Work Text:
Gabriel stared at the Pokémon cradled in Jack's arms, transfixed by a morbid curiosity. He couldn't tear his eyes away even if his life depended on it. Why was his idiot boyfriend holding a Luvdisc, of all things?
As if it could sense his thoughts, the Pokémon greeted him with the most cheerful, innocent sound he'd ever heard. What the actual fuck.
If his heart fluttered in his chest just then, it meant nothing — absolutely nothing at all. His insides didn't feel like melting beneath those liquid black eyes, even if they were staring into his very soul.
Did he look like one of those swooning, love-sick romantics?
No. The answer was no.
After all, Gabriel was wearing far too much black and leather and guyliner to be mistaken for one of them, and even if he had surprised Jack with flowers the other day for no particular reason other than he wanted to make him smile, it was the principle of the matter. He had an image to maintain, after all.
"Okay, Jack, I give up. What the hell is that?" He gestured at the Pokémon for emphasis.
"It's a Luvdisc," Jack Francis 'Captain Obvious' Morrison said, a strange note in his voice. "I found one. Turns out it's male, too." When Jack looked at him with those big, blue eyes… there was a very short list of things Gabriel would not do for him, and even those could be negotiated, if it would make Jack happy.
Gabriel exhaled a long, slow sigh. Of-fucking-course. He should have known.
The Luvdisc wouldn't have been the first — or the last, though Gabriel could only hope — completely arbitrary Pokémon Jack had insisted on showing him. Not that he really minded. Gabriel had met few other Trainers who could find the best qualities in every single Pokémon they met, and fuck, if it wasn't the sort of amazing thing Gabriel wanted to witness first-hand for the rest of his life.
"So you brought it here to show me?" Gabriel asked, the very epitome of patience.
At least this one wasn't a baby Deino. For some reason, the mother had insisted on protecting her young with a vicious rampage, Hyper Beams, and three sets of very sharp teeth. Gabriel still had the scars to remember that particular incident — anything to make sure Jack had escaped unscathed — and he would do it all again without hesitation.
"It's for you, Gabe." Jack couldn't hold his gaze for more than a few seconds, determined to look anywhere but Gabriel's face.
Why the hell was Jack so nervous all of a sudden? He'd been fine this morning. Was it something he'd eaten earlier? If Jack had gotten food poisoning now of all times, Gabriel was going to... to... punch a Chansey, right after he made sure Jack wasn't going to die.
"For me?" He blinked once, twice, thrice, as if the answer to his question would manifest if he stared hard enough.
The longer he stared at the Luvdisc, the more the damn thing sparkled in the sunlight, as if a glitter bomb had exploded all over it. He needed to have a talk with whoever thought this sentient, pink disco ball was an actual Pokémon.
It was pink. Very pink. So pink, in fact, it matched the rose-colored tinge dusting across Jack's cheeks. By this point, the flush had crept down his face and swept past the collar of his shirt. Jack was the only person Gabe had ever met who could blush with their entire body. It was the most adorable thing ever. Could anyone honestly blame him if he found excuses to fluster his boyfriend all the time?
"Jack, Luvdisc are useless in battle. They literally have zero redeeming qualities, and even if I had the time to train one right now, we're about to challenge the Elite Four. Why would you even think I would—"
Well, shit. Tauros-shit.
Judging by the hurt expression on Jack's face, Gabriel had had just kicked his Electrike, stolen all of his Poké Puffs, and told him he couldn't eat Cinnabar Volcano Burgers anymore.
"Sorry to bother you." Jack ducked his head, hunching over the Luvdisc in his arms as if it needed protection — or, knowing Jack, in an attempt to hide it from Gabriel. "If you need me, I'll be fishing by the waterfall."
He managed two steps before Gabriel set a hand on his shoulder.
"Jack."
Tensing at his name, Jack trembled from the strain of holding still. The muscles in his back jumped beneath Gabriel's palm.
"You spent the past seven hours fishing for a Luvdisc — a male Luvdisc — to give to me as a present."
Jack's shoulders slumped forward at the reminder. "I did," he mumbled.
Letting out a slow breath, Gabriel ran a hand across his beard. Why would Jack even think to give him a pink, heart-shaped disco ball of a Pokémon? Males of the species were rare enough, and the Pokémon definitely didn't suit his style — neither team composition nor wardrobe.
Sure, it was thoughtful and romantic, the kind of thing only Jack could pull off in a convincing fashion while still maintaining his dignity, but Gabriel didn't need big, sweeping gestures to know how Jack felt about him.
"Jack," Gabriel said, squaring his shoulders. "We've been dating for four years, and I can't figure out why you would give me a Luvdisc."
Jack muttered something under his breath, too quiet for Gabriel to catch.
Gabriel turned Jack back around, and once they were facing each other again, Jack examined him from head-to-toe with a bird-like tilt of his head. After a moment, he snorted and shook his head, smiling wryly down at the Luvdisc in his arms.
"Six, Gabe," Jack said, patiently enunciating each word, his consonants crisp and clear. "We've been dating for six years."
Wait, really? Only six? It felt like they'd been together for their entire lives.
"Gabe, do you know why today is special?"
"Is today really our—?"
Jack hummed in wordless affirmation.
Before he could be rightfully admonished, Gabriel took advantage of Jack's half-opened mouth and closed the distance between them. Within one heartbeat and the next, Jack relaxed into the kiss, one arm wrapped around Gabriel's waist, a steady, grounding warmth.
Sure, Gabriel may have been an idiot, but at least he was Jack's idiot. After six years, there was no getting rid of him, and really, Gabriel would be hard-pressed to find someone who could even hold a Litwick to Jack.
Distantly, Gabriel could hear a small noise muffled between them, but he ignored it in favor of seeing whether he could replicate that sound Jack made. Again and again, it repeated — loud, insistent, and familiar. It almost sounded like… Gabriel pulled back as if he'd been burned.
How the fuck could he have forgotten?
Wide-eyed, Jack checked-over the Luvdisc still in his arms, flushed down to his collarbones. Gabriel could count every single one of his freckles — again — and vowed to do so later. Preferably without an audience next time, so Gabriel wouldn't feel mortified enough to consider chucking himself off the roaring waterfall behind them.
"Happy anniversary, Jack."
"Oh, so now you remember, huh?" Jack raised an eyebrow. "Been waiting for you to say that all day."
"Yeah, well—" He reached out for the Luvdisc and carefully extracted it from his very patient boyfriend's arms. "—try not to gloat too much."
"Sure you want him?" Jack was trying not to smile, damn him, and he was failing miserably.
"If anyone can pull off having something so pink and heart-shaped on their team, it's me." Gabriel shrugged. "'Sides, it offers some contrast and it's — er, he's — a present. I'd be an idiot — a bigger idiot, I mean — if I refused."
The Luvdisc had the fucking nerve to coo up at him at that precise moment, and he felt his cheeks heat up. It had no right to be so fucking cute.
A slow, pleased smile crept onto Jack's face, all dimples and freckles and glimmering blue eyes, and Gabriel was left with only one possible course of action.
"Hey Jack?"
"Yes, Gabe?"
"I'm going to need to borrow your fishing rod for a few hours."
