Summary: A continuation of the Madoka chapter (#29). A few years down the line, Flynn still suffers nightmares from the timelines that never happened. Yuri does his best to be a supportive boyfriend and, thankfully, everything seems to be going well for them. Despite starting the day with a nightmare and an absolute disaster with Sodia after work, Flynn and Yuri adopt a dog together... so its not really a bad day, all in all.

Notes: I wrote about half of what's here immediately after the first chapter, but I tried to do too much with the plot and ended up with something so busy that it became unfinishable. I finally pulled it back out of the unfinished pile, pared it back down to the basics and re-discovered the inspiration to finish off the chapter. Success!

(Not) A Bad Day

Flynn pulled Yuri's head into his lap and closed the raven-haired teen's eyes. If he pretended – if he ignored the lack of the subtle rise and fall of Yuri's chest – Flynn could almost imagine that Yuri was sleeping. That Yuri was still in there, where he belonged.

He could pretend that there wasn't a shadow raining white lilies over the city. No blond, water-color washed out knights in blue and silver giggling as they meted out 'justice'. No blood on the ground where those familiars had ripped Kyubey apart. No cloying smell from the mingling scents of copper and flowers.

No... Yuri was just... sleeping... while the remains of his shattered soul gem disappeared beneath the white lilies.

Feeling bile rise in his throat, Flynn reached his hand towards his chest and the hourglass hidden behind his own soul gem...

Blue eyes opened in confusion, not understanding for a long moment where he was. It wasn't the hospital room, but that was... and then the room came into focus. Sleep hazy memories solidified and Flynn breathed out a sigh of relief.

That endless loop was over and done with and years behind him. The ceiling he was staring up at was the one in his bedroom – his and Yuri's bedroom – in their apartment. They were seniors again – college seniors now – and he was just days away from starting his final semester. His iPad was on the table next to him on the left and Yuri was sleeping – really, truly sleeping – in bed with him on the right. He had work at ten as a tour guide at the biggest history museum in Zaphias. It was only a half-hour commute, but he'd planned to get up early to see off Yuri, who was volunteering at the nearby dog-shelter today.

Flynn recited all that in his head and worked on controlling his breathing. In and out and don't wake up Yuri by hyperventilating this time.

The bed dipped as Yuri rolled over in his sleep, cuddling closer to Flynn as though he could sense the blond's distress from the safety of his own dreams. Sitting up carefully, Flynn did his best not to jostle Yuri, soothing him by petting his soft, dark hair when he stirred. Fluffing his pillows up behind him, Flynn flipped on his bedside lamp and glanced at the clock. 4:53 glowed at him and Flynn sighed in annoyance as he picked up his tablet.

"Oh well," he muttered, opening up his eReader app and sliding his free hand back down to pet Yuri's hair some more. "I was going to be up in about two hours anyway." Sighing softly, he tapped the mystery novel he'd started the afternoon before. Flynn was fairly certain he already knew who the thief was, but how that character had stolen the art was still up in the air and Flynn wasn't clear on who the murderer was yet, just that it couldn't have been the thief – not that the main character had figured that out yet.

Yuri woke to the feeling of fingers sliding up and down along his neck, tracing idle spirals and twirling his hair. There was already light in their room, despite the blackout curtains they used to block the street lights at night. It wasn't the alarm that had woken him either, though it was probably going to go off soon.

It was pretty obvious that Flynn had been awake for a while now, as Yuri opened his dark eyes and gazed up at his boyfriend. The blond was already propped up, reading from his tablet. Nightmares, probably. Flynn didn't get them as badly as he used to, but sometimes something would jar loose in his mind and his dreams would take him back to all the horrible 'could have beens' he'd lived and erased during the coma he'd suffered in their final year of high school.

"You're supposed to wake me," Yuri grumbled, nuzzling against Flynn's side.

"I know." Flynn set his tablet aside. "Sorry."

"Don't sound sorry," Yuri muttered petulantly.

Flynn just snorted in amusement. "I'm okay, Yuri. I just couldn't go back to sleep after..." he shrugged, which Yuri felt more than saw.

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP

There was a clicking noise as Flynn turned off the alarm. "Time to get up."

"I hate mornings," Yuri muttered, sulking slightly. He didn't want to get up. He wanted to stay in bed, with Flynn, having his hair stroked.

"You're the one who decided to volunteer," Flynn reminded him.

