Chapter 2: Footprints

Silver's pokegear woke us at 9 in the morning; he was usually up at about seven though. I turned it off and looked down at my lover. Well, maybe it hadn't woken us up, though he was usually a very light sleeper. He was so adorable when he slept, and I could feel every inch of his warm skin against mine under the covers. Gently, I reached down and brushed a few stay locks of red hair from his face. It had gotten so long as of late, about six or seven inches past his shoulders if I was to guess, maybe a bit less toward the front where the pieces that framed his face fell about an inch or two past his jaw. I didn't mind though; I loved his hair. It was thick and shiny, pleasing to touch.

Then Silver nuzzled a bit deeper into the warmth of my chest. "I love you, Silver," I whispered softly, running a hand gently down his bare back. I needed to wake him up, he would want me to.

A soft little moan escaped him, and he nuzzled even closer. "You have to wake up soon, Gym Leader of Viridian," I teased playfully.

"What time is it?" he asked softly.

"Nine o' two," I answered, expecting him to jerk up and yell at me for not waking him up sooner.

He didn't, surprisingly. "Can I lay with you a bit longer?" he asked me quietly, silver eyes looking up at me.

He really had missed me. I hadn't realized it would have such an effect on him. "Of course," I chuckled, pulling him close. I tipped his chin upwards to kiss him, but he pulled away, looking embarrassed.

"I haven't shower or brushed my teeth," he objected pitifully.

"Like I care." I kissed him. He kissed back eagerly, strong pale arms wrapping around my neck. When we finally broke away from the kiss, even I was panting. And I was getting hard, which was sort of funny because Silver's morning wood was just starting to get soft.

Silver tensed a little at feeling my erection, looking away nervously. "Sorry," I chuckled softly.

"It's fine," he replied quickly, a little blush across his cheeks.

"Silver, did anything happen to you while I was gone?" I asked curiously, giving him a small squeeze.

"Like what?"

"I dunno, you seem a little clingy," I admitted. I didn't mind at all of course, but it was really out of character for him. I was worried something was bothering him.

"Sorry," he said quickly, pulling away from my arms, making me frown. "Nothing happened. I didn't mean to make you worry." He was sitting at the edge of the bed, gazing at the ground, the covers still over his lap.

"I don't mean I don't like it," I chuckled, crawling over to him. I brushed his hair away from his neck and gently kissed it. Silver shivered slightly, and I started to bite and suck at the sensitive skin. Silver wasn't making his usual pleased noises, so I pulled away. Why did he have to do this to me? He was so self-conscious. There was nothing wrong with him being clingy.

My eyes narrowed and I shoved him down, pinning his shoulders. He was gazing up at me with wide eyes. I kissed him passionately, dragging the tips of my fingers down his body, touching and rubbing his skin. It was so soft, pure creamy white without a single imperfection. I kissed his neck again, feeling him getting aroused. I teased him for quite a bit until I could tell he really wanted it. Then I went lower, and I blew a hot breath against his erection. He gasped, barely able to hold back a cry.

"Tell me what's wrong," I whispered, flicking my tongue across the head. Silver threw his head back, gripping the sheets. I teasingly licked him again. I loved it when he was turned on. I didn't particularly enjoy oral, but I didn't mind until pre-cum got involved. Then again, he had gotten off last night. Ugh. I'd tried not to think of that. The salty taste of Silver's seed and odd taste of the lubricant we used made me very unwilling to arouse him. "Tell me," I purred, touching gently between his legs, brushing my finger against his entrance.

"I-I missed you," he choked out, eyes squeezed closed.

"But why are you so clingy?" I asked curiously, placing a soft kiss on his lower stomach before dragging my tongue down, almost to his cock.

"Gold!" he groaned, wanting me to stop teasing and to just get on with it.

"I want to know," I replied, taking the head of his erection in my mouth. I was just giving tiny little licks though, only enough to drive him crazy with desire. His precum felt odd against my tongue, but it made me happy that he was aroused. That was always Silver's dead giveaway. He might not act aroused, but his cock would practically be dripping precum, showing just how horny he really was.

"I don't what you to leave again, now please!"

