This didn't turn out as well as I had anticipated. Blah.
Read it anyway. XD
Name
Misty leaned up and whispered into her husband's ear. "But first... What did you mean when you said Ashton isn't your name anymore?"
It had been three days since Ash's mother had gone bananas over the prospect of Misty being pregnant.
It had also been three days since Misty had asked Ash about his name.
Ash shuddered at the thought. He wasn't sure quite why the name Ashton had such an effect on him, but he did know that he truly despised it. Naturally, he had asked Misty to stop calling him that back when they were just children, but that had only worsened the pain.
Ash sighed over his mound of paperwork. His large office at the Indigo Plateau was literally the last place he wanted to be at twelve at night. Or was it twelve in the morning? Ash was never really sure how that worked.
He supposed Misty didn't really cause pain when she called him... the thing. It was just terribly annoying. Ash was normally a very easy going man, hardly ever annoyed at little things. However, when it came to Misty, the person whom he loved more than anything, it was a different story. She knew exactly how to get under his skin.
Realizing he was no longer even doing the paperwork that plagued him, Ash dropped his hated, expensive fountain pen—the League gave him drawer completely full of them, stating that the Pokémon Master was required to use the best writing utensils—on his desk, purposely forgot to tidy his desk, retrieved his jacket, and quickly locked up his office after picking up a snoozing Pikachu from the beige loveseat in the corner of the room.
As he stood alone in the elevator, with only a sleeping Pokémon for company, Ash considered what would happen if he told Misty the secret of his name. He had never told anyone before, save for his mother. But that was only because he sort of had to. She was the one who named him, after all.
The elevator dinged pleasantly and released the last person in the building, carrying his beloved Pikachu in his arms. After stepping into the brisk, black night, Ash retrieved a minimized Pokéball from his belt.
"Charizard, I choose you!"
The orange dragon roared exuberantly upon being released, his flame giving off the only light in the dim terrace.
"Hi, buddy!" Ash patted the creature's head affectionately. "Ready to fly home? Pikachu and I are pretty tired. I guess you probably are too, after all the training we did today, huh?" Ash laughed.
Charizard smiled (if that was possible for him to do) and lowered his wings so Ash and Pikachu could board.
"Pika?" the quiet, sleepy query caught Ash's attention before taking off.
"Relax, Pikachu. We're just flying home. Go back to sleep," Ash commanded gently, lightly stroking Pikachu's head. Knowing his master had to hold on to Charizard, Pikachu sleepily climbed up to Ash's shoulder and fell asleep once more.
"Alright, Charizard, let's go home!" Ash dug his heel into the dragon's side and before Ash knew it, they were soaring in the air. His mind wandered once more to Misty and the caper of his name.
"If I told her..." Ash muttered under his breath, expecting someone to prompt him into finishing his sentence, but received no reply, as he was alone in the night air with his Pokémon, his voice drowned out by the wind.
Pro: It would get Misty off my back.
Con: It won't be a secret.
Pro: Maybe she'll stop calling me... that name.
Con: She'll never stop calling me... that name.
Pro: Um...
Con: Then she'll know about it and it won't drive her nuts anymore.
Pro: Uh...
Ash figured the cons outweighed the pros, but as the three beings landed in the driveway of the familiar Cerulean City home and Ash called Charizard back into his ball for a good night's sleep, he figured he should just get it out of the way. After all, if they were going to be married for the rest of their lives, she'd find out somehow.
He opened the front door as quietly as he could manage, removed his shoes and coat, and placed Pikachu on his favorite couch cushion in the living room. Ash pulled the knitted afghan off the end of the sofa and placed over his favorite furry companion.
"G'night, buddy. Love ya."
Pikachu snored in response.
Satisfied, Ash trekked up the stairs. A small part of him hoped that Misty was still awake so he could tell her the story and get it over with, but a larger portion hoped she was asleep so he could continue putting it off. Ash opened the door, silently entering the room to see his gorgeous wife's body rising slowly with deep breaths, the lamp on her nightstand still illuminating the bedroom.
"No story for you tonight, Misty!" he whispered victoriously to himself.
She was snoozing on her side, facing away from him. Stripping out of his clothes from the day, Ash studied her, as he had done every late night before. He could see the outline of her angelic face, but her sunrise locks encompassed the rest. The duvet covered her legs and hips, coming to a stop just under her arm. Ash noticed the lilac nightgown that was guaranteed to be cut short at the thighs and briefly wondered if he could have gotten lucky had he been home earlier. However, he remembered that nothing else mattered in that moment, as long as he could put off telling the grueling tale of his name.
She's totally out. I win!
"Ash?"
I married a mind reader, I swear, Ash thought miserably, as he crawled under the duvet, settling himself on his cool pillow. Misty rolled over to look at him, her heavily lidded eyes fluttering open to reveal familiar, breathtaking aquamarine irises.
