Leaf was a wanderer. That had never changed, ever since she was a kid, but in the end, she always came home.

Home had been a lot of different places. Home was Pallet Town before her journey, coming home to her mom and tracking dirt all over the floors because Red had to show her a nest of Digletts that popped up nearby and Blue had followed them and startled them into using Mud-Slap. Home was supposed to be Pallet Town after her journey, too, except that Red wasn't there, and Blue wasn't there, and soon enough, Leaf couldn't be either. Home was the roads of Johto for a while, even if a journey was a lot less fun when you weren't trying to catch up with your annoying neighbor and your quiet best friend. Home was the Viridian Gym after Red came back, watching Blue and Red orbit each other like they always had, and not thinking of them as her boys, not wishing she'd been a part of that rivalry when they were kids, not falling in love.

Home, now, was Alola, a little house on the beach. Home was knowing that they had been her boys, all along.

The sun was beginning to set by the time she got there. She let herself in. She was expected today, didn't even have to use her key. She had called Blue when she made it island-side again, and he'd complained about how of course she was early and they hadn't even had a chance to clean up yet. That was his way of saying 'I missed you.' It was also probably his way of saying 'Leaf, please, you're the only reason we both didn't starve to death on our journey as kids. You need to buy groceries.' That was fair enough, she agreed, as she set down one bag on the kitchen counter and took the other from Ninetales. The fox huffed her displeasure at having to do something as mundane as carrying in the groceries, and Leaf scratched her behind the ear.

"Yes, okay, you can go off and find Arcanine." Ninetales gave her a haughty look before she padded away. Leaf could swear Ninetales hadn't been that spoiled before this whole Pallet Town Trio thing became something more official, which meant it was definitely Blue's fault.

It was quiet. Too quiet. Leaf wasn't all too surprised to find Jolteon and Pikachu snuggled up on the couch together. She gave the both of them pats on the head, a tingle of static from Pikachu setting the hair on her arm on end. Jolteon purred before laying her head on top of the mouse and promptly falling back asleep. They were the laziest electric-type Pokemon Leaf had ever known. "So, if you two are out here, where are your trainers?" The question was entirely rhetorical, but Pikachu's ear flicked in the direction of their bedroom.

Leaf crept quietly to the door, nudged it open. The soft glow of a lamp greeted her from inside, illuminating her boys on the bed. Red was laying on his stomach, the pillow tucked up in his arms. He himself was dutifully playing the role of Blue's pillow, who was sprawled across Red's back. She leaned against the doorway, a burst of affection in her chest holding her back for a moment, not wanting to wake them. Her eyes darted to the floor. There was a headband laying forgotten there, and Leaf tiptoed over to pick it up, still not wanting to wake them. She knelt down, dusted it off. Affixed to the band were Eevee ears, and judging by the way Blue's hair had been mussed, they'd been in use not long ago.

She stood up again, biting back a grin, and wasn't too surprised to find a pair of gray eyes watching her. She should have known she wouldn't be able to sneak past Red. He gave her the rare (less rare, nowadays) smile, looking down at the headband she was holding and then at the bedside table. She opened the drawer he was looking at and rolled her eyes. "Stuffing things in a drawer is not cleaning up." Red shrugged slowly, trying not to disturb the man laying on him. Blue muttered something unintelligible, turned over slightly, and opened his eyes just enough to see Leaf. He sat up quick after seeing her.

"Shit, you're-" He reached up, finding nothing except his hair atop his head, and then looking around the room. "I laid out the- Red, where's the stuff?" Leaf chuckled, sat on the bed next to him, and put the headband back on his head, combing her fingers through his hair. "We were gonna surprise you." He said. Red was sitting up too now, stretching. "I thought you said you'd be back early."

"I did. I got held up. Tauros." Red nodded solemnly like he understood. Blue looked between them with narrowed eyes, like he was trying to figure out if this was a joke or not.

"This is what I get for shacking up with you two. Other people can handle that, you know. People who are trained to handle it." He was whining. Leaf flicked his cheek. He made a face.

"Quiet, you. Eevees can't talk." Blue shut his mouth, whatever comeback he had silenced. At least for a moment.

"We're still doing this?" He couldn't really hide the eagerness in his voice. Leaf pet the spot she'd flicked with her thumb.

"If you give me a minute to pull everything your husband-"

"Our husband." Blue corrected.

"Our husband shoved away when you fell asleep, yes." Red sat back, his palms against the bed, looking confused. "You know what you did. Don't play dumb." He dropped his head and smirked.

This was something they'd starting doing after they'd settled into their relationship. It had started with an offhand comment, something Blue had said to Red when they were cuddling, "I swear, you're worse than that rat of yours," and Leaf had followed that up without thinking with, "He'd make a pretty cute Pikachu." Everything had snowballed from there, and here she was now, placing a matching Pikachu ear headband on top of Red's head while Blue tugged on a pair of mitts designed to make his hands more like paws. Red couldn't stand wearing that kind of thing, but Pikachus were more dexterous than Eevees anyway.

