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Please do not read if you are under 18! The following contains mature content not suited for general audiences. You have been warned.

Levi drags Umbre along to their eSports club and introduces her to Espen, a nerdy and bubbly Espeon intent on teasing the two of them to no end.

TRIGGER WARNING! Contains: Exhibitionism (implied), strong language (light), relationships, toxic relationships, D/s dynamics (light)

Umbre, Levi, Espen, etc. are characters made by me, based off of characters in the Pokémon universe owned by GameFreak and Nintendo. I do not claim rights to characters such as Umbreon, Leafeon, Espeon, etc.

By PseudonymousUmbreon. If you wish to use or reference my work and/or my characters, please contact me first.

*****

Stream of Consciousness

Coevolution Ch.3

"So what do you even do in this... 'eSports Club,' of yours, anyway?" Umbre glanced sideways at the Leafeon walking next to her.

Levi happily booped away at the Switch they held in their hands. "We game. Sometimes competitively. Sometimes casually." They spammed a button for a good five seconds. "Yes!"

Regardless of how little Umbre understood about video games, she had to admit it was kinda fun to watch Levi play. "Did you win?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"After like, five hours of grinding. Can't wait to show Ez." Levi giggled and stowed the Switch in a little bag they carried around their shoulder. "Oh yeah! You'll get to meet Ezzy too! She's so awesome."

Umbre smirked. "So I've heard." Espen--Ezzy, as Levi called her--was Levi's gamer best friend and was brought up constantly when the topic of gaming was on the table. While Umbre had never met Espen in person, she did know what Espen looked like from the Twitch streams Levi frequented. "Tell me again how you convinced me to come along to this?"

"If I remember correctly... you were going to, and I quote, 'waste your afternoon doing nothing productive,'" Levi said, mimicking the lighter tone of Umbre's voice. "So at least we get to do nothing productive together! Speaking of which, we're here."

They had arrived in front of the maple wood doors of the campus library--the construction program's pride and joy of an "old-timey" styled building that was a constant work in progress. Right now the pet project was a screened-in patio planned to house shelves made of actual trees. Any efforts put toward the patio, however, were obscured by large sheets of paper, making the whole thing look like a cubical blue blemish on the side of the building.

As Umbre and Levi approached the double doors, they swung open with a violent slam. A Sylveon in a pink and white dress that perfectly matched her fur stormed out, literally pulling along a flustered Jolteon beet-red in the face and sporting a simple black tee over jeans. The two ends of a belt stuck out from the belt loops underneath his shirt.

"Calming and welcoming environment my ass," the Sylveon muttered, before pivoting on her heel and flipping out the middle finger through the door. "BITCH!" she screamed as she grabbed the Jolteon's paw once more, interrupting his attempts to tighten his belt back up.

The two of them disappeared, though not without an apologetic look over the Jolteon's shoulder accompanied by a mouthed, Sorry, directed at the frustrated-looking Glaceon who had appeared in the library's doorway.

"Caught her fondling him in the beanbag pile," the Glaceon said, rolling her eyes. "Assholes." Her expression softened as she looked at Umbre and Levi with a sigh. "Sorry you two had to see that, how are you guys doing?" She stepped aside to permit them entry.

Umbre smiled nervously. "Better than you, apparently. Levi managed to drag me along to eSports Club." She leaned in conspiratorially. "To be honest, Grace, I'd rather be doing that statistics project again with you."

"Oh damn, you're serious." Grace's eyes widened and the two of them burst into laughter.

Crossing their arms, Levi huffed, though a hint of a smile betrayed their attempts at looking serious. "Subtle as a brick, Bree."

Grace chuckled. "Have fun, you two. And hey. No sex, okay? I'll have to kick you out too."

"No promises," Umbre joked. "So Levi, where are these gamers I've heard so much about?"

"Computer lab," Levi replied, guiding Umbre past the aforementioned beanbag pile to a part of the library sectioned off by an ornate archway made of the same maple wood as the doors. The computers inside were the most contemporary-looking thing in the library by a long-shot--rows of thin silver computers contrasted against the detailed chairs upholstered with green velvety fabric and delicately engraved tables. Hypnotic spiders of rainbow-colored lights danced across a few of the computer screens.

The only active computers were the ones in the back of the lab, manned by a Raichu and Dragonite duo playing some dark-looking game featuring armored characters with heavy swords. A TV screen inset in the back wall ran a racing game, its display split into four and surrounded a small cheering crowd of about fifteen or so Pokémon.

