A/N: Hi there! This is actually the first time I've written for this couple, even though I've come to really like them. I wrote this kinda fast and tried to reference space as many times as I could (which was probably too much) but oh well. I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for reading as always!
Rant over! Read on!
-Silvia
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or anything else.
Starlight
"Slow down!" Silver shouted, irritation creeping into his voice and strangling it like a vine around a tree.
The boy bounding ahead of him didn't listen. "Hey, Super Serious Gal!"
Silver's heart lurched. It's the running, he told himself. I hate running. By the time he caught up with Gold, they stood before the worn-down fence surrounding the Violet City orphanage.
Gold strode right up to the gates, but Silver hung back. To anyone else, it would look like he was just catching his breath. That is, if they didn't notice the tenseness in his shoulders.
"Hey!" Gold grinned at the kids who were playing outside. He'd been there before, and somehow, the reckless hatcher was oddly good with kids. "Can someone go get Crystal?"
Silver could hear a high-pitched, "Yeah!" in response and the scuttling of little feet. He edged closer to Gold, and when he was able to see over the fence, he witnessed a few of the children tugging Crystal out of the orphanage, clad in an apron and carrying a broom.
"Your boyfriend is here, Cryssy nee-chan!" squealed one girl.
Crystal made a noise of magnificent distaste. "Gold is not my boyfriend."
Something within Silver twinged with annoyance. That was always the way it was; Crys and Gold weren't dating—Gold wouldn't understand love it hit him over the head, the way he was then. And yet, that was always the assumption: that they were a couple. Silver wasn't ever considered an option, it seemed.
That's my fault. He was the one always going off on his own, after all.
Gold's strident voice shook Silver from his bitter daze. "Super Serious Gal!" Gold exclaimed. "We've come to kidnap you!"
Crystal rolled her eyes, but then her gaze snagged on Silver. Her eyes glowed with pleasant surprise. "Oh, Silver's here too!" Silver tried to detect any hints of aggravation in her voice, but he couldn't.
"Damn, I never get a smile like that." Gold was only fazed for a moment, though. "Well, we decided—"
"Gold decided," Silver corrected.
"—that you spend too much time cooped up here, so we're forcing you to have fun."
Crystal crossed her arms. "And it didn't occur to you that I come here when I'm not helping the professors because I like to?"
"Why would it?" Gold asked, smile approaching a sneer. "If you come play with us we'll help you out here sometime."
Silver blanched. He wanted to scream at Gold for offering that. He didn't know how to take care of kids, and Gold would end up complaining the whole time.
But before he could find a way to voice this, Crystal agreed. "Deal." She turned to the kids still flocked around her. "I'm leaving a little early today, but I'll be back tomorrow." This was met with a chorus of disappointed farewells.
Crystal addressed her fellow Johto dexholders: "There's a really good café down the street. I'm just going to finish up here and then I'll meet you there!"
Silver tried to give her a look that read, don't leave me alone with this idiot! but she had already sped away, and Gold had already latched onto Silver and was dragging him off.
Once they located the café, Gold ordered enough pastries to make Silver sick just looking at the spread, and they sat at a table near the window.
"You know," Gold said through a mouthful of some chocolate concoction, "you don't have to pretend to like black coffee to be macho."
Silver shrugged, taking a sip from his cup. "I like it this way. And don't you think you're going to spoil your appetite?" Silver glanced outside, where the sky had taken on a faint orange. "Doesn't your mother want you home for dinner?"
Gold considered this. "Probably. You and Crys should come too."
As if somehow summoned by her name, Crystal appeared in the café doorway. She ordered a vanilla drink, and when the barista called out her name, Gold shouted jovially, "Super Serious Gal!"
Crystal rolled her eyes once again as she sat down with the boys. After only a few minutes of idle chatter, she said, "You guys haven't really seen much of Violet City, have you? I want to show you something."
Gold gathered up his remaining pastries and stuffed them in his mouth as he and Silver followed Crystal outside. Silver found himself walking by Crys's side, as if her gravity had pulled him to her.
