15. My muses first time comforting yours23. First time my muse visits yours at the hospital
These days he’s on her mind more than she would like to admit.
“So this is where you’ve been,” May says lightly as she traces Yoshi’s hospital room with her steps, deftly avoiding the nurse who rushes out to see another patient. Her tone isn’t accusatory; it’s easy, like she’s commenting on the weather, like she doesn’t mind that her friend didn’t bother to tell her that he had been in a hospital for a week now.
No, rather, she minds - terribly minds - but this is an ongoing thing between them. Him burying things deep inside so she doesn’t see. Her stripping him down until she covets a new piece of him. Then he’ll build his barriers back up, and they’ll start all over again.
This is just another round between them.
“Yup, cozy right?” Yoshi replies easily enough. He had been shocked and then angry to see her poke her head into the room. But now he’s slipped behind that neutral mask, the one with a smile that’s stiffer than he probably would like. As adept as he is at hiding emotions, May can still hear the coarse sarcastic thread running under his words.
He’s angry. It’s not really a wonder. He had worked so hard to keep his location hidden from her when they talked over the phone, outright lying, saying he was hiking around Mt. Pyre. Except she was also around Mt. Pyre at the time, and with a bit of nosy sleuthing, she found out he had collapsed at the mountain’s base. From there, it wasn’t hard to find which hospital, which room he was in.
Despite the fact that she’s known him for some years now, she’s still not sure why he keeps guarding himself from her, why he keeps her at an arm’s length. She’ll take one step forward, only for him to take three steps back. She’s not sure if it’s fear, pride, stubbornness, or a mixture of all three.
But if he takes three steps back, she’ll double it. She’ll take six, seven, a million steps forward until she finally catches him.
“Not exactly the way I would put it,” May says as she places her care package of fruit down on his bedside table. She sits at the chair set next to him, but he refuses to meet her eyes, something she can sense even behind his glasses. “You should have told me you were in the hospital,” She’s not as good as he is at hiding emotions; her irritation is clear in her tone.
“Why?” Yoshi plucks an apple from the basket with the hand that’s not tied to down to the IV drip. He’s still playing carefree and nonchalant. “I don’t remember signing a contract that I had to tell you where I am at all times.”
May sighs though his words bring an ironic smile to her face, “You need a contract? Should I write up one for you?”
“No need. I like independence. I’m a free roaming spirit and all that.” He laughs, turning the apple over in his hand, “The way you’re talking you make it sound like we’re dating or something.”
May holds her breath, trying to disguise her surprise by taking a pear out of the basket. There are days when she doesn’t mind the idea of dating him.
“It’s not that,” She says quickly, nibbling into the pear. It’s unusually bitter on her tongue. “It’s just – friends do that, you know? Tell each other if they have to stay overnight at a hospital. Otherwise, I’m just going to worry all the time about what’s going on with you.”
“What does it matter?” His mask slips a little, and his exhaustion and exasperation seep through. “You’re worried now. Does it make you feel better to see me in this room wrapped in hospital sheets? Want me to get into a coughing fit, so you can see how bad it is?”
May knows that it’s his sickness talking, that he would never let these words slip if he was completely healthy. She’s a strange mix of emotions; two parts annoyed and one part elated that he isn’t hiding behind smiles. But it’s her irritation that wins out at the end.
“You know that’s not what I meant. Just for that, you get to have this,” She switches her pear out for his apple and takes a gigantic bite out of the apple so that he can’t take it back. Call her immature or whatever, but she feels gratified that he has to deal with a bitter pear while she handles his bitter words. “I’m saying these things because I’m your friend, even if it’s one-sided or whatever. I care about you. I want to know what’s going on with you. If you’re happy, I want to be happy with you. If you’re having the worst day of your life, I want to be there to cheer you up. And if you’re sick, I want to be there so I can fluff up your pillows and steal your apples. But if you don’t tell me… then I can’t do any of that…”
They both fall into silence; hers cathartic, his pensive and thoughtful. They quietly bite into their respective fruits, and it’s not until Yoshi finishes that awful bitter pear that he speaks again.
“It wasn’t a serious case.” He says quietly, sincerely, no paper-thin cheeriness coloring his voice. “They’re just keeping me to monitor me because they’re afraid of a real relapse. I’ll probably be out tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
“I didn’t want to worry you.”
“I know.”
