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Dot rolled over onto her side, curling up and groaning. She hadn’t left her bed all day, and was feeling awful. This evening, she was glad her hair covered her eyes. It meant she didn’t have to see herself.
I want to talk to Liko. I don’t want to get up.
Dot sighed loudly, pulling at her hair in frustration and switching positions to lay on her back. Quaxly jumped onto her bed, looking concerned and tilting his head.
“‘M fine. It’s fine.” Dot mumbled. Quaxly didn’t look like he believed it.
Without warning, Quaxly leapt off the bed and ran out the Pokéflap in the door. Dot sat up in surprise and reached out a hand towards the door before letting her arm fall back to her side. Dot looked around, and her gaze was met with Tinkatink’s. She looked worried, looking back and forth between Dot and the door before rushing out the door along with Quaxly.
“Hey-!” Dot exclaimed. “Where…” She sighed again and laid down.
Dot brushed the hair out of her eyes and stared up at the ceiling for a moment before letting it fall back over her face. Something was up with her Pokémon, and she didn’t know what they were planning.
A few minutes passed before Dot heard footsteps outside of her door and familiar knocking - it was Liko.
Liko! She can’t see me like this, Dot’s mind started racing and she felt a lump in her throat.
“Can I come in?” Liko’s muffled voice came through the door.
Dot scrambled for an answer that would be a polite “no”, but couldn’t find it in herself to disallow Liko into her room.
“…Yeah.”
The door opened. Floragato, Quaxly, and Tinkatink came rushing in with Liko following close after. She shut the door gently behind her, a look of concern growing on her face as she studied Dot.
“Are you okay, Dot?” Liko’s voice was low and soft and sent a shiver down Dot’s spine.
Now’s really not the time to feel like this, Dot scolded herself.
After a beat of silence, Dot responded.
“N-no.” She said, looking away and choosing to stare at the floor.
Liko moved closer towards Dot and Dot inhaled sharply at the movement.
“Can I sit down here?” Liko gestured to the end of Dot’s bed.
“Sure.” Dot brought her knees up to her chest to make room for Liko. She wasn’t entirely sure why she said yes so quickly, but Liko was now sitting close to Dot. Dot’s heart started racing at the proximity.
“What’s wrong? O-or if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine too.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m just…” Here goes. “I’ve been feeling…” Why was this difficult? Dot let out an exasperated sigh. “I’ve been feeling really… really dysphoric lately.” She said quietly, nearly too quietly for Liko to hear.
“Oh,” Liko responded. “Does that mean you’re trans too?”
‘Too’? Is Liko…?
“What do you mean, ‘too’?” Dot questioned. “I- I mean, I am, but, are you?”
Liko smiled warmly. “Yeah, I am,” Her smile faded away. “I’m really sorry you’re feeling bad. Is there anything I can do to help out?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s okay. Do you want me to stay here?”
“…Yeah.”
A beat of silence.
“Could- uh, could you come closer, actually?” Dot said quietly, not wanting to look at Liko.
Liko shifted closer towards Dot.
Arcues, why did I say that? This is just gonna make it worse.
Dot felt her heart flutter at the closeness. She stared at Liko for a few moments, studying her face, her shoulders, her - Shut UP, brain!
“You… you look really red. Are you alright?” Liko tilted her head slightly, and her hair fell over her face a little. Dot was almost entranced by it and only registered what she had said nearly a minute after.
“Huh? No, no, yeah I’m- I’m fine. I’m okay. Well, aside from,” She gestured at nothing. “Yeah. I’m good.”
“If you say so.” Liko shrugged. Dot absolutely had not fooled her. “You know,” Liko said. “I’ve been thinking a lot about you recently,” Liko paused before suddenly tensing. “Not- not in a weird way! I’ve just… I don’t get to see your face much, and I think you’re really pretty.”
What.
“So, I was wondering,” Liko looked at Dot. Dot could feel her eyes boring into her very soul. “Since we’re alone… could you let me see your face?”
What the hell is happening!? I mean, I’m not opposed exactly but what!? Shoot, I have to respond to this now. C’mon Dot, just talk!
“I- You- Uh, well,” Dot stammered, fidgeting with her hands. “Uh, okay. You- you can.”
The two stared at each other for a little bit, doing nothing before Liko reached out towards Dot’s face. Dot instinctively recoiled a little, and Liko stopped reaching out. Dot took a deep breath and steadied herself, trying to focus on anything other than Liko. Unfortunately for her, Liko was all she could focus on.
Liko gently brushed Dot’s hair up and out of her face. Dot kept staring at Liko, as if she was in some sort of trance.
“You’re staring,” Liko giggled.
“H-what? No, no, I’m-” Dot frantically tried to think of an excuse. “I’m-”
“Dot?” Liko said, her voice unusually shaky.
“Yeah..?” Dot responded, relieved she didn’t have to deal with finding a reason for staring so much.
“I… can- can I kiss you?”
Oh. This was much worse. But the answer was already out of her mouth before she could even think about it.
“Yeah.”
