Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Blood dripped from Six’s mouth, the Lady’s powers flowing into her. Static crackled up her arms as she finally returned to her body. Somehow, this new power undid what the Thin Man had done to her. Memories flooded her mind, emotion welled up into her chest and spilled out of her eyes. She heaved and sobbed, screaming and shaking alone in the cavernous space. Her only company with the now withering corpse of the Lady. By the time she’d wretched and hiccupped her way into trembling silence, there was only ash and blood left behind.

Mono.

Where was Mono?

She pulled at her hair, trying to dig up her memories, reconcile them. What had happened in the Signal Tower? Why hadn’t Mono been with her? Had they split up to find food? Or shelter? Or had she not been able to find him after she got out? Of course. That was it. He must be still looking for her in the city. Or maybe he thought she was dead, since the tower collapsed when she escaped after dropping the monster the tower had used to torment her.

The monster who’d taken the form of Mono to trick her.

Unless…

But he wouldn’t have broken her music box. He wouldn’t have. Her Mono wouldn’t have done that. Couldn’t have.

Would he?

Six screwed her eyes shut, pulling the visual memories towards her. The ones that had been locked away. The distorted version of Mono that had fooled her at first.

Something was wrong. The memory was wrong. Like two discordant notes played at the same time. She hummed, the melody raspy in her throat. What was she hiding from herself?

Monstrous hands.

A curtain of hair.

A roar ripping through

Oh.

She had become a monster. The music box had turned her into a warped version of herself, had lulled her into a false sense of security and fooled her into believing a monster was attacking her. Or maybe that had just been her own stupidity.

Numb determination gave her the strength to stand up, dark energy swirling. She had the power to leave now, to destroy the horrible guests, to destroy everyone. She couldn’t save the children left on the Maw, but she could at least unlock their cages and kill their captors. Freedom would have to be their own choice.

As she traversed the Maw, Nomes began to gather around her, becoming a herd that followed her from room to room as she completed her ruthless crusade. When she finished, they trailed after her up the stairs and into the sunlight.   

Salt and wind cut against her skin, stinging her dry lips. The tip of the Maw was a rocky island, alone on an endless sea. There was no way out.

She was a prisoner here. Just like everyone else.

Six crumbled into herself, nails digging into her knees as she let out a silent scream, eyes burning with the effort to cry even though there were no tears left in her body.

There was no hope. There was no way out. She was trapped, and Mono was almost certainly dead. She’d dropped him herself. She caught him, on instinct, but then dropped him. Dropped her best friend, thinking he was a monster. She’d betrayed him.

A Nome gurgled and patted her leg. After a moment, she gathered up the energy to pull it into a hug. She didn’t deserve it, but the Nomes did. They deserved love, affection. Life.

The hair on the back of her arms puffed up, rigid as energy flowed out of her, swirling around her and the Nome and in a moment, it wasn’t a Nome anymore. It was a girl. A girl with long hair in a ragged white dress who looked just as surprise as Six felt.

“You, changed me back?” the girl whispered.

“I – back?”

“We’re all kids. The Lady changed us.”

Cold guilt filled Six’s stomach, her mind filled with the image of the Nome lying dead in the Maw below. It hadn’t been on purpose, she hadn’t meant to, but she’d still killed it. Killed them. Whoever they were.

But maybe…

Six grabbed the girl’s hand and pulled her back into the Maw, the pair followed by the rest of the Nomes. It took several wrong turns and false starts, but eventually she found her way back to the scene of her latest mistake.

The Nome was still there, in a pool of its own blood.

If she could take life from the monsters on the Maw, surely she could do the opposite. Surely she could bring the Nome back.

Focusing on the swirling energy inside her, the energy she’d absorbed with the Lady’s powers, she gathered the dead Nome in her arms and beckoned the rest of the Nomes to come near her. She didn’t know if this would work, or if she would even survive the process, but if she could do a bit of good, she would.

With a deep breath, she let it all release.

“I think she’s waking up.”

“Give her some space.”

Six sat up with a groan, clutching her head. She could feel her blood pounding in her teeth, and her lungs rearranged her spine with every breath. Two kids – the girl from before and a boy who seemed familiar – stood beside the mattress. She could hear other kids elsewhere.

“How are you feeling?” asked the girl, pulling on a loose ponytail.

“Bad,” Six mumbled.

The boy shuffled his feet, the manacle around his ankle clacking against the floor. Angry red skin peeked out from under a makeshift bandage.

Oh.

“I’m sorry, it wasn’t on purpose,” Six mumbled, eyes shifting as she tried not to focus too much on the wound. She felt nauseous.

The boy shrugged. “You brought me back. Changed me back.”

“You changed everyone back,” the girl said, “Some of us are working on figuring out how to pilot the Maw.”

Six nodded and slipped off the mattress. She didn’t know where they were, but she’d figure it out. She’d figure out how to get there.

“Where are you going?” the boy asked.

“Don’t look for me,” Six murmured, opening up a vent.

“But we have the whole Maw thanks to you?” the girl insisted, “We’re safe here.”

Six took a last glance behind her. “I have someone else to save.”

It was easy enough to find her way back to the library. Back to the room with the television. Was this idea a long shot? Yes. But it was the only idea she had. She’d seen Mono do it. She’d followed him. Maybe…

She knelt in front of the TV and turned it on. Some inane commercial that had aired long before she was born flared to life, echoing through the cavernous space. After a moment, when she could feel the warms and static on her skin, she pressed a hand against the glass.

Nothing happened.

“Please,” she whispered, “If you’re there, please…”

Under her palm, the picture distorted, warped into static. With a terrified laugh of disbelief Six scrambled to her feet and pushed her way inside, falling face first into a sickeningly familiar hallway. The air pushed against her as she ran towards the door, sticking to her like mud.

She jumped for the handle, her weight just enough to open the door. It swung inwards, revealing a strange room that was all too familiar to her, and a boy even more familiar.

“Mono!” she called, voice rippling the air.

Even though the room seemed empty aside from the glitching screens warping in and out of her periphery, she could feel, deep in her gut, that the flesh of the tower was watching. Waiting. But for what? Were they waiting for her, or for Mono? His hair fell in front of his face, his body slouched over one leg, the other dangling. As she approached, she could see his eyes were filled with static and his face was slack.

Did he even know she was there? Did he remember her?

A sharp dread crawled up her skin. She’d done this. This was her fault. If she hadn’t dropped him, if she’d been able to fight the Tower’s lies, she could have prevented this.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, voice hoarse, “I messed, I messed everything up. I was scared, I was s-stupid, I got myself caught. And, and you, I didn’t know, and, I didn’t know it was you, I didn’t know. I messed up.”

As she spoke she pressed forward, trying to close the impossible distance between her and her best friend. No matter how many steps she took she couldn’t get any closer. The warped wood beneath her bare feet grabbed at her ankles, bringing her to her knees. The skin split open, the smell of iron and salt permeated the room as she trembled in place. She was still so weak from changing the Nomes back.

“Six?”

She looked up, meeting Mono’s now clear eyes. “Hey.”

“Hi,” he murmured with a soft smile.

“I’m sorry,” Six all but sobbed struggling to her feet against the pull of the tower so she could throw her arms around Mono in a desperate hug.

“It’s okay,” he promised, “You came back for me.”

“I’m not leaving you again.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

The Tower began to shake as the two held each other. When Six let go to pull Mono to his feet and out of the room, the door she’d come from was gone. The televisions were no longer showing static but The Eye instead.

“We have to go,” Mono said, more fear in his voice than Six had ever heard.

Six took a quick, deep breath and took stock of the room. One of the TVs was still glitching. She pointed at it. “Can you get us out through there?”

“I think so.”

Mono grabbed her hand and together they raced to the screen. In a moment, his free hand was pressed against the glass, warping the static. His eyes were dark static, the Tower was crumbling around them as the flesh made itself known. Six’s own fear shouted at her to tell him to hurry, but that wouldn’t help. All she could do was grip his hand like a trap. Mono’s face twisted with concentration, sweat gathering beneath his hair.

Just as Six was certain they would die together, trapped in the Tower, her body warped into the television with Mono.

Static enveloped her, sickening warmth pulling them apart. But she clung to him, his limp body easy to hold to her chest as they tumbled through the horrible, unknowable tunnel between the screens. The flesh was here too. Mono twitched in her grasp and a shock wave of electricity pushed them out of the grasp of the tower.

They tumbled through darkness, falling into nothingness. The static was gone. Gravity was gone. Mono was unconscious in her arms.

Warmth. A presence. Not a monster, but not not a monster. For a brief moment, she saw it. A white and gold creature with nothing remotely humanoid about it. Somehow though, it… knew her. It reached inside her mind and felt her pain. Her fear.

Then it was gone.

The distortion around Mono and Six had changed. It was black and purple and crackled with red energy. And they weren’t alone. Strange animals flickered in and out of existence. A bird of some sort crashed into them, claws digging into Mono’s coat and hanging on for dear life. Something furry hit Six’s face, knocking her hood back.

Six could see land beneath them, shifting but slowly solidifying. Their free fall was slow, too slow to be entirely natural.

But then something else happened. A spike of electricity enveloped them, and then… darkness.

Chapter Text

Something warm snuffling against Six’s face woke her. She was flat on her back, cold cobblestones sapping the heat from her body. Shifting her hand slightly, she found Mono’s wrist and squeezed it. They were okay. They were together.

She sat up, rubbing her eyes and pushing the thing away. It protested with an odd squeak. Truthfully, the whole creature was odd. It was brown with red, scar like spots on its back and a cream underbelly. The other creature, the bird, was also brown butt had green parts too. Six had never seen a green bird. Both the creatures were so round, and, if she was remembering the word right, adorable. But that didn’t mean they weren’t dangerous.

“Psst, shh!” Six tried to shoo them away, but the furry creature just bonked its head against her hand with a trill. Why wasn’t it scared of her? She was bigger than it!

Well… it wasn’t important. What was important was making sure Mono was okay. He hadn’t stirred since she’d been conscious, but he was breathing which meant he was alive. After a couple more fruitless attempts to scare of the creatures, she shook him awake. Or at least tried to. Her efforts did nothing. He was out cold. What had happened in the TV?

It had been so fast as blurry and so horribly nauseating that Six was having a hard time piecing together her memories. What she did remember didn’t make sense anyways, so maybe she was focusing on the wrong thing.

Step one, find shelter. It was dark, but brighter than it had been when she’d been captured. It was early morning now, if she had to guess. She’d after to make good time before the sun came up properly, light meant it was harder to hide. And with Mono passed out, she was going to have to carry him, which would be putting them both at risk. But they’d be more at risk here in this alley.

Groaning under her breath, Six got to her feet then lifted Mono’s limp body off the ground. It took some effort and a lot of trial and error, but eventually she got him situated on her back so she could carry him and walk easily. Well, easier than carrying him any other way.

As soon as she stepped out of the alley it became obvious that they were no longer in the Pale City. Even in the grey, pre-dawn light the buildings were made of warm-colored bricks and weren’t yet warped like the ones she’d grown accustomed to seeing. How far had they traveled? How much did the TVs connect? Although, she hadn’t seen a TV near where she’d woken up, so maybe the transmission had been disrupted. When Mono woke up, she’d pester him about it. She needed to know how his powers worked.

Lucky enough for them, the streets were deserted. Not that Six wasn’t anything but careful anyways. Anything could be lurking just out of sight. Any second, a monster could come careening out of a door, burst through a wall, fall out of a window. Anything could break the eerie quiet of this morning in this strange place.

After climbing a narrow stone staircase, Six heard running water. In the middle of a large open area ahead of them was a simple fountain. Several strange birds, though different from the strange bird that still clung to Mono’s shoulder, bathed at the top of it. The furry creature, which had been following along at Six’s feet, trilled and scampered over to it to drink.

Six’s mouth was dry, her throat creaked. Water. Clean water was such a rarity. But clean water out in the open? Where anything could attack from any side? Was that worth the risk? Was it worth risking Mono?

It wasn’t. Except, if she didn’t take this opportunity now, when would the next opportunity present itself? Besides, she didn’t know how long she’d have to carry Mono for and that took energy. She’d sweat, she’d lose what little water she had in her body. The last time she’d had anything to drink or eat was at The Hospital. They’d had sticky, expired soda and ashy popcorn. A feast by their standards, but not one that left Six feeling hydrated.

The furry creature perched on the edge of the fountain – watching her, as best she could tell by its squinty almost closed eyes – waiting patiently for them to join it. Nothing had jumped out to attack it, or capture it. With a deep breath, Six crossed into the open.

Sprinting was hard with Mono on her back, but it was the safest way to move in such a wide-open space. Once she reached the fountain, she set Mono down and greedily scooped handfuls of cold, clean water into her mouth. Even her dirty hands couldn’t ruin how good it tasted, neither could the way it splashed down her chin and neck into her raincoat to soak her clothes. She drank and drank and drank and –

“Hiiii!”

Six whipped her head up, muscles tensed to hide or flee or something when she saw that the speaker was a little girl even younger than her. Like Six, the girl had dark hair and dark eyes, but she was dressed in a blue dress and bonnet and couldn’t have been more than six years old.

“Shhhhhhh,” Six hissed, beckoning the child over.

“Sorry,” the stranger whispered, circling the fountain to stand by Six’s side, “I’ve just never um seen other kids up this early! Is this your cyndaquil? Wow, I’ve never seen one!”

Even though the kid had started out whispering, her volume grew exponentially as she talked and Six had to shush her again. So the furry creature was a cyndaquil? Well at least there was a name for it.

“Is your friend okay?” the little girl asked, quiet again, head cocked.

Six shook her head. 

“Oh. Do you need help?”

“No.” Six bristled. She didn’t need to look after this loud baby. “Just looking for somewhere safe to hide.”

The little girl clapped her hands together. “The watchtower would be a great place to hide! I can show you, I don’t have to go just yet.”

Six didn’t want to follow this stranger, but what choice did she have? She needed somewhere safe to hole up until Mono woke up. Maybe even for longer if he wasn’t well. Decision made, she shot the girl a nod and hoisted Mono back onto her back. The cyndaquil hopped off the ledge, apparently intent on following her again.

“Follow me!” the little girl grabbed the hem of Six’s raincoat and set off.

It became incredibly obvious, that this child’s lack of awareness didn’t stop at her volume control. Her feet clacked against the ground, not helped by the black shoes she was wearing, and she didn’t seem to be worried about monsters jumping out. Her eyes were only fixed on the ground ahead, making Six work overtime to keep watch. What was this kid’s deal?

This new city was surrounded by a towering stone wall broken only by a huge arch way. Beyond it, a road snaked through grassy fields and hills, and rising in the near distance was the watch tower the stranger had mentioned.

“See?” the girl pointed, “That’ll be the perfect hiding spot.”

“Thanks,” Six mumbled.

The girl beamed at her. “By the way, um what’s your name?”

“… Six.”

“Oh! Cool! I’m Poppy.”

Six gave Mono one last adjustment. “Bye, Poppy.”

“Bye-bye Six!” Poppy waved with frantic enthusiasm that Six couldn’t understand, “I’ll see you later!”

She very much doubted that.

It wasn’t long before Six reached the base of the watchtower. The rusting metal ladder stretched up in front of her. How was she going to climb up with Mono? Could she hold him with one hand? She shifted him, getting the best grip she could given the circumstances, and began to climb. The bird flew up ahead of her, landing on the edge of the opening. It chirped encouragingly.

Six grunted at the effort, teeth grinding together and sweat forming beneath her bangs. She was so tired, but she couldn’t rest yet. Once Mono was safe in the watchtower, she could find food and collect water and they could hole up here until they’d recovered. However long that would take.

Gasping, coughing, Six pulled herself over the lip and collapsed on the stone floor of the watchtower. After a moment, she rolled Mono off of her and propped him against the wall.

Once she caught her breath, she took off her coat and wrapped it around him. To keep him warm, since he didn’t have his anymore, and so he’d know she was coming back.

At the bottom of the ladder, cyndaquil was waiting for her.

“What do you want?” she asked, burying her hands in her sweater.

It cocked its head at her. “Fyoo?”

There was a word for what this creature was, but Six was having a hard time remembering it. Someone had said it once to her, a long time ago. Before the Pale City, maybe even before the Nest. It was a nice word. That was probably why she’d forgotten it.

Cute. That was the word. It was cute.

“I’m going to go look for food,” she said, “Do you, wanna follow?”

“Fyoo!”

"Six?" came Mono's raspy voice as she reached the top of the ladder an hour later. 

"Water," she said by way of greeting, pushing the bucket she'd filled towards him before sliding back down to the ground to bring up the second bucket that she'd filled with berries. Then she went down a third time to carry up cyndaquil. 

Finely done with the ladder, she sprawled next to Mono, who was leaning limply over the bucket of water and slurping with the same desperate greed Six had felt at the fountain. The green and brown bird had become an orb in his lap, and it cooed when he rested his hand idly against it. Once she'd caught her breath, Six began devouring handfuls of the berries she'd picked. The juice clung to her fingers and cheeks, but she couldn't even care. She couldn't remember having anything this fresh before, this good. 

"Here," she offered Mono a handful, voice low out of habit more than anything, "Eat."

"Thanks," he mumbled. His hand was clammy against hers, fingers shaking as they closed around the fruit. 

Six kept eating until it hurt to and her stomach gave a warning lurch upwards, forcing her to stop. She’d barely made a dent in the bucket.

“There’s so much food here,” she said as Mono ate his berries slowly, like it took too much energy to chew, “And lots of animals.”

Mono nodded weakly. 

After a long quiet moment, Six asked, "Where are we?" 

"Mh?" 

"We're not in the Nowhere anymore, are we?" she clarified. 

"... No," he mumbled, closing his eyes, forehead all wrinkly with pain, "I don't think so. I can't feel the signal anymore." 

"That's good then," Six sighed, a cold relief settling over her. 

Mono giggled, then coughed and rasped out, "You're doing my accent again."

"Am not!" 

"Are!" 

"Not on purpose," Six insisted. 

"It's still funny," Mono said. 

The cyndaquil finished its berries then crawled into the curve of Six's torso. She flinched away at the unexpected touch, but soon relaxed again and began to idly pet it. Its fur was soft, though the spots on its backs had a tough, scar like texture and were hot, so hot that she hissed in pain the first time she brushed one with her fingertips. It trilled, seemingly content. 

"There's a town nearby," Six said, closing her eyes most of the way but keeping one cracked to watch Mono, "We'll need more than fruit." 

He nodded, his own eyes closing fully as he let his head fall back against the wall. As worried as she was, Six was happy to let him rest. Whatever was wrong, he needed to sleep to fight it. And now he'd drank and eaten too, so he was in the best shape he could be to heal. 

She tried to watch him sleep for several long minutes, but exhaustion was a heavy weight on her mind, pushing her to sink down into the stone floor and let her eyes close fully. She couldn't remember the last time she'd properly slept. 

Chapter Text

"There better not be any emails in my email," Rika murmured through her bagel as she sat down at her computer and opened up all her tabs for the day, "Fuck." There were, unfortunately, so many emails in her email. 

"G'morn'rika..." 

"Hey squirt," Rika greeted, leaning over so she could actually see the 5-and-a-half-year-old toddling sleepily towards her from the league's front door. 

"Time f'coffee run?" Poppy asked, turning hopeful rockruff eyes on Rika. 

"Don't think I've got time for that," Rika said apologetically, squinting at her emails. 

Poppy handed her her glasses. "I can go?" 

Send a five-and-a-half-year-old to get a coffee and hot chocolate? Not normally a good idea. But sending Poppy? Not a bad one. 

"Sure squirt, you know my order?"

"Caramel'atte with hassel nut," Poppy recited. 

"HAZELnut," Rika choked out with a snort. 

"Thas'what I said!" 

"Sure was, uh huh." 

"Gimme the card," Poppy made grabby hands at the locked drawer Rika kept the company credit card in. 

"Nah, coffee's on me," Rika said, pulling her own card out of her wallet and handing it to Poppy. 

As soon as the card was in her hands she was off and Rika once more had the lobby to herself. There wouldn't be any challengers for several hours yet if she had to guess, but it was important to her that she got through the daily backlog of inter-league communication that piled up during the off hours. 

For most of the following hour, Rika went through her emails. It was a tedious task, but someone had to do it. A little halfway through her inbox, she glanced at the time and her stomach went sour. Poppy should have been back by now. Where was she? Rika snatched her rotom phone off the desk and had her thumb over the call button before Poppy waltzed in with drinks in hand. 

