Lust
"Ash, try to control yourself!"
Ash Ketchum sat at the kitchen table of his childhood home shoving cookie after cookie into his mouth while his mother, Misty, and Brock looked up from the spread of wedding magazines they had spread out in front of them across the table. As Ash chewed his sixth cookie, he glanced up at the other three seated on the other side of the table.
"What?" he asked through a mouthful of peanut butter and chocolate chip treats.
Brock chuckled and went back to looking through the caterer's menu choices.
"Some things never change," the older man mumbled.
"What's that supposed to mean, Brock?" Ash asked innocently, finally clearing his mouth of food. Brock chose not to respond and instead flipped the menu over, examining it quietly.
Delia and Misty, on the other hand, continued to stare wide-eyed at the Pokémon Master, who was seated across from them and Brock.
"Ash, honey, didn't I teach you any manners?" his mother scolded.
"Well, yeah, but-"
"Could I see you in the living room for a moment, Ash?" Misty abruptly interjected with a sweet falsetto. Ash leaned back in his chair and raised a dark brow at his wife-to-be.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure interrupting someone while they're talking is a breach of manners, right Miss?," Ash asked his tone filled with half sarcasm and half anger.
"Ash," Brock warned, still occupied with the menu.
"But, Brock!"
"Ash, listen to Misty!"
"Mom, I-"
"Come on, Ash." Misty's sweet tone had disappeared. Ash sighed, got up from his seat, and followed his lover into the living room. As soon as Misty deemed they were far enough out of earshot, she bombarded the trainer with blows to the chest.
"I can't believe you embarrassed me like that in there!" Misty whispered loudly, still punching him in the chest.
"Ow! Hey!" Ash whisper-yelled, grabbing Misty's wrists and covering them with his hands and twisting a little but enough to hurt. "Stop hitting me!" Ash snarled
Misty struggled against him.
"No! Let go of me!" Misty struggled.
"I will if you tell me why you're trying to beat me up!"
"Fine!" Misty said.
Ash let go of his lover's wrists and let her arms drop to her sides briefly before she pointed an accusatory finger at him. "Your behavior in there was humiliating!"
"My behavior? You mean the cookies?"
"Yes, the cookies, you nitwit!"
Much to Misty's chagrin, as she stared menacingly into Ash's face, his lips began to curve upward and a happy sound escaped his lips.
"Why are you laughing!?" Misty was becoming more enraged with each passing second. Ash, who noticed the warning signs, stopped his laughter immediately.
"Mist," he started, a cheeky smile still present on his handsome face, "it's my mom and Brock. They've known me longer than anyone!"
"I don't care, Ash, it's still embarrassing. Your love of cookies shouldn't be on display for the public to see. Imagine what people will think at the wedding! They'll think I married a giant pig!" Misty threw her hands into the air exasperatedly.
"Hey, chill out, bridezilla!" Ash shot back, his smile instantly disappearing. "I don't know what your problem is, but this is not a big deal!
"Well I may be a bridezilla, but at least I can go five minutes without shoving ten cookies in my mouth!" Misty took a step closer to Ash and jabbed a finger at his broad chest.
"Bullshit!" Ash cried, inwardly wincing. His mother, who he had forgotten was in the next room probably eavesdropping, was surely going to make him pay for that one. "You love sweets as much as I do!"
"Yeah, well I have some self-control," Misty huffed, shutting her eyes and stepping back, arms folded haughtily across her yellow v-necked chest.
"Well, if you have so much 'self-control,'" Ash prodded, adding childish air quotes over his last word, "how about a little bet?"
Misty, intrigued at her lover's request, opened her eyes and turned back toward him.
"What sort of bet?"
"I bet that I can go longer without sweets than you can without... Um, something you like!"
"Oh?" Misty raised a slim brow. "And what would that something be?"
Ash faltered.
"Um..." Ash began, catching Misty's smirk. "Sex!" he exclaimed. "I can go longer without sweets than you can without sex or anything close to it!" Ash cried victoriously, standing up to his full height.