They repositioned themselves slowly to allow Liko to get closer. Liko was in between Dot’s legs, kneeling and bending down slightly to match Dot’s eye level. Dot’s heartbeat was ringing in her ears and her breath hitched. Liko was right in front of her now, her eyes moving slowly across Dot’s exposed face.
“You’re beautiful, you know that?” Liko nearly whispered.
Dot swallowed hard. She felt her face burning. Liko slowly leaned in closer to Dot, looking down at Dot’s lips. Dot tried to lean in too, but struggled due to how she was positioned. She felt her arms straining to keep her upright. The two closed their eyes, like they’d seen in countless movies, and their lips met. It wasn’t perfect, far from it, but it made Dot ecstatic.
After they broke away from each other, they sat in silence for a moment. Liko lifted her arm from Dot’s hair and let it fall back over her face, which Dot was very grateful for as she was about as red as Fuecoco.
“So,” Liko said softly. “Do you feel better now?”
“Yeah,” Dot was breathless, somehow.
“I’m glad. We’ll- we’ll have to do this again sometime.”
“Uh- y-yeah, we should.” Dot brought a hand to her neck and rubbed it anxiously. “For now though, would you… would you mind staying here tonight?” Dot closed her eyes - not that Liko could tell - and turned away from the other girl.
“Sure!” Liko clasped her hands together. “We could have a sleepover!”
“If that’s what you wanna call it…” Dot mumbled.
The hours passed by, with the two playing games and watching shows before Dot had brought up an idea. “What about a horror movie?” she had said, thinking since she didn’t scare at horror movies, she could act cool in front of Liko - however stupid that may sound. What she wasn’t expecting was Liko to say yes, so here they were, watching some horror movie they had found.
It was overall pretty tame, but one of the scares had gotten Liko to cling to Dot’s arm, which made this strange warmth in Dot’s stomach appear. It was a weird and unfamiliar feeling, but Dot couldn’t focus on figuring it out. She currently had someone hanging onto her for dear life, so Dot grabbed the remote and paused the movie.
“You alright?” Dot asked, basking in the unusual sensation of looking down at Liko - or anyone, for that matter.
“Um, yeah, I am. But if… if it’s okay with you,” Liko averted her eyes and stared at the screen instead. “Could we… could we sleep together tonight?”
Dot felt her face heat up. “Like, together as in, in my bed?”
Liko nodded.
“Sure.” There was that strange feeling again. It made her feel almost floaty.
After the movie ended, the pair stood up and walked over to the bed. Dot looked at Liko before looking back at the bed and scratching the back of her head. “I’ve, uh, I’ve never exactly… cuddled? With someone before? So I’m not really…” She trailed off. Gah, why is it so hot in here? Dot pulled at the collar of her shirt. She had taken off her jacket earlier already, so she wasn’t sure why she felt so warm.
“That’s okay,” Liko said, sitting down on the bed. “Here, just come lay down.”
Dot did as she was told and laid down on her side, facing Liko. Liko laid down as well and pulled Dot close to her. Dot tentatively put her free arm around Liko, and got a slight squeeze in response.
For some reason, Dot didn’t feel trapped by this. It was strange. Something just must have been different between all the other times people - especially her mom - had nearly demanded physical affection and now, with Liko, gentle, pretty, kind Liko asking for it.
Dot shuddered and moved in closer, pressing her forehead to Liko’s chest.
Liko gently scratched Dot’s head, like how she pets her Floragato. She then slid a knee in between Dot’s legs, which sent all sorts of strange new feelings shooting through Dot.
Eventually, Dot fell asleep to the rhythm of Liko scratching her head, and Liko followed soon after.
Dot woke up first. Her mind was foggy and she didn’t remember what happened yesterday for a little bit. What shook her memories back into place was the fact that she was with Liko. Liko, who was still asleep, had her arms around Dot firmly making her stay in place but gentle all the same. If it were any other person, Dot would’ve tried to squirm out of the person’s grasp, but again for some strange reason, Liko was different. Safe.
That’s it. Liko was safe.
Dot’s forehead was still pressed against Liko’s chest, and Dot could feel the slight rise and fall of Liko’s breathing. Again, in any other situation Dot would have been freaking out - and to be fair, she sort of was - but Liko was just so… special.
Dot considered waking Liko up since her arm, which was trapped under Liko, had fallen asleep at some point and was getting all tingly.
“Liko,” Dot whispered. “Liko, wake up.” She tapped Liko’s shoulder gently.
Liko’s eyes fluttered open and she smiled down at Dot. “Morning, Dot.” She said, her voice cracking a little from hours of disuse. The way she said Dot’s name made Dot feel warm again.
Liko released Dot from her embrace and slowly sat up, yawning and rubbing her eyes before stretching.
She looks like a cat, Dot smiled before sitting up too. She looked over to the floor to see their Pokémon still asleep. Dot swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, wobbling slightly.
“It…it was really nice hanging out with you.” Dot said, looking back at Liko.
“Yeah,” Liko replied, also getting up and out of bed. “Can, um, can I hold your hand?”
“Uh- s-sure. Go for it.”
Liko intertwined her fingers with Dot’s. They stepped towards the door and opened it.
They’d still have to figure out how to explain things to everyone, if they even wanted to. But for now, the two had each other, and that was more than enough for them.