He Wore a Yellow Cardigan [FtM!Ilima x Non-Binary!Reader]

Chapter Two

Unedited

Ilima held out his hand towards you. Nobody deserves to be thrown out to the curb, rejected and forced fo be on their own. Ilima refuses to let you be abandoned. He refuses to force you I told solitude and depression. Is it really that taboo to go by pronouns other than the ones assigned by birth to some people? Ilima was so lucky his parents were supportive in his transition. Sure, surgery was tough and expensive and he had to go to an entirely new region to get that surgery, but he survived it and now he can be in a body that aligned with his gender. He had support, and that's what helped him pull through. Now he's going to be that support for you, a non-binary pal.

You took his hand and Ilima pulled you up to your feet, his Pokemon partners and your Slowpoke all dancing around happily. Ilima noticed the little glass jar in Smeargle's hands and he took it, Patton their head to show his gratitude. There was some spare change in the harm, but not much. Smeargle then skipped over and grabbed your ukulele, strumming it and getting a very tart sound out of it. That was a terrible adjective but nobody seemed to mind. Ilima watched your head whip around to see Smeargle with your ukulele. You let out a laugh and crouched down in front of Smeargle, talking gently to them.

"Hey Little Buddy? Do ya mind putting that back in the case right by my backpack over there? Don't want that getting broken. Thanks friend!"

You beamed ar Smeargle, who instantly went to go do the task you've asked of them. You chuckled and stood back up, turning back around to face Ilima. You were really kind and gentle with Pokémon too? Ilima found himself enchanted by your entire character. Kind, gentle, proud of yourself, casual, calm, many other descriptive words that match your personality rather than your appearance, exetera. Ilima felt himself starting to grow intrigued, the first stepping stone into falling in love. Your eyes left his and went to the jar in his hand.

"Oh, thanks for picking that up. Don't wanna lose the beginning of my savings fund."

Ilima handed your jar back to you and you walked back over to your backpack to gather your belongings. Ilima watched you, almost enamored with your entire demeanor, when he felt something tug on the hem of his shirt. Ilima's looked down and saw all three Pokémon. Slowpoke was carrying Yungoos on their back and she was happily chirping about. Smeargle also looked happy as could be with their new friend. Ilima crouched down to meet all of them, giving them all a little affection and listening to what they were saying. All though no human could understand exactly what a Pokémon says, it's easy to infer and use context clues to figure out the gist of what's they mean. 

"Yes, we're going to be taking them home with us Smeargle. Of course, Yungoos, Slowpoke is coming too! Their name.... Oh goodness me I haven't asked for their name!"

Ilima May have said that a little bit too loud. Ilima felt his face heat up a littleness bit, but that's okay. Anyone would be embarrassed if they forgot to ask for the name of the person they we're offering hospitality to. Ilima stood up and turned to face you. He heard your voice, but he didn't know exactly what you said. You stood up snd skung you're backpack over your shoulder, holding your ukulele case in your hand and your rolled up sleeping bag undernwsth your arm. You must've realized he didn't hesr you do you repeated whatever you just told him. 

"My name is (name). If I had friends, they'd call me (Nickname). But never ever call me (deadname) because that's not my name. Sorry for not telling you earlier."

Ilima took note of all three, knowing to never call you the last one. Dead names are horrible. Ilima can't forget his dead name. Isabelle. It was too much. It made him feel wrong and squeamish. He shook off the thought and picked up Yungoos, who crawled over his shoulder. Smeargle took his hand and Slowpoke sorted crawling back over to you, slowly like a Sligoo.  You skipped over right next to Ilima. Hold on a second, were you taller than him? Ilima tried to assess if you were actually taller than him. He was only five foot one, so were you? He couldn't figure it out by the time you started talking, so he had to focus on what's you wanted to say I needed hopes of not being rude.

"Lead the way, Prince Charming."

Prince Charming? Why did you call him Prince Charming? Ilima tried to ignore it but he couldnt. He never found himself enjoying the "Love at first sight" trope he reads in novels however he was experiencing and it was life changing. Maybe it wasn't love at first sight, but attraction or interest. It's really hard to explain and Ilima felt really conflicted inside about his intentions and morals. This is really weird. Ilima just smiled it off.

"This way, follow me."

Ilima didn't know  gender neutral term similar to Prince Charming so he left it at that. He started walking and Yungoos immediately decided to be a turd. She rebounded off of Ilima's sick two on jump into you. She scattered down your back and jumped down next to Slowpoke, pulling on their tail to get them to go faster. Smeargle let go of Ilima's hand to go deal with this the situation. Ilima was about to say something and stop walking but a giggle ring through his ears. Ilima ignored it and kept walking, convincing himself that it's all fine if you thought it was fine. 

Ilima wasn't lying when he said last chapter that his house was really close to the Pokémon center. It was just after the crossroad that guided trial goer seems to Route Three and Verdant Cavern. Ilima decided he was going to be a gentleman before he walked into the house, wondering why he didn't offer this before they left the Pokémon centers, and he stepped in front of you. Obviously, you were gawking at the size of his house and the fact that he had a pool. THe Three Pokemon we're playing in the background, having a good time.

"Allow me to take your bags, my good friend."

There's no gender neutral version of ma'am nor sir that Ilima was aware of, on he just played it safe. You rolled your eyes, seemingly giving up and handing over the backpack you slung over one shoulder and your sleeping back. Once Ilima had that set he held out his hand to carry the ukulele case. You gave him a look that said all the words you needed to. No ukulele case. Ilima let out a breath of a laugh and walked up to the front door, openin it and holding it open for his new non-binary friend.

"After you~"

By taking that step in, your life was about to take a complete U-Turn.

1191 Words