Heart-a-Flutter

by Shadowmane PX-41


Bathtime, Bedtime, and a Little Bit of Cry-time

After a long day, Keychain and Fluttershy were finally starting to wind down for the evening. The sun was just about to set on Cedar Grove, turning the whole town into an orange and golden wonderland. The people who weren’t already at their houses were just starting to arrive home, with animals also making their way home for the evening.

Keychain had left Fluttershy on her own in the spare room so that he could properly prepare the bath. He had never really used the bath feature, as he was more of a shower man at heart. He made sure that the plug was in and started to fill the bathtub with warm water. As it started to collect, Keychain looked around his toiletries for anything that would make the bath clean Fluttershy up. After digging around for a while, he eventually came across a bottle of the stuff and poured the contents in, making the bath foam up with bubbles.

He waited until the bath was full enough, then stopped the tap and went back over to the spare room, where Fluttershy had just finished playing around with a small, pink ball with a pattern of butterflies running across it. “Fluttershy? It’s time for your bath,” he said.

“Bath?” Fluttershy tilted her head when she looked at Keychain. “What bath?”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ve had them before. Come on.” Keychain walked over to Fluttershy, reached down, and picked her up by her hips, carrying her from the room. “I even made it a bubble bath for you.”

Fluttershy, still clinging onto Angel, said “What... is bath?”

“Would’ve expected her to remember what a bath is at least...” Keychain muttered to himself. “Well, Fluttershy, a bath is something little kids like you have whenever they get dirty, or before they have to go to bed. Big people like me put you in the bath, you get wet from head to toe, and we clean you up with bubbly water and shampoo.”

When Fluttershy looked at the bath, she noticed the water immediately, and the bubbles that emanated from it. She could hardly make out the surface of the water with how much suds were in it. When she was put down, Fluttershy put her fingertips over the edge of the bath, looking at the water as close as she could. While that happened, the two butterfly hair clips that held up her pigtails were unclipped and pulled off, causing her hair to flop down around her shoulders and arms. Fluttershy jumped at the sudden change in hair, then noticed that Angel had been taken from her hands. She turned to Key with tears in her eyes then saw him holding all of her belongings in her hands.

Mine...” She cooed, waddling over to Keychain, reaching up for her hair clips and Angel. “Give back...”

“Sorry, Fluttershy. But Angel doesn’t like bathtime. And we can’t exactly clean you up if your hair clips are holding your hair up out of the water.” Keychain put the objects on top on the cabinet above his sink, then went for Fluttershy’s clothes. He took off the coat, then her pants, until Fluttershy was bare naked. She instinctively used her hands to cover up her shame while Keychain put the clothes to one side. “I know. It’s just as embarrassing for me as it is for you. But you can’t get clean if clothes are stopping you.” Keychain blushed, uncomfortable by the sight of a naked Fluttershy. He rapidly plucked her from the ground and placed her in the water, the bubbles and water immediately concealing her body until only her head was visible, with the tips of her elongated hair drifting idly in the water.

Fluttershy was frozen on the spot from the water running up her body. She shivered from the warmth, losing the energy in her arms and legs as they also took in the cleansing liquids. All the while, her vision was locked onto Angel and her hair clips. As her lips trembled, she finally found the effort to move, sloshing through the water to try and reach the edge, only to be pushed back by Keychain.

Mine.” She pointed out her items again, lifting her hand out of the water. “Give back.”

“I will. Once you’re all cleaned up, Fluttershy.” Keychain reached over her body and retrieved the shampoo from one of the metal shelves above her head. He squirted a large amount into his hands and put the mass on Fluttershy’s hair. “Now hold still. Key’s just gonna lather you up for a bit, okay?”

Fluttershy said nothing as Keychain ran his fingers through her hair, massaging her head with every stroke of his hands. With every single motion, the shampoo broke from its’ gooey form into a foam, white as the rest of the bath and coated through Fluttershy’s hair. No strand was untouched, as after he finished with her scalp, he plucked out the rest of her hair and lathered that, making sure that it too was just as white and soapy as the rest of her hair. She didn’t show her hands, but they were folded, with a pout on her face. By the end of it all, Fluttershy’s hair was a hybrid combination of pink and white, as if she had a bag of flour dumped on top of it.

