Project G—Chapter seven (10-07-05)

When Harley finally awoke, the first thing he thought about was if his pretty pokémon were okay. Jolting up and looking around confirmed that they were only a few feet away from him, and they both appeared to be sleeping. He sighed with relief; he didn't know what he'd have done if either of them had gotten hurt…

The second thing to enter his mind was the way the two were sleeping. Jupetta-chan was in Noctus-chan's lap, and the older male had his arms wrapped firmly around his companion. It was adorable, plain and simple. Harley wished he had his camera with him; that would be a perfect shot for one of their photo albums! The question, however, was why? Noctus-chan had been keeping his distance from everyone ever since he'd transformed into a human. So why was he suddenly—?

And then it hit him. Hard. And quite frankly, he felt like a total idiot. It all made sense. Jealousy. Noctus-chan had been jealous that Jupetta-chan had been so touchy-feely with him. And that meant…

'Noctus-chan is in love with Jupetta-chan! And by the looks of things, I'd say Jupetta-chan returns his feelings… That's so cute! My pretty buddies are in love! …But where does that leave me? Jupetta-chan said he loves me…'

The thought of Jupetta-chan mistaking his feelings for him made Harley feel oddly depressed. Just when he'd thought he'd finally found someone he could love… And he'd even given up on someone else for the boy! True, he'd had major crushes since his pre-pubescent years, and quite a few minor infatuations, but he hadn't felt this strongly about anyone since—

He stopped himself for going any further on that track. He'd promised to himself years ago that he'd never think of it again. After all, it wasn't as if he was still thinking about it… That was in the past, and it was best kept there.

"Something wrong?"

Harley jumped at the sudden voice, but calmed down when he saw it was only Noctus-chan. Perhaps it would be better to talk with him first… Maybe he had it all wrong. Maybe they'd just fallen asleep like that… Maybe—

"Well, are you gonna answer me or not?" Noctus-chan looked a bit peeved at being ignored, and Harley nodded, buying some time so he could think of the best way to ask what was on his mind.

"You and Jupetta-chan… Are you…?" Noctus-chan began smirking before the question could even be finished. It was high time Harley went through a bit of the turmoil he'd been feeling lately.

"Are we what? Together? In love? You'd be right on both accounts. While you were out of it, we had a little chat… Seems like he loves me too. I hope you don't mind sharing…" Noctus-chan felt quite proud of himself; unfortunately, his cocky attitude was lost upon the joyous coordinator.

"Really?" He jumped up and ran to the where positively bewildered hybrid sat, plopping down beside him. "He loves both of us? That's great! You two are the cutest little couple I've ever seen! And don't worry; I don't mind sharing at all!" Noctus-chan seemed rather doubtful.

"You don't?" Harley shook his head, smiling warmly.

"Of course not!" At this point, he reached up and brushed the side of his hand against Noctus-chan's face. "Especially when I'm sharing him with someone as cute as you…"

Poor Noctus-chan felt his brain shutting down. Was Harley flirting with him? The man who'd caused all of his grief since he'd become a human? It didn't make any sense!

Of course it does, piped up the little voice in his head. It makes perfect sense. If he loves one of his pokémon, why wouldn't he love both of you?

Whether it made sense or not, that didn't mean he had to like it.

"Get away from me," he growled, Jupetta-chan's slumber being the only thing keeping him from yelling. Harley drew his hand back as if he'd been burned, the emotional pain evident on his face.

"Noctus-chan… Why—?"

He was cut off by a series of incoherent mumblings, courtesy of the sleeping boy. He lifted up his head from Noctus-chan's chest groggily, blinking a few times to focus. Once he was back among the conscious, he saw Harley and smiled, having no idea as to what had just been going on moments ago.

"Harley-sama, you're awake!" he squealed and jumped from one of his lover's arms to the other's. "I was so worried about you! Don't scare me like that!" Despite the fact that he still felt perplexed, Harley couldn't help but smile back. He felt relieved that Jupetta-chan still loved him. Was this it? Was this the love he'd craved for so long? If so, why did Noctus-chan's reaction bother him so much?