"What took so long?" Rika asked, more stern than intended. 

"Oh! I made some friends!" Poppy replied brightly, seemingly unphased. 

Rika breathed out a sigh of relief. "That's, nice." 

"You okay?"

"Fine, I'm fine, just glad you're okay." 

"Why wouldn't I be?" Poppy asked, setting Rika's coffee on the desk. 

"It's a big city, I just don't want you getting lost, okay?" 

"I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself!" 

"Sure you are, squirt, the world's just bigger than you." 

With Poppy accounted for, Rika settled back into email hell. She sipped her coffee slowly, thankful that Poppy knew Mesagoza so well - and that Mesagoza knew Poppy well. She wouldn't feel safe sending her tiny friend on a solo errand in Levincia, for example, or even Cascaraffa (though she could be persuaded if she voordinated with Kofu first), but Mesagoza was built for kids on solo adventures, what with Uva Naranja Academy right there. Poppy may be a prodigy when it came to pokemon battles, but she was still less than six. 

"Miss Rika?" the squirt's voice cut through her thoughts. 

"Eh Miss Poppy?" 

"Does being barefoot help you with hide and seek?" 

Rika's hands stalled above her keyboard. "What?"

"My new friends were playing hide and seek, and they weren't wearing any shoes, so um, so I was wondering if that helps," Poppy explained. 

"I... I don't know, I think that would help more with sneaking, but with a traditional game of hide and seek?" her brain whirred as she tried to imagine a scenario that would explain the shoelessness, "Maybe they hid somewhere weird and lost their shoes." 

"Oh... that makes sense, they were really dirty." 

This time, Rika fully turned away from her computer. "What kind of dirty?" 

Poppy shrugged. Not exactly helpful for her understanding, but okay, New approach. 

"Do you think you'll see your friends again?" Rika asked, turning back to her emails as she racked her brain for any memory of a missing children alert. 

"Mayyybe, um, they probably won't be hiding anymore though." 

"Do you know where their hiding spot is?"

"Yeah! I gave them a really good one!"

"Why don't we go check on them after work?" Rika suggested, already pulling out her phone to send a text to Poppy's parents to let them know she could take her home tonight. 

"Okay! What if they're not there?" Poppy pouted, brow furrowed in almost comical worry. 

"Well then I guess we'll need to get in on that game of hide and seek!" Rika forced a laugh and ruffled Poppy's hair. 

The little girl gave her a big smile over the top of her hot chocolate, then turned to the door with an excited cry of, "Mister Larry's here!" 

"I think I can see her coat!" 

Poppy pointed, and Rika squinted against the golden early evening light. A flash of yellow that could have easily been an optical illusion. A few moments later they arrived at the bottom of the watchtower.

"Hello!" Poppy shouted, standing at the base of the ladder and smiling upwards. 

A head popped into view through the hole at the top, face obscured by shadow and greasy hair. Rika stomach slowly lowered to somewhere near her pelvis as her lung twisted up. It was possible this was a worse situation than she'd assumed. 

"I brought my friend Rika, can we come up and say hi?" Poppy continued as Rika tried to compartmentalize her anxieties and calm her energy so as not to spook Poppy's new friends. 

There was a pause, then the head disappeared. 

"I think that's a yes," Poppy said, tugging on Rika's shirt. 

"You go first, squirt." She picked her up and set her on the ladder to give her a head's start. 

Once Poppy was almost at the top, Rika climbed up after her. 

"Rika, Rika, this is Six, and this is Mono, and this is their cyndaquil and their rowlet!" Poppy introduced oblivious to the way both of the other children shrank back, eyes wide as soon as Rika fully pulled herself up. 

Arceus, these children were in a state. Blood and dirt and all manners of other fluid and substances covered their clothes. Obvious scars peppered their visible skin, old and fresh alike. Fuck, they couldn't be more than seven or eight years old and so skinny Rika could have mistaken them for corpses if they hadn't been breathing heavily, fear and exhaustion in their wide eyes. 

"Eh Poppy," she began carefully, eyes not leaving the two clearly traumatized runaways in front of her, "Why don't I grab some sandwiches for you guys while you hang out?" 
"Oh, okay!" Poppy said brightly. 

Rika slid back down the ladder, heart pounding. What was she supposed to do? Okay, okay, focus. Focus! She pulled out her phone as she began power walking towards Cortondo. Hassel was probably the best person to enlist for help. She tapped on his contact info and sat through the first few rings before it booted her to voice mail. Damnit. 

"Hey Hass, give me a call when you get home, I've got a... situation and I need an adultier adult." Yes Rika was almost 30, no she did not count as an adulty adult for this. 

Alright, second on her list was Larry. Approximately 2 seconds and a single ring later she had him on the line. 
"This is Larry, what do you need?" 
"Do you check caller IDs or nah?"
"Oh! Rika, what can I do for you?" Larry's customer service voice dropped directly into his normal, permanently exhausted voice. 

"Can you do some digging on any missing children reported in Paldea? Or anything like that?" 

"Planning on adopting?" 

"This is serious." 

"Oh. I'll get started now, if I can get wifi while flying." 

"Please tell me you're taking a taxi and not planning on pulling out your laptop on your fucking staraptor." 

"... I will get started as soon as I get home." 

"Fucker," Rika muttered, hanging up on him. 

She made it to Cortondo and made a beedrill line for the sandwich shop only to find it closed. Great, just great, was everything in this tiny town closed? A quick powerwalk down the street confirmed this. Fuck. 

Wait, there was a light on in the Patisserie. The sign on the shop said "Closed" but she could see someone moving around, and the door was open when she tried it. Normally, Rika would never be that person - she'd worked enough customer service jobs in her life - but this was a completely different situation. 

"We're not open right now," came a voice from the back as soon as Rika sent the bell tinkling. 

"Saw the sign, I know, I'm sorry, it's just a weird situation," Rika began explaining, an odd sense of deja vu creeping up on her, as the owner of the voice stepped into view behind the counter. Well, this wasn't the exact situation she'd imagined officially meeting the Cortondo Gym Leader in but, well, "Katy, right?" 

"I'm, yes, I'm sorry, we're closed," Katy insisted, balling up her apron with a scowl on her face. 

Rika floundered for a moment, hands dancing in front of her in half-baked sign language as she tried to formulate words, "Do you? Sell sandwiches? I met some homeless kids, and – "

"Oh," the baker's voice went soft, her expression falling into one of understanding immediately, "Yes, let me just grab some from the back, we haven't gotten rid of today's yet." 

She disappeared into the back leaving Rika alone in the deserted patisserie. A few moments later, Katy reappeared with a bag full of sandwiches and pastries under one arm as she struggled to pull on a cardigan.

“Here, let me,” Rika offered, crossing to her and taking the bag so that Katy’s hands were free, “Really sorry about all this.”

“No, no, I would have done the same thing.”

“… Thank you.”

“Where are the kids?” Katy asked, taking the bag back from Rika.

“The watchtower, Poppy’s with them. Eh, Poppy is – ”

“Yes, I know Poppy,” Katy interrupted as they exited the patisserie together, “I’m a gym leader, she did challenge me before joining the elite four.”

“Right, sorry. She’s with them.”

“How did you two find them?”

Rika explained the events of the morning to Katy as they made their way to the watchtower. As they got closer, she was able to hear Poppy’s voice, chattering away.

“These kids don’t seem very fond of adults,” Rika warned under her breath once they’d reached the ladder before calling up, “Sandwiches are here!”

“Rika!” Poppy’s face popped into the opening, “Oh, hi Miss Katy!”

“Hello Miss Poppy,” Katy said, beaming up at her.

“Can you ask your friends if it’s okay if we come up?” Rika asked. It was probably best to say everything out loud, right? Would that help? Her own experiences with traumatized kids were limited to, well, one. Two if you counted herself.

Poppy’s head disappeared then reappeared a moment later. “They said yes!”

Rika headed up the ladder first to a similar sight as before. This time though, the kids didn’t look quite so shocked. They were still eyeing her warily, but they didn’t look ready to leap off the tower in order to get away from her. Now it looked like their escape plan was to make for the ladder at the first opportunity. A much safer option.

The bag of sandwiches made it up first and Rika pulled it out of the way so Katy could hoist herself through the opening in the floor. She was able to pinpoint the exact moment the other woman actually processed the children in front of her, her face twisting through shock, horror, before settling into barely hidden distress that perfectly matched how Rika felt about the situation herself.

“Hello,” Katy began carefully, sliding the bag towards the kids like a peace offering, “My name is Katy, what are your names?”

The one in yellow poked one of the plastic wrapped sandwiches. “These are for us?”

“Yes, and Poppy if she’s hungry.”

As soon as the word yes had left Katy’s mouth, the two children each snatched a sandwich and Rika wasn’t able to fight the impulse to say, “Unwrap them first.”

With obvious unfamiliarity they pulled off the plastic, glancing at Poppy for reference as they did. It took everything in Rika’s power not to reach out to help them like she would for any other kid. Instead, she looked to Katy for some sort of solidarity and once again found her own feelings reflected back. What the hell happened to these kids?

“My name’s Mono,” said the boy, feeding bits of his sandwich to his rowlet.

The girl scowled at him but he just shrugged at her.

“Six,” she said after further silent arguing.

“That’s a very interesting name,” Katy commented, pulling out a marshmallow bar and partially unwrapping it before setting it near the kids. The cyndaquil, which Rika was pretty sure was shiny if she was remembering correctly, sniffed at it curiously.

Six just looked at Katy strangely. “Why are you feeding us?”

“Hey, Poppy and I needed dinner too,” Rika replied easily, grabbing a sandwich for herself even though she wasn’t feeling particularly hungry given the whole situation.

“I should eat something too, actually,” Katy agreed, hopefully catching on to Rika’s plan, “Rika caught me just as I was closing up for the day.”

“Closing what?” Mono cocked his head.

“I own a patisserie just down the road – a patisserie is a baker,” she added.

“A bakery?” he asked, still confused.

Six opened up her sandwich and pulled out the meat to stare at it darkly. After what looked like a moment's internal conflict, she put it back in and continued eating. 

“I…” Katy trailed off, looking at Rika helplessly.

"You've got some cool pokémon," Rika commented, turning her sandwich over in her hands rather than eating it. 

"What?" Mono asked, crumbs falling out of his mouth as he chewed. 

"They're just pretty neat, I've never seen a cyndaquil or a rowlet before," she explained. 

Katy began pulling bobby pins out of her chef's hat. "Have you two been to Alola or Johto?" 

"No," answered Six, eyes fixed on her. 

"Neither have I." Once all the pins were out, Katy pulled off her hat and ran a hand through her hair. For some reason, this made Six visibly relax. 

The cyndaquil finally left Six's lap and hopped forward to sniff the handmade rice krispy treat before picking it up in its little paws and shuffling back to her and holding it out like an offering. 

Six put down her sandwich and took it tentatively, like it might bite her. "What is this?" 

"It's like a rice krispy," Katy explained, "Just handmade." 

"What's a rice krispy?" 

"Marshmallow and cereal, pretty much." 

"What are those?" Mono asked, scooting closer to Six to look at the sweet treat. 

Rika glanced at Katy if only to check that she wasn't alone in the slow growing horror and fear, and sure enough Katy mouthed, "They don't know what cereal is?" at her with wide eyes. 

"Well, marshmallows are a type of candy," Katy explained, worry starting to show through the cracks of her voice. 

"Candy?" said Six and Mono in unison, faces a matching mix of trepidation and excitement. 

"Yes, I thought you might like it." 

"Can I have a risspy?"Poppy mumbled through a yawn. She'd scooted to lean against Rika during the conversation. 

"Of course, sweetheart," Katy said, grabbing another from the bag and handing it over. 

Six carefully split the rice krispy in her hands in half and handed one portion to Mono, then paused and asked, "Can pokemon have marsh um, mellows?"

"Some can, but I'd recommend not for rowlet and cyndaquil," Katy said, unwrapping another sandwich and investigating the contents, "They should be able to eat this." 

Mono and Six had another silent conversation, and after a nod from Six, Mono passed a bucket to the adults. It was about a third full of berries. 

"Eh, what?" Rika managed, glancing between the berries and kids with increasing confusion. 

"You shared," Mono began. 

"We share," Six finished. 

"Thanks," Rika said, taking a berry and popping it into her mouth, mostly to be polite. It was a little squishy, they'd probably been sitting in the bucket most of the day. 

"Rika," Katy said softly, trapping a slight giggle behind her hand before pointing at Poppy. The squirt had fallen asleep, the rice krispy still in her mouth. 

"Shit, I've got to get her home," Rika murmured, hoisting Poppy into her arms, "Are you - "

"I've got it," Katy promised. 

"Can I get your number? So - "

"Yes, just a second." She pulled out her phone and Rika's flew out of her pocket to bonk against it as she stood up and wrangled Poppy into a position she could carry her one armed. 

"Once I drop her off I'll text you." 

"Please do."

With that Rika turned to Mono and Six and gave them a quick wave. "Stay safe." 
Six blinked at her, then wave back limply. 

Chapter Text

Six was starting to suspect that these adults weren't Adults. Not in the monstrous way she was used to. Mono had said something about them being out of the signal's influence, could they have gotten far enough that it wasn't just children unaffected? Or, were they somewhere else entirely? Another world, or another version of the world? Another time, even. She'd heard kids talk of things she'd never heard of, places she'd never seen. Kids who'd sob and wail about a home they wanted to go back to. Kids who'd vanish come morning. 

The Nowhere was the only home Six had ever known. So the idea that there was somewhere to escape to was just some far-flung hopeless daydream. A daydream that got locked away with the nightmares. 

But now there was a decidedly non-monstrous looking adult taking apart a sandwich for two helpless creatures, and a second adult taking a child younger than they were to safety. It was too good to be true. Way too good. 

"What are you doing?" Mono all but shouted. 

At the same time Katy said, "Oh don't don't!" 

Six's arm muffled her scream as she tasted blood welling up from her arm. Reality confirmed, for a standard amount of pain. 

"Here, let m-" 

Katy fell silent as Six flinched away from her outstretched hand. 

"Can I take a look?" she asked. 

"It's only bleeding," Six dismissed, holding her arm to her chest and scowling at Katy. 

"Six," Mono whispered, scooting closer, "I think she just wants to help." 

"I'm fine." 

"It's bleeding really bad," he insisted. His eyes kept sliding to the nasty bite mark she'd left behind. 

She huffed and gingerly extended her arm to Katy, if only to appease Mono. 

"Oh, sweetheart," Katy murmured, "We should get this wrapped up... Merde, I don't have anything to dress it up here. Here," she shrugged her sweater off and wrapped it around Six's arm, "Put pressure on that until we can get it properly bandaged." 

Six sat, stunned for a moment before wrapping her other hand around the sweater. It was soft, warm. It even smelled nice. Her eyes began to itch, heat rising behind them until she was curled in on herself crying. 

Through the fog of emotion, Six dimly registered Mono and Katy talking but she was too busy trying to fight the tears to pay attention. Her arm didn't hurt bad enough to make her cry like this, so why was she sobbing? Why did her brain and chest hurt? 

"C'mon Six," came Mono's voice through the fog, "Can you climb down the ladder?"

She nodded numbly and clambered to her feet, hiccupping and wheezing, snot bubbling out of her nose as she stumbled forward. It wasn't easy to climb in the state she was in, but she'd managed it multiple times the other way without the use of one arm. 

Once she was sniffling on solid ground she didn't move until Mono took hold of her arm. It was hard to see, but she trusted him. He'd guided her like this before. It didn't matter where they were going, she'd follow him anywhere. 

Eventually, as they walked, her body ran out of both tears and snot but didn't stop trying to cry. It was pathetic. She was pathetic. Stuff like this would get them both killed. 

A door opened and the texture beneath her feet changed from dirt and stone to wood. She blinked at the sudden warm light, squinting and leaning into Mono for a sense of safety. 

"Let me go grab my first aid kit," said Katy, setting her bag down on a narrow table and hurrying further into the house. 

Six hadn't realized the adult was still with them, and she wasn't sure how to feel about it. 

Before Six could turn tail and bolt out the door, Katy returned with a white box with a red X on it. Well, it was sort of an X. She crouched in front of Six and opened it up, revealing a great many things she'd never seen. But she recognized some of it as hospital things. 

"Can I see your arm?" Katy asked Six. 

After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded. 

Katy unwrapped the sweater from her arm and rolled back the sleeve of her raincoat. The bleeding had stopped, but it still stung. For a moment, Katy just stared at Six's forearm and hand and the scars that littered her skin. Mostly scars of previous bites, but many that Six couldn't account for. If she tried to keep track of all her injuries, she'd go insane. 

"Ouch," she hissed as Katy dabbed some kind of liquid on the bite. She tried to wrench her arm away, but the adult held firm. The hurt redoubled as she cleaned away the dirt and dried blood off of Six's arm, causing the wound to start bleeding again. 

"You're making it worse," Mono said, anger trembling his voice, "Stop it, let her go." 

"I have to clean it," Katy said patiently, grabbing a roll of gauze and beginning to wrap Six's arm, "We don't want it to get infected." 

Six stared at the bandage, stark white against her grimy skin. 

"There we go," Katy said, closing the first aid kit with a soft snap before setting it on the table next to the bag that cyndaquil was now crawling out of. 

The house was warm, but not oppressively so. A safe sort of warm, like the lights overhead. It was all clean too. Six had never seen anything so clean. Everything was intact, there was no dust. The mirror on the wall wasn’t broken.

"Urrrr?" 

Another of those things, pokémon, toddled into the entryway. It was bigger than rowlet and cyndaquil, but smaller than Mono and Six, with brown fur and round ears. 

"Oh, ma bébé," Katy cooed, scooping the creature into her arms, “Je suis vraiment désolé, pardonne-moi.”

"What kind of pokemon is that?" asked Mono. 

"Oh? This is Profiterole, she's a teddiursa, and a spoiled brat." 

"Saaa!"

"You are!"

Profiterole growled but snuggled in closer. 

"You act like Eris taking you home and not seeing me for an hour is the worst thing in the whole world." 

"Sa," Profiterole agreed, making Katy giggle. 

"Do you two want to sit down?" she asked, setting the teddiursa down. Rowlet flew from Mono's shoulder to settle on Profiterole's head. Briefly it puffed out its feathers, becoming even more round before letting out a content hroo as it closed its eyes.

"Why?" Six asked, eyes narrowing under the weight of suspicion. 

"Just that you don't need to stand if you don't want to," she elaborated, "You look exhausted." 

Six was about to protest, say "We're fine" but then she looked at Mono, at the way he swayed ever so slightly. 

"Where do you want us to sit?" was what she said instead. 

"Wherever you like, the couch is just over here." She beckoned them a little further into the house and gestured to the living room where there was a pastel green couch. It looked comfortable, with its pillows and blankets. It wasn't like any she'd seen in the Nowhere, and not just because of the color. The shape of it was very different, in a way she couldn't quite put her finger on. New was the only word her brain was giving her. Tentatively she sat on it.

Mh. Comfy. 

“Mon-” she began but before she'd even processed the flat, black screen opposite the couch Six let out a scream that tore her stomach and throat in two. A cold, familiar hand caught hold of her wrist, keeping her from rushing it, smashing through the glass with her white-knuckle fists. She thrashed against his grip, kicking, still screaming. 

"What is it? What's the problem, show me the problem," came Katy's voice through the fog of fear and anger. 

"The TV," Mono said, voice hoarse and trembling, "It's the TV." 

With a rush of words in that other language she kept speaking, Katy grabbed a blanket off the couch and threw it over the TV then quickly adjusted it so it was fully obscuring the screen. Six went quiet, then limp, sinking into Mono and letting him settle her back onto the couch.

Her eyes stayed fixed on the television, even though it was hidden. She didn't like that it was still there. Logically, she knew he couldn't hurt her anymore. He was gone. Dead. Mono had killed him. She'd used a television to get to Mono. They'd used a television to get here. So why...

"Are you okay?"

Six blinked. Katy was crouched in front of her - not too close, but near enough to touch even though she wasn't touching her. 

"Fine," she lied. 

"I'll keep it covered, okay? I can even move it out of the room if you'd like." 

"Covered is okay." She could put up with it. She didn't want to be an inconvenience, that could get her killed. 

Cyndaquil and Profiterole had followed them into the living room. Rowlet fluttered over to rejoin Mono, landing on his shoulder, and Profiterole climbed easily onto the couch, staring at the kids with a mixture of jealousy and concern (at least, as far as Six could tell). Her cyndaquil was bumping its snout against her foot, its little arms waving at her as it struggled to try and get on the couch too. Six reached down and picked it up, settling the soft brown pokémon on her lap. It rumbled happily as she ran her hands through its fur. 

