AN: I split this chapter up in two due to its length and I just like leaving cliffhangers on you guys! I couldn't help teasing poor Ash to death in this Chapter so hopefully you enjoy it as much as I did!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or any of the characters. Just the random plot bunnies that my mind creates.

Chapter Warnings: Language, bromance, embarrassed Ash, citrus (if you want to read it)

Chapter 12 - Awkward

Warning: Slight citrus ahead. Nothing too graphic yet but YE HAVE BEEN WARNED. Skip ahead to next break if this offends you in any way. Written just cuz my mind is a dirty place. Skipping will not take anything out of the story. Enjoy

Harsh pants fill the air. It's hot. Burning. Sweat pours off his skin.

Fingers trail down a slick back. Dipping in and out of ridges of bulging muscle. The body above him shivers. A deep groan echoes in his ears.

"Ash." The voice whispers. Deep and masculine. Thick with desire and lust.

He shivers. That voice fueling his own carnal hunger. Burying fingers into thick hair, he pulls gently at the roots. He presses his hips upward. Grinding into the body above him.

His head is thrown back at the feel of the delicious friction. Teeth nibble on his neck. He gasps in pleasure as his lover thrusts against him. Low grunts in his ear fueling the fire inside him. Every nerve burning in desire.

Smooth lips slide over his jaw and cheek. He turns to meet them. Mouths pressing together in a slow, dizzying kiss. Tongues swirl. Lungs pleading for air. The smell of fresh rain and mint assaults his senses.