Yuri sighed and sat up. "Right. Dog-day today." Stretching, Yuri slid out of bed and slipped his slippers on. "Gonna make coffee and toast. Want anything?"

"Toast sounds good... maybe an apple too?"

Humming in agreement, Yuri padded out the door and into their living room, then across to the kitchen. Five minutes later, with the coffee pot running and the toaster plugged in – but not toasting anything yet – he shuffled off to the bathroom to run through a few morning ablutions while considering what to do about Flynn not waking him up earlier.

Yuri was annoyed, but more by the principle of the matter than by the fact that Flynn let him get a little extra sleep. They'd made a deal, after Flynn had filled him in on the lost time lines, that when he had nightmares or flashbacks, he'd wake Yuri up or call him. Even if there was nothing Yuri could do or say to ease Flynn's memories and fears, at least he could be aware and try to be there. It had been nearly a year since the last time Flynn had a really bad flashback and at least a month since the last really bad nightmare.

Waking up to Flynn's panicked hyperventilating as he tried to figure out where they were and why resetting time hadn't worked still freaked Yuri out whenever it happened, though he'd gotten really good at squashing down his own freak-out so he could better help Flynn get a handle on when, and where, they were. That Flynn hadn't needed his help with that probably just meant that, however bad the nightmare may have been, Flynn's reaction to it hadn't been as severe. So... waking Yuri probably hadn't really been necessary.

Didn't mean Yuri didn't wish Flynn had woken him anyway.

When Yuri got back into the kitchen, Flynn was putting toast in the toaster. Which was dangerous because then Flynn might actually try to toast something. So Yuri shouldered him out of the way and pointed him towards the fridge where the jam and nut butters hid. Yuri liked cashew butter (homemade because store bought was always ridiculously expensive when he could manage to actually find it; so much easier to buy unsalted cashews and go from there) and Flynn had this new strawberry rhubarb spread, so those were what wound up on the counter top alongside the butter, awaiting the perfectly toasted bread slices.

"Want to talk about your nightmare?" Yuri asked.

"Not really."

Yuri nodded, not pushing. Instead he changed the subject to, "that dog I was telling you about comes available for visitors and adoption today. You should come by after your shift's over and take a look at him."

"The one with the messed up eye?" Flynn asked for confirmation since that was the most recent dog to catch Yuri's eye. When Yuri nodded, Flynn pined him with a speculative stare. "You're pretty fixated on this one."

"He's had it rough, but still knows how to have fun. Repede's a good pup."

The toast popping up interrupted them long enough to have a brief 'battle' over who got to use the butter first. Then, while Yuri pouted over coming in second and chopped up an apple for them to share, Flynn smirked over his toast.

"You sound like you want to adopt him," Flynn said.

"Uh..." Yuri froze. Well, true, but he'd been hoping to ease into that idea while Flynn had a lap full of well behaved puppy.

"We'd have to clear it with the apartment manager," Flynn mused.

"I kind of already asked him about that," Yuri muttered, grabbing a second apple to slice. "Raven gave me the waiver we'd need to fill out. If we did decide to get Repede, we'd have to turn in the filled out waiver within a week of bringing Repede home."

"That explains Raven's jokes the other night about whether or not we were going to 'expand the family'."

Yuri wrinkled his nose in irritation. "Would it kill that man to keep his mouth shut about a secret just once?"

Flynn just laughed and snitched an apple slice before heading off to the table with his coffee and toast. He'd thoughtfully buttered Yuri's toast for him, which made Yuri smile as he added the cashew butter to it and then brought the toast, apples slices, and his own coffee over to the table as well.

"I'll drop by around 3:00 then," Flynn promised. He was doing a four hour shift since he was only working part-time; with Yuri's income from the bakery and both their scholarships, they were doing pretty well for themselves, what with being college students. "I could probably stop by the Pet's Stop on the way home and get some dog food, toys, and a pad for him."

"Seriously?" Yuri paused with his half-eaten toast mid-air.

"You're attached already," Flynn said with a grin. "Just go ahead and adopt him this morning; I can swing by to meet him and take him shopping for his stuff."

"Have I said I love you yet today?" Yuri leaned over and kissed Flynn on the cheek. "Because I do and you're amazing."

"We have been considering getting a dog for a while now," Flynn reminded him.

"But we'd said we were going to wait until after graduation," Yuri pointed out in turn. "So I wasn't looking for us specifically or anything."

