KABOOM!
"Please don't let go."
Thunder cracked across the sky right on cue, mean and sharp, and her voice dissolved into a small trembling sound as she buried her face into my shoulder with everything she had.
I tightened my hold. "I won't." And then I ran.
The rain hit like bullets— slamming into my face, my eyes, every exposed piece of skin it could find.
Ivy squealed against my chest, half laughing, half terrified, clinging to me like I was the last solid thing in the world while I got assaulted directly through my eyeballs.
(I genuinely can't see ANYTHING!)
The street was just a blur of dark and wet and neon light smearing sideways across my vision.
"W-whoa, this is crazy!" she cried out, squeezing her eyes shut against the sting of it.
"Crazy— yeah, I know," I said, which was a generous understatement for what was happening to my face right now.
"But I trust you," she said, voice small but completely steady underneath the chaos. That one line hit harder than the rain ever could, and that's exactly why I kept running— feet pounding the pavement, heart doing something I wasn't going to examine— because apparently that was enough reason now.
She tugged at my collar. "Right? We're going home."
"Oh? Yes— sure, yeah, we're going home."
"Heh…"
She giggled, warm and bright even in the middle of a storm, and I could feel it in my chest more than hear it. "Hehehe… our home…" Then she lifted her head and just shouted it into the rain, like a declaration— "We're going home!" And it was so genuinely weird and joyful that I almost tripped.
***
(Probably minutes or more (,,꒪꒫꒪,,)...capiche?)
After what felt like an actual hour of running blind through a storm that had a personal vendetta against me specifically, warm yellow lights finally broke through the dark.
I skidded to a stop at the gate, both of us completely soaked through, rain still coming down hard behind us.
"We're here!" She lifted her head from my shoulder and went very still. Her eyes were wide, locked onto the house, like she was trying to make sure it was real before she let herself react to it.
"It's… so big… and beautiful…" she whispered.
I smirked. "Surprised?"
She turned to me slowly. "Is this… really our home?"
"Yeah."
She grabbed my shirt with both fists. "Then hurry!"
We made it inside and the warmth hit immediately— that deep, steady, expensive kind of heat that wraps around you and seeps straight into your bones and absolutely refuses to let go.
The kind of thinh you can only get with serious climate control and a good architect.
She then went completely soft in my arms, all the tension just melting out of her at once like a snowflake hitting a warm surface. "W-warm…" she whispered, eyes fluttering, cheeks pink from the sudden shift in temperature.
Like that single word was the best thing she'd said all week. (Which yea, surely it does.) Then slowly, curiosity won over comfort, and she lifted her head from my shoulder and looked around— and her eyes just went wide and stayed there.
The interior opened up in front of her— soft amber lighting along the ceiling, polished wooden floors that caught the light, walls a clean deep white.
A living space that felt more like a private hotel lobby than anything a single person should reasonably have, anchored by a chandelier overhead that glowed dimly, its crystal droplets catching the light like frozen stars.
Shelves lined with books that I never touched in my entire life. A couch wide enough to comfortably fit eight people and still have opinions about personal space.
Even the air smelled different in here— clean, cool, faintly like new fabric and something expensive.
She turned in a slow circle, still in my arms, trying to process everything at once. "Wow… it's so big…" she muttered.
I scratched the back of my neck, which was weird because I'd lived here for years and had never once felt weird about it until right now, being looked at by this kid like I'd built the place myself.
"Yeah, but… I live alone."
She looked at me. "You live here all alone?"
"Yeah."
"But… it's so big… don't you have a family?"
I sighed. "I do. But let's not talk about that."
She didn't push it. She just looked at me for a moment with those green eyes, then rested her head back on my shoulder like she'd filed it away for later.
We stood there on the entryway floor, dripping steadily onto the tiles like two very sorry cats who'd lost an argument with a weather system.
Then—
"Bath time," I declared.
Her head shot up. "Yes! Yes please—" her teeth chattered enthusiastically around the words.
"Yes yes, don't worry."
Then she hesitated, grip tightening slightly on my jacket. "(⑉•_•⑉) Sorry… but… I've never had a real bath before."
I blinked. Stared at her. "W-wait… what? For real? ಠ_ಠ"
She nodded, looking down at herself— at the dirty, ripped, genuinely disgusting jacket she'd been wearing, fingers curling around the hem— then looked back up at me through her bangs, a little shy. "Will you… help me? I don't really know how (,,꒪꒫꒪,,)"
"Of course," I said. Her shoulders dropped about two inches immediately, all that tension just gone, and a real smile spread across her face— the kind that doesn't have anything behind it except genuine relief.
