"I feel as if I should have worn something a shade or two lighter." Steven sat in his usual black suit on the balcony of a very white café. At least he could say it looked remarkably clean. Wallace sat across from him, looking like he belonged here.
"Don't you like it?" Wallace thought somewhere quaint by the sea would be nice. Lilycove's small café by the lighthouse seemed a perfect choice. "You did ask for this after all."
"It's perfect in that sense. Very cosy." They were sat at a table small enough that their knees brushed against each other if one of them moved.
A waiter set down a sundae between them. Wallace picked the cherry off the top and brought it closer to Steven. "Open wide."
Steven bit the cherry from the stem before taking the stem. Wallace watched as Steven tied the stem into a knot with his tongue.
"Where did you learn that?"
"A business party. It can be really boring sometimes."
Wallace picked up a spoon and scooped some cream off the top of the sundae. "Maybe you can teach me some time." He pushed the spoon towards Steven who ate the cream.
"Am I allowed to eat anything by myself?" His hand hovered over the other spoon.
"I guess I've had my fun."
Once they had finished their sundae they walked down onto the beach. Lilycove's beach wasn't long as Mossdeep's, but this late in the evening no one was around so space wasn't an issue. They walked down the shore hand in hand before finding a spot to lie down and stare up at the moon and stars.
"Did you know it'd be a full moon?" Steven asked.
"I got lucky."
"I'm glad. It's beautiful."
Wallace looked over to him. "You're beautiful."
Steven squeezed his hand. "I'm nothing compared to you."
That caught Wallace off guard. His natural reaction was to say "Really?" He kind of wished he hadn't, but if Steven elaborated he wouldn't mind.
"Yeah, you always seem to put a lot of effort into your appearance and it pays off. You're naturally pretty though, always have been." Steven brought a hand to Wallace's face. "Your skin's so smooth too. I don't think I've ever seen you with a spot. What, did you skip that bit of puberty?"
"Maybe you would have seen one if you hadn't cooped yourself up in Victory Road for so long – wait, is that the real reason you wouldn't see me? Was the acne too bad?"
Steven balled his hand into a fist and gently pressed against Wallace's cheek. "Mean."
"Well, it's true that your skin would be a lot different if you spent more time outside. You look the less like a Hoenn native than some people from different regions I've met. So, that's why our next date is to the beach when the sun's up." Wallace placed a hand on Steven's stomach and ran it up to his chest. "I'll slather you in sun cream and let you get some colour."
"In other words, you just want to see me with less clothes."
"That's an added bonus. I'm just making sure you get enough vitamin D. God knows you didn't get enough up north."
OooO
The beach connected to Slateport city on route 109 was the place Wallace chose to take Steven. For a proper beach experience there wasn't a better place in Hoenn, plus they had never been here together.
It had been so long since Wallace had seen Steven in shorts and a t-shirt that he almost didn't recognise the other. At least he looked the part.
"Can we get a parasol?" was the first thing Steven asked. "I know you said this was a tanning trip and stuff, but what if I burn? Can we at least just burn half of me rather than all of me?"
"You're not going to burn."
"But I'm practically a sun virgin."
"Uh-huh, all those days we spent in the sun as kids don't count?"
Wallace had him there. "Please?" Steven grinned.
"Fine, we'll get a parasol."
They found a pair of sun loungers and got comfortable. At first Steven wanted to back out and keep his shirt on to minimise the area exposed to the sun, but once Wallace had forced the cream everywhere else on his body he figured he might as well.
"This stuff is horrible," Steven complained. "I feel so sticky."
"The other option is burning." Wallace squirted lotion on Steven's exposed back and began to massage it in.
"I'm not sure why I agreed to this, but I guess this back rub is pretty good."
Wallace continued to work Steven's muscles even after he'd finished putting the cream on. If Steven was enjoying it then sure he was going to make the most of this opportunity.
"You're mad."
Wallace was sprawled on his sun lounger, the sun beating down on him, only a pair of small trunks blocking the rays. He'd even pushed back his fringe for even coverage. "It's lovely. You should try it."
"Maybe another time. Do you do this often?"
"It's a luxury. I don't often take the time to dedicate a day to it. I'll ask Winona if she likes the sun more than you."
"Aw, are you dumping me for Winona now?"
"Winona's my friend who wants to do everything with me that my boyfriend finds boring."
'Boyfriend'. Steven hadn't really thought about that…that's what they were right now he supposed. It was kind of cute.
They wasted the day away talking and bathing in the sun, Wallace only taking a break from the sun to eat lunch. Steven watched in amazement as the other turned like clockwork every hour.
"Do you want to go and cool off?" Wallace asked.
"What, are you finally done?"
"I think that's enough sun for one day. So, are you up for a swim?"
"I can't promise it won't turn into a water fight."
"Don't you dare get my hair wet," Wallace said jokingly.
They raced off to the water, Wallace diving forward and making a swim for it. Steven didn't bother trying to follow him, running in as far as he could before sending waves of water in Wallace's direction.
"If I'd brought my Pokémon with me, you'd be in so much trouble right now." Wallace stopped and splashed water back. "What? Are you afraid to come any closer?"
"Not at all, this is strategy," Steven replied. "I know you're fantastic in the water. If I get much closer you'll have an advantage."
"Can I propose a truce? I won't splash you if you swim over here and kiss me."
Steven paused to think before swimming over. He pecked Wallace's lips before bringing his hands crashing through the water's surface. "You didn't say anything about me not splashing you."
Wallace put a hand on his head and dunked him under. "Well, I did say 'splash', right?"
Their time in the sea came to an end when they were both out of energy. Steven offered to fly them back home, telling Wallace he really needed to invest some time in getting a Pokémon that could fly. It was one thing to ride the currents down to Slateport, but going back was no easy feat.
