Chapter Title: Of Children and Llamas
Challenge: Include two llamas named Zap and Zoom.
Shipping/Character: MangaQuestShipping. Possible... tiny hints to PreciousMetalShipping. Depends on how you look at it.
Summary: Gold struggles to express his feelings for Crystal.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the characters in the story. I also do not own the vague idea that this one-shot was based on.
"Crystal and I are complete opposites."
It was true, no matter how you looked at it. I, Gold, had come to this conclusion long ago, and the facts showed up faster then they were proven wrong. We were nothing alike. She was bland in appearance, and I was as good looking as you could get. She always thought before she did something, and I always leapt before I thought. She was serious as could be, and I treated life like... a game, you could say. And, according to Silver, she was smart and I was a... moron. But that wasn't the half of it. Because there was really only one difference between us that truly matter.
I loved her, and she wouldn't care if I jumped off a cliff and died.
I was laying in bed with my every day attire on, tossing that stuffed llama of mine up into the air, catching it, and sending it airborne once more. Zap was everything to me. I'd acquired him at a young age, and he'd been my silent, not all that real therapist. Whenever I had a problem, I'd go to him first, even though he wasn't real and would never be able to respond. It was once I'd realized that that I'd turn to living people for help. This was one of those every day occasions when I needed to pour my heart out to someone.
And, since Red wasn't available, I was reduced to chatting Silver's ear off.
"Well, I'm not one for romance," the annoyed male on the other end of the line muttered, "but I hear the phrase 'opposites attract' more times then I'd care to." His tone of voice told me he didn't want to be there, talking to the likes of me about things like love. Of course, he didn't want to talk to me at all. But I wasn't going to let that get in the way of my 'therapy session'.
"Please, I don't believe in that junk." I paused, thinking over what he'd said. "But it scares me that you listen to the gooey romantics who'd say stuff like that."
The pause made my mind form the image of his face turning as red as his hair. As much as he may have denied it, I think that he was actually one of those gooey romantics. I'd occasionally stroll in to see him watching some chick flick, or something, only to have him lie and say he was flipping through the channels. I guess this is why I went to him for most of my love affairs.
"If you're going to shoot down my advice, what was the point of coming to me anyways?"
"Well, I need help! How am I supposed to tell her I like her if she'd never return my affection...?" Wow. I was beginning to sound like one of those gooey romantics. "It's so much easier talking to girls at the game corner... I don't understand the difference."
"Well, maybe it's because you treat those girls like things instead of people."
"Yeah..."
"You and Crystal have been friends for almost seven years. Maybe your just worried that, if she does turn you down, your friendship will be ruined to."
"Yeah..."
"And, if Crystal stops hanging around you, I'll probably do the same."
"Yeah... Wait, what? Hey! I feel hurt!" I treated the remark as teasing, however, responding with the smug remark of, "Oh, come on, Silv, you're just trying to hide the fact that you can't live without me. Might be why you haven't hung up yet."
"Shut up," came the terse reply.
"Maybe I should just tell her. And, if I get out of there fast enough, maybe she won't have time to turn me down."
"Good luck with that," he grunted.
"What, no input?"
"Well, since you obviously have this whole thing figured out..." he practically growled. "I don't know why you even called in the first place... Or why I haven't hung up..."
"Well, just like you can't live without me, I can't without you~!" I joked lightheartedly, twirling a finger in the air and letting the worn out llama plush toy drop onto the bed. "You know if she's home? It's almost seven, so she might be at dinner..."
"It's not like I keep tabs on her. Unlike you, I'm not a stalker." There was a long period of silence. I refused to say anything until he spilled the beans and told me what he knew. It must have been killing the red-haired boy on the other end of line, since finally, he muttered in defeat, "Fine. Last time I checked, she was working at home or something. A babysitting job, I think. I wouldn't go over, if I were you. She doesn't take to kindly to having others interrupt her when she's doing something important like that."
"And this is the part when I ignore you and do the exact opposite of what you say. Bye, Silv~!"
"No, wait -" The teen's reply was cut short when I hit the end button on my home phone and hung up on him. I always wondered if there was something else he had left to say whenever I hung up on him like that. Heck, I did that every time I called and he actually picked up. But, putting our brief conversation aside, I picked up Zap once again and stared into his black, plastic eyes. "What do you think, Zapperman? You think she won't totally hate me after this is all said and done?"
Silence. But, then again, what else did I expect?
...
'I don't know... Maybe Silver was right about not going to see her...'
