Chapter Text
3 years later
Hop was not a naturally patient man.
Nothing had changed the moment he got Bede's calm text over the phone; the Rookidee continued to chirp, that the sun would still cross the sky, and tomorrow, Bede would still be whinging about losing to Gloria for another three weeks after the last Champion's Cup. But in that instant, Hop's world had flipped, all over again.
It seemed to do that a lot when Bede was involved, with each and every time always for the better.
Hop grinned. He'd been out trying to collect samples of Yamper fur for a study, but that could wait. Now, his heartbeat thumped as loud as the stairs as he rushed up to the apartment. His blood was pounding in his ears with excitement, just as it had ever since he'd glanced at his phone. It barely took him a second to push through the newly finished door and shuck off his shoes, eyes eager as he searched their shared home.
Their home. It'd only been a few months since he'd moved in together with his long-time boyfriend, and the novelty of those words hadn't worn off yet. In fact, it lent even more excitement to the news.
“Bede!” he called excitedly.
“Here, Hop.”
Hop followed Bede’s exasperated voice to the living room, where Bede flashed him a wry smile. The man that had made up more and more of Hop’s life over the past three years was sitting on the ground by the lit hearth, surrounded by their Pokemon on all sides. Hop had suspected something was up ever since Dubwool and Sylveon started getting a tad inseparable again, but now: this was the proof.
In Bede’s lap, supported by a cushion- a Pokemon egg with a familiar pattern. Hop stopped. They had expected this, but seeing the egg held so securely in his boyfriend’s arms, surrounded by their beloved Pokemon... Something intensely profound punched the very breath out of Hop’s lungs.
“Looks like our Pokemon were playing again.” Bede’s face was deadpan, but the teasing lilt in his voice matched the contented sparkle in his eyes. The facade broke when he laughed, nodding towards Dubwool and Sylveon, happily licking Espeon’s fur as if nothing had happened. “I’d ask you to take a little responsibility, but well. We both know you’d face Eternatus itself for the sake of our Pokemon, so that'd be pointless.”
Hop let out a little laugh, the disbelief that had been circling his head for the past hour finally knocked out by the sight before him. A small hand pressed against his back- Hatterene, pushing him forward, her encouragement clear. Hop dropped to his knees, scooting on the ground as their gathered Pokemon made way for him to sit by Bede’s side. Up close, the egg looked far smaller than he remembered Espeon's being. Or maybe Bede had grown taller, more filled up, ever since the first time they'd done this. Even so, his boyfriend still carried their Pokemon’s egg easily, secure and steady in his embrace.
“It’s beautiful.” Hop swallowed, meeting Bede’s gently understanding eyes. “Bede…”
His boyfriend quirked a smile, one hand rubbing the surface of the shell reassuringly. “I daresay we’re experts at this, by this point. Probably something we ought to get used to. And maybe a bigger apartment, if this keeps happening.”
Hop chuckled. Bede gestured him closer, and when he opened his arms, his boyfriend passed the egg over to him.
It felt warm. A familiar weight in his arms; familiar responsibility– one that now felt lighter to hold, with Bede reassuringly by his side. Hop looked up, meeting the gaze of Dubwool and Sylveon, watching him with easy trust. Espeon chirped brightly, swishing her tail as she regarded the egg holding her new sibling. The rest of their Pokemon ringed around them, basking in the presence of the newest member of their family.
And then an arm loosely wrapped around his shoulders. Bede smiled at him, bright and proud, poking his nose with a finger before resting his cheek against Hop’s.
"You're wearing that same stupid look as when we won the Galarian Star."
Hop chuckled. “Do you remember how shocked we both were, the first time this happened?” He spared a glance at his boyfriend. “I thought you wanted to kill me.”
Bede sniffed. “Sometimes, I still do,” he said with feigned displeasure. “But that would leave me without my boyfriend, and who’d take care of the egg, then?”
Hop snorted. “You said you’d be able to, all by yourself.”
"And you'd prove me right? Shame on you, Hop." A mirthful light danced in violet eyes, teasingly sweet in the way Hop had learnt to recognize over the years.
Bede was lucky he had their precious egg in his arms, and couldn't tackle him like he wanted to. Hop did his best to slump his full weight against Bede, but instead of toppling his boyfriend off-balance, warm arms wrapped around him with a soft chuckle.
“It’ll be easier now that we’re living together,” Bede observed. “I don’t have to wait forever until we meet for our little dates. And at least I can catch the egg now if you knock it off our tables.”
