I wanted to write a James/Meowth fic that was slightly lighter in tone. So I wrote this.

-O-o-O-o-O-

For once, Meowth's mouth wasn't the part of his body that was going a mile a minute.

All was quiet over the Viridian Forest that night. Meowth sat on the roof of the Team Rocket cabin. His teammates, Jessie and James, were worn out from that day's antics and slept soundly in the bedroom below. They hadn't stirred when he slipped out from under James's arm, out of their shared bed, and out of the window. They definitely wouldn't have heard his footsteps up the wall and onto the roof.

Meowth should have been tired, considering the distance they'd had to walk after the twerps blasted them off for the hundredth time, but something about the night air energized him. Back in the cabin, his muscles were on novocaine, but his mind was on speed. The only way to detox was to stare at the moon until his eyelids stopped buzzing.

The position under James's arm, while comfortable, had not helped his situation much.

Lately he'd been having some odd thoughts. They were similar to the ones he'd had for Meowsie, Cassandra, and many other girls (usually human), but surprisingly more intense. And they didn't seem to be going away, like all the other times. Meowsie was a snob and Meowth was too young to see; Cassandra and the other human girls were easy on the eyes and pleasant, but Meowth soon got over them. He'd come to the conclusion that he liked looking at them, and that was all.

On the other hand (or paw), Meowth realized he was a Pokémon. How could he forget when Jessie kept reminding him of his place in the natural order? He may have been able to talk, walk upright, read, and write, but he couldn't forget what he really was when he got in the car and realized he couldn't reach the pedals. He couldn't forget when the waiters at restaurants did a double take when he gave his order. No matter how many human characteristics he picked up, he was still a walking, talking cat—an oddity.

This brought him back to something James had said during one of Meowth's many fantasies that day about pleasing Giovanni: "You're practically human."

A cool breeze rustled his fur. He decided it was time to go back into the warmth of the cabin.

A lot had changed in five minutes. Jessie was halfway over the bed, muttering in her sleep about, "more hairspray." James was buried under the covers, curled up, as if to stay out of Jessie's way. There was still a cat-sized space between his arm and body just waiting to be filled.

Meowth climbed into bed and snuggled up next to James. He hoped his thoughts didn't spill out of his mouth in his sleep.

-O-o-O-

For once in his life, Meowth relished Jessie's thirty-minute bathroom rituals.

James poked his head out from under the covers. "Is she done yet?"

Meowth looked over at the clock from his sunny spot by the window. "Not until nine-thirty."

James sighed and went back under the covers. "By the time she's finished, there won't be any hot water left." He then giggled, rather cutely in Meowth's opinion. "On the other hand, a cold shower could really wake us up."

Meowth watched James slide the covers off and look for his clothes. "A cold shower sounds pretty useful right about now," he thought as he watched the sunlight fall on James's slender form. The breeze from their electric fan rustled both Meowth's whiskers and James's blue hair and fluttered the pile of clothing James had gathered. Meowth had to avert his gaze when James bent over to look for his pants; if the wind blew up James's loose shorts, Meowth wasn't sure he could resist the urge to pounce.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Meowth mentally chastised himself. "This is your teammate you're fappin' to! This is the same guy who fell for that Gastly Maiden's Peak chick! The same guy who freaks out when you even mention marriage! He thought he was a Moltres, for the love of catnip!"

James tiptoed over to the bathroom door and leaned in, his ear just barely touching the door. A smile spread across his face as he returned to the main area. "She's finished her shower earlier than usual!"

Meowth perked up. A distraction! "We might actually get a warm bath today!"

The fan picked up speed. Its increased wind blew one of James's gloves up onto a ceiling beam.

"We wanted our spirits lifted, not our clothing," James griped. Meowth tried to suppress the mental image of all of James's clothes blowing off. "Seriously, he probably doesn't even realize it's an innuendo, potty-mind!" Meowth ranted inwardly. "Quick, think of something else, anything but that!"

James rummaged through the closet. "No stepladder." He eyed the space between the bed and the beam. "And not even my highest-heeled shoes would make me tall enough to reach it." His gaze drifted from the beam to the bed's headboard.

"Leave it to me, Jimmy," Meowth said quickly. Anything to distract his gutter-brain from reading innuendo into everything James said.

James squinted up at the ceiling. "Hmm…" He briefly surveyed the adjacent wall. "Thanks, but I think I've got this, Meowth."

Before Meowth could insist, James climbed onto the headboard and, using the horizontal ridges in the siding, continued up the cabin wall. Meowth watched in amusement at how his usually clumsy teammate turned into a regular cat-man.

"Almost there…" James stretched further toward the rafters, half leaning, half standing en pointe on the bulge of the siding. Meowth held his breath as James reached higher and leaned sideways. He was certainly flexible, Meowth couldn't help but note.

Another soft breeze rustled James's shorts. Fortunately, it didn't startle him into falling, but it blew the glove closer to his reach. "Got it!" As James grabbed the glove, the back of his shorts rustled upwards. Meowth instinctively tracked the movement and got an eyeful.

Meowth was still wide-eyed and open-mouthed when James climbed back down. James cocked his head. "What's wrong?"

Jessie exited the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her hair. "It's all yours. I suggest you take a bath together, since we've got a lot of ground to cover today." She glanced around for her blow dryer and noticed Meowth, still in his state of shock. "Meowth, how many times do I have to tell you, it's impolite to leave your mouth hanging open?"

James bent down, put one finger under Meowth's chin, and gently closed Meowth's mouth. This didn't seem to affect the cat's state. Jessie raised an eyebrow. James tittered nervously. "We'll be ready in a jiffy!" He swept Meowth into the bathroom.

Once they were both in the water, James was somewhat puzzled that today Meowth sat at the far end of the tub. "Don't you want me to help wash you?" he asked.

Meowth tried to act normal as he shook his head. "We probably don't have time today. Jessie sounded serious about that plan."

James shrugged. "All right." He leaned back, accidentally bumping the soap on the edge of the tub. He caught it, but it slipped from his wet hands and landed a couple of feet away. He leaned over the edge of the tub and grabbed it, seemingly unaware of his pretty pale posterior on full display.

Meowth covered his own crotch with a washrag.

-O-o-O-o-O-

I might continue with this and deal with the societal ramifications of this pairing.