Misty's eyes widened frightfully, but only for a split second before coolly holding her hand out for Ash to shake. Besides, this would be worse for Ash than it would be for her, right? At least she got dessert.
"Stakes?"
"Loser has to do the dishes for two weeks."
Misty despised washing dishes just as much as Ash, if not more. And for that, holding out on him just might be worth it... Right?
"Deal."
XXX
Brock, crouched at the doorway with Pikachu at his side, raised his eyebrows.
"Oh, man, Ash really did himself in this time."
"Ooh, what did he say now?" Delia bubbled curiously, as she squeezed ketchup into a small bowl for Pikachu.
"Pika!"
"Here you go, sweetheart!" Delia set the bowl on the floor next to Pikachu. The electric mouse happily squealed again. Turning to Brock, she frantically asked, "Now, what happened?"
Brock stood up and smirked at his best friend's mother.
"Ash bet Misty that he could go longer without sweets than she can without-" Here, Brock paused awkwardly, averting his eyes from the older woman's. Delia's brow questioningly shot up.
"Well?"
Brock closed his eyes and gulped, wishing away the embarrassment of sex-talk with Ash's mom.
"Over-the-top intimacy."
Delia sighed.
"Oh, Ash. He never did learn to think before speaking, did he?"
"Of course," Brock sighed.
XXX
A week into the bet, Ash had suffered twice as much as he was anticipating. He had failed to remember that Misty abstaining from sex also required him to abstain. And not only was he not allowed to have Misty, he also wasn't allowed any cookies, cake, candy, pie, or anything else that tasted yummy.
Desolately, he forced himself into the kitchen, silently thankful that Misty wasn't present to see him suffer.
"Oh, what did I get myself into?" Ash moaned miserably, examining the contents of the fridge in his and Misty's shared home. "My mom brought us a cake!"
Slamming the refrigerator shut, Ash dejectedly settled for an apple and proceeded to snack away whilst sitting on the counter.
Misty entered the ample-sized kitchen and silently gasped upon seeing her shirtless fiancé sitting on the counter.
"Hiya, Misty!" he chirped from behind the deep red fruit. Despite having nothing but regret for the bet he made, Ash still brightened upon seeing Misty's face. Failing to notice the rather blank blue-green eyes staring back at him, Ash pointed at the shopping bags in her left hand and asked, "Where ya been all day?"
Snap out of it, Misty! It's only been a week! Forget your fiancé is hot! Pretend he's fat! Do whatever it takes to win!
"Oh!" Misty seemed to remember that Ash was speaking to her. "I went to this great women clothing store that Brock recommended! Why he knows about it, I have no intention of ever finding out, but, I got some really great stuff!" Misty thrilled.
"Oh." Ash's response snapped her out of her reverie once again. "So," he began awkwardly. "Can I see the... stuff?"
Misty blushed. She hadn't expected him to ask her that. Not wanting to appear weak, however, she strode over to the counter and took the spot next to him. The redhead wordlessly pulled out the lacy short nightgown she had purchased especially for their honeymoon.
Ash shifted uncomfortably as her hand came out of the bag, holding up what was probably skimpiest.
The dress Misty had bought was the darkest shade of green that left little to the imagination.
"Wow," he mumbled against the slowly depleting apple. A drop of juice dribbled down his chin, but he was too preoccupied to really notice.
"Yeah," Misty whispered, trailing the juice with darkened aquamarine eyes. The droplet began at his lips, traced his angular chin.
She let her index finger travel the same trail as the juice, pushing her filed nail firmly against his strong body and traveling up his neck to his chin. Misty felt the rate of Ash's heart increase. Finally landing her finger on Ash's parted lip, she met his dark eyes.
Ash's barrel brown eyes bore into hers with the unmistakable expression of lust. Misty forced herself to look away.
"I have to go put this stuff upstairs," Misty squawked, abruptly jumping off the counter and snatching the cloth from Ash's hand. Ash watched his fiancée scurry out of the kitchen.