“I… it’s not like overnight I’m just going to start sharing things with you. I’m still going to have my moments… but I’ll try.”
She smiles into her apple. “Okay.”
He sighs, slumping so his head tilts back. “You’re just impossible.”
May laughs openly at that, digging through the basket to find a sweet apple for him. “It’s not the first time I’ve heard that. Here.”
“Thanks,” but his words are for more than just the offered apple. May traces the tube of IV down to his wrist and lightly covers his hand with hers.
“I’m happy to do it. Really.”
And he smiles at her, a real genuine smile.
Yes, these days he’s on her mind much much more than she would like to admit.
It’s not the first time a gun’s been pointed her way. May was so young when she embarked on her pokemon journey - a child, really - and what better target than a little girl? So she’s experienced guns before; each one the spark of some out-of-body experience, where she can see herself staring cross eyed down the barrel of a gun, where she tells herself to scream, to shout, anything, and smolders in frustration when she simply shuts down. If not for her pokemon, she might have been dead long ago.
But this time, even tied to a chair in some unknown warehouse, she’s so present, so in her own mind that the clarity ironically makes her dizzy. This time, even with her husband aiming a gun at her own heart, she’s grounded and so sure. Because this time, she planned this. Because this time, even if she dies, at least her husband and her son will escape from the insane group of radicals that had kidnapped them for her research.
Arceus, even in her mind, the whole thing sounded ridiculous.
“You’re thinking too much,” Yoshi admonishes her as he cocks the gun. It sounds dangerous in her ears, and her body stiffens up of its own accord. May immediately regrets it as Yoshi edges the gun an inch away from her, his shaking hand speaking volumes about his reservations with this plan.
May chuckles as though laughter could cut through the tension they’re drowning in. “This is new. You usually tell me I don’t think enough.” The teasing doesn’t help his nerves, and if not for the ropes around her wrists, she would have held his hand to ease his trembling. “It’s a good plan. Really.”
He scowls, reflexively rubbing his wrists to loosen them. He had been doing that a lot recently. It’s something she’ll tease him about later when this is all over. She’ll call him old, practically ancient. God, she’s never looked forward to teasing him so much before. “No. A good plan would make sure all three of us survived. A good plan wouldn’t force me to shoot you. Don’t bullshit me, May, into thinking that this is a good plan.”
He’s angry, and she’s positively relieved. She doesn’t think she could handle it if he was afraid. Anger, she can take. His fear? It would have broken her.
“It’s fine,” May tries to instill some of her confidence in him. Perhaps baseless confidence, but confidence nonetheless. “Hiroki already has Verre. She’ll teleport him to us while everyone’s distracted by the gun shot, and then she’ll get us to the nearest hospital. I’ll be fine.”
“And if I kill you in one shot?” His knuckles are white around the handle of the gun. He tips his head in that way that hides his eyes perfectly behind shades, that makes him - what he thinks is - unreadable. Under different circumstances, she might have laughed because she doesn’t need to look him in the eye to tell what he’s thinking. Arceus, he wears shades every waking moment. She’s versed in other things: the way he stands, the tiny fidgets of his fingers, the cock of his head as he speaks, and most of all she’s a decipher of his smiles, the brittle bitter ones, the warm ones.
But he’s not smiling now. Though the gun is in his hands, she might be the one who’s killing him.
“You won’t kill me.” May says with utter conviction that dares him to say otherwise, that dares the rest of the world to defy her prediction. She’ll fight Death to the tooth and nail because there are people waiting for her. Because she has a son to kiss good night and a husband to console. Because she has to grow gray hair and wrinkles. Because she has to laugh at this crazy story years down the line.
A voice comes over an intercom. “Hey mister. You’re dragging your feet too much. Should we give an example with the kid?”
It’s their cue to start, and May tries not to shudder as the barrel of the gun digs into her chest, angled a little too to the right to do extreme damage to her vital organs. Yoshi’s shades are a comforting sight to her because she knows – in the same way she knows she’ll survive, knows that they’ll all escape – that he has the most pained violet eyes behind those glasses.
“Yoshi…” May says one last thing, so softly that the words barely make it past her lips. “I’m sor-“ But she’s cut off by a chaste kiss and a whisper.
“Tell me the rest when you wake up in the hospital.”
Then there’s a gunshot, and the world goes hazy and then black.
