Life, Death and Dragonflies

[Requiem of Whyspers]

Lykas nodded in understanding when Terashi told him he only knew of one or two items for certain that he still needed and mentioned splitting up to make it easier to collect that as well as allowing him the opportunity to find a baby blanket for Libelle all at once. “Sure, that sounds like a good plan.” He responded with a nod, following the Channeler out of the shop and looking around for the antique shop he’d been directed to. It seemed an odd choice for baby supplies but what did he know? This wasn’t something he’d ever planned on and definitely didn’t expect to be his problem at any point. He spotted the sign for the shop in the middle distance after a moment and headed that direction as Terashi went the other way. He bounced Libelle gently in his arms as she fussed about, trying to calm her a bit as he entered the antique shop.

“Oh, hello!” The young woman at the counter greeted him as the bell chimed upon his entry, her breath catching for a moment at the sight of Libelle. “Oh! She’s precious!”

Lykas flushed slightly. Such reactions weren’t anything he’d ever experienced. Even with his past and his history of promiscuous activity, he’d never had anyone respond so positively to his presence, even when he had a cute Pokémon with him. “Oh… yeah… I, uh…. I’m actually looking for some things for her. Her mother sort of dumped her on me unexpectedly and I don’t have many supplies for her at the moment. Do you have any baby blankets or anything like that?” He responded as the woman approached, waggling a finger in Libelle’s direction in greeting.

“I’m sorry to hear that, dear. But yes, we have some baby supplies in the back corner. We’ve got a selection of blankets, some nice quality clothing, if a bit dated, and some packs of cloth diapers in the back corner over there.” The clerk responded as Libelle grabbed at her finger and giggled, shaking the woman’s hand about in her grip. “We might still have that old changing table back there as well… I’m not sure if it’s been spoken for just yet.”

Lykas nodded and thanked the woman, managing to convince Libelle to release her after a moment or two and heading back to the corner he’d been directed to, realizing something she’d said stuck with him. “Diapers… of course. I’m sure we have bottles now that I think about it. We can use them for baby Pokémon pretty much any time but I doubt Sub keeps a stock of diapers around HQ. I’m pretty sure he never expected babies to be part of this little group of ours…” he thought aloud. Pulling out his SNAG, he’d use his tentacles to hold Libelle while he searched for an explanation of diapers and how they worked. “This is… new information.” He muttered to himself, listening to the video he’d pulled up breaking down the pros of cons of cloth diapers versus disposables while he filtered through the various blankets he’d finally found.

Looking over the handful in the shop, he found two that stood out. One appeared to be hand-knit from an incredibly soft yarn. “That one’s made of Wooloo wool, hand spun and knit by a woman who emigrated to Unova from Galar about 60 years ago. The poor dear sold it to us because her only granddaughter was allergic and she had no other children. It’s held up very well over the years and will likely survive several more generations if it’s well cared for.” The clerk told him as she approached. “It’s very warm so if you live somewhere cold or plan to visit frequently, it’ll be perfect for keeping your little bundle of joy nice and toasty.”

Lykas nodded silently, considering it. Mt. Silver wasn’t exactly warm but Snagem HQ was very well insulated and climate controlled. It was unlikely they’d be needing anything like this for a while and by the time they did, they’d have had a chance to get her something else. Looking closer at the other one, he found Libelle was staring intently at it and was reaching out to grab at it. It was a solid fabric, stitched lovingly in a cross pattern that created diamond-shaped seems crisscrossing a bright yellow fabric dotted with simplistic, cartoonish depictions of Yanma in every color but the right one.

“That one was actually made by a local small business owner. He sells us some of his work to help get the name out to the public a bit better. He actually has a tag stitched to the backside of it, there.” The clerk explained. “It’s not going to be as warm but it was made with love and care in every stitch and it’s very recently made so it should hold up quite well to the abuses of childhood if your little one’s a bit rougher with it.”

“I think she’s made the decision for me.” Lykas replied with a bit of a laugh as Libelle finally managed to grab an edge of the latter blanket and pulled it up close to her face, inspecting it intensely. She looked at every one of those Yanma she could get within range of her face and then hugged it to her chest, cuddling into it.

“Seems like it.” The clerk agreed with a smile. “Would you like to look around some more? I’ll leave you be if you’re not done yet.”

Lykas shook his head. “No, I think this is going to be all for today. I might come back again, though. I’m not local so I’m not sure just yet.” He told the woman.

She assured him it would be alright if he didn’t come back as long as he made sure Libelle was happy with her new blanket and the hybrid proceeded to ring up his purchase, wrapped Libelle up in it and then headed toward the Pokemon Center to meet Terashi once he was done with whatever it was he had planned to purchase.  

