Red had lived on a mountain for years. A very, very cold mountain. Such a cold mountain, in fact, that he had learned to huddle and bundle when he slept to prevent freezing. This was apparently a very hard habit to break since the Kanto Champion snuck into Green's room to cuddle.
"Red?" Green called out groggily when he heard his door open. "Why aren't you in your room?" he asked, rolling onto his back to see his best friend a little better. When Red came down from Mt. Silver, he went to live with Green, which was only about a week prior. The two settled in Green's apartment fairly easily, finding routine to be a breeze and their pokemon got along very well. However, because of Red's habit of cuddling, he had about six pillows on his bed and Green couldn't keep count of how many blankets since they got tangled together. Apparently on this night, even all of those weren't enough.
"Can't sleep," Red explained simply, adjusting the three blankets around his shoulders so they wouldn't slip off. He was used to having his Charizard, Nidoqueen and Nidoking, and Flareon around him when he went to sleep, which kept him warm and surrounded by several heartbeats. That was the part he was missing; pillows don't have heartbeats or pulses or anything comforting besides squishiness.
"Why can't you sleep?" Green asked, sitting up and patting the mattress so Red would sit and stop making him so nervous. Red shrugged to the question, knowing his answer would sound silly. "Well…I guess you can stay in here for the night," Green said, nodding and offering a small smile. Red smiled back sleepily and waited for Green to lay down before cuddling against his back. Green tensed up when he felt the heat of Red's hands against his spine. It was already weird enough sharing a bed with him, let alone Red and his cuddle-everything habit making things even more awkward.
As the night progressed, neither of them were finding sleep any easier. Green was freaking out too much internally to let his brain rest, and Red was still having trouble listening to Green's heart or even his breathing (which he thought was supposed to be even and rhythmic and calming). Eventually, Green gave up, "Red, you asleep?" he asked in a whisper. He felt Red shake his head, so he rolled over to face the Champ.
"Why aren't you sleeping?" Red asked, looking up to meet Green's eyes.
"Not used to someone right up against me…" Green answered, glad it was dark to hide his blush. "Why are you doing that, anyway?"
"Heartbeat," was Red's simple answer. He scooted a little closer to Green, who choked on air when Red's ear pressed against his chest. Red sighed, relieved to finally hear his favorite lullaby.
Hang on. Green's heart was beating way fast and way inconsistent. "Are you OK, Green?" he asked, wrinkling his eyebrows in confusion.
"That was unexpected, was all…" Green sighed. He took a deep breath, hoping to even out his heart rate and calm the heckie heckles down. Red was his best friend; this was completely platonic. Right? Yeah. He didn't mean anything by it, no way! "Just go to sleep, ya weirdo," Green teased, flicking the back of Red's head.
Red buried his nose in Green's chest, wrapping his arms around the other boy's waist after draping his blankets back over himself. Green hesitated before putting his arms around Red, bringing the boy closer and up a little higher. He could feel Red's breath on his neck and by how even it was, he figured Red was asleep. Finally. Green let out a heavy sigh and buried his nose in Red's jet black hair.
"I love you so much, Red," he mumbled, moving his face slightly to kiss the top of Red's head. He fell asleep without knowing Red had heard him.
"I love you, too," Red whispered.
Red had lived a cold mountain for years. It was such a cold mountain that Red felt the need to bundle up at night even with the heat on. It was a hard habit to break, yes, but it wasn't like he wanted to stop. Not when his cuddle-habit earned him a boyfriend.
It's sort of a headcanon of mine that Red would be the one who keeps the air conditioning on all year 'round and just adds more blankets (meaning 8+) as they are needed.
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