"Okay," she said happily, arms wrapping back around my neck as I carried her toward the bathroom.
"A bath… hehe, I'm kind of excited," she murmured into my shoulder.
"You'll love it. Luxury treatment."
She giggled. Then she pressed a quick, soft kiss to my cheek and buried her face right back into my jacket before I could react to it.
"Thank you," she said. "I wonder… why are you so nice to me?"
I laughed.
She giggled.
And I thought about it for exactly one second before deciding I definitely could not tell her the actual answer, which was mostly that I was bored and had bad impulse control around dumpsters apparently. "Cus why not," I said instead.
***
(Bathroom (,,꒪⌓꒪,,)...)
Steam filled the bathroom as the warm water ran, and she stood in the middle of it all looking around with her eyes absolutely shining. "It's like… a palace," she breathed.
"Sure. Lower your expectations," I muttered, already reaching for the showerhead.
Her cheeks went pink the moment I started helping her undress, and she gave me this very serious sideways look.
I got ahead of it. "I'm not taking a bath with you, okay?"
"O-okay…" Good. That settled, I washed her gently— careful, respectful, completely nonchalant, because I am built different and you know? It's because I'm just like that.
I let the warm water run down her back first and she made a tiny squeak, then immediately dissolved into giggles. "H-hey, that tickles…"
"Hold still."
"I-I'm trying!" She was absolutely not trying. She twisted away as I scrubbed her back, shoulders shaking, laughing into her hands. "Ah! Hahaha, w-wait—"
"What, is this tickling you?"
"N-nooo— (,,╹⌓╹,,)" Her entire face said otherwise.
It only escalated from there. By the time I got to her arms she was wriggling like I was performing an exorcism rather than basic hygiene.
"WHAHAHAHA, ahjussi— that— it's tickling! Stop— no wait— STOP AHAHAHAHA—"
(Ahjussi… ಠ,_｣ಠ)
"You are literally impossible to wash," I said, with great calm, into the chaos.
She eventually settled enough to look up at me with soap in her hair. "By the way, can I ask you something?"
"Sure," I said, rinsing the back of her neck.
"Will you not leave my side?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Promise? (,,Ծ_Ծ,,)"
"Yes— sure, I promise… now will you stop wiggling like a worm."
She giggled.
Then I crouched down to get her feet and everything went immediately sideways. "WAAHAHAHAHAHA— NOT MY FEET— I CAN'T— I CAN'T— AHJJUSIII!!! I'M GONNA FALL!!!"
"Then hold the wall!" I said, with the energy of a man who had not signed up for this.
She slapped both palms against the tiles, laughing so hard her knees were genuinely threatening to give out, head thrown back, completely gone. "You're so bad! You're bullying me!"
"I'm cleaning you, y-you potato…? ಠ_ಠ"
Still… she kept giggling breathlessly, helplessly, like she'd forgotten how to stop— and I let her, because honestly it was fine and also kind of funny in a way I wasn't going to say out loud.
When it was finally done, when the water was off and the chaos had settled, she stood there wrapped in a towel and looked up at me with the softest expression— quiet, warm, completely unguarded.
"Thank you…" she whispered. "No one has ever done something like this for me." Her voice was small. Fragile in a way that had nothing to do with anything.
It sat in the air between us and did something mean to my chest that I was choosing not to acknowledge.
"Yeah," I muttered, patting her head once. "Whatever."
She looked up at me with those warm bright eyes— that completely genuine, uncomplicated trust— and sighed softly, closing them. "Thank you…" she said again.
I stood up and looked at the ceiling for a second. (That won't work on me.)
(Okay— maybe… A little. Whatever. (⌐■-■)...)
I dried her off and wrapped the towel around her properly, and the moment I was done she immediately buried her face into my side and hugged me— arms wrapped tight around my waist, cheek pressed against my ribs, like a small barnacle that had made a decision and was not taking questions about it.
"Go wait in the living room. I'll take mine."
"No."
"Good— (ಠ_ಠ)>⌐■-■ wait, what do you mean no?"
She let go of my waist, crouched down, and wrapped both arms around my leg instead— cheek pressed against my knee. "I'm not leaving your side!!!!! You promised! If I leave you'll disappear!"