"This is Violet City park," Crys announced, as they left the road for a field of green grass dotted with trees. She kept going until they crested a hill beside a playground. "And this is what I wanted to show you."
"A hill?" Gold said, unimpressed. His mouth was still covered in powdered sugar.
Crystal shrugged. "Well, yeah. This place has the best view of the stars."
"If you say so." Gold plopped down in the grass. Crystal and Silver sat on either side of him.
"There aren't any stars."
Crystal sighed. "That's because the sun just went down, Gold." She pointed to where the sun's last rays were fading on the horizon. "Sorry to bore you. I just thought it'd be nice for the three of us to just hang out like this."
"It is!" Gold exclaimed, loud enough to make Silver and a few nearby Pidgeys jolt. What stunned the redhead more was Gold throwing his arms around Silver and Crys and tugging them close. "It's cool hanging out with my best pals. Like I said, we should all eat together after we see the stars." He glanced impatiently at the darkening sky. "But in the meantime…I'm gonna do parkour!" Just as suddenly as he'd hugged them, Gold leapt to his feet. Silver struggled with his balance for a moment and nearly bumped into Crystal. He sat straight up after that.
Crystal let out a snort of laughter as Gold sprang down the hillside and headed for the jungle gym.
"I knew giving him all that sugar was a bad idea," Silver said.
"He'll exhaust himself eventually." Silver tried not to notice when Crystal shifted, inadvertently ending up slightly closer to him. "Look," she said, pointing upwards, "the stars are coming out."
Slowly but surely, pinpricks of light were becoming visible above them, as if they were little white candles slowly being lit against a navy blue curtain.
"You know, I was a little surprised that you both came to see me today," Crystal said. "I mean, it was a good surprise. We should get together more often. If we can tolerate Gold, that is."
Silver avoided thinking about the way she said we by glancing down at Gold, who dangled from the monkey bars, silhouetted by the sun's vanishing glow. "Yeah, Gold and I are about as different as the sun and the moon."
"What does that make me, then?" Crystal asked curiously, tucking her knees up against her chest and leaning her chin on them.
"The stars," Silver answered without hesitation.
"All of them? That's quite a lot."
"Right. Then maybe just…that one." He pointed to the brightest star he could see.
"That's the North Star," Crystal told him. "Travelers use it for finding their way."
Silver thought that was quite fitting; Crystal was always constant, always guiding others.
He tore his eyes away from hers to look at a less brilliant blue, the sky above. It seemed that each time he looked back, there were more stars. It was a clear night, and Crystal was right when she'd said the hill was a good place for stargazing.
"Do you know where any constellations are?" Silver asked.
"Yeah." Crystal scooted closer to Silver and pointed to guide his eyes. She was right beside him, yet he couldn't shake the feeling she was really light-years away. "See that line of stars there? That's Ursa Major."
"The big dipper."
"Yup. See it now? Next to it, right there, is Ursa Minor. But between the two of them is the tail end of Draco, the dragon."
Silver had been listening to her so intently that he hadn't noticed Gold had stopped horsing around on the playground and was now standing over them.
"Are you nerds talking about space?"
"Space is cool," Crystal said without missing a beat. "Get on our wavelength."
Gold snickered. "Well, actually, I'm pretty sure I've got an old telescope at my house."
Instantly, Crystal's face lit up. "Really?"
"Yup. Actually, I was thinking about going home real quick to tell my mum you two are coming over for dinner. Plus, I wanted to grab my skateboard to do some tricks."
Of course, Silver thought, there's his true motive. All he said was "Sounds good," though.
Now Gold looked jittery with excitement, the way he always did when he got an idea. "Great! I'll do that right now!" He sped off without a backwards glance.
Crystal shook her head in dismay. "I cannot believe that boy sometimes." She turned back to Silver. "We should probably stay here, so he doesn't get lost looking for us."
"Yeah."
"Wouldn't it be nice if there was a meteor shower?" Crystal asked out of no where. "I've never seen one."
