A/N: Special thanks to Maia. You've been a doll. Your new fic brightened my day.
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Chapter 2: "The Blues"
"And then, he said; I'm not gonna, this is my cubicle!" He started to laugh, dropping his head forward, his brown hair gracing against the barstool. Misty almost spit out the scotch in her mouth in laughter. Sure, she had no idea what he had just said, and it was very possible he didn't either, but he was laughing, and it was contagious, so she was laughing, and soon people started to stare. She brushed her long hair out of her face and threw it on her back still giggling insanely.
As the laughter died down, she blinked "What's a cubicle?" She asked. Gary shrugged, and the hilarity ensued again, laughing almost at the top of their lungs, disrupting the peace of the quiet environment. The place was already clearing out; people were moving onto more bars, or night clubs.
Soon they fell quiet, but in a content mood. Her prior worries were nowhere near her conscious thoughts, so she was actually having a great time. It was already dark outside but she wasn't even worried anymore. The bottle was almost empty, and Gary served them both half a glass, the last of scotch, and tossed it away almost breaking it. "You can't hold your alcohol, woman" His words fell out of his mouth almost tripping with one another. He emitted a deep husky chuckle staring at the ground.
Misty tried to look up but her head felt immensely heavy. "You can't even talk right, man!" Her voice sounded extremely close to the stereotypical surfer of the west coast, and as much as she tried to appear sober, she couldn't, and she giggled again. Gary smirked. "You've only had two cups!"
Misty looked down at the half full glass and brought her to her lips, drinking it all at once. "Two and a half" She said, sounding more like 'tioo aaanahaff'.
They would have continued that way if the bartender hadn't sneezed
The sneeze changed everything. Gary heard wrong and asked out loud. "Did he just say pikachu?" Misty froze. The word Pikachu triggered everything in her mind as everything flooded right back to her, almost running her over. Pikachu. Pikachu reminded her of Ash. Ash, he was in the tournament, Tournament, gym, Brock, they must be worried sick about her and Toge…
She froze in the stool so much Gary actually worried and leaned over to study her. Her grip on the glass was so tight she actually cracked it. As afraid as someone could ever be, she turned her head to the stool on her left and felt a wave of panic to find it empty. Togepi. Togepi was missing. She didn't even notice before, but Togepi was missing.
He felt Gary's hand on her forehead, taking her temperature. "You okay there, Mist?"
Misty gasped, completely sobered up and grabbed Gary by the collar. "Togepi is gone!" She cried out, alarmed. Gary's first reaction was to notice the proximity of his face to hers, but it was shortly pondered. The panicked features on her face made him snap out of his drunken stupor. "What?" He asked, dumb folded.
But she was in a full neurotic mode. "Togepi! My baby pokemon, He could have been missing for so long, I didn't notice, how could I be so stupid not to notice, I'm the worst person in the entire world, this… Oh my god, Togepi's gone" She rambled on as Gary shook her lightly by the shoulders.
"Hey come on" He said softly, trying to calm her down. "We'll find him"
"Her" She corrected, almost in tears.
"We'll find her" He repeated, confident. "She couldn't have gone too far" He was far from confident, but his self-assured tone of voice, even if faked, managed to calm her down a little. She inhaled, and exhaled to keep her mind clear and shook her head to find her balance. The room was still shifty to her eyes, but it was slowly returning to normal.
They knew they were a pain in the ass for that restaurant; the customers must have left because of their constant laughter before, and now, them crawling around the place looking for the egg-shaped pokemon made the annoyance level climb even higher. Some customers asked for the bill and left, the others tried to put up with it, and only few actually felt sympathetic for them. Looking under tables, on every corner, on the stage—while someone was doing karaoke—behind the bar, Much to the barman's resistance, in the kitchen; much to the cook's dismay.
"I'm going to check the bathroom" Misty announced walking away. He turned around only to see her disappear behind the bathroom door. The door shut, a wooden sign on it spelling 'MEN'. Gary let out a breath. "Misty that's the—" He turned around at a strange sound. It came from the coat rack. He cautiously walked over, and crouched in the ground listening in. A light chirping was found. He felt a wave of relief smack him in the face as he pushed some coat's aside and found the baby pokemon soundly asleep between the fabrics.
Picking up Togepi in his arms he cradled it, as it chirped happily waking up from a rejuvenating nap. "Pri"
Gary walked to the men's room and found a red-faced Misty and some very-pissed off men, with probably a few cups of alcohol on them. Misty turned to see him, and the tough situation she was in was completely set aside as her eyes lay upon the pokemon on his arms, chirping for her mother. "Oh my god, Togepi!" She cried out in happiness and launched forward Gary, hugging and kissing Togepi several times.
Oblivious to the tension settled in between Gary and the thugs in the bathroom, waiting for an explanation, Misty talked quietly with her baby pokemon. One of the men, a tall, strong and bald guy with a noticeable short temper eyed him disrespectfully. "Why don't you teach your girlfriend how to read next time, kid"
Misty turned around, ticked off. "What!" Gary's eyes widened and wrapped her arms around her, slowly backing away to the entrance. "You'll have to excuse her, she's a bit of a nut job". Misty struggled in his arms to get free and punch the guy that had implied she was illiterate. Gary smirked "Be still" He whispered in her ear as they exited the bathroom. She huffed and turned her face away, trying to hide the slight blush in her face.
