my names are Fancy and Local. I'm 21, bi aroace and use they/she pronouns. i find it hard to talk (both finding words and knowing when/where to speak) and my energy in general is pretty low but i decided on a whim to pop in and say hi.
presently my f/os for here are as follows:
Jimmy*: 💌 | loved/lost
Lizzie: 🧁 | scheming/scales
Joel: 🎨 | mad/masterpiece
Pearl: 🐺 | double/dear
Cara: 🎀 | cookie/caracal
*i don't know what his and my s/i's relationship is currently whether it's romantic or queerplatonic or whatever but, like, it is a weird little thing where they're kind of married (with my s/i jokingly calling him their evil partner).
the others are more clear cut, that being platonics. they're buddies, pals, affectionate annoyances. though my s/i initially isn't sure of the feelings are mutual. and in Cara's case she's an oc who's there for s/i lore reasons (whom i'd love to talk about at some point)
all of them are for Empires and Life Series, with main focus Empires-wise being season 1 unless I change my mind later.
also i just wanted to share that my url is supposed to be a, like, play on words type thing. like, "dear" as in a term of endearment and "dear" as in the start of a letter since I like writing.
Back in June, I managed to finally finish my 4th sketchbook. I got this sketchbook for my birthday back in 2024 and it took me some time to eventually complete it. The pages I am sharing from it here are the pages I personally ended up liking most from various points in said sketchbook.
The first and last images are also the first and last pages in the sketchbook as I wanted to redraw the first page to finish it off.
oh don’t mind me…just bringing out a new layout AND pfp from the amazing wonderful @viridian-artist !1!1!1!1
some rambles about the commission/why cdolly is in a princess dress. in season nine, i like to think scar has a mini game in scarland where players have to do basically a dungeon crawl to save the princess at the top of the tower—and dolly plays the princess in this game, which is why she’s got her pretty dress on!!! she will always take an excuse to skim her closet for her prettiest princess dress :) why is scar in his elf outfit? because irl dolly specifically requested it, thats why!! /silly
shoutout to the mutuals i actually interact with regularly & big apologies to the mutuals i do not interact with regularly or the mutuals who i used to interact with but now do not. ily all
summary: dolly is insistent cub at least hoses himself off before she comes inside her tower, to avoid getting any dye stains on the floor/furniture. cub compromises, by being a big old bully
word count: like 1.8 k? too lazy to double check sjdkf
notes: bet yall are real surprised to see cubs name and not scars huh LMAODID i wanted to try branching out and actually writing my other husbands! but that means this fic is a little sloppy/i'm not very proud of it. but i wanted to get it out anyways because uh. i already showed the wip to two people lmao. no content warnings this time. cub is just a (loving) bully to his wife + dolly calls him a freak, but she isn't serious. oh also mentioned condoll! scar isn't here but they talk about him, so he's there in spirit lmao anyways ENJOY and please tell me if you like it :,))
"WAIT—" dolly quickly slaps her hand against the doorframe to stop her husband from entering. cub looks at her a bit incredulously, raising an eyebrow. dolly doesn't budge, squinting at him. "..babe, you can't be serious."
"i'm always serious, can't you see it on my face?" if dolly didn't know her husband, she would have thought he was actually unaware of what she was trying to suggest. annoyingly, he was really good at keeping a poker face, even when she was glaring holes into his face. "what?"
dolly bites back an eye roll as it crosses it's arms over her chest. "cub, look down at yourself." never one to refuse his wife (most of the time), cub glances down at his clothes. unsurprisingly, he's covered head to toe in splatters of dye, ranging from yellow, to green, to purple, and a concerning amount of blue and green on his hands and arms. "if you get any dye on my nice furniture, i will throw you out my window."
cub doesn't exactly doubt that, his wife is very strong. and he's witnessed her practically fling a hermit before, he would not put it past her to suddenly be able to launch him, even if he was twice it's size and weight. for about ten seconds, the two stare at each other, unwilling to back down. cub feels his lips twitch slightly upward, before he slowly raises his hands. dolly's eyes shoot open.
