I'm still not entirely sure how happy I am with this, I've never ever written something with an "assumed relationship" and I found it quite difficult. But I like assumed relationships in fics so I wanted to give it a shot! I also wrote in a different tense and a different style, so please correct me if anything doesn't work.
I own nothing.
All I want (is you)
you feeling powerful just sitting around?
well, there's never been a better time to start
Wallace likens situations in his life to the sea, probably something that was influenced if not directly caused by growing up in such an isolated port city. When things are going smoothly and it all seems easy, the ocean is calm and bright blue, much like how Sootopolis is in summer time (besides those freak storms they'd sometimes get). But when things go downhill, the water would suddenly become angry and dark, the waves would be huge and if he got too close then they would pull him under and swallow him whole.
And then sometimes life would just be in between, there would be small waves but they weren't dangerous and nothing he couldn't handle. That's how things were most of the time because very rarely did days go so perfectly that the sea would be completely still. It was okay though because what would life be without a little drama? But right now is one of those rare times where things are going well and in front of him, the ocean is quiet enough that it is reflecting all sorts of orange and red hues from the setting sun. His pokemon are swimming around, creating the only movement in the water and he is absolutely content.
As content as one could be alone anyway - he's waiting for Steven who is uncharacteristically running late. Not that he really minds, it just means that he gets to spend more time down here. So taking advantage of this, he places his shoeless feet out in front of him and closes his eyes, scrunching up the sand between his toes and fingers before letting it run through and fall away. Usually he wouldn't be caught dead without shoes, they completed his fabulous outfits after all, but being around the ocean was the exception to his usually fashion-conscious self. You couldn't not be barefooted on the beach, it just wasn't right.
"Wallace," There's a warm weight on his hand and opens his eyes again, finding Steven has finally decided to rock up and has taken a seat next to him. "I'm sorry, I know I'm late but I got caught up with work and couldn't get out the office."
He smiles and locks his fingers around the others. "How unlike you. What's happened to the Steven who is always on top of work? Where has he gone?"
"As far as I know, he's still around. He just had a lot to do is all."
"Right." He closes his eyes again, taking a minute to appreciate the moment. It's been a while since he's last spent time with Steven alone like this and it's well overdue. He shifts slightly so his head is resting on his shoulder.
"I've missed you."
"I know, I've missed you too." His smile gets wider as he speaks and the ocean calmer. Who would have thought that after years of friendship, they would end up together? He'd always sort of liked Steven, but it had come as a complete surprise when Steven made the first move and it wasn't him doing it. It wasn't subtle either; he'd kissed him in front of hundreds of cameras at a nationally televised League tournament. Wallace had liked that; past instances had proved that he wasn't the subtlest either.
"I can't do it anymore, Wallace." It's said so quickly and quietly that he's not sure anything is said at all and he does an internal double take.
"Pardon?"
"Sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned it."
"No, tell me."
He stays quiet for a moment after that, eyes locked on the ocean in front of them. The waves are bigger now and are crashing inches away from their feet. The wind has picked up too, making Wallace shiver underneath his jacket.
Eventually he looks back to Wallace and suddenly seems a lot more tired than before. "The media are so hypocritical. They go on about me being the great Mister Stone's son who's been expected to do all these huge things since before I could even walk, but then in the next sentence they'll say how I used that to my advantage and didn't work to get here," He drops his eyes to the ground. "But I can deal with that, I'm used to it, it's just the rest I can't do anymore. I sit in that stupid office all day long, doing absolutely nothing when I could be out there helping or at least doing something."
"Steven..."
"It's true though, the Champion position is portrayed as this fantastic job, but in actuality it sucks. You know, I would have intervened way earlier in the Groudon and Kyogre incident, but because it took so long for news to filter up through all the stupid levels to reach my room by the time I actually found out, it was essentially too late."
"You did help."
"Hardly," He screws up his face in distaste. "I should have been there to sort out the whole thing, it's kind of my obligation to considering I'm supposedly the best trainer. It was really irresponsible of the League to leave it to a kid, they could have gotten in a lot of trouble for that." He places his forehead in his palms and starts to shake his head before Wallace grabs his wrist and pulls it away, linking their hands again.
"You're at the top of the League, everyone expects you to be kind of busy."
"Don't give me that bullshit, Wallace," He grips his hand tighter on his name, but it's out of frustration more than anything. "I'm not at the top of the League."
"You're the Champion, of course you are."
He sighs, shoulders slumping. "You know how I said that the position sucks before?" He waits for Wallace to nod before continuing. "Well, I wasn't lying. The truth of it is that I don't have any power at all. I'm stuck in that room filling in forms and looking after the gyms, but that's all there is. I don't get a say in the important decisions, that's left to the suits higher up because like everything else in the world, it's a business." He sneers at the word and if Wallace wasn't currently dealing with a breakdown, he would have smirked at this passive-aggressiveness towards the Devon corporation.
But enough digressing, he is currently dealing with a breakdown and holy shit; this is a bombshell and a half. Has he been naive in thinking that his friend was the one that controlled it all? What was more concerning though was the state that Steven is in. He has not seen him like this since they were younger and he had been expected to inherit Devon, but even then that had just been Steven digging his heels in and being a stubborn thirteen year old. This, this is a complete anxious I-am-not-going-to-be-well-if-I-continue-this breakdown and in truth, it's kind of disturbing. Not in a scary sort of way, but disturbing in that they had been together for over a year now and he'd never even realised he felt like this.
"I'm the face of the Hoenn League, Wallace, nothing more."
The ocean is angry now, the dark is water crashing against the rocks and he feels like he'll get dragged down and never seen again if he gets any closer than where they are sitting. He doesn't know what to say, he's had no experience dealing with a situation like this. So he swallows hard, trying to find the right words and comes out with a rather insensitive, "So what are you going to do?"
It takes him a long time to answer and when he does, it's even quieter than when he'd first brought it up. "Resign."
"You can't just do that, Steven. What will the League do? Who'll take the position?"
"You," The waves rise up several feet and break just before hitting them. He contemplates moving back slightly, but knows that if they do, the water will only follow them. Steven turns to him, his hair and suit fully dishevelled and asking him out of extremely obvious one-hundred percent desperation. "Please."
He doesn't want it. Five minutes ago he would have, but not after hearing all that. He wants Steven though (that outweighed everything else) and you know, things don't last forever. Who knew when the next child prodigy would come along and de-throne him? It could be tomorrow for all he knew and if he looks at it like that, then it's okay.
So he leans his head on Steven's shoulder once more and they sit together quietly, watching the waves settle back down till they're almost completely still.
Thanks for reading!
-Mya
