His lips were anything but gentle, but they were far from bruising. Gently molding his lips over hers, his tongue swept her bottom lip, and slowly urged her to open as he explored these yet unexplored territories. His hands had fell from her shoulders to her waist, and his thumbs drew subconscious circles on her hips, his concentration mainly on their conjoined lips. It was a heat Gary had never before felt, even if he's had countless of relationships. They were all after his name, his looks, his money, his fame. He was the son of Professor Samuel Oak, who didn't want him? The only one who treated him anywhere near resembling a normal human being was Kitty, yet she was also the one who drove him out of his mind.
And he wanted no one else.
By the time the two of them pulled apart, Kitty's eyes were closed, both their breaths heavy as they mingled in the small space which had just appeared from their breaking apart. Gary chuckled in amusement at how out of it the girl in his arms seemed to be, but his chuckle seemed to be all Kitty needed to jolt back in to attention. Her eyes snapped opened, and were as wide as saucers, as if she was trying to confirm if this was actually reality, and she wasn't dreaming.
Had she just… kissed Gary Oak? Or, well, got kissed by him. But either way, was a pretty hard to believe fact.
This couldn't be happening. Kitty had felt as if she was dreaming by the first brush of his lips, but when he returned for a second, even deeper kiss, Kitty had froze in shock. And then she was drowned by the pure feel of him so close to her, his heat she could practically feel emanating from him, that Kitty had stopped trying to make sense and just gave in to the moment, just for a moment. Now that reality had come crashing back in at headlong speed though, everything suddenly seemed too much for her to take in. When he chuckled, Kitty snapped herself out of her uncertain reality to suddenly jerk away from him, backing in to the wall as she spluttered.
"No. This-You-No-I… wha-"
"What are you talking about?" Gary scowled as he followed her every step, more or less fencing her against the wall leaving her no escape route.
"I can't – you can't possibly –This-"
"You're not making sense Kit. Do you need another kiss to make sense again?" his cheeky grin accompanied a wag of his brows, and his chin lowered again. This time, Kitty panicked and ducked under one arm to back further down the hallway. "No!"
"I mean- I just… this isn't happening. I can't- You're Gary Oak! You can get any girl you want, they throw themselves at your feet! You're just toying with me. I can't afford… not you. Don't play around Gary, I don't want to play!"
"Who says I'm playing!" Gary protested, grabbing her wrist before she could run away again, he quickly jerked her to him with an angry scowl. "I'm not playing. And I'm insulted you think so."
"But I'm just…" she stalled, her words catching in her throat as she saw how much he meant those words, his eyes hard as steel. Looking away, the girl shifted her gaze downwards as she continued. "I'm just Catherine. The girl who never really fit in with your cheerleading group, the one who left because she just… I don't want to be one of them. I don't want to be just another cheerleader. I-"
"You're not." Gary paused, tilted his head a little to regard the slight girl whom he held so dear to his heart. And it was only then did he realize how low of a self esteem Kitty had in regards to him. He didn't get it though; did she not see how she had been the one constant in his life? "You're my Kitty. The one who can see through my façade to see the better man in me. You're the one who influenced my decision to be a researcher. Even back when I was a trainer, you didn't just cheer for me, you helped me. I could have anyone at the back dancing with pompoms for me, but who would tell me what I did wrong, how to improve?"
His voice had been placating and persuasive, but above all it had been gentle. The kind of gentle that made Kitty's heart skip a beat, and she bit her lip as she looked up at him. Her uncertainty was written clear for all to see on her face, and perhaps the only thing that stopped her from bolting away to the sanctuary of her office once again, was the gentle warmth she saw from Gary's eyes as she met his gaze. "You're the one constant I have in my life. As long as you don't leave again, you'll never be 'just one of them'."
For a long time, the silence made Gary nervous. The longer she remained silent, the more he thought that maybe, just maybe, he didn't manage to convince her. But he's trying, Arceus knew he was trying. He's never sounded so sappy before, god forbid any of his friends or his staff found out just what was going on now, he would never hear the end of it. But he needed to do this, needed her to stay. He didn't realize before how painful it was to not have her around, or even worst, to have her around but be with someone else and not talking to him. Gary didn't like that feeling, and neither did he want to go through it all over again.
"If I don't leave… then can I stay forever?" Kitty's voice was small as she asked that. She inwardly flinched at how pathetically needy those words sound, yet she knew that with Gary, it was a all or nothing thing. Perhaps this was why she had always been afraid to admit to herself that she wanted to be around him, constantly wanted his presence, liked him way more then was safe. Because liking him made her feel vulnerable, exposed, because he had the power to crush her with a single word, and that was too much power one person could wield over her. But at this point of time, what choice did she have? Faced with him, especially after he had just kissed her, Kitty had all but given up any semblance of trying to keep her emotions in rein around him.