"Shh, it's me. I just got home from work."
"I missed you." Misty rolled herself into his arms and hugged him tightly, pressing her nose into his cotton T-shirt. Ash felt a familiar warmth spread throughout his entire body.
"I missed you too, believe me." Ash returned her tight embrace and pressed a soft kiss against the crown of her head. He hoped to Arceus she would fall back asleep as pushed herself away from him to look at his haggard face.
"What did you do today? You don't look so well."
Nope, she's awake now.
"Oh, nothing interesting. The usual Pokémon Master stuff. Training. And loads of paperwork. I don't even know what the paperwork is about," Ash moaned, momentarily forgetting the Ashton woes. "I don't know why they're making me do all of it. The League isn't for another six months. I just wish I at least had an exciting battle coming up."
"Life's a bitch, isn't it?"
"You always know just what to say," Ash bit, albeit smiling widely. "What did you do today?"
"Kicked the asses of little kids who thought I was a pushover. Not one badge escaped this girl!" Misty smirked, cockily leaning her head back into her hands as she rolled onto her back. Ash tried not to stare at the bottom of her nightgown as it rode up to reveal lacy underwear under the covers.
Not now, he thought determinedly.
"Whatchya' looking at down there, Ashton?"
Ash twitched.
"Fine!" he shouted abruptly. "You want to know about my name? I'll tell you!"
Misty, who was undeniably shocked at her husband's outburst, sat up and glared down at him.
"Why the hell are you yelling at me?"
"I'm not yelling at you!"
"Ash, you're so yelling!"
"Fine, I'm yelling at you!" Ash had also sat up by this point. Misty, feeling nearly as confused as she did when Delia gushed over her nonexistent baby three days prior, she tentatively reached out and patted her lover's broad shoulder.
"Okay, we've established that. Now can you tell me why?"
"No!"
"Don't snap at me like that! You're acting like a child, Ash, and I just want to know what your damn problem is so I can help you!"
Ash suddenly felt as if his pants had fallen down in the middle of a televised event. Feeling the embarrassment rise to his cheeks, he tried to turn away from Misty, but her hand forcefully jerked him back into looking into her expectant face.
"Uh... sorry?" Ash offered sheepishly.
"Good start. Now talk."
Ash sighed for the umpteenth time that day.
"My name... used to be... Ashton."
"What does that even mean?" Misty's eyebrow shot up exasperatedly.
"It means I legally changed it!" Ash blurted, his eyelids squeezed shut. He took a chance and opened his right eye, hoping to anything holy that Misty wouldn't be laughing at him.
Any hope he had in that moment was mercilessly destroyed.
"You legally changed your name?" Misty gasped through large bouts of giggles, her head thrown back with mirth.
"Yes!" Ash squawked, insecurely wrapping his arms around his cotton-clad chest.
"Babe, that's so ridiculous! What's so bad about Ashton?"
"It's dorky," he mumbled, childishly falling back against his pillow. He buried his face in it while Misty's giggles continued.
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
"It was my father's name."
"Good try, Mister Pokémon Master. I know for a fact that Ashton was not your father's name. Don't play that card with me!"
"Fine," Ash sighed into the pillow. "Other kids used to beat me up about it. My name was shortened, but they all had manly names, like Eric, or Steve, or Bill!"
To Ash's dislike, Misty began to wail even harder. He threw his pillow over his head.
"Ash," Misty giggled, gently, removing the pillow from his grasp and setting it between them. "Steve is short for Stephen. And Bill is short for William!" Misty stroked the back of his unkempt head as he continued to push it against the mattress.
"I don't care. I hated it. So I legally changed it to Ash once I was old enough."
"You're such a dummy," Misty smiled.
"Thanks," he spat, looking into her cheery eyes for the first time since his confession.
"Oh, honey, you know I don't mean it! And your name is nothing to be embarrassed about! I promise I won't tell anyone!" Misty cooed, lying back down against her own pillow, taking Ash's hand in hers and squeezing tightly.
"You won't?" He sat up hopefully. "So does this mean you'll stop calling me Ashton?"
Misty giggled sweetly once again.
"Of course not! I'll torture you with that until the day we die!" Misty swiftly kissed his cheek and turned away from him to turn off the lamp. "Goodnight!" she trilled cheerily. Ash replaced his pillow and rolled to the edge of his side of the bed.
I never should have said anything.
After several moments of silence, in which Ash had felt the beginnings of sleep, he heard his wife's unmistakable, trilling voice.
"I can't believe you legally changed your name."
Eh, I had bigger plans for Ash's name confession... but when I tiredly tried to write this at like 1 A.M., I ended up falling asleep and I forgot what those name plans were when I woke up. I'm a little mad at myself for being unable to remember. Oh well. I hope you enjoyed it all the same!