"Would you like to stay here for the night?" Katy asked, her voice still so gentle it scared Six. 

She glanced at Mono, seeing the same resistance she felt in his eyes. They were vulnerable right now, out of their depth. Easily manipulated. 

"What if we say no?" she asked. 

"Well, I'd make you take some blankets and pillows back to the watchtower, it didn't seem like you had anything to keep warm up there." 

"I'd be okay staying." 

Six whipped around to stare at Mono. He'd said it so easily, so simply. With a slight, tired smile he grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Six stared at their joined hands, at the white bandage on her arm. She glanced up at the now hidden TV. 

Turning back to Katy, she nodded. "We'll stay."

“Please don’t feel like you have to,” Katy insisted, appearing just as shocked as Six that the kids seemed receptive to the idea.

“It’s safer to stay.” The house was warm. Warmth was a luxury. Katy had food. Food was a necessity. If Pokémon were anything like the wildlife Six was used to, the fact that they reacted well to the adult was a sign that she and Mono weren’t in danger.

"Would either of you like a shower? Or a bath? Or...?" Katy asked. Her eyebrows were all scrunched together, but not in an angry way. She wasn't sure how, but Six could tell she wasn't angry. It was a different, wetter emotion. 

"With, warm water?" Mono’s voice cracked as he turned wide, hopeful eyes on Katy.

"Of course, why..." The adult fell silent, lips disappearing into a frown. "Yes, with warm water." 

Six felt rather than saw Mono look at her. She nodded, a jerky twitch of a gesture. Being able to bathe without freezing to death was a luxury, a fantasy. Being able to get clean at all was a rarity, and more often than not just something that happened from getting soaked in rain or ice like water without warning or choice. 

"Follow me, then," Katy said, standing up and leading the way further into the house. 

Hand in hand, Six and Mono followed.

For her part, Six let Mono worry about doing the actual following as she took in the room around her as they walked. There was an upright piano to the left, against a wall, and bookshelves on the opposite wall. Ahead was a dining table in front of a big window, surrounded by chairs. It was all a mix of that new style and older stuff Six recognized. Cozy, was almost the word she wanted to use. She would if she felt comfortable.

Katy led them into an alcove of sorts with two doors, one of which they went through. It was darker in here, but she flicked on a light, allowing them to see that it was a bedroom. They didn’t stay there long enough for Six to take in everything, or anything really except the bed and its pretty blanket that had leaves and butterflies on it.

Through another door and another flick of the lights was the bathroom, and it too was clean and had that same mixture of new and familiar. The metal on the bathtub and sink was yellow, gold. Gold was the word Six was looking for. Katy opened a glass door Six hadn’t noticed at first and leaned into the bathtub – oh! It was a shower too, Six had heard about those – and turned on the water and reached down to make it so the water stopped draining so the tub began to fill. 

“I’ll, ah, leave you to it. You can use any of my bath stuff, alright?” Katy gave another strained smile before slipping out and closing the door behind her, leaving the kids alone with the running water.

After a moment, Six tried the door. It opened. She closed it again.

“It locks on this side.” Mono pointed to the little lock on the knob.

She locked it. Then, she unlocked it again. Easier for them to escape. Just in case.

As they undressed there was soft movement in the bedroom outside, then a soft knock followed by Katy's voice. "I've got some t-shirts for you to change into. They'll be more like nightgowns, but they're clean." 

Six opened the door after a quick, silent conferring with Mono. Sure enough, Katy simply handed her some folded, soft cloth, her eyes only briefly widening and her lips pursing. Was it something about the way she looked? Six briefly glanced down at her body. She wasn't missing any limbs, although her pale body was littered with scars and bruises. But that was normal. Wasn't it?

"Let me know if you need anything," Katy said, her words more of a breath than anything else as she stepped away. 

Her own brows knitting much like the adult's, Six closed the door again. 

"She gave us clean clothes?" Mono asked, taking one of the shirts from Six, "Why?"

"Dunno."

Six set her shirt on the sink counter then climbed into the bath as Mono did the same and followed in after. The water was warm, almost hot but not quite enough to be uncomfortable. Six watched as the dirt and grime flaked off her skin, floating to the top of the clear water, making it cloudy. Mono grabbed a bar of soap off a little shelf and began washing himself. 

She'd never seen someone use soap before. It was mesmerizing to watch the bubbles form against his skin and mix and disappear into the water, making it a different sort of cloudy where the bubbles went to drown. Mono ducked his head under the water and Six, after her heart restarted after the brief, paralyzing fear of him not being able to breathe passed, giggled at how silly he looked rubbing the soap against his hair and face. 

When he was done, he handed the bar of soap to her. It smelled... warm. Sweet in the way fruit did, but not in the sick, rotting way she was used to. More like flowers, or grass then.

“Do you, know how to use soap?” Mono asked tentatively.

“Like this?” She mimicked what she’d seen him do.

“Yeah, and you just, yeah,” he ghosted his hand over his own body, miming the movements, “Yeah you’ve got it.”

“It’s hard to grab,” Six complained once she’d reemerged from cleaning her face and hair, “Everything stings now.”

“The soap finds all your cuts and stuff,” Mono agreed, nodding absently.

Once Six was fully clean, something she hadn’t experienced since the Nest (and shuddered to remember), she was at a loss for what to do. The water was warm still, the bathtub full now. It was nice, to sit in the water with Mono. But her mind kept drifting to earlier, to everything. So much had happened. Even without monsters chasing them, she was exhausted.

Six swirled her hand through the water, watching the particles swirl. There was so much she didn’t know, so much information she couldn’t even imagine understanding, let alone finding. But she could start with what she could.

“Why did you say yes?”

“Huh?” Mono looked up from poking around mysterious bottles lined up on a shelf.

“To staying.”

“Oh.”

“Why?”

“Because she helped you,” Mono murmured, sticking his hand under the faucet, “She… cares about us. Both of them.”

Right, the other adult. For some reason, Six was better able to believe that the first adult cared than the other one. Something about the way she’d looked at them when she’d seen them in the watch tower. Not fear, or pity. It was like… some sort of recognition. Six didn’t trust either of them, not even a little, but understanding was safer than pity. Than worry. Katy was worried about them, while Rika seemed to understand.

“How do you know?” Six asked eventually.

“I just… do.” He shifted, shoulders turning away from her, mouth screwed up.

“How.” Not a question, a demand.

“I…” Mono grabbed his wet hair, fingers tangling in it, “Just, a feeling.”

Just a feeling. Right. “With your mind.”

Mono made a strangled noise, water splashing as he turned to Six. Why was he scared?

“You sense things,” she tapped his forehead softly with one finger, “I know.”

“You, do?” He seemed surprised. Relieved, even.

She shrugged and said, “Saw it. Saw you use it. Didn’t know it worked on people.”

“Yeah, it’s… it’s how, um, I found you,” he mumbled. He was playing with his fingers now, holding his hands against his chest.

Six opened her mouth to ask when but then realized. The school. The tower. She’d wondered how he’d found her, if it had just been an accident. A happy one, but an accident.

“You, went looking for me?” she asked, not quite believing it.

“Yeah,” Mono said without hesitation, “You’re my first priority.”

Six scoffed and shoved him, even as she felt like crying. “Dummy,” Her chest felt all warm and fragile. Like her ribs were made of glass and her stomach was a furnace. “… Stupid.”

“I’ll look after you, you look after me, deal?” Mono was grinning his goofy, gap toothed smile.

“Deal.”

Chapter Text

About an hour later, Six and Mono shuffled out of the bathroom, hair dripping slightly and dressed in the too big t-shirts Katy had given them. 

They emerged to the smell of sugar and chocolate in the air, and Katy in a robe over a long nightgown, pulling a batch of chocolate chip cookies from the oven. The sight of them a little more cleaned up brought a tentative smile to her face.

“Um, Miss Katy..?” Mono asked tentatively, leading Six over by the hand, “Her bandage got wet, is that.. okay?”

"I should probably change it before you go to bed, but it's fine for now as long as it isn't bothering you. How do you two feel?"

"Clean, thank you," Mono said, smiling at her, "I haven't been clean in..." he had to actually think. When was he last clean?

"What's that?" Six pointed at the cookies.

"Well, I'm glad that you've gotten the chance to freshen up," she replied, smiling. "These are chocolate chip cookies! They're a sweet I like a lot. I tend to bake when I have a lot on my mind. Would either of you like one?"

Now that the kids had reemerged, rowlet and cyndaquil flew and scurried (respectively) into the kitchen. Rowlet settled on Mono's head with a little hoot, letting its feathers puff out to become even more orblike. Meanwhile, cyndaquil bonked against Six's ankles as she peered at the cookies.

"Like the marsh mellow things?" Mono asked.

"Why are you feeding us again?" Six asked at the same time.

"Sort of," she replied in answer to Mono. "I... well. I like making food, really, is all. You don't have to eat if you don't want to, I promise, it's just there if you want it."

Knock knock!

Before the second knock had sounded both Six and Mono disappeared into the kitchen cabinets.

"I... okay." Katy sighed, going to get the door and pulling her robe more securely around her. "Hello, Rika...! They heard the door knock and hid themselves, so... we'll see how this goes."

“That sounds right,” Rika said with a knowing frown as she stepped inside and loosened her tie. “Got the medical supplies,” she handed one bag to Katy, “And the clothes. Where do we think they’re hiding?”

"Kitchen," she replied in a quiet voice, leading Rika into her living space before raising her voice a little. "Rika from earlier's come over again, she's dropping off some stuff for you!"

“Just thought you could use some underwear,” Rika said, setting the bag down on the island.

After a couple moments, Mono crawled out of one of the cabinets and dusted himself off. Behind him, Six’s hand darted out and closed the door on herself.

“That’s very nice of you,” Mono said, in a voice that would probably be more at home addressing a violent pokémon, “Um, is there anything I um, we could…” he glanced nervously at the cabinet where Six still was.

“Could you grab me a cookie?” Rika half-sat on a barstool, letting her hands settle back in her pockets. She was doing her best to appear relaxed, hopefully that was working.

"Oh, of course." Katy moved into the kitchen to pass her one. "If you wanted a place to change, I could show you and Six the room you'll be staying in? It's just my guest bedroom, but I hope it'll do."

Rika had been asking Mono, to give him some way to be of use, but she wasn’t going to say that out loud while the kids were still in the room.

“Thanks,” Rika smiled at Katy before turning back to Mono, “Y’know one time, when ol Rika was maybe 6? 7? About your age-”

“I’m 10.”

It was very hard to keep her absolute horror hearing that off her face, but she pressed on. “Younger than you then, I spent a whole afternoon wedged between my bed and the wall so my mom wouldn’t find me.”

Mono nodded thoughtfully.

Well, she’d been expecting a why…

Ten? They were that old and still that small. Arceus, they'd been through something intense. Across the counter from Rika, back to Mono, Katy's visibly distressed expression was obvious as she mouthed "Ten?!"

Yeah Rika was feeling about the same, but she was trying not to show it. She just hoped Katy could tell.

“At least I think I am,” Mono said, despite her not saying it aloud.

“Eh, elaborate on that?”

He just looked at her quizzically for a beat before he turned his head slightly, as if hearing something.

“Um… do either of you collect dolls?” he asked after a tense second.

"Dolls...? No, I can't say I do..." Katy replied slowly. "...Why?"

“Uh…” Mono glanced back at the cabinet, “Six is… scared of them.”

At that the cabinet opened slightly and she crawled out.

“I’m not scared of them.”

“You two wanna help me do the dishes?” Rika asked, setting her uneaten cookie on the counter. There weren’t that many dishes, she could do it by herself in less than five minutes, but these two were clearly used to transactional interactions. So she’d give them a transaction.

The two kids shared a look and Six signed something to Mono. It wasn’t quite a sign language Rika knew but based on what she did recognize, and context, it was most likely “What does she mean?”

“Since Katy made cookies,” Rika elaborated.

"It, just means to clean the dishes so they're ready to use later," Katy tacked on the further details at their continued confusion.

Six stared at the adults with something akin to alarm but the emotion quickly left her face as she gave a sharp nod and headed towards the sink with Mono in tow.

“I’ll wash you two dry, eh?” Rika said, pulling off her gloves and setting them on the counter.

It was Mono who noticed her scars first, his eyes lingering on them as one hand, his scarred hand ghosted across the scar that took up most of the right side of his face.

Six, meanwhile, was preoccupied with the dish towel hanging by the sink. After a moment, she took and turned to Katy. “I can use this?”

"Mhm! I'll work on putting these away in a tin." Katy replied, gesturing to the cookies. "Thank you for the help, you three."

It really was overkill to have three people doing the dishes, but it seemed at a glance that her plan was working. Six at least, seemed more relaxed with something to do with her hands. It was obvious the neither of the kids had ever done the dishes before, which was throwing several wrenches into Rika’s calculations of what had happened to them. Well, less throwing wrenches and more pointing directly to the worst-case scenarios. All in all, the dishes only took a couple of minutes to get done.

“Do you need any more help?” Mono asked, approaching Katy tentatively. Six dried her hands on her shirt and went to investigate the bag of clothes on the counter.

"No, I've got things just about taken care of," she replied, giving him a little smile.

"Urrr?"

"Profiterole, please," Katy sighed, hoisting the little bear into her arms again. "You're so needy, you know that?"

"Urrrrsa."

"Profiterole is its name, right?" Mono asked, his hand hovering at his side like he was considering petting her, "And the kind of pokémon it is is um, a teddy-er-sa?"

"Yes, it's her name," she replied, smiling and kneeling closer to Mono's height, though still a safe couple feet away. "That's right, teddiursa! She's very sweet, but a bit of an attention hog. Say hi, Profiterole." Profiterole reached out curiously toward Mono, claws tucked away.

Mono took a step closer and reached his hand out cautiously for Profiterole to sniff.

"Saaaa!" Profiterole carefully sniffed at his hand, before licking it once. "She likes you," Katy giggled.

Meanwhile, Six was sorting through the clothes with a subtly puzzled expression. She looked up at Rika with suspicion in her eyes. “Why’d you bring us so many clothes?”

"It's just some basics," Rika explained, "On the house."

"They're on the counter."

Mono giggled at Profiterole and began to scratch her ears. "Is she going to get big?"

"She is! One day, she'll evolve into an ursaring. They're even taller than I am! She'll look more or less like a bigger version of herself."

Profiterole was, of course, loving the new attention, and leaned into his touch like a little whore with a happy "Urrr!"

"You'll keep her inside, right?" Mono asked, suddenly worried, "So she doesn't get shot?"

"Or caught in a trap?" Six added, now holding up both pajama shirts and looking at the pokémon printed on them. Seemingly unaware how what she said sounded, she held out the one with frog-mons on it to Mono, "These ones look like you."

"Shot? Oh, goodness, I don't think anyone would do that!" Katy replied, mouth falling open in shock. "Pokémon are given a lot of respect out in the wild, we don't mess with them unless we try to catch one. And we certainly don't catch them with traps."

"So you bait cages?" Mono asked.

"At least that's more humane."

Well now it was Rika's turn to look at Katy in horror since the kids had their backs to her. What the fuck? she signed, and mouthed for good measure.

"I.... not quite, no," Katy replied slowly, trying hard not to show her level of alarm. "Here, let me show you." She set Profiterole down, who promptly toddled closer to Mono to get more pets, as she went to fetch her pókeball in Katy's chef coat pocket before returning to sitting in front of Mono. "This is what we catch them in, they're called pókeballs. They're... a little complicated, but... ma bébé, is it okay if I put you in for a second?"

"Urrr."

She pulled Profiterole back into the ball, then immediately released her. "It doesn't hurt them, it just makes them tiny so they fit better. And if they don't want to be in there, they're more than capable of letting themselves out. When you catch a pokémon for the first time, they choose then whether or not they want to be caught at all."

Six looked like she had half a mind to smash the pokéball, but before she could cyndaquil scurried over to Katy excitedly and strain its little paws out for the ball. Rowlet too fluttered off Mono's head to peck curiously at it.

"Do they like the balls?" Mono asked.

"Some do, some don't," she replied. "It seems this little one likes the idea." She reached out to give the cyndaquil a pat. "Profiterole likes hers, but doesn't like being in it all the time. That's why she's out all the time when we're at home. I have lots of pokémon that stay out of their balls almost all the time. The balls also help with keeping track of whose is whose. For example, if Profiterole were to wander outside, someone else may try to catch her. But since she's already attached to this one, it wouldn't work. ...Neither your cyndaquil or rowlet have a pokéball, do they? If you like, we could get you some to make sure no one else is able to take them."

"Less like a cage and more like protection from kidnapping," Mono seemed to be coming around to the idea, "Or, pokénapping in this case." He smiled at Katy and got a little closer to pet Profiterole and the others.

Six's initial fear looked ebbing slightly, but she still didn't seem to like the idea very much. Her eyebrows were still furrowed when she looked down at the other pajama shirt, twisting the fabric beneath her fingers in what had to be some kind of stim, if Rika knew anything.

"Exactly!" Katy replied, relieved that at least he was starting to it. "Pokémon tend to be quite opinionated, they'll let you know when they don't like something. Six, is there something still bothering you about it...? We can try and answer any questions you have."

"... What kind of pokémon are these?" Six asked, turning to Katy to show the various floaty and primarily purple 'mons to her.

"Those are ghost-types, I believe," Katy replied. "The round, purple ones are called gengar, the one that looks like a hanging lamp is a chandelure, and the last one is a mimikyu. You can't find chandelure in Paldea, but you can find them in other parts of the world."

At ghost-types the kids shared a glance. Rika was jotting that down to follow up on at a later date. Six opened her mouth to say something but a yawn so big it made her stumble into the counter came out instead.

"Past bedtime, eh?"

"Let me show you two the bedroom, you both look like you could use the rest," Katy stated, moving to stand.

"We've already been in the bedroom," Six protested, scooping up her cyndaquil.

"No, no, you saw my bedroom," Katy replied, "I suppose I meant the guest bedroom, specifically."

"Oh."

Mono stood up too and quietly took hold of Six's hand. She squeezed it absently.

They followed Katy back through the house to the other downstairs bedroom, with Rika close behind with the rest of the clothes in hand.

The room was a bit more simply decorated than Katy's, in a similar color scheme. The bedspread was in a rickrack pattern of dark and light green, walls and pillows cream colored. A few frames of watercolor art hung next to the bed, next to a small closet set in the wall. "If you two are okay to share a bed, then hopefully this will suffice...?"

“We, get to sleep on the bed?” Mono asked in a small voice.

"Of course you do," Katy replied, shooting Rika yet another absolutely horrified glance over their heads. "You can sleep as long as you like."

Six fiddled with the doorknob, locking and unlocking it as if to test it. Seeming satisfied, she looked up at Katy and just sort of, stared at her.

“Eh, should we leave you to sleep?” Rika asked, leaning against the doorway.

“Yes, thanks,” said Mono with another of his polite smiles.

"We'll leave you to it, then. Sleep well." Katy stepped away from the door. She didn't say a thing until she got to her couch, but as soon as she did, she collapsed on the cushions with her face buried in her hands. "What happened to them?!" She managed, soft voice breaking a little.

"Jesus fucking Christ," Rika murmured as she all but collapsed next to her, "Arceus you were not kidding about the scars... he's ten? They're ten??"

"How are they ten! I thought they must be six, I... I can't believe kids exist that don't know what pokéballs are, at least the basics of it...!"

Rika let out a muffled, anxious groan. "Full disclosure this is not Rika's first rodeo, but fuck this is out of my depth."

"It's... definitely my first one, and I feel like we've both been tossed in to the deep end," Katy replied. "...I need to call my manager, tell her I'll be gone tomorrow... Gods, this is a mess..."

"You shouldn't have to deal with this, I eh," she wanted to apologize but it felt too far gone for that, "They trust you enough to stay here, so it's probably not wise for me to offer to take them off your hands..."

"Probably not, too much change too quickly could just put them back at square one," Katy agreed. "I... it's not as if you should have to deal with this either. It's... I feel like it's almost unprecedented to find kids this lost in the way the world works. How could they think that shooting a pokémon would be common, or normal?"

