The Twelve Dilemmas of Christmas
The holiday season comes with good times and bad. It's important to overlook the dilemmas and enjoy the good times. Multiple shippings.
It figures the longest drabble so far is for my favorite pairing. Enjoy!
x … x … x
Dilemma Four: Christmas Music (Gary/Tracey)
Tracey loved the holidays, any holiday really. The one he loved most though, was Christmas. The colorful lights, the trees, the gifts. Even the Stantler-led sleigh decorations that Professor Oak had placed on the lawn. He thought they were funny, a bit cute even; Gary, on the other hand, felt they were tacky and had not hesitated in vocalizing his opinion. No one had really taken it seriously– in fact, May Oak and the professor often placed bets on how long it would take the young researcher to complain about the decorations. It was no secret that Gary was not particularly fond of Christmas: his morbid fondness for zombies and heavy metal made him far more partial to Halloween. Regardless of his lover's less-than-fond attitude towards Christmas, Tracey adored the holiday. There was only one thing about Christmas that he absolutely could not stand.
Christmas music.
It was annoying, it was obnoxious, it was horrendous. Perhaps he had been forced to sing in too many elementary school recitals, maybe it was that his mother played the same Christmas album throughout his entire childhood, maybe it was that since he had moved to Pallet, he had to deal with May Oak's terrible renditions of the songs on piano every year. Or maybe Gary had just rubbed off on him over the past few years of their lengthy relationship and even longer friendship.
Any which way you sliced it, Tracey despised Christmas music.
In the next room over, he could hear the piano tinkling an off-key tune and he wondered how long it would be before Gary found a less-than-polite way to remind May that Christmas music was usually played in a major key, not her version of harmonic minor. Tracey ignored it, instead turning to Ash and asking him about his latest travels. Perhaps Ash's enthusiasm for recounting his pokemon battles would drown out the terrible playing in the living room.
As the conversation deepened, Tracey eventually became oblivious to the noise and he began to have a good time. His fiancé had wandered off, but at least he wasn't bickering with Ash…
Eventually, Tracey began to wonder where Gary had disappeared to. He couldn't be in the living room because someone had turned on a Christmas cd on the stereo and Gary hated the music even more than Tracey did. He wandered through the large house and stopped in the doorway to the den, which was empty of people except for one. Gary sat at the second piano in the Oak house, fingers gracefully dancing across the keys. The piano in here was far grander than the small, worn one that May played. The room was distant from the holiday party taking place, perhaps being the reason why Gary had come to it.
A small smile curved Tracey's lips. Though he was rather talented, Gary rarely played piano and usually only did it in privacy since people seemed to always have song requests – something Gary particularly disliked. Tracey entered the room, slowly approaching his fiancé, who showed no sign of awareness of Tracey's presence. As he drew closer, Tracey noticed that he had his headphones on, presumably drowning out all auditory evidence of the Christmas party.
"Hey, you," Tracey said softly, placing a hand on Gary's back. He saw a slight smile appear on Gary's face but the younger of the couple gave no reply. "Hiding from everyone?"
Gary shook his head. "Escaping the Christmas music," he explained. He didn't so much as glance up from the black and white keys in front of him, not at all unusual for whenever he actually played.
Tracey sat down next to him on the long piano bench. "It sounds pretty," he observed. "Just fooling around, or are you actually playing a song?" When Gary didn't reply after a moment, Tracey reached over and gently pulled off his headphones. He tossed the headphones behind them and smiled at the glare the move elicited. Reaching over his lover's hands, he struck a random key. Surprisingly. Gary paused and didn't glare at him for the interruption.
"That was in key," Gary mused.
"is this?" Tracey asked, striking the next key. "Wait a second… Why does that sound familiar?" he asked, striking the two keys in succession a few times, trying to place it.
Gary shook his head again and laughed. "Nerd," he teased. "You're thinking of Jaws, it's a half-step, see?"
He reached over to play the correct notes for Tracey, who mimicked the notes after him. Tracey played the two notes in succession a few more times, pausing when Gary played a complex melody, ending on a chord that positioned his hand directly over Tracey's. Gary hadn't been able to resist… As cute as Tracey was when he played piano, Gary loved the expression of mild surprise combined with pride and admiration that graced Tracey's features whenever he played something particularly complex. Perhaps it was because of his ego, maybe it was just because it was an adorable look for Tracey.
"Showoff," Tracey muttered.
Gary simply squeezed his hand and leaned over to press a kiss against his cheek. "That was nothing."
He began to play again, his fingers resuming their dance across the black and white keys. He had always loved showing off as a child, and still did – to an extent – as an adult, but playing piano was vastly different and for that reason, he generally only played around Tracey. So much could be expressed through music, and Tracey seemed to understand that. Love, fear, confusion, sadness… All emotions that Gary was not fond of showing openly, yet music allowed him to do it easily. Maybe that was the reason he and Tracey both held such a profound dislike for Christmas music. It was shallow, with little meaning to it, except for the religious songs and neither of them was religious.
Tracey simply watched Gary play, silently picking up on the hidden meanings in the melodies. He could playfully interrupt without sparking any sort of ire, but he never did so when the song held a serious note, like this one did. He sensed many meanings in this particular song – happiness, hope, contentment, and love. Love seemed to be the overture, the overwhelming theme, though Tracey knew for a fact that he would be the only person to hone in on that.
The song ended, the notes beautifully complementing each other in a perfect harmony before fading smoothly into the silence of the room.
Nearly possessed by the music, the truth in the composition, Gary slipped an arm around Tracey's waist and kissed him suddenly. Tracey responded by melting into the kiss and returning it heartily. It was slow, deep, and passionate; so much like the music that Gary had just played.
They pulled back just enough for a breath of air after the kiss was over and Gary gave a small smile. "You like?" he asked, referring to the song rather than the kiss.
Tracey understood the question without further explanation and returned the smile. "It's so much better than Christmas music."