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voids-colourful-creations · 1 year

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So Keep Coming Home (please) - A Molly and Friede Fic

[Read on Ao3]

Rated: G Pokémon Horizons Friede & Molly (Platonic) Content Warnings: Descriptions of non lethal injury, non explicit references to death/(not) wanting to die. Words: 2.8k

Summary: Friede gets a bit scraped up in a battle with the Explorers. Molly patches him up.

It’s not too loud in the med room, save for Molly’s footsteps.

It’s a bit too quiet, actually. Molly’s not a particularly chatty person, but when she’s this quiet…

It’s generally not a great sign.

Friede tries not to worry about it. Instead, he’ll just sit patiently, waiting on the med room’s bed. The positions a bit awkward, with his leg stretched out like this. He’s restless, this much staying still is unusual for him. Not a fan.

Part of the reason it’s so quiet in here is probably because the only people in the room are him and Molly. She’d shut the door and told everyone to stay out until she was finished, Cap included.

When she’d said that, Friede had almost expected her to start yelling at him. Scold him for being stupid enough to get himself hurt like this. Instead, the door locked shut, and Molly’s mouth did the same.

He kind of wishes she’d start yelling. It’d be better than the silence.

Friede watches from his spot on the bed as Molly walks about the room, bouncing between the desk and the cabinet.

She’s growing a rather large collection of bottles and boxes on the table, but Friede can’t read any of the labels. Not from here at least.

At some point, the tension becomes too much for Friede, and the barrier preventing him from speaking snaps.

“Mol, do you really need all that stuff? I don’t think it’s all that bad-“

Molly cuts him off before he can finish the sentence.

“I don't tell you how to do your job, Professor Friede. So please, don’t tell me how to do mine.”

Oh. She was angrier than Friede had thought. A lot angrier.

“Ah.”

Finally, she finishes with whatever she’d been doing at the desk, and walks over towards Friede. Molly looks him up and down for a moment, sizing up the injury as well as his state as a whole.

He’d say it wasn’t too bad. He’s not sure she’d agree.

“I had it under control.” Friede tries, though he doesn’t look at Molly while he speaks. “I just did what was the best thing in the situation. And it all worked out, didn’t it? It’s fine.”

Molly just blinks for a moment.

Then she reaches forward, her hand grabbing his ankle in a quick, smooth motion.

The gash slashing into Friede’s leg is a bit lower than the knee, but with even that movement, he hisses as he breathes in sharply.

“I beg to differ.” Molly says, expression switching to a scowl.

There’s a moment, a heartbeat, and then her expression softens again.

Somehow, that hurts Friede worse.

“Now.” She says, “Hold still, this might sting a little.”

Friede does as he’s told, and Molly slowly gets to work at disinfecting the wound.

It’s a long cut, though not all that deep. Deep enough to hurt, deep enough to bleed enough to scare the colour out of Liko’s face, deep enough to make Roy cover his eyes. Not deep enough to need stitches. Not deep enough for Friede to take it as seriously as he probably ought to.

Friede takes another attempt at reconciliation.

“Molly, what do you want, then?”

Molly raises an eyebrow, through she doesn’t look away from Friede’s leg, carefully applying another round of disinfectant.

“Elaborate.” She says.

“Do you want me to apologize?”

Molly just hums noncommittally, still focusing on the task at hand.

“That’s a rather stubborn way to phrase it.” She says after a moment. “I guess that means you don’t think you should.”

Friede shrugs, careful to keep the motion from making the rest of him move.

“I don’t regret it.”

Molly grits her teeth a bit, though her work on Friede’s leg is as gentle as ever.

“Obviously not.”

There’s something about her tone, the way her voice catches the words partway through the sentence that sparks something in Friede.

“So you’d rather I’d done nothing? I won’t apologize for protecting Roy, Molly. I’d do it again. Him or Liko or Dot. Any of you. Sorry , Molly. Sorry I make things so difficult for you, having to patch me up. If it’s such a bother, I’ll just do it myself.”

His voice is dipped in sarcasm, it’s dripping and bitter. Friede isn’t being fair to Molly, he knows it perfectly well, but he can’t help himself. The idea that he would’ve just left Roy standing in the way of a stray Psycho Cutter shot, when he could see the way he froze. When he could see the way the purple flames reflected in Roy’s eyes and just knew he wouldn’t make it out of the way alone.

Friede doesn’t move though. He keeps still like he was told, and simmers for a moment while Molly keeps silent.

“Do you know exactly why you got hurt, Friede?” She asks after a moment. The scrape’s been cleaned up now, but she still won’t look at him.

“Pushed Roy out of the way of one of Amethio’s attacks that would’ve hit him otherwise, the ground was uneven and I slipped down the rock face. But if I hadn’t-“

“If you hadn’t, then Metang would’ve deflected the shot. Orio was right there, and was already directing it.”

