Chapter Text
Eventually, Mono and Six calmed down enough that Rika and Katy were able to finish putting scar cream on both of them. After, it wasn’t long before the kids fell asleep, and the adults had to carry them to their room.
“Eh, wasn’t expecting that much of an answer that soon,” Rika sighed when she and Katy made it back to the couch.
"I wasn't really, either," Katy admitted, hands clasped tightly together as she sat on the other end of the couch. "I just... who could do that? Shoot a child?"
“Same type of person who’d starve a child, or burn them.” Rika’s leg shook violently, “Eh, don’t think I’ve seriously considered murder before…”
"It's... It keeps breaking my heart, how clearly they just... expect that at any moment we could do something to hurt them. I can't imagine what they must've been through to get to that point."
“Fuck,” Rika’s voice broke as she said it and the tears she’d been holding back finally started to fall and big fat blobs. She covered her face with one arm and leaned back.
Katy paused, leaning over to set a hand on Rika's knee. She was... really at a loss for words.
“Fuck, sorry, I need to be the other adult.” Rika squeezed Katy’s hand as she used her other arm to furiously wipe away her tears.
"No, no, you're alright," she replied quickly, "It's... this situation is, insane, I'm honestly surprised I haven't cried yet."
“I didn’t expect it to get to me this bad,” she mumbled, after a few deep breaths.
"How could it not? They're... I've never seen any people so broken, let alone children..."
“That’s… very fair.” Rika sighed, “Gods, I just want to help them.”
"Same here. I just wish I knew where to start."
“Me too. Though I think things are starting no matter what.” She squeezed Katy’s hand again.
"True... it feels like they're almost ticking time bombs of repressed emotion. We're going to set them off with things we can't even begin to anticipate."
Rika let out a sudden, hysterical, sad laugh, “Well I always wanted kids, didn’t think it’d happen so soon.”
"It's... definitely earlier than I'd been thinking," Katy murmured, her own laugh pretty downhearted. "Gods. How are we going to do our jobs with them like this?"
“Shit. No fucking clue. Eh, spring for the league is mostly admin and prepping for the treasure hunt in the fall, before all the summer conferences,” Rika said, thinking it through verbally, “Any day the league’s not open for challengers I could work from home, they could come to my apartment?”
"And I wouldn't mind them being at work with me, hypothetically, but I'd have to get them used to Eris and just, people, and they're so scared of adults that I don't think that many at once would be any good for them..."
“Agreed. Sticking with just us and maybe Poppy for the first little while, we branch out slow.” All the thoughts were coming in at once and making a traffic jam, “I was wanting to let them pick out their own clothes, give them some autonomy, but I don’t know how well they’d do in a store.”
"Yes, I agree... we need to get them acclimated to just... people, first."
Rika took a deep breath then began to laugh again. She turned to Katy and took her hand in both of hers. “The pancakes were delicious, I never got to say. Thank you.”
"I— yes, of course," she laughed a little in surprise. "Least I could do, honestly. And, a bit late, but... it's nice to meet you, properly. Not that I ever thought it'd be like this, but, you know."
“To be honest I was hoping to run into you at the patisserie sometime,” which was most of the truth, “Though, I guess that’s what happened.”
"Mhm. I'm glad you came to get someone to help, I can't imagine trying to deal with this alone."
“Neither can I. Eh, let me know if you ever need back up overnight, you shouldn’t have to handle the two of ‘em by yourself.”
"Right... I guess we'll have to see how it goes. Last night wasn't so bad, but something tells me it won't always be so easy..."
Rika quickly released Katy's hands. "Sorry if that was overstepping."
"No, it wasn't," she replied quickly. "I just... feel bad that I'll probably have to disrupt your sleep if I ask you to stay."
"You say that like ol’ Rika got any sleep last night." Rika laughed sadly, relaxing a little.
About an hour later, the kids shuffled out, barefoot but otherwise dressed, their pokémon in tow. Rika had gotten them each a pair of jeans (well, they were closer to jeggings than proper jeans) and an assortment of t-shirts, and she was pleased to see that she just about correctly estimated their clothing size.
It was interesting to see what shirts they'd both picked – Mono was wearing one with geometric pine trees with various bird pokémon flying on it, whereas Six had chosen a light blue shirt with a cartoonish cherubi printed on the front.
"How'd you sleep?" Rika asked gently.
Mono gave a little shrug, but he also smiled slightly.
"I'm glad you both got some rest," Katy stated. "I set up some snacks for you if you're hungry."
Six rubbed sleep out of her eyes and stifled a yawn. "Snacks?"
"Yeah, just some chips and fruit and veggies," Rika said.
"Vegetables," she muttered grumpily.
"And other stuff," Mono reminded her.
"Not a fan of vegetables, hm?" Katy laughed.
In answer Six just scrunched up her face in disgust, making Mono and Rika laugh too.
