Context: At some point during your time in NRC, you slowly began to forget about your parents, their names, their faces, which causes you to feel slightly homesick and missing them. So, knowing a bit of doll making from your grandmother, you decided to make tiny doll versions of your parents, even embroidering their names at the bottom of their shoes. But what happens when one of the students finds them.
A/N: the reader is Yuu. This was inspired by this picrew, which I thought was really cute. Also, I know I haven’t been posting anything as I was very busy with life and didn’t have the motivation to post. But I’m hoping to post some short fics from time to time. With that said, enjoy the angst :3
------------------------------------
It was a simple weekend as you had invited Riddle to Ramshackle to study. You both were in the lounge area, sipping tea, when Riddle spotted two tiny dolls on top of the fireplace.
His hand gestured to the dolls, “Might I ask, why are there dolls sitting on the fireplace?”
You looked up at them, giving a faint downcast smile, “Oh, those are my parents.”
Riddle tilts his head towards you, “Excuse me?”
“Oh sorry, I mean that they are dolls I made in memory of my parents… I’ve been feeling a bit homesick, missing them a lot, so I thought maybe..”
Riddle could see you homesick sadness in your eyes, turning his attention back to the dolls, recognizing some of their features. The mother had the same eye and skin color as you while the father also had your hair color and charming smile. Riddle was amazed by how remarkably detailed they were made, until he remembered him insulting your parents during his Overblot, and he haven’t even met them.
Frowning, Riddle stood up and walked over to you before bowing his head slightly, “I understand Rose, I can see how much you miss them. It’s understandable why you wish to remember them this way. Again, I apologize for insulting them in the beginning, but… if you’re feeling somewhat homesick, maybe you could come to Heartslabyul and talk about them with me?”
Leona, on the off chances he could skip classes and not get caught by the teachers or Ruggie, would sometimes hide in Ramshackle and crash on the couch. But it was while on these rare days he came to Ramshackle when he smelled something new in the lounge area. Looking at where the scent may be, Leona found the two dolls on top of the fireplace. As he picked them up and examined them, you arrived back at the dorm to drop off your bag when you noticed him.
“Leona,” you spoke, “What are you doing here?”
He turns to you, holding up one of the dolls, “I just came to get away from Professor Crewel when I found these.”
Your eyes look down on what he was holding, two dolls that held some of your features, like your eye colors in one doll and freckles on the other.
"O-oh! Yeah, uh, I-I know its kinda silly to have dolls, but-"
"Are they your parents?" he cuts you off, leaving you stunned.
"Same eyes, same hair, even the names at the bottom of the shoes have your last name." he points out.
You turn your head away from him, trying to hide the homesickness when you felt a soft bonk to the head. When you look up, Leona gave you his usual look, but it carried a hint of something softer. It wasn’t usually like Leona to talk about mushy familial stuff, but he knew that your emotions will get worse if you don’t at least talk about them.
"Herbivore, I may not be one to talk about my family, but that doesn't mean you don't have to hide your homesickness from me. I am always going to listen if you need it."
Sometimes, Azul would visit Ramshackle and either have a chat with you while on his break at the Monstro Lounge or insist on helping you study and talk about your world. Either way, you believe he visits just to spend time with you, although he would not admit it. Anyways, as you both sat in the lounge area, while you were busy with a book report, Azul's eyes glazed over to the fireplace and spotted the dolls.
"Oh my, prefect. Those dolls?"
You glanced up to see Azul stand up, walk over to the mantle and pick one of them up before examining them.
"My, these dolls look exceptionally well made. From the stitching to the button eyes, even the proportions they have, one a skinny male and the other a short plump woman. Wherever did you learn to make them?"
You chuckled a bit, looking down at your feet, "O-oh, well my grandmother taught me when I was little. I uh, made them about a week ago, in memory of…"
Azul could sense the disheartened tone in your voice and when he looks down at the embroidered names at the bottom of their shoes, he finally understood the deep sense of loneliness you were feeling.
So giving you the idea of capitalizing your doll making skills for the lounge, Azul puts them back before gently taking your hand, "Angelfish, I'm so sorry you can't be with your parents, especially being stuck in another world. But please, if you'd like, you may visit the Monstro Lounge whenever you wish, where I can offer you a listening ear, anything to lessen your homesickness."
After much of Kalim's insistence, and Jamil's objections, you finally agreed to have a sleepover at your dorm. As you were busy setting up the bedroom with blankets, food and drinks that Jamil had prepared in advance, Kalim was looking around the room when he spotted the dolls. One of them, a male wearing a traditional shawl, the other, a woman with beautifully painted eyeshadow.
"Aw, look at these cute little dolls."
You turned around and see him picking them up. You begin to breathe heavily as you called out, "DON'T!"
Kalim jumped a bit in surprise as you tried to calm down your shaky breath.
“Prefect? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” He asked you.
You didn’t say anything, your mind was tried to focus on him as Kalim carefully stepped towards you. He then slowly placed a gentle hand on your back, handing you the dolls back.