"I know. You just got attached without meaning to. I bet I'll love him," Flynn reached over and tugged lightly on Yuri's hair. "Go get dressed. If you don't leave soon, you'll be late."

"Would you put some of those apple slices into a baggie for me?" Yuri asked, pushing away from the table and munching on the last of his toast.

"Sure."

Flynn read some more after Yuri left before having a brunch – scrambled eggs which, if pressed, he'd reluctantly admit to burning slightly (a little Tabasco sauce later and he couldn't even taste the difference) - before heading off to work.

On the way out of the apartment complex, he passed one of their neighbor's cats that always freaked him out a little. It was albino and, being a white-furred and red-eyed creature, reminded Flynn strongly of Kyubey. It's unnerving habit of seeking him out and rubbing against his legs did not help in the slightest.

Still, he was mostly used to it by now.

The train ride to work was uneventful and Flynn arrived about ten minutes early, as usual. Dropping his things off at his locker, he headed out to the front and smiled at Sodia, who was working the ticket counter. They'd had a course together the semester before and it had been a kind of nice coincidence to find that they were working together. She smiled back and then pointed a group of tourists his way.

Checking everyone's tickets and then handing them the modded 3DSs used for the enhanced tour, Flynn began what would be the first of many circuits around the museum.

Everything went really, really well until it was time for Flynn to leave. He was packing up his stuff again, off in his own little world as he thought about Yuri and Repede. He wondered what the dog would think of him – having already given Yuri the go ahead to adopt the dog, what would they do if it turned out Repede didn't even like him? But he doubted there would be any problems; most dogs tended to like Flynn, after all.

As Flynn shut his locker door, he turned to see Sodia standing in the doorway, a nervous expression on her face.

"Is something the matter, Sodia?" Flynn asked, catching her attention.

"Not really. Just… there's something I've been meaning to ask you all week, but I… I just never quite manage." Sodia blushed and Flynn, suddenly, had a sinking feeling about what this was about. "Flynn, do… do you have plans for this evening?"

"My boyfriend and I are adopting a dog this afternoon," Flynn blurted out, not knowing what else to say. "So we'll be getting him acclimated to our apartment, and to us..." he trailed off at the look on Sodia's face.

"Your… boyfriend?" she whispered, eyes wide.

"I've told you about him before," Flynn said quietly. "Yuri Lowell? I think I introduced you to him not long after we met." He was pretty certain he'd introduced Yuri to her as his boyfriend.

"I… I thought he was your roommate."

In fact, now that Flynn was thinking about it, he distinctly remembered saying 'this is my boyfriend, Yuri' that day – that was how he usually introduced Yuri since they'd started dating, after all. Obviously, she'd forgotten that part. "We do live together, but we're definitely not just roommates," Flynn sighed quietly. "I'm sorry you misunderstood my relationship with him."

Sodia sniffled, tears in her eyes. "H-how long have the two of you been..."

"We've been dating since senior year of high school, but we've known each other since… well, before I can even remember." Shifting uncomfortably, he told her, "I really need to be going."

She nodded and shuffled off to the side.

Awkwardly, Flynn moved to stand beside her, just in front of the door. "I know this isn't what you wanted to hear, but I do value being your friend, Sodia. I really hope that we can remain friends."

She nodded, listlessly and muttered a half-hearted "me too."

Heading out the door, Flynn sagged slightly once he'd put enough distance between himself and the locker room. Glancing back, he hoped he hadn't been a complete jerk, but he never knew what to say in situations like that. It wasn't the first time he'd had someone confess their feelings to him, but he'd only ever reciprocated with Yuri.

He just… never saw this sort of thing coming. Flynn was hopelessly oblivious to other people's romantic feelings. Sometimes he thought that, if not for Yuri, he wouldn't understand the desire for romance at all.

Lost in thought, Flynn didn't hear the footsteps behind him. So, right as he was about to leave the museum's employee-only area, Flynn was surprised to have a hand land on his shoulder. He turned around only to feel someone press their mouth against his. Instinctively he reached out to shove the person away and then reached up to wipe his mouth off, feeling vaguely violated.

"What…?"

"Please," Sodia looked up at him with a tear stained face. "Please, don't just go like that. I can give you so much more than he can. I have so much more to offer you. A normal life..."