The sun was setting as they neared Sootopolis, the sky a beautiful gradient from orange to pink.
"Wallace, wake up." The water trainer had long since fallen asleep, resting against Steven's back.
"Mm? ...Oh, wow. It's even more beautiful from up here."
Wallace watched the colours slowly changing as they descended into Sootopolis. The comfort of Wallace's house was very welcome after a day of sun loungers and Skarmory's steel back. Steven ended up falling asleep in an armchair, but woke up in bed next to Wallace, surprised he'd been carried upstairs without waking up. He must have been really tired.
"Good morning." Wallace kissed his forehead after placing a cup of coffee on the bedside table. Wallace never drank coffee, but he had a stash just for when Steven came round.
"Sorry I fell asleep like that."
"It's no problem. I should apologise for laying on you during the flight back."
Steven took a sip of coffee; it was still a bit too hot. "So, you finally managed to get me in your bed."
"I don't know what you're implying, but I can assure you I was too tired to do anything more than throw you on it and collapse myself. Not that I would have done anything had that not been the case."
Steven grabbed his shirt and pulled him down. "I trust you." He kissed him gently and Wallace melted into it. There was something immensely relaxing about being with Steven in his home as opposed to out somewhere where someone could walk past anytime.
Neither of them wanted to let go. Steven's arms were snaking their way around Wallace's neck, one travelling into his hair. Wallace was not so brave, worried that he might cross some invisible line with one wrong movement.
"Steven," he said when they broke for air.
"Yeah?" his voice was quiet.
"I'm burning the breakfast." He didn't particularly want to admit that early morning make out sessions were probably a bit too much for him to handle. Unless Steven was intentionally trying to get under his skin, but wasn't that going a bit too fast?
All of his worrying about how their relationship should pan out seemed to be for nothing. The rest of the morning was as normal as could be between the two of them. Wallace made breakfast and soon after Steven departed, still smelling of the sea.
OooO
They say that three dates is the ideal number. By that time you should have decided if you actually liked the person you were dating. Sure, Steven liked him in a friendly manner, but after today he'd be asking whether this was going to continue, because he really didn't need to fall in love any deeper than this. The last two dates had been enough for him to realise he loved Steven Stone way more than he'd thought.
Today, as promised, Wallace was taking him to a cave.
"I figured we'd stay local after our exhausting adventure last week," Wallace said as they stood outside the Shoal Cave.
Steven took his hand and led the way. The floors of the cave were still wet from high tide, but it didn't bother Steven. He walked through the cave with ease, he knew every inch of it.
"Where are we going?" Wallace asked.
"To the part I think you'll appreciate the most."
They walked into the ice room, the cold temperature being the first thing that hit Wallace. He didn't know such a place existed in Hoenn. He had never really questioned why the only ice Pokémon in the region chose this cave, but here was the answer. The place was beautiful, full of various ice formations and Pokémon he hadn't seen on the upper levels.
"This is incredible."
"I thought you'd like it. So, were you planning to help me find something cool?"
"I'll give it a try."
Steven handed him a small pickaxe. "Give that a try."
Wallace found that he wasn't very good at digging. He did okay with tapping along the wall to find a good spot to dig, but the actual digging…he ended up leaving that to Steven. It was so much more difficult than Steven made it look, but perhaps Steven was just so determined to get to whatever was in the rock. Instead Wallace took up the job of sanding away the excess and cleaning what was underneath. They made quite a team and in the end Steven was more than pleased that he could go home with a small haul that he didn't have to do any aftercare with.
"Steven, I need to ask you something," Wallace announced while they were still making their way through the cave. "This is our third date and I…I want to know where you want to go from here."
"I'm really enjoying this. I'd like to have more."
"That's not what I'm asking. I need to know how you feel about me. I can't continue this pretending that you might feel something for me."
Steven placed his rocks down before taking both of Wallace's hands in his own. "Wallace, I'm not leading you on. I wouldn't do that to you." He brought a hand to his lips. "I knew from the first date that I could feel more for you than just friendship."
"Why didn't you say something earlier?"
"I wanted to be sure." Steven moved in to kiss him, slowly, carefully caressing him. "Besides, it was really cute to watch you be romantic."
"Stop ruining the moment," Wallace muttered as he placed his arms around Steven, taking advantage of the permission he'd just been granted.
"We don't really have time for a moment." Steven broke away and picked up his rocks. "If we don't get a move on we might end up with waterlogged shoes."
"If you hadn't have spent so long digging we wouldn't have that problem."
"Stop complaining. I spent the best part of a day on a beach last weekend because of you. A few hours in a cave is nothing."
When they left the cave it was already dark and Steven invited Wallace to stay the night with him.
"I know that usually a request like this would seem really sudden, but given our current living arrangements it honestly isn't," Steven said as they lay in his bed, "but how about we both stay in Ever Grande as Champions? We can share the few challengers we get, Sidney can tell us who would be better suited and it would be really fun. It's not like either of us are tied there then, but we'll share the Champ suite and come and go as we please."
"Don't feel like kicking me out?"
Steven was due to return as Champion on Monday which meant that Wallace was due to return to Sootopolis full time, but here was an opportunity. It sure would prepare him for how Steven was around the house in case their relationship escalated to a point where they moved in together permanently.
"If I'm honest, dad mentioned me going back to Sinnoh for a short trip and doing a few other business things, so right now it'd be pretty handy to keep you around. But I want to keep you close for personal reasons. One date a week isn't enough time with you." Steven closed the distance between them.
They enjoyed each other for a while before falling asleep in each other's arms, neither of them going too far in their touches.