"It's alright, you don't have to eat them right now," she replied, taking a baby carrot to dip in the small bowl of ranch. "Vegetables are hard to make taste good."
"Can I try one?" Mono asked, looking at the ranch with interest.
"Of course! You're free to try whatever you like," Katy replied.
Once she relaxed her face, Six zeroed in on the fruit and popped a couple pieces in her mouth. As she chewed, she noticed the plushies Rika had unpacked earlier. One was a fat orange lizard with wings, the other was long and cream-colored mammal of some kind with brown stripes.
"Are these for us?" she asked through her mouthful.
"Yup, all yours,” Rika confirmed.
Katy peered over at the toys. "Ah, furret and dragonite, hm? Classic choices.”
“Figured they were universally appealing,” Rika explained, grabbing a couple chips for herself.
Six selected the long plushie and held it to her chest as she continued picking at the fruit on the table. Mono ate a couple of carrots, both with and without ranch, before looking up and asking, “Could we have some water, please?”
"Oh, yes," Katy stood to grab them some cups. "Here, if you want any more water later, you can refill it here by just pressing it here – " she demonstrated the water spout on the fridge door.
“There’s a faucet in the fridge door?” Six asked, having hard time believing it.
Rika stifled a snort as she resisted the urge to ruffle Six’s hair. “Yeah, it’s kinda fancy, eh?”
She nodded, taking her cup from Katy before sitting down at the table.
“Um, how long can we stay with you?” Mono asked after doing the same.
"...Rika and I have been trying to figure that out," Katy admitted. "I... have work, almost every day, which would mean I'm out of the house a lot, and I don't want to just leave you here on your own. I know you can manage yourselves, but..." Who knows what they'd get up to. "That being said, Rika also has to work, so she can't just take you over to her apartment when I'm away, either."
Mono nodded understandingly. "Okay. We'll leave tomorrow than."
"Thanks for everything," Six added on, ignoring the horrible way her stomach twisted at the thought of leaving. Stupid, she twisted her plushie, trying not to cry, They don't want us. No one would.
"No, no, that's not what we're saying," Rika said quickly, half standing as she did, "Eh, just... two days a week I'd be able to work from home, those days we can go to my apartment. Same with my two days off. The other three days you could come with me or Katy to work, that'd just involve being around other people."
"Yes, exactly. I want you to stay as long as you're comfortable. But you will have to be a little more accustomed to other people, other adults, just... existing near you."
Six couldn't properly repress a shiver of fear as she glanced at Mono. He grabbed her hand beneath the table and gave it a squeeze. "Will they have to touch us?"
"... No," Rika said firmly, after parsing through the question, "No one is allowed to touch you unless you want them to."
"And if anyone does touch you without permission," Katy added, "Anything short of serious bodily harm is an acceptable response. Just... no stabbing, or anything, but a scream, kicking, punching, whatever, is completely appropriate. One of us will never be far and we can come to help."
No, no, Six was not going to cry again. She buried her face in her furret plush and nodded, the movement fast and jerky.
"What if they're stronger than you?" Mono asked, his voice very small.
"Then we'll get backup," said Rika.
"And we're both pretty strong in our own right," Katy added.
"Yeah, Katy's a baker so she might be one of the strongest people in Paldea," Rika said, not even bothering to hide the admiration in her voice.
Something about the way she said that made Mono laugh, but more importantly –
"Do you think you could pick me up?" he asked Katy, hopping out of his chair and hurrying over to her.
Six perked up too. "Could you pick both of us up?"
"I can definitely pick one of you up," she laughed, "Let's see if I can manage both!" With how slight they both were, it was even less of a challenge than she'd thought to pick both of them up, resting them on her hips. "Oh, you both weigh less than a sack of flour, I can manage just fine."
Both Six and Mono squealed and giggled, holding onto Katy's shoulders and each other for balance. Rika was laughing too, one hand over her mouth to try and muffle the sound a bit. Holy wow, Katy's muscles were no joke. That was gonna be a problem for future Rika for sure.
After a bit, she bundled the two of them down to the couch for a softer landing sitting between them with a sigh. "How was that?"
Six was out of breath from giggles and Mono wasn't doing any better. She tried desperately to breath normally but couldn't help practically gasping for air. After a couple seconds she just nodded, grinning at Katy. Mono gave a thumbs up, then flopped backwards onto the couch.
A couple moments later Rika sat down on the final section of the couch, setting a couple books down on the coffee table as she did. Katy couldn't help giggling at how happy the kids were to just be picked up; in the brief bits of them smiling and laughing, it was like the worry settled on those tiny shoulders let up for just a moment. It was good to know that was possible, if only temporarily for now.
Still out of breath, Six gently poked Katy to get her attention and signed, “Can I see your bugs?”
Fuck, Katy didn't read sign well. And hers was... different looking, too, than she was used to. She looked between Rika and Mono, lost.
Six’s face fell.