Rika set her glasses down on the coffe table rubbed her face with both hands, trying to process just... everything. "I don't... I don't fucking know, I've heard some shit? Dunno how much you keep up with foreign news, or-" she gestured helplessly towards the guest room, "- domestic violence? Crimes against minors? In Unova eh, years ago now there was a kid abandoned, raised by pokémon and then brainwashed by a criminal organization. Maybe something similar happened to them?"

"I... do remember hearing something about it. I try to keep an eye on international news, I'm a foreign national myself, but... even then... to just, somehow not know what pokémon even are..."

"Okay, okay you were picking that up too." She took a deep breath and sat up, then leaned back to rest her head against the back of the couch, trying force all her muscles to relax. There were way, way too many questions swirling around her head right now with no hope of answers. Time to focus on things she could get answered. "You have as much of my help as you'll allow. Like it or not, we might be in this together."

"I, really appreciate it," Katy gave her a wan smile. "I don't think I could do this on my own. Didn't think this is how we'd end up properly meeting, I figured it'd be through a league event..."

“Likewise, Tulip’s place is just too big to track down everyone,” Especially if you were avoiding someone for no good reason, “Eh, I’d offer to stay tonight, but my meds are at mine and I don’t want to impose.”

"If you'd be able to be over sometime tomorrow morning, I'll save you some breakfast," she offered. "And then... gods, I don't know. I guess we try to figure out where they came from and what happened."

“Already let Geeta know the situation, I’ll be here.“

“… Um..?” Rika jumped. Where the hell had Six come from?

"Oh, hello Six," Katy managed, trying not to look like she'd almost jumped out of her skin. "What can we do for you?"

She was dressed in the ghost-type pajamas now, with one sleeve rolled up to show her bandage. She offered said arm to Katy. “Mono reminded me.”

"Right. Let me fix that up for you," Katy replied, standing to go grab her first aid supplies again. "How does it feel?" She questioned as she kneeled in front of Six.

She just shrugged. “Like a normal bite.”

"You've been bitten a lot, then?" She tried to have her tone come out as light, but... it was hard to hide the slight tremor in her voice as she offered her hand out to see Six's wrist.

“Sometimes. Sometimes not. Depends.” Six said after a moment’s thought. She let Katy take hold of her wrist.

What the hell was that meant to mean? Katy took her arm carefully, unwrapping the bandage. "I'm going to put a little more antiseptic on it, the stuff that stings, is that okay? It'll help keep the wound from getting worse."

She nodded, her eyes fixed on the rug and not on Katy. “Mono overreacted. I just said ow.”

“You guys really care about each other, eh?”

“… Yeah.” It came out like broken glass.

"Okay." On the antiseptic went, and she rewrapped it carefully. "There we go, all nice and clean."

Six stared at her arm for a moment then looked at Katy at last. She was almost visibly chewing on her thoughts so loud Rika could swear she heard it.

“… thanks,” Six said. Then, after another pause she gave Katy a stiff hug.

"I... of course," she replied hesitantly, patting Six gently on the back. "Sleep well, okay?"

She tensed at the contact but held on for another couple seconds before stepping back and nodding sharply.

"I should head out," Rika said, getting to her feet slowly as to not startle Six. Her movement still did, but eh, at least she tried, "Bedtime for me as well."

"Alright. You sleep well, too." I get the feeling we're both going to need it.

"You too."

And with that Rika was gone.

Six remained hovering in the entry hall for a moment before asking, "Mono wanted to know if we're allowed to use the bathroom, but he fell asleep. So I'm asking."

"Yes, you're definitely allowed," Katy assured her.

".......................... could I have a cookie..?" Six asked in a small voice after a long, long pause.

Katy gave her a small smile, crossing to the counter to open up the tin. She offered it out to let Six pick. She picked one and took a bite. It was still warm. She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten something warm.

Wait.

Wait, yes she could. Despite fighting it with everything she had, Six burst into tears.

"Oh..." Katy set the tin aside, kneeling in front of Six again. "Six, what's wrong...?" Gods, she felt so lost.

She wiped her face and sniffled, trying to pull herself together. It wasn't working, but she was trying.

...Hm. If she wasn't ready to talk, that was fine. And she had the feeling touch not initiated by Six was going to go... poorly.

"Let me get you some water and a tissue." She got a small plastic cup to hand off. "My father always says it's hard to cry and drink water at once. And, crying takes the water out of your body. It'll help put more back in."

That made... sense. Six took the water without fight and sipped at it slowly.

Okay, good, that was progress. "You don't have to tell me what's wrong if you don't want to. But if you need someone to talk to, or if you need anything in the middle of the night, come wake me up, okay?"

"Okay," she mumbled, shuffling out of the kitchen meekly.

Chapter Text

Six woke bleary eyed to sunlight seeping in through the window. Wait, window? She shot up in bed before the memories of the night before caught up with her, oozing through the cobwebs of sleep and nightmare clogging her brain. She checked Mono's pulse. Steady.

Her cyndaquil had stayed on the bed with them, rowlet too. She'd been half expecting them to leave in the night, like most animals - or pokémon, she guessed they were called now - she'd dealt with before.

"I should probably name you, if you're gonna stick around," she murmured, petting cyndaquil.

"Fyoo?" It - it? No, she tilted her head at Six.

"Mmmmmmm... Marshmallow," she decided after a moment's thought.

As she pet Marshmallow, she registered a sound. Music, familiar music even. Vague memories of a radio crackling half remembered melodies from when the world still worked.

Six carefully crept out of bed and left the room, padding silently to the kitchen, where the sound was louder. Katy, cooking again. It smelled good, whatever it was. Six wasn't used to things smelling good.

"Fyoo?" Marshmallow cooed, blowing her cover.

"Oh-!" Katy started a little, turning to see the little girl peeping around the corner. "Good morning, Six...! How'd you sleep?" Arceus how was she so quiet.

Six scooped up Marshmallow and shuffled into the kitchen. How was she supposed to answer that?

“The bed was warm,” was what she settled on, “That was nice.”

"I'm glad. I'm just working on making breakfast, it'll be ready in... half an hour?"

"Ruff!"

The scampering of nails on hardwood sounded, and a little fidough skittered into view.

"Good morning to you too, Strudel." Katy squatted down to give her pats. "This is a fidough. I know they look like bread, but they're not edible, okay?"

Six approached cautiously and squatted too, holding out her hand for the little dough dog.

She was sniffed and licked, and Strudel gave her a headbutt before sauntering off to her bed in the corner.

"She's... fighting averse, you could say, so she shouldn't cause any trouble," Katy assured Six.

Six giggled at the feeling of Strudel’s tongue on her fingers. It distracted her enough that she didn’t notice the shadow until Katy said something. "Ah— Palmier, don't land on her." She quickly ushered her vivillon to the countertop.

She stared at the butterfly in awe, mouth falling open as she stood up. “… Butterfly?”

"Yes, she's a type of butterfly bug-type pokémon," Katy replied, giggling as Palmier tickled her with her antennae. "She's a fancy-patterned Vivillon. Isn't she beautiful?"

Six nodded. Bug-type, not just bug. Like how she’d said ghost-type the night before. What were cyndaquil and rowlet’s types? Did things back in the Nowhere have types? It wouldn’t be too much to think they did, and she’d just never been told. It wasn’t like there were any adults left to tell them things.

“Are all bugs big here?” Mono asked softly, nervously, making himself known from where he hovered by the dining table, rowlet in his arms.

"A lot of them, yes," Katy answered, turning to him. "Good morning, Mono! I'm sorry, do bugs make you nervous? I can send Palmier outside to play with my other pokémon if you'd prefer."

Six set Marshmallow down on the floor and went over to the sink to start washing dishes. She wasn’t tall enough to properly reach the sink from the floor, so she climbed up onto the counter. It wasn’t that he was afraid of the bugs themselves, she knew that much. It was more about where you’d find them. He’d never had the strongest stomach.

“Butterflies don’t count as bugs,” Mono said evenly.

Katy had to suppress a giggle at that, and at Six climbing up on the counter. Nimble little thing. "That's fair. Fair warning, I'm a bit of a bug-type specialist, so most of the pokémon in my yard are bugs. No worries if you don't want to meet them, I totally understand being uncomfortable with some of them. Thank you for the dish help, Six!"

“You’re feeding us,” Six stated flatly, not entirely understanding why she was being thanked.

“How do you……… feed them all,” Mono asked, nerves audible and mind still stuck on the bugs.

"Well, most of them eat vegetables, nectar, or pollen," Katy replied, shrugging. "The few that are carnivorous, I buy specific foods for them."

Six cocked her head. “Carne verish?”

“Buy?” Mono asked at the same time.

"Carnivorous means to eat meat," she replied, which was a much easier question to answer. "Have you ever been to a store?" How on earth was this level of not knowing about the world real.

Mono and Six shared a look. Had they? They’d been a lot of places.

“Is it the place that has rolly carts?” Mono asked tentatively.

"Usually, yes!" Okay, well, that was something. "Stores have food, or clothes, or other items, and you give them money in exchange for what you want there."

“What’s money?” Mono asked, taking the dish towel to start drying the dishes.

What's money. How the hell do you explain money. "Usually, it's pieces of paper or metal. You normally get money in exchange for doing a job."

Six didn’t get it still, but Mono nodded along like he was getting the picture so she’d make him explain later.

“Rika’s here,” Mono said suddenly, looking up from his drying only a second before-

Knock knock!

"I... how did you...?" Katy looked at him questioningly before going over to get the door. "Good morning, Rika...!"

“Morning, sorry I’m late I thought it’d be good to grab some stuff for the kids,” she lifted up one of the bags she was carrying, before adding in a whisper, “How are they doing? How are you holding up?”

"They're... about as good as they can be, I think," she murmured, taking one of the bags from Rika. "Gods, thank you, you're a lifesaver. I'm okay for now, but I've found some more weird gaps in their knowledge."

“That… doesn’t surprise me, my usual channels aren’t finding anything,” Rika replied under her breath as she followed Katy to the kitchen. The kids had finished the dishes now and Six had crawled over to the radio, fascinated by it. Meanwhile, Mono was introducing himself to Strudel and the butterfly Pokémon.

"Have you played with radios before, Six?" Katy questioned, finally returning her attention to the pancake batter she had ready to go. "I'll have food ready in just a minute, everyone."

Strudel hopped up on her back feet to try licking Mono's face as Palmier trilled at him curiously. Mono bent down to let the dog lick him, giggling much like Six had.

“Not this kind,” Six replied carefully after a moment debating how much she wanted to say.

“Katy, do you mind if I let my Clodsire out?” Rika asked as she unpacked books, a couple plush toys, and some crayons and colored pencils and set them all on the table.

"I don't mind, but I should check, do they... ooze? I know quagsire do."

“They are known to ooze, but it’s more of a controlled sort of thing, she’s well trained.”

"As long as she can control it, that's fine. If she needs to go outside, too, she's more than welcome," Katy flashed her a quick smile.

Mono glanced over at what Rika was doing and blurted out, “You brought us books?”

“Yeah, eh?”

Permission granted, the clodsire let herself out of her pokéball and onto the floor, further distracting Mono and now catching Six’s attention. She slipped off the counter and approached the creature with an outstretched hand, her position mirrored by Mono.

“Her name’s Rue, Rika’s had her since she was younger than you two,” Rika said, finally toeing her shoes off and putting them by the door.

Rue lifted up her big round head to meet the kids’ hands, making Six giggle again at the texture. She was kinda slimy, but in a nice way.

"Oh, she's delightful," Katy grinned. Palmier flitted down to land on Rue's fat head.

"Wapah?" Rue blinked up at them all with a wide, toothless smile.

"You are!" Rika agreed through her laughter, holding back a snort.

"Lod?"

"Dumb idiot perfect baby!"

"Like Mono!" Six almost flinched at how loud she'd said it.

After a stunned second, he began laugh so hard he sounded like he might start coughing at any second. It was nice to hear them both laugh so genuinely.

"Well, with all that being said," Katy started, pulling the first batch of pancakes off the pan. "The first batch is done. Let me get the syrup and everything... Oh, Rika, do you want coffee or anything?"

"Would love some coffee," Rika said, "Where are plates and things? I can get those on the table."

"How do we help?" Mono asked.

"We already earned breakfast," Six answered before either adult.

"You... you don't have to earn the right to eat, here," Katy replied gently, "You two go sit down, Rika and I will take care of setting the table."

Oh. Oh no she'd said something wrong. Katy had that expression on. The wet one.

"Six," Mono tugged gently on her hand, "Lets go sit."

She nodded and let him guide her to the table. Katy shot a glance Rika's way as they went about getting the cutlery. What was that about?

"Plates here?" She said, pointing at a random cabinet and stepping closer to whisper, "Abused kids think care is transactional, its hard to unlearn."

Ah. Her eyes widened a little, but she nodded in understanding. "Yes, you got it. Have you two ever had pancakes before?" At this point, she could assume nothing of what they knew.

"Are they, sweets?" Six asked quietly.

"I think its more like bread," Mono said with unearned confidence.

"What are pancakes eh, genetically?" Rika asked as she grabbed the plates.

"Genetically?" Katy couldn't help but laugh a little. "They are sweet, but they're somewhere between a pan-fried bread and a thin cake. People usually eat them for breakfast."

"What else are you supposed to call pastry family trees?" Rika demanded through her own laughter. She finished setting the table and watched Six and Mono investigate the utensils.

"Why's the knife a spoon?" Six held up the butter knife.

"...Could you explain what you mean...?" Katy asked after a moment, confusion clear.

"It's shaped like a knife but its a spoon," Six elaborated, unhelpfully.

"Knives are sharp," Mono translated, more helpfully.

"Ahh. It's a butter knife, they're meant to be dull. You spread things with it like this." She demonstrated putting a pat of butter on her pancakes, spreading it carefully. Just... not going to comment on why she was so familiar with sharp knives right now.

"What's a butter?" Mono asked as Six took a pancake and fed it to Marshmallow, who was on her lap.

Rika pointed at what Katy was doing, "That's a butter."

Katy couldn't help but giggle a little. "I wouldn't recommend eating it on its own, but it tastes good when paired with a bunch of other foods."

Six stuck her finger into the butter and licked it. Hm... "Can I have some on my pancakes?"

"You absolutely can," Katy nodded. "That's what it's there for!"

Six spread butter on her pancakes then, after sticking her finger in it too, poured some syrup on too. Mono was a few steps ahead of her, copying what Katy did to her pancakes without stopping to test like Six did.

"This coffee is really good," Rika said, filling the silence as she waited for the butter and syrup to make it to her, "What brand is it?"

"Toucanon Farms, from Alola," she answered, humming. "It's the Torracat medium roast. I get it delivered for the patisserie and save a bag for myself."

"It's really good, might have to get it for myself," she paused as Six passed her the butter, "Thanks, Six. You two ever been to Alola?"

Six and Mono just looked at her.

"That's where rowlets are from, originally," she explained, gesturing at the bird, who was now trying to turn on the sink, for some reason.

"No, I don't know where that is," Mono's voice was slow with thought, "It's tropical, isn't it?"

For a split second before he'd continued speaking, Six saw his eyes flicker to pitch black. Stupid, she aimed a kick at him under the table.

Katy dropped her fork in shock, it clanging on the plate. Both kids flinched at the sound. What, what was that?! But the moment passed, and he was just... looking at her. Had she imagined it? She cleared her throat, choosing her words carefully. "How did you know it was tropical, if you don't know where it is, Mono?"

"Um, we've heard about, places," Six said, trying to cover for him even though every nerve in her body was screaming at her to run.

Rika was also trying her best not to look alarmed. She had no idea what Katy was reacting to, and frankly that had her even more worried.

Katy had to force herself to relax. She had to. "That's... fair, I suppose," she replied, glancing over to Rika. We need to talk.

Message received loud and clear. Rika nodded at her and then refocused on her pancakes.

She saw your eyes, stupid, Six thought loudly and deliberately, since signing at him was off the table. He winced and looked down shamefully at his pancakes. Crap, that wasn’t what she wanted to happen. I’ll fix this, she added, a little quieter.

“Miss Katy?” Six said out loud, trying her best to mimic Mono’s polite voice, “Could you tell us the rules? Of staying with you?” She’d never been around an adult who could and would talk to her, but maybe this would be easier. If she knew all the rules she could follow them and they wouldn’t get hurt.

"The rules...? Hm..." Katy thought for a moment, drumming her fingers on the table. "... I can't say I have many. Don't break things on purpose, and don't hurt any pokémon, those are really the two main ones. If something breaks on accident, I don't really mind. Things happen. And you don't really seem the type, either of you, to cause problems with pokémon. Other than that... hmm... I suppose, let me or Rika know if there's anything you need, or want. We can't read minds, so if there's something you need, it's up to you to let us know."

“… want?” Six blinked at her.

"Yes, want. We want you to be happy and safe, for as long as you're here," Katy confirmed.

“Are there people here who can read minds?” Mono asked, unable to keep all the hope from his voice.

"I... you know, I have heard that there are some psychic trainers who can...? I don't know if it's true or not, though. Rika?"

“Definitely is,” she confirmed, “Not like how you see in the movies or anything, but to some extent, yeah.”

Mono’s shoulders relaxed and he finally started eating is pancakes with a little smile on his face. Honestly, Six envied him. How could he just believe these adults? Sure, this world was different from the Nowhere, but that didn’t mean they’d be any different.

“What if we wanted to leave?” she asked, stabbing her pancakes with her fork rhythmically.

"Well..." She looked over to Rika uncertainly. "I don't think it'd be a good idea if you did, but... I don't think either of us could really stop you, if that's what you wanted. I don't think you would really get hurt out there, especially if you're together, but I will say food is a lot harder to come by out in the world than in here."

“Not if they got good at pokémon battles,” Rika pointed out, not that she wanted the kids to leave, but she had a feeling that knowing they had options would help them trust them, “Plenty of kids their age do that, bop between Pokémon centers.”

“You make pokémon fight?” Mono looked up from his pancakes, horrified. He’d seen kids provoke animals into fighting each other for a perverse sort of entertainment in the Nowhere. They did that here, too?

“I’m not making Marshmallow fight,” Six whispered, voice trembling fiercely as she hugged the Pokémon to her chest, “A full stomach’s not worth her life.”

"Ah, so..." Katy winced. She couldn't exactly blame them, she'd had more or less the same reaction at first when she was small. And they didn't know what pokémon even were until yesterday. "We don't make them fight. I know how it sounds, it sounds... horrible, without context."

“Give us context, then,” Six demanded.

“Lodsire!”

“Eh, think Rue is volunteering,” Rika said, glancing at Katy.

"You think?" She was a little... hesitant, to immediately show battling off, because... well... these kids were unpredictable forces to be reckoned with.

"Vivi!"

"...I think that's Palmier volunteering as well," Katy sighed. "So that's the first bit of context; they actually enjoy doing this."

Six was hesitant to believe the adults, but the pokémon did sound excited, hmm…

“Will it… hurt them?” Mono asked.

“Mostly just wears them out,” Rika explained, “Though sometimes they get bruised or scratched.”

The kids shared a quick look, then Six nodded. “Show.”

"Alright, let's step outside, then." Katy stood, moving to the front door. "If we go out back, the battling will rile up my bugs, and then they'll all want a turn, so best to just not let that happen. We'll just do 1v1, and maybe take it a little easier than normal?" Katy looked to Rika for confirmation.

“You got it.” She stood and gave Katy a two-finger salute.

Six readjusted Marshmallow in her arms and Mono held out his arm for rowlet, then they followed the adults into the front yard.

It was sunny again outside, warm. Six wiggled her toes despite herself, enjoying the feel of the soft, wet grass under her feet. Rue waddled out of the house to flop down in front of Rika, followed by Palmier who fluttered over to Katy. “

Whenever you’re ready,” Rika said, hand settling in the front pockets of her jeans.

"Right." Hm, some lower impact bug and flying moves... "Alright, Palmier, let's lead with gust!" Lower power version of hurricane, coming right up! Palmier flapped her wings rapidly, sending heavy waves of air to surround Rue.

“Rue, you remember waterfall?”

The clodsire let out a wah and spat a strong stream of water at the bug-type. Well, it was closer to liquidation, but it definitely wasn’t full power so she’d call that a win.

Six looked on with… confusion. That didn’t look like fighting, it seemed more like playing. And where’d the water come from? Marshmallow wiggled out of her arms to hop closer to the battle, flames spurting from its back in excitement, judging by the rest of its body language. Rowlet seemed excited too, by the way it was flapping.

"Light screen!" The air shimmered around Palmier, and she shook the water off with a squeak.