I couldn't help but have regrets upon my arrival at Crystal's house. Really, I almost always had regrets whenever I came within ten feet of her with all intentions of spilling out my heart to her. I had, for this reason, packed along Zap to look for comfort if it ever got... awkward. Just knowing he was nearby was always helpful. With him stuck in my back pack, there was little a thing to worry about.
Or, at least, I hoped...
I could feel a lump forming in the back of my throat as I reached out my arm to tap her door bell. Was I really ready to tell her I liked her? She'd always hated me... Maybe this wasn't exactly the best idea in the world. But, before I could stop my finger from hitting the button, I felt cold plastic meet my soft skin and heard her cute little door bell chime ring from indoors. My entire body tensed with the question: stay, or run away? I must have thought a little to long, since when I finally decided to turn tail and run, the door creaked open just slightly before being flung wide.
Instead of meeting blue eyes, like I'd expected, my golden eyes met hazel ones. I was staring at the form of a girl no older then four or five.
"Uh... What...?"
After a moment of hesitation, the little girl called into the house, "Cryssy! There's a weird guy here!" Cryssy...? Oh, yes, Silver had said Crys was baby sitting. Was this young girl the person she was watching over...? Well, it made more sense then just some random girl. The blonde had absolutely no resemblance to Crystal, after all... There was silence - me not knowing what to say, and Crystal probably deciding what to do - before a tired voice from deep inside the home called out to the younger female.
"Does he have black, spiky hair?"
"Yep."
"A stupid baseball cap?"
"Uh-huh."
"A baggy red jacket and yellow shorts...?"
"Yeah!"
"... Tell him to go away."
Looking back at me with those hazel eyes of her's, the little girl said hastily, "She says I have to tell you to go away. Bye-bye!" With that, she slammed the door in my face. Literally. I staggered backward, holding my injured nose and just barely hearing a 'Lock it, too' coming from indoors. Stupid cap? Well, that hurt. But telling me to go away? I wouldn't take it hands down. So, instead, being the stalker that Silver called me, I maneuvered around the house, stepping on exposed branches and twigs and getting even more injuries then usual. Finally, I came to a window that looked low enough for me to crawl through if I climbed a little bit. Actually, I was about to do just that...
Until I saw Crystal in the kitchen, cleaning.
Tapping a finger on the glass, I called, "Come on, Crystal, I know you hate me, but this is just cruel!" At first, she didn't hear me. Or, at least, was choosing to ignore me. But I kept on tapping at that window until finally, she put down the washcloth she was using to scrub down the counters with and came over to the window. "Oh, see? I guess you aren't totally heartless. Mind opening up and letting me in? It's kinda chilly out here."
"Gold! It's eight o' clock at night! I'm baby sitting, too!" she cried, not unlocking the window. "You being over will just be a distraction! I can't let you in!"
"But... But... I came all this way to see you..." I muttered, feeling utterly defeated.
"Then you can go all that way back home!"
"No way, Super Serious Gal! Just five minutes. Please? I've got something important to tell you!"
She glared at me, those blue eyes of her's burning with a sort of agitation that I'd only ever seen her look at me with. I, in turn, looked at her with the best puppy Poocheyena eyes I could muster. She had to let me in, she just had-
My thoughts were cut short as she let out a deep shy and, reaching out with those delicate hands that belonged to her and her alone, unlatched the lock on the window. She then shoved
it open, letting the cold air rush into her tiny little home. It blew into her face, making her pig tails move ever so slightly. The was an expecting look in her eyes, and I didn't need to ask why. If I wanted in so bad, and she'd just given me my only entrance, I might as well have taken it.
However, when I tried to crawl through, I found myself face to face with a thin screen.
Crystal smiled at me, her grin almost... almost… evil.
"Problem?" she asked me ever so innocently, and I half expected that comical image – the troll face, wasn't it…? – to appear instead of her usual features.
"Crys!" I whined, not even using my typical nickname for her. "You said you were going to let me in!"
"I said nothing of the sort," she countered, turning around, grabbing her towel, and twirling it on the tip of her finger. "I just opened the window to let in a little air. I made you assume I was letting you in; I had no intention do actually do that, though."
"I was right! You are heartless!"
She said nothing. Instead, she turned and started wiping down her counters again, whistling especially loud in order to drown out my cries of protest.
"I didn't want to do this," I muttered, fingering through the contents of my pack and pulling out a pair of scissors, "but you've left me no choice…" …What? A man couldn't carry a pair of scissors in his backpack? Some people, so critical… Anyway, I began sawing into the screen with the sharp edges. I'd cut a whole just big enough to crawl through and get inside. Then what would Crystal say? She'd be speechless!
"Gold, whatever you're doing, cut it out!"
