Okay, so this wasn't due for another two stories, at least, but it was showing up so strongly in my head that I had to write it! (even though I have to wake up early to visit colleges tomorrow.) Mochicocoa, this is for you! :D
OLDRIVALSHIPPING YAAAAAAYYYY. Up next- more Frantic! Again, thank you to all who added me as a favorite author and favorited this story- I appreciate you guys so much :')
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. STOP MAKING ME SAY IT, I'M GOING TO CRY. :(
eighteen : firm;
"No, Blue, I will not marry you on your birthday, and threatening to show everyone my baby pictures will not work."
He's heard it all before. The pleading, the begging, the constant threats of leaving (threats that he would gladly see happen anytime). Green's become a hardened battle veteran, and so when Blue comes flying into his grandfather's lab that Saturday morning, he doesn't bat an eyelid. "Hello, Blue," he says in the same monotone as he continues to type on the computer.
She freezes right behind him. "How'd you know it was me?"
He doesn't look up from his work. "Red's in Mt. Silver, Yellow only comes to the gym, Silver doesn't visit, Crystal strolls in with a cheerful greeting, and Gold happens to break something right before he gets to this room. Only you would come sneaking in." He finishes typing, and hits print before going to the next document.
The girl huffs. "I could be Pearl, or Diamond, or that constantly bickering couple, or Emerald! Or even Lady Platina… I would love to be her," she adds wistfully.
"Well, you're not. At any rate, they would knock before entering." Green checks his work against the sheet of notes that lie right before him. "What do you want?"
Blue moves to the edge of the desk and places a nearly shuffled pile of notes on top of another pile- Green makes a slight sound in his throat but lets it slide, because he knows that she's not going to listen to him anyway.
"Green," she says in that sly tone of hers, "Do you know what day it is today?"
"Saturday." He hits backspace and deletes a few words. "You have a perfectly functioning calendar in your house."
She knows this game all too well, and so she plays along. "No, what day is it?"
"I just told you. Saturday. The day after Friday and the day before Sunday." Green adjusts the small reading glasses that perch on his nose. "By the way, how did you get past my grandfather?"
Blue makes a tsking noise. "I know it's Saturday," she says lazily. "My point is that it's a special day today."
He doesn't even stop to think about it, she notices- he just keeps on typing, his long fingers flying over the pristine white keyboard. "Let me guess," he says in the same low tone that he uses with everyone. "Today's the day you stole from my grandfather? And you haven't answered my question."
"I didn't steal from him today," Blue says indignantly. "That was… a long time ago!"
"You still haven't answered my question."
She's beginning to tire of this game, he knows, which means she's going to turn on the charm in order to get what she wants. "I have a spare key," she begins, "and just so you know-"
"You have a spare key?" Green actually looks at her now, his usual forest eyes the palest shade of green thanks to the computer light. "Where on earth did you get a spare key to my house and the lab?"
She waves the infuriating metal object in front of him. "I guess it's good for me that your sister and I are such good friends, then," she says playfully, "and if you were around more often you would know this."
Green makes sure in his head to tell his grandfather to change the locks, since Daisy isn't around anymore, always hanging out at Bill's and such. In the meantime, however, he simply shrugs and returns to his typing. "That's nice to know," he says blandly. "Now if you would please leave-"
"Today's my birthday." Blue says it so matter of factly that Green wonders if he's heard her right. Of course, he keeps on typing, but out of the corner of his eye he sees her twirling the key, that familiar smirk on her face. He sighs inwardly- she's going to demand something strange from him. She always does when she wears that smile.
"Well? Aren't you going to wish me a happy birthday?" she asks, crossing her legs now.
"Happy birthday," he drawls, his fingers still making rapid-fire sounds on the keyboard.
Blue shakes her head. "You're so cold."
"I'm glad you noticed."
She doesn't give up, and inside his head he begins to go over what she might want for her birthday. Perhaps dinner, perhaps a date, perhaps a kiss, perhaps a trip up to Mt. Silver (oh Mew, please let that be the request, he could push her into the hot springs and be done with it). He wonders briefly why Red isn't down here suffering with him; then he remembers that said boy is up in the mountains doing who knows what training with his Pokemon.
It is moments like these that make him wonder why he didn't just do that, too.
"So…?" Blue breaks the silence, and he senses that a whole new round of this game has started. "What did you get me?"
He hits print before pulling another piece of paper over. "Just so you remember, Blue, I didn't find out that it was your birthday until about a minute ago."
"The great Green Oak forgot something?" she exclaims dramatically. "The world is going to end!"
"I didn't forget," he says pointedly. "Maybe I just didn't bother."