“Toxic!” Rue pushed out her horns and sprayed poison into the air.

Meanwhile, Marshmallow squeaked to get rowlet’s attention and the bird fluttered to the ground. After a moment’s conference, they began to battle too, Marshmallow launching herself at rowlet and bonking into him head first.

Palmier's steady wing beat faltered as she swirled dizzily in the air. "Struggle bug!" A little energy beam shot out to smack Rue in the nose.

Six flinched, but Rue seemed unfazed, let alone distressed.

“Protect,” was Rika’s next instruction, and Rue did… nothing? It looked like it was just sitting there but, no. No there was a shimmer in the air.

Marshmallow and rowlet were tussling still, and they didn’t look distressed either. In a way it reminded Six of the few times she and Mono had been safe enough to play for a moment or two. Was the school yard the last time they’d been able to? No, they’d played at the hospital, when they’d found all those toys.

Oh, protect? Shoot. Well, what better time for... "Quiver dance!" Palmier trilled, weaving through the air in a practiced display. "Alright, psybeam!"

Rika opened her mouth to swear playfully at Katy but caught herself.

"Gonna call it there, good battle!" she said instead, stooping to pat Rue's head. She looked a little wobbly, but proud of herself.

The other two pokémon paused in their playing to look over, but then went back to their wrestling.

"Is um, Palmy still poisoned?" Mono asked.

"Rue looks hurt," Six added, even though the clodsire didn't seem distressed about it.

"She is," Katy nodded, searching her pockets for a potion. "Thankfully, we have access... to these!" Out came an antidote and a super potion. "Pourrais-tu venir ici, Palmier?" Slightly wobbly, she fluttered over to get sprayed down, and immediately perked up, squeaking happily.

"We keep items on us to heal them up. A lot of times, battles end when one or both parties are unconscious, but we have things to revive them quickly, too. Did you have fun, Palmier, Rue?"

Another excited trill.

“Lodsire!” Rue agreed as Rika sprayed her down as well.

“And even without potions and antidotes they heal up fast,” Rika added, “A nap and some food and they’ll be good as new.”

“So battling and fighting is just, play for them?” Mono was watching rowlet chase Marshmallow around the yard.

"Exactly! It can be really rough play sometimes, but we don't let them actually grievously injure each other, even with their more extreme moves," Katy replied, smiling.

"Bowtie, leave Marshmallow alone," Mono said, causing the rowlet to stop mid-peck and land on the grass, blinking at him innocently.

The cyndaquil scurried back to Six, who scooped her up. She still had a hesitant scowl on her face, but she couldn't deny that the pokémon had obviously had fun, or that she'd enjoyed watching. "Why do you call it battling if its just playing?"

"Tradition mostly," Rika said, "And because it's a sport."

Sports... that actually made some sense. Six nodded, her face finally relaxing. Then her stomach rumbled loudly, making her flinch. Not again. Not now. In a panic, she handed Marshmallow to Mono and asked, "Can I go eat my pancakes now?"

"Of course! Go ahead and head on in, we'll be right there," Katy encouraged, giving her a gentle smile. "I have more pancake batter if you want more than what's on the table!"

Six bolted as soon as she had permission, leaving Mono with the adults. For a long second he just stood there, bewildered.

“I think I’m gonna go eat too,” Mono said, following after her, leaving the adults alone in the yard.

Katy ran a hand through her curls, baffled. Her concern immediately came through on her expression. "Arceus."

“Yeah that’s where I’m at too,” Rika sighed and dropped into a crouch, rubbing her face with both hands and pushing up her glasses, “What was worrying you earlier? Other than everything?”

"Right, I... his eyes, Mono's eyes, when he was talking about how Alola must be tropical, his eyes went completely black for a few seconds. I know it sounds, crazy, but..."

“Oh what the fuck,” was what came out of Rika’s mouth unbidden, “No that’s… yeah I believe you, that’s not the crazy. It is, but…” She groaned in frustration.

“Wahpah?”

“It’s okay Rue, I’m okay…” she pet her clodsire absently.

"I just... do psychics do that when they read minds...?"

“Tulip hasn’t, but that’s a really small data set,” Rika mused, “Maybe it’s because of something that was done to him...?”

"Maybe... Gods, the poor things," she murmured, "How do we even ask them about what happened to them without... triggering something?"

“We… don’t.” She sighed, running her hand over Rue’s back thoughtfully, “We have to wait for them to tell us. Maybe some details we can ask for if it comes up, but it’s probably best to avoid even that for a few days.”

“Lod? Sire?”

“You’re worried about them too, eh?”

“Wahpah!”

"I'll follow your lead about this, then," Katy replied, ruffling her hair again. "Because I have no idea what I'm doing."

“Does it seem like I do?” Rika blinked at her, “I don’t, I just had a crappy childhood and a best friend with worse.”

"You certainly seem to, at least," she replied with a sad laugh. "They're... definitely in another league of trauma than I've ever seen."

“That feels like an understatement,” Rika agreed with a sad laugh of her own, “Eh… think you could help me convince them to let one of us put scar cream on em?”

"I can definitely try, at least," she replied, sighing and offering Rika a hand up.

Rika took it and followed her back inside, where Six had already finished her pancakes and was looking like she’d eaten too fast and was regretting it. Marshmallow was back in her lap though, which seemed like a good sign. Mono had moved his plate over to the end of the table where Rika had set the books and was reading the back of one of them.

“They might be a little young for you, most of them I had around to read to Poppy,” Rika said, sitting down and grabbing her now slightly cooled down coffee.

“It’s okay, Six can’t read,” said Mono.

At the same time Six asked, voice small, “How’d she die?”

"I- How'd, who die?" Katy replied, fully confused.

Oh that was a bad moment to drink coffee. Rika spluttered as it got up her nose on the way out. "What?"

"... Poppy?" How could they not know who Six was talking about?

"I. Poppy, isn't, dead?" Katy said slowly, glancing over at Rika for the obvious confirmation.

"She's just at home? With her parents?" Rika was at a loss, what the fuck did you say to that?

"... Oh. Like a um, mom?" The word felt weird in her mouth.

"A what?" Mono asked, not wanting to risk getting caught again.

"A mom...? The person who gives birth to you. I don't know Poppy or her parents very well, but I assume she has a mother and father to keep an eye on her and provide for her? And besides the fact," she couldn't help laughing a little, "Poppy is more than capable of keeping herself safe when she's out and about. She's one of the strongest battlers in the region."

"Yeah, she's got a mom and a dad," Rika confirmed, "Why'd you think she was dead?"

Six just shrugged like it was obvious. "She wasn't here."

"Just because someone's out of sight doesn't mean they've died..."

The kids looked at each other, then back at the adults.

"Um, Six was just joking about that," Mono said with a nervous laugh.

She very obviously wasn't, but, okay. "...Right," Katy replied slowly, gaze flicking briefly over to Rika. "Well, in any case, there's no need to worry about her. I'm sure her copperajah would take out anything that even thought about messing with her."

"Can we see Poppy again? Sometime?" Six asked carefully.

"Yeah, definitely," Rika promised, pulling out her phone to text Poppy's mom before she could forget.

"What's this stuff?" Mono held up a smaller bag of stuff he'd pulled out of the large bag.

"Hm..." Katy approached to see what things he was pulling out. "Ah, it's things to help take care of your body with. Brushes to clean your teeth and hair, things like that."

"Also some cream for your scars," Rika added, standing and approaching as well, "Same stuff I used."

"Does it make them not hurt?" Mono asked hopefully.

"Eventually, yeah."

Six slipped off her chair and joined the group as well. She peered into the bag and felt her stomach drop. She didn't know how to use any of it, would she get in trouble if she didn't? Would she get hurt? Tentatively, she grabbed one of the brushes – one of the long-handled ones with a tiny head – and grabbed a fistful of her hair to hold it steady as she began to brush.

Katy sat on the couch opposite her, suppressing a small, endeared laugh behind her hand. "...Six, would you like me to show you how these all work?"

Tentatively, so tentatively, Six nodded.

"Well..." Katy picked up the small, child-sized hairbrush from the bag, "This is the one for hair. This one," she got the comb as well, "Is also for hair. They do the same type of thing, it just depends which handle you like better. You use it like this," she demonstrated with a section of her own hair.

Six took the comb and tried to mimic Katy, wincing at the way it pulled at her hair. "Ow, ow," she grunted under her breath as she tried to pull it through a particularly thick tangle.

"Be gentle if it hurts," Katy recommended, "Your hair is pretty matted, so it will probably take slow and steady progress to get it fully untangled. Once it is untangled, though, it'll hurt much less to brush it, if at all."

For a little while Six continued to try, getting increasingly frustrated. Why was it so hard? Why couldn't she do this? Her hands shook and her cheeks felt hot. Finally, as her eyes started to itch with the threat of crying, Six gave up and handed the comb to Katy. "... Please?"

"Of course." Zero hesitation on Katy's part, as she gently guided six to stand in front of her. She used a mix of her fingers and the comb to carefully pick through the biggest tangles, trying to pull as little as physically possible.

Six tensed and flinched at first, despite trying desperately not to, but as Katy untangled lock after lock she... she didn't relax but she stopped flinching. It was still painful, if only a little bit. "... thank you," she mumbled after a while.

"You're very welcome," she replied, humming under her breath. "I'm sorry this is still hurting a bit."

"It's okay," Six managed, still doing her best not to cry, "It’s not real hurting, just... bothering."

"Either way, I'm still sorry. I'll be done soon. If you do this once a day, it won't hurt to do anymore because you won't be starting with it as tangled."

"... Okay."

"Can you do mine next?" Mono asked, sitting on the couch next to Katy.

"Sure!" Katy replied, giving him a little smile. "That brush you had before, Six, is for your teeth."

“… What do you do with it?”

“You clean your teeth,” Rika explained, stifling a sad laugh as she grabbed one of the brushes, “Mono, would you-” He nodded and stood up before she could finish. “… do you know how to use this?”

“No, but I’m okay if show me,” he replied, gesturing to Katy and Six.

“Alright, we’re gonna go on an adventure to the sink.” She beckoned him over and he happily followed.

Katy continued to hum a quiet tune as she finished off Six's hair, doing a final pass through it with the hairbrush. "...There we go. How does it feel?"

Six ran her hands through her hair, absently watching Rika showing Mono how to brush his teeth. “… soft,” was her eventual response.

“My turn?” Mono asked around the toothbrush Rika had in his mouth.

“Hold your rapidashes a second, we’re not done,” she laughed, tilting his head back slightly to get to his molars.

“Do I need to get my teeth cleaned?” Six asked, turning to look at Katy.

"I think you should," Katy nodded, "Teeth are really important to keep healthy." Gods forbid they had to take either of these two to a dentist off the bat.

Six frowned but nodded and trotted over to Rika. Mono smiled at her, showing off his now clean teeth before going over to Katy for his turn under the comb.

Well, his hair is less of a mess, that's good. Back in Katy went with carefully pulling tangles apart.

Meanwhile, it was Six’s turn for teeth.

“Do you want to try yourself?” Rika asked.

Six thought about it for a moment, then shook her head and opened her mouth.

Oh, the kid has fangs okay… Rika gently steadied her jaw with one hand and began brushing her teeth thoroughly and as gently as possible. “If something hurts, let Rika know okay?”

“… Ohay.”

"How do your teeth feel?" Katy asked Mono.

“Weird,” he said, doing his best to keep still, “My gums hurt.”

"Mhm, that makes sense. If you've never done it before, your gums are going to be quite sensitive," she nodded. "Regular brushing for your hair and teeth will make sure it doesn't hurt when you do it eventually- your gums, especially. They get stronger over time when kept clean."

“So teeth and hair everyday,” Mono started to nod but stopped quickly, “How often do we do baths? Is there special stuff for cleaning hair?”

"Mm... Baths depend on how dirty your body gets. I usually take a shower or bath every day, but I get really dirty at my job. There is some special stuff for cleaning hair! I can show you how to use that the next time you get a bath, hm?"

“Okay!” Mono’s toes wiggled a bit.

Six was making muffled, grumpy noises, but she hadn’t bitten Rika yet. Yet. “Ahm ah ahone eh?”

“Almost… and done,” Rika quickly pulled the toothbrush out of her mouth, “You can spit the residue in the sink.”

She did so and slouched over to the couch.

“And you’re gonna show us how to use the um, the scar stuff?” Mono asked, looking at Rika out of the corner of his eye.

“Yup, soon as Katy’s done.”

A little hesitantly, Six sat on the couch and, after a second’s pause, scooted closer to Katy to listen to her humming better.

Mono's hair was done much quicker than Six's, and she once again went through it with the brush first. "And... there we go, hair's all done!"

“Woah,” Mono breathed, running his hand through his hair, messing it all up again, “It’s so soft…”

Rika stifled a laugh and went to grab the scar cream as Six reached out to play with Mono’s hair too.

“Alright kids, would you be okay partially undressing for this?” Rika asked, sitting down cross-legged, “You can say no.”

Mono just shrugged and started unbuttoning his shirt, Six following suit a few seconds later.

Fucking... Arceus, what on earth? Katy could only stare in barely concealed horror at the kid's backs. What had they been through? It was impossible for Rika to hide her horror, seeing their scars for the first time.

“Eh, m’gonna have to touch you, that okay?” she managed after a second.

Six nodded and finished pulling her pants off, leaving her in her underwear. Mono seemed frozen, glancing between Rika and Katy’s expressions. It took a second for Katy to school her expression back to neutral. Gods, kids had no business being this badly injured.

"Do you think we'll need to get more scar cream?" She asked.

“Should have enough for today,” Rika murmured as she began spreading some over Six’s scars, pausing when she saw the stitches. Hm… “What happened here?” Those were Not professional stitches, what the fuck…

“Got shot.”

“… Run that by me again?”

“I was shot,” Six scowled at the rug, “Its fine, he made it better.”

The indignant anger was... difficult to mask. Who the hell would dare shoot a child with an actual bullet?! "...He?" Was the only thing Katy could manage to say.

Six’s voice ran away as she tensed up, eyes itching again. Her nose felt hot and her lips wobbled. Her arms twitched as she tried to hold still.

“Her… foster… dad..?” Mono supplied, trying his absolute best to explain it in language the adults might understand. Six made eye contact with him and realized exactly what he was doing. She nodded at him.

Okay, okay. That was something Rika could work with. If that was at least somewhat true she at least had a lead on figuring out what had happened to them.

"... I see," Katy was the one to speak first, casting her eyes up to the ceiling. Xerneas give me strength. "Can I ask what happened with..." Without touching Six, she outlined the scarring around her torso, which was... upsettingly hand shaped.

“My dad,” said Mono.

"...Wow..." It came out weakly. What else could she even say?

Six’s knee jerked as she began sobbing messily, fists clenching in front of her face as she started shaking bodily. She hiccupped, and practically fell into Rika, clutching her shoulders in a hug. For his part, Mono barely managed to hold it together for a couple of extra seconds before a whimper fought its way out of his mouth as tried and failed climb into Katy’s lap.

Gods, it felt like her heart was breaking. She scooped Mono into her lap, holding him firmly. What else could she do but try and provide any source of comfort?

Rika did the same for Six, crying herself now, quietly. She soothed one hand along Six’s back, chooing softly.

Eventually, distantly, the kids cried themselves into sniffling, sinking into their respective adults. When the feeling in the air had gone long enough of being more... comfortable, Katy gave a little hum as she rubbed Mono's back. "...If you two want to talk to us about what happened, we're here to listen. But only if you actually want to talk."

Six had gone nonverbal, not that it really mattered since Mono would be able to relay the message, and was now curled in Rika's arms, shaking. Rika grabbed a blanket off the couch and pulled it over Six.

"Not right now, please," Mono mumbled into Katy's shoulder, shivering a bit as well.

"Okay. That's okay," Katy murmured, pulling a blanket from the back of the couch around the both of them.

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.

