A/N: So I fell into this ship real fast. Like didn't even realize til it was too late. I figured ok, let's just go all the way in and write fanfiction. I was going to do something a little more true to the main storyline but then I kept seeing people like "omg domestic fluff" "dumb dads au" and was like eh... and when I went to a plot generator it was also like 'yeah you gotta do the dad thing' so I did the thing. I also wrote this between the hours of 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. even though I had work this morning. So enough of my rambling. I apologize for any OOCness, this is an AU though. Also, I don't know 100% of where this story is going so bear with me if the warnings change!

Chapter one is so nsfw at the end, btw.

Chapter 1: In which Mt. Chimney isn't the only hot thing around here

Maxie loved his daughter very much; he wanted only the best for her but detested that that meant attending school functions. Even though it was on a volunteer basis, meaning it was his choice, the thought of being around the other parents, especially the single mothers, was jarring on his nerves. Yet, with only a slight grumble, he participated out of devotion to his dear May.

"At least this fieldtrip will be an enjoyable one, compared to the Lilycove beach fiasco," he muttered as he walked with the young girl to her school.

May giggled, remembering her poor father suffering through intense sunburns and uncomfortable sand. Sure, it had put him in a mood for a few weeks, but it was still funny.

"But you did learn a lesson papa, you require SPF 250, at least," she grinned up at him.

"I do not understand where you've picked up this smartassery," he patted her head affectionately, a small smile on his face.

"May!" a young boy's voice called out from the school's parking lot.

The young girl waved her arms emphatically towards him, "Brendan!" and ran over to him.

The two talked to each other excitedly. Maxie had never seen the boy before but was not surprised his daughter would be one to quickly befriend anyone new. He nearly jumped when a sudden, gruff laughter erupted behind him.

"Is that yer girlfriend you've been rattlin' on about Brendan?"

Maxie looked back to see a large, muscular man walk up beside him, watching the two kids. He was dark skinned with a rather impressive beard donning his face. It was almost enough to keep attention from the odd 'x' shape on his face, similar to that of a Sharpedo.

"Dad! She's not my girlfriend!" young Brendan exclaimed, his face turning red.

"Yeah, sure bud! Whatever you say!" the other man laughed and looked over to Maxie, "That yer girl over there?"

Maxie blinked a few times, distracted by the man as a whole, "Oh, yes. I'm May's father, Maxie."

He stuck his hand out as a greeting towards the other man and regretted it when the larger, tanned hand grasped his smaller, pale hand.

"Th' names Archie! Good ta meet ya! Guess yer my chaperone partner, eh?"

The red head rubbed his now sore hand and nodded, "Yes, so it seems."

Archie grinned at him and Maxie felt his stomach flutter like a whirlwind of Vivillon had taken flight. This man was very attractive.

It had been quite some time since Maxie had been in a relationship. Before May had come into his life, he spent most of his time doing research and holed up either at home or in an office. Finding May that one fateful day had changed nearly everything except that he was still single. Not that he had ever minded, taking up with someone seemed troublesome and raising a daughter was enough on his plate. So he had ignored the advances of other single parents, content to keep his family the way it was. That was why he felt so lost when this man, who he'd known for approximately 30 seconds, had all but stolen his breath.

He turned away the moment he felt his cheeks warm up. Another downside to being so pale, besides the ease of being sunburnt, was how easily embarrassment showed on his face.

"I, uh, am going to speak with Mrs. Pine," he muttered, walking away from Archie.

Hopefully a little bit of separation would calm him. This had to be some weird, adverse reaction to seeing someone new. Sure, it had never happened before, but there was a first time for everything. This was nothing to do with how attractive Archie was, that would be foolish. Maxie just didn't react like that.

It wasn't hard to keep his attention on other things. The rest of the students began to show up and Mrs. Pine, the homeroom teacher, was rushing to get everyone ready and loaded on the busses so this field trip could start. Maxie helped usher students on to bus and make sure the other parents had copies of itineraries and contacts of the hotel the group would be staying at during their visit to Mt. Chimney. Once the parents left, it dawned on Maxie that the only other chaperone, besides Mrs. Pine and himself, would be Archie.

But that was no big deal, Maxie thought to himself, they would be busy taking care of a handful of children. Certainly not enough time to stare at the other man and admire his very attractive features like his well built arms and chest or his-

"Dad? How did your face get so sunburned all of a sudden?"

