Title: Front Page News!
Summary: Calem could scarcely believe it. The front cover of the Kalos newspaper said; "Has the Most Handsome Professor Bachelor in the Pokemon World Finally Decided to Settle Down with the Pokemon Champion?" …Who was doing what now…?
Pairings: Sycamore/Calem
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Don't own anything
AN: I just realised that even though I have written several Sycamore/Calem fics, I have never written one in Calem's POV. No idea why. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy reading!
When Calem first became Pokemon Champion of Kalos, he had received many a congratulations from people he knew or from those he had passed by in the street. A year has passed since then and, thankfully, the celebrations had stopped. No one was making a fuss of him being the Pokemon Champion anymore and that suited Calem just fine. He didn't like being made a fuss of and he certainly didn't like his privacy invaded by the somewhat nosy media.
He still won't apologise for Lapras using surf to get rid of that female journalist who thought she could get a good story by climbing in through his bedroom window.
Things had settled down since then and he was more than content with travelling around Kalos and helping out Augustine, er, rather Professor Sycamore as he referred to him in public, with his research.
So he was a little more than confused when he received a vigorous 'congratulations!' from a random woman in the street. He grew even more baffled when the more he walked, the more the polite 'congrats' turned into joyous squealing, flirtatious wiggling of the eyebrows and scowls of utter envy from everyone he passed by. He was also being asked "Have you set a date yet?" and "Can I see the ring?"
Had he set a date for what? And why were they suddenly interested in what kind of rings he had on his fingers?
Unable to answer those questions with any kind of reasonable response, Calem smiled awkwardly and excused himself by hurrying away. But no matter how fast he walked or where he went, someone would try to corner him, starting a conversation with "Heard the news! Congrats!"
Desperately ducking into a coffee cafe (he wasn't sure which one), Calem took a moment to catch his breath and try to mentally figure out just what in the world was going on. The sound of a barely supressed squeal made him wince. Thankfully, though, he knew the owner of that 'squee'.
It wasn't hard for him to spy Serena and Shauna sitting together at the table. It wasn't unusual to see the two together, having drink and simply chatting. But what was rather surprising was that the two were huddled over the table, an actual newspaper spread out between them and they were talking in tones that were both rather hushed but loud enough for him to eavesdrop.
"Do you think he knows?" Shauna asked with an excited jitter.
"I doubt it," Serena answered. "He doesn't pay attention to newspapers."
"I wonder why Calem hasn't said anything," Shauna mused.
"I'm sure he has his reasons."
"Are you going to tell him?"
"I'm waiting for the perfect moment."
"You have to tell him."
"I will..."
They were obviously talking about him. Hopefully they could shed some light on why he was receiving so many different forms of congratulations from people he barely knew.
"I can hear you whispering over there," Calem said as he walked directly over to them and stood by their table. "What do you need to tell me?"
Immediately the two girls stiffen in surprise and whipped their heads up to look at him. They first looked shocked to see him, but soon turned sheepish at being caught. They shared a skittish look, clearly not ready to tell him what they were planning to tell him just yet.
"Ah, well, y-you see..." Shauna stuttered.
Serena, on the other hand, gave him a rather sympathetic look. "Have you read the paper this morning?" she asked him.
Calem arched a puzzled eyebrow. "No, I haven't. Why?"
"Here," Serena said as she leaned back in her seat and, surprisingly, folded up the paper. She then picked it up and gave it to him. "I think you'll be interested by the front cover."
"Front cover?" Calem murmured in question as he took the paper being offered and flicked it open so it could look at the very front. There, splashed over the front cover, in the boldest and largest text possible were the words;
Has the Most Handsome Professor Bachelor in the Pokémon World Finally Decided to Settle Down with the Pokémon Champion?
Bachelor...? Settling down...? What...?
"W-what is this?" Calem spluttered, not truly believing what he was reading. Did he read it right?
"It seems that you and Professor Sycamore are in a relationship," Serena helpfully pointed out.
"And are getting married!" Shauna added with a squeal of excitement. "So, is it true?"
"Who reported this?!" Calem shrilled, looking for the…the…idiot's name! It was probably the same one who tried to break into his house!
Once again, Serena was immensely supportive. "There's more inside."
Calem grew pale. "More?" he murmured with a sense of dread. But despite that dread, he opened the paper with trembling hands. He immediately regretted it.
There were numerous pictures of the coffee break that he and Sycamore shared late yesterday afternoon. It had been a completely innocent, ah, date, but somehow Sycamore got down on one knee in front of Calem and placed his hands on top of Calem's hands that were folded in his lap. To be completely honest, Calem didn't remember when Sycamore got up out of his seat and knelt in front of him…
"I like this one the best," Shauna commented as she pointed to the third picture of the two page spread. A picture that consisted of Calem smiling (er, tearfully…) at Sycamore as he knelt before him, his hands still gently cradling his. "You look so pretty here."
Calem could kinda understand why some innocent passer-by (romantic fool) might mistake that as a proposal, but in reality Sycamore was simply offering him comfort. Calem had always been a rather self-conscious person. And he was wondering whether he should continue being the Pokemon Champion. He just wasn't comfortable with that title. It's been a year, true, but still…
"He was...that was..." Calem murmured as he hands tighten around the paper, wrinkling it immensely. "He wasn't asking me to marry him!"
