HEY LOOK I'M NOT DEAD :D I'm sorry for the late update; I've been in Reno all this time and when I got back, summer homework forced itself into my line of attention. I'm currently reading Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis- can't say I fancy it very much, but I'll give him some patience due to my fascination of his Narnia books :D
Anyway. Enough rambling. I shall now bestow the 11th chapter/story/drabble! Requested by mochicocoa ;) COMMONERSHIPPING!
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my pen and my trusty notebook.
11. birthday
"Happy birthday, Pearl!" all the Dex Holders yell, and Ruby has his mother snap a group picture- both he and Sapphire examine it later and are amused to find both Platina and Diamond holding hands (they promptly get into an argument over whether the two Sinnoh teenagers are in a relationship).
"Hurry- hurry- don't drop it, Gold!"
"I'm trying not to! Stop yelling at me!" A visibly flustered Gold staggered through the doorway, carrying a five foot tall cake. "Why did you bake such a huge cake, Ruby? And what did you put in it, bricks?"
"I did offer to help you," Silver drawled from behind Gold as he strolled through the kitchen doorway. "But no. You had to be all macho about it."
"It's not that heavy," Gold backtracked hastily, but Silver simply scoffed disbelievingly at him.
Ruby inspected the cake. "It's a bit crooked," he decided, and reached for another cooking utensil. "Maybe a little more icing…"
"NO!" Sapphire barreled through the door, having caught Ruby's muttered decision. "Pearl's almost here! Yellow and Green just called. Get out here, Red just destroyed the streamers." And she dragged a horrified Ruby out of the kitchen.
In the living room, Platina and Diamond watched the commotion as the other Dex Holders raced around the room. As far as they could see, they were the only two calm ones in the eye of the storm- Sapphire and Ruby were freaking out over a confused Red who held torn streamers in his hand, Silver and Gold were arguing again, and Crystal, Emerald and Blue had somehow managed to break several flower vases and were hastily sweeping the pieces up before Ruby noticed.
Platina finished wrapping Diamond's present to Pearl. "Here you go," she said in that soft, quiet way of hers as she handed the neatly wrapped blue box to him. "Do you think he'll like the book we gave him?"
She failed to notice the light that came into Diamond's eyes when she said 'we'. Diamond also felt a wave of warmth cascade over him, but he kept his normal, even tone as he replied, "Sure. He's a comedian for life. He'll like the joke book we gave him."
He thought she didn't notice the way he stumbled over the awkward first person word, but she did briefly before dismissing it.
"He's coming, he's coming!" Sapphire screeched in a flustered Red's ear, and the senior muttered something along the lines of "Should have gone with Green and Yellow" before tossing the streamers into the crevice between the sofa and the wall. Ruby shepherded the Dex Holders into the kitchen, where the cake stood majestically on the pedestal- Platina only had time for a brief compliment directed at Ruby before everybody was shushing each other.
The door opened, and Ruby's mother's voice greeted the trio that must have stood outside. "Green, Yellow, Pearl! How nice of you to drop by. They're in the back."
Pearl's quick, snappy voice said something indistinguishable before Green's clear voice filtered through the crack between door and the doorframe. "They're probably in the garden. It's through the kitchen."
"Why are there streamers on the floor?" Pearl sounded confused, and everyone in the kitchen turned to look accusingly at a sheepish Red.
"Um," Yellow's feminine, nervous tone floated through, "well, you know Ruby- he likes decorating- that's probably it."
There was a hesitant pause, and Platina felt her fingers tighten at her side. What if Pearl didn't buy it? He wasn't stupid. They would pull it on Red, or Gold, even Green and Silver easy- but Pearl was sharper than that. She shivered, and Diamond looked at her as her shoulders accidentally touched his.
She's so tense. And then Diamond did something he didn't think he would have done in his life- he took her hand and held it, hoping that she wouldn't do something like shake it off or withdraw abruptly.
She didn't. Instead, he felt her fingers wrap around his and hold on tightly. Diamond felt a bright warmth heat up along his neck and towards his face- he suspected that it wasn't because of the scarf he always wore, even during the hot Hoenn summer. He subtly tightened his grip around hers, but slackened it ever so slightly- he didn't want to act like he had been waiting his whole life for this moment.
Which of course, he had been.
Pearl must have been waffling on Yellow's excuse, because Green's tone grew impatient. "Pearl," he said loudly enough for his best friends to know that he was lying through his teeth, "you know how Ruby decided to make a dress for Sapphire? Yes, he's probably using streamers to do it. He gets odd ideas- now if you excuse me, Red just texted me demanding to know where I am."
And there it was. Three pairs of footsteps began to approach the kitchen, and Platina's fingers tightened their grip around Diamond's in anticipation, although she thought to herself, Should have known, of course. If anyone could convince Pearl, it was Green with his authoritative tone. She didn't know why she was still holding Diamond's hand, then.
She found that she didn't really mind.
The kitchen door swung open and a familiar blonde haired boy stepped in- the kitchen erupted and a camera flashed as everyone bellowed at the top of their lungs, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PEARL!"
..
"A dress with streamers?" Ruby asked Green disbelievingly later as the Viridian Gym Leader filed out, absently tossing his Charizard's Pokeball as he left. "Really now, Green?"
"It got the job done, at least." Green nodded a farewell to the Hoenn boy as the slightest of smiles tugged at his lips. "This wasn't torturous. I wouldn't mind doing it again." With that said, he released the orange dragon and hopped on.
The last of the guests (note: a rather disoriented Blue) finally left, and Ruby flopped onto the living room couch. "What are you doing?" he wanted to know as Sapphire walked in, gingerly holding his laptop.
"Downloading pictures. What else does it look like I'm doing? Move over." Sapphire kicked Ruby's leg, and the boy reluctantly sat up and moved to one side, rolling his eyes as he did so.
"Is this the one your mom took?" Sapphire asked, swiveling the laptop screen so Ruby could see.
Ruby snorted. "My mom took all the pictures today, Sapph. I'm willing to bet she took this." His eyes scanned the picture and he frowned. "Hm. That's interesting."
"What is?"
Ruby pointed at the bottom left corner of the picture. "What are Platina and Diamond doing?"
Sapphire squinted. "They look like they're holding hands."
"Huh. Are they in a relationship?"
"I think they are."
"No, I doubt it. They would have said something."
"Why d'you have ta disagree with me on everything!"
"I do not disagree with you on everything."
"You're an idiot-"
"And you're a barbarian-"
And so it continued, wafting out into the hot summer evening.
Ruby and Sapphire did not know that the dark-haired boy sat on a hill not far from Ruby's house, thinking about a rich heiress- they didn't know that said rich heiress was already safely in her house, trying not to think about the dark-haired boy. They didn't know that at all.
Instead, the thought of a relationship in Sinnoh simply remained a whisper, a gentle breeze reminding always of what could have been- but never was.
And so there we go. I am attempting to fix my endings. I don't know about this one. Only you, dear readers, can tell me what you think about it. Objective reviews, as always, are greatly appreciated. :D
Let me know if there are any more requests- I currently have none waiting for me :D