She had been nervous as hell when she asked her question, and only calmed a little as Gary grinned, and then pulled her to enfold her in his embrace. His arms held her tightly against him, as she gingerly wrapped her own arms around his waist. His response however, came a little later, and so soft, it was meant for her ears, and her ears alone.
"Stay far longer than forever."
The silence in the Shinx's room was pregnant, filled with the serious attitude as the three figures crouched over their work. Peering in a telescope, the only female there bounced between the sample she was scrutinizing on the sample holder under the magnifying lens of the laboratory telescope, to the still unconscious Shinx on the table, her Espeon watching over the sleeping Pokemon. Occasionally scribbling on the one of the many papers scattered on her workspace, the girl looked up to address the one next to her, only to have a surprised squeak muffled by a pair of lips, a chaste, quick kiss, before the other one pulled away, his cheerful grin met by a reprimanding frown as Kitty glared at Gary.
Casting a quick, surreptitious glance at the intern working in a further corner, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the younger one not realize anything had happened, before hissing at her boyfriend of 3 days. "Stop doing that! They're going to find out if you keep that up." she scolded, exasperated when all Gary did was shrug.
"They'll find out eventually. I don't know why you wanted to keep it a secret." In all honesty, Gary wanted to crow it from the rooftops that he finally got his one heart's desire since he was ten. But for some reason unknown to him, whether it be from embarrassment or other reasons the researcher didn't know, but either way, Kitty had expressed her desire to keep their relationship a secret for now. Gary hadn't exactly been agreeable to the idea, but he had never been able to withhold anything the girl wanted, so he had regretfully acquiesced. But Kitty was quickly realizing this came with a prize, and she has been shocked more then once, as Gary got in him to sneak kisses and brushes and anything he could in between talking to her, and their work.
With a final scowl, she turned back to her papers and motioned at Gary to take a look. "We need to go back underground again. That passage is our only clue. The tracker device we got from Emolga detected a signal before it fizzled out, and it shows some remote, uninhabited, unexplored island a little way across from the passage's exit. But the only way we'll be able to find our way there is if we find the exit."
Gary frowned, and when Kitty looked up to figure is reaction, she scowled, interpreting the frown correctly. "You can stop trying to think of a way to make me stay, I'm not staying." she hissed. Silence. "I'm not Gary Oak, and I mean it. I'm as much part of this investigation as you are."
"Its going to be dangerous."
"I can't take care of myself."
Gary remained silent, but he wasn't stupid. He easily recognized the mutinous look on his girlfriend's face, plus trying to argue with her on doing her job would be pointless. Didn't mean he was happy about her coming along, but he made a mental note to bring along his strongest Pokemon team, as he watched her pack up all her notes, and summoned her Espeon with a click, before turning to him with a smile. Curse the girl for knowing that he gave in so easily to her wishes.
"I'll go and tell Kellyn, shall I?"
"I'll come with you."
"No need. You need to gather your team too, and I kn-"
"I'll come with you." he growled, again scowling. This time Kitty raised a brow, but hid a giggle as she shrugged and turned to walk out of the laboratory in search of her friend and ex-colleague, Gary dogging her heels. The researcher's incredible jealousy still amused Kitty. He had barely let her out of his sight for the past three days, and more often then not, he usually ambushed her either in her office or in her quarters once the rest of the research facility had went to bed. While is overprotective actions did get on Kitty's nerves at time, she also found it endearing.
Casting a glance at him as they fell in to step side by side outside in the corridor, she playfully nudged him with her shoulder, and grinned at him when he turned to look at her. "Stop being so stodgy. Kellyn's just a friend." she grinned, god forbid he ever found out they had a fling back when they just began as a ranger. Oh, Kitty will get around to telling him that tidbit soon, just.. not now.
Her words didn't do anything to ease his scowl though, and she sighed in amused exasperation. Giving a quick look up and down the corridor to make sure no one was around, she grinned and tip toed to give him a quick peck on his cheek, before darting away, much to Gary's surprise. "Hey!"
"Hurry, before Kellyn leaves for the day!" she teased, laughing as she ran off. And Gary couldn't help it, he laughed along with her as he took off after her. No one else gave him joy as easily and more then Kitty. He was an idiot to have let her go so long ago, and he wasn't about to repeat that mistake again.