Chapter Text

Somehow, the rest of the day passed with little incident. While it was obvious that the kids were far from trusting them, they were almost alarmingly well behaved. Definitely a baked-in survival mechanism, if Rika knew anything. She let out a low groan and half collapsed over the table.
Katy crossed to her cabinets, pulling down a bottle of red and wine glasses. "Care to join me outside? It's been, a day."
"Y'know what? Yeah," she'd been clean long enough, and she wasn't drinking alone so she'd probably be fine, "Just don't let me drink faster than you."
"Right," she nodded, laughing a little as they stepped outside. Not being inside helped the feeling of oppressive stress hanging over her. "What a day, hm?"
"Gods, yeah, what the fuck?" Rika couldn't help but laugh a little at how insane this all was.
Katy sat at the small outdoor table, picking up a passing sewaddle to put on her shoulder before pouring off the wine. "What the fuck sums it up nicely, yes."
"Its like they're from another planet," she sighed as she sat down next to her, "Did they come in with those things from Alola or something?" It was 98% a joke, just to try and cope with everything.
"I know, it's so weird," she replied, sipping from her glass. "Everything about what they consider the norm is... bizarre, beyond anything explainable by abuse, into insanity."
Rika took a sip of her wine and leaned back, considering... everything. "My money's on cult, likely a few regions northwest, given that they speak paldean and ESL - at least mostly, there's a lot of simplified sign and... probably unique to them signs. Mono's got a galarian accent, Six seems to be mimicking him mostly, but there's some residual Sinnohan pronunciation too."
"Human trafficking, maybe...?" Katy grimaced, shaking her head in disgust. "I'm still... Six saying she ate a rattata, I just, how does a child end up in that situation. And who sets death traps for pokémon?"
"Well, mouse pokémon used to be considered pests," Rika swirled her drink slowly before taking a sip, "People would set up traps for them during the 18th and 19th centuries, but those were largely outlawed in the 1950s. So unless there's some time travel shenanigans afoot, we're definitely in some niche collector territory." She took another sip before she realized exactly how that probably sounded, "Sorry, history major, eh... You learn weird stuff."
"I mean, it's fascinating, if horrifying," Katy admitted. "I... time travel stuff doesn't seem so crazy, really, with the way the two of them are."
"Eh? That was supposed to be a joke..."
"...Right," Katy sighed, rubbing her eyes hard. "...I'm a little strung out, sorry..."
"Hey, hey, no need to apologize," Rika reached out to pull her hand away from her face, "This is all a big fat mess, you've every right to be eh, a mess." She squeezed her hand lightly.
Katy returned the squeeze gratefully before pulling it back to bonk absently against her glass. "Thank gods this didn't happen mid treasure hunt, at least."
"Arceus, yeah. That'd... yeah, no that wouldn't have been eh, yeah." Wow, that sure was coherant.
"We wouldn't be able to keep an eye on them, at all," she replied, "So at least we have time now. Even if we are both working."
Rika nodded. "Probably the only days we need to worry about are the ones where the league is open for challengers. Once they're a little more eh, socialized, ol Rika could take 'em to work, but that's not on the table right now."
"Yeah, no. And I'll need to introduce them to a few of the regular front of house workers before I trust them to just, sit at a booth for hours."
"Makes sense," she agreed, "Guess its really a question of if they'll be better with your co-workers or mine." Somehow, it was hard for her to imagine them getting along well with Geeta...
"I have no idea. My front of house staff are plenty nice, if a little odd. Who's work do we want to start with, then, I guess?"
"... How many men do you work with?"
"None, currently. Several masculine non-binary people, though, so they could be easily confused for men, especially by kids that small."
Rika tapped her glass against her lips. "There's probably less people at the patisserie, day to day. Less variables."
"True. It's usually the same general people visiting daily, too, so it's consistent," Katy agreed.
"Sounds like that's our best bet." She leaned back again and took a large sip of her wine.
Katy gave a little nod, taking a larger sip as well. Words... failed her, really.
For a moment, Rika just watched the pokémon loitering in the backyard, enjoying the evening's cool breeze. The days were getting warmer, and would be considered hot in a couple more weeks, so it was nice to get some respite from it. May was just around the corner, then summer proper with all the league democracy and schedule tetris that came with that. Two days ago it had loomed large in her mind, but now it seemed much less important. Trivial, even. 
"So..." she began, kneecapping the silence, "Eh, come here often?"
A pause, as Katy stared at her incredulously, before she burst into laughter. "Do I, do I come often to my own backyard?" She cackled between gasps for air.
"Look, look," Rika wheezed, no laughing herself, "I was, I was trying, to just-" Oh it was hard to breathe, why was it so hard to breathe, why couldn't she stop laughing, "Listen, Rika is, she's very stupid..!"
"No you're not!" She insisted through her giggles, "It's been a couple weird days, neither of us are on our game!"
"False, I lost my game in grad school," Rika managed through her own giggles.
"Correction, you went through college and at least part of grad school, that's not nothing," she replied insistently. 
All the laughter went out of Rika, leaving her all but gaping at Katy. "How'd you know I dropped out of grad school?"
"I... guess I didn't," she admitted, sipping at her glass again, "But you said you were in grad school, and then lost your game, so... I feel like that... sortof implies...?"
"Game usually refers to eh, social things," Rika swirled her wine, frowning at it, "Well, actually my dropping out was more for social reasons, so you're still not wrong."
"Mhm. Well, I'm sorry for assuming, but I guess I was right in a roundabout sortof way."
"You're not the first person to make assumptions about ol Rika, don't worry about it." She clinked her glass against Katy and gave her a grin that was only 10% forced before she took another large sip.
"I mean, I try not to make assumptions about people, so I'm still sorry about it," she replied, humming.
"Eh, it's appreciated," Rika said softly. Something about the way Katy said that indicated... Well, she wasn't sure what. The wine was starting to make her brain warm. Truthfully, she knew nothing about this woman, or almost nothing. "Guess we're both mysteries to each other."
"I suppose so," she agreed. "I don't tend to talk much about myself publicly, even with being a gym leader now."
"You are definitely an enigma from the outside. Dunno if you remember the big website overhaul I did back... oh my gods, was it a year ago now?" Her eyes bugged a bit as she racked her brain, "Almost a year ago. Yeah, couple months before I joined the elite four, back when I was in HR. Among other things. Anyways, there was absolutely nothing on you publicly available so I had to pester you for so much information. Sorry, by the way."
"No, it's okay," she assured her with a little laugh. "It was appreciated. I just, don't like being online very much? So I try to keep it limited. The internet does... weird things, with public information, in my experience." Understatement of the century.
"Trust me, I run the league's piddgy account." She winked at Katy and took another sip of wine, "Being in the public eye is hard, it's hard to maintain that line. Honestly its impressive, all I knew about you is that you're Kalosian, you own the patisserie, and you're a gym leader." Rika gestured at the backyard with her glass expansively, "Now I know you are also a home owner, and have more bugs than... honestly? Than I knew existed."
"I do have a lot," she agreed,  laughing. "Most of them I've brought over from Kalos group by group. Several were on my battling team from the Kalos gym challenge."
"Oh yeah? What was your champion team?" Rika rested her head in one hand, leaning toward's Katy slightly.
"Ah... Palmier," she gestured to the vivillon fluttering about happily with her butterfly friends, "Suzette," she pointed out the volcarona, "Vol-au-vant," the giant scolipede around the tree, "And then my heracross Torte, he's... around, somewhere, I'm sure, and my crustle Croissant and my escavalier Napoleon, who are still back in Kalos."
"Hate to be on the wrong end of a volcarona, or a heracross for that matter," there was no hiding how impressed she was, "The reputation that proceeds you is clearly not the full picture."
"Probably not," she agreed, giggling. "What reputation precedes me, might I ask?"
Despite herself, Rika went a little pink. “Well eh, challengers talk about you a lot. Especially the ones who lost to you at first, how encouraging you were… Eh, you’ve never been a common answer for my challenging gym leader, but you are one of the most talked about, for various reasons.”
"Oh, hm..." Katy swirled her wine for a moment, taking another drink. "I don't tend to see many trainers at the end of their journey, so I don't get to see how much progress they've made. It's nice to know they still remember me even if I was their first and probably least challenging."
“This past treasure hunt eh, how old was he… 12? Maybe?” Rika giggled as she remembered it all, “Maybe 12 year old boy who talked about how he was afraid of bugs, but you were so nice and helped him, and that he wanted to marry you when he grew up.”
"Oh my gods, aaw!" Katy gushed, flushing now from more than just the wine. "That's so sweet, oh my goodness."
"Eh, you can expect a very enthusiastic suitor, in a decade or so. Ol' Rika did try and warn him it wasn't likely you'd be single that long, but he seemed pretty determined."
"Well, he may completely forget in a couple months, too," she pointed out, giggling. "Either way, it's very flattering." Not that it mattered, because preemptively she could say she wouldn't be dating any man, regardless of age gaps.
Rika was approaching the final third of her glass and she was definitely feeling it. She set it on the table and took a moment to pull her hair tie off, letting her hair down so she could give her scalp an absent massage. Arceus, the day had had her. 
"Tell me about you," she asked, once again leaning back in her chair, now absently fussing with her hair, "What do you get up to? When you're not working or taking in strays." She gestured vaguely to the house behind them.
Hm. Why did that make her feel a little warmer. "I... honestly don't think I'm that interesting," Katy admitted, chuckling. "I read, I play video games... mostly simulators and farming games. I try to take my teams out once or twice a week to get some training in. Part of the whole thing of being an early gym means that my baby team ends up evolving with enough battling, so I have to get new babies to keep the team low leveled. So I try to catch some new bugs a few times a year, too. Currently, Strudel and Profiterole are my only non-bugs, and Profiterole has the bug tera-type... When she evolves, I'll have to find another ace for the small team. I'm not about to sic an ursaring on a seven year old, you know?"
"Eh, tell that to Grusha," Rika gestured towards the distant mountain with her glass, "Gotta say, there's a reason you and Brassius are the recommended starting points, and it ain't 'cause you're weak. It's because you're good enough to hold back. She's shit at showing it, but I know La Primera thinks highly of you."
"And proximity to Mesagoza," Katy pointed out, sighing. "I don't mind being an early gym, I really don't, it's nice to be able to guide young trainers, but I do wish I got a chance to show more of what I'm made of."
"Oh yeah? Dunno if it'd tick the 'showing off' box, but if you need to let loose, I'd be more than happy to go a few rounds with you some time." She clinked her glass lazily against Katy's.
"I think that'd be fun," she replied, smiling. "We don't have major type advantages over each other, so it'd be an even match, hm?"
Rika returned the smile. “Best kind of match, in my opinion.”
"Same here." Night was truly falling, now, and her bugs were starting to find their little nooks and crannies to hide in to sleep.
“Rika should head home, yeah? Or should I crash on your couch tonight, steal the kids in the morning?”
"That, might be better, but do you have what you need to stay overnight...?"
“Preemptively brought my meds, yeah,” she stood up and did a little stretch before offering Katy a hand up, “Think that’ll be for the best going forward, eh?”
"I suppose so. Let me get you some blankets and pillows and things, I don't want you to be too uncomfortable."
Rika stole Katy’s empty glass to take it inside. “Your couch is plenty comfy, but it’s appreciated.”

Chapter Text

"Okay, so, what did we go over?" Mia rechecked with Poppy as they approached Rika's apartment.
"Umm... call if something happens, and let Rika handle big problems?" Honestly, Poppy didn't know why her mom was so worried, the other kids were just weird, not scary. 
"Good!" With that, Mia knocked on the door.
“Hey squirt, hi Mia,” Rika said, trying to not to show how frazzled she was and already failing. Six’s meltdown over putting on shoes was still ringing in her ears from earlier. 
“Hi Poppy!” Mono said brightly, popping out of the bedroom and scampering to the front door. He flinched when he saw the adult with her, eyes darting to the muscles in her arms, practiced unease clouding his knowledge that this world was different from the Nowhere.
"Hey there," Mia replied, giving Mono a little wave. "Rough morning, huh?" 
"Hi, Mono! Hi Rika!" Poppy hugged Rika's legs before moving further in. "Where's Six?"
Rika gave a tired nod to Mia as she hugged Poppy back before responding to her question, “Y’know how sometimes ol Rika becomes evil and has to have quiet time?”
"Ohhh. Is that what she's doing?"
“Exactly, she’s just having a lie down in my room.” 
Mono quietly took hold of Poppy’s hand, staring up at Mia with head cocked curiosity. So this was a mom, huh?
"Heya, kiddo," she gave him a little smile. "I'm Mia, Poppy's mom. Nice to meet you."
“Hello Miss Poppy’s mom,” he said politely. He really wanted to read her mind, but that would risk people seeing his eyes, and he wanted that less than he wanted to know what she was thinking. At least Poppy’s trust for her was loud enough to hear without trying.
She snorted a little at that. Kids, man. "Well, I'll leave you all to it," she stated, crouching down. "Can I get a hug, mija?"
Poppy released Mono's hand to squeeze her mom tightly before joining back up with the other kid. "Bye, mama!"
Thank you Rika mouthed before saying aloud, “Bye Mia, just give me a heads up when you’ll be back for Poppy.”
"Will do. I'll probably grab her a little before dinner time. Have fun!" With one last wave, she was off.
“Okay, technically Rika has work, but it’s 98% emails and spreadsheets,” Rika said, heading for her dining table so she could set up her laptop, “So I’m good to multitask.” 
“Let’s go let Six know you’re here,” Mono said, tugging on Poppy’s hand a bit.
"Okay!" Poppy replied cheerily. "We'll try not to be too loud, Rika!"
She waved her off, “Volume’s not an issue to me, don’t worry about it.” 
Mono led Poppy into Rika’s dim bedroom, where Six was lying with Rue and Marshmallow. Her eyes were closed and she had headphones on, so the only one to notice the kids arrival was Bowtie, who was perched on the headboard. 
“Rhoo?” 
“Hi Bow,” Mono whispered, holding out his arm for his bird to fly to, “Six okay?” 
The rowlet didn’t seem to care about answering his question and just hopped up to his shoulder to nuzzle against his cheek.
Poppy squealed quietly with delight, offering a hand out to Bowtie. "He's soo cute!"
Rather than just nuzzle her back (which he did), Bowtie hopped onto her hand and let out a little “rhooo!” 
Mono giggled at his pokémon but also took the opportunity to make his way over to Six and squeeze her hand to let her know he wanted her attention. 
She knew he was there already, but at his touch she finally opened her eyes. 
“Ready to come out to the living room?” he asked, signing the words he knew. 
Six nodded and sat up, taking off her (Rika’s) headphones as she did before setting them down and gathering Marshmallow into her arms. 
“Hi,” she whispered, giving Poppy a little wave.
"Hi!" She replied, smiling broadly. "Do you feel less stressed?"
Six nodded, rubbed her eyes with one hand, then hopped off the bed. After a slow second, Rue waddled off after, slipping off the bed with a wet thud, startling Mono and Six. Six tensed for a second, then giggled and crouched to give Rue a little pat with one hand.
"Awww, hi, Rue," Poppy leaned down to squish Rue's fat face happily. "Sweet goopy girl!"
Rue, ever the gross sweetheart, lolled her tongue out to lick her small friends. 
“So, what do we… do?” Mono asked, joining the girls in crouching. 
Six shrugged, wracking her brain. What were you supposed to do all day?
"We could play a game?" Poppy suggested. "Do you guys know any other than hide and seek?"
“… Not really,” Six admitted after a moment, “I know how to kick a ball around, is that a game?”
"It can be! It's sortof hard to do that inside though without breaking things... We could look through the board games Rika has?"
“A what game?” The other two asked at the same time.
Poppy's held tilted curiously. "It's a type of game you play sitting down! Let's go out and we can find a game to play, okay?"
"Okay!" Mono hopped to his feet, Six quickly following and grabbing his hand. After a hesitant second, she offered her other hand to Poppy.
She beamed, immediately taking her hand. "What's your cyndaquil's name?" She questioned as they moved out to the living space.
"Marshmallow," Six said, a little bashfully. The pokemon in question bumped her little head against Poppy's calf. 
"What pokemon do you have?" Mono asked as they headed back into the living room.
"I have big guys!" Poppy exclaimed, grinning mischeviously. "Way too big to let out in Rika's apartment, mostly. But I like steel-types! They're big 'n' heavy 'n' like to play rough."
Steel… “That’s like, metal? Right?” Six asked. 
“Oh yeah,” Rika confirmed from the table, “Real sturdy.”
“So they’re good at defending you?” Mono asked Poppy, “Like a knight, or something?”
"Yeah! I go out to play with them all the time. Mama says she never has to worry about something starting anything with me 'cause Rajah and Tinkie will get 'em before I even say anything," she giggled. "My tinkaton is the only one my size, the others are all huuuge."
Six nodded thoughtfully, reevaluating her original assessment of Poppy. She wasn’t stupid, just specialized in things that weren’t stealth. 
“Where are the uh, board games?” Mono asked Rika. 
“TV console,” she replied, pointing.
Poppy pulled them over, head tilted again at the TV being covered. "What's wrong with the TV?" she asked, looking over at Rika.
“Six is scared of them,” Mono explained. 
“I’m not,” she insisted, “I’m scared of what’s in them.”
Rika paused mid email, buffering. In? “One more time?” 
“I’m scared of what’s in them,” she repeated.
"...Like, wires...?"
“No-”
“Six…” Mono warned in almost a whisper. She was going to get them in trouble. There was no telling what adults in this world would do to them if they realized they didn’t belong. 
“… I mean things coming out of it and grabbing you…” Six finished vaguely.
Poppy looked to Rika in utter confusion, hoping the resident adult could explain.
Unfortunately for Poppy, she was at a loss as well. "Eh, like in a horror movie?" Six just, cocked her head. So that's a no... Alright, not ringing any bells, new approach. "Want me to check there's nothing in there?"
"I can do it!" Mono said, releasing Six's hand and scampering over to the TV. 
He pulled off the blanket, causing Six to flinch at the sight of the big, dark screen. She squeezed Poppy's hand tight and made a jerky motion to shield the younger kid with her body. Rika, for her part, wasn't sure what she could do besides get up from the table and stand next to the girls while Mono... put his hands on the TV?
Poppy peered out from behind Six, staring for a count of five. "Um... what's 'sposed to happen?"
For a long moment Mono just stood there, static crawling up his arms as he stared at the screen. It felt... more complex than he was used to. But also, simpler. How to... 
"Oh what the fuck," came out of Rika's mouth unbidden as the screen turned on, followed by the PlayStation humming. 
Six let out a frightened sob, letting go of Poppy's hand to instead - what? Hide? There wasn't anywhere to hide. Instead, she latched onto Rika, hands balling into fists, clutching at the adult's shirt. 
"It's safe!" Mono announced proudly, stepping away from the screen.
"Woahh," Poppy gasped, clapping her hands excitedly. "Are you a psychic?? Rika, is he like Miss Tulip??"
Mono spun around, eyes still black, stunned at Poppy’s reaction. She wasn’t scared? She looked happy? 
“Yeah eh, think so,” she managed after a stunned moment. Was gravity still working? It didn’t feel like it, time to sit down. Floor? Yeah, floor. 
“How do you know it’s safe?” Six signed, anger and fear mixing into a horrible sour expression. 
“It’s not… open,” he signed back, since Rika seemed distracted, “There’s no doors.”
Six relaxed a little. He wouldn’t lie to her. He’d never lied to her.
"That's so cool," Poppy enthused, "How do you do it? Normally I thought psychics just made things float!"
Rika was out of commission for the moment, and Six wasn't going to be any help. It wasn't like she fully understood how Mono's powers worked, let alone how things were supposed to work in this world. 
Mono, equally unhelpful just shrugged. "Just... do it. They um, talk to me."
"Ooh... you're kinda like a psychic-electric-type, then," she replied, clapping her hands.
"Guess so!" He said brightly, unable to hide his relief at Poppy's reaction. Rika's was causing him a bit of concern, but she just seemed confused, not scared. 
"Mono, can you turn the TV off?" Six asked, twisting her shirt in her hands and shaking a bit. Why couldn't she stop shaking? It was fine. He said it was safe. But... the noise it made set her teeth on edge. 
"Um..?" He turned around, hands on the screen again, "I'm not sure how, its... different."
"Here," Rika said weakly, standing up and grabbing the remote and a PS controller from the coffee table. In just a couple button presses the TV was off, "Eh, how long have you been able to do that, Mono?"
"... My whole life?"
"Cool. Cool, okay."
"Have you really seen things come out of a TV before?" Poppy questioned, turning to Six. "Only time I've ever seen that is when Daddy's rotom phone possessed the TV."
Phones possessing TVs? Six wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that. But she nodded at Poppy’s question, despite Mono’s desperate expression.
"...Sounds like it was something kinda scary," she commented, softer this time. "Rika, are you okay??"
“What? Or don’t worry about Rika, she’s doing fine,” Rika waved her off as she sent a quick text to Katy. 
Again, Six nodded at Poppy’s question as Mono rejoined their little huddle. 
“It won’t happen again here,” he insisted, offering her his hand. 
She didn’t take it. Instead, she signed “If you can do that still, here… then… then…” Her hands were shaking too much to sign. She believed him, she did, but how could he possibly know.
"Maybe it was a ghost pokémon...? They like to be jerks sometimes?
“Ghost would fit,” Mono said, quickly latching onto Poppy’s words. Anything to make them fit in. Anything to help them be normal. 
“Yeah, just a ghost,” Six agreed in a ghost of a whisper.
"Should we put the blanket back over it?" Poppy asked, looking between Rika and Six. "In case a ghost comes out?"
Mono gave Rika a little nod, guilt turning sour in his stomach. He shouldn’t have taken it off in the first place. He shouldn’t have done that to Six. 
Six thought about it for a long moment, watching Rika pick the blanket back up and toss it over the screen. It’s not like a blanket would stop anything… 
“No wait,” she said, grabbing the edge of the blanket, “It can… stay off.” 
“Eh, you sure kiddo?” 
Six managed a jerky nod. “As long as it’s… off.”
"Okay! No video games today, then, that's okay." Poppy bopped on over to the TV cabinet, pulling a few board games out.
Six wrapped the blanket around herself and picked up her stuffie from the couch, squeezing its long body as she plopped down on the floor in Poppy’s general vicinity. 
“Oh, is chess a board game?” Mono asked sitting as well.
"Mhm! I'm not very good at it yet, though. Rika and Granpa Hassel always win."
“Don’t feel too bad, Hass always beats me too,” Rika said, back at the table with her laptop, looking very tired now. 
“What board games are you good at?” Mono asked.