"Me neither." But he knew just what he would wish for if he saw a shooting star.
He wanted to say something else, but the wasn't sure what. Nothing seemed important enough. In truth, there were plenty of words on his mind, but he knew he would never have the fire to say them, especially not to Crystal. She was her own galaxy of thoughts and ideas and laughter. And he was a mere terrestrial being, earthbound and bagged down by so many things.
Once, Silver had been a satellite, circling round and round, doing the same things over and over for single purposes. But becoming a dexholder, meeting Crystal and Gold, had knocked him out of orbit.
Part of him could barely believe he was friends with them. He was so filled with dark matter, while they shined so marvelously, so effortlessly.
"Hey Crys, can I ask you something?" With every word Silver said, he felt like he was nearing a black hole, about to fall in with no escape.
"Sure," Crys replied. Her voice sounded almost too nonchalant, like she'd sensed the severity in Silver's tone and it made her nervous. Neither of them looked at each other, instead keeping their eyes locked onto the night sky.
"Do you like Gold?"
She let out a tentative laugh. "Of course. I mean, he's a moron, but he's still my friend—"
"Not like that."
Yes, Gold was a moron, but he was the one who was always so confident, always there. Silver had wondered for far too long what Crystal really thought about him. If she had somehow hopelessly fallen for him somewhere along the way.
"Oh." She paused. Her voice grew soft. "I don't. Not in that way."
Silver couldn't avoid from sneaking a glance at her. That wasn't the answer he'd expected.
"I mean, he doesn't really think about other people," she went on. "It just frustrates me—ugh, maybe I really am too serious."
"You're not," Silver said before he could stop himself.
"Well, either way, it's tiring being composed all the time." Silver hadn't completely noticed how close they were sitting until he felt Crystal rest her head on his shoulder. Barely breathing, he fit his head against hers.
"Hey Silver?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you like me?"
He was pretty sure he knew what she meant, but he still said, "Of course, you're my friend after all."
"No. Not like that." Her eyes remained glued to the stars. He could feel her heartbeat in her neck going faster and faster. It was almost funny the way things were. It was a quiet, clear, simple night, and yet both of their hearts were racing as they spoke fateful words.
Silver swallowed hard. "To the moon and back," he answered finally. He was so used to walking his own world, terrified of being lost in deep space, but he would do anything just to get to where she was.
"Really?" Her voice was incredulous, as if she couldn't believe how he felt. But the truth was, he couldn't possibly feel any differently.
Crystal lifted her head from his shoulder and at last met his eyes. He wondered what she would see in his gaze. If she saw right through every wall he'd ever built and looked right into his heart.
Though he was no longer looking at the stars, he could see them perfectly in her wide, light blue eyes.
"Really."
He knew it might be a mistake. She was a comet, burning bright, and she might just leave a crater in his heart. Yet, he could not help but be pulled towards her atmosphere. He had always been so enchanted by her—not just her looks, but her strength, her personality, her smile. He could hardly believe the sight before his own eyes: her leaning closer and closer. Silver closed his eyes.
"Hey! Silver! Crys!" The voice was coming from somewhere in the distance, but it was loud and unmistakably Gold's.
Silver's eyes opened. He and Crystal stared at each other, noses touching, before Crys erupted into giggles that Silver ended up catching after a few seconds. They were still mere inches apart, and he wasn't exactly sure what was so funny, but he couldn't stop his laughter. It was almost as if a dam had broken, and he found he didn't really mind.
Crystal leaned in suddenly and pecked Silver on the cheek. "Raincheck?"
Silver had always thought that whatever light that shined within him was so much duller than that of his friends. It was too often eclipsed by darkness.
But in that moment, he was a supernova.
"Sure."
They scrambled to their feet as they heard Gold approaching. Somewhere in the jumble, Silver and Crystal's fingers interlocked.
"I've got the stuff!" Gold announced, brandishing his skateboard and a telescope. "Come on, let's stargaze or whatever."
They did just that. Silver and Crystal kept their hands entwined the whole time.