How the Champion of Alola ended up in his office was beyond him, but he assumed she used the charm he's known for years on the staff down below.
But it's not like he minded. She was usually a fun presence, forcing him out of his one track mind, but today was not a day to goof around. It was a regular Friday, which meant he had loads of paperwork to finish and get through from the rest of the week. Work, however, was now seemingly impossible due to Moon huffing on his office couch. She was a distraction to say the least as his pen comes to a complete halt when he hears her murmur "stupid boys don't know how to do anything."
With a shake of a head a quick sigh he finds himself pouring a glass of water and walking up to the girl. If he had to be a lousy President, he might as well be a good friend. His hand and the glass both catch her off guard as she stops her mumbling and peers up at him under her eyelashes. Her gray eyes, always full emotion, shift from pure anger to solemn resignation and he finds himself awestruck for a few seconds before clearing his throat.
"What happened this time?" he asks as she breaks her gaze with him. Her arms cross against her chest and she lets out another groan.
"I quit dating."
Gladion feels the smirk come onto his face "oh no," he begins in feigned sincerity, "did your boy toy mess up?"
Moon rolls her eyes almost instinctively as she hunches over and places her chin on her propped up elbow. The pout on her face and the furrow in her brow confirming how right he was. "Well I'll have you know, Gla-di-on," Moon enunciates as she reaches for the glass in his hand, "Hau and I only went on two dates."
"Two more than you should have," the blonde responds knowingly as he sits down next to her. His arm drapes across the back of the couch in the most casual of fashions, but when it came to Moon he was anything but casual.
Always finding himself hyper-aware of her movements, her expressions. He noted that her face had dropped slightly and her fingers fidgeting against the glass. A habit she did when she mulling over her thoughts.
"Do you think I'm the problem?" she asks without meeting his eyes, as if scared that he too would agree.
"Oh the tabloids do."
"Ugh, you're no help," Moon murmurs as she notes the pile of magazines on his coffee table. None of them seeming to be the trash he was referring to, but before she could question if he's read them, Gladion clicks his tongue.
"You're not the problem, per say" Gladion begins as he sees Moon narrow her eyes at him. The blonde was known for his backhanded compliments, his lack of compassion, and his way too logical thought process in these trying times. She was prepared for the worst of the worst.
"No, Moon you're great."
And not that.
"Anyone would kill to date you. Why else do you think so many people date you in the first place?" He says this with a chuckle that almost makes her forget about what they were talking about.
"The issue is you date below your standards."
"I do not," Moon retorts as her body swings up and into the back of the couch. She looks over at the Gladion who decided to answer her with no words, opting to give her deadpan stare. And after 10 years of friendship, Moon didn't even need to ask what he meant anymore.
So she caved.
"Okay, okay you're right."
"I'm always right," he answers swiftly much to her chagrin.
"Well then, Mister Right," she begins with a coy expression that makes his stomach flip, an occurrence that would happen often around the young Champion. "What would you do on a date then? Since it seems you know it all," Moon asks mockingly, well aware that the older male had little to no dating experience.
But of course, Gladion would never admit defeat. "Depends on the girl don't you think? For example a date with Plumeria would not be the same as Mallow."
The name dropping catches her off guard.
"You want to date them?"
He shakes his head in the most composed manner possibly. "Arceus no, but in retrospect a person's personality should key a person in on what kind of date to go on."
Always so damn logical.
Moon tilts her head as she looks at him curiously.
"I bet you wouldn't know the first thing about taking someone like me on a date."
"Seriously?" Gladion scoffs. "You would be the easiest to please," he says offendedly when he sees a spark of something appear in Moon's eyes. She gives him her all-too-sweet smile as she stands up.
"Perfect. Pick me up at 7 tomorrow then," Moon declares as she walks towards the door, the stunned silence giving her all she needed to change her grin to a shit-eating one.
She pulls the door open, and looks back once more.
"And don't be late."
The door clicks behind her as Gladion tries to wrap his mind around the situation.
One second passes.
Two seconds pass.
Three seconds pass.
And then he feels his heart stop.
What did he just get himself into?
A date with Moon.
Gladion paces in his office as he tries to calm his palpitating heart. As he tries to regain a firm grasp on reality. As he tries to figure out how to not make the evening a complete and utter disaster.
