Just Friends

Pair: Black and White (Agency/Chess shipping, whichever you want to call it)

Genre: Romance

"Yo, Prez,"

White looked up from her desk to where Black was sitting. It was a sunny day in Unova, and she wished she could be outside. Unfortunately, two of her employees had been seriously injured after harrassing a wild Darmantian. Third-degree burns all over, very nasty. It had been entirely the employee's faults, and she planned to fire them as soon as they were well, but she was still grounded with all the paperwork. She'd given Black some menial task to do, but he'd stayed to keep her company while she worked.

"Yeah?"

"Would you say that we're friends?"

White was taken aback. "Of course I would, Black. You know that."

"How so?"

This was a bit unlike him. Usually his thoughts were always on the Pokemon League and nothing else, so he never had the mental capacity to ask thought-provoking questions.

White thought for a moment. "Well, here you are, when you really should be working, keeping me company. On top of that, you're in my office, on a bean bag chair, throwing a tennis ball at the wall, when normally I don't even let my execs in here unless it's an emergency. So, yeah, I'd say we're friends," She eventually replied.

"Okay, so if we're friends, then how come we never hang out?" He asked.

"Don't be silly, Black. That's what we're doing right now, isn't it?" She said, starting to become a bit exasperated.

Black stared at her for a moment. "You call this hanging out? You haven't acknowledged my presence once since I got here. I've been trying to get your attention for like 15 minutes now!"

White stared back. He had her there, she had to admit. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized he was right. Ever since Black had been retrieved from the Light Stone, her work had become busier and busier. Horrified, she realized that she couldn't remember the last time she and Black had had a real conversation.

"You're...right," She said, a bit quiet now. "I can't call you my friend if we don't ever do anything together, can I?" she paused a moment. "So what do you propose we do about it?"

Black jumped up, grinning. "I'll tell you what I'm gonna do about it," He said, walking towards her desk. "I'm taking you to Nimbasa City tonight. We can go to the amusement park!"

White's heart skipped a beat. "You mean...like a date?"

"No, not like a date. Did I say that?" Black said playfully, with the same goofy grin on his face.

White looked back to her paperwork, secretly disappointed that he hadn't said yes. "I dunno, Black. I've got a lot of work to do here, and I don't know if..."

Black put his hands on her shoulders and forced her to look into his brown eyes. This time she was fairly sure her heart stopped completely. "What if...What if you just forgot about all of that for now?"

"But...I..." White stammered, struggling to form a coherent sentence. The more she thought about it, the more she realized it was probably a bad idea. After the paperwork regarding the crispy employees, there was bills, resumes, form letters...

But looking into Black's eyes made all of that melt away. She, the most dedicated worker she knew, decided to blow off work.

"Alright..."

'her house is so friggin big!' Black thought as he approached White's front door. Somehow it had never occurred to him the White would be quite wealthy. She did own a company, after all. While not as big as Platinum's house, her abode was definitely larger than Gold's, and Gold's house wasn't small. Black estimated he could probably fit 3 or 4 of his house into White's. Somehow it made him feel inadequate.

White lived in Nimbasa City, unbeknownst to Black. In fact, she only lived a few blocks from the Nimbasa amusement park That meant they wouldn't have to fly to get to there for their, *ahem*, friendly-night-out-that-most-definitely-wasn't-a-date.

Of course, Black had been lying through his teeth when he'd said this wasn't going to be a date. Somehow, she'd failed to pick up on his not-so-subtle hints that he liked her, most likely because she was drowning in paperwork 90 percent of the time. So he'd decided to take her out. When the moment was right, he'd tell her.

Black knocked on the front door.

"Don't you find it ironic," he said as soon as she opened the door. "that I've been to the homes of every single Dex Holder, except for the home of the one I'm closest to?"

White giggled. She was dressed in her normal clothes, but somehow she looked even more beautiful now than Black had ever seen her. "If you wanted to come over, all you had to do was ask," she replied, as though they were small children discussing a playdate.

Black gathered up some confidence. "You look very nice tonight," He said, unable to stop the heat rushing to his face.

"Uh...Thanks..." White replied. She wasn't faring much better; her cheeks were also tinged pink. But after a few moments she smiled. "Shall we go?"

"We shall," Black grinned. In another burst of confidence he offered her his arm, and was very happy when she took it.

They had only walked a few hundred feet when Black realized he had a problem; White wasn't talking. He'd expected her to begin a conversation right away-While he was the loud one, she was the more talkative of the two. He hadn't counted on this kind of awkward silence. Which meant that if he wanted to keep the guise of a night of fun between two friends, he'd have to make conversation.

"So..." he said. Always a good start. 'come on, I trained for this!' Black had spent countless hours with Musha eating his dreams, keeping his head clear so he could devise strategies. Somehow, that had all flew out the window when White had taken his arm.