She didn't even bother looking over her shoulder to see what I was up to or make sure I was doing as I was told. So, happy as a Cloyster, I continued clawing into the mesh. And, finally, the last piece was cut…
"Ta-da!"
I shouted as loudly as I could, jumping down from her counter with such pride and cockiness, it could have put some others to shame. When that blue-haired companion of mine swerved around, I got the chance to see the greatest facial expression gifted to us by some higher being.
"How did you –"
"A magician," I said, snatching the towel away from her and twirling it no my index finger like she'd done before, "never reveals his secrets."
"Get out of my house before I call the police!"
"Oh, come on, Super Serious Gal, don't tell me you are elated to have me in your presence. Like I said before, I've got something important to tell you!"
"Well, I've got something to tell you!" She stormed over with all the rage that could make someone soil themselves and, for a moment, I actually flinched. She ripped the towel out of my grasp, leaving a red mark in its wake, and glared at me with even more hatred then Silver mustered on a daily basis. "Get. Out. Of. My. House."
"Look, Crys, you don't have to –"
"Moron! When I tell you to do something, you do it! This is the reason why you're such an idiot! Because you can't get anything past your thick skull!" Some of her anger – okay, a lot… She had quite a bit to spare… - must have rubbed off on me, sense I felt my own rage boiling over at this.
"Hey, mind your own business, Super Serious Gal. We're not all little goody two-shoes like you!"
"Goody two-shoes? You got a death wish, or something?"
We continued on like this for almost an hour, screaming at one another and cussing like sailors. And maybe we were headed down a path like this, where we'd be locked into this never ending argument of ours that wouldn't end until we grew to tired and our throats throbbed with pain. But, then again, wouldn't we have just picked up where we left off in the morning?
Well, we would have.
If that little girl hadn't interrupted our third fight that week.
"Cryssy?" she asked, tears forming in the corners of her tiny hazel eyes as she clung to two almost identical plush llamas. I took a closer look as Crystal lifted the child into her arms and realized that one of them was, in fact, Zap. She must have snatched him out of my pack when I wasn't looking! But... Where was the other one from...?
"Sh, Angelica, don't cry," the dark blue-haired teen cooed, practically rocking the smaller one of the two back and forth.
"The llamas had a fight," she said in response, burying her face into Crys's white jacket.
"Llamas...? With an "s"" The confused look on the elder female's face was almost comical.
"Mm-hm. Zoom and her friend, Zap."
At that moment, our eyes met, blue meeting gold as we both thought the same thing at the same time.
'That llama's yours?'
It took a while, but Crystal finally managed to put the sobbing girl to sleep. I couldn't help but follow her from a safe distance. The girl had Zap, after all. My Zapperman. It seemed like an eternity before she finally managed to put the youngest of our little triad to bed and exited to room once again. I hadn't gotten a good look at her for more then two seconds before I felt something hard smack against my cheek, the force strong enough to send me crashing to the floor.
"Idiot!" she screeched, completely forgetting there was a sleeping child in the other room.
"What did I do this time?" I asked, rubbing my injured face with a wince and struggling to prop myself up on my one free hand. She was about to answer, but I had already started getting up and retorted with a snort, "You know what? Never mind. I don't know why I even bother talking to you, since obviously I'm so terrible of a person that the only way you can talk to me is through yelling! I was going to tell you something, but, knowing you, you probably would just hate me more for saying!" Once I was fully on my feet, I spun around and began storming away.
"So thanks for nothing!" I shouted as I stomped down the halls.
I hardly even payed attention when she yelled after me, "Fine, I see how it is! I'll be better off without you, anyways!"
I heard a door swing open, and I assumed at first that Crystal was going to check up on Angelica once more, but I didn't bother to look back. Of all the people I could have fallen in love with, it would have to be the girl that angered me the most! Well, other then Silver, of course, but he could turn around and give good advice when I needed it. So I continued out of the house until a tiny voice hit my ears.
"Cryssy, the llamas made up! I think they like each other!"
Oh.
That was right.
She still had Zap...
The sound of heavy footsteps against wood flooring caught my attention and I whipped around again when I heard a female voice cry out my name. "Gold, wait!" I stood in silence as I watched my blue-haired acquaintance skid to a halt in front of me. At first, she stared at me with scorn. However, her cold gaze melted and she bowed her head. "S-Sorry..." she muttered, sounding utterly defeated. "I guess I shouldn't have yelled at you the way I did..."
I wondered what made her have such a change of heart.
"You can... stay, if you want. I'll try not to aggravate anyone more then need be..." She looked up at me with an expecting look in her gaze, wondering why I was so quiet.