Friede just sits there, mouth still open, in silence.

“You hurt yourself because you’re reckless. Because you’re awful at communication, and because your first instinct at the sign of any danger is to throw yourself into it headlong. You always toss yourself up to the front lines and never even consider the consequences, before or after.”

Friede purses his lips.

Quietly, Molly picks up the gauze and bandages, begins to set them in place and starts winding them around.

“This isn’t just about today, is it?” Friede asks quietly.

Molly shakes her head.

Soft clouds drift by the window lazily. It’s evening now, and the sunsets on the opposite side from where Friede can see. Instead of the vibrant oranges and pinks, he watches the inverse, the way the darkest blues melt into pure black, the way the brightest stars begin to speckle the skyline. In the dying light, the clouds almost seem to glow in what remains. Gentle lavenders and violets, passing them by as the ship proceeds forward.

Friede addresses the window when he replies to Molly.

“Things are just… like that, aren’t they? You know how it is, Captain goes down with the ship and all that. Though, it’s not like anyone would put that on Cap, so… It’s me.”

“Do you really think anyone on this ship wants that? For you to go out instead of them?”

Friede pauses, considering.

“I- It’s not-“

“We’re all like that, you know. Everyone here’s too reckless and too caring. So trust me, idiot, when I tell you that no one wants that.”

And it’s such a simple statement in essence, but it’s so jarring to hear that Friede feels out of place. Like everything’s just been shifted to the left, but he’s right where he was a moment prior. Spinning in both directions and neither at once.

“What do you want, then?” He manages to ask.

And that’s when Molly looks up at him. Her expression is as blunt as ever, her eyes bore into him like they always have. But ever so slightly, there’s tears dotting the edges, and Friede hates that more than anything.

“For you to keep coming home.”

Molly turns her attention back to her bandage work, leaving Friede to sit with his thoughts.

“I-“ He’s coming out tongue tied again, it’s not like him, and he hates it. “I want to come home. I’m not just… tossing myself into danger because I think- because I…”

Friede trails off.

“I understand.” Molly replies as though he’d actually finished the sentence. Her voice drops to a deep whisper. “I just- we just… want you to value yourself a little more, that’s all. Put some of that weight you place on yourself on our shoulders, yeah? It’s not good for you to take it all like this… and if you can’t do that for yourself yet, at least do it for the kids? You don’t see the way Roy looks at you, like you hung the stars or something. And Liko too, even if she’s quieter about it. There’s this way about her, where she likes to bundle all the world’s problems into her own personal pile, you know this. They both look up to you a lot. Even Dot does, though I think she’d rather toss herself overboard than admit it. So don’t… don’t do something that’ll make you regret them following in your footsteps. That’s all.”

It’s a burst of words that comes rushing out of Molly’s mouth, the most Friede’s heard her speak in an age. It’s odd to hear. Not just her voice, everything about her sentiment settles awkwardly on Friede, like clothing a few sizes wrong.

She’s right though. He hates it when she’s right like this. It means that awkwardly shaped truth is something he has to learn to accept, to slot into place.

Because Friede doesn’t want to leave the Volteccers just as much as they don’t want him to leave them. Just as much as he wants to prevent the loss of any of them.

It was easier then, in those flashes of panic to forget that. Rationality is discarded, a protective instinct he’s still not accustomed too even after all this time takes over. How do you balance those feelings and that knowlege? What’s the right thing to do? And even if he knew that, in those moments of fear, would he even be able to act on that?

Friede didn’t know.

But… it was something to explore. To try and achieve. There’s a lingering feeling in Friede that there’s more than that, there’s something about the way he feels himself moving without thinking when he sees Liko or Roy in danger he doesn’t quite get yet.

There’s time to figure it out. He’d have to stick around long enough to find that at least.

“I’m sorry.” Friede says, looking over to Molly. “I’ll try.”

With a final pull at the bandages and a patch of medical tape, Molly finishes the job and looks up and over to Friede.

“That’s all I wanted to hear.”

With that she stands, stretching out her arms above her as she goes.

“How’s that feeling?” She asks, looking Friede up and down again.

“Good!” Friede says as he swings his legs down, perching on the edge of the bed. Molly doesn’t miss his slight wince as he does. She gives him a deadpan look.

“Better.” He amends sheepishly. “It does sting a bit.”

Molly nods.

“That’s to be expected, and not anything to worry about.” She pauses for a moment, “But if it starts to feel like it’s burning -“

“That’s bad?”

“That’s bad.”

There’s a brief moment, the both of them smiling before Molly shifts her expression back into something more typical for her.

