God. God. Do you even know my shame? My embarrassment? Here we are in the year of our lord 2016 and I've written a ValetShipping fanfiction. 70% of which was written at 3 AM on a Sunday. I haven't written anything since the sixth grade. My OTP is so rare that I've been forced to create content for it. I produced fan labor for a video game for children. You know, that's cool. That's rad. I'm fine.

This has too many ellipses in it; if anyone has any tips on how to portray hesitance of speech without making your reader suffer through 80 lines of tiny dots, that'd be fantastic. The plot also probably doesn't flow very well, but you know, it was published by an amateur for free on the internet. Thanks.

Summer evenings in Undella Town were that special sort of pleasant: no longer hot, but not cool, either, and the sunsets always came in pastel shades of pink and orange. They were a sight anyone would surely do anything to see. So thought Lady Caitlin, anyways; joining the Elite Four had had more benefits than she had anticipated.

Darach had to agree with his employer, and it was (at least partially) for this reason that he most often found himself coming to clean her villa in the evening. It stood to reason that Lady and valet found themselves conversing together on one of those summer evenings, an event that had at one time been unremarkable but was now rather uncommon. Darach had taken to sweeping the villa floor as Caitlin sat in the chair beside him.

"This girl who saved the world, you said she visits often?"

"Mm, yes, every so often…she is brilliantly strong. It's no wonder that she defeated me so easily, or the rest of the Elite Four, for that matter. Yet all she seems to do besides visit the villa is hunt for…Luvdisc…rather…obsessively…" Caitlin swayed in her chair, putting her hand to her forehead as she did so. She had figured she would have gotten over these "episodes" by the time she had moved, but that had not been the case. Despite being fine just moments prior, she now felt awfully exhausted.

Darach looked over to see his mistress looking ill, and promptly put the broom down to attend to her. "She sounds rather similar to Sinnoh's 'girl who saved the world'. Young Dawn, yes. She had her fair share quirks as well, as I recall...Ah, pardon me, Lady Caitlin, but you look quite peckish indeed…I feel it best if you were to lay down." He placed his hand upon her shoulder.

Caitlin sighed and leaned her head on her hand, forcing herself steady. "I am quite fine, thank you. I am not as…susceptible as I once was," she said, blinking languidly.

"A-ah, yes, of course, of course," stuttered Darach, who quickly snatched up the broom again and began to sweep awkwardly. "My apologies, Lady Caitlin, I must seem terribly overbearing."

Caitlin lifted her head up and looked at her valet. "Oh, worry not about that, Darach. I can assure you that you aren't overbearing in the slightest. Most of the time, anyways, but it's just in your nature to worry."

"I-in my nature, aha, yes," Darach muttered, fiddling with his tie. He took a deep breath, put the broom down, adjusted his glasses. "Well! I suppose I ought to get going sooner or later," he said, clasping his hands together.

"So soon?" asked Caitlin, sitting up in her chair and turning to face him. "The sun's still out…"

"Well," Darach began, "The villa is clean now, so I don't suppose there's anything else for me to do this evening. I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome, after all."

Caitlin stared for a few seconds in listless confusion. "Overstay your welcome? You've only been here for—"

"Yes, yes, and now I must be off, I do so enjoy speaking with you, and these occasions are pitifully scarce, but the Castle awaits and I have quite a lot of work to do, as you know, the facilities don't run themselves, farewell Lady Caitlin, I trust I shall be seeing you again at some time on some date, goodbye!" One jumble of words later and Darach was gone, the door shut neatly behind him.

Caitlin allowed herself to lean on an elbow again. Darach had certainly seemed more skittish than usual in her recollection, but his visits had never ended so abruptly. "He's always been a bit peculiar, though," she mumbled to herself. Within a few seconds, she had fallen asleep.

Darach sighed. "I cannot fathom a room more spotless than this one at this precise moment," he said. "I shall be taking my leave now, Lady Caitlin."

It had been a month since he had last set foot in his employer's villa. Caitlin rose from where she had been reclining to face him. "Thank you, Darach," she said, glancing around the room. "You are neat as always…but you really don't have to leave quite so soon."

"It is no trouble, Lady Caitlin," replied Darach. He smiled, genuinely, as he was wont to do whenever his mistress expressed gratitude. "Anything for you. However, I have to insist that I must return to the Frontier now. The hall hasn't been cleaned in over a fortnight! How I've managed to neglect it really is a mystery."