"NO!" the doll immediately squeals, ducking down and away from the door before he can grab her. "nonononono, please, come on! i just did laundry! you're such a jerk!" she yelps, half jogging backwards to keep her eye on him.
"what??" cub snorts, very amused by her senseless babbling. he slowly follows her around the outside of the tower, his hands still up and outstretched. "dolly, i just want a hug. i've had such a hard day at the firework factory, can't i relieve my stress by hugging my wife?"
"NO!" she immediately denies, shaking her head frantically. "you're doing this to piss me off—cub, seriously, i—just take a shower first! or go in the lake! hell, i-i'll even hose you off! why do you fight me on this every time!?"
"hm, oh man, that's a really good question…" the vex pretends to think, tilting his head to the side. "maybe because it's funny?" the smile on his face grows wider—sharper. "now come here and hug me."
"AGH! STAY AWAY FROM ME, YOU FREAK—" dolly's voice raises to a fever pitch as cub lunges at her again, immediately breaking out into a full on sprint down the hill the tower was on. cub, being a good husband, knows how to play the long game with her—and doesn't immediately sprint after it. no, that was an rookie move, especially when it came to someone like dolly, who has the ability to scale a small mountain in under ten seconds if she really wanted to evade a chaser.
instead, cub waits ten seconds, until she's out of sight. and then he waits another twenty seconds, because he knows his wife is going to take a while to find a spot to hide, when they both know she's going to choose the exact same spot she always chooses whenever she's trying to have time alone this season—the archway near the entrance of her tower, which is covered up by a plethora of vines and leaves on both sides. she's so predicable it's almost funny. he guessed he couldn't blame her though, there were only so many places to hide on such a short notice. cub takes his time walking down the hill, actually. to him, there's really no rush. dolly will still be there, the shower will still be there, and the dye, still fresh and damp on his hands, will definitely still be there. when he gets to the little alcove, he presses his back against the cold stone, and waits.
after a beat of silence, he hears the smallest bit of rustling, and the sound of his wife letting out a shaky breath. for a few more seconds, cub waits, and waits, and waits, until he catches sight of a delicate hand slowly pushing the vines away, and—
"AH! NO!" dolly shrieks when cub suddenly jumps in front of her and gently pushes her back into the alcove. immediately, the woman starts letting out nervous little giggles, her hands flying up to her mouth to cover them. "cub—cub, please, come ON—!" she can barely finish her sentence before cub basically tackles her down onto the grass, easily using his arms to cushion her fall, and keeping a good amount of his weight off of her.
"…you know, you are really bad at hiding." cub casually acknowledges, ignoring how quickly dolly attempted to swat and shove at him to escape. "i mean, just near terrible. you always choose the worst spot. i think you're worse than scar, and that's saying something."
"….shut up," if looks could kill, cub probably would be a pile of ashes right now. good thing they did not, and that dolly was really bad at keeping her giggles in check. "you still—y-you still have a chance to get up..and walk away right now." it's less like she's warning him right now, and more pleading. if cub was anyone else, he probably would have let her off easy.
cub, thankfully, is not anyone else. cub is exactly who, and where he wants to be right now. "i told you i wanted a hug." is all he tells her, before he quickly rolls onto his back, pulling her on top of him, and squeezing. the shout dolly lets exit her mouth is probably loud enough to alert people in an two hundred block radius, but cub doesn't exactly care. he's way too focused on getting dye wherever he possibly could—mostly on her dress, obviously, but the easiest place he could reach was her face, and the back of her neck.