"You said maybe. Which means that you had a fifty percent chance of remembering and since you're Green Oak and you don't forget anything, it's probably about a seventy five percent chance of remembering, and since it's me you probably remembered." Blue leans back, satisfied. "So what did you get me?"
He doesn't even bother to try following her twisted logic- he's seen Red and Gold and even Yellow confuse themselves into circles trying to do that. Instead, he chooses to follow Silver's example, and answer with short pointed answers based on what he selectively hears. "Nothing," he says dryly before realizing that instead of typing up the report on Primeape, he's been typing up a whole entire report about Jigglypuff.
"I'm hurt, Green."
"The Pokemon Centre is right down the road."
"Ha ha." Blue observes her nails, a tell tale sign that she's got something up her sleeve. Green hates it that he knows her so well, because he has a sinking feeling that she knows him just as well.
"I know what you can get me," she announces brightly, and he braces himself. Here we go.
He steels himself for what's coming next, and simply says "What." It's not a question, it's a statement.
She claps her hands together. "You can marry me!" she squeals, and Green is somehow certain that he hears someone choke outside. His senses aren't fully focused, however, and he simply stares at her, taken aback at how appallingly ludicrous her request is. At what moment in time, at what point of history did she think that he was going to accede to that wish?
He grits his teeth. "No."
"Well, I do think that it's the best you can do, after not getting me anything," she says, pouting that usual pout, the pout that often had the boys falling over themselves to do whatever she wanted.
"By… marrying you?" Green snorts. "Hardly a fair trade."
"If it's Silver you're worried about-"
"I don't care what Silver thinks, since I'm not marrying you."
She thinks about that for a minute as Green returns to his work, the keyboard clattering away as though it hadn't heard anything. "Well," she says finally, "you know that you're never going to get a better girlfriend slash fiancée than me, right?"
"And there's that huge sense of modesty," he says grimly, hitting the keys a lot harder than he usually does. Blue smirks- she knows that she's getting a reaction out of him at least.
"Really, Green, we're eighteen. I think we're perfectly legal to do this sort of thing."
"Does that mean I'm allowed to kick you out of the lab, since I'm legally entitled to it now?"
"Now that's just not gentlemanly of you." Blue sticks her tongue out at the spiky haired boy. "Come on. I still have those pictures of you… the ones of you wearing pink baby clothes."
"Let me guess. Daisy showed you." To her surprise, Green continues typing away.
"Of course," she smiles, ever the one in control of her emotions. "And, you know, I can show a lot of people…"
"Go ahead. I dare you to." At first Green figures he's playing a risky card, because he knows that Blue's very capable of doing it- but as the first word is out of his mouth, he sees her stiffen, and that little gesture alone tells him that she's taken aback by his reaction. In other words- she wasn't actually planning on doing it.
He finally stops typing, removes the glasses and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Let's make this clear, Blue. I'm not going to marry you on your birthday, or get engaged, and those baby pictures won't help. Now that that's clear to everyone, I'm requesting that you leave."
"Well then what are you going to get me for my birthday?" Blue asks, beginning to twirl her hair around her finger.
"I don't know," Green answers with a slight note of frustration- he's sick of playing these games and right now he really wants to go outside and have a quiet lunch. "Anything but marrying you, that's for sure."
Later on, Green realizes what a bad choice those words were, because Blue lights up and goes, "Anything?"
He also figures that it's his hunger that keeps him from seeing right through her. "Yes," he answers a little testily, "Anything."
"Great!" Blue hops off the desk. "In that case, it's a lunch date! I'll meet you at the Swimming Krabby at twelve thirty, yeah? Don't stand me up!" She actually has the audacity to kiss him on the cheek before leaving. "Best birthday present ever!" she sings back to him as she bursts through the door.
Green stares after her. "Why do I get the feeling that she planned this all along?" he asks the room at large before sighing and ditching his lab coat in favor of his usual army jacket. He walks outside and pats his giant orange dinosaur. "Hey," he says, and Charizard cocks its head in askance. "How would you like to burn an obnoxious woman to pieces?"
Charizard snorts before sitting down, keeping its tail away from the small tiny blades of green grass. Green almost smiles- almost. "Yeah," he agrees. "I know. You're used to it." He shrugs, and begins to walk away.
He figures that lunch isn't going to be quiet, but since when is anything quiet when's Blue around?
Green's lips curve slightly upwards at the thought- and he admits to himself that perhaps, that's the way he secretly likes it.
This, I do admit, was tons of fun. I don't have much experience writing in present tense, though. So this might be a little iffy.. but at the moment I am pleased with how it turned out! (Watch. Tomorrow I'll be like "HOMYGOSH THIS IS SOOO BAD".)
Well, as always, reviews are appreciated! :D Love y'all.