Force of Habit

a short Nuzlock'd story/scene I wrote August 30th - 31st 2020.

Characters Rea, Allen, Barry (Nuzlock'd)

Word Count: 2,339

Content Warnings: vomit, drinking, hurt/comfort

I made some slight edits since it was originally written so its still fitting for their characters today. So yeah, keep that in mind.


Typically whenever Barry would sleep over, Rea would be unable to wake up in the middle of the night. Splayed out like a dead body dropped from above, the two late teens would lay interlocked at the limbs as if they had been fossilized with the Tyrantrums. Barry, a back sleeper, with his nose in the air and eyes ever so slightly ajar, truly giving off the “might be dead” look, while Rea in contrast would be flat on their stomach as if they'd belly flopped into oblivion. A sloppily put together sandwich when laid next to one another; a state of indescribable comfort, which warranted such ridiculous sleeping positions. One could knock at their door; or bang on it, or even stand above the two and they would be fast asleep, as for they had each other.

But for Rea, all it took one night was the distant groan followed by retching to send them scrambling from the comfort of their partner's lanky limbs and in a circle, before rushing to the source of the coughs. 

It was all automatic for Rea; their legs had moved on their own, hence the minutes of confusion before they finally made their way toward the bathroom. The light emitting from the crack of the door simply reaffirmed it as the source of the pained groans, simply spiking their heart rate even more than it already had. 

Water? Did they have water ready? No...but there was a cup in the bathroom they could fill to hold them off until they were able to scramble to the kitchen? Tissue? Should be in there too...Maybe a Sprite?

The questions whirled through Reas' head as they poked their head through the door to see Allen sitting in front of the toilet, one hand ruffled through his silky black hair while the other gripped the bowl like he was holding on for dear life.

Oh. 

It was just Allen.

Rea blinked, feeling themselves grow even more confused.

But why was he...sick? 

He must have noticed Rea watching over him as he turned his head in their direction and gave a weary look. Allen looked a mess; a cord of slime hung from his mouth and nose which made Rea’s chest tighten again.

“Shit, I didn’t mean to w-ake ya…” He slurred, giving a goofy, half-lidded grin as he raised his head slightly from the bowl. 

“Are...you okay?” Rea gripped the ends of their tank top desperately, feeling their breath quicken. “I-I can get you water.”

“Mmmhm. Water would be niiice.” Allen shut his eyes before leaning back over the toilet, raising one hand lazily in a “wait a second” pose. And then he heaved. Rea decided to take this moment to get the cup of water rather than to listen to it.

It took them less than a minute to return with a plastic cup full to the brim with a straw dangling inside. Shakily, the youngster held it to their friend’s mouth as he took lazy sips. It smelled pretty awful in the room, but Rea ignored it. They helped him hold the cup before going to flush the toilet for him. The sight inside nearly made them gag as they went to check it for blood or anything abnormal, but they shook the disgust away and unraveled toilet paper to give to Allen.

“Ugh..thanks.” Allen groaned, blowing his nose before wiping his face of the beads of sweat. “Didn’t think I was this fucked up.”

Rea kneeled on the floor across from him, watching him with wide, cautious eyes. He was panting, but overall looked okay. Conscious, maybe a little weak but that was a given since he just puked his life away. That just means he needed to stay hydrated.

Allen opened his indigo eyes and tilted his head, which must have been heavier than he expected with the way he jerked against gravity.

“Why are you lookin’ at me like that? I know, I puked a little on my shirt too. I’ll take it off.” He rolled his eyes, slumping in the other direction. “Just give me a second.”

“Are you okay?” The question came out incredibly small. Rea wasn’t going to ask at first, but...

Allen squinted. “Yeah, it was just the shots and chicken disagreeing with one another. I think it’s all outta my system now.” He took another sip from the water cup and hiccuped. “I’m drunk, Rea. Not dying.”

Was that all Rea needed to hear? 

The pounding of their chest and trembling of their finger tips seemed to suddenly calm as they finally let out a breath. They blinked, feeling awkward as they glanced down into their lap.