"shhh," cub shushes his wife over her frantic shrieking and cackling. he's pretty sure she's called him every curse word in the book by now, but she's laughing so hard that he can't really make it out. "don't fight it, i'm just hugging you. can i not hug my wife? let me hug you, dude."
her squirming mometarily pauses, an indignant snort leaving her. "dude??" dolly laughs out, it's hands still weakly shoving at his hands. "are you serious, we're literally married! oh my god, you're such a geek!"
cub's only half listening at this point. not like he's trying to ignore her, never—but the way she laughed (her real laugh, not the polite laugh she does when she's in a crowd) always made his train of thought go a little bit off track. she was always attempting to be so much quieter—so much smaller than it usually was. she doesn't do it as much as she used to, but cub didn't really enjoy when she still tried. in fact, cub enjoyed when dolly the complete opposite. he liked it when she was loud. he loved it, actually. and the fact that he could make her laugh this loudly was something he almost honored. she looked so much better when she wasn't stressing herself out on how to be perfect.
…he's staring, he thinks.
"what?" dolly whines through a giggle, finally knocking cub back into the present. she's in the middle of weakly attempting to wipe the blue dye off of her cheek with the back of her hand. "what's that look for, old man?"
cub blinks a few times, before he gently shrugs. "what look?" he simply responds, deciding not to mention the natural fondness that had just washed over him less than three seconds ago. the vex presses both hands against the side of her face and spreads the dye around a bit more, snickering at the upset shout he gets.
"you're such a bully. you're so mean to me, all day!" the woman loudly complains, her bottom lip jutting out in an upset pout as she lightly pushes his hands away from her cheeks. "how do you sleep at night?"
"with your melatonin gummies." he snorts, slowly rearranging them both so dolly is slightly draped over his lap, his arms still loosely around her. when he feels her glare on him, cub only snorts again. "what? there's no one you can blame other than yourself. you're the one who married me."
dolly opens her mouth, but shuts it again with a little scoff, slumping her face against his chest. "that was before i realized you were a mega jerk times four." she snaps, but there's no venom left in her tone. "you were way nicer to me before we got married."
she wasn't exactly wrong, cub realized. way back when they first met, cub could tell that dolly was..he supposed fragile, was the word. and he wasn't really referring to the fact that she was made of porcelain. her mental and emotional state was—and he means this with all of the love in the world—as stable as a damp paper towel. so sue him for being a little careful with the idea of banter until they started dating.
"well, yeah." cub hums, leaning his weight back on the stone. "but that was before scar showed me what your limits were. and now i know you can handle me being a little mean, can't you?"
cub watches a steady shade of red creep up his wife's ears, and then down her neck. the doll purposefully avoids eye contact with him now, seeming more interested by the dye stains on his lab coat more than anything. "..whatever. i'm gonna tell scar you were bullying me today."
"he's not gonna do anything."
"…you're right, he's not gonna do anything." dolly repeats with a huff. "now, can we PLEASE go inside and take a shower? and put your coat in the laundry before it permanently stains."
"alright, alright." cub expects dolly to wriggle herself off him, but when she simply stares up at him, he raises an eyebrow. "are you, uh…gonna stand up, or..?"
dolly shakes her head quickly, wrapping her arms around his neck. "carry me?" she innocently asks, fluttering her long eyelashes towards her husband. cub likes to think he's immune to her usual tricks, but..
"yeah." cub's voice is just a fraction softer as he repositions his arms under her back and legs, grunting a bit as he pulls himself off the ground, lifting his wife with him. "whatever you want."
the doll giggles into the crook of his neck, and the sound makes "even if i want my pop up shop to stay open?"
"…come on, don't push your luck—"
"AWW! cub, please, it's the one thing i want—!"
(strangely, even after all of the pop up shops were taken away from the shopping district, dolly's was the only one that remained. but no one needs to worry about those little details, now do they?)
Send me a 💠+ a character's name and I'll talk about how my self insert views that character!