"I have a normal life, with Yuri," Flynn snapped, scowling at her. "I love him and anything I could possibly want, I already have with him." He'd defied entropy and the laws of reality, all for the sake of his love for Yuri, and Sodia could never understand that. "You're going to regret pushing things like this later, Sodia. Just… go home. Call a friend whose shoulder you can cry on and make me the bad guy if that's what it takes to get over this. But don't you ever do that again. I like this job and I don't want to have to quit because you can't accept that your feelings for me don't obligate me to feel the same way about you."

"Flynn, please..."

"Goodbye, Sodia," Flynn said stiffly, turning and walking out into the crowds, headed for the bus stop. The dog shelter was only a few stops away and he needed the noise to drown out the way his hands shook.

To Sodia, that might have been just an innocent kiss or a declaration of her feelings, but for him it was something pushed on him without his consent and… he had consent issues. People doing things without his consent, or even without his informed consent, always put him in mind of Kyubey's manipulations and lies.

So, yeah, he had issues with people taking advantage of his ignorance or doing things to him without his consent. He had problems with being lied to for his 'protection'. (Though at least Yuri had promised not to do that anymore… which had led straight to Yuri confessing that Flynn was the most horrible cook ever and would he please stop trying to make dinner? It was a sweet gesture and Yuri loved that, but the actual results were just… no. Flynn had needed some time to recover from his ensuing giggle fit.)

Sighing to himself, Flynn decided he'd start updating his resume on the assumption that Sodia wasn't going to be able handle working with him… and then hope she'd manage to deal with things like a mature adult after all. Though with what happened at the exit, Flynn wasn't optimistic. He liked giving the museum tours; he loved all the art and statues and ancient exhibits. He especially liked that he got to see it all every week and not have to pay for any of it.

Yuri was probably going to find the whole thing hilarious.

"Hey," Yuri greeted, pulling Flynn into a loose hug and pressing a kiss against his boyfriend's cheek. "Are you okay? You seem… disgruntled."

Flynn snorted quietly and leaned into the hug so that his head rested against Yuri's shoulder. "That's one way to put it. You were right about Sodia having a crush on me."

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Yuri wanted to say 'I told you so' but that'd be pushing too far. Besides, it was basically implied anyway at this point.

"Later. Where's Repede?" Flynn straightened up and Yuri released him from the hug to gesture for Flynn to follow.

"Here he is," Yuri told him once they reached one of the cages in the back in the employee and volunteer only area. A puppy with black fur that seemed to have almost purple undertones and one eye permanently closed with a scar slanted across it looked up, immediately wagging his tail at the sight of the humans.

"He knows he's going home with us today. Don't you, Repede?" Yuri grinned, opening the cage and letting the puppy prance out. He crouched down to scritch Repede's ears as the dog came up to him, then shooed Repede towards Flynn. "Say hi you two."

Flynn sat down on the floor and waited for Repede to mosey over. Then he reached over, pausing when Repede started sniffing his hand, and began to pet long stripes from the top of Repede's head, down his neck and shoulders, and most of the way down his back. Repede shivered with delight and sat down, leaning into Flynn's touch.

"It's nice to meet you, Repede," Flynn murmured, smiling a little more naturally than he'd been before.

Whatever happened with Sodia must have really thrown him. Yuri wanted to do something awful to her for messing with Flynn on a day where the blond was already on edge from a nightmare. But Flynn wouldn't appreciate the vengeance, so Yuri consoled himself with the fact that Sodia had to live with the fact that Flynn would never return her feelings and that had to hurt a great deal.

He might not be allowed vengeance, but nothing said Yuri couldn't be a little vindictive. (Or a lot vindictive, for that matter.)

"I have to get back up to the front desk," Yuri said after a few minutes. "Do you want to stay here a little longer or go ahead and take Repede home with you?"

"We'll hit the store and go home. How does that sound, Repede?" Flynn pulled his hand away from the petting and the puppy gave the hand a mournful look.

"I don't think you had permission to stop petting him," Yuri teased.

"Probably not," Flynn agreed with a laugh.

Yuri grabbed the leash waiting on a nearby counter and handed that to Flynn. Once Repede was leashed and Flynn stood back up, Yuri drew the blond into another hug. "Are you sure you're alright? We've got enough people here that I could probably take off early if you wanted."

Flynn hesitated, thinking it over, and then slowly shook his head negatively. "It's only for another two hours. Just… bring home dinner with you? Today hasn't been an awful day or anything, but… I could use some comfort food."

