Reunion (A PMD: Gates to Infinity fic)

"Gurdurr's kinda scary..."

(Inspired when Speaker actually said this in my Gates to Infinity save.)

That was exactly what Speaker told Liz in response to what he thought of Gurdurr. Liz was furious, but kept her Vine Whip to herself. Instead, she spoke a little more, keeping her rage unnoticed.
"How about you meet up with him? He's a really nice guy, really."
"...I don't know..." Speaker said from inside his pond.
"Just let me call him! We have a little code thing established here." She carefully whistled a small tune.

At the Paradise center, the carpenter paused.
"Somebody's callin' me. Wonder what for..." He followed the sound, finding himself in an area where the Heartguard's benched Pokémon were hanging out. He smiled when he saw Liz, perking up.
"Ah, Liz! So, what's the matter?"
"...Speaker here wants to talk to you!" She feigned a cheerful expression, which was very convincing to most. She flashed an intimidating Leer at Speaker.
"Be nice to my dad, or I'm sending you on your merry way."
Speaker let out a soft whine.
Gurdurr sat down next to Liz, setting his I-beam down next to himself.
"Hey there, little fella." He smiled gently.
"...so... uhm... Gurdurr, r-right?" Speaker stammered.
"Yep. If you think I'm scary, I can be, when I'm mad enough. Most of the time, my pals gotta beat sense into me. Literally." He huffed and sighed, exasperated. Liz changed the subject.
"He might be a Fighting type, but he's really sweet."
"A-am not!"
"Then why'd you adopt the Timburrs and I?"
Gurdurr winced, hating the fact that he had been put on the spot.
Liz kept teasing him.
"You hug your kids every chance you get. That screams wonders. You're a really messy -also, cute- crier, you know that, right?"
Gurdurr blushed hard.
"I AM NOT CUTE!"
"Sure you aren't. You were an adorable mess when Verona kissed you yesterday."
"...you saw that... YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO SEE THAT-"
Liz exploded into laughter. Gurdurr covered his face, flustered. Speaker eventually started to laugh despite himself.
"See, Speaker? Big Ben here is a really nice guy. I love him to death."
"Ben?"
"Yeah, I go by Big Ben and Gurdurr," The Muscular Pokémon said warmly. "I can roll with both of 'em."
"Cool! I uhm... want to get out of the water, but..."
Liz solved the problem by picking him up with her vines, then holding Speaker near Gurdurr. He smiled.
"Well, hi, Speaker."
"H-hello, Gurdurr..."
Gurdurr scoffed and pet the Tympole fondly. Speaker smiled wide at that.
"Aww~! I knew you'd love him, Speaker!"
Gurdurr chuckled as Speaker nuzzled him. Liz set him back in the water so he wouldn't dry out.
"You're awesome, Mr. Gurdurr!"
"Ah, don't flatter me, kid." He turned somewhat to bare his scar.
"Woah! You're still building even with that?! That's amazing!"
"I s-said, don't flatter me..." Gurdurr had teared up slightly, not used to being praised with such sincerity.
Liz started a speech.
"Just because you love your kids doesn't mean you're not tough. Just because your faith faltered doesn't mean you're not tough. Just because you cry a lot doesn't mean you're not tough."
"...th...then... don't mind me, eh-heh..."
He shivered slightly as he cried, making sure to mute himself. Speaker jumped out of the water and landed next to Gurdurr. Liz used her vines to set him on Gurdurr's shoulder. He smiled weakly.
"I'm a big fuckin' baby..."
"No, you just bottle yourself up too damn much. Get your shit together, old man."
He huffed and wiped his eyes... but unfortunately for him, Liz had other plans.
"Liz-! Ha-! Stop-!" He burst into rich laughter as Eliza began to tickle him everywhere she knew he was sensitive and then some. His laughter brought smiles to Lila, the Petilil, Toad, their Croagunk, Zipper, their Blitzle, and Archie, their Archen, along with everyone else in the area who could hear Gurdurr's rich laughter. 
"Not so scary now, is he?" Liz asked Speaker.
"Not at all! He's so cool! So strong! He's just as you said!"
"He still suffers from self esteem issues, so praise him whenever you get the chance. It moves him to tears more often than not."
"Eliza-!" Gurdurr protested, only to be cut off by more of his own laughter. Daniel and Vincent arrived to the scene, wondering what was so funny. The two beamed at the sight of their boss and parent figure enjoying himself so much.
"Aww, dad! We need to go out more! Spend time here in Paradise with Liz! She always makes you laugh!"
"That she-" he tried to stop laughing- "-does-" -and failed miserably. Daniel and Vincent laughed along with him. These days were so good. The days and adventures they had together were so beautiful. Gurdurr's deep laughter was a beautiful sound any time of day.
"Love you, dad!"
"...love you too, kid..." Gurdurr panted breathlessly when Liz finally stopped.
Oscar splashed Gurdurr with Water Gun, prompting the Fighting type to whip around to look at him.
"What? You're still tough, right? It took a lot out of us to beat sense into you last time." Oscar said.
"Yeah, I can take it... most of the time." Gurdurr replied. He huffed, exasperated. Oscar chuckled a little.