'I'll have to talk to him later, when we're alone… There must be some misunderstanding…'

"I'm sorry," he said aloud, rubbing the boy's back in a comforting manner. "I never wanted to scare my beautiful love. Forgive me?" Jupetta-chan blushed faintly at the compliment, nodding happily.

"Of course! I'm just glad you're okay…" Harley drew him closer, wondering why this couldn't have happened years ago. Maybe he'd have been able to avoid a few heartaches that way…

"All right, enough of this mushy shit already. Let's go find everyone else so we can get out of this damn cave." Harley, not wanting to irate the hybrid further, stood up and helped Jupetta-chan to his feet. In turn, the boy kept a hold of his eldest lover's hand, then grasped Noctus-chan's hand with his other.

"Okay! Let's go!" The closest the three had been in days, they set out to find their friends.


"…Is there a reason you two aren't talking?" Robert and Shuu ignored her, walking in complete silence. "Come on! This is boring enough as it is. The least you could do is talk to me so the time will pass quicker!"

Still no response.

"Please? I'm begging here, just one word!"

Total silence.

"…Pretty please?"

"…"

"…"

And that was all she could take.

"All right!" she shouted angrily, stopping and spinning on her heel so she was facing the two males. "I've had enough of this! Whatever lover's tiff you're having, I'm not a part of it! So quit ignoring me before I use your faces as scratching posts!" Needless to say, that got her a response.

"We're not lovers!"

"I'm sorry Luna."

Two very different responses. Luna looked from Robert to Shuu, carefully noting their expressions for later observation. A spark of pain flashed through Robert's eyes at the boy's words. And Shuu looked angry that she'd even suggested it.

'Maybe a little too angry… I think someone's deep in denial…'

"Whatever. I just call them as I see them…" Shuu opened his mouth to retort, but she continued, "And you don't have to be sorry Robert, I know you have a lot on your mind." The blond smiled gratefully, glad she wasn't pushing the issue too much.

"Let's just… keep going. We should find the others as quickly as possible." Shuu said nothing, just staring ahead stubbornly. Luna nodded, wanting desperately to ask something, but she didn't think she should do it with Shuu around. Deciding to ask when they were alone, she continued leading the way, this time accepting the silence that prevailed.


By the time Duana came to, Kieran was already up and looking around the room they'd landed in. He was feeling around the rock walls, looking for a way out. Duana felt her heart race; were they stuck? Were they going to die here? They couldn't die yet; she was too young and pretty! This wasn't possible, she—!

"Quit hyperventilating. Look behind you." She complied, sweat dropping when she saw that there was indeed a large opening behind her.

"…Well, what are you doing then?" He shrugged, going back to his investigation.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I'm looking to see if there are any secret buttons or something… If you can find one, I don't see why I can't…" She almost made a comment about how she had great dumb luck, before she realized that wasn't exactly flattering…

"Okay… Want some help?"

"No." Well, that was nice and blunt...

"All right. …Well… Maybe we should get going? We are in the cave after all. Maybe we can find the orb if we hurry." Kieran turned slowly to face her, his eye ticking in irritation.

"Hurry?" he questioned. "Hurry? You have the audacity to tell me to hurry when you've been the one slowing us down the whole time? I don't believe you!" She was up quicker you could blink and hastily ran for her life. Kieran was after her in a split second, and the chase was on.


"Where do you think all the ice is?" Harley's shrugged, wondering the same thing himself.

"Good question. What idiot names a place an ice cave when there are nothing but rocks? They obviously had no idea what they were talking about…"

"Maybe all of it melted."

"Then it'd be a water cave," Noctus-chan pointed out.

"Oh, that's right…"

"I still say they were just a bunch of idiots." Noctus-chan agreed with Harley for once, though he wasn't about to admit it.