“She wants to see your bugs,” Mono translated quickly.
“Sorry, my voice ran away,” she signed, hands small.
“Don’t apologize,” Rika insisted, “You have nothing to apologize for.”
"Ohhh, yes of course, you can see my bugs," Katy replied, "I'm sorry, I'm not very good at speaking with my hands yet." She stood, offering her hand to Six to hold.
Hesitantly, she took it and stood too, giving her a small smile. Mono got up a moment later and took hold of Six’s other hand, gave it a squeeze, then offered a hand to Rika. Doing her best to hide her surprise, but not her delight, she took it.
Katy stifled a laugh, leading the little train to her back door and opening it up to her backyard. Vol-au-vant was curled around the trunk of the tree in the corner. Butterfree, a few patterns of vivillon, and a beautifly sunned themselves alongside a volcarona and mothim. Everywhere you looked, a bug type pokémon had made itself at home in the afternoon sun.
“Woah,” Mono breathed, “So many butterflies, and night butterflies…”
“Moths, dummy,” Six said, voice suddenly back in order to bully him.
Gods, hearing the kids sound like kids was doing something to Rika’s heart. It felt like it was breaking and expanding all at once.
Maybe a dozen caterpillar ‘mons were making their way towards the group, gurgling out excited squeaks as they did. Mono’s awe at the pretty bugs took a back seat as his squeamish tendencies rose to take its place. He let go of Six and Rika’s hands without really meaning to, taking a couple steps back and shrinking in on himself.
"Okay, everyone, give Mono some space," Katy stated, shooing the caterpillars gently away from him. "Mono, have you seen caterpillars before?"
"... is that another word for worm?" he asked tentatively.
"Here, lets distract them," Rika whispered to Six as she sat down on the grass. Six followed her lead and held out her hands for the caterpillars.
"They're a type of worm," Katy explained patiently. "They're actually the baby versions of those!" She pointed to her butterflies.
"So, they grow up and become pretty?"
"Mhm! They go through a lot of change. See that there?" She pointed to a metapod, asleep in the tree. "That's a metapod. It's what those," she pointed to a caterpie, "Turn into before they grow wings!"
Mono giggled. "That how Six looks when she sleeps."
"Do not!"
Rika laughed hard at that, and then harder as several caterpillars vied for her lap.
Katy giggled too. "But, caterpillars are harmless to us. They'd be poisonous to eat, but they just want to be friends."
"Do people eat pokemon?" Mono asked, his eyes wide.
Six just cocked her head at him. "Of course they do."
"Well, yes and no," Rika said, unsure exactly how to proceed with this.
"We do, but... only parts that come off of them naturally. We don't kill them or anything," Katy replied, frowning in thought.
"Plus, nowadays most meat you get in the store is artificially grown anyways," Rika added. It wasn't the weirdest question for the kids to have, but it added more hm factor to whatever their past was.
"Like... cloned, meat?" he asked, looking even more concerned about that.
"Not like living cloning, just the meat."
"Oh."
"Mhm,” Katy chimed in, “I know there are some veluza and slowpoke farms, but for them, the parts that we eat from them just fall off naturally without hurting them, so it's more just... collecting it from them."
"I've done that with rats," Six said, matter-of-factly.
"Rattata?" Rika blinked at her, trying her best not to look horrified at what she was pretty sure Six was implying.
Mono nodded, once again doing his best to cover for her. The pokémon Rika was picturing looked almost exactly what they knew as rats, so it wasn't like he was lying...
"I, didn't think they could do that," Katy replied slowly, also trying not to look sickened.
“No, it was dead in a trap, so I ate it.”
Mono, was the one who wretched at hearing that, and Rika barely managed not to do the same.
"...Ah," Katy stated weakly. "I... I'm sorry you ended up having to do that, Six."
She just shrugged and went back to petting the caterpillars on her lap. Rika gave Katy a look she hoped could communicate the level of what the actual fuck she was feeling. Mono had crouched down and was doing his best to breathe slow and steady and not throw up.
Katy was equally very distressed, and it showed, so they were 3 vs 1 on that issue, at least. Mono seemed just as taken aback by the concept, so no answers were forthcoming at that point. What the fuck. What the fuck?
Oh, Six did not like the bad emotions coming from the adults, and she was hating that Mono was having them too.
“There wasn’t anything else to eat,” she mumbled, letting her hair fall in front of her face to curtain her off from them all.
“Eh, can’t say I’ve been there, but…” Rika’s hand hovered above her shoulder as she calculated whether or not to touch her, “Eating something is always better than not eating.”
"I don't think either of us are upset with you, Six," Katy stated gently. Especially if the poor thing had already been dead to begin with. "It's just, sad that you were in that situation where that was all you had."
Six offered her a weak smile. “Your pancakes are better than um, raddada anyways.”
"Well, I'm glad to hear that." Low bar, lowest bar, even, but still.