"I never knew your house was so big," He started. "Come to think of it, I never knew where your house was. If we're friends, don't you think that's a little weird?" Black said this before he realized he'd basically said the exact same thing when she'd opened the door. He mentally slapped himself.

"I don't really get why you're so concerned about these kinds of things all of a sudden. You never cared before," White shot back. Great, now she was probably annoyed with him.

"Well, I'm just saying. Look, you say we're friends. I'm willing to say that you're my best friend. Don't you think that best friends should know about these things?" Something dawned on him. "Prez, I don't even know your last name!"

White stopped walking and turned to look at him. "You...don't?"

"Well, of course not. You've never told me, and all the advertisements for the agency just refer to you as "White". Not even your business cards have your last name on them," He replied, growing more and more alarmed. "You really need to work on getting better PR people or something."

White smiled suddenly. "You want to know my last name? Alright. My last name is-"

At that moment, an ambulance sped by at top speed with its alarms wailing. The noise subsequently drowned out all other sound, making White's answer indistinguishable from beyond the Fourth Wall. Black, however, heard the answer just fine.

"That's a nice last name. It suits you," He smiled. 'Stupid!' What kind of a compliment was that?

"Well, you've never told me your last name, either," Replied White.

"Mine? It's-"

A fire truck flew by with sirens blaring. White heard the answer, though.*

"Must have been some sort of accident or something..." Black said with mild interest. They didn't have any more time to wonder what had happened, because they'd now reached the front gates of the amusement park and Black forgot all about it.

"You know, you don't have to call me 'Prez' all the time," White countered, picking up where the conversation left off. "We are friends, after all. Call me 'White'!"

"Okay...White," Black said, trying it out. It seemed weird to not call her "Prez".

White smiled. "You know what? You're right. We don't hang out enough. I can already tell that this is going to be fun," She said happily. She let go of his arm and skipped ahead. "I don't get out enough anymore. Gosh, I haven't even been here since-"

White turned to her left and stopped in her tracks. "Since...Since..." She started to shake.

Black gave himself a mental trophy for biggest idiot alive. How could he have forgotten? This was where White had had that horrible experience involving N, which culminated in her Tepig Gigi abandoning her and allowing her to fall off the ride. Black remembered her in the days that followed that. Her bright eyes had become dull and lifeless, and she'd shuffled around like a zombie. It wasn't until they'd learned about the Battle Subway that she'd snapped out of it, and seeing her like that had made his heart break. And standing right next to them, huge and covered with neon lights, was the ride on which it had happened...

"The Ferris Wheel," He whispered to himself, running up to her.

White was pale and sweating, starting to hyperventilate. He had to do something, so he grabbed her hand. "White, it's okay! We don't have to ride that, I promise! Come on, let's go this way," He said frantically, pulling her away from the Ferris Wheel. She was panicking, which was causing him to panic. Shit, this wasn't good at all. Black pulled her towards the nearest bench and sat her down.

"Are you okay? We can go home if you want to," he asked her. After a few seconds she stopped hyperventilating and her face returned to its normal color. She smiled weakly at him.

"No, I'm fine. I just...lost control for a second," she said, her voice shaking a bit. "I can do this, so long as I don't have to ride that...thing."

Black swore silently to himself. The Ferris Wheel had been the key to his entire plan. He had decided that would be the best place to confess to her. It would have made sense if the girl was anyone other than White, since it was the most private place in the park. But her deathly fear of the things rendered the strategy useless. Her sanity was more important to him than his own desires, so he decided to completely scrap his plan and just try to have fun with her.

"Okay. What do you want to do first, then?"

White smiled, genuinely this time. In fact, it seemed almost mischievous, which was an expression Black had never seen on her. She turned and pointed behind them, to where a hypercoaster stood silhouetted against the evening sky.

'that's my girl,' Black chuckled to himself. This time, it was her dragging him by the hand they ran towards the coaster.

Black and White slumped on the bench, both nearly crying from laughter. This had been genuinely one of the best nights of Black's life, Although it probably would have been less so if White hadn't been with him. The Ferris Wheel incident had been forgotten almost immediately, so after that, the night had gone very smoothly. Besides the coaster, they'd ridden the Dodgems, the Scrambler and the Swinging Ship. White seemed to enjoy thrill rides. Apart from that, they'd gone to the haunted house. Although it was very cheesy and not scary in the least, White had stayed pressed close to Black the whole time, although she hadn't seemed to notice.

"Thanks so much for doing this, Black," White said. The massive stuffed Teddiursa which she and Black had wasted 10,000 Poke* trying to win at a games booth sat between them. "I'd forgotten how much fun just hanging out with a friend could be."

"Always glad to help, Prez...I mean, White," Black replied, tipping his cap.

For a few minutes, the pair just sat in silence, observing the park and enjoying being in each others presence. The sun had dipped below the horizon, and Black figured White would want to be going home soon. He'd take her back as soon as she asked, but for now, they sat.