He can't take any more. Tears brim in his eyes at the need to release. Glowing, emerald eyes lock onto his as his pleasure peaks. He stiffens with a soundless cry on his lips.

~~~~~End Citrus~~~~~

Brown eyes slam open. Panting quietly, he shifts inside his blanket cocoon. The fluffy blanket sticking to his sweaty skin, completely twisted around his legs. Feeling the sticky mess in his shorts, he sighs in annoyance. Ash snuggles deeper in the blankets, too worn out and boneless to bother cleaning himself up at the moment.

He reaches out to pull Pikachu towards him. His hands smacks against a hard, definitely-not-Pikachu, entity. He opens his eyes to see the covered chest of his partner inches from his face.

His body turns to stone in wake of his shock. Flashes of the dream he just woke up from immediately flooding his mind. The sticky mess in his shorts is suddenly way too uncomfortable. His breathing increases as he begins to panic.

Oh Arceus. I had a wet dream when I was pressed up to him like this?! What if he noticed?! Did I say something?!

Ash yelps and attempts to pull back but is trapped by an arm around his waist. He pulls harder and is flung from the bed, tumbling onto the floor in a heap of tangled sheets and limbs.

He looks up to see sleepy green eyes and messy brown hair peering down at him. Exactly the same shade as the glowing orbs that stared at him with such longing. Face burning red in embarrassment, he tries to cover up his mess with the sheets.

"Why are you on the floor?" Gary asks, his voice deep and scratchy from sleep. Feeling his body respond against his will to the arousing sound, Ash points up at him and glares.

"Why are you in my bed?! And you were cuddling! I tried to get up, and I ended up down here because of your giant, strong-ass Oranguru hands that wouldn't let me go!" Ash yells loudly.

Gary's eyebrow lifts at his tirade before green eyes pointedly stare at Ash's bed, where Pikachu is perched watching them.

Huh?

"It takes two to cuddle Ashy-boy. Don't blame me for you being too lazy to go back to your own bed after we stayed up to chat last night."

Ash's confusion only grows as the brunet rolls back over to get some more sleep. He sputters trying to think of a good comeback but none pops into mind.

What the fuck just happened?

Ash quickly rushes into the bathroom to shower and change out of his soiled clothes. Once clean, he retreats down to the cafeteria with Pikachu in tow in hopes of avoiding his partner as long as possible for the moment.

Today is not going to go well.

xxx-War of the Dragon Riders-xxx

Gary wakes back up 30 minutes later with a smile on his face. This morning was priceless. Teasing Ash is quickly turning into one of his favorite hobbies.

They had ended up chatting last night about their pokemon and what others they should catch in their remaining two weeks. Ash, being the undisciplined child that he is, passed out on his bed mid-conversation. And there was no way Gary was going to chance sleeping with the electric mouse in case it shocked him in surprise sometime during the night.

So they ended up sharing a bed which, honestly, isn't that big of a deal. They've had to do it on several missions in the past, and they always manage to stay on their sides of the bed so no harm done.

However, the raven hogs most of the blankets. So, upon waking up before the raven the next morning completely wrapped up in the entire blanket, he slid closer and wrapped his arm around the smaller soldier's waist to get at least some warmth in the chilly room. Total bonus that Ash freaked out once he woke up too.

Best birthday ever.

Gary slides out of bed to get dressed and figure out where his partner has run off to. He saunters downstairs and into the cafeteria. He quickly spots the mop of black hair hidden beneath the black cap.

Sitting at the table with a smirk still in place, Gary begins to pick food off of Ash's tray. He sends a quick wink towards narrowed brown eyes.

"Good morning princess." Gary teases.

Gary's smirk widens at the glare shot his way as Ash pulls his food closer to his body as if to protect it. The brunet snorts in response and gracefully rises to grab his own.

Once fed, they go back upstairs to pack their gear and head back east towards Route 8. The duo had taken the Underground Path out of curiosity when they left Lavender Town and due to the surprisingly long walk, arrived too late at night to check the Route out.

Walking out of the city's gates, Gary glances toward his silent partner. He slides an arm around his shoulders and smirks as he feels the smaller man stiffen. I'm going to have so much fun with this.

"Lighten up Ashy-boy or you will scare all the pokemon away! We have less than two weeks left, remember?"

Ash knocks his arm off this shoulder and walks ahead with Pikachu trotting beside him. Glancing down at his own walking companion, he reaches down to pick her up. The small Eevee yips and licks his hand. With a quiet chuckle, he follows after his partner.

xxx-War of the Dragon Riders-xxx

Ok. He's avoiding Gary but he just can't help it! Ash blushes slightly as he recalls this morning's incident. That was so embarrassing. And the arrogant jerk keeps teasing me about it too.

Glancing down in annoyance, he doesn't see the approaching pokemon until it's already on top of him. Feeling a heavy weight drop suddenly on his back, he whips around to try to pull whatever it is off. Suddenly the weight is gone as quickly as it came. He quickly turns around looking for the source.

Hearing a soft snuffling sound above him, he sees a light tan monkey hanging from a tree branch above him holding his hat.

"Hey! Gimme back my hat, Mankey!" Ash cries out at the fighting type. Jumping up desperately to get back the only treasure he has left from his hometown and his family.

The pig monkey pokemon laughs at him again before placing the hat on his head and swinging away. He quickly chases after it with Pikachu on his heels.

"Pikachu, get Mankey down from up there!" Pikachu quickly races up the nearest tree and hops from branch to branch as it chases the nimble fighting type. With a short burst of electricity, it sends Mankey crashing to the floor. Jumping down, the mouse grabs Ash's hat and races back to his trainer's side.

"Good work buddy. Charmander, I choose you!" Ash calls out as pulls the correct pokeball from his extra ball bag.

The small fire lizard emerges from the pokeball and immediately lets out a powerful Ember attack.

Mankey dodges the fire and launches multiple Fury Swipes at its opponent. Charmander tries to back away but can't escape from the agile monkey's claws.

Ash watches in horror as wounds begin to reopen across the small lizards body. Why the hell did I send an injured pokemon out into battle? Just as he is about to recall his newest pokemon, the flame on Charmander's tail bursts to life. Its size towering over the two battling pokemon.

Charmander's special attack: Rage. It gains more power the more that it's attacked. It will continue to fight until its opponent falls.

He grins at the power and determination overflowing from the little fire type. "Alright Charmander! Use Rage and Ember!"

Fire burning in the lizard's eyes, a powerful jet of fire is unleashed from its maw onto the unsuspecting Mankey. They smell of singed fur permeates the air. Once the smoke clears, Ash sees the pig monkey pokemon laying on the ground covered in light burns. Ash quickly pulls out an empty pokeball and throws it at the thief.

Three rolls. Captured. Putting the ball in the pouch on his belt and returning his fire type, he wanders back over to where he left his partner. Pikachu places his hat back on his head before climbing on top to try to find Gary. With a squeak, he points off to the left at two pokemon engaged in battle.

Ash rushes over to his partner's side. He watches as Scyther darts around a gold bipedal pokemon with a foxy face and a large mustache. A large bushy tail emerges from behind while some kind of brown armor covers its torso. It's also brandishing a large spoon at the mantis pokemon above it. Kadabra, the psi pokemon.

"Scyther! Knock away its spoon! It will only be at half strength then."

The green bug pokemon darts in and swipes at the spoon with the back of its long bladed arms. The spoon clatters to the ground a few feet away.

"Fury Cutter!"

Scyther's blades glow green as it begins to slice at the weakened psychic pokemon. It falls to its knees, and Gary runs up behind it, sliding a collar around its neck before throwing a pokeball. The psi pokemon disappears into the ball which stops flashing after two shakes.

Ash throws a glare at his partner. Feeling eyes on him, his partner turns around with his eyebrow raised in question after recalling Scyther.

"It was already down. You had no reason to collar it!" Ash angrily calls out.

The brunet sighs in annoyance at his comment. He walks over to pick up Kadabra's spoon and slides it into his pants pocket.

"Do you remember nothing from class, loser? Kadabra emit alpha particles from their mind. Too many alpha particles can cause damage to our minds. I did it for our own safety."

Just as Ash opens his mouth to retort, a high pitched beeping emerges from both of their pockets. Pulling out their comms set, they slide in the ear piece and adjust the microphone. Gary quickly answers the call.

"Identification number and team." A voice calls out from the set. Ash immediately stands at attention upon recognizing the voice of the Commander. Both soldiers quickly list off their 10 digit identification numbers before Gary takes over again.

"Team Alpha. Oak and Ketchum."

"Report." The Commander's voice demands. Glancing quickly at Ash, Gary quickly explains the incident at Lavender Town as well as their total number of pokemon.

"Do you have flyers?" Dread builds in his stomach at the question. If he is asking if we have flyers halfway through our month off, it can't be for a good reason.

"Yes sir." Ash responds.

Gary glances at him in confusion. What's with all the questions? He honestly didn't expect to even hear from the Commander for another two weeks. This really can't be good.

"We've received a distress signal from Pallet Town. Since it's your station, head there immediately and see what the problem is. You both already have a full team so another two weeks off isn't needed."

Static fills the line as the Commander hangs up, his instructions given. Brown eyes are locked with green as they share a moment of horrible silent solidarity.

No. Not again.

xxx-War of the Dragon Riders-xxx

AN: Yep. I went there. Completely ruined Gary's best birthday ever. Enjoy it. Love it. I will post the next chapter soon!

Also, do you guys have any idea how hard it is to look up how some of these attacks play out? I swear, each pokemon only uses like two freaking attacks in the show so I have to go off like a slight glowing slash or something from the games. So frustrating!

Favorite/follow/review please!

Next up: Chapter 13 - Return