[Requiem of Whyspers]

Lykas nodded to Terashi when he mentioned the cloth diapers. "I wasn't sure what would be best for her and the antique store had some in so I figured I might as well grab some and see what works... I never thought I, of all people, would ever end up having a kid to take care of so I never really bothered with figuring out how to do it..."

It was about that time that Libelle began to grow cranky, mumbling and softly crying at first but quickly beginning to grow to a full on crying fit. "Oh no..." He muttered as he began to look her over. There were no signs of injury and she wasn't wet -he hadn't had any diapers when he dressed her so it would have been clearly obvious if she were, after all- and he'd made sure she had food when he got back to HQ with her so what could possibly be wrong? It became apparent rather quickly that the baby's crying was distressing him, the hybrid beginning to chew nervously at his bottom lip, losing himself in thought as he tried to figure out what could be wrong. It never crossed his mind that babies need a lot of sleep and she had now been awake for hours without a nap.  

[Requiem of Whyspers]

Lykas nodded silently as Terashi’s advice and began to gently rock Libelle back and forth in his arms. After a minute or two, she began to settle down and her crying slowly calmed to an incoherent burbling. Her small hands clenched and released as she subconsciously reached for something to secure her and the hybrid carefully wrapped his somehow fully human daughter in the blanket he’d bought for her she began to close her eyes and drift off to sleep. He sighed quietly at this but each time he stopped, she would begin to stir again. “I’m not gonna be able to rock her forever…” he muttered to himself, realizing that while Pump might have been a terrible person to birth this child, she must have cared enough to at least ensure she slept comfortably. “A nanny isn’t an option at HQ so I’m gonna need a Pokémon that can help with her, I think…” Mykel was an option but perhaps best left as a last resort option considering the Gardevoir would be no more skilled in childcare than himself.  

[Requiem of Whyspers]

Lykas scrunched up his face slightly at the mention of Indeedee for help with caring for Libelle but nodded. They weren’t exactly pretty Pokemon but he needed utility rather than looks here so he was willing to accept that if it meant assistance when it was needed. “I’ll have to try and find one when I get the chance.” He finally replied.

With the near-instant transition to HQ, he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding for a while, never fully relaxing the whole time they had been gone. “Thanks, Ter… you really are a lifesaver.” He finally thanked his friend. “And I promise I’ll figure out how to pay you back for the help someday. Hopefully it won’t be too much more to ask if you guys are willing to give advice when we need it? I’m pretty sure I’ll be needing a lot of it in the future…” he hated to be so imposing on his friend, knowing he had a wife and child of his own to care for but he didn’t know anyone else that could offer such advice. Blizz’s kid had been almost ten when he’d been adopted, after all.

Picking up the box containing the crib with his tentacles, he would carefully maneuver it through the halls toward his and Odd’s room while keeping Libelle content and secure in his arms with small rocking and bouncing movements as he walked.  

[Requiem of Whyspers]

Lykas nodded. “I get it. I know I said this already but kids were never part of my future as far as I ever expected.” He said as he maneuvered the rather bulky box through the halls. “I really appreciate it, though. Kinda funny how we’ve got nearly opposite problems, don’t you think?” He laughed quietly after a moment. “You raising a hybrid kid as a human father and me as a hybrid raising an ordinary human baby… Still not entirely sure how that came about but I don’t really care to find out.” He grunted under his breath at that point, something about “that worthless witch of a noble” and “throwing her away”. His eyes were resting on the baby in his arms with a softness he rarely displayed when he said it so clearly wasn’t directed at her.  

[Requiem of Whyspers]

“That’s a fair point. Odd’s been keeping himself busy with work outside of Snagem stuff for a while now. I wish he’d take a break a little more, though. Maybe when he finds out I have a kid to take care of, he’ll slow down a little? Who knows right now…” Lykas replied, shaking his head slowly. “It seems like the further into his Channeler training he gets, the more he insists on doing more outside work. He always wanted to become the next Ghost Sage but I don’t think he even knows exactly what that is?”

He didn’t mention the trouble the Ghost Channeler had been having containing his rage lately, mostly because it was never directed at anyone who didn’t deserve it but partly because he felt like it wasn’t his place to talk about Odd’s issues without him present to speak for himself.  

[Requiem of Whyspers]

Lykas nodded in understanding. "I appreciate the offer." He assured, waving as Terashi left. At that point, he'd make sure to call for Mykel to come to his room, allowing the Gardevoir to assist with keeping Libelle content while he started to assemble her new crib. He had a lot to consider moving forward and there was still the matter of explaining all this to Odd.