "You, of all people, know that pokémons will often use abilities to Intimidate others."
The confidence with which he'd delivered his verdict was commendable. He wore the measured smirk of a man who'd made his point. Augustine wet his bottom lip.
"Who are you trying to Intimidate, then?" he asked. He paused, letting his eyebrows raise a notch. "Me?"
Lysandre blinked at that. His facade of good-humored aplomb didn't falter, or at least not so obviously that someone else would have noticed. The corners of his lips twitched. His shoulders flinched. He straightened his back, either to reassure himself or to signal that he wasn't as affected as Augustine might have suspected.
"Of course, I would never regard you as my opponent, Professor," Lysandre said. He spoke evenly, but the hand playing with his beard had stilled. "Though I'm certain you would prove to be a worthy one."
His words were meant to be complimentary, surely, yet there was a sudden tension there that Augustine wasn't entirely sure he understood. Nor was it the sort he was hoping to foster between them. He picked up his wine glass to twirl its stem around his finger.
"I doubt I could hold my own against you in a pokémon battle, let alone a physical one," he said. He kept his eyes downcast, watching the overhead lights of the café as they caught on the glass and made it shimmer. "But there are games we could play where size isn't as important."
He glanced back up, at Lysandre's face, his carefully neutral expression. He looked a little paler, though Augustine thought he could spy a slight flush blooming on his cheekbones. Then, as he was about to open his mouth to reply, Augustine winked at him.
All the tension evaporated at once. Lysandre frowned. He cleared his throat.
"Professor," he murmured, "I'm afraid you've lost me."
Throwing his head back against his chair, Augustine laughed. In the end, perhaps the most Oblivious out of the two of them wasn't the one you'd expect.