It can be anyone; romantic/queerplatonic f/o's, familial f/o's, friend f/o's, even characters that aren't on the f/o list! Just make sure you practice reblog karma - send it to someone before you reblog it from them~
summary: dolly has been cooped up in her home for a long time, feeling understandably sad. it's a really good thing her best friend doesn't know the meaning of "leave me alone" /hj
words: 2.2k (WHOA!!)
note: heyyy LMAODOF this is verna's fault after i infodumped on her about western au scolly and she gave me this idea and suddenly. suddenly i knew how to write again. scolly enjoyers we are soooo back. SOME CONTEXT!!! dolly and scar are around eleven/twelve at the time of this fic, and it's been about three months since the accident. "but dolly, what WAS the accident!!!!" i don't…i don't know. well i sort of do, it caused the passing of her parents, but besides that i tried to leave it as ambiguous as i could until i get a clear idea. uhhh content warnings for implied deaths, and also it's implied that dolly is suffering from malnourishment just a little bit. be safe and enjoy the fic :D
a soft, persistent tapping on the window wakes dolly up from her exhausted sleep.
the girl doesn't exactly remember when she fell asleep, especially not on the floor of the kitchen, but she doesn't have much time to question when she got there when the tapping persists. briefly, she assumes that it must be a really persistent bird, even though it makes no sense that a bird would be tapping on the glass window to the rhythm of shave and a haircut, two bits.
the tapping pauses for about ten seconds, and dolly lets out a little sigh of relief. she curls back up against the floorboards, trying to allow herself to go back to sleep and ignore the gnawing feeling in her stomach. she hadn't eaten anything—mostly because she didn't have much to eat. she was trying to ration the remaining money she had, plus, she absolutely couldn't go outside. going outside was dangerous. people outside are dangerous. she could not be near people outside, or else she'd—
"dolly!"
the girl shoots up into a sitting position, a strangled gasp escaping her. dolly's head whips around to look for the sound of the voice, noticing the little flap at the front door was slightly opened.
"psst, dolly!"
"…hi scar." she sleepily sighed, forcing herself up onto wobbly feet so she can get closer to the door. there were a lot of dangerous people outside, but scar was the only person dolly could really count as someone safe. in fact, she'd say that danger came to him naturally, no matter how careful he was. "i'm…i don't want to come out and play today, sorry." she had been saying that for the past few weeks, and she wondered how many more times she'll have to say it until the boy finally gives up on her like everyone else has.
"nonono, that's not why i'm here—" scar quickly denies, and dolly can hear him shuffling around a little against the porch. "i need you to open your window a little bit."
dolly's stomach starts to twist at the request. she'd have to open the curtains for that. "..you know i can't. it's not safe." she feels so stupid saying it—but she can't think of another way to explain.
"it's safe, i promise," scar doesn't really seem to be budging on his request—which actually annoys dolly more than it distresses her. why did she befriend a boy so stubborn?
"you don't know that. it's not true." she's heard that promise so many times. it's safe, no one will hurt you, we will be here for you. it's a lie. she knows it's a lie.
"please? i have something to give you."
"i don't need anything." dolly denies a little too sharply. she doesn't know why she's lying, she needs a lot—like food, because her stomach keeps waking her up in strange hours of the night, and a new dress, because she got a bunch of holes in the skirt. and her parents. she needs her parents. she wants her parents back. they'd know what to do. they'd tell her to hear scar out, and to not be rude, and to brush her hair so she didn't whine about the tangles later, and, and, and, and—
"go away. i don't need anything. go away." dolly can't stop the words from flowing out as she rubs at her suddenly stinging eyes. "how many times do i have to tell you to go away until you finally do? i want to be alone, why won't you—?" she can't get her eyes to stop watering up, so dolly resorts to burying her face into her knees and hugging them as tight as she can.
for about ten minutes, dolly doesn't hear scar say anything, which makes her think that he finally got the hint and left. but now that he was actually gone, another pit formed in her stomach. even though she told him to go away, she didn't think she actually meant it. and she hoped he wouldn't actually listen for once.
"..are you still here..?" dolly hesitantly whispers to the flap. she expects to be greeted with silence, but the swiftness that scar answers with almost makes her jump.