I pulled away and smirked. I kissed him, reaching down and tugging at his cock. He broke the kiss quickly, burying his face into the crook of my neck. I smiled gently at him. "I won't leave you again," I soothed, "at least not as long as I did before. You had trouble sleeping?"

He nodded weakly, his breathing a bit quick. He started to get a bit tense. I reached down with my other hand and pushed a finger into him, despite it being a bit uncomfortable for me in the position I was in. Silver gasped weakly, I felt his hand reach out, gently gripping my shoulder. It started to get a bit tighter though. He was getting close. I pushed another finger into him, gently stroking his prostrate, but my hand stroking his cock wasn't quite as fast as it had been before. It was a bit difficult to keep my hands coordinated. He moaned my name in encouragement.

I only had to push him a bit more, and then I felt him come, the slick, cloudy white liquid spilling onto my hand. I helped him enjoy the last few waves of pleasure from his climax, and then I let him rest. He wasn't the most skilled at holding back; it wasn't too difficult at all to make him come, though it didn't really matter too much. I needed to be able to restrain my orgasm, not Silver.

He was panting softly in my arms, a bit dazed. Usually, he'd be yelling at me for doing that to him, but this time he didn't seem to mind, even after we'd had sex last night. He felt thoroughly content in my arms. Maybe he also had quite a bit of pent-up desire on top of his troubles sleeping. He wasn't used to being lonely anymore. It almost killed him to be alone for too long. But it sounded like he'd been well looked after while I'd been gone.

I sighed mentally. Maybe it was just me he couldn't stand to be without. We had been practically inseparable for seven years. This was the first time in at least a few months he'd had to go without me.

Silver's heartbeat and breathing had returned to normal, and l looked him over with a smile. "I love you," I said, kissing him on the forehead.

He gave a small nod and shakily sat up. "I'm going to go take a shower," he said softly, leaving me. I watched him make his way to the bathroom, realizing I was still hard. His body was beautiful, lean but strong, his skin so pure and pale, soft as velvet. I reached down absently, jerking myself off, a bit of his cum still on my hand. I wanted him again—so badly. If only I hadn't jerked him off, then I could be doing him in the shower. Had I ever done that? Right, once. It hadn't been as fun as it seemed it would be, because the water washed away any type of lube, though the hot water had been a nice touch. I came at the memory, gasping softly. Pleasure washed over me, but not like when I was with Silver. It only felt a tiny bit as good, but it was always nice to have full control over my cock, it was more or less just to shut my body up. I'd done Silver twice; he probably wouldn't be up to it again for a while. I actually ended up jerking myself off quite often. Silver wasn't the best at tending to my desires. If he wasn't in the mood, I just had to take care of myself. There had been a few occasions when I just jerked off with him lying beside me. He never enjoyed that, usually it ended up with him getting hard and us having sex.

I got up and made my way into the bathroom, washing my hands. Then I turned my gaze towards the shower. Silver did appreciate his privacy… but maybe it'd be alright this time. I closed the bathroom door and then peaked into the shower. Silver was letting the water rinse shampoo from his long hair, his head tipped back, his eyes closed, looking incredibly delectable. I stepped in and wrapped my arms around him. He gasped and stiffened, uneasy in my arms.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked casually, sticking my own head under the shower to get my hair wet.

Silver was blushing and glaring at me, but I guess he decided there was no point in even trying, so he just washed the rest of the shampoo from his hair. I on the other hand was sudsing up my hair. I pulled Silver close to me, letting the water wash over us. "I love you, Silver," I whispered into his ear, holding him tight, the shampoo being rinsed from my black hair.

"Gold," he complained.

I chuckled and tugged him out from under the water. I wrung the excess water from his hair and handed him the conditioner. He had to use it to keep his hair from tangling. I personally just used the two in one stuff, but it didn't work well with Silver's hair. Then again, the conditioner had a rather pleasant scent, and it made his hair so shiny and soft.

