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“Post-episode 127.”
Ult wasn’t crying because of his loss or anything. He was crying because Dot was crying, too.
His arms loosely wrapped around her form, a warm, wet stain growing on his shirt where she sobbed to his chest. “There, there…” he mumbled as he patted her back. He planted a kiss on her hair roots, then her temple, then he trailed down all the way until he reached the crook of her neck.
Dot’s sobs were quiet, almost only breathy gasps. Ult held her through it, occasionally mumbling words of comfort or quick, shy compliments in an attempt of building back up what was shattered.
She shuffled in his embrace, her chin hanging over his shoulder. He pressed their heads together, letting hair tickle their skin…
Bonus:
Dot sniffled, wiping off her tears. “You’re— you’re crying, too…”
“Doesn’t matter.” Ult reassured, helping her fix her bangs. “Let’s step back out, shall we? The least you could do is have a small bite…”
————
“Post-episode 128.”
The party had ended.
Iono went to run her own errands. Murdock left to wash the dishes. The others followed him to assist and put away the leftovers.
The table had no one but Dot and Ult.
Ult was chewing a mint gum Roy shoved in his mouth because “the mixture of food made his breath smell like a disaster.” Dot side-eyed him from the opposite seat, pretending to focus on the Pokémon dancing behind her.
“So, Ult…” she started, and just then her gaze averted.
Ult didn’t reply with a word, just a half-interested “hmmmh?” as he was gradually dragged into his food coma.
“After me and Quaqaval’s battle, when you said that this is what you’ve been telling from the start…” she paused. Ult half-opened an eye. “What did you mean by that?”
Ult’s chewing stopped. “Huh?— well…you’ve been pretty hard on yourself.” His eyes lowered to the table, pretending the wood was so interesting. “I’ve been saying you needed a good push to snap out of it.”
Dot hummed in understanding, head nodding, but she remained unconvinced.
Ult noticed the way she looked at him. His body language didn’t change, but his chewing resumed faster.
“Is that all?”
Ult cocked his head, eyes blinking repeatedly. He watched her fingertip draw circles on the table. “Y-Yeah. Is there…something else it’s supposed to be?”
Dot kept her eyes on him for a moment, but she soon turned back to her Quaqaval, this time actually watching its dance moves. “…no. No there isn’t.”
————
“Stress.”
“You’re gritting your teeth again.”
Dot immediately unclenched. Ow— for how long was she doing it?
Ult’s hand palmed under her chin, carefully massaging the pain from her jaw and encouraging her to relax.
“How about we take a break from this Laquium analysis?” He side-eyed her Smart Rotom, expanded into a tablet and displaying the data she collected for the phenomenon. “You’ve been at it for a few hours now.”
“But—“
“Nope. No buts.”
Ult grabbed the tablet and pulled it out of Dot’s sight. It retreated back into a small phone.
Dot sighed. “How am I supposed to de-stress with everything going on?”
Then Ult rolled. From resting on her shoulder to sprawling across her lap and looking up at her. “Well, you can do that by analyzing me and how handsome I am.”
Dot stared. Ult smirked.
Then she laughed.
Dot dropped her head into his chest, and Ult instantly wrapped his arms around her. “What? I’m right! What else is more relaxing than admiring your mega cool boyfriend?”
Dot hummed. “I don’t know.” She looked up at him. “Maybe you are correct. I don’t think I’d enjoy doing anything else as much.~”
Ult’s face flared red. “Huh— wait— you’re not supposed to say that!”
Dot laughed again, playfully pinching his cheek. “Oh, you goofball.~”
————
“Laundry Day.”
It was his turn this week.
Ult grumbled complaints under his breath, aggressively stuffing the dirty clothes into the washing machine. He had no way out of this task; something about “being more competent in life.” Bleh! How could that be more important than actually learning how to fight?! How to protect yourself?!
Ult’s attitude faded as soon as he found Dot’s winter jacket. Quickly enough, his groans softened into incoherent mumbles, then to complete silence. He scooped the jacket up in his arms, his expression calm like a Litten huddled to something that belonged to its trainer.
…he took a glance behind him. No one seemed to be approaching.
Good.
He pressed the fabric onto his nose, letting Dot’s scent turn his cheeks red.
It carried her hint of lavender shampoo, tinted with something special for her, something that could make him recognize her amongst all other lavender shampoo users.
“Ult! Did you do the laundry?”
Ult shrieked. Oh, what a way to kill the mood. “Yeah, yeah, I’m on it!” He shoved the jacket into the machine, followed by piles of other clothes to hide the jacket as if that would save him…
————
“After The First Fight.”
Crap. Did he really have to run his mouth like that?
Now their relationship was falling apart. Now what they had together was gradually turning back into nothing.
And it was all his fault.
…no. It was her fault.
Or, it was both of their faults.
“ARGH!”
Ult slammed his fist against the metal railing, sending vibrations up his bones. His grimace was quick to turn into a frown, and onto the floor he lowered himself, his knees pressed tight against his chest.
The ocean collided with the wood of the Brave Olivine. He wished it could swallow him whole.
He looked at the hallway that lead to her room. He wished he could find her stepping out and rushing to give him a tight hug.
But at the same time, he didn’t. He was mad at her.
But…
————
“Making Up.”
Oh, how he had missed this.
Ult didn’t want to let go. Never wanted to let go. His arms squeezed Dot like she would disappear the moment he let go, his nose buried comfortably in its usual spot in her neck.
They were both still teary-eyed after the emotional apologies, but Ult wiped off Dot’s tear streaks and completely ignored his own.
He didn’t need to, anyway, because quickly came another surge of tears before he shoved his face back into her shoulder.
Oh, how he was so, so scared. “That was—“ he sniffled, “that was the mega worst day-‘n-a-half of my life…”
An exaggeration, maybe? Ult had been through objectively worse things, but no.
Nothing hurt Ult more than losing a loved one.