Chapter Text

“Hey! We’re home!” Rika called, holding the door open so the kiddos could shuffle in. 
“I’m gonna talk to the TV!” Mono announced, racing past and into the living room, Bowtie flying after him. 
Six entered more slowly, Marshmallow in her arms and two pieces of paper clutched in her hands.
"Hello, you three...! How was your time with Poppy?" Katy questioned, eyebrows raised as she watched Mono fly past.
“We played games, and then Poppy and Six drawed a bunch,” Mono said, now sitting in front of the blanketed TV, Bowtie in his lap and orb supreme. 
“Six made some progress with TVs, and associated devices,” Rika said proudly, setting the kids stuffies on the couch. 
“The table TV can play music,” Six mumbled. She set Marshmallow down and approached Katy tentatively, holding out her drawings. “Poppy said she gives her mom her drawings.”
Katy beamed, taking them from her and holding them to her chest for a moment. "Oh, that's so sweet, thank you...!" As Six went off to join her friend, Katy joined Rika in leaning against the counter to look at the pictures. The smile dropped from her face pretty quickly. "What... the hell...?"
Rika’s opened her mouth to make a joke about being chopped liver, but then she saw it too. Six hadn’t shown her the drawings back at her apartment, and she hadn’t wanted to pry. 
“No wonder the black crayon was a nub…” Rika murmured, cold horror barely concealed.
"I..." Katy picked up the one that had clearly used up the black crayon. "What is this?" She looked ashen, bracing herself against the counter.
“Gonna say either the foster dad, or Mono’s dad,” Rika guessed in a low voice. She took a peak at the other piece, the one with lots of different sketches and winced. “This doesn’t say anything good about her mental state.”
"Not even a little bit, no," she agreed quietly. "That's... Six, in a cage, isn't it?"
“Metaphorical or literally do we think?”
"Given the fact that nuance isn't exactly her forte, I'm guessing literal."
“Fucking, arceus,” was all Rika could manage.
"Should we... ask, about them??"
“I can hear you.” 
Rika looked up to see Six sitting on one of the kitchen stools, looking quiet. Uh oh.
Katy winced, ruffling her hair. "That was... very rude of us, I'm sorry, Six."
“Yeah, sorry kiddo. That wasn’t great.” 
Six just kinda, blinked at them. “I’ve done something wrong, haven’t I?” 
"No, it's not that you've done something wrong..." Katy replied slowly. How best to word this? "From what we can tell, your... you and Mono's experiences, are... not what we'd consider typical, for children your age. And we're having a hard time understanding what happened and why."
tell them? She barely remembered a time before monsters, and even that had nothing good to share. 
Mono glanced between Six and the adults, trying to piece together a way forward from the loud swirl of thoughts. He felt queasy, dizzy. He was still so weak from bringing him and Six here. 
“We want to help you,” Rika said, unsure if it was the right thing to say, “But if you can’t tell us, that’s okay too.” 
“It was normal for us,” was what Six settled on after a long moment.
"...All of this..." Katy pointed to the cages, the bloody teeth, what looked like one or both of the kids pitching off a cliff. "Was normal?"
Tentatively, she nodded. 
“We’re used to everything, everyone, wanting us dead,” Mono said as he reluctantly padded into the kitchen. 
Rika felt sick. “Arceus.”
That... didn't sound like anywhere in the world that Katy knew. "Why on earth would people want little kids dead?"
“It’s not like we’re really good for anything else,” Six muttered darkly. 
Mono balked at her words. “Six…” 
“No one’s ever wanted us!” She snapped at him, suddenly loud and desperate, “We’re only good dead, or as puppets. Or prawns, whatever the chess thing is.” 
As her voice faded from the air, she took in Mono’s shattered expression. Oh no. She’d hurt him. She’d hurt him. Shame trickling into her veins, chilling her, she slid off the barstool and ran from the kitchen. 
“You okay?” Rika asked Mono after a stale moment. 
He shook his head, tears leaking out.
Katy looked towards Rika, face awash with fear and concern. "Should I check on Six or you?"
“Maybe you?” Rika was at a loss. 
Mono looked a little shell shocked, but when she neared him he tentatively reached out to grab her hand.
"I... Yeah, I'll do my best," she murmured, giving a firm nod before heading off after Six.
In the guest room, Six had wedged herself beneath the bed and was doing her best to muffle her sobs.
"Six...?" Katy entered the bedroom gingerly, kneeling on the floor near the foot of the bed.
“… please don’t hurt me,” she whispered, curling in on herself and shrinking away from the edge of the bed.
Gods, there went her heart breaking again. "Six, I will never touch you if you don't want me to. I swear. I'm not angry with you at all, I'm just... I'm worried about you, and what you've been through."
“… why?”
"Because... that's what responsible adults should do, care about the safety of children."
That was hard to hear, and harder to believe. “… what about monsters?”
"What kind of monsters?"
“The kind like me and Mono.”
"You're... not monsters? You're both children. Distressed children, badly hurt, but being scared isn't monstrous."
“Shooting someone is. Incinerating someone is,” Six mumbled. Huge, wet tears splashed onto the floorboards as she struggled to get the words out. “Dismembering is. Eat, um, eating…” Her stomach lurched.
"D... Dismember..." Katy fell silent, hand pressed to her lips in shock. Why,  why would she be so familiar with that... When would she ever have to do that?! It was almost inconceivable that any adult would put a child through that level of torment. "I... I don't know what to say, other than... your past doesn't define you, you get to choose what you want to do now."
What… did Six want? Did she want anything? “I want…” She paused, sniffing as her voice tried to run away from her, her words barely even a whisper, “To be… wanted.”
"To be wanted...? You're wanted here," she replied softly. "I want you to stay as long as you want."
“You won’t put me in a cage?”
"Gods, no, I would never," Katy promised, hand pressed to her heart. "I would never hurt you or do anything to you you didn't want me to."
Slowly, Six crawled out from under the bed to sit crisscross and frown at Katy. “Even if I’m very bad? Even if I yell, or can’t talk, or, or throw things, or get scared and bite you?”
"No, I wouldn't hurt you," Katy replied firmly. "You don't deserve pain for acting like a scared child."
“How’re gonna punish me without pain?”
"I... I don't really like the idea of most punishments, even if you do something wrong... but, I suppose it'd be more verbal correction than anything physical..."
Six nodded thoughtfully. “Yelling isn’t so bad.”
"I mean. I wouldn't be yelling. More like, explaining, I guess?"
“… like now?”
"Mhm. There's a lot of things that you could do wrong on accident, but that doesn't really mean you need to be yelled at... especially if you just had no idea that you did something wrong."
Most of Six bristled in disbelief, but a small, stubborn part of her wanted to hope. Did hope. It made every fiber of her being crave Katy’s words being the truth. With a little sniffle, she crawled into her lap, curling in on herself.
Katy carefully wrapped her arms around the small child, rubbing circles on her back. "I'm so sorry you've been scared for this long. And I can't say anything to magically make everything okay. But I hope we can earn your trust enough at some point that you can be certain that we say what we mean."
“You haven’t hurt me, neither of you,” Six mumbled into Katy’s shoulder, “I’ve done bad things, and you haven’t.”
"Doing bad things doesn't make you a bad person, of course I wouldn't hurt you for that," Katy assured her.
“… will you keep feeding me even when I’m bad?”
"Absolutely. You're a growing girl, you need to eat. It's a basic right of existence."
“I’ll try to be good. I’ll be good,” Six promised, voice barely making it into the air.
"You're sweet," she hummed, still rubbing Six's back. "I'm still new to taking care of kids, but I promise I'll do my best, okay?"
It was… nice, to be held. More than nice. It was overwhelming. She was making a wet spot on Katy’s shirt again. “Okay.”
Katy continued to hold her until she sniffled herself out. "...How are you feeling?"
“… Better,” she sat up and rubbed her eyes, “I can tell you about my drawings, if you don’t tell Mono I told you.”
"Okay. I'd appreciate it. Why wouldn't he want you to tell me?"
"Because he's scared. He wants you and Rika to like him, us. He wants you to think we're normal, but we're not. He can't see that you know that. Stupid." Six leaned her head against Katy's chest again.
"Mm. Yes, we're already aware. We don't exactly know in what ways you're different, but..." Katy shrugged a little. "Different isn't bad. Just different."
"Were you ever a kid?" Six asked, looking up at her with huge eyes.
"I was! Most of the time, we say people stop being kids when they reach eighteen years old, and I'm twenty eight."
She screwed up her face in thought, counting on her fingers. "That's... almost three tens."
"You're right!" Katy beamed, "And I'll be around a good long while yet."
"Did you ever have nightmares?"
"Mhm. Still do, ocassionally. Nightmares are just a part of existence, in my experience."
“Did they ever feel too real? Like you might be trapped there forever?”
"...A few," she replied thoughtfully. "I haven't had one that bad in years, though."
“That’s because some of them were,” Six explained, “There’s a… place, where nightmares live. Called the Nowhere. That’s where Mono and I are from.”
"...So... what you're saying is..." Katy replied slowly, carefully. "That you're... from a different world...?"
Six nodded. “I don’t remember where I was from before the Nowhere took me. I was 6, I think, when it happened. When I stopped waking up.”
"And... everything became monstrous, all the time," Katy finished, feeling sick. "Oh... no wonder you've been so on guard..."
“All the grownups became monsters,” Six’s fists were balled up in Katy’s shirt, “Or maybe they always had been. The more human they looked, the more awful they were.”
"That's horrible, Six, I'm so sorry..." That put the dismemberment thing in better context. "...How did you end up here, then?"
“Through a TV.”
"Through... huh?"
“Mono can, could, move between them. I… don’t know how it works,” Six tried to explain.
"...Hm..." Well. That might explain the weird, near psychic electronic operation. "I... This is, a lot to take in, but..." she was being too sincere and serious for it to be some weird joke. "So... in your pictures... the tall man with the hat... and the cages, those are all... you actually experienced those?"
She nodded.
"...Wow..." Katy rubbed at her forehead a little. "Do you remember anything from getting suddenly brought here? Any weird creatures, people, anything at all? Or did you just go in one TV and out another?" This felt, literally insane.
Six wracked her brain, trying to pull the memory out to examine it. “We were in the TV, it didn’t want us to go. But Mono pushed it away and then… then it was like we’d been knocked off course. Like we weren’t in the TV anymore, we were… somewhere else.” She screwed her eyes shut. There’d been something. A presence. “It was like we were floating in this big darkness that stretched on forever. Mono’d passed out, so I was holding him all tight. And I saw something. It was um, white? Mostly? It had four legs, and… its head was a helmet and there was this gold thing that stuck out from its stomach. But it wasn’t scary. Well, it kinda was. But… I think it’s what sent us here. I woke up in the city, and that’s where I met Poppy.”
"...Arceus, I can't believe..." She actually fucking saw it? The God of pokémon? She felt a little faint. "Okay. Well. I might have an idea of what that was, at least. I should talk it over with Rika, though, to be sure. ...How are you feeling?"
“Tired… and hungry,” she admitted, now fully boneless against Katy.
"Yeah? I can get you some food when we head back out of the room," she replied, giving her a little squeeze. "...One thing for when we go back out, I think you should apologize to Mono. Okay?"
“… okay.”
After a couple long seconds, a loud “Nehehehehehe!” traveled back to them.
Katy smiled in spite of herself. "You ready to head back out?"
Six nodded, but wrapped her arms more insistently around Katy.
"...You want me to carry you?"
A nod.
"I can do that," she replied, standing with little difficulty and scooping Six up along with her.
In the living room, Mono had Rika in hysterics. His eyes were still puffy from crying, but at the moment he had a huge, gap toothed and confused smile on his face. 
“What did I say?” he asked, smacking Rika’s shoulder. 
“Could, could you,” she wheezed, “Say it again?” 
“Did you get Six and me boy-clothes because you like boy clothes??”
Katy couldn't help snorting as that as she walked in, still carrying the little komala girl clinging to her.
“Why is what I’m saying funny?” Mono demanded through his own giggles, “Rika wears pants like boys do, and she got me and Six both pants!”
“What?” Rika managed, utterly confused now.
"Girls can wear, pants?" Katy commented, head tilted slightly. "I do every day at work."
Mono sat with that for a moment. "Oh." 
"Dummy," Six muttered, slipping out of Katy's arms so she could sit on the couch next to him. She poked his thigh, "I'm sorry for yelling at you."
"It's okay," he said, poking her back. 
"It wasn't."
"You said sorry, so its okay." He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. 
"So, not used to girls in pants?" Rika asked after a couple moments. 
Mono shook his head. "Not really."
"I... suppose that's fair," Katy replied slowly, eyebrow raised over at Rika, who looked as lost as she felt. They definitely needed to talk, holy shit. 
“Hey, why don’t you two go play outside?” Rika suggested at Katy’s expression. 
“Why?” Six asked, scowling at her. 
“Cause you’ve been inside all day!” 
Mono frowned at that, but didn’t argue. She had ulterior motives, but wasn’t thinking about them loud enough for him to hear. And he’d used up a lot of energy talking to electronics, so it wasn’t like tuning in was going to be a good idea. 
“Let’s go outside,” he said to Six, rather than arguing. 
“… okay,” she said. She pulled him from the couch and led the way out to the backyard. Outside was nice. Outside was a reminder that they could leave whenever they wanted. 
“How’d it go?” Rika asked when the door shut behind the kids. She pat the couch next to her in invitation.
Katy collapsed next to her, face in her hands. "I don't even know how to sum it up... I think she trusts us more, maybe, but... uh... well... according to Six... the two of them aren't even from this plain of reality. From the sound of it Arceus its fucking self may have brought them here. I don't know how else to say it."
Whatever she'd been expecting, it hadn't been that. "Eh... eh?"
"I know. I know it sounds insane. Like some, little kid nightmare. But she wasn't joking around. And she said it had something to do with Mono's electronic psychic stuff."
"Well," Rika began after another moment wheel spinning, "Its been well documented that other dimensions exist to... some capacity or another. So it's not eh, unfounded."
"You should probably get her to explain it to you, I doubt I can do it justice... she did say not to tell Mono she told me, because he's... very anxious, about us finding out he's not normal. Not that we didn't know that already, but."
“But it doesn’t change the fact that he’s scared,” she agreed, “I’ll ask Six to explain it then, when he’s not around.”
"Okay." She nodded, one hand gripping the other arm. "I... think these kids have been made to kill before. I don't know how, I didn't want to push too hard, but... Six, she said that she and Mono were monsters. She said she'd dismembered someone before."
All of a sudden Rika felt lightheaded and more than a little nauseous. “Eh, uh… good to know…”

Chapter Text

Well. A rough start to the morning, for sure, but no tears had been shed. Yet. Six had once again looked at her askance as Katy pulled her toque over her hair, but at least didn't seem seriously concerned about Katy causing them harm. "Have you two seen a bakery before?" She questioned as Strudel happily trotted into her carrying bag.
Six was still doing her best impression of a skitty in a harness, lying limp on the floor rather than face the indignity of walking in shoes, but Mono was happy to answer. 
“I think I’ve seen the outside of one,” he said, brow wrinkly with thought, “But never inside.”
"Mm. Well, they aren't anything to be frightened of. If you need anything explained, don't hesitate to ask. I've already warned my coworkers that you don't like adults very much, they should give you your space. Now," she hoisted her bread dog onto her arm, "Ready to go?"
Mono nodded and pulled Six to her feet as best he could. She’d always been the stronger of the two, so it was a bit of a lost cause, but it was enough to prompt her to stand up on her own. She gave a half hearted attempt at signing but gave up and just grabbed ahold of Katy’s free hand. 
“She’s not used to shoes, they rub her feet and she doesn’t like it,” Mono translated, picking up Marshmallow for her before taking Six’s other hand. Bow tie fluttered over to take his spot on Mono’s head.
"Ahh. That's understandable. We can try and find you more comfortable ones when you're both more adjusted to being around other people. But we wear them to keep out feet safe and keep floors clean, so they are kindof important," Katy explained, squeezing Six's hand.
“Mmmm,” was Six’s acknowledgement as she shuffled her feet. They didn’t hurt or anything, it just felt bad. 
Mono tried and failed to stifle a yawn. It was weird how weird it was to wake up early after only a couple nights of real rest.
The walk to the patisserie thankfully wasn't long. The lights were already on when they arrived, Eris setting up the coffee machine in the front and vague clanging from the kitchen in the back. "Welcome to Patisserie Soapberry!" Katy beamed.
"Hello Patisity Soapberry!" Mono said. 
Six let go of Katy's hand so she could sign, "Can I take my shoes off now?"
Even with speaking very little sign, she got the gist. "You can have them off while you're sitting at the table, but if you're walking around in here, I'd like you to keep your shoes on. Rika helped pack some things for you to do while I'm working so you don't get bored," she lead them over to a booth in sight of the register but a healthy distance away. "If you need anything you can come find me back there," she pointed to the kitchen, "Or you can ask Eris." She pointed to the nonbinary twink in question.
She nodded and took the bag in question before settling in the comfiest looking spot to unpack her art stuff. Mono set Marshmallow next to her before wandering over to watch Eris with wide eyes, perfectly matched by Bowtie on his head. 
"Are you a boy or a girl?" he asked, standing on his tiptoes to see over counter.
Eris snorted, leaning a little against the counter. "Neither, kiddo. I prefer nonbinary, yknow what that means?" 
Next to Mono, a curious, high pitched bark sounded. He'd look down to find a little zorua sniffing at his jacket. "That's Puck, he's my zorua."
"Hi Puck," Mono said, offering the pokemon his hand to sniff before he asked, "Not binary, that's when you aren't computer code?"
"I mean, that is what not binary means, yeah," they managed, laughing. "Nonbinary, though. Means I'm not a boy or girl, I'm something else entirely." Puck took a moment to transform into a carbon copy of Mono before giggling mischeviously and running off behind the counter. When he jumped up, he was back to his little fox self.
At the sight of his perfect copy Mono froze, eyes almost too wide. Even when the zorua was a zorua again he stayed stuck in place for a long, long moment. 
"Uh, um," he squeezed his eyes shut and shook himself bodily before continuing, "Could you say all that again? I um, wasn't listening."
"Yeah..." They gave Mono a concerned frown. "Never seen a zorua before, huh? Puck, no more transforming into the kid, no freaking him out." Puck pouted noticably. 
"But, yeah. Nonbinary just means I'm not a girl or a boy, I'm neither. Somewhere in between."
"I just, used to have, a twin," was the careful lie Mono said after a moment's thought, "Um, how do you be nonbinary? How does that happen?"
"You just... sorta figure it out," they replied, shrugging. "Never liked being called a guy. Being called a girl didn't feel right either. So I'm just not either."
"Oh. Okay." Hm. Things to think about. "What is it you're doing now?"
"Me? I'm making the coffee before people start coming by," they replied, gesturing to the batch coffee machine.
"Can I have coffee?"
"...You know what? Sure," They couldn't bite back a grin as they got him a little sample cup. "How about you try it first, though? It's preeetty bitter."
"Okay!" He carefully took the cup, blew into it to cool it down, and took a sip. After approximately a third of a second he let it dribble back into the cup with a disappointed grimace.
They couldn't help a laugh. "Thought so. Kids don't tend to like the stuff, 's an acquired taste."
"I thought it would be sweet, it smells all warm and tasty."
"Doesn't it? You ever had hot chocolate? Sortof a similar vibe, but less gross. Could make you that, if you like?"
"Katy made us cookies the other night, the chocolate in those was hot," Mono said.
"Yeah, but hot chocolate's a type of drink, too. Kids usually go nuts for it."
Mono rotated the concept for a moment. "Can I get one for me, and one for Six?"
"Sure, lil man, let me get that going for you." It didn't take long to push two small cups of hot chocolate across the counter. "Careful, still pretty hot."
"Six? Could you carry them?" he asked, turning to her. 
She nodded and moved Marshmallow off her lap before slouching over to take the hot chocolate. 
"Thanks," he murmured, giving her a wincing sort of smile. 
"Course."
"Just let me know if you need anythin' else, 'kay?" Eris gave them a little salute.
"Are we allowed food?" Six asked.
"Sure! Whatcha want? Katy gave me permission to let you have food, long as you don't eat everything in here."
Six squinted, thinking. "Breakfast... cakes...?"
"Run that one by me again?"
“There are the flat ones,” she made a flat hand to demonstrate, “And there are ones in paper that aren’t flat,” again, a hand motion, “They’re both circles, and are food you have for breakfast?”
"Ohhhh, pancakes? And uh... muffins...?" They squinted at her, trying to make sense of that. "Don't have pancakes, but muffins are a thing. We've got a few here with the other breakfast pastries."
“PASTARIES!” Six exclaimed, “That’s the word. Are there better pastaries than muffins and pancakes?”
"I meeeean, muffins are pretty great," they replied thoughtfully, "I like doughnuts and cinnamon rolls a lot too, though."
“What’s a donut?” She didn’t think she could say cinnamon without fucking it up.
"It's, like, sweet fried dough? Usually with frosting on it."
“Is it crunchy? Or soft?”
"Depends on the donut. They're all soft inside, some can be kinda crunchy outside."
“Can I try a fully soft donut?” she asked.
"Yeah, definitely! You want chocolate, lime, or vanilla?"
"Um..." Six frowned, considering what the safest option would be, "Chocolate?"
"I'll do the vamilla, vah'illa, yeah that one," Mono gave up on trying to pronounce the N without front teeth.
"You got it, little guys." And soon enough the donuts were on plates and passed across to them.
Mono took them to the table, Six and the hot chocolate following close behind. The donut was good, but the hot chocolate was better. Six found herself curling up in her seat, Marshmallow on her lap and both hands on the mug. This was nice. She was... sleepy. But in a nice way. 
Dark. It was dark. Why was it dark now? Why was her mug so far away? The white porcelain was stark against the dark wood floor. Much darker in the dark, almost inky black. 
The floor moved. It twisted, as the mug - no, the mask. As the mask looked up at her. 
With a sharp, wet gasp Six startled awake. Her muscles tensed before her ears caught up with the sounds of people moving about the Patisserie. Not moving a muscle, she glanced around taking stock of the situation. Mono was either absorbed in one of the books Rika'd packed for them, or half asleep and staring into the pages. No one was taking any notice of them, even though they were overwhelmingly vulnerable. 
That didn't make her heart slow down. It didn't make her stop shaking. 
Katy. Where was Katy? Why did she want Katy? Six scrambled to her feet, Marshmallow held tight in her arms, and snuck her way behind the counter and into the kitchen.
Katy was busy decorating a tiered cake, tongue stuck out slightly in concentration. It took one of her other bakers nudging her gently for her to notice, but she immediately kneeled down in front of Six once she did.
Delicately, Six set Marshmallow on the ground then stepped into Katy’s space, hands fisting into her apron.
"Hey, hey," Katy wrapped her arms around her, "What's going on?"
“Fell asleep. Had a nightmare.” She wasn’t going to cry. She wasn’t.
"Oh, Six, I'm sorry," she hugged her tighter. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Was there anything she could do? Six hadn’t come in here with a plan, like some kind of idiot looking to get herself killed. But, Katy still had yet to hurt her. Or take advantage of her. So… 
“Can I… stay in here? With you?”
"Sure, let me get you a stool, okay?" Katy pulled one out from under the nearby counter.
Six obediently took a seat and just… watched, for a while. It was strangely satisfying to watch Katy decorate the cake. 
The last professional kitchen she’d been in had been so different, so real, but here, in this kitchen, the maw felt like a dream. A nightmare. But every corner of it loomed at the edges of her mind. 
But here there is no meat, no rotting fish, only sugar and chocolate. And the woman in charge wore no mask, commanded no puppets. The corrosive shadow was cast only by Six. 
Would… would Katy still care for her when she knew what she was capable of? There wasn’t the same kind of sharp sadness in the way Katy held herself like there was with Rika. With Katy there was just… an ache. Like the horrid bruising across Six’s ribs, not a bleeding cut that had to be sewn shut or left to fester. 
Loneliness. That was it. 
It was the same as in the Lady’s quarters. A special kind of loneliness that only came from the cold light of the Eye. So when had it come for Katy? The thought of the entities still having influence here… Six bit her lip to keep it from trembling.
While she worked, Katy kept one eye on her currently quiet charge. She was being shockingly well behaved, all things considered. She didn't have her shoes on, but it was clear she was going through something, so it was going to just slide for now. So what had spooked her? She looked like a frightened meowth, all puffed and ready to jump at a second's notice. 
The rest of the pastry chefs gradually trickled out, the main baking done for the day, leaving only Katy and one of her decorators who was mostly in the back mocking up some concept designs at the computer.
"How're you feeling?" Katy asked eventually, glancing about to ensure they were alone.
Six didn’t know how to answer that. 
“Miss Katy, do you have friends?” she asked instead.
"I... well, yes, I do," she replied after a moment's thought. "I haven't made many super close friends in Paldea, though, most of my friends are back in the region I'm from."
“… why’d you leave?”
"... Someone I cared about hurt me very badly, and I had to go," she responded carefully. "I still go and visit my family and friends there sometimes."
“That makes sense,” Six murmured. That type of hurt was all too familiar to her. “Mono hurt me, once. I know he didn’t mean to, but…” her lips wobbled dangerously so she stopped.
"But it still hurts, even if he didn't mean it," Katy finished, nodding.
Six gave an anxious nod of her own. “I… left him behind. It feels bad, even though I came back to get him. I still left him.”
"You left him behind, because he'd hurt you?"
“I-” she glanced around the kitchen, making sure there was no one else, “I didn’t think it was him. I thought… it was a monster.”
"Ahh." That, certainly explained it. "Did you ever apologize to him about it?"
She nodded stiffly.
"Well, that's about all you can do, really," she hummed, gaze still mostly focused on her confection project. "And did he apologize to you for hurting you?"
"... No," she said after a long pause. Did he even know how it had seemed to her? How much it had hurt?
"Hm..." she frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe that's something you should talk to him about. My guess is he's been in survival mode like you and it just slipped his mind."
"Okay," it slipped out very small, "Did you ever get an apology? From the person who hurt you?"
"...No, I didn't," she replied eventually, sighing. "Not a real one. But an apology wouldn't have made up for what he did, it wasn't something accidental. I've chosen to move on with my life, and I'm a lot happier for it."
At times like these, Six wished she could do what Mono did. But she couldn't, so instead she slipped off the stool and padded over to give Katy a hug.
Fuck. Katy leaned down to return it, sighing softly. She was sweet as hell under the defensiveness, gods.
"I'm glad you got away," Six murmured into her shoulder, "I'm glad you were here. You..." Her words caught in her throat for a moment. "You make me feel safe."
"I'm glad you feel that way," she replied, squeezing her a little.
Six squeezed back, not really ready to say the rest of the thought out loud. I want to stay with you forever.

