"Can we have sex?"

The blunt question came out of nowhere, causing Brendan to choke on the Soda Pop in his hand. May patted him on the back in a half-hearted attempt to help, her lips pulled back from her teeth in a grimace, as he doubled over on the cushions of the sofa, hacking. It was a moment before he recovered, slowly straightening up and, with good judgement, placing the half-empty glass bottle on the coffee table in front of him.

"Well," he reasoned, sounding far more calm than he felt, "you can't just 'have sex'. You need to, you know, set the mood somehow. Besides, we're not even dating or anything."

"If there's anything I've learned from Contest experience, it's how to set a mood."

"You've only been in one Contest. Also, you didn't even win," he pointed out. He didn't bother adding that she had ignored the second reason entirely.

"I got second place!"

"Loser." His lips curled into a smirk as he watched her arms cross indignantly over her chest.

"Am not!"

"Are, too."

"Am not!" With that interjection, May pounced on the unsuspecting young man, knocking him down onto the sofa to sit over him with her hands on either side of his shoulders. Her face split into a wide grin at his widened eyes. She ducked down to deliver a swift kiss, giggling against his mouth. Just as she was about to pull away to admire her handiwork of his no doubt flushed face, Brendan stopped her from doing so with a hand snaked through her hair, returning the kiss with no less alacrity. He smiled into her, letting his tongue swipe across her bottom lip to have her give a little gasp that provided the perfect opportunity to sneak into her mouth. She could tell what flavour the Soda Pop was without having asked. Cherry Cola.

Her favourite.

Her hands found a comfortable place bunching up the dark fabric of the shirt over his chest; his settled on her waist. They stayed like that, revelling in the simple elation, until Brendan moved to sit up, at an even height with May. She shifted to wrap her legs around his waist, crossing her feet behind his back, and slid her hands up to interlace her fingers behind his neck. She was so lost in the pleasure of kissing him (kissing Brendan, and he was kissing back), she didn't even notice when his hands moved to support the curve of her bottom and he stood with her still wrapped around him, walking carefully around various pieces of furniture to make his way to the room where a bed waited, far more comfortable and suited to the purpose they were clearly going to have.

"I thought we weren't 'even dating'," May said against his lips, her expression as amused as she could manage with their faces pressed together and her eyes closed.

"I'm willing overlook that," Brendan returned, parting from her to rest his forehead on hers, grey eyes opening to meet grey eyes. A tacit challenge seemed to be issued between the two friends with the same spark present before their friendly Pokemon spars. It was only a moment before their mouths found each other's again, so by the time they nearly collapsed onto his bed together, it felt as though they'd compensated for the past twenty platonic, kiss-free years of their lives. Well, except for that time in the third grade. But that paled in comparison.

Brendan was content to let May take the lead, straddling his lap but sitting up to remove her headband. She yanked up her camisole and tossed it over somewhere to the side, to be neglected until necessary (hopefully that would not be so for some time), but at the barely concealed lust in Brendan's eyes and the digging of his fingertips into her hips, she decided to tease the poor man. She pulled up the black undershirt so tantalisingly slowly, he almost started drooling. She trailed her fingers over her shoulder, pulling down a wide strap to expose another, belonging no doubt to one of her many sports bras ("Way more comfortable," she would always contend whenever someone had the gall to ask about her preference).

He couldn't figure out why, but the thought of her wearing a sports bra instead of a regular one turned him on for some reason. Something about being slick with sweat, or being hot, or something like that. Everything just made her that much more attractive in his eyes.

Arceus, how he loved this woman.

She finally removed the offending article of clothing, leaving her topless except for the expanse of stretch fabric taut over her chest. A wolfish grin found its way onto her lips as she leaned in to hold him by the collar of his shirt.

"Why don't we...level the playing field?" she suggested, stopping just before meeting his lips yet again. Brendan could feel her hands drift down to the bottom hem of his t-shirt, cheekily reaching just a bit further to brush against the growing bulge in his pants with the side of her thumb. Any possibility of the action being an accident was discarded as she threw him a wink. She efficiently stripped him of his top, flinging it off to the side to join her own on the carpet below.

"So, any way you wanna go about this?" May met Brendan's eyes under heavy lids, letting a finger trace circles on his bare chest absentmindedly. Those big silvery pools were doing things for him. She leaned over to press kisses along his clavicle, far more sweetly than their earlier heated make-out session.

"I was kind of thinking we could just play it by ear, you know?"

"Sounds great," she murmured into the dip of his collarbone, tickling his skin with her cool breath. He felt things were going a bit slow, so he decided to turn the tables on her. Without warning, he had flipped her over onto her back, now under him.

"Dom, huh? Kinky." He met her smirk with one of his own and dove in to smother her with kisses all over her face, passing her jaw to find terra incognita along her neck and throat. His kisses were greedy, devouring every inch of her skin with a fervent hunger. She'd never seen him like this before. His mouth made a return trip to hers, biting down on her lower lip. With a brief intake of breath, May had let his tongue re-enter to skate along her teeth.

The soft moans she let out made making out with his friend-turned-rival even more worthwhile. When he felt her fingers tugging at the waist of his pants, he knew he couldn't resist. A gentleman always finishes the job.

"So, does this mean I'm out of the friend zone yet?" The two laid spent and tangled in messy sheets, May cradled in the curve of his torso and his arms wrapped loosely around her waist.

"I was thinking of more of a 'friends with benefits' relationship." At her response, Brendan smacked a pillow over her face playfully. She swatted it away, chuckling, and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"Not that I would mind, though."

A/N: I'm not saying I would mind, either. I mean, with Brendan. I have been in love with him ever since I laid eyes on his ORAS design. And his in-game expressions SQUEAL I CAN'T EVEN PICK A FAVOURITE Speaking of ORAS, I'm posting this one first in honour of these boss remakes of my childhood.

Also, Brendan, you kind of proved yourself wrong right there.

Lastly, lots of gratitude for Green Day for bringing this to you.