Allen has been wasted before, so it wasn’t anything new to see him stumbling around like an idiot. But it was very out of character to see him huddled near the toilet as if it was a life source.

“R-right. Okay. Uh…” Rea stammered, picking at their arm. “Do you need any help?”

“Eh, I think I can make it to my room without falling.” Allen scoffed. “Unless you insist on helping your buddy out. You seem like you wanna.”

“Want to” wasn't really the word for it, but whatever.

Rea stood up and helped Allen off the floor, allowing themself to be his armrest as the two inched out of the bathroom. He reeked of alcohol, more so than of whatever he had purged before. Despite the strong burning scent, it comforted Rea much more than the sickly aroma they had expected. Less reason to worry, to say the least.

“I really hope you didn’t drive here on your own, Al.” Rea muttered, helping their friend down onto his bed.

“I didn’t this time. I had Mufasa carry me here.”

“Is he still around?” Rea forgot he had befriended Entei.

“Nah, he went back to his pack. Just gave me an earful before about calling him for help over ‘stupid shit”, and then he left, heh. You're gonna try to gimme one too?”

“No. Just wanted to make sure you got here safely.” Rea patted his shoulder before heading to the bathroom to grab the cup of water. Upon returning, Allen was sitting, or er, leaning on his pillows, shirtless in his jeans. It seemed like he tried to take them off but gave up midway in the process.
	
“Thanks Rea.” Allen sighed, taking a deep sip from the cup before setting it on the small bookshelf to the left of the bed. “Again, sorry for waking yah up…Didn’t expect that to happen.”

“It’s okay. You’re okay now, right? Do you need me to grab anything else for you?”

Allen shook his head tiredly. “Think I'm just gonna go to bed. Might be sick again in the morning but...that’s normal.” He opened his eyes and looked up at Rea. “If you hear me sick, dont worry too much. It's just my hangover kicking my ass.”

Rea glanced toward the ground, feeling their vision get slightly blurry. “Okay.”

“Did I scare you?”

“I...I don't know. Kinda.” Rea blinked through tears as their body seemed to finally breathe. “I just heard you throwing up...and...I...its okay, I just got really worried.”

Allen’s face softened at Rea’s tense posture, which was a typical sign they were going to break down. “Aw fuck, I’m sorry. I promise I'm okay, I'm just a dummy who likes happy juice. I had too much of it and now my body is trying to get it out. It's only that, nothing else serious. It’d have to take a lot more tequila to do any damage to me.”

“Yeah, I know. I know, I just…” Rea scratched their head, feeling slightly overwhelmed as a sob caught in their throat. “I'm going to go to bed.” They quickly headed toward the doorway, feeling the sniffles arrive.

“Reaaaaaa, come here.” 

Rea froze in place before groaning.

“I know you're okay now. I-I just can't really help how my body is responding. I don't know why I wont stop.” Rea whimpered, staring at the ground as tears trickled down their cheeks. “These aren't sad tears or anything, I-Im just....” They weren't sure how to word it.

“I know. It's okay. Commeere.”

Semi reluctantly, Rea returned to the side of the bed and sat down near their tired friend, trying to wipe their eyes clear.

He sat up at the best he could and leaned over to give Rea a slumped hug. They hugged back, allowing themselves to take note of his stable breathing and heartbeat; he was okay. There was no need to be scared anymore. He was just silly Allen who drank too much.

“Did that help?” Allen asked before he laid back down on the bed, letting out a loud yawn.

Rea nodded, sniffing as they cleaned their face. “Yeah. Sorry for overreacting like this.”

“No, don't apologize. I didn't mean to scare the shit out of you like that, man. I’m so sorry.”

Rea shook their head and shrugged, forcing a laugh. “It's not your fault. I'm just...weird.” 

Allen gave them a sympathetic look. He wasn't going to force them to bring up why they reacted that way, which was comforting. He merely waved his hand nonchalantly and said, “Not weird, just a good friend. You took care of your buddy, and now you need to go get rest. I promise I'm okay, even if you hear me throw up again...its just something that comes with getting drunk.”