“Angel... special.” Fluttershy piped up as Keychain started lifting water with his hands and dumping it on top of her head. “Butter...flies. Special. Clothes special.” Her finger drifted once again to the items Keychain had removed from her. “Need special.”

“I know you do. And I get what you’re saying, Fluttershy. I’m not a horrible person.” Keychain patted her back after he let another load of water down onto her hair, wiping out the white shampoo, making her hair predominantly pink once again. “When bathtime is over, you can have all your things back.” He held out his little finger. “Pinky promise.”

“Pinky... promise?” Fluttershy parroted as her eyes locked onto the stray finger held out for her.

“A promise that you never, ever, ever break for anything or anyone.” Keychain grinned as he reached into the water and pulled out Fluttershy’s hand again. “You just wrap your little fingers together, like this.” He took her little finger and coiled it around his own. “See? Pinky promise.”

“Pinky... promise.” Fluttershy looked at the hand gesture she and Key had made together, the worries of her items soon fading as she kept her little finger firmly in place. “Pinky promise.”

“Yeah. Pinky promise. Now, let’s clean you up some more...” Keychain resumed his work of washing Fluttershy’s hair with his free hand.

With the pinky promise made and her concerns gone, Fluttershy finally took her hands out of the water. She reached for the bubbly mounds in an attempt to pop them. Her hands went through them like normal, but no loud popping sounds were made. Instead, she tried to pop more and more, only to slap the surface of the water with her hand. The sensation of her hand against the water gave her another goofy grin. Giggling for the first time that bathtime, she continued to strike the water, laughing with each hit that she made.

You know, I still have to give props to this girl. Even when her things have been taken away from her, she’s still got some way of having some fun with her situation. Keychain let one last spritzing of water down on Fluttershy’s hair before he let her play around by herself, lifting towers of bubbles onto her head, dunking her head in the water, even splashing it around her as erratically as possible, with some of it landing on Key’s body. I know that she doesn’t know much, but I suppose I could teach her a few things along the way. It’s the least I can do for this kind of care I’m giving her.

Eventually, when the fun was over, Keychain lifted Fluttershy out of the bath and pulled the plug. As she dripped all over the floor towel, Keychain went and pulled a body towel off of the nearby rail and used it to cover Fluttershy up. He then rubbed her all over with the towel, using the fibres to catch any excess water that she might have taken with her from the bath. Her body was the first thing to be dried off, with her long hair afterwards.

Actually... does she even have any pyjamas? Keychain asked as he looked back at Fluttershy’s clothes. Ugh! The one thing I should have bought for her if I’d have known her parents were gonna take a while... He watched as Fluttershy took the clothes away and put them back on before he could say anything. Immediately, his train of thought was shattered into pieces.

“Now, special.” Fluttershy pointed to her hair clips and Angel.

“Huh? Oh! O-of course, Fluttershy. No problem.” Keychain reached up for Angel and her hair clips once again, giving them back to Fluttershy. He watched as she snatched Angel up and hugged her again, moaning happily as she pushed his hody against his.

“Do hair! Do hair!” Fluttershy’s voice immediately turned giddy as she pointed to her hair. “Heart!”

“O-okay then. I’ll try. But there’s no saying that it’ll be perfect...” Keychain was really in trouble. He had never been a stylist for as long as he had lived. That role was more for the rest of his family and friends. Still, he started taking lots of Fluttershy’s hair into a long tail-like shape. As he pulled the hair up, Fluttershy pointed to the root of the pillar of hair.

“Butterfly! Butterfly! There!” She squealed, tapping one of the two butterfly hair clips. Keychain used the prompt and clipped it on, holding her hair up. “Again!” She cooed, tapping the other side of her hair.

Keychain tried to bear a smile as he went and picked up more of Fluttershy’s hair, making another tail. The clip went in and, as his hands went away, Fluttershy’s two pigtails made their heart shape once again. She gurgled with a smile as she gave her hair a feel, pleased with the work that had been done.

“Thank you, Key.” Fluttershy threw herself into another hug, wrapping herself around Key’s legs again.