Shit! Maxie shook his head, trying to will the redness out of his face.

"What? No, I'm fine! Why aren't you on the bus, May?"

"I'm waiting for Brendan, he's my buddy for this trip."

As if on cue, Brendan and his father came bumbling forward.

"Everyone ready?" Archie said excitedly, grinning at the kids and Maxie.

They ushered their children onto the bus and followed after them. And because fate seemed to be mocking Maxie, the two grown men took the last seat on the bus, together.

"Guess we'll really get to know each other for the next two hours, eh Maxie?" Archie chuckled, nudging the red head.

"Indeed," Maxie swallowed, sending a prayer to Arceus that this would not end poorly.

It did not, as luck would have it. In fact, into the first hour, the two managed to carry a fairly pleasant conversation. Mostly about their children, of course.

"So where did you move from?"

"Lilycove! It was hard to leave the beach side, but Mauville has better job opportunities and I figured it'd be better for Brendan."

Though he didn't see a ring on Archie's finger, Maxie had to ask; "How did your wife feel the same?"

Archie let out a loud laugh, "Don't have a wife to state her opinion! Just me an' Brendan livin' it up, bachelor style."

Maxie nodded, but felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he felt even more at ease around Archie.

"What about you, Max? You got a missus around?"

Maxie pushed up his glasses, smiling faintly, "Oh no. I suppose I'm more married to research than anything else."

"But you still make time to take part in yer girl's school stuff? That's admirable."

He chuckled, "May thinks it's more me being overprotective, unfortunately."

Glancing back, he spotted May and Brendan near the back, flipping through a book about Pokemon, still talking as animatedly as they had been earlier that morning.

"She seems to have taken a real liking to Brendan," he commented.

"Heh, Brendan's the same. She was apparently the first one to show him around when he got her and he's stuck around her ever since."

Maxie smiled fondly; he regretted many things in his life, but not taking in May and raising her as his own. She taught him new things every day and he was constantly astounded by her generosity and attitude. He sighed contentedly and leaned back in the seat, eyes closing.

He hadn't meant to fall asleep, he especially hadn't meant to fall asleep on the man he had been sitting next to. But that was how he awoke, an hour later, with a crick in his neck and his head on Archie's shoulder. Color drained from his face and he shot up, mortified by his actions.

"I am so sorry," he said quickly, looking to Archie who looked more amused than annoyed.

"Haha, don't be that way, Maxie! I ain't gonna get mad at a man for being tired. Not like yer head had much room on these forsaken, tiny bus seats."

Even with Archie's forgiving and jovial attitude, Maxie still felt embarrassed by his stunt. How obvious was he going to be that he was completely attracted to him? Still, he tried to shrug it off, somehow.

Clearing his throat he looked out the windows. The sky had grown darker and in the distance, the familiar gray haze signified they were close to approaching Mt. Chimney. Thank Arceus.

Between Mrs. Pine, Archie and himself, they managed to wrangle the two busses worth of kids into the lodge they would all be staying at for the weekend. Rooms were assigned and everyone was instructed to go unpack their things and rest for an hour before they would reconvene in the lobby.

"Alright boys," Mrs. Pine said sweetly to Archie and Maxie, "You two will be taking care of the boy's floor and I'll handle the girl's. You're in room 202!"

She handed them a single room key and dread filled Maxie. They would be sharing a room. Just the two of them. Of course. It hadn't dawned on him that this would happen. But why wouldn't it? It wouldn't make sense for the school to pay for another room when they could just pair them up.

He considered asking how much he would need to pay in order to get his own room but the plump, older woman was already making her way to the first floor of rooms. Nervously, he followed Archie up to their room.

"Ah man, this is nice!" Archie proclaimed as they walked in.

Maxie breathed in a sigh of relief when he noticed two beds. He had almost expected just one with the way things had been going already.

Without asking, Archie took claim of one of the beds by flopping down, causing the springs to groan in protest.

"Careful, you'll break the bed flopping around like that."

"Heh, I've only broken one bed and it was from way more movement than that," Archie said, winking towards Maxie.

Sweet Arceus, Maxie could have sworn he felt his knees go weak at that comment. And the images that flashed through his head were beyond X-rated. He had to have a seat.

Two nights would now seem like an eternity that Maxie wasn't sure he could survive.