'It's now or never,' I thought. 'You can do what you came here to do, or remain lonely for the rest of your life.' But I didn't tell her. I don't think I had the courage to. No, I didn't.
Because I had more.
Against my better judgment, I reached out, laced my arms around her frame and pulled her in so close we were touching. She didn't even have time to protest before I'd leaned down and forced my lips onto her own. And, in moments, I was melting. All of those years I'd fantasized about this moment, and I'd finally gathered the courage to kiss her. She didn't struggle, but when I pulled away, she didn't lean in for another.
"That's what I wanted to tell you."
She stared at me in shock before taking a few steps back. Then, after a period of silence, she whisper, "... No. Gold, don't... Don't tell me you love me. I'm just... not ready... I'm not ready for that kind of relationship..."
Okay, well, maybe my fantasies didn't go exactly like this...
"Then... When will you be ready?" I practically begged her. Because I had to know. Because, if I was to late, I wouldn't stand a chance at getting her.
"I-I don't know..." Grabbing Zapperman, which I remembered she'd tossed on the couch before apologizing, she shoved him into my grasp. "You know what...?" she asked, her tone of voice almost sad. "Go. Don't stay. Not when... Not when you've just..."
Without another word, I took the stuffed creature in my grasp and turned to walk out. I turned the handle slowly and let the door open even more slowly, wondering if she'd make some last minute decision and call for me to come back. But she never did. I heard the door slam shut behind me without a goodbye, and I realized that I had no hope.
Then, as I was halfway down her sidewalk, I heard her voice call out my name one more time and spun around. Her head was sticking out the window, and she shot me a tiny smile.
"Maybe tomorrow?"
I stared at her in confusion, wondering what on Earth could she have meant by that. But then it became clear to me. Maybe the window to her heart would be open to me soon. Very soon. So I shot her back my signature, toothy grin and confirmed, "Yeah. Maybe tomorrow."
…
"So did she say yes?"
Silver's voice rang out of the speaker of my red Poke' Gear that laid on my bed. I could tell he was trying to sound as apathetic as he could, but was probably just as interested if not more so then any of the other Dex Holders would be. My golden eyes wandered across the room as I tried to think of how to reply to his question, only to land on a stuffed llama sitting on the top of my bookcase. It wasn't my Zap, but I think I'd made a fair trade when I gave my Zapperman away in order to acquire my fellow Johto trainer's Zoom.
"Well," I muttered after a few moments of awkward silence, "I'd let you ask her yourself, but our date ended about an hour ago."
When he responded, I couldn't help but note the sound of disappointment in his voice. "Congratulations. This means you'll stop coming to me for advice, right?"
"Oh, Sil, you know that if this whole thing with me and Crys doesn't work out, your next in like, right?" I would have liked the see the blush on his face after I said that.
"... Shut up, moron..."
Daw, wasn't that cute? No, it wasn't? Yeah, you're right. ;w; Oh, and, by the way... CRYSTAL, STAY WITH GOLD, OR WE'LL HAVE PRECIOUSMETALSHIPPING TO DEAL WITH! D: Anyways, after that long break... I have uploaded! No, this story isn't dead! In fact, chapter five was done before I even started this. I'll try to get back to the chapter a week thing I had going on. The only problem is... the prompt for Chapter 6 is "Include three things written in one of your yearbooks". Or, at least, something along those lines... AND I DON'T HAVE A SINGLE YEARBOOK! Now, I could ask to borrow one from a friend and be boring... Or come up with some weird little one-shot that is worthy of the title "25 Ways to Make Sure You're Insane". What do you think?
Gold baked all of my lovely reviewers muffins on his date with Crys! Who are the lucky few who get one?
DragonCatt: I used your idea. XD Probably not in the way you imagined though.
Whitewind of ShadowClan: That's okay~! And, yeah, I need more cutesy scenes... I'mma go work hard to make them more fluffy. ^^;
Obstruction: Even though you reviewed on chapter one... Thank you~! ;D
Galactic Marshmallow: Thank you for your review~! You're so kind~! TwT I didn't think it was all that great. Kinda rushed, too. And, yeah, I need a beta reader... I should probably go and see if there's anyone who'd be willing to beta read for me... . Well, either she guessed he would fall asleep at nine or ten o' clock... XD Or she assumed that, with the whole game going on, he'd try to stay up longer so he could win or just avoid losing. Guess it's up to what you think would make more sense.
I'm getting confirmed tomorrow at church~! *does happy dance* Anywho, reviews are welcome, criticism is even more welcome, and anyone who wouldn't mind beta reading for me would be a godsend... or something. XD Hope you all enjoyed~!