Closet
"Gary, how in the Arceus-damn world did we end up locked in a closet?" Ash said, taking off his hat briefly and running his hand through his jet-black hair. His face wore an expression of disbelief as he rested his back against the cold, steel pillars of the supplies shelf. They were currently in the smallest supplies closet humanly possible, surrounded on all four sides by shelves crammed with boxes. The two boys sat parallel to each other, criss-crossed on the plywood floor. Making himself as tiny as possible, he willed his knees not to jut out any further for the fear of them even touching Gary's own. No matter what, Ash couldn't be here. Not trapped in a closet with him. Not with Gary. His heart already seemed to go a million miles an hour when he was around him, and the current confined space was not helping his situation.
"We're running from Team Rocket, obviously." Gary said, rolling his dark brown eyes. As if it was obvious to Ash, being the dense idiot he is. His arms were crossed against his dark purple t-shirt, his yin-yang necklace resting above it. As uncomfortable as may have been with being trapped in this confined space with Ash, he certainly wasn't letting it show.
"Well, I know that," Ash added, looking down and his lips going into a slight frown, "But I never thought I'd be in a closet, with, ya know… you." He blushed and rushed to hide it, pulling his League hat further down. Why the heck would he say that? He was so stupid. As if for added effect, he banged his head against the frame of the door and groaned in embarrassment.
Gary looked at Ash with a curious expression, cocking his head to the side. It was all Gary's fault. How could he look so cute, regardless of the damn situation? His face just looks so kissable and-No! Ash was not going there!
"It's not like I want to be here either, Ashy-Boy." His words escaped the corner of his slightly downturned smile. Though it was a blatant lie, Ash didn't catch on.
Why'd Arceus have to put him through all this extra torture today? Ash thought as he fiddled with his gloves, picking at the seams.
"I didn't expect you would, Gar-" Ash started but was quickly cut off by Gary's clammy hand. His heart beated
Ash could feel the heat rise up his neck as Gary side eyed him with a smirk and said, "I heard something."
Sure enough, there was the sound of Jessie's heels coming down the corridor. And, as always, not alone.
"Where did the twerp and his rival go? They were here! JAMES!" her voice bellowed from in front of the closed closet door.
"Jessie dear, I don't know. We could try the boiler room." James' meek voice perked up at his name.
"O' the control room!" Meowth suggested, raising a paw up.
"Come on!" Jessie said as she dragged James by the collar in the direction they were headed.
"No need to yell, Jess." Moewth said as he trailed behind, rolling his eyes.
The heels grew fainter as they left the front of the closet, causing Gary to remove his hand from Ash's mouth. The now-liberated 10 year old just sat dumbfounded and embarrassed, feeling heat radiate off his face.
"Gar, huh? I like that. You should use it more often." he said, casting a sickly sweet smile to the Pikachu trainer.
As if humanly possible, Ash seemed to get even more embarrassed. His face was the equivalent to a furnace, and he wanted nothing better to get out of the accursed closet right now.
"We should, uh, find a way out of here! Ya know, so Pikachu isn't alone." He suddenly jumped up, bringing Gary's attention to the electric rat. Now that Gary thought about it, it had been a while since they'd seen the thing. It was supposed to be finding Brock and Misty, so that they could help them get out of the locked closet. But if Team Rocket had gotten to him…
"I'm sure Pikachu's fine." Ash said, taking the thoughts out of Gary's head faster than he could say Pyukumuku. "He's a capable mouse. Have you seen what we do on the dail-Oh, wait, you haven't." Ash pouted and crossed his arms, cheeks flushed.
"Well, almighty Ashy-boy," Gary paused here to pick himself up off the ground, taking 100% satisfaction at seeing Ash's adorable frowny face. "Tell me. What do you do on the daily?" Genuinely interested though he was, the sarcasm lining his voice wasn't hard to detect.
"Well, Gar-bear," Ash flashed a satisfactory grin over toward Gary, who looked dumbfounded at the pink dusting his cheeks. "We usually have to blast Team Rocket off at least once a day, and Pikachu's Thundershock helps out with that."
Gary scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, as if it's that hard to defeat those morons."
"And whose closet are we stuck in right now?" Ash said, sticking out his tongue.
"Theirs. But whose fault is that?" Gary retorted, raising an eyebrow at Ash. He really missed doing this stuff with his childhood friend. Not being rivals. Just hanging around and messing with each other, like the old days.
"Not mine!" Ash said, putting his hands up in false submission. "Ok, ok, let's look through the boxes on the shelves to see if the stuff can help us."
"Look who suddenly has a brain cell or two." Gary said, fake shocked. He reached his hand into the cardboard box on the shelf, Ash turning round and doing the same at the sight of Gary. They both rummaged around, only finding Team Rocket memorabilia and extra clothes.
After a bit, Ash said, "Hey, Gary. There's a box on the very top, but I can't reach it. Could you help me?"
"Always a step or two behind, aren't you?" That one earned him a glare from Ash. "Sure, I'll help."
Gary attempted to grab at the box, but found he also couldn't reach. It wasn't until Gary suggested that Ash carry him on his shoulders (with a lot of protest from our Ashy, mind you) that he could barely reach it.
Ash bit his lip, trying his best not to rock the purple-shirted boy too precariously. Gary extended his arms, grabbing hold onto the box until- The whole damn box, along with its counterparts came crashing down, causing Ash to lose his balance and hit the floor along with his crush, who ended up on top of him. Both of them were bright scarlet at this point, with Ash's lips a centimeter away from Gary's.
As if on cue, the door creaked open, revealing a very smug looking Brock and a smirking Misty.
"Pika!" the electric mouse chirped form his spot on the ground, oblivious to the predicament he'd caused.
"Well, it was about time you two came out of the closet."
And as he laid atop Gary, the only thing he could think was, Arceus, just kill me now.