I kept looking at a lot of Nightmare Galleon / Nightmare Dork University fics and drawings and I decided to jump into the wagon and draw some sketches to contribute....
and hey what do you guys think of an older!Jacksicle thrown in there too?
Nightmare dork university more like smol, shy, easily traumatized boy and his 4 or 5 creepy body guards
Jack ended up not applying to graduate school, and Piki was initially relieved. He wanted Jack to have more unfettered experience in theater, to grow into the thespian that he was always meant to be. But the younger man couldn't afford his own apartment without getting a job, and his parents weren't interested in paying his way until he did.
"Th-th-they think I sh-should move b-b-back home after I graduate," Jack muttered, curled up in his boyfriend's arms. Piki had never seen Jack get angry, but an emotion close to it was burning in his ice blue eyes. "I d-d-don't want to go home."
Piki hugged Jack closer. "So don't. Move in with me. I'll cover the rent until you find work."
There was a moment's hesitation, long enough that Piki wondered if he had said the wrong thing, but then Jack kissed him so intensely that he could barely breathe and nearly missed the stuttered 'thank you' pressed into his neck afterwards.
Once Jack moved in, they were inseparable, only spending time apart during Piki’s classes and Jack’s shifts at the supermarket. Piki knew other couples didn’t spend this much time together, but he didn’t care. He wanted to preserve every minute with Jack like a butterfly pinned under glass, perfect and unchanging.
But Jack was changing, had already changed from the timid, shivering freshman Piki fell for all those years ago. Piki wanted to be happy, tried to be happy for him. Isn’t this why he had offered a nurturing hand in the first place? But every time his boyfriend shared a laugh with a friend or read lines from a play that wasn’t his, he felt his chest tighten with jealousy, and old insecurities played in the back of his mind.
Piki found it increasingly difficult to keep his sharp tongue in check. He complained about how much time Jack spent with other people and picked over seemingly trivial events until an argument was inevitable. Jack tried his best to appease his worries and cater to his demands, but it was never enough. Evenings more often than not ended with Piki in tears and Jack repeating tired apologies that lost their meaning the more he said them.
And the worst part was that Piki knew he was driving Jack away with his words. (Not just words, he realized later with a heavy heart, but a level of emotional manipulation that would have put his parents to shame). But what else could he do? How else could he make Jack understand how much he needed him?
His beautiful, delicate snowflake was melting in his hands, and holding on harder was only turning him numb.
He wasn’t sure what finally did it, what the tipping point was – an especially cruel jab at one of Jack’s co-workers, perhaps, or an over-the-top demand – but one evening he came home and Jack wasn’t there. And neither were his clothes, his books, or anything else he owned that he valued and could be carried away in the trunk of a car. A hastily scribbled note on the kitchen table erased any lingering doubt about what might have happened to Jack and his belongings.
Piki called Jack’s cell phone anyway just in case it was all some big misunderstanding.
“The number you have dialed has been disconnected,” he heard in his ear.
And then another voice, slick and dark and sounding an awful lot like him: “It was only a matter of time.”
A fierce energy seized Piki. No. He wasn’t going to just roll over and accept this! He drove to Pitch’s apartment and was banging on the door while his tears were still fresh.
Pitchiner answered. “Piki.” He looked confused. “Why the hell are you knocking on my door like a lunatic?”
“Where’s Jack?” Piki demanded, pushing past his brother’s boyfriend. “Jack?” he called out, desperation winning out over propriety.
“Dude, he’s not here. What’s wrong with you?”
Piki glared at Pitchiner, the bigger man’s casual tone fueling his rage. “Jack’s gone, that’s what’s wrong! Where is he?”
Pitchiner’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “He left you?” He didn’t bother to hide his relieved smile. “Wow. It’s about damn time.”
Piki slapped Pitchiner across the face as hard as he could.
He had about a quarter of second to enjoy his cathartic release before Pitchiner retaliated by swiftly punching him in the jaw and sending him sprawling on his rear. “You asshole,” Pitchiner growled, “You come here and think you can just –“
“I need to find him!” Piki cried out, pressing a hand to his cheek as if that could somehow dull the pain. Fresh tears sprung in the corners of his eyes. “I need to make him understand how much I love him!”