Rea smiled weakly before getting up. “Okay. Have good sleep.”

“You too. Take it easy.”

Rea walked back to their bedroom quietly, fiddling with a hangnail as they took gentle breaths. Hopefully Allen would forget how embarrassingly awkward they acted toward hearing him puke. When they reached their bedroom and climbed over Barry (who was still in the corpse-like position they left him in), they tucked themself next to him and did their best to return to sleep. He made everything feel a bit more safer, and less scary. Sighing, Rea drifted back to sleep. 


“REA’S UP!!!” Barry gaped, slapping his hands on the counter as Rea walked into the kitchen, yawning. He was sitting on a stool across from Allen, who was slumped over holding onto his coffee mug with both hands. The second Barry rose his voice, Allen clutched his head with a groan. “Good mornin’.” Rea meeped, taking a seat beside Barry. “Did you guys already eat?” “Not yet, I wanted to wait for you to get up. I made breakfast since Allen’s too hungover to cook for us.” He motioned to the plate in the middle of the counter that was a terrifying stack of sugary strawberry-filled, breakfast treats. Barry leaned into Rea’s ear and whispered, “He doesn’t even realize I cooked all of ‘em.” “Barry.” Rea hissed, jabbing him in the side. “What? It’s not like we’re gonna waste ‘em. And if you would’ve gotten up first, you would've did the same thing!” He scoffed. “No, I would’ve made waffles!” They chuckled tiredly before yanking two strudels off the plate and taking a bite. “But I guess these work…” “For Arceus’s sake, can you two please...use your inside voices.” Allen muttered from the porcelain, catching a glance from both Rea and Barry. The two of them looked to each other and giggled. “How long have the two of you been up?” Rea asked quietly, spreading frosting onto their toaster strudel. “About an hour. When I got up, he was on the bathroom floor half asleep since he ‘felt like he’d been stomped on by a Groudon’. So I had to help him.” “Help is a funny way to put it.” Barry gave him an innocent look. Allen raised his head and glared at him with annoyance. “All you did was laugh and proceed to step over me to piss.” “Well I had to go to the bathroom...” “And you proceeded to leave me there to make every fucking toaster strudel we have like a two year old. I’m not that fucked up, dipshit.” Rea snorted into their third strudel. Barry dramatically motioned in their direction with his mouth wide before dropping his hands with a pout. “You know what? Im not gonna sit here and listen to your bullshit.” Barry rolled his eyes before hopping off his stool with a couple of toaster strudels in his hand. “I’ve gotta head to the Battle Area for a meetup. I’ll be back later.” “Okay! See you later, beeb!” “Mmmrph!” He mumbled in response with a mouthful before rushing out the door. Rea smiled as he scurried off, turning back in their stool to finish off another toaster strudel. Allen was sitting upward with his hand supporting his face now, staring down tiredly into his coffee mug. “I don't think I'll ever understand what you find appealing about him.” He sniffed before taking a sip. “That's okay. I don't understand either but I try not to think about it too much.” Rea used the rest of the frosting for their last strudel and took a huge bite. Their response got a good chuckle out of Allen, which was nice to see. “Thanks for looking out for me last night.” Rea looked over and gave an embarrassed shrug. “Isn't it normal to just...help your friend when they're sick?” Allen nodded before looking away. “Yeah, but you were checking my vitals and everything. No one has ever done that before.” Rea flushed lightly. “Force of habit.” They muttered, feeling awkward again. Allen smiled softly before finishing his coffee. “Are you doing okay?” Rea nodded sheepishly. “I rather not talk about it.” They stared down at the crumbs on the counter and picked at them. “Well, not right now at least. I have to get ready to head to the lab.” Allen blinked before scratching behind his ear. “Oh, alright. Well, if you need anything, lemme know?” “Okay.” Rea beamed before hopping off their stool. “Thanks Al.”