"I am not going to disappear. I'm taking a bath."
"No."
"ಠ_ಠ…"
I tried to peel her off. She clunqg harder. I snapped and pinched her cheek. "Ow!"
"I promise," I said, firmly, looking her in the eye. Something in her expression shifted— still worried, but listening. I ruffled her damp hair. "I promise."
She held my gaze for another second. Then, slowly, she let go— and immediately stood on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek. "Thank you. And sorry."
"Go." With one last small smile she padded off downstairs.
I stood in the hallway for a second. Then I let out a long, slow sigh at the ceiling. This kid… she genuinely thought I was going to vanish into thin air the moment she stopped looking at me. Like I'm gonna get suck into something…
(She apologized for it though.) I exhaled through my nose.
(Okay. That was— I mean. That's kind of… Nah… it wasn't. It was just. Normal kid behavior. Completely standard. Nothing about that was cute.) I stood there for another second. (Yea okay it was a little cute. Whatever. Moving on.) I thought pinching the bridge of my nose.
***
(The kid.)
Downstairs, she found the couch, climbed up, pulled her knees to her chest, and was asleep within minutes— curled up small and warm and completely out, in a house that had heat and clean air and no reason to be afraid.
("It's so warm here,")she'd thought, or maybe said, right before her eyes closed. (I'm so lucky.)
(I finally have a home,)She smiled. And someone who cares for me.) And just like that, she was gone. Asleep…
***
(In the bathroom)
I took my bath, got dressed, and then immediately walked to my room and almost faceplanted into my bed before I froze.
Stood there. Stared at the wall and thought. (Did I— did I forget something?)
"THE KID." I sprinted downstairs.
She was curled up on the couch like a tiny cat, completely dead to the world. I stood there looking at her for a second— this small, sleeping, unbelievably definitely not cute trusting kid who had decided I was safe, and then I lifted her.
She stirred just enough to wrap her arms around my neck and settle her head on my shoulder. "Thanks…" she murmured, barely conscious.
"You're welcome," I responded, like I hadn't just panicked and sprinted down a flight of stairs.
In my room, I set her down and watched her eyes open just a crack, taking in the space with the drowsy, careful look of someone who didn't want to break anything by existing near it.
"I might… break something…" she mumbled.
"You won't. Cause you physically can't."
She nodded seriously, like that was a satisfying and logical answer.
I handed her one of my oversized shirts and turned around without being asked— she made a small embarrassed sound and I heard fabric shuffling, and when I turned back she was swimming in it, sleeves past her hands, hem at her knees, looking genuinely ridiculous and somehow completely at home.
"We'll buy clothes tomorrow," I said.
"O-okay, I understand." We got under the blanket, and the room went quiet, and she pressed close almost immediately, her warmth settling against my side like she'd always been there.
"I'm tired…"
"Tired," she repeated softly. "Me too." She hugged me, tucked her face in, and I heard her breathing slow.
"Goodnight."
"Yea, goodnight."
I closed my eyes. The warmth and the quiet wrapped around everything. The storm outside had faded to a low steady hum, rain against the window, nothing sharp or mean about it anymore. I let it pull me under.
And then—
***
"Boo."
"A-ACK!!" I lurched upright, or tried to, except I wasn't in my room anymore. I was in a void— full, complete, featureless dark in every direction, no floor I could see but something solid under my feet, no walls, no ceiling, no storm and no kid.
Just darkness and the echo of my own very undignified noise. "Who— who are you?! Where the hell are we?!" I asked.
To the woman floated in front of me, unhurried, like she'd been here the whole time and found my entrance mildly entertaining.
Long dark hair. Calm eyes. The kind of voice that sounded like it was coming from slightly further away than it should.
"Good evening, young man," she said, her tone faintly echoing in a way that had no business sounding that composed. "It appears we find ourselves within the realm of your dreams."
I stared at her. "Dream?"
"Most certainly." She looked at me like she was waiting to see what I'd do with that information.
The void stretched out behind her in every direction, patient and completely unbothered.
Something about the whole situation felt less like a dream and more like a meeting someone had scheduled without telling me— and from the way she was looking at me…
I was already late
———
GUYS WHAT is 6 + 7
Its kinda hard to rewrite everything... But it was fun... I love how it turned out great even though... It took 2 hours... (,,Ծ_Ծ,,)...