“That’s Me!”

In Which Twig Speaks to an Old Friend

“I’m sorry.”

Twig’s brows furrowed and she glanced about, but she couldn’t find anything unusual in the warm light of day. Sitting in her garden, feeling the warm sun upon her scales, she closed her eyes and listened a moment longer, but the voice didn’t return.

“Twig?”

Her eyes jolted open, and Twig’s wide-eyed gaze turned upon her friend. Celebi shook her head, a knowing smile on her face, and continued running a long fine brush over Twig’s claws.

“I was asking,” Celebi said slowly, “what you think of this colour?”

Twig huffed a quiet laugh. “It’s a bit late, isn’t it?”

“Not for me,” Celebi answered with a wink.

Celebi drifted backwards, her arms crossed proudly, and chin tilted in a smirk. Twig raised her claws and couldn’t help but smile. She’d been sceptical when Celebi suggested they paint her claws, but it had come out rather nicely. They had debated over it for some time, quickly deciding red would be unsettling, and that a shade of black which matched Ark wasn’t quite right, either. Instead, they’d settled on an opalescent sort of nail polish, one that shimmered in the light, making her claws nearly sparkle like a gemstone. Twig couldn’t help but think it was a bit much, but seeing Celebi’s eagerness and promises of how good it would look, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse.

“Thanks, Celebi.”

“It’s my pleasure, dear! As soon as it’s dry, get started.”

“On what?” Twig asked, her head tilting.

Celebi dramatically flicked her head and settled on the ground in front of Twig, facing away from her.

“On painting my wings, of course!”

Twig recoiled, a snort escaping her. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Twig, darling, all my ideas are good ideas.”

“What about when you-”

“Don’t!” Celebi screamed, jumping away, and whipping around. “Don’t you dare say it!”

Twig doubled over in laughter, clenching at her gut. “You turned Grovyle back into a Treecko because you were startled! I didn’t think that was possible.”

Celebi rolled her eyes, arms crossed. “Turning time back on someone like that does take an inordinate amount of energy, but it’s not impossible! Though, it was a while before I had enough energy to change him back again.”

Finally bringing her laughter under control, Twig carefully wiped a stray tear from her eye, her nostrils burning with the scent of the nail polish. “No, I meant, I didn’t think you could be surprised.”

“Oh, well, a little surprise is nice sometimes.”

Twig nodded and the two fell into a comfortable silence, watching the clouds drift by, though Twig shivered when a breeze flowed through the garden, and the long shadows cast by the clouds were a little chilly.

There was something else odd too, but she couldn’t quite place it. In the shadows at the edge of her vision, something danced, just out of reach. It wasn’t the comforting noise that Ark’s shadow carried; it was quiet, practically whispering in ear, and though familiar, it felt completely different than Ark’s presence.

“It’s been nice,” Celebi said, shattering the silence like glass. “Spending more time together. Twig, I love you. Don’t you forget it.”

Smiling, Twig swallowed past the lump in her throat and allowed herself a moment to let the weight of it sink in, like a ball of warmth in her chest, and suddenly the day didn’t seem as cold. “I love you, too.”

“Enough to paint my wings?”

Laughter burst forth and Twig shook her head. “I’m still not sure this is a-”

“Oh, it’ll be fine, just a light coating to make me extra sparkly!”

The day dragged on, peaceful and slow. Celebi left and eventually, Ark returned from whatever he’d been doing, a new blanket for Twig bundled in his arms. After sharing a meal, Ark had tied the blanket around her neck like a cape and pronounced her his ‘super wife!’

She had called him a dork, helped with the dishes, and they’d settled on the couch, Twig leaning into Ark’s embrace and talking excitedly about her day. Ark listened with rapt attention, offering the occasional comment or groan at Celebi’s antics, and when Twig had nothing left to say, Ark shared his adventures from the day, and it was simple, and cozy, and perfect.

So, the days passed, Twig’s garden flourished, and her sketchbook was filled to bursting; she would have to get a new one soon. Still, every now and then, Twig would hear things on the wind, mumbled apologies, and earnest declarations. Yet, whenever she looked, no one was there.

Though, was it possibly she simply wasn’t looking hard enough? Perhaps, she already knew what she might find. Maybe the idea scared her, and honestly, who could blame her? Well, she could blame herself. After all, hearing voices, jumping at shadows, being afraid of nothing at all, was just silly. It was ridiculous, completely illogical, something she might’ve done in the past, but no more.

Yet, that thought made Twig freeze.

Immediately her mind began to race, telling her she was being absurd, that she was worrying over nothing, how if she kept up like this, she would only make herself a burden upon those she loved.

Like trains gone off the rails, her thoughts raced wildly, unable to stop and just barely avoiding crashing into each other. Any longer and there would be a collision and everything would go wrong and she-

Her eyes widened, and looking down, Twig found herself running a gentle claw over the proposal band Ark had given her. Taking a deep breath, she felt the band beneath her hand, and everything seemed to slow, just a little bit.

 Moving into her room, Twig pulled her journal from where she’d left it, settled on the edge of her bed, and flicked to an old entry. The paper was crinkled, and somewhat water stained. In the weeks after she had fallen apart, Twig had often flicked back to this entry, detailing the few memories she had retained from those days. The entry spoke of her friends’ warmth, and how loved she’d felt. It spoke of something, sharp and bloodied, being dislodged from her chest, the remaining hole filled with something gentler.

Looking back on it all, she almost couldn’t believe it had really happened. It felt so distant, almost as if it had happened to another person.

