Catchall for Domestic Post-Airlocked AU Shenanigans w/Mini

[jesustapdancingchrist]

 wtf am I doing

Comments

[tenimuho]

[...Oda thinks he knows what love at first sight means now.

The Pokemon sniffs at his leg. It's about a meter tall, larger than the tallest of dogs, and it looks so very soft.

Oda's hand hovers in midair.]

...Hello there. Can I pet you?

[The Absol looks up at him for a second, judging him based on his face and his scent, before nudging the top of its head into the palm of Oda's hand.]

[heartswapped]

[She's just gonna let you two get to know each other.]

Absol's a pretty good Pokemon. They can be a little tricky, but they're about as loyal as you can get.

[Also...]

Apparently they can sense natural disasters and try to warn people about them, too, so that's useful.

[tenimuho]

Perfect.

[He could do with a few more warnings... And someone loyal.]

Did they say whether Absol was a girl or a boy?

[She's a girl, for the record.]

[heartswapped]

I think she said that this cutie's a girl.

You gonna name her?

[tenimuho]

[Oda thinks for a second, before settling on,] Hisae.

['Eternal Blessing.' One that would last longer than two years.

He manages the tiniest of smiles.]

[heartswapped]

Well hello there, Hisae!

[Is she gonna give the Absol a pet? SHE'S GIVING HER AN ALL OUT ASSAULT ON THE PETS. HISAE IS DOOMED.

...oh no.

Looks like Elaine is... crying a little?]

[tenimuho]

Elaine?

[Highkey concern, smiles are gone. Even Hisae tilts its head in confusion, despite the petting.]

[heartswapped]

It's fine. Sweetie, I... I'm fine. I promise.

[She wipes a few tears away. She's smiling, despite everything.]

It's just... I never thought I'd be around to see this.

[Even Aria is stirring a little, but that might be hunger and not concern.]

[tenimuho]

[Oda hesitates, before resting a hand on Elaine's shoulder.]

I'm here now. I'm not leaving again.

[heartswapped]

[She hates this.

She hates knowing that a big part of why she's crying right now is Oda's own self-loathing being picked up by her empathy. She hates knowing another part of it is still, probably, hormones that she wouldn't even have had to deal with if she'd just been more careful. But most of all, she hates having had to be strong all the time for all these months.

She leans into his hand just a bit.]

It's just.

When I found out I was pregnant? I was so worried about never coming home again, and I thought... I thought Aria was going to go her whole life not even knowing what a Pokemon was.

[It's so stupid, compared to also worrying about her dad, but Pokemon have always been a source of joy in Elaine's life.]

We spent all those months trying to rescue you, and I wanted you back, I really did, but...

...just about every night I'd cry to myself because I wanted to just go home.

[She's home now. Why is she crying?]

[tenimuho]

I don't blame you for wanting to be home. Wanting all of this murdergame business over with. You have every right to.

[He doesn't think he was worth rescuing, but the other dead - he's grateful that they were brought back.]

You're home now. It's going to be okay.

[Hisae rubs her head against Elaine's leg.]

[heartswapped]

[She takes a deep sigh and pets Hisae, then kind of just...lowesr Aria down so the Absol can have a look.]

...you're a wonderful human being.

Has anyone ever told you that?

[tenimuho]

[Hisae takes a look at this baby human for a moment or two, before licking Aria's face.]

You're kind to say so.

[The answer to that question: people have, in various ways, and he's never once believed them.]

[heartswapped]

[Aria squirms a bit, but doesn't seem too troubled by this new development. It's almost as if they were destined to be friends.

She starts whining a little as Elaine pulls her up and wipes her face, though, so Elaine figures it's probably time to feed that pumpkin. She'll get started on that, but she's not letting it distract her from her dismay.

Elaine loves him.

She only wishes he could love himself, if even a little.]

Thanks.

...for everything.

[it's all she can really say about that, but she doesn't just mean for him telling her that. Honestly, she doesn't know if she could do all of this without losing her mind if he wasn't there.]

Can I ask you a few questions? You don't have to answer if you don't want, but...

[There's so little she actually knows about him, and it bothers her.]

[tenimuho]

I can answer.

[He isn't one to talk about himself. He cares more about what other people have to say - that might just be the way he is, even if he loved himself.

But Elaine wants to know, so he'll answer.]

[heartswapped]

Do you remember anything about whatever family you had when you were younger?

[She assumes, from what she knows about him, that Oda didn't have much of a childhood. That's horrifying, and it's also reason number 4000 she wants Aria to have a normal, happy childhood with no assassinations or anything like that.

She rocks Aria, who's still whining a bit even with her mouth full, as she ponders this. She has Elaine's eye color, but as the days go by and she looks like less of a potato, Elaine can sort of make out tiny features on her face that look, unmistakably, like Oda's.

What a beautiful little bean. But if Elaine went through months of hell to bring that bean/potato/pumpkin into the world, she figures she deserves to know a few things.]

[tenimuho]

[She deserves to know. And so Oda tries to give the best answer he can give.]

I remember my parents' faces, vaguely. I think my father was a businessman, and my mother would often go with him on his trips and leave me with a babysitter. I was an only child.

When I was ten or so, they didn't come back from one of those trips. According to the news, there was a gas leak at the hotel their conference was at.

[He's never found out if that's really what happened.]

[heartswapped]

[...so he became a child assassin. Aria has stopped whining for now, but it's replaced with Elaine frowning just a bit. Even if it's the answer she honestly expected.]

...I'm sorry.

[tenimuho]

It's okay. I don't mind talking about it.

[And it is what it is: he can't undo what happened.

He's learned better than to try that sort of thing, now.]

[heartswapped]

Would you... mind if I asked you about your friends?

[She remembers that he said he had to say goodbye to a couple of them.

He must miss them terribly.]

[tenimuho]

[He does and he doesn't. They didn't see each other all that often, they didn't open up about themselves, and one of them already betrayed him, but...

He was happy then, in that bar, clinking glasses with Dazai and Ango. He misses those moments.]

I don't mind. Have I said anything about Dazai or Ango to you?

[He doesn't remember. Space prison was a long time ago.]

[heartswapped]

...I don't think so, no.

[Aria looks at peace. It's enough for Elaine to say:]

And I think she just likes hearing you talk.

tw: suicide mention

[tenimuho]

[He looks fondly at Aria for a second, putting his thoughts together.]

Dazai Osamu... Was the youngest executive in the history of the Port Mafia. He's a genius, almost never wrong about anything. He takes heavy things lightly and makes jokes about serious things, and he was always looking for a way to die.

...But he was too smart, and couldn't find anything that meant anything to him. There's an emptiness in him that I couldn't fix, and neither could anyone else.

He called me a friend. When I died the first time, he was holding me, and he listened to my last wish. 'Go to the side that helps people.'

When I came back, he'd already left the Port Mafia. Because I asked him to.

I mean

[heartswapped]

[Elaine listens, for as long as she needs to. Aria stirs and groans a little, and it's enough to make Elaine need to adjust her position in the middle of Oda's story, but she's right: that kid does like the sound of Dad's voice.

But it does make her say one thing:]

...so you were dead there, too.

I can't imagine what it must have been like for him to see you again.

[tenimuho]

Difficult. But I didn't want him to not know I was alive again. He deserved to know.

[Despite everything they were - that both of them still are - Dazai is his friend.]