"For real."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
My boyfriend leaned close to give me a little kiss, and I gave him a big smile in return.
"Well, then, I'm counting on you." I paused, then flung my arms around his chest in a tight hug. "Volk, I'll miss you."
"I know," he replied, patting my back. My train pulled up then, but I continued to squeeze him until the conductor blew his whistle.
"Volk - I love youuuuuu!" I squealed as I flung myself onto the train, just before the doors closed. I turned instantly, smooshing my face into the glass and waving. Volkner mouthed back that he also loved me, and I squealed again.
After ten minutes of sitting on the train, though, I was done squealing and feeling sappy. I was nervous. Even worse, I was nervous because I was going to visit the two people I'd known longer than anyone, even longer than my Crani - er, Rampardos. I'd only found out the previous week that my best friend, only six years my senior, had long harbored a huge crush - for my father. This fact had me constantly wavering between happiness - at the thought of my Dad finally getting a little romantic attention - and disgust, also at the thought of my Dad finally getting a little romantic attention.
My Dad isn't the kind of guy who I would date, I decided. He never shaved or combed his hair, and his idea of fashion was torn pants and an old cloak. At least he showered, although sometimes growing up it surprised when I realized he was showering. I'd inherited his hate of hair-combing and his love for digging around in dirt and mud, but I always kept my clothes fresh and repaired, and I not only shaved my face, but I did the rest of myself, too.
And he was totally clueless. He had expierience with two things - Pokemon, and me. That was it. He really was an amazingly strong trainer, but he wasn't very worldly - case in point, he'd never caught on to one single lie I'd made in the two decades I'd been alive, and he still seemed to think that being gay was an affliction that made the suffered more girly and flamboyant, rather than simply being attracted to someone of the same sex as yourself.
I'd grown up thinking he was a homophobe. Turns out, he was just scared I'd end up a weak little pussy boy. Like Riley.
Riley, physically, couldn't be any more different from my Dad and I. His physique was small - smaller than Volkner, even - by the time I was seven (and he was already a teenager) I could already pick him up and throw him. Ever since I could remember, he'd always worn clean cut clothing, black turtlenecks, fancy jewelry, and poofy hats. His morning routine consisted of carefully flossing his teeth, cleaning out every single fingernail, clipping nosehairs, plucking eyebrows, applying a light layer of makeup, and a heavy dose of hairspray.
Yet he had fallen hard - for my father - and had fallen hard years ago without anyone noticing. I thought back to all the times I'd come home to find Riley and my Dad sitting on the couch together watching TV, or Riley might be going on and on about his famous ancestor and all the research he'd done on the topic.
Now what - would I come home to find them rolling around on the floor, kissing? Making out on the couch?
It was dark by the time the train stopped on the other side of Sinnoh. I got out and felt the same sort of sea breeze on my face, coming from a completely different sea. There was no lighthouse here - and no Volkner. Feeling much sadder than I had been before having that thought, I set out for my old house.
At the door, I grew nervous, a nightmare I'd had popping back into my mind. I knocked loudly - LOUDLY - until I heard my Dad shouting something that was probably "What the hell are you knocking for, boy?!".
"Coming in now!" I shouted loudly, closing the door behind me and kicking off my shoes. I approached the living room, peeking inside. Only my Dad was sitting there, staring at me like I was insane.
"What's up with you, boy?" he growled, patting the couch next to him. I sighed in relief, plopping down next to him and looking down at my toes. "Nothing... I'm just a little stressed out. Where's Riley?" I asked, trying to sound as natural as possible.
"Showering," Dad replied, scratching at his chin. I froze.
...ew.
"Oh," is what I said instead. "Hm. He's a clean guy."
"Showers like three times a day," Dad shrugged in a gesture of 'I have no clue what goes on in Riley's head'. I recognized it as a gesture we often used. I needed to relax, nothing was strange here, nothing going on. "How was the rest of your time in Sunyshore?" Dad turned to me, smiling a little.
"Oh!" I bit my lip. For the three times a day Riley showers, I was having sex about that often each day after we'd left the hot springs. We hadn't done much else. I laughed nervously. "Just regular boring guy stuff. Real boring."
