A/N: Hello, all of my dear readers! Welcome to chapter 10. I figured I'd give you guys another update since it has been far too long. I hope you enjoy it! - Saberae
Chapter 10
Eyes ablaze, Gary Oak towered over his victim. His breathing was ragged, irregular from drinking and from rage.
"Tell me, Richie," Oak cracked his knuckles as he took a step closer to the young boy who was still on the floor. "What the fuck are you doing!?" He grabbed the kid by the collar of his shirt, yanked him off the floor and slammed the boy into the wall. Richie flinched as he came into contact with the wall, cringing in pain. Gary dragged the spawn up the white plaster so their eyes were at the same level.
"Look at me!" Gary spat, he had zero patience at this point, if not less.
Richie cracked open one of his eyes, he was trembling as a result of his recent abuse, and trying to manage his breathing. The infuriated man tightened his grip on the cowering teen, and pulled him closer, only to thrust him back against the wall. Richie responded with a stifled yelp.
"Answer me!" came the growl. No response. He dropped the interrogated onto the floor, and scoffed. "Don't think for a second that this is over…" Gary threatened.
Richie kept his eyes closed as he coughed slightly from the impact of landing on the ground. He knew he was going to lose this fight, so he decided to keep his mouth shut for the time being.
"Tch. You better not be here when I get back," The scientist commanded, walking towards the door. He opened it, but paused. "I don't know what might become of you if you are…" The door slammed shut.
Richie exhaled, relieved that the danger was, at least for the time being, over. He sat up, and pulled his knees in close, lowering his head to rest on them.
"Why is it always about Ash?" Richie sighed, closing his eyes again. "Why can't you see me?"
~~~POKEMON~~~
Gary slammed into a tree.
"Damn it!" He cursed, trying to regain his footing. Why had he decided to drink tonight of all nights? He couldn't run straight, and kept stumbling into trees.
The brunette knew that Ash hadn't run back into the house; that would be too anti-dramatic for the teen. The trainer wouldn't have run home either, most likely out of fear of being called a 'momma's-boy'. The stumbling drunk had a pretty good idea as to where the younger boy was hiding out.
"I'm not a drunk," Gary muttered, bracing himself against a tree to keep from tripping again. The fact that it was dark was not helping his already wavering vision, not to mention he didn't have his glasses on hand; three strikes, and you're out. "He better be there…there's no way that I'm going to be able to find him otherwise." He released the tree from his grasp, and took very deliberate steps forward, scoping out the ground for any roots that may be trying to pick a fight with him.
The Pokémon researcher was probably about half way through the woods he was clumsily navigating. While it made his job more difficult, it was the quickest route to his destination, and it avoided him being seen by any judgmental townsfolk.
~~~POKEMON~~~
Ash sighed as he lay, sprawled out in the grass, staring at the starry sky above him. This was something he always appreciated from living in a small town; the lack of light pollution. He absentmindedly began counting stars, but closed his eyes once he realized the pointlessness of doing so. The trainer rolled over so he was laying face down in the green summer grass.
"This sucks…" the grass muffled his already quiet voice.
His mind replayed what he had just seen at the lab, and the teen cringed, rolling back over to gaze at the sky. He placed his hands behind his head and bit his lip in frustration.
"I'm going to have to deal with both of them eventually." Ash was being surprisingly logical for being…well, Ash. "Maybe I should just head back now, and get things over with." He sat up, and focused on the ground in front of him for a solid few seconds.
"No way!" Ash proclaimed aloud. "I'm not the one did anything wrong," he clenched his fists in defiance, "I didn't hurt anyone…" but he cut himself off. He remembered the sadness in Gary's eyes, the sadness that he himself had caused. He just stared for a moment, dwelling on the image. "No." He shook his head, as if in an attempt to shake his mind free of the thought.
Now he was the one fuming, it was his stubborn side coming out. It had accidentally been tucked away due to his other emotions taking over for the majority of the day, but now it had freed itself. The river from earlier that day splashed lightly against the half-submerged rocks. The air was warm, and the water probably felt nice. For the sake of cooling his head, the dark-haired boy stood up, stripped down to his boxers, and dove into the glistening moonlit water.
~~~POKEMON~~~
The young man, slightly disoriented from his impact with so much foliage, wandered out of the woods, pulling leaves out of his spiked hair.
"Shrubberies and I obviously don't get along," the teen smirked, amused by his own comment. He looked up at the starry sky, and took a moment to take it all in; the infinite expanse that lay ever beyond him. Taking in a deep breath of the night air, he glanced around to get his bearings. Gary was beginning to worry since he had taken so long to get through the wooded terrain; he wasn't sure how long Ash would stick around in one place.