He poured some into his palm and carefully combed it through his long hair with his fingers. I gave him a soft peck on the lips and grabbed one of the shower puffs and the shower gel. He sent me a small frown and I gave a chuckle, pouring some of the gel onto the puff. I turned the water away from us and Silver sighed, pulling his hair back. I rubbed and massaged his body, and he ended up really enjoying it. I scrubbed us both down, making sure we were squeaky clean after last night. Of course, I let Silver wash up areas he would prefer me not messing with, he was uncut, and I really didn't know the details of washing there without hurting him.

What would usually take Silver anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes (20 if it's just to relax) to shower ended up taking us 40, but then again, I guess that's the equivalent of both of us taking 20-minute showers. And I did kiss him quite a bit in-between our showering.

Silver stepped out, sent me another look, and grabbed a towel which he wrapped around his waist. Then he wrapped one around his shoulders to prevent his long hair from dripping on him. He brushed it out, ringing excess water from it. Then he stepped into our room to grab some clothes. I went and sort of collapsed on the bed, gazing at the ceiling while Silver finished getting ready in the bathroom shaving, brushing his teeth, and things of that nature.

When I decided I was dry enough, I grabbed some boxers, black shorts, a yellow shirt, and some white socks. I ran a towel through my hair, put on some deodorant and then stepped into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Silver abandoned it to me to put on his shirt. He brushed out his still damp hair, I brushed out mine, and we were ready.

It was already almost 11, so we had a small snack of some coffee, a piece of toast with jam for Silver, and an amazing energy bar for me. They had chocolate and everything. I loved them.

One of the maids, who was cleaning the kitchen up from the staff's breakfast, happily greeted us both, asking us our plans. We just told her we were going to be at the gym. Then once we were finished with our breakfast, we pulled on our shoes and left, much to our surprise, discovering four challengers were at the gym.

"Yo, Silv," the ref chuckled. "Have fun sleeping in? You look better."

I felt a bit of reassurance settle over me. Silver's referee was a pretty cool guy, not a half bad battler himself. His name was… crap… uh, Mike, I think? I'm pretty sure. His nickname, like many other referees, was simply Ref. He looked after Silver, knowing how to touch him mentally without breaking Silver's boundaries. Although sometimes I felt that he hit on Silver, but Silver never reacted so I'm sure it was just me liking to be Silver's only.

I smiled, a bit excited by the number of challengers. Silver didn't need to challenge four people in a row. I was going to get to eliminate some if not all of them. "Silver," I pleaded.

"Sure," he answered, not even needing to hear the question.

"There are four of you, if you can beat Gold," he motioned toward me, "then you can battle me."

One of the challengers stepped forward, showing off his Earth Badge. "Actually," he said cockily, "I got this from Gym Leader Green. I'm just here to see if the new gym leader is any good."

Silver raised an eyebrow. "Then you'll go last," he replied bluntly, cold silver eyes trained on the trainer.

Silver was a gym leader, he accessed a trainer's abilities and decided if they were good enough to deserve a badge. He didn't break their spines. They didn't really have to beat him, because then no one would ever win any badges from the leaders. He had restrictions, like no switching, and once a pokemon had been returned, he wasn't allowed to send it out again. As long as the trainer proved themselves worthy, they got a badge.

Er, then again, it'd been months since a trainer had won a badge. Silver curled up beside the ref on the sidelines, a small smile on his lips. He enjoyed seeing me battle. The other three challengers were on the bleachers, where a few other trainers and locals were coming in. They loved watching Silver's matches; he was the strongest gym leader in Kanto after all, at least, carrying his father's title he was the "undefeatable trainer."

I felt a bit bad for him though, he was the gym leader of the highest ranked badge, but he was still a rookie even after all these years. It took time, but people expected him to immediately be the trainer his father had been. So, I watched Silver push himself and his pokemon to their extremes almost daily to live up to other people's expectations, because he finally had expectations to live up to. He'd ended up on TV multiple times before, especially when he first replaced Green. He hated ending up on TV, and he disliked crowds, but when he was in the heat of a battle, he didn't even notice. I simply watched in silence, offering what support I could to my lover afterwards.