Archie, meanwhile, seemed to either not notice or completely ignore the reaction he'd had on the red head. Instead, he got up and looked at the view.

"Despite all the gray and falling ash, this place is pretty nice. The kids'll have a blast here, I'm sure."

"Ah, yes," Maxie managed, still recovering, "it will be extremely educational."

"Heh, I was picturing more of the kids rolling around in the ash and gettin' into a mess 'o trouble."

"Why am I not surprised?" Maxie mused, smiling slightly before standing up smoothing his shirt, "I suppose it's time to get them down into the lobby so they can start today's activities."

Archie nodded and followed him down the hall as they gathered the boys and led them down. They lobby was filled with tables and sack lunches and the kids excitedly filled the chairs, ready to eat their food. Mrs. Pine clapped her hands a few times to quiet everyone down so she could speak.

"Alright everyone, after you eat, we'll be visited by Ranger Thompson who will tell you all the rules about Mt. Chimney and what we'll be doing tomorrow when we have our tour. Then, May's father, Mr. Matsubusa, is going to teach us about volcanoes and the geology around them! You'll use this information to complete your work sheets during your walks tomorrow, so be sure to pay attention!"

Archie glanced at Maxie, a sly smile on his face, "Oh, so Mr. Matsubusa is going to be our teacher this weekend, eh?"

"Well, I, uh, I am a geologist so Mrs. Pine figured I could help the children understand what they're looking at tomorrow."

"Oh, a scientist. How alluring," Maxie swore Archie practically purred at the last part. He felt his cheeks heating up again.

How was it this man had such an effect on him?

The kids finished eating and listened patiently through both the Ranger's instructions and Maxie's lecture. Maxie had been sure to run the lecture by May, not wanting to bore her friends and classmates while actually still teaching them something. And while he so not trying to notice, he could almost feel Archie's eyes watching him with interest. After gathering up the samples he'd passed around for the kids, he let Mrs. Pine take back over. He sat next to Archie trying to ignore him as he resorted his rock samples, but he swore the other man moved closer to him.

"So should I be referring to you as Dr. Matsubusa or am I worthy enough to still call you Maxie?"

"I have a feeling you'd call me whatever you wanted to, despite my preference."

"Well," Archie cocked his head to the side, smirking at the red head, "I am pretty good at doing and getting what I want."

Maxie looked up at him, their eyes meeting in almost a challenge. Something warm filled his stomach and he felt a rare bout of confidence take over. He leaned closer to the other man,

"Oh really?" he inquired, "And what exactly do you w-"

"Hey dad! Can I see the uhm, what was the lava rock called again?"

Nothing ruined the moment quicker than a child. He pulled back, and looked towards May, both grateful and annoyed by her interruption.

"You mean the igneous volcanic rock, dear?"

"Yes! Can I see it again?"

"What for?"

"Would you believe me if I just said 'for science'?"

"Not at all."

"Drat," she muttered and ran back over to Brendan and a couple of other kids.

Maxie shook his head as he watched her go off. Strange child. He stood and gathered his materials.

"I'm going to head back to the room and put these up. Think you can keep an eye on this crowd without allowing any trouble to commence?"

"No promises," Archie said, bemused.

"I've only known you for a few hours and yet I'm not surprised."

The rest of the evening was uneventful. The kids played around the lodge, many wandering outside to get covered in ash, much to Mrs. Pine's dismay, and by dinner, became low energy. They ashen covered children were ushered to the lodge's bathhouse for quick baths and then up to bed. Once everyone was in their rooms, the adults were free to do as they please. Mrs. Pine bid the two single fathers a good night, clearly worn out by the day and left the two men alone.

"Shame this place doesn't have a bar," Archie remarked, "I could definitely use a drink after corralling those kids!"

Maxie chuckled, sitting on one of the lobby's couches, "If you think this was bad, just wait until tomorrow when they're given even more free range. You'll question your sanity behind volunteering."

Archie flopped next to him, causing the couch to bounce the red head up slightly.

"And you go on every single one of these trips?"

Maxie nodded, "For the most part. I think next year I'll officially resign from any further beach trips, though. I'm sure I'll end up with skin cancer if I try to spend another day at the beach."

Archie laughed, "Yeah you seem the type to turn more red than tanned with too much sun."