"Damn, I almost had it!" Ash groaned, chucking the forgotten apple core into the nearby trashcan.
XXX
A few very stressful days later, Misty found herself sitting in her and Ash's bed, moping. Her lover had gone to fetch some water, leaving Misty alone with her thoughts. She had had a very stressful week at the Cerulean Gym, battling trainer after trainer and dealing with mountains of paperwork. Due to the upcoming Indigo League competition, all the gym leaders had to send in countless quarterly reports, documenting battles, training sessions, as well as other business that Misty considered boring.
She noticed her future husband had been under just as much stress, if not even more. The Pokémon Master had been to several meetings in the past few days, interrupting his training countless times. Misty, who knew Ash better than anyone, knew he was really suffering by not being able to enjoy eight brownies and some loving when he came home.
Misty herself was acutely aware of the effect that not having sex was having on her. While she had gone her entire life without it prior to being an adult and being with Ash, making the sudden transition was very tasking. Sex with Ash was, however, her prime form of stress relief.
The young woman briefly wondered how Ash was doing without it, but remembered that there was really no wondering. He had made it painfully obvious with his nervous glances and constant twitches whenever they touched that he was having just as bad of a time as Misty was. More than once this past week, she had considered calling a stalemate on the bet.
No, you idiot. You can't lose.
"But I want to lose so, so bad!" Misty found herself saying to the empty room.
Before she realized what she was doing, Misty threw the duvet off her pajama-clad body and sprinted down the stairs.
Ash, who was thoughtfully studying the last piece of chocolate cake his mother had baked them in the refrigerator, heard Misty's light footsteps approach.
Wearing his sweatpants and a white T-shirt, he stood in front of the open fridge, the light illuminating the entire room, waiting for his lover to enter. He had recently been occupying the thought of throwing the bet just to have some dessert, as well as some sweet delight with his redheaded beauty. He bit his lip nervously.
"Ash!" Misty's socked feet slid into the kitchen, as she cried his name frantically. Ash, who noticed her distress, ran over to her immediately, leaving the refrigerator door fully open.
"Misty!" Ash gently grabbed her shoulders, eyes wide with worry. "What's wrong? Is someone trying to break in? Pikachu's sleeping in the living room. Let me go get-"
"No, Ash! Everything is fine! I just, well..." Ash's worry began to cease as she trailed off.
"Oh, phew, alright. What's bothering you, then?"
Misty closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and stepped out of his grip.
"I want to call off the bet."
Ash nearly choked on air.
"I know you're going to say I'm a loser for this but this last week-and-a-half has been miserable for the both of us and I really want this but I really don't want to do those stupid dishes so-"
Ash's lips crashed into hers.
Misty's eyes went wide before immediately shutting them, reveling in the feeling of her lover's hands running up through her tank top and down her smooth back. She grabbed fistfuls of his cottony shirt and sighed deeply into his mouth as they both parted their lips, granting each other heated entrances. Misty felt Ash's low moan vibrate through her mouth and whimpered as he pulled away.
"Ash, come on!" Misty tugged on his shirt, trying to pull him back. He wriggled out of her grip and hopped back to the refrigerator.
"I just gotta do one thing first!"
"Seriously?" Misty watched as Ash pulled the last piece of triple chocolate cake out of the fridge, unwrapped the saran wrap, and shoved the entire thing in his mouth in one bite, his ambery eyes closing blissfully.
"Mmm," he moaned through the spongy substance.
"I'm going upstairs, Ash," Misty sing-songed as she turned on her heel and walked toward the stairs leading to their bedroom.
"Not without me!" Ash swallowed his cake after a short moment and ran after her.
Man, that cake was good. Too good. It's almost like my mom knew...
Ash shook his head violently as he took the stairs two at a time to catch up with Misty.
"Now is not the time to think about Mom," Ash grumbled to himself as he threw the bedroom door open, only to be bombarded by kisses from the beautiful redhead in front of him.