“You’re welcome, Fluttershy.” Keychain hugged her back, then picked her up and carried her back into the spare room. “Now, come on. It’s time for bed. Little kids like you need ‘em if you’re gonna stay happy tomorrow.”

Keychain haphazardly stepped over the toys that lined the floor of the spare room, taking care as to not trip over anything or stand on them; especially in the case of the building blocks. It might not have seemed like it, but with someone like Fluttershy in his hands, everything was much more like a hazard than usual. If not to his health, than to Fluttershy’s.

“Now, you might hear some noise when you go to sleep, but that’s just me. Big people can stay up longer than little kids because they don’t need as much sleep.” Keychain took Fluttershy’s shoes off and put them by the side of the bed. Then, he lifted her into the bed and tucked her in tightly, head resting atop the pillows. “Now, before I send you off to the world of dreams, is there anything else you’d like?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No. Angel.” She showed him Angel once again and gave him another cuddle under the bedsheets. “Special. Good.”

“Alright then.” Keychain came over and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. “Now, are you sure that you’ll be able to handle yourself in the dark? I’ve heard that a lot of kids your age get petrified about it...”

Fluttershy nodded her head. “Special. Safe.” She shook her pigtails around with Angel clutched tighter. “Special. Good. Make me safe.”

“Well... alright then, if you’re sure that’s what you want.” Keychain started making his way back towards the door, but his mind still stayed with Fluttershy. She was only young and didn’t know better. If anything went wrong during her sleep, it would be on his head for not looking after her better. “Just give me a shout if you need anything. Though, hopefully, you won’t need it.” He opened the door and flicked off the lights in the spare room, plunging it in darkness with the only form of light coming from the corridor outside. “Goodnight, Fluttershy.”

“Night-night, Key.” She smoothly semi-serenaded, then closed her eyes and started snoring, giving Keychain the opportunity to close the door and casket her in complete darkness.

As Fluttershy drifted off at last and her breathing got slower, she started to dream. She dreamt herself in a forest-like meadow with Angel in her hands, toddling through the expansive, luscious, green-coated pathways. Sheltered from the sun by the grassy umbrella-like trees, she eventually found a field full of bunnies. Real bunnies, not like the stuffed one that she was holding. A grin from ear to ear shot across her face as she ran towards the bunnies and sat down with them, as they circled her in and surrounded her.


Later that evening, Keychain sat down with a cup of coffee as he looked at the news on his TV. The usual fare for him at this point. Someone with a talent they had plucked off the streets, someone telling a sad story, news about politics and the environment, not much that he cared for really. His thoughts weren’t even on the TV as he watched the weather forecast. But they soon were when he saw the weather.

It was scheduled to be stormy that evening; especially around Cedar Grove. Torrents of rain were announced, with thunder and lightning to accommodate them. Keychain’s brows lifted as he scrambled towards the television. It wasn’t the idea of the storm that had him on edge; it was how Fluttershy would react to it all; to be shaken from her dreams due to horrible weather.

“Fluttershy... let’s just hope you’re a heavy sleeper...” Keychain looked back into the corridor leading to the spare room.

He was just about to go and check on her and let her know when he heard his phone ringing. He shot up from his chair so fast that he landed on the side of his foot and fell to the ground. Groaning to himself, he pulled his phone out from his pocket and held it to his ears. “Hello?”

“Key! What’s up, kid?” Lemon’s voice came from the other end of the phone. “How’s it hanging? Ya doing well with Fluttershy over there?”

“Y-yeah, Lemon.” Ignoring his own pained response and how bad it sounded, Keychain stood back up. “I’m fine. So far, the house hasn’t burnt down and Fluttershy likes me a heck of a lot more than Snowdrift. But... when you really think about it, it’s the least.”

“That’s right. But at least the best is all you can do, right? Better than just doing nothing and looking like a terrible guy with kids,” she said. “Anyways. Ya heard about that storm that’s coming down tonight? It’s gonna be totally killer! I’m gonna be watching the whole thing while jamming out to Thundershock. This, my man, is prime Thundershock raving time.”