Levi, however, ignored the action and beelined for the corner of the room where an Espeon sat with a small cluster of Pokémon on Switches excitedly chatting with each other. As the two of them neared the group, the Espeon noticed them and immediately lit up.

"Levi! 'Bout time. Was worried aboutcha," the Espeon said.

Levi flopped down in the chair next to her. "Hey Ez. Yeah, it took some convincing to get this idiot to come along with me. Umbre, Espen, Espen, Umbre."

Umbre crossed her arms. "'This idiot' came of her own free will, thank you very much. Nice to finally meet ya, Espen."

"Same here!" Espen flashed a peace sign. "The one and only EspenPlays, at your service. Welcome to the eSports club! That's Jess, Nathaniel, and Mikhael," she said, jabbing a thumb at a Gallade, Lucario, and Zororark in turn, who each waved and quickly returned to their games. They were all names Umbre had heard in passing, but she'd never met any of them. "I've heard lots about this legendary 'best partner ever,'" Espen continued, putting air quotes around the last three words. "Levi's words, not mine."

Levi shrunk down in their seat. "I stand by those words, for the record."

The Lucario--Nathaniel, Umbre recalled--snorted. "They absolutely REFUSE to shut up about you."

Umbre chuckled and found a seat next to Levi. "If it's all the same, they refuse to shut up about you guys too. Is there some cheating happening here I don't know about?" she teased, nudging Levi with her elbow.

"Not without consent," Levi replied, looking over at Ezzy.

"I mean," Ezzy said through held-back giggles, "I wouldn't be opposed. You just gotta ask. Maybe I can get at your partner too, you guys poly?" She smirked.

Umbre's first instinct was to say no, but not before Levi replied, "I mean. I am."

"Wait, what?" Umbre glanced at her partner.

"Did I never tell you that? I'm sorry, I thought I had. We've been together for a year, it had to have slipped out at least once... right?" Levi scrunched their eyebrows in concentration.

Umbre blinked. "Maybe... we should talk about this later?"

Levi gave her the side eye. I'm sorry, I thought you knew, they transmitted through telepathy. Are you mad at me?

No, it just... threw me off guard.

Are... you? Poly?

How would I know?

You guys know I'm a psychic type, right? Ezzy's voice cut into their conversation. I can. Hear telepathy. Like all psychic types. She glanced over at Jess, the Gallade, who was actively trying to stop herself from laughing. A simultaneous glare from both Umbre and Levi did nothing to shut either of them up.

"Well," Ezzy said, out loud. "We came to game. So let's game. Umbre, do you play Smash Brothers?"

Umbre blushed. "I've, uh, only ever watched Levi play it."

Ezzy waved her off. "You'll be fine."

*****

"That. Was so much fun. Thanks for taking me along!" Umbre and Levi walked side-by-side, away from the library, back to their dorm. "I still have no idea how I beat Ez though..."

Levi laughed. "I was wondering the same. NO ONE beats Ezzy--especially when she's playing Pythra. I guess you're just a natural."

"Eh, I'm more inclined to call it beginner's luck and button mashing." Umbre reached out and held Levi's paw in hers, interlocking their claws. She suddenly became aware of how the light of sunset had cast Levi in a gorgeous deep orange glow, making the golden leaves they wore seem to emit light of their own. "You know I'm not mad at you, right?"

Levi looked up at her. "I- I know."

They walked in silence for a bit.

Umbre took a breath. "Do you think she likes you back?"

"Is it that obvious?" Levi blushed.

They stopped, Umbre turning to face Levi. She reached out with her other paw, stroking the fur behind their ear. "The way you talk about her... had I known you were poly, I think I'd have picked up on it a lot sooner."

"I... I don't know." They averted their gaze. "It's hard to read her sometimes. I can't really tell how she feels about me."

"Well. Just for the record. If it ever ends up becoming a reality. You guys can date. I'm okay with that."

Levi perked up. "R-really? You're not worried I'll stop... stop..."

"What, stop loving me? Of course not. I love you, and I trust that you can balance things. Besides..." Umbre looked over Levi's shoulder. "Maybe I'm poly too. I don't know. But." She made direct eye contact. "No matter what, I love you. That's a constant. Understood?"

A shy smile appeared on Levi's face. "Yessir. I love you too, Sir." They wrapped their arms around Umbre's torso. "Thank you."

Umbre returned the hug. "Always."