kish n louie plot u say????? ššš
oh you betcha babey
its so fuckign much (3332 words lol) so itll be under the cut!!!
i couldnt figure out a way to write this that would be non-pikmin knower friendly sorry @askthelovenest you will probably not get this that much or have to google a lot but i highly appreciate your itnerest <333
Most of this is written in broader strokes but scenes that I imagine in detail will be written in full detail okay you just have to accept the varying text density here
Allright so this cute little story would begin at some point in between the many many castaways that the pikmin 4 protagonist rescues (Iām just gonna use the name Pom for them since thatās the fanon name I think). They also rescue Kish from a cave at some point.
Back at the S.S. Shepard, Kish expresses fascination with Oatchiās great skills and training and tells Pom that if they ever wanted to discuss space dogs and their training, sheās the man! But of course thereās already someone to talk to about space dogs for Pom, that being Captain Shepard herself.
Like most of the castaways with side quests that Pom rescues, Kish is stuck just kind of hanging around the S.S. Shepard. He gets frustrated with this fairly quickly but can understand why theyāre stuck here right now. Thereās still people to rescue and going out there on her own would be downright suicide. The boredom still gnaws away at him but it just be like that she guesses.
Enter the bastard, Louie. Pikmin 4ās story wraps up, Louie is apprehended after the Ancient Sirehound Battle, and now he, much like the other people rescued by (one member of) the rescue corps is just standing around the S.S. Shepard, handing out side quests to Pom. Kish has been watching with increasing disdain as Pom gets to do all the jobs and activities and exciting stuff. Heās growing more and more irate about it by the day.
Simultaneously, Kish has noticed a LOT of malice towards Louie from the rescue corps, ever since heās shown up. They have precious little kind things to say about him and their faces always contort in mild to severe contempt when they talk to or about him. Louie himself doesnāt seem like he notices. Or if he does, heās just not pointing it out. Or showing it. At all. Kish has always been a big observer, but she canāt quite get a read on Louie just by watching him. His aloof nature is kind of fascinating to her. Surely, thereās a lot more going on inside that head of his than heās showingā¦ how intriguing.
One morning, very shortly after Louie came to the S.S. Shepard, Kish watches with a frankly inappropriate death glare, as Pom walks around the landing space and collects side quests, including the Fit For A Feast side-quest from Louie. Though, Kish notices a lack of interest from Pom towards this quest, complete with an eye-roll when Louie canāt remember the name of the cave heād seen Dwarf Bulborbs in.
As the S.S. Beagle flies off towards the dayās expedition goal and just about everyone cheers it on and wishes it well, Kish is standing on the sidelines close to Louie with crossed arms and a scowl.
āThis is literally fucking ridiculous,ā she blurts out, āWeāre really all just standing around with our thumbs up our asses while one rescue corps member goes out and does everything out there. Likeā¦. Even you guys?ā he turns towards Louie and gestures towards Olimar who is standing further away. āArenāt you two like, experienced in this stuff? With the data logs and stuff youāve done here already and all that? What are you asking Pom for food for when you can just go out and get it yourself? At least itās something to do!ā
Louie is silent for a second, a trait Kish will grow used to very soon, before he replies: āIām not allowed to leave the Shepard.ā
āWhat?ā Kish says, āWhy not?ā
Louie shrugs silently. āToo much of a troublemaker, they said.ā
āWellā¦ I GUESS that makes sense but likeā¦ I just fucking hate standing around out here all day!ā āMe too.ā āIf there was at least something to do at the Shep-whatād you say?ā
Kish turns towards Louie again, who tilts his head.
āI hate standing around this ship all day. Itās literally fucking ridiculous for one kid to do everything on this planet.ā Louie says.
Kish isn't sure why exactly heās surprised to hear Louie express distaste for doing nothing all day (and in her own words too). He just seemed like heād be perfectly content with it, she supposes. But this is an opportunity. A connection. A chanceā¦ Because with Louieās skills, going out into the wilderness is already way less scary. But heās still not allowed to leave. What to do, what to doā¦
Kish notices a tiny path in between some bushes that one could squeeze through without making any sounds. Everyone who had gathered around the S.S. Beagle is slowly dispersing, meaning the bustling crowd could be their cover to get there. Itās the perfect chance.