"So you're not getting married?" Shauna asked him as she pressed a finger to her cheek.
"No!" Calem unintentionally shrilled as he scrunched up the paper in a frazzled manner. "Do you see an engagement ring anywhere?"
Shauna looked immensely disappointed. "Aw..."
Serena continued to look sympathetic as she wrangled the paper away from him, smoothing it out and folding it up as if to read later. Or something. "So, what are you going to do?" she asked him.
That was a very, very good question. Actually, the real question was more of what COULD he do? The media and the general public were obviously adamant that Sycamore has asked Calem to marry him in that café yesterday. And the truth wasn't nearly as romantic.
They were probably already planning the wedding…
He had to get to Sycamore and work out what they were going to do before any of the gym leaders or Elite Four appeared to demand for answers.
"I gotta go!" Calem spluttered to the two girls before spinning on his heel and running out of the café at full speed.
He wasn't jogging, he wasn't walking briskly - he was running as if his life depended on it. He didn't even want to think about what Diantha would do to him when she got her hands on him. She adored her dearest Augustine, after all…
Reaching Sycamore's laboratory in record time, Calem ignored the secretary as he skidded into the elevator and all but punched the button to reach Sycamore's personal floor. As the elevator moved slower than it had ever done before, it allowed Calem time to gather himself. Mostly, though, he felt incredibly bewildered. And Annoyed!
His (love) life was not front page news!
"Augustine!" Calem called out as he rushed out of the elevator.
"I'm, ah, a little busy right now Calem!" Sycamore shouted back.
Walking into Sycamore's office, it did little to ease Calem's own nerves when he saw Sycamore looking flustered and frazzled himself. He had his phone pressed against his right ear, running his left hand through his hair in a harried manner. He was also pacing around in circles, doing laps around his desk.
"Yes, yes, Grace, I can hear you loud and clear," Sycamore said into the phone. "I don't know what to tell you. Yes, I understand. No, that won't happen. Can I just-? Let me explain. Really, I don't-Can I at least speak-?"
"Are you...talking to my mother?" Calem questioned softly, even though he already knew the answer to that.
That meant...she had read the paper, too.
"S-sorry, there appears to be some kind of malfunction!" Sycamore suddenly shouted into the phone as if he was having trouble hearing. "I'll talk to you later!"
Calem winced as Sycamore pulled the phone away and desperately pressed the end call button. His mother wasn't going to like being hunt up on, but really, Calem didn't blame him one little bit.
"I've been getting phone calls all morning," Sycamore said as he dragged his feet toward his chair and sat down, his posture slumping immediately.
Calem understood his fatigue. He had been getting congratulations and smug little winks.
"What did mum have to say?" Calem asked, dreading the answer.
Sycamore gave a half-laugh. "What didn't she have to say?" he retorted as he touched his forehead.
Calem's phone suddenly began to ring in his pocket, causing a sense of dread to wash over him. He visibly winced when he pulled it out to look at the number. Yeah, his mother was calling him.
"I'll, ah, ignore that for now," Calem said as he abruptly shoved the phone into his bag before removing his bag from his shoulder and throwing that onto the couch. "It's been malfunctioning."
Sycamore gave him a wary smile. "Your mother didn't seem shocked by the thought of the two of us romantically involved. She was more annoyed that I didn't get permission from her first."
…His mother had always been a rather odd person. At least he didn't have to worry about her reaction to him (secretly) dating Sycamore anymore. In fact, it seemed like he didn't have to worry about anyone's reaction.
Still, Calem couldn't help but feel some anger and annoyance. He knew that everyone meant well, but what right did they have to splash his private life across the front page like that? And without first doing some actual research to learn if it was true or not. More importantly, what right did they have to dictate where they were in their relationship?
The publisher probably thought it would be a great way to gain some publicity.
Sighing deeply, Calem walked further into Sycamore's office and perched himself on the edge of the desk, as close to Syca- no, as close to Augustine, as possible. A small, but sincere and appreciative smile appeared on Augustine's lips and he leaned forward in his seat. He then wrapped his arms around Calem and rested his head on his lap, permitting Calem to gently run his fingers through his hair.
Things were going to get rather hectic fairly soon. It was probably going to be a while before he and Augustine could simply enjoy time together, doing things like a normal couple without someone with a camera butting in on their privacy.
When Calem heard the buzzing of his phone again, he came to a personal (and probably quite rash) decision. They needed to…retreat for a while. Just the two of them. Alone. To simply be together in a relationship without anyone else's input, without anyone else watching them. That was what they needed. What they wanted.
"…Augustine?" Calem said as he lightly pulled on his hair, causing to loll his head to the side to look up at him. "Let's go. Some field research. Just the two of us. No one has to know. Maybe even another region. Who knows?"
At first, Augustine seemed confused, maybe even a little bit surprised. However, he soon understood. He knew what Calem meant. "…Sure, that would be fun," he said with a smile.
And Calem smiled back at him. "Yeah."
AN: Please leave a review!