"Guy stuff isn't boring!" Riley's soft voice spoke into my ears, and I yelped and turned around to stare at him. His hair was damp, but he'd still managed to make it stick up stylishly, and was wearing his usual very extra ultra fluffy bathrobe and slippers. "We're three guys, and we have had a lot of fun together. Besides, I bet that you mean sex, when you say guy stuff."
"NO!" I said loudly, making it obvious Riley was right. "I meant sex - I mean Pokemon battles! One kid challenged the gym with a CATERPIE! And he had YOUR badge, Dad!" I jabbed my finger into my Dad's chest. Dad frowned.
"It was a bootleg. I haven't ever lost to a god-damn Caterpie, not since I was five years old."
"Bootleg?" I said, so perplexed I forgot how uncomfortable I was. Riley nodded.
"Yes, it's all the craze right now. People sell them online. They sell your Gym's badge too, Roarkie."
"WHAT!" I snarled, clenching my hands into fists. "That's cheating! How can you tell if its a bootleg?"
"Because they completely blow," Dad chuckled. Riley chuckled along with him, and I snapped back to reality.
"Riley!" I said quickly. "Will you show me the website selling the badges?" The computer was upstairs, where we couldn't be overhead. "Um, I'm really curious."
Riley looked suspicious, but agreed. As soon as we got upstairs, I locked the door behind us and turned on him. "Man, I've waited and waited... now tell me what happened. ...DID something happen?" I ventured, realizing how threatening I'd sounded.
"What? Oh... with Byron..." he stared into space, his face melting into a dreamy expression. I poked him, and he looked surprised to see me for a moment. "Oh... yeah...teehee."
I tapped my foot in frustration. "Well, spit it out!"
Riley smiled sweetly at me. "Well, we... we kissed..."
"You did more than that, I saw a hickey on his neck!"
"Teehee," Riley giggled again, his cheeks turning pink. "Yes, well, I suppose I got a little happy."
"And he... he let you?" I suppressed a million different emotions that were threatening to burst out of me.
"Yeah..." Riley was drifting off into dreamland again.
"And... did anything... I mean... afterwards... in your room..."
Now Riley blushed for real, turning his handsome face away from me. "Yeah, something happened."
I gulped. "W...Riley... REALLY? But... he wasn't even drunk..."
"I know! Isn't it wonderful?" Riley's hands were suddenly gripping my own, and his happy face was so cute I forgot to be grossed out. "We... we haven't touched each other since then, I'm not pushing my luck, but I think he really enjoyed-"
"BLA BLA BLA BLA okay I got it!!" I slapped my hands over my ears. "I believe you, really, please, I was just curious, I don't need details about you and my Dad having sex-"
Riley gasped, reaching out to grab my wrists. "No, no, Roark! Not at all! It was only a handjob!! Besides - you ASKED!"
"NOOOoooo!" I wailed, yanking my wrists free and dancing around the room, my hands over my ears, gagging. "Why did I ask, why why why why why?!" The mental picture was enough to scar me for the rest of my life, I decided, and I began smacking myself on the head to get it out of my system. "AAARGH NOOOOOOoo!!" I felt Riley's little hands closing on my wrists again, trying to stop me hitting myself, and this time I gave in, leaning against his thin frame, but shaking his hands off.
"Don't touch me with your hands," I sighed, "not anymore."
"Roark, go to your room," Riley commanded, pointing at the door. "You need a good night's sleep and to decide if you are going to be supportive of me or have little tantrums like you did everyday when you were thirteen years old."
I slumped my shoulders, following his finger out the door. I stopped, turning back to peer at him, unable to stop myself.
"...where are YOU sleeping tonight?"
Riley didn't budge. "Go!"
I went into my old bedroom, staring at all of the Pokemon plushies still piled on my bed, and felt a little better as I closed the door behind me and started to get ready for bed.
Riley waited silently for a few minutes, pondering many a thing, then made up his mind and quietly slipped into my Dad's bedroom to wait for him.
