Disclaimer: Pokemon isn't mine. I just like playing in such a pretty sandbox.
Warnings: Language, possibly-probably underage characters playing very grown-up games, and character death
Revolve Around Me
comfort.
At Sakaki's side Domino learns how to fight and steal and above all succeed, and at his hand she learns the consequences of failure, but it is in his arms that she learns what it is to feel safe.
kiss.
Sometimes, their relationship is surprisingly normal, and Domino hopes they never move past the stage of sneaking in a kiss or two whenever they can - regardless of who might be watching.
soft.
Domino only realizes how soft Sakaki's sheets are when a rare night in her own bed feels like torture.
pain.
"Never show pain; feel it, embrace it, but never let anyone have the satisfaction of seeing you in it - not even me."
potatoes.
There are some things about which they will never see eye to eye; Sakaki sees potential in a basket of newly-hatched Pokemon, but Domino just sees a pile of squirming, fuzzy potatoes with tails and feet.
rain.
He has come to enjoy storms, for they often bring his Domino to him all soaking wet and cold, and eager for him to warm her up again.
chocolate.
"F-from the Black Tulip, sir," a low-ranking agent stammers as he shoves a heart-shaped box into Sakaki's hands; Domino might be away on assignment, but she hasn't forgotten about Valentine's Day.
happiness.
If some legendary Pokemon offered Domino three wishes, she thinks she would wish for glory second, money third - and above all else, a single day with nowhere to be but at the boss's side.
telephone.
"Must you call me at such strange hours, 009?" he asks at two in the morning, but for all that he complains he never refuses to answer.
ears.
"Swear to me you won't ever pierce your ears," he orders her, only half-joking, because if she had them pierced she might take to wearing the sort of hideously gaudy earrings the rest of the gang seems so fond of.
name.
In front of others she is 009, and late at night when no one else can hear she's Sakaki's little tulip, of all things, and so she always snaps to attention when someone calls her Domino, because when the boss does it's serious.
sensual.
Sometimes she leaves the bathroom door open when she showers, accidentally-on-purpose, and when she does she makes quite a show of letting the hot water melt her worries away.
death.
When one of Sakaki's Pokemon dies, Domino doesn't understand (even when he tries, with his last tattered scraps of patience, to explain) why it affects him so deeply; why make a fuss over something so expendable?
sex.
His Domino is a restless sleeper who jerks awake at the slightest noise (and often wakes him in the process), but when she's truly worn out she actually rests, and so he considers being the one to wear her out something of a favor.
touch.
When Domino is intently focused on a task she doesn't always respond to verbal commands, but she always snaps to attention when Sakaki lays his hand on her shoulder, or brushes the backs of his fingers against her cheek.
weakness.
If his Domino has a weakness, it's that she's too devoted to him, and too prone to abandoning whatever she's doing to defend his honor.
tears.
It wasn't her fault and she cannot be blamed, but she still bows her head when she reports back, to hide the silent, stinging tears that she only ever sheds when she's failed him.
speed.
There are agents who look as though they would make better bodyguards, but Sakaki keeps his Domino at his side instead, because she could run circles around all the others and still keep him safe.
wind.
The wind is so strong, and his Domino so slight, that it seems as though it could knock her right over - but when she looks back towards him it's with a grin and a laugh that's carried away before it reaches his ears.
freedom.
Domino doesn't mind having no life of her own - not when Sakaki is the one she's living for.
life.
He tests her one day by shoving her up against the wall with his hand at her throat, and she doesn't so much as flinch; "I trust you with my life," she says - like it's obvious - "even if you want to end it."
jealousy.
She knows Sakaki has a son; he showed her a photo, once, and she said "He looks like his mother," but what she meant was "So that's why that bitch Athena hates me so much."
hands.
Everything about his Domino is small and slight, including her hands, yet they seem to fit inside his perfectly.
taste.
Sometimes he offers her a drink, and she always accepts, even though she thinks his sort of drinks are absolutely vile; she has to prove that she's old enough, good enough, to be everything he wants her to be.
devotion.