"yeah," his voice is a little quieter this time around, and maybe a bit sympathetic. "i didn't want to go away yet, even though you told me to. it sounded like you were gonna cry."
dolly buries her face back into her knees, a low, tired sigh escaping her lips. "…sorry," she mumbled out, her voice slightly muffled through the fabric of her dress. she didn't know what to apologize for first. for refusing to come outside, for not being any fun to talk to anymore, for being so emotional and tired all the time, "i didn't mean to get mad at you."
scar makes a soft humming noise in response. "it's okay. i know you can't help it right now." even with his forgiveness, dolly feels so undeserving of it. of him."listen, i—i would put this through the flap in the first place, but it's too big. and i know you don't want me to come inside to see you, so that's why i was trying to get you to open the window."
"what do you even have..?" dolly huffs, shifting so she can sit on her knees now. "it's not jellie, is it?" she doesn't think the cat would be very pleased to be clumsily shoved through the window, no matter how patient she was with scar.
"no, she's napping. and when i told her to come on, she basically ignored me. lazy old cat." scar sighs dramatically, the sound of his hands lightly smacking against his pants slightly muffled through the door. "..will you open the window so i can give it to you?" his voice sounds so hopeful, that for a moment, dolly forgets about the overwhelming dread she feels at the idea.
hesitantly, dolly pulls herself up on her feet. "…just for a second..?" she asks warily, shooting a glance to the kitchen window. she'd have to climb up the counter to get to it, but it was impossible..
"yeah!" scar suddenly gets the energy back in his voice at the idea of dolly actually going with his idea. "i swear on my heart and soul, you won't even notice how small the opening is!"
she really, really doubts that, since he just said that the item he had was too big to fit through the flap. "..okay, just, um…hold on." when dolly hears the sound of scar's shoots padding to her left, probably where the porch chair is positioned right next to the kitchen window, she goes over to the kitchen counter, pushing herself up until she can scramble up onto the counter without slipping off the edge. her mom would scold her for climbing up like that, but she thinks her dad would have lifted her up onto the counter willingly.
"sorry, mama." she mumbles under her breath, before resting her hand against the edge of the curtain. instead of actually pulling it away so she can open the window, her fingers stay frozen against the fabric. it feels so silly—it's just a window. she wasn't jumping outside, and there wasn't anything scary on the other side—it was just scar. it's just scar. it's just…
scar's finger taps on the window pane, knocking her out of her head for the second time that day. the sound actually causes her to peek out from the curtain. scar looks the same as he did the last time she saw him, except maybe his hair had gotten a bit longer. when they lock eyes, scar gives her a really big grin and holds up a paper bag.
dolly's little hands close around the handle of the window, and with a deep breath, she pushes the window open about halfway. the hot air hits her face like a whip, and she almost wants to slam it shut again, before scar reaches in, and tosses the bag into her lap.
she glances up at scar in slight confusion, but he only gestures for her to open the bag. when she actually follows his request and peers through the opening of the bag, her eyes widen. "scar..!" she nearly squeals out in excitement, the most excitement she's felt in months, if at all. she had wondered why the bag felt so heavy, but now she knew why—because scar had filled it to the very brim with candy.
scar looks a little too proud of himself as he crosses his arms, puffing his chest out a little bit. "yessss?" he hums casually, snickering at how much dolly is basically vibrating.
"how?! oh my god, this must have cost an arm and a leg!" the girl gasps, pulling out a fistful of jellybeans and immediately stuffing them into her mouth. if she was a little less ravenous, she would have been a bit embarrassed at how she was acting.
"no, i—" scar seems to hesitate a little bit, before he suddenly finds the sky very interesting. "i got it for free, actually."
"what?! the candy guy let you take all of this?" dolly cries through her mouthful, almost feels envious about that, until she realizes that this is his gift to her. "but he's so stingy with how much we can get for even one gold piece—and he hates kids, so there's no way he—" the girl cuts herself off suddenly, raising her head up to stare at her suddenly quiet friend. "…scar, you..you didn't."
the boy makes a show of not looking at dolly, whistling a nervous tune under his breath as he does. dolly sits up a little bit straighter, her eyes widening again. "scar! did you steal this?!"
