WOUND UP

During the week-long grand opening of the Battle Frontier in sunny, sandy Olivine, Crystal finally decides to be up front with Gold, for whom she's harbored feelings for the longest time. But just to be clear, this is not a love story.

RATED T

Author's Note

I noticed there aren't many fics where it's Chris who makes a move on Gold (not that I don't like it, I like it very much, it's just that in the HGSS arc it seems like Chris has been the one crushing on him while he's just chill) so here's my take on it. Also, I did my best to stay loyal to their character while aging them up. This is written out of order, and it's partly because I'm only figuring out what this is about as I go. I'll put the day at the top for better navigation though. At the end, let me know what you think so I can improve the story!

This is set in the manga-verse, post-HGSS. I'm afraid I made Gold a little more mature here. For a bit of context, this chapter's set when they're already in Olivine. Chris is outside the hotel of the Battle Tower, thinking about what Daisy said...

DAY 2

Seven years, she mused to herself. It can almost be poetic, were it not for the fact that the person she has extreme feelings of la passion for remains oblivious to her. Admittedly, Crystal is starting to feel envious of him instead, as he is seemingly undaunted by the throes of...this la passion.

In her rumination she finds herself tracing the outlines of his face in the sky. How many times may Gold have done this? It sounds just like him to lie down the grass and gaze up at the night sky; he isn't the kind of guy who has words for everything (that's kind of been her thing), but he is a bit of the romantic. She thinks it's just that he hardly gives a name for things. If he were here, he'd say something along the lines of, No idea why, but it makes me feel peaceful.

She looks back at the time things used to be different. The good thing about being in love—and being yet to act on it—is that nothing has been taken out of her life. And she's been really content with her life, you know? She's still working for Earl at the orphanage, for whom Professor Oak's still funding the necessary expenses in exchange for her research contribution as his lab assistant, and so far, she hasn't heard any complaints from him. There is no end-of-the-world drama (that she knows of) that threatens Johto. Her mom's off...wherever she fancies, but she keeps in touch with her. There is nothing ruined by her (undying) infatuation towards Gold...except for the fact that she feels like he's the only part missing in her life.

"'Scuse me," says a voice behind her, "what's a girl like you doing at a place like this?"

She suddenly feels like the air has been knocked out of her lungs.

"Gold!"

As though summoned, Gold is instantly there behind her, stretching. He settles on the spot beside her, where Daisy has just been.

"Stargazing, are we?" He wiggles on the slight spot of grass, trying to get comfortable. Then, brimming with satisfaction, he turns to look at Crystal. "Daisy thought you could use the company."

"Ah." So she left to...? "Did she?"

He starts humming good-naturedly. She peeks at him from the corner of her eye. This can be her chance. Is there a way to go about this? Should she speak first? She's the self-imposed loner out here looking for Gold-faced constellations...Daisy didn't give her a heads-up on what to do. So. She's going to have to act natural. She's been alone with him too many times for this to be awkward. She can do this.

...A minute has passed and she is yet to initiate a conversation. But to be fair she wants to lock this moment in a time capsule, to keep it as something she'll revisit in the years to come. As much as she's shy to admit, she enjoys this, just lying here with him beside her. One of the things she likes about their friendship is that she can share silences with him. The thought sends a familiar ache to her chest: Crystal sighs.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

Gold imitates her sigh. "That. You need to learn to chill out, Chris. Ever thought you might be pushing yourself too hard?" He does an awful impression of what he likes to call her 'teacher voice'. "'You need to grow up. Don't you have other things to do?' Man, I get that you're busy, but you don't need to be too uptight."

"I don't sound that mean," she says. She confesses that she's slightly offended. Is that what he thinks she sounds like when she tells him off?

"Oh, don't worry. I'm used to it, actually." His voice is playful and contagiously chipper. "Makes me look tough, don't you think?"

Crystal doesn't answer immediately—if anything, what Gold wants least is to be nagged on, and here he is literally encouraging her to. She needs to tread carefully if she wants to know what's going on in his head. Lightly, she nudges him, and he nudges back, smiling. Okay, good move.

"You don't mean that, do you?" Impishly, she shifts her gaze back to the sky. "About being used to it."

"Ahh." He shrugs, somewhat stubbornly, quiet for a second. "I do. It's just that, just because I am it doesn't mean you get a free pass for doing it."

Which means that he does mind when she nags at him.

"I only do it when you're being irrational," she says levelly.

"I'm only being irrational because you like it."

A beat. Crystal could have sworn her heart swelled at the tip of the smirk she knows he's donning and is torn between having to smack him and being swallowed by the sand.

She goes with the former.

"I do not like it!"

"I don't hear you complaining," chuckles Gold, a notably red hand-shaped mark blemishing his cheek.

"Every day, if you haven't noticed!"

"Ahh, super serious as ever," he mutters.

She leaves it at that, to cool off. An argument yet again. Is there another way to translate her feelings of affection that isn't achieved through aggression?

"Remember when we first met?" Here it goes. She'll let the arrow fly wherever. Do or die, Chris. "How we wouldn't even have met if Yellow's boat didn't break even."

"Oh, yeah. Who would've thought."