How was he supposed to go on a date with her.
'Well,' he reasons to himself. This technically isn't a date.'
This was a challenge. A challenge he couldn't bear to lose for the only thing he would accept his defeat in was on the battlefield.
So he did what he did best.
Plan meticulously.
Gladion appeared on her doorstep, 7 on the dot, flowers in hand. Moonflowers, of course being the obvious choice, were adorned alongside various shades of gladiolus flowers. She found herself giggling at the gesture, not maliciously in an intent, but as a joke as she called him out for being 'cheesy.' Gladion took no offence, laughing alongside her as their hands grazed each others in the exchange.
Then would come dinner at Moon's favorite place on Ula'ula; a small locally owned restaurant near Maile Garden that specialized in food from Johto. Sure, it wasn't Kantonese food, but it was close enough to bring a smile to her face. "Are you just taking me to places you know I like," Moon says with a curl in her lip.
A fake look of hurt appears on his face. "And take advantage of the knowledge I've obtained over years of friendship?" his hand goes over his heart, "I would never."
And whilst Moon assumed the date would end there, Gladion had just one more thing up his sleeve.. A private viewing of the clear Alolan night sky up at Hokulani observatory. No other guests, just them on the usually off-limits rooftop.
"You always did say the glass around the league obstructs your view of the stars."
And with the sincerity in his tone Moon found her deeply hidden feelings bubbling inside her. But regret soon tagged along. Regretting this challenge. Regretting the sham. Regretting now wondering if Gladion, her friend for years, would ever see her as more than what they were.
She smiles shyly, nodding at his words, hoping that the shield of night would hide her blush, and that the sounds of Alola would hide her pounding heart.
"You win, you know?" Moon states offhandedly as he walks her back home. "You took me on probably the most fun date I've ever had."
"I feel an insult coming on," Gladion adds matter-of-factly, now urging her to continue as she sticks out her tongue playfully.
"I'm just curious as to why you've been dateless for so long."
A throaty chuckle escapes him, accepting her jab, before speaking up again. "Truth be told, Moon. I've been on a few dates recently."
Moon looks up at him in complete horror. His neutral face proving to her that was he said was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. But that didn't make Moon's stomach feel any better as it knotted up tightly. Was it that Gladion now entered the pool of single Alolan men? Or was it because her best friend failed to reveal these details to her beforehand.
She should know about these things, right?
He finds her silence a little off putting, the shift in the air doing something to make things tense between them. He opens his mouth, trying to find something to add, to reassure her, although he wasn't sure why he felt like he needed to. "None worked out. There's too much trial and error to find the one person you're supposed to to be click with."
Moon tries to ignore sinking feeling as she lets out an airy laugh, "so romantic."
He shrugs, letting the awkward silence wash over them once more as the cool Alolan breeze hits their exposed cheeks. Their steps in sync, the shuffling gravel beneath them, they both knew something wasn't being said here.
He furrows his brow, unsure of what to do, when Moon is the one to break the silence.
"Would you date me for real?"
Moon, wide-eyed and shocked, throws her hands over her mouth far too late. The question she was wondering the whole evening was now out and the internal panic started. She hoped he didn't hear, hoped that the crashing of waves from the Melemele sea drowned her out, but she knew it was too late.
He stops in place with the most dumbstruck appearance Moon had ever seen. His eyes were wide, his cheeks were stained red, and his mouth parted as he tried stammer out a response to no luck.
Gladion, the most put together, sharped tongue guy she knew, could be rendered speechless.
And she knew she was the one to disturb the peace.
She quickly waves a vague hand around, adding an awkward laugh alongside it. "I'm joking you know," she says haphazardly. "Sure we're great friends, but you're the opposite of me! I'm the girl with no standards, your the guy whose standards are probably too high."
She looks away, her hand rubbing the back of her neck nervously as she hopes he takes the bait to switch the topic. But instead she feels a single digit poke her right in the middle of her forehead.
"My standards are reasonable, Moon."
The smirk. The insinuation.
It was her turn to be tongue-tied, as his finger leaves her forehead and instead pats her head in the gentlest of matters.
"Come on, if we're going to go on a second date I should get you home first."