"I-I'm sorry Kalim. I didn't mean to yell at you." your voice trembled a bit, clenching the dolls, "It’s just, they're special to me. T-they're the last things I have left of mom and dad. I just-"
You were then cut off when Kalim pulled you into a tight embrace, which was just warm and secure enough for you to cry a bit. Kalim, with his oversized heart, felt so devastated that he hadn’t seen the signs of your feelings sooner, even after being together for a while now.
Kalim sobs, "Jewel, I can't even imagine the loneliness your must be feeling. Missing your parents so much most be painful. But you can always come to me and Jamil if you're feeling sad and want to talk about them. I'll even have someone make you a portrait of your family if you want. Just know that I'm here for you, okay?"
During VDC, you had a hard time trying to find the time to make the dolls between all of Vil's training and nighttime routine. To this part, you haven’t even managed to knit the your mom’s favorite colored sundress without being called for dinner. However things got worse somehow when you found both of your parents’ dolls missing the day of the contest. The next morning, you tried your best to come up with another plan when you hear Vil’s heels enter the room.
“Sweet potato, you seem distressed. It’s not healthy for your skin.” He said, crossing his arms.
”Yeah I know, but I lost something important and know I want to figure out how to make new ones.”
“New ones? Are you referring to these?” Vil asked.
Your eyes widened, turning around to witness Vil unfolded his arms to reveal your dolls, completely finished and looking just how you remembered them.
“Before you acuse me for invading your room and stealing your dolls, let me just tell that Rook was hoping to discuss something when he noticed the dolls. When he examined how they bare a striking resemblance to you, he decided to show them to me claiming they must be your parents.”
You sighed to yourself, a part of you should’ve expected it was Rook, but it didn’t make you feel any better now that he knows about your dolls.
You then rubbed your forearm, “Y-yeah, they are my parents. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything, I just miss them some much it was making me feel homesick. But I didn’t want to bother your rehearsal so-“
Vil’s gentle hand caressed your cheek, his thumb wiping a small tear. “Sweet potato, it’s one thing to keep to yourself, but you should never hide your sadness for my sake. However ugly your homesickness may be, do not hesitate to talk to me. You don’t have to hide how you feel.”
You and Idia slowly began to hangout with each other, whether it’s just hanging out online or in his room. But on the rare occasions, Ortho manages to drag Idia out of the dorm and bring him to Ramshackle to play some games. While Ortho was busy setting up the game console, you and Idia sat in silence when he noticed the mantle.
“Hey, are those new plushies you got?”
“Huh? Oh!” you got up and walked over to the fireplace, “Yeah, sorry. I didn’t have a good place to put them so I put them here.”
Idia went over to you, picking up one that looked like a woman flower accessories, “Yo, these are like top tier made plushies. No cap, the stitchings are so small, you can’t even see them. GG, whoever made them are pretty boss.”
You rub your arms, looking a bit saddened, “Oh, well I wouldn’t call myself good at make them. It’s just, when you miss your family and you’re stuck in another world, you just kinda feel.. like…”
The moment you look back at Idia, he was staring at you as if he was seeing himself. To him, he could see the same feelings of sadness that he had felt before, although not to the extent of he had gone through in the past and the literal fact your were just isekaied into another world.
Ortho startled you as he hugged you from behind as Idia sighed in his usual tone, “Nutmeg, don’t think that this is a good way to cure your homesick debuff, because it’s not. I low key am not the best talker, but don’t do what I do and make replacements of your folks. We’re two player duo, we play together and we help each other, right?”
You always enjoyed your walks with Malleus each night, but during your homesickness, I haven’t really told him much about your parents, feeling a bit sad at the thought of them. One night, after a really bad dream, you couldn’t really go back to sleep. So, remembering how whenever you felt sad or scared, you and your parents would go outside with a blanket and watch the moon, you did just that. While sitting down and clenching your dolls, your eyes noticed some familiar fireflies circling around you until you felt his arm wrap you from behind.
“You’re out very late, child of man. Might I ask why?”
You hummed a tired sound, “I couldn’t sleep, had a bad dream. So I thought I’d come out and see the moon.”
You frowned, casting a sad look upon the dolls of your parents and feeling your homesickness crawling back. A part of you felt melancholic at what little your remembered about them, from you mom’s beautiful smile and your dad’s beard.
“It’s just not the same, not without mom and dad. I miss hearing mom singing and dad’s terrible scary stories. I… I just wish they were here with me.” a small sob rose in your voice as you clenched the dolls tighter.
Malleus frowned as well, he hated seeing his beloved friend so broken-hearted, it just made him feel as though his heart was ripped in two at the thought of you being so miserable. He pulled you closer, allowing you to sob into his chest as he rubbed your back.
He then whispered soothingly, “Beloved, I’m so sorry you can’t be with your family. But I understand that you love them so dearly, you wish to honor them in some way. Although I do not know much about my parent, i want to learn about those who raised you, to learn about the people who allow me to meet such a wonderful person. And if you wish it so, I promise to use my power to grant your wish to one day reunite with your loved ones.”