"Do you ever wonder if we'd met differently?" she says breathlessly.

This is the closest they've ever been. She doesn't know if he's noticed, only knows he's thinking about what she said.

"Huh. We would have met either way. We're dex owners." It seems like Gold's seeing little point in thinking up an alternate universe. But Crystal has to know.

"I mean—what I mean to say, is, what if we never were given the Pokédex to begin with?"

Gold turns to face her. "Are you okay, Chris? You're acting weird."

"I want you..." she hesitates, realizes the suggestion of her pause, "...to answer the question."

Almost in a flash, Gold takes away a strange look that he gives her for a split of a second. She's never seen it before.

"Never took you one for liking games, Miss Priss. All right." Gold's eyes are up on the stars again. "Gotta be honest. I don't think we couldn't have met. Know what I mean? It's too—ugh. I don't know. Mmm. Too out of our control, you think?"

"Out of our control?"

In his embarrassment rather than frustration, Gold scratches his head. "Yeah. Since Silver and I would've bumped into each other anyway, and he would've still stolen my bag."

"Assuming you were someplace else instead," she insists. "If everything's as it was, before the Pokèdex ever happened to us. If I were just this random girl volunteering at the trainer house in Violet, and, somehow, we just happened to have met."

Many cosmological coincidences would have been at play were they to have met under entirely different circumstances. They would not even be here.

It is Gold who breaks the ice, but he does so in a measured tone. "I think it can happen. We wouldn't be as close, though."

Crystal sees that there is no shortcut to the point she is trying to make, and they're both still at different ends of the meter. She cuts to the chase. "I was just wondering if you'd think I'd be interesting enough to hang out with."

She hopes Gold doesn't catch the implications of the message: Do you think we're more than just stuck with each other? It's possible she's making a mountain out of a molehill, though the urge to reassure herself is enough to drive her crazy. Daisy's words have shaken her to the core.

There's that look again: He looks at her strangely, as though considering. She tries to remember all the other times she's seen it on someone else's face.

Gold fidgets, something he doesn't do usually. She isn't sure whether that's a good thing. "I—I dunno. I think...not."

"...Oh." Distantly, she can hear something shatter. She lies still, unsure of how to respond.

"Yeah. We wouldn't be as close, see. I don't think I'll come within a quarter-mile at Earl's either. Heh, even if we'd meet we'd have nothing in common. Dusting a building doesn't really make you a head-tur—hey, hey!"

Crystal doesn't contain her sob. Her knees are shaking. She can't cry: Not like this. Not in front of—

"Chris?"

Almost at once his arms are around her. At first she resists, but he holds her tighter and she just...relaxes.

He pushes back her hair and holds her face in his palms, wiping away her tears in that gentle way he does that surprises her. "Aww, you can calm down, Super Serious Gal."

There he goes: Being an idiot one second and turning into the sweetest boy the next.

"We don't have anything in common," she says, and realizes she's crying about the stupidest thing.

"Damn right, if we did I'd be filed for physical abuse," he says cheekily.

"I won't hit you again," she promises, for some reason. He smells good: If crying means having to hug him after, she should've done this ages ago.

"I won't be any good dead. And after I've just grown so fond of you."

As offhandedly as he says it, she ignores it. Personally having Gold's social nuances memorized prepares her for blush-enducing encounters. She knows him better than to assume he ever means it. She just wish it gets easier.

"Seriously, is something bothering you?" Gold asks, voice only a key off. Gold, ever the golden boy. Gold, privileged by his upbringing. She's secretly envious of him: His mother gives him all her love and pays him all her attention, lets him have his way with whatever he wants, whenever he wants, probably. He's practically spoiled rotten by her—he's never had to work a day in his life, and spends most of the time playing. Three years ago when they were training in Two Island, she's been the one doing the cleaning, the cooking and the rest of the chores. All he's had to do is take care of the pokèmon, because, frankly, Gold is not suited for domestic life. All his life, he's been calling the shots, as though the shots are his to call. But... "Chris?"

But she can't blame him, you know? Just because she's had a rough childhood and he hasn't it doesn't mean he owes the world any more than she does. She gets this. Hell, once things will be up to her, she'll spoil her own children, too.

She shies away from his embrace.

"Just some sand in my eye," she mumbles.

"Must be from lying down. Gotta put those legs to work. Let's head back." His warmth is the only thing keeping her from going back to the room, really. She wants them to stay like this. "The challenge starts tomorrow, first thing. We gotta win this!"

"Yeah, I guess my head's been cleared enough," she says, and only half-believes it. She picks up her bag and follows after him to leave the seashore.

"I thought we'd be out here stargazing," he's saying, "You spent most of the time looking at the ground."

"I was, until you showed up."

"Not my fault my face is distracting you."

"Is it bad I keep wondering what's wrong with it?"

"Because there's nothing wrong with it."

She lets Gold go ahead of her, smiling ruefully. She's...glad he doesn't pry. But, some part of her wishes he did.

Romantic progress continues at a glacial pace, if at all. And while not exactly thrilling, there can be time to enjoy the slow, tender moments.

Though, Crystal doesn't know for how much longer. She gazes up at the sky once more. The stars can be deceiving.