As I stood there on the gym floor, I suddenly felt what Silver felt daily under all those eyes. I was nervous, but the sensation of standing there, knowing I was backing up the highly respected title of Viridian City felt good. I was facing a sweet looking girl, but this one wasn't like the one from yesterday. She was stronger. Much stronger. And I hated it, but I lost to the first one. She didn't wipe the floor with me or anything, but she did beat me, so Silver had to face her. A loss was a loss, but under all those eyes I felt like a complete failure. I felt a faint smile cross my lips, imagining what Silver felt as he stepped out onto the field. My heart was beating rapidly as I watched the battle, but mostly Silver and not the pokemon. He was good with his poker face, but I managed to catch glimpses of his emotions every once in a while.

Amazingly, Silver lost. Her last pokemon was a machamp, Silver's was Weavile. He tried to play the defense to decide how to approach the situation, but Machamp took out Weavile (who'd already been a bit tired from taking out her victroybell) out in a single hit: focus punch combined with a quick claw. Silver didn't really seem to mind, though I knew it was eating at him.

We healed up our pokemon. The second challenger wanted a double battle and didn't even get to my third pokemon. He was a weak one.

The third one managed to beat me pretty good with his ground types, but Silver murdered him. Silver's team was mostly water types, with some dark. Even his dragonair knew mostly water-based moves.

By the time the third battle was over, it was nearly two in the afternoon. Silver hadn't really had anything to eat all day except for our late morning snack, and I could tell he was feeling the fatigue because I sure was. We both took a break from battling and got something to eat. Only the re-challenger was left and I'm sure he could tell Silver was a bit tired. He wanted to battle Silver at his strongest.

After a late lunch, we returned to the gym and the battle between Silver and the re-challenger started. Silver was going all out; he wasn't assessing the trainer—he was defending his title. Well, the re-challenger was cocky for a reason; he was strong, especially in water types, which had caught Silver off guard. Though, it wasn't too bad because Twister, his dragonair knew thunderbolt. Twister was Silver's favorite pokemon to start with, it had a large variety of attacks and few weaknesses, Kindgra was his second, even stronger and only weak to the dragon and fairy type, though she didn't have as large a move pool.

Then Silver's pokegear rang, breaking his concentration. Our friends knew not to call Silver until the evening hours, unless it was important. If they wanted to talk to Silver, they called me to see if he was free, or they messaged Silver. "Hello?" he asked casually to hide his annoyance, his eyes still watching the battle, "Dodge under it! Thunderbolt!" The challenger was taking advantage of Silver's distraction. He had to jump back from the field to avoid getting hit with a move Twister avoided.

"Uh, yes, that's me. Sorry, in the middle of a gym battle right now. Oh, uh, sure—WHAT?!"

Silver dropped the phone and dove over to me, eyes wide in horror. "What's wrong?" I asked immediately, unable to process how badly Silver had just lost his cool. Something was really wrong.

"Blue's having her baby!" he practically shrieked.

It wasn't often Silver lost his cool. It was always a heart racing event when he did. "Deep breath!" I snapped, grabbing his shoulders. The ref was coming over to see what was up; Silver had just broken a major league rule. "Mike," I said quickly, "An emergency just came up. We've got to go—now."

The ref's eyes flicked back toward the battlefield, where the challenger was staring over at us in confusion, the pokemon had stopped their battling. "That would be forfeit?" he asked nervously.

The challenger was making his way over to see what was up. Silver summed it up pretty well. "My sister is having her baby. I'm sorry; it wasn't supposed to happen for at least another week, I didn't except this to come up. I have to forfeit, which doesn't really matter since you've already got a badge."

He smirked. "Don't worry about it. Just promise me a rematch and let me wish you and your sister luck."

Silver gave a sharp nod. "Of course—and thank you."

"Let's go," I cut in quickly. "It's a three-hour flight."

Silver returned his pokemon and we raced outside, him sending out Honchkrow and me Mantaro. We took to the skies immediately. "Take us to Mahogany, it's an emergency. I need you to fly fast!" Silver commanded.

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AN: I enjoyed writing about Gold standing there of the field, wondering how Silver felt. I can imagine it would be stressful having to walk in Giovanni's and Green's footprints, them being such high leveled trainers.