"shhh!" scar reaches over to cover dolly's mouth, quickly glancing around as if people hadn't long since stopped coming by to check on dolly. "jeez, dolly lolly, do you want the whole town to he—aAAH!" he cuts himself off with a shriek when he feels dolly's tongue run directly against his palm. the boy shoots her a halfhearted glare, but dolly is more focused on the fact he had committed a crime.
"how could you!?" she exclaims, this time in a lower volume. "he didn't see you do it, did he? he's probably not gonna let you in the candy store again if he did!"
"i know, that's why i got a big bag of candy instead of a small one." scar huffs, as if that suddenly fixes the problem of him committing a theft. "besides, not like that grump needs all that candy anyways. there's barely any kids living here, so i'm keeping him in business!"
dolly stares at scar as if he lost his mind. "scar, you keep someone in business by buying from them, not stealing their stock!" she scolds, reaching over and lightly tugging at his ear. "do you have anything, to say for yourself, mister?"
scar at least has the sense to look a little sheepish. but even when she's trying to be serious, scar just gives her a vaguely innocent smile. "well, you're happy now, right?"
the girl blinks at him briefly, surprised by his lack of defense. "..huh?"
"the candy, it made you happy for a little bit, right?" he repeats, pointing to the bag. "even though i stole it, i still got you to smile, and i think that's the important thing."
dolly cannot believe that somehow, scar is trying to defend stealing to her. and she's trying very hard not to crack another smile at how it almost convinces her to drop the entire lecture. "so you'd steal to make me happy?" she sarcastically questions, crossing her arms. she expects him to just joke back like usual, but scar just gives her a sweet smile.
"if whatever it is made you happy, sure. i would steal anything for you." in that moment, he sounds so genuine that dolly doesn't know what to say, especially when her heart starts beating a little faster at the sight of his smile.
"…you're silly." she huffs, trying to brush the strange feeling inside of her to the back of her mind. "you're supposed to say no, dolly, i won't steal again."
scar simply snorts at that. leaning back against the opening of the window. "no promises," he simply responds, before reaching a hand into the bag to pull out some candy for himself. "i think i have a talent for stealing, you know?"
dolly feels a headache coming on. "you have a talent of getting on my nerves, that's what you have."
"aww, you don't mean that~ i bet dolly on the inside is really happy i stole for her."
"NO, she's NOT—"
the rest of the afternoon was, unsurprisingly, spent trying to convince scar to not steal anything ever again, even if it benefited her in the long run. he pinky swore on it—at least he did that day, but the very next week, he came skipping up to the window with a freshly stolen loaf of bread. after that, dolly gave up trying to convince him to stop. he wouldn't listen for long anyways. but for some reason, she really wouldn't have it any other way.
I wrote this fic when I was still figuring out the direction of their dynamic. Now I know it...enjoy.
CW:: angst, hurt/comfort, mentions of death, scenes involving drinking (wine/alcohol consumption)
The hotel felt far too quiet even for a normal day in the Vert District of Lumiose City. A guest waited to be checked in at the front desk and could only awkwardly watch the old hotelier who towered over them. Despite his tall stature, his nervous fidgeting of the walking stick in his shaky hands. He wasn't looking at the guest as he handed over a key and noted which floor they'd need to go to for their assigned room.
What the guest didn't see however, was what captured the man's attention so fiercely. Except, it wasn't a what but rather a who. Alone on a couch in the sitting area just around the short corner from the front desk sat a resident of the hotel. A trainer with their own beloved Furfrou sleeping away unbothered by the tension at their feet.
"I don't think mumbling the floor number was appropriate work behavior, AZ. Something bothering you?" The trainer spoke out loud despite their voice sounding rough around the edges. AZ, the hotelier they were speaking to, was reasonably startled as that was the first thing they've said to him all day. He shouldn't have been as surprised as he was in the moment since it was typical of them to bottle up emotions and pretend everything was fine.