“I’m sorry.”

Stiffening at the voice, Twig turned slowly, and standing by the edge of the shadows was a small human girl, with frizzy hair, patchy clothes, and toes that stuck through the holes worn in her shoes.

Something in her chest lurched, but Twig’s mind had finally gone quiet.

The girl clutched at the hem of her shirt; her knuckles turned white. “I’m sorry. I didn’t do a good job of keeping us safe.”

Her eyes going wide, Twig slipped off the bedside. “You’re… me?”

“I’m sorry.”

After a moment, Twig took a deep breath, feeling her heart rattle in her chest. “Hey, can, can you look at me?”

Another sniffle, and the girl shook her head.

Twig scooted closer, and, slowly reaching out, took the girl’s hands in her own.

“Y-you don’t have to be afraid,” Twig whispered, her voice on the verge of breaking. “We’re okay now.”

Slowly, the girl looked up, her mouth hanging open and eyes wide, as if she couldn’t believe Twig’s words.

Twig nodded, biting her lip. “Yeah, we’re safe. We’ve got people who love us.”

The girl looked away and took a hesitant step back into the shadows. “But what if we’re just being a pain? Aren’t, aren’t we a burden?”

A broken cry slipped past Twig’s lips, and she shook her head. “Thank you, for trying so hard to look after us, but you don’t need to anymore.”

“But, what if-”

Twig clenched her eyes shut and pulled the girl in tight, wrapping her in a hug. “Would you hold a burden like this?”

For a moment, the girl was still, then her arms wrapped around Twig’s torso and her hands scrabbled at Twig’s shoulders. The girl wept loudly, snot dribbling from her nose, and amidst her tears, Twig heard three words.

“You’re so warm.”

When Twig finally opened her eyes, the girl was gone, and Ark was practically breaking down the door. He’d only been gone a few hours, what could’ve happened to reduce Twig to a snivelling mess on the floor during that time? He couldn’t guess, and he didn’t need to.

Wrapping her in a blanket, Ark carried her to the bed, fetched her a glass of water, and then crawled in beside her. Instantly, she latched onto him, tears still flowing, and told him all about it. He rubbed gently at her back, whispering quiet reassurances.

It hurt, yet in that moment, all was right with the world.

@sincerely-sofie

@teshamerkel I may have gone overboard, but in my defence, they are very lovable. I wanted to do a sketch of team scarlet as Hiccup and Toothless (thank you for nothing, you useless reptile), but I couldn't figure it out.

Chapter 28 of The Present is a Gift has entered the building!

We get a Kip POV chapter in this one, and he is VERY CONCERNED about Twig. Read it on Ao3, PMD Fanfiction, or Tumblr here!

doodles of the kibby!

The past few days one of my friend has been playing through Explorers of Sky, and he’s been streaming his run for me to watch while we VC on Discord. He knows of some of the characters that show up, but he’s going in pretty much spoiler free. Tonight he got to chapter 10 (Dusknoir’s first appearance) and mentioned that he remembered seeing Grovyle and Dusknoir being a ship online. He’s gonna be SOOOOOOO confused when he finds out they actually both want to kill each other currently instead of making out.

The shiny Veluza that immediately used memento in my face comes back to haunt me yet again…

But if it’s the first I actually caught I’m an iron bundle which isn’t much better

Your first shiny pokemon is what pokemon are you

Mine was marill

#11, #18, and #44— or #33 if you don't have a favorite myth for #11 ^^

Ooo, these are good.

#11: Favorite ancient tale/myth?

I took a classical mythology class my freshman year of college and three years of Latin in high school (we did a lot of Roman mythology stuff in there), so I actually have a good bit of material to work with here! I think my favorites are the ones that start to blur the line between history and mythology. The Iliad/Trojan war, for example, is one I like a lot, because it very much feels like an actual event that took place. I find it really interesting to read stories like that where the gods become deeply involved with a seemingly real conflict that should just be an issue among mortals.

#18: Have I ever written a script?

Not anything I'd ACTUALLY consider a script. I guess I've technically written some very short script-like things for some skits/projects in school, but nothing I every put too much work into or would actually consider a script. Almost all of the writing I do is scientific or analytical, but when I do write fictional pieces I'm definitely better at more traditional narrative stuff.

#33: How do I feel about coconut?

I'm not a huge fan of it. I like it mixed into some things like with piña coladas, but besides that I tend to avoid it.

#44: What are some little things that make me happy?

Seeing the incredible art/stories people create here, and how it's able to bring so many people together

The weekly calls I have with my friends who I don't get to see often because we go to different colleges. We've been doing this for a year now, and my best friend and I have been telling the others the stories for OC's we've been writing for almost 10 years now

Looking at all the plushies of Pokemon, Kirby, Ori, and others that I have around my room

Thinking about how far I've come this semester in terms of my mental health

Cuddling with my cats back at home

Simply being in the presence of my close friends, whether we're actually doing anything or not

:)

(I don’t know anything about this game I just wanted to join the party)

Still haunted by my conversation with @oblonger about my most bizarro Slay the Princess theory yet. His reaction scares me. I definitely got things wrong, but they’re wrong in a way that amuses the people who have seen the theories I pose, which feels veRY MUCH CONCERNING

Tried dabbling into animation for the first time. ^^ It was an experience tried to do this, and quite a bit I've learned from it as a result, both in and outside working on it. :)

I went to the mall today and got some new friends!! I love the big riolu so much he has the goofiest look on his face :D