“That’s... kinda what I’m afraid of. Fluttershy’s gonna be traumatised by this whole lightning affair if she wakes up. And, I don’t know about you, but I’m not about to let Fluttershy start crying like that without someone to keep her safe!” Keychain’s voice sharpened. Then, he let out a sigh. “Look, I’m sorry, Lemon, but I thought it was gonna be something really important, like maybe my mom and dad had found something out about Fluttershy or something. But knowing them, they’re still too busy on going to Spain...”

“Hey. No prob. I can handle some harshness, Key,” Lemon responded. “So... anyway. How is Fluttershy doing? Ya keeping her happy over there apart from that least is best stuff?”

“Well... yes, actually. She invited me over to play some things with her and she actually talked to me. She spoke physical words at my face, Lemon.” Keychain’s smile returned. “Ya think that’s good enough for opening up?”

“Oh, for sure. When shy little kids start talking to ya, they trust ya more, see ya as more of a guardian and a friend at the same time. Trust me, it works. And I know this from that work experience I had as a kindergarten assistant.” Lemon’s voice remained optimistic the whole way through. “Take this opportunity and run with it tomorrow, kid. Take her out for a day of fun. Whatever she wants. Petting zoo, playground, maybe even an amusement park if you’ve still got some money left.”

“Yeah, and leave myself in a bigger debt than what I already owe? You know, Cyber was generous enough for me to get all those toys, but I can’t just keep splashing the cash for her sake; even if she is a lost toddler in my house.” Keychain twisted his other hand in a circular motion. “Even computer geeks have limits, as you probably would’ve said.”

“Yeah, yeah. Cyber’s got his own problems. Lost in computer land; doesn’t even bother to look outside of the grid. Guy’s probably not gonna handle himself in a real relationship, let’s be honest. But we’re getting a little bit off topic here,” Lemon tried to conceptualise Cyber Shock with a girlfriend, but her mind was static on that front. “Back to Fluttershy. You need to connect more with her, make her feel like she wants to be with you for as long as possible. Sure, the reunion’s gonna be a sad thing when she has to say goodbye to ya, but at least you had fun together, right?”

“Yeah. At least we had fun...” Keychain’s body felt heavy. After all of the stuff that Fluttershy had done and just how much he had seen her grow from reclusive and shy to talkative and curious in the day alone, Key was already thinking about the end. About the day when the parents would finally arrive and wrest her from his care. Some tears would be shed in his mind; either his own or hers. “I’m sorry, Lemon. I’ve really gotta get going. But enjoy your little rave tonight.”

“A’ight. We still on for that lake trip tomorrow, right?” She asked

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s fine. Bye now.” Keychain hung up quickly putting his phone back into the pocket. His mind went back to the storm, as he could already see the clouds filling up the night sky out of his window.


Later that evening, the rain started to fall. Small droplets at first, then smatterings, then a full on downpour as if a vat of water was being tipped on Cedar Grove. Windows became blurred and distorted with the tumbling droplets, puddles with blotted reflections spawned on the roads making trails to the nearby storm drains, leaves were being violently plucked from trees and hurled around in the air with the wind picking up, and the occasional bolt of lightning shot into view; the delayed noise of thunder sounding shortly afterwards.

Fluttershy was still in bed. Dreaming about her little dreams that had gone from simple bunnies to every animal that she could think of; which, in her mind, was really just butterflies and more bunnies. On the outside, she still held Angel tightly as she wriggled around in the bed, sucking on the thumb that had been in her mouth for the past hour. Warm body from both her clothes and the blanket, it seemed like nothing would pry her from her rest.

Except for one singular crash of thunder.

So loud was the noise that Fluttershy’s body lurched. She shivered in her spot, clinging on tightly to her dreams as she tried her hardest to stay asleep. For the most part, she did so well, thinking more about her animal friends. But another bolt of lightning hastily undid that, destroying her dreams in the blink of an eye and causing her to shoot up from her sleep. Eyes wide open, she looked around the room full of toys. Drowned in black, with only the window by her to give her any form of light, her room was much more ominous than the last time she had seen it.

“Key?” She whispered, sitting up on the bed with Angel still in her hands. Nobody came to heed her calls. Nothing reacted to her whispers. Not a single thing. Then, another mighty bolt of lightning struck down. She couldn’t see it for herself, but the bright flash of light spawning shadows all around her was all that she needed to see. Stretched and gnarled in a number of directions, dark images filled her room and caused her to shake even more. “S-s-s-special... good. Special. Protect. Me.” Fluttershy held Angel up against her face, trying to use him to blot out the nightmarish landscape that her room had become.