āHey, come here.ā Kish silently commands, not really giving Louie much of a choice in the matter as she grabs his sleeve and drags him through the crowd expertly. Even though Louieās being dragged along, he is bobbing and weaving past bodies with grace almost befitting of a dance.
This red gal, whoever he is, must be really skilled at moving through crowds completely undetected. Much like Louie himself, he muses. As the two go from dodging people to dodging leaves, he wonders if this guy has also experienced the pain of being isolated from a group and repeatedly mocked. If sheās also decided to stick to quietly blending in as much as possible, as a social survival strategy of sorts. To put it another way, heās impressed. But heās also still confused.
āWhere are we going?ā Louie asks eventually.
āUh, Iām not sureā¦ā Kish admits, ābut surely, thereās got to be something for you to eat around here. I guess weāre, uh, scouting out the area? Scavenging, maybe?ā
āScavengingā¦ Sounds right.ā Louie says. Heās pretty pleased to have something to do, and he guesses if he had to bring someone along, an apparent quick thinker like this is one of the better choices. Better than all the people back there hating him anyways.
Kish lets go of Louieās arm and the two of them walk silently towards the other end of the bush.
āWhatās your name?ā Louie asks suddenly.
āHm? Oh right, we never formally introduced ourselves to each other. Iām Kish, a space dog trainer from Karut.ā Kish says. Normally, heād go for the handshake and everything, but she has a feeling Louie wouldnāt much care for it. āAnd youāre, well, Louie yeah I heard that much. But is there anything else you wanna introduce yourself with?ā
Louie thinks to himself for a few seconds before he replies, āIām from Hocotate. Working for Hocotate Freight. Our boss sucks. The company is probably going to go bankrupt soon.ā
āThat all you can think of to describe yourself?ā Kish asks.
āItās all you said about yourself.ā Louie responds.
At that, Kish actually has to laugh a little.
āYeah, youāre right. Okay fair enough. No need to dive that deep on a stranger yet.ā Kish says. A part of him is hoping, quite strongly even, that in time, Louie wonāt be a stranger anymore.
Kish and Louie end up having a pretty successful day together. They find an onion not too long into their journey and Kish gets to closely inspect the red pikmin within it, as they help the two collect some fruits. They also find some Skitter Leaves and Sheargrubs which Louie assured Kish are easy to take down and totally delicious when prepared correctly.
Kish quickly notices Louieās passion and creativity with cooking, which she frankly finds heart-warming. Thatās just an adorable hobby, not to mention incredibly impressive to someone who can barely even follow instructions for microwave dishes properly.
Meanwhile, Louie is impressed by Kishās sharp eye. She can spot fruits easily, even if theyāre almost completely hidden in bushes, and he can tell that something is a Skitter Leaf instead of a regular leaf before Louieās even registered that there are leaves on the ground.
Their teamwork isnāt perfect per se. Their communicative abilties leave a lot to be desired. But for a duo thatās formed less than a day ago, theyāre working together shockingly well.
Just a few hours before nightfall, the two walk back to the S.S. Shepard, where they are immediately met by a furious rescue corps team (and a concerned Olimar). Accusations start flying right away; that Louie was trying to run away and start causing problems again, that he had kidnapped Kish for some reason, that he was going to undo everything the rescue corps had worked so hard to accomplish on this mission. Louie is long since used to people assuming the worst about him so he just silently lets them all ramble on. But just as he is about to zone out, angry yelling erupts from right beside him.
Kish is nothing short of furious at the accusations that are being flung towards Louie with barely any justification. She yells at all the rescue corps members about how hard theyāre blowing things out of proportion and how cruel they are towards someone who could have done much, MUCH worse to them all. His lengthy tirade shuts the team down again, as they have no choice but to agree that Louieās just collected food in the nearby area and hasnāt done anything explicitly wrong or harmful today. Olimar even joins in and defends Louie by pointing out that heās kept Kish safe throughout the day. Louie is silent throughout this but he seems somewhat shocked by the defence.
