Written By: Kenocka
071. Broken: Ultimatum
Disclaimer: Anything that doesn't sound like it belongs in Pokémon is MINE. Lévànce is MINE, Sebastian is MINE. Let me find out you took them.
Author's Notes: I'm using the fanfic 100 prompts to get this and all related to it written.
Summary: Being alone when you have someone is taxing and can drive a couple apart.
It wasn't unusual for Lévànce and Sebastian to go weeks without calling one another. They both had their own lives to deal with and sometimes the trainer just wasn't in range of civilization. When he was though, the two talked often and long. It made the few visits and vacations the two had together that much better. It was the parting that left them feeling more starved than before.
This time, despite having emailed his boyfriend hours earlier, the man got a call some hours after midnight. It had started out with Lévànce immediately demanding if his partner was okay, if something had happened, what had come up, did he need to hop on the next red eye to fix whatever was wrong? The conversation was very different from what the model was expecting and it was too early or too late to be having it no matter what the time zone. There would be no restful sleep.
"I'm tired of having to hide our relationship. If people haven't figured out that you're gay after almost three years with no girlfriend or someone claiming you to be the father of their child –"
He had to cut Sebastian off there. It had been proven already that he was impotent. "It's not abnormal for trainers to not have relationships until they've retired!"
"What's that supposed to mean!"
'For a psychic you can be so thick sometimes!' That fear of being cast off came from Sebastian's parents abandoning him after discovering that their son held a long dormant gene that made him able to access mental abilities not seen or known to either side of his family in centuries. The man was one of nature's flukes, like a red head being born to two brown haired parents.
"It doesn't mean I'm breaking up with you if that's what you're thinking!" This argument had come out of nowhere in Lévànce's mind. When did his normally snippy boyfriend start having these thoughts and why did he wait to call until he was asleep?
Silence had never sounded more like a pot of boiling oil.
"Look," Lévànce said gently, trying for calm and getting strained, "it's not unusual for trainers to retire and then enter the dating scene –" a hissing gasp came through the receiver. "Let me finish! When I retire and that's not too far off from now I want you to quit and move in with me."
"No," Sebastian couldn't see his lover's face but knew it was shocked and continued in an even tone. "I want to move in with you now. This long distance relationship needs to stop." His voice turned pleading, plaintive even. "I want to see you more often than just every few months. I want more than just a secretive two week visit where we have to hide in a hotel or pretend to be just friends. Worrying about whether or not you'll wind up hurt because you don't react fast enough to a sudden Pokémon attack or one the damn gangs that keep popping up is too much for me!"
"Love –"
"The Johto League is it. I want to move in with you after you've beaten it." The pitch of the psychic's voice said what he really meant: if Lévànce didn't stop traveling then their relationship was over.
Ultimatum's never had pretty results and at the moment Lévànce despised Sebastian for daring to do such a thing to him. He held the phone away so his deep breaths wouldn't be quite as audible. This was one of their rough patches; on vacation in the Orange Islands together the rumor mill had started churning out tabloid trash. When everything had been ignored, denied, or sufficiently explained away people made up their minds that the two were just friends visiting. Nothing had been said about the incident but Sebastian's accusing quiet had communicated his opinion.
"I can't quit until after Hoenn at the least. It's part of my contract with the modeling agency and I'll have to check and make sure the Frontier Brains aren't included in this." Waiting for a calm response didn't do his nerves any good and this argument had Lévànce just as fatigued than the eight hours of hiking he'd done before getting to the Pokémon Center.
There was tension in Sebastian's voice when he spoke again but at least he was trying to stay composed. "Are contests included?"
"I'll have to check but I'm going to say yes."
Lévànce heard, "God damn it," and a muffled thump as the phone was dropped on what he could only guess was the bed. "Sebastian please hear me out."
With a huff the stripper replied tersely with, "Listening." 'Since you've got me wrapped up around your little finger anyway.'
"Good. Now really listen, please. Contests are only held five times a year and on certain dates only. I could ignore them entirely until we got settled down. Then because we'll be living together I won't need half as many fans as what I have now because we'll be set already." The trainer's voice dropped low, a begging undertone coloring it, "Please don't just let this go. I promise that the moment this contract's over with I'll quit everything."
A sigh came from Sebastian's end and the sounds of clothes rustling close to the phone could be heard. It wasn't hard to imagine that he was wiping away tears.
"Are you crying?"
"Not yet but in a few minutes I might be." He sniffled as quietly as was possible and kept the quiver out of his voice as best he could. "I'll have to call you back later Lévànce. I need to calm down and think. Okay?"
The man in question let his head fall back against the wall without trying to hide the thunk it created. If Sebastian heard then the trainer didn't care. "Yeah, okay. Just do me a favor?"
"Yes?"
"Give me a definitive answer soon?"
"I can do that."
So yeah, trouble in paradise. I had to do it. Every couple has their rough patches and Lévànce and Sebastian are no different.
It's kind of messed up that Bast wants his boyfriend to quit and just settle down but no one wants to worry that their partner is in danger every waking moment of the day. I tried to think of it the way the partner of anyone who does anything life threatening for a living would. And poor Lévànce wants to stay with Sebastian but doesn't want to just quit on his journey.
I knew I'd throw in some drama concerning these two somewhere along the way.