“Seriously though, if something feels off, tell me. None of that idiot ‘putting on a brave face stuff’, now's not the time for it. If I catch wind that you weren’t telling me something I’ll make Lucky tail you around every time you get hurt from now on.”

Friede grins.

“You got it, Mol. Will do!”

Molly whips her head around from where she was placing bottles back in the cabinet, eyes narrowing.

“I mean it!”

“So do I!”

With that, Friede gently slips down off the bed, stepping back onto the floor again. It takes a moment, a few awkward steps to get a hold of how to handle the weight, but after a moment, he stands up straight and smiles at Molly.

“We good?”

She smiles back.

“We’re good.”

Carefully, Molly places the last bottle back in the cabinet and shuts the door.

“Now will you both stop hiding behind the door and come out?”

Before Molly’s sentence is even fully finished, the door slides open so hard it nearly bounces back closed. Roy flings it open with all his strength and comes running into the room, stumbling over his feet a little. He skids to a stop in front of Friede, immediately bending over in apology so low his hat threatens to topple over his head.

“I’m sorry! I’m really really sorry! It’s all my fault- I-!” Roy cuts himself off, raising his arm to his face to wipe away tears.

Startled, Friede whips his head over to Molly for a split second. She just stares back at him, then nods towards Roy.

“Whoa, whoa, Roy!” Friede says, raising his hands, “Roy, calm down, okay? I’m fine, see?”

Roy looks up, eyes still teary. Friede smiles at him, giving a little wave and shaking his leg out.

“See, Molly patched me right up, like she always does. Don’t go beating yourself up, yeah?”

Roy looks back to the floor, clutching his fists out in front of him. They’re shaking.

“B-but if I had-“

And there’s a bit of a chill that crawls down Friede’s back when he watches Roy in front of him like this, trembling under the weight of misplaced guilt.

“Nope, none of that.” Friede interjects. “What’s done is done. We’re moving forward, onto the next adventure. So don’t go blaming yourself for everything.”

The words fit his mouth well, they’re familiar. Friede kind of hates that, the idea that this isn’t the first time he’s had to say it in recent memory.

He takes a quick look up, glancing towards the doorway. Poking her head around the edge of it is Liko, just the edges of her hair and eyes peeking out. She makes a small noise as her eyes lock with Friede’s, and ducks back behind the door frame.

She stumbles out through it a second later, Orio’s familiar gloves pushing her forward.

“A-ah!” She takes a few steps forward, carried by momentum, but holds herself back.

“I-I’m sorry too. I-I saw the attack coming, but I just… froze. I couldn’t say a thing.”

She ducks down too, just her head, like she’s waiting for Friede to scold her.

“Both of you, come on, heads up! You’re gonna make Murdock think I’m punishing you guys!”

In unison, both children look up, eyes a bit watery, waiting expectantly for Friede to continue.

He takes a deep breath, trying to let the words roll around in his mind until they fall into the right order.

“Look. When we’re exploring, sometimes it’s going to be dangerous. Sometimes we’re going to get hurt. That’s okay! As long as you can get up afterwards. So don’t go worrying just because I got a bit scraped up.”

Friede takes a breath, looking over to Molly.

“But… you both should be careful. It’s much worse to go tossing yourself in harm's way without a plan. You want to be strong enough to protect what you care about, I understand. But I’ll let you guys in on a secret, okay? Sometimes the strongest thing you can do is step back and realize when you’ve got to let someone else handle something, or help you with it.”

Roy stares at Friede, eyes wide.

“Even if it’s someone you really love?”

Friede nods.

“Especially then.”

Liko looks up as well, glancing over at Roy’s face before looking back to Friede’s. She looks like she wants to say something, but whatever it is, she keeps her mouth shut. After a moment, she seemingly makes up her mind.

“What if it’s… hard. To let someone else handle it.”

Friede hums lightly.

“Yeah… asking for help is hard. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. Even if it’s late. That’s the point of having a team, yeah? It’s not just you out there, there’s all of us working together and helping each other out.”

When he says it aloud like this, Friede feels kind of silly. For rushing in and being reckless. But when he’s talking to Liko and Roy like this, he almost feels like he’ll be able to get himself to believe it.

“Sure you say that…” Liko mumbles under her breath, and it’s not like Friede doesn’t think she has a point.

He takes a deep breath.

“I’ll make you kids a deal.” He says, “If you try to count on us to help you out a bit more and don’t go blaming yourself for my recklessness, I’ll try and rely on you both a bit more, okay? Sounds good?”

Liko and Roy share a quick glance, split second communication understood only by them.

“Okay!” They say in unison. Even though there’s still a few tears dotting Roy’s eyes, though Liko’s face is a touch red from worrying, there’s something of a smile on their faces.

And that, he tells himself, is why he’ll get better at trying. At making sure he always comes home.

[End]