Later that night, everyone is served dinner in the S.S. Shepard while Louie cooks his own meal in the Dolphinās tiny little kitchen. Heās deep in thought about the day heās had and the friend he seems to have made, when thereās a knock at the shipās door. Olimar had informed Kish that Louie isnāt allowed inside the Shepard and sheās immediately made his way to the small old ship. When Louie points out that Kish doesnāt have any food now he replies that heās not eating the rations of some āpetty assholesā (in reality she had forgotten her plate in the Shepard when he stormed out of the cafeteria). Louie has easily cooked enough for more than just one person, and he likes Kish enough, so he offers him a plate of his self-made meal of the day. Kish is honestly surprised but thankful nonetheless, so the two share a delicious meal together and talk a bit more. Wellā¦ Kish talks. A lot. Louie mostly listens, but he likes doing that. He likes Kish.
Louie and Kishās ritual of going out to collect food continues on after Olimar puts in a good word for Louie (and pulls him aside once to tell him āYou have one more chance here. Donāt blow it.ā)
The two of them grow closer and closer as they keep going out. Befriending people is a lot easier when they are your age, Louie finds. At least if those people are also not judgemental over every mistake you make. Louie and Kish bond over how both of them have poor impulse control and do some nasty things sometimes. They agree that they wonāt cruelly judge each other while simultaneously holding each other back where they can. Louie can hardly wrap his head around how wonderful it feels to have found someone like Kish. He might be catching some feelings other than friendly appreciateon. Uh ohā¦
Eventually, Kish spills the beans on why he even came to PNF-404. It was all because of Moss, the space dog Olimar had spoken of in his S.O.S. message. She had been hoping there would be more strange and rare breeds of space dogs on this planet. And while the Bulborbs were strikingly similar to bulb-dogs from Hocotate, he was still disappointed that she couldnāt find anything friendly. Louie quickly realizes he knows exactly how to undo that disappointment, and the next time him and Kish go out, he leads her to the Ancient Sirehound (do not ask me how he knows where to find it, he just does OK). Kish is delighted to see such a big and amicable dog, and even moreso when she sees it run up to Louie and slobber all over his entire suit and helmet. The beast loves that guy, and itās just the sweetest thing.
Goshā¦ Louieās an intriguing guy, heās great at cooking AND heās good with animalsā¦ Ohā¦ Oh dearā¦thatās a crush blooming isnāt itā¦ Oh boy.
One night, Kish talks about his past a bit. He had a passion for art that had been tested brutally by an art school that valued market and corporate appeal far over actual artistry. Getting that bachelor was gruelling and finding work in art that wasnāt completely demoralizing was close to impossible. So Kish put his skills with space dogs to use instead and started dog-sitting and offering training sessions for money. It pays the bills just fine and itās fun enough, but itās hard not to feel disappointed after the way chasing her dreams turned out.
Louie can empathise with that and tells Kish about how heās always wanted to become a great chef with his own cooking show, but when he briefly joined a culinary school on Hocotate, it was an exclusively vegetarian school, and he was ostracised even worse than in his old schools (āAnd those were places where Iād regularly get asked in earnest if I was going to eat the other kids.ā āWhat the hell thatās so fucked up???ā).
This newfound connection makes Kish like Louie even more. Sheās starting to really understand the guy. That impression of a mysterious quiet wallflower is giving way to a young man whoās kind in his own ways but struggles with empathy, and whoās trying to figure out his place in a world that he doesnāt quite seem to fit into. Itās relatable. Itās compelling. Heās compelling. ā¦That crush is only going to get worse, huh.
Some hiccups come up here and there when they are working together. Most notably an ever growing curiosity for the animals of PNF-404 from Kish thatās almost lead him to have his leg gnawed off by a bulborb a few times. Luckily Louie has quick reflexes when it comes to protecting people, and manages to drag Kish away from the beasts just in time.