"Black?" White said. He turned to look at her. "I think...I think there's one more thing I want to do here, before we go," She said slowly.

"Of course, what is it?" He said, flashing his trademark goofy grin.

White hesitated, then turned to the right. Her biggest nightmare filled her vision.

"I want to ride the Ferris Wheel," she blurted.

Black's grin faded. "Woah. Are you sure? I mean..." He trailed off when he saw the determination in her eyes. "Okay, then. As long as you're sure you want to," He said.

"I'm sure. Black, all my life I've been afraid. I've been afraid of Pokemon Battles. I've been afraid of Team Plasma. Right now, I'm afraid of too many things to count. If I can't face this fear, how can I face anything else?" She searched his eyes, looking for...she didn't know what, exactly. Understanding? Well, she knew Black would understand.

Black nodded slowly. "I understand," He said, standing up. "Facing your fears is one of the hardest things in the world. I've been there." He offered her his hand.

"Thanks, Black. You're a true friend," She said, taking his hand and standing up. Slowly, they started towards the Wheel.

The park was all but deserted by now. Most of the guests had gone home. As a result, There was no line for the Ferris Wheel. The ride operator opened the cage of the car at the station.

White almost froze again, but with Black beside her, she felt stronger. It gave her the power to get in the car. Black sat beside her.

The operator shut the cage and locked it. No going back now. White closed her eyes and waited for the ride to begin. 'It's just a ride,' she reasoned with herself. 'Nothing bad's gonna happen.'

However, when she felt the sensation of rising, all reason left her mind. She began to hyperventilate again. 'NoNoNoNo...' she screamed in her head, her eyes squeezed tight.

"White! White, it's fine, it's fine. I'm here, you're not gonna fall! I'm here for you!" Black said, becoming frantic again. He hugged her and held her tight, trying to calm her down, but she just struggled against him.

There was absolutely nothing for it. In sheer desperation, he kissed her.

To his relief, White stopped panicking immediately. after a few seconds, she closed her eyes and melted into the kiss. The car reached its apex before the two broke apart.

"What...What did you do that for?" White stammered, her cheeks totally crimson. Had she not liked it?

"I...Trying to calm you down, and..." Black took a deep breath. It was all or nothing this time.

"White, I love you. I have since we first met. I planned tonight so that I'd finally have a good opportunity to tell you that. I understand if you don't love me back. But I want you to know, you mean more to me than anything else."

White was silent. one...two...three...four... Black counted the seconds in agony.

As a response, she kissed him back.

"I love you too, Black. I didn't realize it until now, But I love you. You mean the world to me. I guess I just never realized it until now," She said when they broke apart. She seemed to have forgotten all about where she was. 'That isn't right,' Realized Black. She'd come on here to face her fear, and Black wanted to help her with that, but he'd just ended up kissing her. That seemed a bit selfish.

So, he pulled her close while he thought of a way to remind her about it without seeming cold. They'd just confessed to each other, for crying out loud. This wasn't gonna be easy, and the feeling of being close to her was so intoxicating that he couldn't think properly.

"Hey, look at the view!" White exclaimed, jumping towards the side of the car. Black looked at her, surprised.

"Wow, you can see all the way to Castelia from here!"

Black looked and saw that she was right. The skyscrapers of Castelia City were just visible on the horizon. Before he'd had a good look, however, the Wheel began to descend.

"I guess you've conquered that fear, then," Black said, laughing.

"Hey, yeah! you're right!" She laughed. "That wasn't so hard with you beside me." She moved back over and hugged him tight.

Well, tonight had definitely exceeded expectations. Black had done what he had come here to do: confess to her, and had a lot of fun along the way. He'd helped White face her fear, and he'd gotten a few kisses as a reward. All in all, a pretty good night.

"Listen, Black, Thanks so much for taking me out tonight. I learned a lot about myself, and I couldn't have done it without you," White gushed.

They stood on White's front porch, holding hands in the moonlight. Black couldn't have been happier with how the night had gone.

"Oh, it's too bad I have to go back to work tomorrow. I would have liked to do this again," White said wistfully.

"Hey, I still work for you. We'll see each other again tomorrow, and we can do something again after work if you feel like it. I'm always free," Black replied, brushing a rogue lock of hair off of her face.

"That's true. Hey, what do you say we go for Casteliacones tomorrow?"

"Sounds like a date," Black said happily.

"Great! See you tomorrow, Black, and thanks again!" White kissed his cheek and turned to go back into her house. Before she could open the door, however, Black spun her back around.

"No problem," he said, leaning in. "After all," he said, just before kissing her lips. "We are friends, right?"

*Really, really sorry about this silly bit of lampshade hanging. I don't want to make up last names for either of them, and this was the best (Read: Laziest) way to conceal them without deconstructing an otherwise nice (IMO) little scene.

**About 50 bucks, according to 1358456's conversion rate.

Nobadi, signing off.