Something about Archie's laugh was so comforting. Usually such a loud, barking sound would grate Maxie's nerves, yet each time he'd heard it today, it made him feel at ease. There was no doubt that there was something special about Archie, but it was unsettling how fast it was affecting Maxie. Perhaps he had been so lonely without someone that it caused this little crush to hit him hard. But he wasn't sure what to do from here. Acting on it seemed foolish and careless, not to mention ill timed considering they were on a school field trip as guardians. This wasn't some lovers retreat and it would be inappropriate to do anything anyway.

Still...

He glanced at Archie who prattling on about something or another. The man was gorgeous, totally his type. It was almost forgivable that he was feeling this way, right?

"So, should we head on up?"

Maxie blinked, escaping his thoughts and trying to register what Archie had just said to him.

"Head on up?" he asked, sounding almost dazed.

"Up to bed! We've got a long day tomorrow, eh?"

"Oh! Yes, yes of course. We'll have to be up by at least 7 a.m. sharp!"

Archie grimaced, "Ugh, so early? What's wrong with doing a midday hike instead of a early one? For Arceaus' sake," he muttered unpleasantly.

"You know what they say, the early Pidgey catches the Wurmple. Besides, it will get far too warm in the middle of the day. We don't need the kids passing out from heat stroke inside a volcano."

"Fair point," Archie remarked, getting up from the couch.

He held his hand out to Maxie, who took it gingerly, praying he wouldn't have a crunched hand again. Surprisingly, Archie was gentle this time and pulled the other man up with little effort. Then again, Maxie probably weighed nothing compared to Archie. He followed the dark haired man up to their room, exhaustion finally settling in.

What should have happened, was Maxie falling into bed, falling asleep instantly. What actually happened was him staring at Archie as the other man stripped his clothes off without any regards.

"Hope ya don't mind, I prefer sleepin' in the nude. It just so warm around here!"

Those abs, those legs, that ass! Maxie was certain he'd pass out, had it not been for the rush of panic he felt when his blood started flowing down between his legs.

"I'm just going to ah, shower and change then go to bed. Goodnight!" he said frantically as he disappeared into the bathroom, heart racing in his chest.

How utterly humiliating this situation was. He wasn't even sure cold water would fix this situation. But what would was so inappropriate! So wrong! And so very dangerous. What if Archie heard him? What if he had seen the problem he had caused and knew what he was having to do?

The erection between his legs throbbed painfully. Thinking about Archie was not helping matters, just making them agonizingly worse.

Quickly, he turned the shower on and stripped. He would take care of this hastily and quietly, he thought as he stepped into the warm water. Tentatively, he reached down, grasping the aching member. How long had it been since someone had turned him on like this? He closed his eyes and could only see Archie, in all his glory from moments ago. The way his dark skin looked so smooth and yet rough, and his body was so tight and built. Maxie could just imagine how good it would feel to run his hands along those hard abs. He stroked himself and had to bite down on his knuckles, keeping back his moans. He stroked faster as his mind's eye moved down Archie's body. He had seen it, he had seen where the dark trail of hair led to from Archie's belly button down to his groin. He gasped as his cock ached from the image and the thought of how good it would feel to-

"You ok in there, Maxie? Thought I heard ya gasp."

Fuck.

"Y-Yeah," he managed pathetically, "just almost slipped, I'm fine."

That was probably believable. Or he prayed it would be.

"Alright, be careful then."

"S-Sure!"

He leaned against the wall of the shower, his heart was thumping violently against his chest. He needed to finish this now, but could he do it without any other sounds?

His cock twitched; he'd have to try, regardless.

Closing his eyes, he tried again. One hand on his dick, the other in between his teeth. The water was turning cold, which he could only hope would assist him. He stroked himself, thoughts back onto the handsome, gruff man outside the bathroom. To his well built body, his rugged yet gentle face. His back and shoulders tensed and with a few more strokes, he came. Relieved and ashamed of himself.

"Sweet Arceus," he muttered as he washed up, "I'm like an overly hormonal teenager."

The water became cold and he finished cleaning himself. When he was finally dry and changed, he walked back out to the room and was grateful to find Archie sound asleep in his bed. At least there were some small miracles.

Shutting off the lights, Maxie crawled into his bed, setting his glasses on the side table and made sure he was turned the other way. He would not chance another issue by staring at the other man. Luckily, he fell asleep almost instantly.