It also turns out that Kish is god-awful at aiming and throwing pikmin, and when the two tried to work together to slay a Dwarf Bulborb, Kish missed just about all her throws. When told about this issue, Olimar suggests giving him winged pikmin instead, which could correct for missed throws while in the air. That turns out to be the fix they needed because after that, the two turn into a scarily efficient team, coming back each night with greater catches than the last. (The rescue corps briefly got scared that they'd hunt something on this planet to extinction)
Their blooming romance comes to a head one day in the tiniest most subtle way. The rescue corps are finally done with PNF-404. Thereās no one left to save (everybody double and triple and quadruple checked) and so the Shepard takes off with the Dolphin loaded into its large and comfy storage space, where Louie also resides, since he knows the crew and other castaways will only give him angry glares.
They never warmed up to him, and he doesnāt care much to convince them heās a better guy. Even if Kish is still fighting tooth and nail against any accusations thrown at him. His one defender, who is currently curled up next to him in the Dolphinās sleeping space.
Come to think of it, theyāve gotten incredibly cuddly with each other. They just kind of started doing that. Kish explained early on that sheās awfully touch-inclined and that Louie can tell her off whenever he wants. But he never wanted to. Heās always wanted to be touched even more. Theyāve been holding hands way past the point of guiding each other, and hugging each other for way too long and way too tightly. Not to mention when theyāve actually tried dancing together on PNF-404 to some impromptu tunes the pikmin would hum to themselves. Theyāre always together. Theyāve grown so close. They have no trouble whatsoever confiding in each other. Theyāre likeā¦ a romantic couple, he realises.
Without thinking too much about it, Louie just asks his half asleep companion: āDid we become a couple at some point?ā
āHm?ā
āDid we become a couple at some point?ā he repeats.
Kish opens her eyes a bit. Those red eyes that radiate a passionate warmth Louie could get lost in forever. āHmā¦ well, I guess. If you donāt mindā¦ā he replies.
Louie canāt help but to smile at that.
āI donāt. I love you.ā he softly speaks.
āI love you too.ā Kish replies gently. He readjusts himself and wraps her arms around Louie, who wraps his own arms around Kishās shoulder and gives her a kiss on the forehead. This is their little moment. Just them and the cargo of the ship. It reminds Louie of when he and Kish first started properly interacting with each other in the midst of that bushy walkway. Itās exactly the kind of confession he had hoped for.
Despite the calm and gentle beginning of their relationship, Louie is still getting terribly nervous. He hasnāt the faintest clue how to date someone. But handily heās (debatably) great friends with someone whoās managed to pull a loving wife and kids.
Olimar has to bear several days being bombarded with questions about how to be romantic, but he doesn't mind. He finds this amusingly cute. He tells Louie how he was asked out by his now-wife and how his primary āstrategyā was just to be kind, listen to her, and make her feel valued in every interaction.
Olimar also tells Louie about a few of his dates with his wife, which Louie tries to replicate exactly. This fails spectacularly every time, but his determination is nothing short of amazing, and Kish is not shy about telling him how sweet heās being. She also reminds him that he doesnāt need to try acting like his senior did. Itās perfectly fine with him if Louie just acts like himself, awkward nature and all. Louie really canāt believe heās managed to find someone in his life who wholeheartedly accepts and loves him for his āflawsā.
Louie visits Kish on Karut a lot and sleeps at his place regularly. Kishās big space dogs Wilmi and Teddee had to spend a while getting used to the new visitor but they eventually warmed up to him. Still wonāt leave him any room on the sofa or bed though. But to be fair they donāt do that for Kish either.
The two have discussed moving together a few times. While Louie would absolutely love to leave his stupid delivery boy job and that stupid vegetarian planet and go to a culinary school where just liking meat isnāt some kind of crime against nature, what it keeps coming back down to is the fact that his grandmother still needs him. And he canāt just leave her on Hocotate. She doesnāt have anyone else.
Kish understands this fully and makes sure to visit him on Hocotate often too. She likes Louieās grandma, that woman is so strange and her being Like That explains a lot about why Louie is Like That. The old woman has also talked about marriage and getting great-grandchildren already and watching Louie freeze up and go fully red at that is just plain funny.
All in all, they compliment and complete each other in a way neither of them had ever expected. They found themselves and simultaneously something different and compelling in each other. They love each other for their compatible flavours of autism <3
And thatās the story of how the cold King Of Bugs and the fiery Beast Tamer became a couple okay cool thank you for reading <333333333
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