They had tails, too, but while Leaf did pull them out from being squished in the bedside table, actually wearing them tonight might be a bit more trouble than they were worth. She set them aside as she saw Blue bat at Red from the corner of her eye. Instead, she pulled out the two pairs of most important items. First, collars, a brown one for Blue and a yellow one for Red. She always put them on herself, part of the ritual of it all. She could see Red relax a little more when she clipped his collar in place. Blue seemed to get even more eager. Finally, she picked up the last prop for their scene, a pair of empty Pokeballs. She held them out and only felt a little silly when she said,

"Go, Eevee, Pikachu!" Only a little, because the moment she said that, she had their attention. She put the Pokeballs down. "Have my boys been good while I was gone?" She reached over to pet Red's hair. He pressed up into the touch, smiling, and she fiddled with one of the ears on the headband. Blue whined, butting her unoccupied arm with his head. She flicked him again. "Be patient. You'll get scritches soon." She couldn't resist for long, though, not when Blue made the cutest sounds when he was being pet. "Have to keep you happy, huh? How else am I going to get an Espeon?" That made Red stifle a laugh. Blue rolled his eyes, but he still pushed into Leaf's hand as she gently dragged her nails over his scalp.

"Do you two need to burn off a little energy before bed? Want a practice battle?" Red tilted his head, making his ears fall to the side like he was curious. Blue grinned. "Alright then. Let's see how well I've trained you." Ideally, they'd be doing this on the carpet floor where there was more room to roll around, but the bed was just big enough that they could probably manage. She'd take it easy on them. "Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Before Blue had a chance to react, Red jumped him, pushing him down on the bed. "Eevee, Growl!" Blue did, or he tried his hardest to. It was very hard to mimic an Eevee call and make it sound at all menacing. Red seemed unphased.

"Pikachu, Nuzzle!" She called. Red dipped his head, started rubbing his cheek against Blue's throat and jaw. She could see Blue blush, and he batted at Red with his paw mitts uselessly. "Better watch out, Eevee. You're paralyzed now. Pikachu, Sweet Kiss." Blue pouted at her, clearly convinced she was making him throw this fight. Red leaned up and kissed the pout off him, which worked until Blue nipped at his lower lip. Leaf clicked her tongue. "Bad Eevee. Did I say you could use Bite?" Blue snorted. Leaf narrowed her eyes. "Pikachu. Use Tickle." It took Blue a moment to catch on, and before he did, Red had already pulled his shirt up, running his hands over his sensitive sides. Blue thrashed under him, trying to escape.

"Le-" Blue cut himself off, remembering the rules, and instead began chirping, vee! vee! vee!, like he was begging Red to stop. Leaf laughed.

"Eevee, use Endure!" Blue looked up at her, utterly betrayed, panting between helpless giggles. Red pushed his shirt up further so that he could nuzzle against his chest as he tickled him, tongue darting out to lick at Blue's nipples and the symmetrical scars below them purely for his own enjoyment. She didn't reprimand him, even though they both knew Pikachus couldn't learn Lick. Blue shoved at his head with his mitts, and she could see Red was smiling.

"That's enough, Pikachu. That's enough." She came close again, running her hand through Red's hair as he stopped tickling Blue. Blue sucked in a deep breath. She steadied the headband on Red's head absently. "Only one way out of this, Eevee." Blue peered up at her, a little annoyed, a little exhausted from his fit of laughter. "Use Yawn." The corner of his mouth quirked up, and he did yawn. It wasn't entirely an act. The ones Red and Leaf both gave in response definitely weren't. What little sun had leaked into their bedroom from around the closed curtains was long gone. "Good boys. So well trained." She murmured, pressing a kiss to Red's hair before leaning down to kiss Blue's forehead. "So good for me." Blue melted under the praise, purring. Red turned to press his face into her shoulder for a moment, a silent thanks. She pulled back. Time to end this scene and get her boys some well-deserved... She smirked.

"Pikachu, use Rest." Red obeyed without a second's hesitation. He collapsed on top of Blue, making the other man squawk in protest.

"Hey! Whoa! Get off!" Red settled in despite Blue's protests. Leaf giggled. "What are you, a Snorlax? Red! You're crushing me!" Leaf's giggles turned into all-out laughter as she watched Blue squirm and try to push Red off, to no avail. He managed to knock off his own ears in the process, but he didn't seem to notice. Eventually, Leaf took pity on him, helping him roll Red off. Red stretched, yawned again, and closed his eyes as she unclipped his collar and put his ears on the bedside table. (Not stuffed in the drawer because she actually knew how to take care of her things, thank you very much.) He reached up when the collar was off, pulled her in for quick kiss.

"Your fingers cramped at all?" She asked Blue as she helped him get his mitts off. He flexed his fingers.

"Nope. All good." He watched her as she undid his collar next. "You forgot to do the thing."

"What thing?" Blue flushed a little. He mimed something with his hand.

"You know, the-" He shook his hand again. He looked like he was pretending to hold something. Leaf shook her head, a little exasperated, but she understood. She leaned over to the table, picked up the empty Pokeballs from behind Red's headband. She held one up, pointing it at Red.

"Pikachu, return." Red smiled but didn't open his eyes. She turned back to Blue. "Eevee," she held the Pokeball up and bumped it gently against his nose, "return." Blue let out a quiet breathe, like that was permission to settle down completely. It only lasted a moment, and then the cocky boy she'd fallen in love with was back. He tugged her forward into a kiss of his own, and when he pulled back, she heard him say,

"Welcome back, Leaf." He crawled up the bed, then, flopping down next to Red. Leaf followed, snuggling in behind him. She was pretty sure his ears had fallen on the floor again. She'd pick them up in the morning, after she slept in for half of it and woke up to Red already out training and Blue cursing at her Ditto for pretending to be coffee again. It was good to be home with her boys. And she knew, eventually, sitting still would get to her again, and she'd go out, travel, find new places and Pokemon and report it all to them. But she'd come home. She'd always come home.