"Let go" She ordered once they were out. Gary ceased the bear-hug grip on her and ran a hand through his hair, exhausted.
He walked towards the nearest table and slumped down on a seat. Misty did the same, in the seat across. Neither of them wanted to go back to the bar, so they sat in silent agreement. Misty looked up to face him. "Think you're ready to drive?"
Gary raised his eyes from the wooden table, but his sight was still a bit delayed. "I think we better sit for another half an hour" He said running a hand through his hair. Misty nodded. She wasn't going to start fighting again. They fell into a comfortable but tired silence again, and after some minutes, Misty half smiled. "Thanks for finding Togepi"
Gary shrugged. "I was just in the right place, right time"
Misty raised her eyebrow. Was Gary Oak being modest? The thought alone was too odd to ponder. So she soon dismissed it. "That reminds me, What are you doing in Pewter?"
"My grandpa gets invited to all these places. When he can't make it to some, he sends me. Ships some good ol' Oak blood somewhere." He smirked bitterly. "He always does"
She nodded, but there was one more thing nagging at her brain. She winced and let out a breath. "Do you always drink like this?" She blurted out.
Gary eyed her, his eyes wavering, studying her, calculating the approaches, trying to figure out why she was interested in that. "No." He replied.
"How do you hold your alcohol so well, then?" She asked smugly, traces of scepticism in her voice.
Gary smirked. "It's in the Oak blood. I have a track of heavy drinkers in the family"
Misty frowned. "Professor Oak…?"
Gary nodded. "Sober for 30 years now. The AA meeting is damn proud of him" He said mockingly. Misty took it in, nodding slowly. "Your parents…?"
Gary raised an intrigued eyebrow at her sudden urge to know about him. His eyes wavered. He wasn't the kind that opened up. "Never stopped. They were just so wealthy it didn't make them go broke. Drank during pregnancy as well"
She actually felt sorry for him, but it wasn't as if she was actually going to let it show. She doubted anyway he wanted any type of sympathy, especially from her. "Ah" She said. "That explains a lot of things" She said snickering evilly.
He smirked, getting the jab at him, but deciding not to reply. They maintained eye contact for a brief second, and broke it. "So what about you?" Gary asked. "I've spent a whole lot of time with you wasted, and you haven't said one embarrassing thing about yourself to hold over your head in the future"
She blushed, and he pretended not to notice, he also pretended he didn't actually feel happy he was having the same effect on her, that she was having on him. He was probably still tipsy anyway.
Misty tilted her head to one side. "What about…" Her voice trailed off. "I'm actually glad I ran into you"
It was his turn to skip a heartbeat. His smug facade almost faltered, but he managed to keep smirking. "Run into me?" He said sarcastically. "Running into someone is spotting someone in the street, saying hi, and whatnot. You, Misty, did not run into me, you ran me over"
She laughed heartedly and waved it off, Togepi still cradled in her arms. She wasn't planning on letting go of her baby pokemon in quite some while. "Whatever. Thing is, that you caused me a whole lot of problems. But you're actually good company"
He tried to blame it on the scotch the fact that he was still speechless. Misty smiled and looked sheepish. "Embarrassing enough?"
His eyes flashed for an instant and turned just a shade darker. "It'll do" His gaze turned to the window and to his car parked outside. He reached out for the keys on his pocket and threw them on the table. "Okay, I'm good to drive, let's go. They must be worried about you"
Misty stood up and held Togepi tighter. "Believe me, I'm ready"
Keys in hand, they walked out and pretended not to notice the relieved face the bartender was wearing.
Gary chuckled, they were probably not allowed back there anymore
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Maia's Pen: You completely made me swoon over Gary in your egoshippy oneshot! Ah yes… The egoshippers are finally, slowly but somewhat surely returning to the fandom (I hope so, at least) Your fic has made my day, it was AWESOME! I'll be re reading it very soon, have no doubt. As for WYB It's so exciting it's climaxing. Can't wait for the next chappie evil cliffhanger mistress!
Magcat: Yes! Another egoshippy story, I'm so glad to see you again in this story. I'm glad you liked the first chapter, I hope you enjoy the second one!
DarkAngelTorchic: haha, The pajama dance! I have one too, I don't basically move my feet, but I do circular movements with my arms and move my hips--- Wait, why am I sharing this? XD. Got me. Thanks for the review!
Megs626: I have updated! Muahaha, Beware! Fluffy chapter ahead. Well not really. But one more chapter after this one and that's it! Wow, This fic will last so little!
Renyun: Woot! More than happy to hear it's interesting. I hope you come back!
Beyondlove: And so this is what happens! Yay! I hope all the characterizations aren't that similar, but not that different either. I'm glad to have your egoshippy reviews making my day!
Catstar91: Exciting? Haha. I doubt it, but I'm glad you like it! Reviews keep my belly happy. And Gary being a little tipsy sure is cute. Awww, I want a gary to myself. : )
Author's Note: YES! One more chapter and this is it! It's almost almost ready but next week is week of heeell, Lots of lots of homework, so expect an update a week from now or so.
Please review! They make me happy and all glowy.
Midnight Mist.
Egoshippers unite!