~~~POKEMON~~~
Ash took a deep breath before submerging his head under the water, after a few seconds he reemerged, shaking his head to get the wet hair out of his eyes. His thoughts were scattered, and while his mind consistently wandered, it even more consistently always returned to the same topic. Gary Oak. He spread his limbs out so he could float on the surface of the river, trees casting shadows over his body as a result of the vibrant moonlight and clear skies. It was peaceful, only the sound of chirping crickets from the nearby hills echoed through the area.
There was a sound.
Ash turned his head more instinctively than out of interest in the direction of the noise.
"Gary." He whispered, solely for his own sake.
The brunette stood on the bank with his hands in his pockets, looking down at the shimmering ripples in the water the bathing boy was causing. His face was solemn. Ash quickly submerged his bottom half, and lowered himself into the water up to his chin. He knew that Gary could see him, but he felt safer being tucked away in the river's embrace nonetheless. There was silence between the two of them. What was probably only a few minutes, but seemed like forever, passed. At one point, Gary looked like he was about to say something, but changed his mind and remained silent, not daring to look Ash in the eye.
The trainer remained semi-submerged in the middle of the river with absolutely no clue what to do.
"I waited for him to get here, I can wait for him to say something," Ash assured himself. After all, he had enough experience at this point in his life to know that in situations like these, it was best for him to keep his mouth shut.
Silent seconds…
Silent minutes…
Gary exhaled audibly. Ash knew that mannerism, it meant the researcher was fed up, losing his patience, and/or disappointed…great. The trainer lowered his disappointed gaze to the water in front of him; maybe he should have said something after all.
Movement.
The trainer quickly looked up, and smiled to himself, quickly hiding it by submerging himself up to his nose in the river.
Gary dove into the river, having cast his shirt and shoes on the grassy bank before the plunge, and swam in the direction of the other teen, keeping himself underwater. Ash instinctively backed away some, unsure of how things would progress. The brunette broke the surface, practically on top of the younger boy, and without hesitation landed a kiss right on his target's lips.
Ash bobbed, wide-eyed, and shocked. What was he supposed to do? He was supposed to be angry, right? He had been debating whether or not to punch Gary in the face when he saw him next, but now…now his mind was to clouded to figure things out.
"Ash…" Gary whispered, scooting back some to give the two of them some space. "I'm sorry." He paused, and looked affectionately at the boy in front of him. "I'm sorry for everything that has happened, but please…know that everything I've told you today…has been true." The researcher averted his gaze, embarrassed by what he was saying, and blushed slightly. Fortunately for him, it was too dark to see.
Ash's eyes darted from Gary, to the water, and back again, never seeming to make a decision. Eventually, they did. The shorter boy stared at his friend, tracing over his moonlit facial features with precision. He was finally calming down some.
"I know," Ash finally managed to get out. Gary immediately moved his eyes to make contact with those of the speaker. "Gary, I know you weren't at fault…and I know, what I said before…" Ash swallowed, "about how I didn't know if you were doing and saying all these things because you meant them, or…" he looked down at the water, "or because you were just being a jerk…" Gary cringed at the verbal blow. Ash kept going. "I knew as soon as I said that stuff, that I was wrong. I felt terrible about it. Then, I was going to go apologize to you…but…"
"Stop," the researched cut him off. Ash looked into the other's eyes to find a stubborn set staring back at him. "You don't need to say any more." Also, in reality, Gary really didn't want to be reminded of what had happened earlier in the lab either. The taller boy maneuvered over to the trainer, and pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm sorry," he whispered again.
Ash relaxed, content now with being in the embrace of the other boy, and returned the hug. Though, the relaxation didn't last too long. The skin contact between their torsos sent shivers down the younger's spine.
"C'mon Ash, keep it together," these self-motivational conversations really had to stop. The darker haired boy cleared his throat slightly.
"So, I really enjoyed your kiss from a few minutes ago…" Ash murmured, blushing at his own comment. Gary released Ash enough so they were face-to-face.
"Oh, really?" Gary inquired. "You're lucky I landed it, I didn't know if I was gonna in my current state," he smirked.
"Wait, were you alright getting here?" Ash questioned, finally remembering the booze from before. Gary laughed.
"I may have had some trouble, but…" the older boy smirked.
"But…?" Ash replied hesitantly.
"But I'm sure you can make the trip more than worthwhile," Oak grinned, and leaned close to the other's ear. "I've been holding myself back for a while now. I'm so fucking horny for you…now, let me do as I please."
Ash turned beet red, and stammered out sounds that weren't actually audible words. With that, the brunette smirked, and ducked under the water.
A/N: Thanks so much for reading. I'm not 100% certain but I may go ahead and write a sequal to this fic since it seems to be liked so much. What would you all like to see in the next installment? Feel free to PM me to let me know! I've really appreciated all your reviews, thanks guys! - Saberae