He has the scars of her battle wounds memorized, and can remember almost as well as she which mission caused each one; he's known her for so long that he's watched her devotion to the gang - to him - transform her.
forever.
He asks her once what she'll do when he's gone, but his only answer is a blank stare, as though she's never considered that even he can't live forever.
blood.
Showing up in the boss's office looking like a mess should be unforgivable, but Domino knows she can get away with it, even when her hand slips off the would on her side and she bleeds a little on the carpet.
sickness.
When Sakaki comes down with a cold Domino finds ways to be suspiciously busy anywhere but at his side, but when she gets the flu she waits it out tucked into his bed, with a fiercely protective Persian at her side.
melody.
Sometimes Domino makes a bit of a fool of herself when she gets ready in the morning, humming and dancing her way through her morning routine, and Sakaki would mind if she didn't have a way of making even the most mindless pop songs sound like real music.
star.
Domino brings many things back with her from the Isshu region; "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight - c'mon, Boss, you have to make a wish!"
home.
She always tries her hardest not to wake him when she gets up in the middle of the night, but he's always awake when she returns, welcoming her back into bed with open arms.
confusion.
"Something happened, something that was important to us," and by "us" she means "you," only there isn't any difference, "but I can't - why can't I remember?"
fear.
When she's afraid (which is more often than she'd ever admit), she just imagines Sakaki's arms around her, his strength at her back, and then she can face anything.
lightning/thunder.
A crackle of electricity provides a split-second of warning, and then there's a crack like thunder and Domino's eyes sparkle in delight - it's love at first sight, and once she's had her fun trying out her new toys, she throws her arms around his waist in thanks.
bonds.
She is his, as surely as if he had put a collar around her neck, and sometimes she wishes he would - not because she needs reminding, but so that everyone else would know.
market.
The delicate bracelet would have caught a small fortune on the black market, but no amount of money can replace the delight in his Domino's eyes when he fastens it around her wrist.
technology.
Everything Rocket-dan's scientists know has gone into Domino's tulip-weapons, but what means the most to her is that Sakaki himself drew up the specifications.
gift.
Normal dates get roses; when Sakaki takes Domino to a party as his bodyguard, he gives her a black tulip corsage, filled with the same deadly potential as the flower she tucked down her bodice earlier.
smile.
Domino controls herself well, but her true feelings always come through in her smile; tight-lipped and forced when the boss teases her, hard and icy when she's making someone's life hell, and, when he says she's done well, sunshine-bright and uninhibited just like a child's.
innocence.
She tries very hard to be a grown-up, but Sakaki likes his Domino best when she forgets the act and lets her true self show.
completion.
Everything his Domino says sounds pleasant - even when she's being childish - but there are two words sweeter than the rest; "Mission complete."
clouds.
Perhaps the best thing about his Domino is that her moods shift so very quickly; when something has upset her he needs only give her a kiss, or a touch on the hand, to chase the clouds away.
sky.
She's just as comfortable in the sky as she is on the ground, but he thinks she looks twice as beautiful there.
heaven.
"I don't care if there's a God, or a Heaven - because you're all that matters, and I can't very well serve you when I'm dead, now can I?"
hell.
She abandoned her own room for his long ago, and so when she fails him (and she does, sometimes, even though it eats her up inside for days and weeks) she still has to crawl into his bed, under his sharp gaze, and spend the night too terrified to sleep, for his anger is the most frightening thing she's ever known.
sun.
Stormy days make his Domino moody and unpleasant, but it's almost worth it for the way her face lights up when the sun finally graces her with its presence again.
moon.
"The moon was full that night, wasn't it?" she asks him one evening, even though she can't, when questioned, explain what on Earth she's talking about.
waves.
She isn't the sort to make waves at social events, but she doesn't need to be - being the woman on Sakaki's arm always makes her the center of attention.
hair.
Sometimes she tries wearing her hair in a messy bun instead of pigtails, but Sakaki will have none of that; maturity is not a look that suits her.
supernova.
A scream of "Sakaki-sama!" is torn from her throat against her will, moments before her vision explodes into darkness and starbursts, and her last conscious thought is that she's grateful - at least this way she won't know the agony of living without him.