Everything grew still once he began walking. His walking stick tapping against wooden flooring echoing louder in both their minds. "Verna, please. You know you and I need to have a discussion about la—" AZ froze when they turned their head to reveal dark circles and tears in their eyes. They both stared at each other before Verna sheepishly looked away. He could've sworn he heard them whimper yet voicing the observation would've been useless. It was him moving again that made them flinch and he stepped back.
He approached again, avoiding eye contact, and sat on the opposite end of the couch. It didn't help soothe his nerves when Verna moved even further away from him on the couch. "I...Verna. Please. I understand it was rather...foolish..." The harsh thud of Verna's hardcover journal against the circular coffee table cut him off before he could finish. He saw out of the corner of his eye how the trainer glared at him as he looked away.
"'Foolish'? Foolish? Is that what you're—how you see this?" They scoffed and began gathering their things, standing up abruptly despite their Furfrou's attempts to sit them back down. Felipe was making loud chuff sounds and short barks while pushing at their legs. "Bubs, stop. Bubba—Felipe, settle down. I don't want to be in the lobby right now."
The elevator dinged and the doors slowly opened as Naveen appeared. He looked towards them when he turned the corner to the sitting area. He furrowed his brows when he saw Verna trying to retreat. "If you're heading out, do you mind heading to Promenade du Vent over on Vernal Avenue? I'm in need of some specific shoes I saw in a shop there the other day, however I have to head to the Magenta District shortly to meet a client at Café Triste. I'll pay you back when I return in the evening. Perhaps you both can suck it up and head out together." He shot them both a look which left no room for arguments.
Twenty minutes later and Verna was almost dragging AZ with them. He was happily going along, if not still filled with guilt. They had him hold their lavender satchel which contained their Rotom phone and wallet while they conversed with a clerk regarding the shoes Naveen wanted. While there, Verna also picked up a blouse and vest they too had been eyeing for a time.
AZ perked up at the clothing, yet said nothing when handing over his own card unbeknownst to the trainer. He had made a small show of rummaging through their satchel which was when he took his card out from his sleeve instead. The least he could do was pay for the clothing and shoes instead. When the two of them got back to the hotel, Verna took the items from him with a mumbled word of thanks.
Lida and Urbain were watching from the sitting area in the lobby. They watched as AZ almost sulked at the front desk. "Are you still having trouble, AZ? I thought for sure Naveen's suggestion would've helped even a little bit." Lida sighed with a hand running through her bangs with frustration. "How about...tonight you can try and have a dinner date on the roof! I know the two of you have had a few picnics there before...everything happened. It might boost their mood again." The dancer perked up at her own idea as she stood up from her chair, fists raised.
Urbain raised a hand, like he wanted to protest to some degree, yet AZ was quick to leave the lobby while saying something about needing to prepare. The blond sighed loudly in defeat and rubbed the back of his neck. "You know what, maybe it will go well. Verna does care about him at the end of the day. They're just hurting still and...I don't know...trying to process things? Maybe pushing them to be around him more will help." He got up from his chair and smiled. "Yeah! You just need to beat stubbornness with more stubbornness!"
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
Verna had been on the way out of their room later that evening when they nearly stepped on a cream colored envelope with a dark green wax stamp. They looked around in the empty hall before opening it. Written in fine ink, not pen, was AZ's familiar handwriting. It was an invitation to join him on the roof for dinner together. They exhaled through their nose slowly before retreating to their room.
Twenty minutes later and Verna was up on the roof where Urbain had somewhat recently redecorated with fairy lights and more plants. He had mentioned wanting to spruce the hotel up with more plants as AZ wanted something like a sanctuary for his final place of residence and never got around to it til now. Yet, when Verna turned the small corner to see AZ already on the couch, their eyes locked on the empty bottle of wine and the glass in his hand.