"They're not the only ones…" Harley bit his tongue, desperately trying not to start anything with Jupetta-chan around. He just had to wait until they were alone, then he could get all of his answers… He just hoped he wouldn't go crazy first…

They walked along in silence for the next few minutes, the only sound being the water dripping from the stalactites down to the ground. Jupetta-chan was vaguely aware of the tension in the air, but brushed it off as everyone being bored after walking for so long. He wished there was something, anything, he could do to have some fun…

"Hey! I'm gonna go ahead and see if I can find some ice, okay? Okay!" Before either of his lovers could protest, he let go of their hands and ran off, leaving them staring at his retreating form…

…For about three seconds.

"Jupetta-chan, come back!"

"You're gonna hurt yourself you idiot!"

The boy ignored their cries of protest, anxious to find some fun. Maybe if he found some ice, he could skate on it until they found the others. Or maybe there'd be some snow and they could build a snowman. Or—

"Ow! What's with people running into me today?" He crashed to the ground, landing sprawled out on a disheveled Luna. Robert and Shuu watched the scene with much amusement. Haley and Noctus-chan, who had caught up enough to watch the whole thing happen, sighed in unison.

"I'm sorry!" Jupetta-chan apologized, helping Luna up. "I was looking for the ice." …She didn't even bother to ask.

"It's alright. Robert already knocked me down once today, so I'm getting used to it… But hey, we're all back together! This is great; now we can find the orb without worrying about getting lost. Well, we still might get lost, but we'll all be lost together! And— And I'm rambling, so let's just go…" There was a collective murmur of agreement as they followed the eager girl, once again relying on her innate sense of direction to get them to their destination.

Jupetta-chan, having learned that running in caves was a big no-no, walked between Harley and Noctus-chan, once again taking their hands in his. The three thought nothing of it, but the others were another story…

"What, are all three of you together now?" Harley looked over at Shuu, considering the best way to say it… He supposed the truth would be best.

"No, not quite. But Noctus-chan and I both love Jupetta-chan, and he loves us both back. Noctus-chan and I… We're just friends." Noctus-chan didn't say anything, and Harley felt a small stab of pain in his chest. He'd hoped his pretty pokémon would say he was wrong… And the worst part was, he knew exactly why it hurt him so much…

He was a wreck; who fell in love with both of their pokémon?

"…And no one finds that a bit odd?" No one replied to Shuu at first. Luna had a feeling she knew what was going on… It seemed that Shuu wasn't the only one in denial. Harley was still internally moping, while Noctus-chan tried to think of anything but his trainer who'd been flirting with him earlier. Jupetta-chan hadn't heard the earlier argument, and obviously didn't know that anything strange was happening. Finally, after a few minutes with no response, Robert spoke up.

"No, I'm not surprised at all." Shuu raised an eyebrow and Luna's ears perked up.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" The blond smiled, a speck of sadness showing through in his eyes.

"…I've always known he loved his pokémon more than anyone else in the world… I suppose it was rather foolish of me to ever think otherwise…"

Everyone suddenly stopped walking.

"Robert…" Harley's voice sounded very small, almost like he was afraid of what the other man was saying. This didn't go undetected of course, and Shuu looked back and forth between the two.

"…Do you two know each other from before all this?" Harley remained silent, his grip on Jupetta-chan's hand going limp. Robert nodded slowly, deciding that know was as good a time as ever. If he ever wanted to move on with his life, he'd have to confront his past first…

"Yes. Actually, we grew up together. We were next door neighbors and best friends as children." Noctus-chan and Jupetta-chan were insanely curious. Why was it they didn't remember Robert? They'd been with Harley since the he was ten-years-old… As for Luna, she looked more interested than she had been thus far in their journey. She hadn't been able to guess that little tidbit of information… And she had a feeling there was even more to come.

"So what happened? You two act like you don't even know each other…" Robert gave Harley a chance to say or do something to tell him to stop, not to tell what they'd hidden for so long. When he received nothing, he laughed hollowly, not quite believing he was about to say this.

"Then we grew into teenagers… And I fell in love with him."