"Oh, excuse me rocks for brain but here’s a quick news flash for you. I can take him away and you wanna know why?" Hana smirked viciously, tugging the tie with even more force, just under choking pressure.
"Because, I made him the way he is. I put him in a situation where he met you, befriended you and fell in love with you. I can easily pull that all away, leaving him a man that to you, is only familiar in looks. So, to recap, don’t you ever threaten my babies if you want to live happily ever after with blonde waifu, okay?"
By then, Yoshi had slowly crawled to where Zane sat as the confrontation went underway. “You know, if I’m not terrified right now, I might be offended by her terming me as a baby,” he whispered to the girl.
"Oh, excuse me rocks for brain but here’s a quick news flash for you. I can take him away and you wanna know why?" Hana smirked viciously, tugging the tie with even more force, just under choking pressure.
"Because, I made him the way he is. I put him in a situation where he met you, befriended you and fell in love with you. I can easily pull that all away, leaving him a man that to you, is only familiar in looks. So, to recap, don’t you ever threaten my babies if you want to live happily ever after with blonde waifu, okay?"
By then, Yoshi had slowly crawled to where Zane sat as the confrontation went underway. “You know, if I’m not terrified right now, I might be offended by her terming me as a baby,” he whispered to the girl.
"Dude is she always this scary?" Zane whispered to Yoshi who had sat comfortably beside the dark haired colored girl. The sun glasses wearing dude shrugged, his eyes looking at the quarreling duo.
"Your threats mean nothing to me," the silverette hissed, his hands balled tightly by his sides, he didn't want to hit a lady just yet, "I'll--"
"Oh hey Morty," Zane waved the blond over, he looked quite sleepy. He mumbled a quiet "what's going on?" before sitting next to Yoshi and Zane.
"Uhh I'm not really sure, but--"
"Mortyyy!!" Steven jumped away from Hana's grip, his tie tearing a bit. He barreled himself to onto the blond and engulfed him in a big hug. "I don't get why you're my angel but your mun is," he paused looking over his shoulder, "the complete opposite..."
Seems like you're having fun with two boys I see. Hats and shades. Nice catch. ;D
"Woah woah woah. Wait, when you say that, do you mean that two boys like me? Like like me?” May blushed bright. Talk about springtime of youth and all that jazz.
She sidled up to greyface. “So… Anon, we’re good friends, right? Want to- want to tell me which two boys?” Her eyes sparkled expectantly.
✏ - To Sibling!AU Barry - "So, I've always wondered why you're so short squirt. After your mun or something?" *ruffles head affectionately. ✏ - To Elise - "Um, thanks for saving me all those years ago. Don't know what would've happened if you haven't been around. So, I've been practicing that move you taught me and have been learning others as well. I also carry around a taser just in case."
"We are not short!” both mun and muse snapped as their faces both turned tomato red. “I’ve got a big head full of brain that makes me hunch over when I stand up,” explained Danny knowingly before slapping Barry on the back with a grin. “I have no excuse for this guy, who’s 4 foot solid…”
"Hey, I’m not 4 foot!" Barry snapped before puffing his chest out proudly. "Me and my brother share the gene of champions, which will give me an extra foot in about a year! That’s what Dad told me…I’m still growing!”
"The only thing that’s still growing is your ego,” Danny retorted, rolling his eyes and wincing as Barry punched him lightly on the shoulder, a determined spark in his eye and a just you wait falling off his lips.
Yoshi took a step back with a grin on his face. These two were weird, but he could also tell that they were inseparable.
"Oh yes, I remember you," Elise said, her blue eyes flickering up to meet Yoshi’s as she sat on the edge of her bed shining her sword. "It seems like you’ve been preparing yourself quite nicely…maybe one day your body will be as strong as your spirit."
"But also remember this…" Elise continued, narrowing her eyes at Yoshi as she examined her sword closely. "…you should always knock before you enter my room. Got it?”
As Yoshi exited with sorrys spilling from his mouth, Elise leaned back on her bed with a sigh. That weakling…well, he won’t be a weakling for much longer if he keeps this up, she thought, a rare, proud grin flitting across her face.
Then Danny peeked out from the hallway with his jaw open as he called for Barry, shouting Elise is actually being nice! I’m not joking! Luckily he was doing a little jig and dodged Elise’s sword with his moves as the blade pierced right through the door.