The noise of thunder came after this. A growling rumble that sounded like the belly of a hideous monster, waiting for its’ next meal. This was enough to cause Fluttershy to yelp, dropping Angel onto the bed. She scrambled to pick him up, but as she did, another lightning bolt illuminated the room. Shadows of hands and teeth appeared right beside her, causing her to leap backwards with a light scream. She grabbed Angel as fast as she could and tried to stay brave with him, but the next thunder noise was what did it.

Fluttershy sat there, alone in a room, with malicious visions dancing around her. With the idea in her head that a beast was indeed here, ready to eat her up and leave nothing left. The very next lightning and thunder combo solidified it in her mind, causing tears to form in her eyes. She sniffled her nose, then whimpered on the spot. Fluttershy then turned it into a soft cry, then a full blown wail. Crying, she ran towards the door of the bedroom, jumped up for the handle, opened the door and ran out in a desperate attempt to find Keychain. Her search was soon over, as Keychain came running for her, swiftly scooping her up into another hug.

“Fluttershy... What happened? Did you have a bad dream?” Keychain could tell from the amount of tears filling his clothes as Fluttershy’s sobbing eyes brushed against them that something had gone wrong.

“Monster! Scary!” She replied, still in a frenzied and sorrowful state. “Scary hand! Big teeth! Loud noise! Monster!”

“There, there. Let it all out, girl.” Keychain patted Fluttershy’s back over and over as he tried to diffuse the situation and get her to stop crying. He had known it all along, despite her beliefs. The lightning had indeed done its’ work, and now she was a blubbering wreck because of it. “It’s just a thunderstorm. They’re super scary for little kids your age. But that’s exactly why I’m here. Whatever big, bad monster you were thinking of won’t be able to hurt you; not while I’ve got something to say about it.”

Fluttershy, still crying, hugged Keychain again. The monster that she believed in would still be out to get her and she was still upset about it, but she now had someone to share the suffering with. Her crying started to wear down in Keychain’s presence, until she was back down to little whimpers at last. Fluttershy broke off of the hug and rubbed her eyes.

“You want to sleep with me tonight? I was just about to clock out anyway.” Keychain asked, giving her another back pat.

“Yes.” She chirped. “You special. You. Make me safe.” Fluttershy still had a frown on her face, but held her arms up to him as a gesture to lift her.

Keychain picked Fluttershy from the ground once again and walked over to his own room, with the thunder and lightning resuming as normal. With every single flash of light and deafening thunder noise that sounded, Fluttershy flinched on the spot, coiling herself up so as to avoid a fateful encounter with her “monster”. He could feel her grip tightening and loosening intermittently as he made his way to his room.

At long last, Keychain arrived in his room. It was too dark for either of them to make out at the moment, but Keychain knew it by heart and walked over to the bed’s left side, putting Fluttershy in it and tucking her in again. After which, he we t to the windows and closed the curtains, preventing the lightning from brightening the room.

“There. Now, it won’t stop the monster from trying to find you, but he won’t be able to see you now,” he said, trying his best to make a light-hearted spin on the situation. “It’s just a game of hide-and-seek. If you hide, the monster won’t seek anymore and he’ll go away. Are ya good at hide-and-seek, Fluttershy?”

She just nodded with a little coo as Keychain climbed into the bed at last and pulled the covers over himself.

“Goodnight, Fluttershy. For real this time, alright?” he said before drifting off.

“Night-night, Key.” Fluttershy mimicked her first bedtime send-off before crawling over to Key’s side and curling up by him.

As the thunder and lightning raged on outside, both Keychain and Fluttershy slept soundly together, bundled up together to beat the cold climates. The noise still resonated in both of their ears, but neither one took notice. Keychain, because he was older and knew that the weather could do him no harm; and Fluttershy, because she was beating the monster at his own game. She smiled as she went back to her little dreamworld, returning to the realm of playful critters, flitting butterflies, and one very content little Fluttershy at the center of it all.