He avoided eye contact when he realized they were there, turning his head as if to hide his blushing face before gesturing to the basket on the coffee table with some simple sandwiches and a few pastries. There was another bottle that was half empty and a glass beside the basket which only worried them. "How long have I made you wait? AZ, you don't typically drink—I mean, you do have a glass or two every once in a while if you find a nice bottle...but almost two bottles?"
Verna wanted to be angry at him still. They're a naturally stubborn person and wanted nothing more than to lay in bed after getting back to the hotel earlier and yet their one weakness had them folding: AZ. They ran both hands over their face which pushed their glasses up. "AZ?" Their voice was softer now along with their gaze, pausing when they saw him tense at their tone shift. "AZ, set the...the glass down for me. Set it down." They stepped forward to help steady his hand after he struggled to place the glass down on the table.
The ancient man's breath hitched at the hand contact. With his mind blurred from the hazy effects of wine, he jerked them forward to sit on the couch with him. Their startled yelp made AZ let go of their arm. He raised his hands just shy of their shoulders. Verna frowned when he couldn't decide between touching their shoulders or keeping his hands on his lap. "I got ahead of myself in more ways than one." They followed his gaze to the half empty bottle on the table to which they moved it to the floor.
AZ ran a hand over his face before leaning heavily against them to shield his face from their worried gaze. "It truly did start at one glass. I told myself no more than two or three before you arrive, but then my mind started traveling elsewhere. I do feel guilty for pretending to die. No excuses for it. I hurt you and the others with my reckless actions. I don't deserve your company at this hour, Verna." He then pressed a slow kiss to their shoulder.
The young trainer moved off the couch and began leading him away from the roof. They did pause to pick up the basket, glasses, and wine bottles. AZ was trying to tell them something yet they shushed him while navigating through the halls to his private suite. It was larger than a typical room in the hotel which Team MZ all had insisted on over the course of them all knowing him. There were three main rooms: the sitting area, the bathroom, and a bedroom. It was in the sitting area that a small kitchen was set up along one wall which was where Verna set the sandwiches, pastries, and remaining bottle of wine away.
When they looked back at AZ, he was clearly trying his best not to cry again. "You're too good for me. You gave me your heart with your confession only for me to disappear a week later. You have every right to hate me. I'm surprised you can even stand to be around someone like me after everything I told you and the rest of Team MZ." He all but collapsed onto the couch behind him with despair in his voice. "No matter how hard I try to repent for my sins, I continue to destroy." Verna approached him and reached for both his hands.
"You are right. I should hate you right now. However, I spent the past week hating not you, but how you decided to leave. I was so…angry and decided to hide away in mostly my room. I did sometimes sneak in here with a spare key Urbain gave me and think. Except I didn't try to stop the thinking with wine." They gave him a small glare before stepping away, still talking. "I do hate that I still love you. Hopelessly in love. I just—" Verna paused to pour a glass of water and then handed it to him. "—I feel insane for wanting to kiss you this morning in the lobby. I won't kiss you now since you've been drinking…but I wouldn't be opposed to kissing tomorrow. If you want." They studied his eyes for a reaction just to quickly move his glass to the table when he moved to hug them.
"Yes, that's fine with me!" He spoke louder than intended and just as quickly quieted down to a mumble. "I want to do right by you. Please, let me properly court you starting tomorrow. I want to be yours and make it all up to you." AZ was pleading now as he held one of their hands with both of his. His lips brushed over their fingers and knuckles in an uncoordinated manner before pressing the back of their hand to his cheek partially covered by his silver-white hair.
"I'll see you in the morning, AZ. Good night." Verna moved slowly with the hope he wouldn't think of them leaving now as rejection. It was quite the opposite. They caressed his cheek before pointing to the glass. "Be sure to drink that before bed to try and help sober up. Sleep well." The door soon clicked shut and AZ laid back against his bed. It will be a long road ahead of him which doesn't help him feel better. All he can do is hope for the best come morning.