“I never did that. And those weren’t dates– at least, not originally!”
“The man doth protest too much.”
Hop elbowed him in the ribs, and Bede laughed, his voice reverberating against Hop’s skin.
“I came home as soon as I got your text,” Hop murmured. “Seeing this little guy, soon to be here with us…”
“What do you think?”
Violet eyes were lit comfortably by Bede’s gentle smile. By the easy confidence in them; the trust that, after three years, had become all the more ingrained in the way he always looked at Hop, prompted warm love to fill Hop’s chest with every expansion, every breath. And here, in this space that was just for them...
“I’m glad it's you,” Hop admitted, “that I get to do this with, all over again.”
“Hm.” A coy smile teased Bede’s lips. Gently, he picked the egg up from Hop’s arms and held it out towards Hatterene, who took it gingerly with all the care of a precious treasure. Slowly, the rest of their Pokemon dispersed, following as Hatterene moved the egg back to their bedroom, where no doubt everyone would keep watch over it until it hatched.
And with the egg safely out of his hands, Bede relaxed, stretching his arms out with a groan.
“Truthfully, I don’t mind a do-over.” Bede leaned against Hop, blond curls tickling against his cheek. He smiled, his fingers toying with Hop's hair before a hand rested warm over Hop’s heart. “We had such a rough start with it the first time, and well… perhaps it's a silly imagining of mine, but part of me did wish we could have done it all over again. And now we can– with less bickering this time.”
“We wouldn’t be here if we hadn’t bickered then,” Hop pointed out softly. "Everything we have now was because of who we were, then. Everything we went through, together."
"I hate it when you're right." Bede's words contrasted with the tenderness of his voice, the softness of his gaze.
Hop arched an eyebrow. “And you know we’d still bicker. Sonia’s all but made a ‘no-bickering’ sign for the next family get together.”
“True,” Bede acquiesced, a wicked smile blooming on his lips. “But at least I can kiss you to shut you up, this time.”
Hop laughed. “Oh yeah?”
Without warning, Bede leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss onto his lips.
Hop probably would never get used to Bede's little moments of spontaneity, but he always looked forward to them. He sank into the feeling with a little hum, into the blissful warmth of his loving boyfriend holding him safe and secure. The familiar taste and scent and weight of Bede against him always kept him grounded, and he’d never be able to get over this- them- not in this lifetime. Maybe not ever.
In the firelight, violet eyes flickered with warm love. Gentle fingers carded through Hop’s hair as they sat together, his head resting against Bede's shoulder. Bede’s arm looped easily around him as he held Hop in a familiar embrace. Here, time seemed to stop, taking a breather from urging them onward, and giving Hop the entire eternity he wanted with Bede’s breath under his fingertips.
“We do need to think about what we’re going to do if there are more Eevee eggs.”
Bede snorted. “Aren’t you the Pokemon professor? Surely we could give them out as starter Pokemon, after a little training. It’d make the children happy. Sylveon and Dubwool too, I’m sure.”
“And what would make you happy?”
“Do you really have to ask?”
Hop kept his face straight. “Always good to check. Apart from beating Gloria, mind.”
Bede shook his head, an easy smile on his face. “Apart from that? Having this life with you. Anything you want, anything you do. This is all I could have ever wanted. I didn’t dare dream about it when I was a boy, but–” He shrugged helplessly. “It’s all you. I love you, Hop.”
Even though it'd been years, Hop never got tired of hearing those words from Bede's lips. Love, bright and pure, fluttered through his chest, like butterflies drifting towards the light. He reached up, tugged Bede closer till their lips met, melted in the familiarly sweet taste of Bede’s tender ministrations as they kissed in the gentle firelight.
“I love you too, Bede,” he breathed against Bede’s skin, etching every sensation and memory of this moment into his heart. “I wouldn’t give us up for the world.”
A smirk pulled at Bede's lips. “Good, because I suspect we’ll have more than a few sleepless nights waiting for us once that egg hatches.”
Hop laughed, curling up against his love, his partner, his boyfriend, the cornerstone of his world. It was so easy to, nowadays, when Bede looked at him like this. When they could just be together, like this.
“Thank you for showing up at my door all those years ago, Bede.”
Bede smiled, soft and gentle, tugging him closer till their breaths mingled in between soft kisses. In his eyes, his love– Hop saw everything he held for Bede mirrored in violet eyes.
“Thank you for answering it.”
And Hop grinned, light and happy, as he nestled into Bede's embrace.