Yuri nodded. "Gracie's Chinese it is, then," he promised. "All your favorite's with enough left over for lunch tomorrow."

"Sounds delicious." Flynn's smile perked up a bit more at the thought.

"I love you," Yuri told him quietly, pulling him tight for a moment.

"I love you too," Flynn responded, arms tightening around Yuri as well. "I'll see you at home.

Flynn had a lot of fun taking Repede through the pet store, texting Yuri pictures of collars until he found one they all liked, showing Repede toys to see which ones he liked best, and picking out food and treats. He grabbed a couple of dog beds too - one for the living room and one for the bedroom - and then texted Yuri some more pictures, this time of food bowls and floor mats for the bowls. Once those were decided, Flynn moved on to things like shampoo and training pads.

Eventually, though, Flynn was satisfied he'd gotten everything they'd need and called an Uber to make transporting it all home easier. When the albino cat showed up again, Repede growled low scaring the cat away.

Flynn grinned, despite himself.

By the time Yuri got home with dinner, it was to Flynn and Repede curled up on the couch together.

"You two are adorable," Yuri said, putting the bags of food on the counter.

Repede yawned and stretched and hopped down, following his nose over to Yuri, who obediently leaned down to scritch the dog's ears.

Flynn followed suit with the yawning and stretching and heading over to Yuri, snuggling into another hug from his boyfriend once he reached Yuri's side.

"Want to talk about what happened with Sodia?" Yuri asked.

"She kissed me."

Yuri snickered.

Flynn swatted Yuri's shoulder half-heartedly. "It was awful."

"I know. I'm sorry. Just, it figures that you were oblivious for so long that she finally just up and kissed you."

"She tried to ask me out first," Flynn elaborated. "I reminded her that you're my boyfriend, a fact she seems to have blocked out of her memory."

"And then she kissed you?"

"Yeah. And then she spouted some things that, in hindsight, were painfully homophobic." Flynn hummed softly, enjoying the way Yuri's fingers traced up and down along his spine. "I don't think she likes you much."

"Well, the feeling's mutual," Yuri grumbled.

"I had a nightmare about one of your deaths this morning," Flynn confessed softly. "I should have woken you, but it was enough to calm me down to see you were alive and safe right next to me and... you had a long day planned. I didn't want to be the cause of you falling asleep on one of the dogs in the afternoon."

Yuri snorted in amusement. "The dogs would love that, though."

Flynn laughed too. "They probably would. Especially that big golden-doodle... Waffles, right?"

"Yeah, that's Waffle." Yuri grinned down at Repede as the puppy popped his little paws up on Yuri's leg and stretched up towards Yuri's nearest hand. "Aww, you want more petting little guy? Or do you want your dinner?"

Repede yipped once and then sat back on his haunches, slowly lowering his front paws back to the ground. There was now a very expectant look on his little face.

"I put his food over here," Flynn said, leading the way over to where he'd stowed away the dog food and treats.

"You know why I like being woken up when you have nightmares, right?" Yuri asked, re-railing the conversation.

"I know." Flynn put a scoop of food in one of the new bowls - the one not already on the floor filled with water - and plopped it on the ground. "You didn't have to wake up this time to make me feel safe, though."

Yuri blushed, looking surprised. "I..."

"You immediately curled up around me when I sat up to read. It was very nice. I could feel the rhythm of your breathing."

"You're kind of a sap, you know," Yuri muttered, ducking his head. "It was a little annoying to realize you didn't wake me up this time, but if you don't feel like you need to do that... seems like a good sign to me."

"Like I'm continuing to move on from the trauma?"

"Yeah. I mean, we both know its always going to be there, but at the same time..."

"And I'm doing this well because of your support. You do a lot more for me than you know, Yuri." Flynn pecked him on the cheek.

"Good." Yuri walked over to the kitchen cabinets and retrieved some plates and bowls. "So there's some egg drop soup, egg rolls, sweet and sour pork, broccoli beef, and cashew chicken. And rice. Can't forget the rice."

"I'm about as hungry as Repede is. Was," Flynn corrected, noting that the puppy had already inhaled his food and smiling fondly. "You found us a great dog, Yuri."

"I'll get the paper work filled out and delivered to Raven. I want to chew him out for ruining my surprise."

Flynn fell asleep that night with an arm around Yuri's chest, cocooned in blankets, and a puppy curled up at his feet.

Not a bad day at all.