"Can the hall not wait?" asked Caitlin, crossing her arms. "You're always so quick to return home nowadays. Do you not enjoy coming here?" The usual airy quality to her voice had vanished.

Darach backed up a few steps, startled. "What? A-ah, I mean to say, my deepest apologies, Lady Caitlin. I did not mean to upset you." The valet shifted his gaze around the room, avoiding eye contact with his employer. He tugged at his collar anxiously.

Caitlin's expression softened. "No, no, of course you didn't. Come and sit with me for a moment." She returned to the chair she had been sitting in, and gestured for Darach to sit in the one beside it. He did so, timidly, and Caitlin now leaned forward to speak with him.

"I am not upset, Darach, so you can stop worrying about that. There is no need to concern yourself with me," she began. Darach silently pushed his glasses back into place, looking relieved. "But I have noticed that your behavior seems to be…out of the ordinary, as of late. Is something bothering you?"

Darach laughed a little. "There you are, Lady Caitlin, always so perceptive! You really are brilliantly clever. You possess such a wonderful mind. But there is nothing bothering me, and you needn't worry yourself over it."

"You speak confidently for someone so reserved. Why are you so quick to leave, then, so soon after you arrive here? You didn't used to be so cursory."

"Ahem, well, things have been busy, and I don't want to leave the Frontier for too long at any one time, so I suppose I may be acting hastier than usual," Darach said, reaching to adjust his bowtie. "But beyond that I can assure you that there is no problem."

"No problem at all, is there? You've never been a very good liar, Darach. Why must you play down your troubles like this?" Caitlin asked.

Darach looked at her nervously. She really was clever, unfortunately so. "I just do not…wish to be a bother to you, is all." He now focused his gaze at the floor.

Caitlin nodded solemnly. "It's always been so. I suppose that is why you have been so brief in your visits to Unova?"

"Yes…I am aware that things are different now that you have joined the Elite Four. You are independent now, and have no real need of me. I know I have a tendency to come across as overbearing, despite your being able to take care of yourself, so I've taken to keeping these occasions short. B-but I see now that it is bothering you, so I can refrain from coming here at all, if that is your wish."

Caitlin leaned back in her chair. "Oh, Darach. As I've said before, it is in your nature to worry. But you mustn't worry about bothering me with your very presence. If I minded your company I would've been rid of you years ago."

The two of them sat in silence for a few moments. Darach was becoming exceedingly uncomfortable; Caitlin remained her normal, nonchalant self. For a second or two the only sound to be heard was the ticking of the clock upon the wall. And then, softly, Darach spoke.

"I miss you."

"Oh?" Caitlin sat up, tense. Darach's tone concerned her, and she hoped that she had not been too cold in speaking to him.

"I miss you. I miss you terribly, and I cherish these occasions that we are able to see each other. But you are your own now, you have the autonomy you didn't have before, and I feel I tie you down. So I…so I make it a point to cut our time together short." The valet paled and turned to look at the wall. Of all the things he could have said, he wished more than anything that it hadn't been that.

Caitlin pondered what she could say for a moment, but found that she couldn't think of anything that didn't sound insincere. Comforting people had never been her strong suit. "Forgive me, for I find myself at a loss for words."

"That is quite all right. I wouldn't know what to say to me, either," Darach sighed. His eyes shifted from the wall to the floor and back again. Where to go from here? Certainly nowhere admirable, he thought. "I, ah…"

"Hm?" Caitlin muttered. She focused on her valet intently.

"I have…ah, grown to care for you rather deeply, Lady Caitlin. You are intelligent, and you are talented, and I daresay you are the loveliest person I know. But you are beyond my station and always have been. It is improper and burdensome on you for me to stay here for too long. I come, I clean, I leave. That is my job, and I am thankful for it. I hope that you now understand."

Caitlin sat in silence for a few seconds. Then, gently, she leaned forward and took Darach's hand. "I see…" she said softly, twisting a strand of hair around her finger. "There is no need to be so concerned with formalities anymore, Darach. I came to Unova to improve myself, to break away from all of that. I trust that this can apply to you, as well."

Darach opened his mouth to protest, for he was hardly in any position to simply do away with his notion of status as Caitlin had, but he was swiftly silenced by a kiss on the cheek. He blushed profusely, and was painfully aware of it.

"Stay with me," said Caitlin. "Just until the sun sets."

Darach thought a moment, and couldn't help but smile. He supposed he had time to spare.

A/N: This is a low point in my life.