“God, just shut the fuck up already,” Pitchiner snapped in disgust. “Do you know how many times Jack called me in the middle of the night upset because he couldn’t figure out why he was such a bad boyfriend to you, why nothing he did made you happy? Are you really so surprised that he’d reach a point where even he couldn’t put up with your shit anymore?”
“You don’t know anything,” Piki hissed.
Pitchiner loomed over him like a vengeful giant, fists clenched. “I know that I kept my mouth shut because Jack asked me not to get involved. But Jack isn’t around anymore, you miserable –“
“Coz.” Pitch had entered the living room and was watching the altercation with surprising calmness. “That’s enough.”
Pitchiner gave Piki a long, hard stare before finally turning away. “Your brother’s a dick,” he informed his boyfriend, returning to his room.
Piki scrambled to his feet and pointed an accusing finger at Pitch. “That’s it? ‘That’s enough?’ You’re going to let him talk to me like that?”
“Go home, Piki. Jack obviously isn’t here and we don’t know where he is.” Pitch sounded tired, and the look he gave his twin was not kind.
“But he—“
“Leave.”
It was like being punched again, and hurt almost as much as the note left on his kitchen table. Almost.
Piki stifled a sob and left his brother’s apartment without another word.
What's this? An NDU pokemon AU, that's what! Because I can't resist the cute!
“Are you sure this is a g-good idea?” Jack asked while fidgeting nervously with his pokeball.
“Course it is, kid!” Pitchiner grinned and tossed his own pokeball into the air, catching it easily. “Pokemon don’t get any better just sitting around. We’ll have ‘em fight one another a little, suss out their strengths and weaknesses.”
“O-okay.” Jack let the pokeball fall from his hands and said with as much gusto as he could muster, “Pikichu, I choose you!”
The pokeball opened with a flash and a black chinchilla-like pokemon appeared. It adjusted its dark sunglasses before leaning into Jack’s leg happily. “Piki pi,” it purred.
“N-no, Pikichu, you n-need to f-f-fight right now.” Jack bent down to stroke the patch of fur between its ears. “C-cuddles later, o-okay?”
Pitchiner laughed. “Hey, Jack, who’s the trainer here, you or the fuzzball?”
Pikichu glared at the buff, dark-haired trainer and stalked into the dusty clearing.
“That’s more like it.” Pitchiner threw his pokeball to the ground. “Pitchu, I choose you!”
A second pokemon appeared, identical to the first except with its ears held high. “All right, Pitchu, time to fight. Show me what you got.”
Pitchu looked up at Pitchiner disdainfully and bit his shin.
“Ow!” Pitchiner shook his leg until the pokemon let go. “Not me, Pitchu, you’re going to fight your brother.”
Pitchu raised a brow. “Chu,” it replied dryly. It approached the other pokemon and the two glared at one another, fur raised and teeth bared.
Pitchu struck first.
PITCHU uses FASHION CRITIQUE!
It’s not very effective…
Pikichu dodged the attack easily. Running in a semi-circle on all fours, it reared up as electric charge gathered on its cheek spots.
PIKICHU uses SCATHING REMARK!
PITCHU is hit!
The pointy-eared pokemon yelped as it barely avoided the brunt of Pikichu’s thunderbolt. It clenched its tiny furry fists and sent an arc of electricity straight at its opponent.
PITCHU uses EMBARASSING CHILDHOOD MEMORY.
It’s super effective!
“Pikichu!” Jack cried out in alarm as the pokemon fell, body limp against the ground. “Pi—“
~*~
“—kachu, no!”
The sound of the television woke Piki suddenly from his strange dream. He sat up, confused and vaguely relieved that he was human and not a small, furry creature.
He slid out of bed and opened the door, blinking blearily into the living room. His involuntary yawn alerted Jack to his presence, and the blond looked up at him guiltily from his seat on the couch. “Oh, s-sorry. I c-c-couldn’t sleep anymore so I w-was just watching TV. D-did I wake you up? I c-can turn it off.”
Piki shook his head quickly. “No, it’s fine.” He sat down and rested his head against his boyfriend’s shoulder, still tired and out of sorts. Jack absently stroked his hair, attention returning to the cartoon, and Piki couldn’t help but drift into a light doze.
“Piki pi,” he muttered in his sleep, and Jack bit his lip to keep from laughing.
