Twenty-Four Hours
TWO PM | building relationships, encouraging understanding and love between people, sexual symmetry
"I was thinking we should take a vacation together."
Red gives him a flat look, one that reminds Green of just how many vacations he takes away from his gym in the first place. Green waves his hand and rephrases.
"I mean, a proper one. Together. And without them."
Green points towards the couch. Eevee and Pikachu stop their playing to stare back, wondering what's happening between their trainers. Green glares; Pikachu's ears drop down and his cheeks spark up.
Red's look gets even flatter.
After a short while of intense convincing (three weeks), Red finally gives in to leaving their teams behind for an agreed maximum of one night. They arrive in Johto at two o'clock and head to the daycare center first before setting off for Ecruteak. Green plans to get to the hotel by four, finish dinner by seven, and be spent and naked in bed by ten. Preferably.
That gives Red and Pikachu two hours to stop clinging onto each other in the middle of the center before they have to leave.
Green puts his hands on his hips as he watches the pitiful display. "You already agreed to this and I already paid, so let him go already."
Pikachu whines and buries his face in Red's jacket. He can't understand Pikachu very well, but there's no doubt he's whining about something involving the Big Bad Meanie making him leave Red forever and why do you like this guy anyway. Green would pry Pikachu off Red himself, but he has a feeling it'll land him with a bad case of paralysis. Damn rat.
Eevee thankfully comes to his rescue and prances around Red's legs, calling out for Pikachu to come down. Slowly, Red kneels and sets his prized Pokemon next to her, who immediately gets his cheeks rubbed by Eevee's.
Green grabs Red's arm the moment he's free and pushes him towards the door. "Good, let's get going already."
While Red stumbles outside, Green swiftly leans down towards Pikachu and waves a finger in his face.
"You touch my girl, you're a dead mouse. Got that?"
Pikachu's cheeks spark up.
Green flees before he has a chance to get zapped.
"…Wonder if he's alright."
"Relax. That place is owned by Hibiki's grandparents, remember?" Green goes for another attempt at smoothly taking Red's hand as they walk up the route, which fails yet again when Red uses his hands to twist at his jacket instead.
"Can we call them?"
"Give me that." Green forcibly grabs his hand and treks on, dragging Red behind him.
The caretaker sends them all outside to play before dinner. Green's and Red's teams eye each other cautiously, not used to being next to each other without throwing punches or fireballs.
Pikachu decides he has to break the ice.
"Chuu!" He asks Venusaur to help him pick some stray flowers, then calls at Pidgeot to find a berry for him. The others crowd around as Pikachu strings together his creation, but the mouse bounces off before they can see it
Pikachu runs up to Eevee near the white fence enclosing them. They all could easily fly or dig out and find their trainers, but they were ordered to stay and they know their trainers will come back. Eevee paces along the fence and lake for the water-types, looking at the neighboring route; Pikachu guesses that she misses Green already.
His cheeks flare up. He's way better than that bully.
"Pika!"
"V-vui?" Eevee cries out in surprise when Pikachu suddenly takes her ear and jumps back. Something slides down and rests against her head, making her look at her reflection in the lake.
A small flower bracelet encircles her ear, with white buds and a yellow berry in the middle.
When she looks back, Machamp and Blastoise are giving Pikachu a thumbs-up.
It's fairly easy to get access to the Bell Tower; gym leader connections and official word from Morty get them past the monks guarding the area, despite how unimpressed they look. Green smirks at every one they see just to make them frown harder.
They sit at the top and watch the sunset after dinner. Green's thinking of stretching out his arm and draping it over Red's shoulder as he fakes a yawn (classic move), but Red initiates by wrapping his arms around Green's waist. That works, too.
Green plants a kiss on top of Red's head, smiling when the other boy's hands start wandering into his jacket.
"Shouldn't we wait until we get back to the hotel?"
Red suddenly pries himself off, Green's pokegear successfully taken from his jacket and in his hand.
Green snatches it back before Red can flip it open and find the daycare's number.
Pikachu sniffs the floorboards, relying on his nose in the middle of the night to navigate around the daycare center. He was placed in a bedding area with a few other electric-types, but it's just not the same without Red or Eevee curled next to him.
He finally catches on Eevee's scent and finds her in her own bedding, secluded in a corner. She's so much like her trainer; wanting it all at the top of the world with no one else, except she's much nicer and prettier and doesn't punch Red in the arm all the time. The flower bracelet is still around her ear, mixing in with her natural scent. Pikachu's ears flick. He really likes Eevee.
He tries to be sneaky but she still wakes up when he lays next to her. Ever alert, Eevee jumps a little but relaxes when she sees light yellow sparks in the darkness.
"Pika?"
"Vui…"
They stare at opposite walls, now fully awake. Pikachu clears his throat.
Eevee places a paw on top of his own.
They look back at each other.
They leave the Tower after sunset and don't return to the hotel until nine, but at least Green is spent and naked in bed by nighttime, and that's more than good enough for him. He rolls to his side and drapes himself over Red, lips trailing around his shoulder with a sigh.
"Red...you're so-"
"Is it too late to call?"
Green slowly sits up to stare at him, then grabs his pillow to thoroughly smother Red's face.
They return at two the next day, if only because Green made Red do some sightseeing before leaving the city. Ever the morning person, Red had tried to leave before seven, but Green bared his teeth and that was the end of that conversation. His money is good for a full twenty-four hours, and he'll milk it as much as possible.
The moment they step into the daycare center, the caretaker starts clapping.
"Congratulations, you two!"
They blink, waiting for an explanation (Red) or gifts to appear (Green). Pikachu and Eevee run up to them; Pikachu immediately jumps into Red's arms and clings to whine for the rest of forever, while Eevee calmly curls her tail around Green's leg. He's about to bend down and see what's around her ear, but she bounces away before he has a chance.
"Congrats on what?" Green asks.
"On the new addition to the family, of course!" The caretaker points to where Eevee is, next to the fence that leads to the play area.
She sits next to a purple and yellow egg nestled in a blanket, looking as proud as she did when she helped Green become Champion all those years ago.
Green's eyebrow twitches.
Red immediately shoots a look at Pikachu, who does his best attempt at looking innocent. It involves a lot of blushing and head shaking, but his trainer isn't convinced at his Pokemon's excuse.
Green doesn't even get that far. He blacks out before he hits the floor.
"Do you even know what this means?"
Red shrugs and sinks lower on Green's couch, trying to focus on the Pokemon magazine he's reading. Green continues talking anyway, staring at the egg on the coffee table and holding an ice pack against the bump on his head. Red rereads the same sentence for the fifth time.
"This means we're practically parents – no, like we're grandparents. Like I'm already a grandpa. I don't want to be like Gramps!"
Red turns and faces the couch, hiding his face deeper into the magazine.