Chapter Text

"Six..." Mono groaned. 
"Rrrrrrrr!" 
"Fyoo!" Marshmallow added, snuggling deeper into Six's cranky arms. 
Rika was doing her best to muffle her laughter as she leaned in the doorway of Mono and Six's room. After telling the kids that they'd be getting a quick check-up from a nurse friend of Rika's (well, a friend of Dendra's, so a friend of a friend, but they didn't need to know that), Six had cocooned herself in blankets and pillows and plushies and refused to come out. It was cute, and weirdly normal.
"Hopefully Miriam will be able to meet her where she's at," Katy sighed, a little further back in the hallway.
“She’s a school nurse so probably,” Rika said with a reassuring smile. 
“Six, you can’t leave me alone,” Mono pleaded, shaking the pile on the bed. 
At this, Six let out a sharp bark, then stuck her head out to glare at him.
"Well, that's good-" 
Knock knock!
"Oh, that's probably her, let me go get the door." Katy bustled off, returning in a few minutes with Miriam. The adults formed a little huddle in the hall while the kids tried to hide like skitty. "So... they may be, a bit of a challenge, but I'm sure Rika mentioned that already," Katy started, fingers twisting together. 
"Ohhh, yeah, I got the warnings," Miriam waved her off, hefting her colorful nursing kit. "Probably be a mostly visual exam, maybe some minor treatment of stuff if they let me. I'll try to get them used to the stethoscope and whatever. Better to start small, y'know?"
Rika reached over and squeezed Katy’s hand with a small smile. 
Mono had managed to get Six out of bed, though she wasn’t being the most cooperative when it came to following him over to the adults. Until she spotted the new adult, anyway. 
Her heart dropped to her stomach taking in the medical equipment, a familiar nausea drowning it, but there was another feeling too. Nervous? No, she knew she was nervous. What was it then? 
“You’re doctor Miss Miriam?” Mono asked, gently announcing their presence. 
Without really understanding why, Six quickly ran her hands through her hair, trying to get it to look like it hadn’t just had a bunch of blankets thrown over it.
"You can call me Nurse Mimi if it's easier," Miriam smiled, setting the box down on the ground. "And you're Six, and Mono, right? Rika told me a little but not a whole lot." Arceus above what the fuck. Just from their skin, she could already tell she was in for a fucking Time here.
“I’m Mono, this is Six.” He stuck out his hand with a polite smile, while Six shuffled behind him, still trying to fix her hair and not really succeeding. She could feel her cheeks growing pink, which only made her more desperate. Was Nurse Mimi watching her? She glanced up and squeaked was she met the adult’s gaze. 
“Rika’s gonna grab a comb,” Rika announced, stifling a laugh as best she could.
"Sounds good," Miriam gave her a little two-finger salute as she kneeled down. "It's nice to meet you both. Rika says you've never been seen by a doctor for a check-up, is that right?"
“We’ve had an eggs ray,” Six blurted out, urged on by the funny feeling in her chest. She wanted Nurse Mimi to like her, to think she was smart and knew stuff. 
“That doesn’t count,” Mono hissed, before continuing normally, “No, Miss Mimi. We haven’t.”
"Okay, well. Means I get to explain things, then! I'm surprised you've had an X-ray done before, though," she mused. "Well. How much do you know about what doctors do?"
The kids shared a nervous glance. Mono shook his head at Six, but her mouth was already open. “They mix up people’s parts?” 
“Six!” Mono groaned, “That’s what bad doctors do.”
"Really bad doctors," Miriam agreed. "Nurses and doctors, what we're supposed to do is heal. Either from an injury or if you're sick."
Six frowned to hide her confusion, but Mono helpfully supplied, "Like from a runny nose, or when you hit your head." 
"Comb!" Rika announced, handing the item to Six so she could frantically pull it through her hair.
"Yeah, exactly!" She nodded. "So, since you two haven't ever been seen by a nurse before, if you'll let me, I'd like to real quick look over any injuries you have. It'll let Katy and Rika know how to take more specific care of what you need. I don't wanna make you guys do too much, though. I'm guessing you don't really want me touching you, huh?"
"You can touch me, I don't mind," Mono said with a smile. Miriam's mind was friendly and warm, so he was quick to trust her. 
"If it'll help make things hurt less," Six mumbled, hopeful the floor would give in and provide her with a quick death. Nurse Mimi smelled like flowers. The smell made Six's brain slow.
"Okay. Well..." She sat back a little, "Can I ask you both to take off your shirts, then? So I can get a look at how you're doing?"
The kids nodded and did as they were told. Bowtie fluttered onto Mono's head with an inquistive hrooo, and Marshmallow ended up in Six's shirt.
Oh. Oh, fucking hell. She'd been braced for abuse signs, obviously, but... Mono's burn wounds, those were extensive, and Six... Gods, Six, where to start? "You two have... seen a lot, huh?" She managed, notes of indignance and worry seeping into her voice. "Do you mind telling me what happened here?" She gestured to Mono's burn. Better to start with what seemed easier.
“There was a fire,” he said matter-of-factly.
"You don't say," the sarcastic edge was hard to hide, and she shook her head slightly. "And... this?" She didn't quite brush Six's skin around the electrical scarring. "What grabbed you?" On instinct she would have said, like, an electabuzz or something.
Even though she didn’t touch her, Six flinched. 
“My… dad,” Mono lied on her behalf.
"Your dad, left an electrical hand print?" Yeah, no way in hell.
Mono nodded. 
“It was meant to hurt,” Six supplied softly.
"...Mmkay." She did not believe that, but... baby steps. "What about these?" She gestured to what looked to be rope burns on Six's wrists.
"Bullies... at school..." It wasn't a lie at all, but that didn't mean she'd be believed.
"Okay..." She pointed out the scars that looked... explosion induced of some kind? "What're these?"
Another easy truth. "Mirror exploded."
That made some sense, at least. "Yowch. Sounds like it hurt a lot," she replied sympathetically. "You can say no, if you're uncomfortable with this. But could you take off your pants? I want to get a look at your legs."
Six complied without fuss, but left her underwear on. She'd leave them on unless explicitly asked. 
"Me too?" Mono asked.
"Yeah, you too," though his injuries were less extensive. Six's belly was distended in that troubling way small children's always did when starved, and... good fucking god. The bruises... the placement of them... A sick anger was starting to settle in her stomach. "The bruises here... what did that?"
"Which ones?" she asked tentatively.
"These?" She pointed to the ones on her thighs and the ones cresting over the edges of Six's underwear.
Six suddenly felt very exposed. She crossed her arms over her chest, looking off at nothing over her shoulder. "Lots of things."
"Something? Or someone?"
Mono was looking at her. She could feel him looking at her. Desperately she tried to close her mind off, draw a thick black curtain across it. He didn't need to see. He didn't need to know. 
"Some kids. A grown up," Six's lip wobbled dangerously, "Please don't... don't touch me... there..."
"I won't, I promise." She held her hands splayed out and away from Six. "I'm sorry. You can put your pants back on, shirt too. Let me get a look at you, Mono..." He had much less notable everything by comparison, which was saying a lot, given how many random little scars he had. Okay. Fuck. Shit. "Now some more general questions... a lot of that stuff on you both looks like old scars. What still hurts and what doesn't?"
Six tried to put her clothes back on but she was shaking a little too hard. She bundled her pajamas into her arms, then went to Katy and handed them to her. 
"Um, what's not supposed to hurt?" Mono asked, his brow all scrunched up. Everything hurt a little bit, but saying that wouldn't be helpful. 
"Do you need help with these?" Katy asked gently, kneeling down to her height. "Or is it no clothes time right now?" Maybe she could dig out a hoodie for her...
"...Well. Ideally, nothing," Miriam managed. "Let's start at the top and go down, then. Your ears, nose, and mouth, how do those feel?"
"Help," Six signed, hand shaking still. 
"Help," Rika translated, gently taking the pajamas from her so she could hold them for Katy. She was doing her very best to remain calm, but there was a lot of rage simmering below the surface. 
"Ears," Mono gave them a little tug, "Fine. Nose is fine. I'm missing teeth." He opened his mouth to demonstrate. "But they don't hurt. My..." He paused, patting his head as a whole. "The whole thing always aches."
"Okay. I can do that." She was very careful to avoid touching Six anywhere near her hips or upper legs. 
"Well, little kids are meant to lose teeth, can you open reeeal wide for me? I need to see if your new ones are growing in. What do you mean it hurts? Like, your skin? Or is it coming from deep in your head?"
"Inside. Like the bones are drumming," Mono said before practically unhinging his jaw for Miriam. 
Once Katy helped her into her clothes, Six practically clawed her way up the adult to komala onto her.
"Drumming, huh?" Yeah, there were a couple little teeth starting to poke through his gums. "Hm. Is it like, sharp jolty pain? Or more like, throbbing and uncomfy?"
"Hey, hey," she hummed quietly, squeezing her close. "You're safe. You're okay."
Six buried her face into Katy's shoulder and reached blindly for Rika's hand, pulling it to her head as soon as she found it. Taking the hint, Rika gladly began stroking Six's hair. 
"Throbbing," Mono said after a moment's thought.
Katy hummed softly, swaying gently in place.
"Hm." Chronic headache scribbled down on Miriam's notes. "How about your arms? What hurts there?"
He held out his right arm. "My elbow hurts when I use it."
"Hm." Another scribble. "How 'bout your chest, anything hurt? Inside or out?"
"Where the bruising is," Mono said, lifting his arms up, "I fell off a train."
"You— huh?" She gaped at him, "That's... wow, not many people could survive that with as minimal injury as you've got. Do you mind if I real quick press here?" She indicated his ribs, "Just wanna see how deep it goes."
"Sure." He kept on a brave face as she did, only whimpering once.
Probably bruised/broken ribs Got put down too. "Scale of 1-10, how bad does it hurt when I do that? Compared to how it feels when you're just standing there?"
"Uh, 7...? 3 or 4 when I'm just standing."
"That's pretty bad." He definitely needed an X-ray. "I'm concerned you might've broken your ribs? Or bruised them, at least. Even if you did, there's not exactly much I can do, it's not like you can splint your chest. But you should take it easy with any roughousing around your chest, okay?"
He nodded and then mimicked her salute.
She couldn't help laughing a little. "Alright." She stood, glancing between Rika and Six. "Can I ask you some more stuff, Six, or are you done for now?"
Six made a grumpy noise but slid out of Katy's arms and shuffled back over to Miriam, scooping Marshmallow up on the way. 
"Foom?" The cyndaquil snuffled her face. 
Mono put his clothes on, but stayed near Six, sending the adults a thumbs up.
"How do your teeth feel?" She questioned, smiling a little at the cyndaquil as she sat back on the floor.
“Dunno, normal I guess. Sometimes they hurt, sometimes not.” She opened her mouth wide preemptively.
"Hmm... Looks like a few cavities. I see some of your adult teeth coming in, though, so that's good. And the ones with cavities are mostly baby teeth, which is also good. Means it won't be too long term. Any other places specifically hurting?" 
“Everything hurts a little,” Six admitted, “Sometimes my stitches pull weird. My knees ache, and my elbows. My head hurts all the time. Like someone’s hitting it.”
".....Have both of you been hit in the head? Like, recently, in the last... say, month?"
“Train,” Mono reminded her. “And other stuff.” 
Six screwed her eyes shut trying to remember all the instances. “Fell from the ceiling, roof caved in, floor gave out, fell off a meat hook but there were lots of body bags so it didn’t hurt as much as the others.” She counted them off on her fingers matter-of-fact. 
Rika held a fist to her mouth, taking slow, deliberate breaths and trying to settle the sudden nausea.
M. Meat, hook? What? The fuck? Miriam made direct eye contact with a grimly expectant Katy and a horrified Rika. "So I'm adding concussions to the list, got it... Well, you two really need to take it easy on yourselves for a while, okay? Most of your injuries just need time." And a dentist, and an actual doctors visit, but one step at a time.
“Okay,” Six murmured, and Mono nodded, seeming thrown by the second half of Six’s list. 
“We’ll make sure they do,” Rika promised, her voice only breaking a little, “Thanks for giving them a check up, I owe you… several.”
"Yeah, of course.  It was real nice to meet both of you," Miriam reached out to give the rowlet a little scritch before she stood, looking to the other adults in the room. "Can I talk to you two? Real quick? Before I go?"
Rika nodded. 
“We’ll go to our room,” Mono offered, taking Six’s hand and guiding her out of the room, leaving the three adults to chat privately.
"Okay what. What the fuck?" 
"It's... we don't know everything yet," Katy replied, shrugging helplessly.
"Apparently they're from... another dimension," Rika explained carefully.
"...I'm. Okay. So," she let out a long breath. "It'd be worth getting them in to get imaging done when they're comfortable with it. I think Mono's ribs are broken, and I'm pretty sure they both have concussions. Probably multiple. Six..." Miriam groaned, rubbing her temples. "Dear gods that girl. She's been starved, she's been sexually assaulted, I think, and... fuck. I don't know where to start with that electrical hand scar."
Rika nodded numbly, feeling dizzy.
"They both need... more, than I can do. But it'll take time. I'll send you some pediatricians I know's contact info. And a child psych."
"Thank you," she said emphatically. At some point she'd taken Katy's hand, though whether that was for her sake or her own was unclear. Rika offered Miriam another handshake.
"Of course. Let me know if you need anything else, and... good luck, yeah?" Miriam returned the shake before heading out.
Katy didn't really register holding Rika's hand until she looked down. Hm.
She squeezed Katy's hand before wobbling over to the couch and all but collapsing onto it. She didn't even register crying until she felt a hot tear splash onto her collarbone.
“Sorry, I’m sorry,” her voice was remarkably steady considering, “M’not even sure why…” She sniffed hard, trying to pull herself together.
"No, you're okay." Katy squeezed her hand again. "You're overwhelmed. It's scary. It's... every stone we turn over, we learn something terrible, it's a lot. You don't have to apologize." She'd done her fair share of crying into her pillow since the kids had arrived, too.
It was hard to sort through her thoughts. "It's... stupid. I... I feel like I've failed them, but it all happened before we even met them."
"We can't fail them any worse than life has," she reasoned. "Even if we don't know what we're doing."
"Bar's in hell." Despite herself, Rika laughed.
"Exactly. And they seem to be more and more trusting. Six has made a lot of improvement already," Katy squeezed her hand again.
She was struck with the sudden impulse to kiss Katy's hand, but caught herself and just squeezed back. "M'thinking Mono's getting more comfortable with the idea that we aren't going to hate him for being different."
"Mhm! I think we're doing okay, all things considered. I'm just really glad I don't have to do it alone."
"Me too," another squeeze, "Without you... I'd be lost, frankly."
"You seem pretty capable, I think you'd be fine. But it's always easier to do things with support, right?" Katy's head fell back on the couch with a sigh.
"Definitely," Rika agreed. "Eh, um... how can I support you right now?"
"I don't, really know," she let out a sad laugh. "You're doing just as much to help, you're here practically every day to assist with them, I don't know what else I need."
"A back massage?" It was only half a joke. "M'no good in the kitchen, but I can always grab takeout. I'd be happy to shoulder the cleaning too."
"I'd... really appreciate that, actually," she replied, laughing a little. "The cleaning, specifically, but I wouldn't say no to a back massage."
"Alright, rotate," she let go of Katy's hand and nudged her closest shoulder, "Massage first, then I'll tackle the kitchen." 
"I, oh, now?" She laughed again, turning to face away from Rika. "Thank you, really. I appreciate it a lot."
She began steadily kneading Katy's shoulders, working at the knots. "Your muscles feel like fucking bricks."
Katy snorted. "Not surprising. Every day at work is an upper body workout."
"I figured. That on top of the stress of suddenly having two kids. Even if they weren't traumatized, it'd be a lot." She was starting out with broad strokes, just trying to loosen the muscles and warm them up.
"Yeah... I imagine that's not helping that. I don't mind too much, though. Haven't had any muscle problems yet, but maybe it'd be good to look into a chiropractor or regular masseuse or something..."
"Probably, but I'm happy to be a stop gap," she giggled and began to focus on a particularly viscious knot, "Let me know if I'm too rough, okay?"
"I doubt you will be," she groaned a little, head falling forward. "I'm tougher than I look."
"Oh yeah? You seem pretty tough to me..." Her thumbs were doing some major heavy lifting, working along Katy's shoulder blades.
"You think? Most people don't seem to get that impression," she laughed. "And I do like being soft. I just know I'm firmer than I act."
Rika couldn't help but laugh too. "In my defense, I've only known you in crisis mode."
"That's fair. Hopefully we can ease out of the crisis over time."
"Then it'll just be the regular stress of raising kids."