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He doesn't know why Crystal told him to bring pocky up here, but here he is.
Green was already planning on visiting Red anyway, as he always does, every weekend he climbs up this fucking mountain and makes sure his idiot didn't get himself killed. It's routine by now, it's fine, he's not bitter about his rival living up here, thank you very much. It's not like it's that cold or that windy or, or... okay, maybe he is bitter, whatever. That doesn't mean he won't stop visiting Red.
No matter how frequent the visits are, he doesn't miss Red any less.
Either way, he's at the entrance of Red's hideaway now, carrying much of the usual necessities and the box of chocolate pocky. He has yet to find out why this was so important that Red had Crys tell him to bring it along, but so be it.
"Hey, dumbass," Green calls into the cave, albeit under a layer of affection, or maybe he's hiding his affections under the insult, he's never sure what it is. All he knows is that he's got his desires mixed up and his heart always beats a little too fast around Red. "Are you awake?"
Are you alive? He always has that thought, and so far, the answer has always been yes, or the occasional sorta, when Red's hands are too pale and his heartbeat is too irregular. Green tried to drag him back to a hospital to treat what looked like the early stages of hypothermia, but that ended in a bloody nose for Green and a lot of apologizing from a Red who didn't expect to smack him that hard.
"Yo, Red."
He's under a pile of blankets, beside Charizard, motionless, as per usual. This always scares Green.
"Red?"
"Mmngh..." Red shuffles under the blankets. It's hardly an answer, but it's enough for Green's nerves to settle down.
"Wake up, idiot, you have company." Red just shuffles and groans again. "Come on, get up."
Red does sit up, at least, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He's swaying slightly, this weird little habit he's had since they were kids. Green's convinced he doesn't eat enough, or something. That'd explain why he always wakes up dizzy.
"Hi..." Red's voice is quiet, just a breath, like a ghost, like he's not even here, and sometimes Green feels like he isn't, or at the very least, he's too far away.
"Mornin'. It's nine at night, by the way." Red huffs. "I know, I know. I got caught up with work. Why were you sleeping so early, anyway?"
"Didn't sleep last night."
"Dummy."
"I was training."
"At night?"
"Yeah. It's always dark in the caves, anyway." Pause. "Lost track of time."
"Of course you did," Green sighs. "You need to take better care of yourself if you're living up here anyway, you know that?"
Red shrugs. "I have you."
Ah.
"Y-Yeah, whatever, just... you know."
No, Red does not know, because neither does Green, he doesn't know what he means to say. He just knows that's his go-to filler, yeah, whatever, you know, some combination of words that mean nothing more than you're making me feel something I can't express. For Red to say I have you feels intimate in some weird way, to imply that Green will always come back and always take care of him - he will, Green will always come back, but it feels - he feels dumb - or, no, not dumb, he just... It's like Red can see right through him, and he feels vulnerable in that way.
A part of him doesn't mind that all the way, and he can't figure out why that is for the life of him.
"Hungry?" Green asks, just to fill the silence, just to wipe away his nerves. Red doesn't speak but he does nod, and sometimes that's even louder than if he would speak, it's so distinctly Red and Green loves him - loves that about him - loves - love - fuck, whatever, whatever, I know what I meant. "I-I'll make dinner, since you only know how to cook, like, two things. You really need to learn how to make more food, you know."
"I like when you make dinner."
The heat on Green's cheeks is from Charizard's tail, and absolutely nothing else. "I'm not your maid, dude."
"You can be."
"Shut up." He... He can't tell if that was a joke or not. "O-Oh yeah, Crys told me to bring you this, I guess. Catch."
Green pulls the box out of his bag, and just as soon as he tosses it, Red has caught it. He's always had good depth perception, of all things. Red's eyes light up when he sees the label, and he kinda bounces in place in the way that he does when he's excited about something, and Green's heart feels like its pounding in his throat because fuck you're so cute -
"What'd you want it for, anyway?" Green asks, and Red shrugs, already digging into the box. "Whatever. Don't spoil your dinner, idiot."
"Mhm!" He... he's cute. Red is cute and Green wants to explode.
They usually eat dinner in silence, and it's comfortable, even when Green's head is reeling, even when he's oscillating between please come home I miss you and please cuddle up to me and kiss me again tonight, the quiet ambience of the cave and the slight lapping of the lake from outside are soothing. He's at ease every time he looks up from his bowl and he sees Red, he sees Red, Red is alive and safe and here even if here is nine thousand meters above sea level, even when he's always so far away.
"Green." Red only speaks when the food is gone, or at least when Green has finished and Red has decided he's had enough for the night.
"Hm?" And Green always answers like this, he's always holding his breath, he's always waiting for I wanna come home or I love you but -
"Pocky game."
- but it's never that. It's never that and it always chips away at Green's heart. It's either a never mind or some weird non sequitur like this.
"What, now?"
"Pocky game," Red answers a little louder this time.
"I mean, I hear you, but I dunno what that means." Red looks a little surprised, and Green feels a little stupid. "Don't look at me like that! Tell me what you're talking about!"
Tell me hits Red kinda weird sometimes, Green should know that, but he just - it just slipped out. Red winces a bit and glances away and oh that smarts -
"Or, like... show me?" Green corrects himself.
Red glances back, innocently, cautiously.
Then he smirks.
"Just show me what you're getting at, you little shit."
Red laughs, his voice cracking under the strain of cold air and days of silence at a time, but it still sounds so nice. Maybe it's just nice to know Red is happy if even for a fleeting moment.
Red takes one of the pocky sticks and holds it out to Green, but Red pulls it back when he tries to take it. Okay. Okay?
"What?"
"Take it."
"I'm not gonna fight you for a glorified cracker, Red."
"No, just..." He sighs. Talking seem hard for him today, and while his sign language isn't perfect yet, he gets his message across even with the treat in his hand. (Open your mouth. Hold it. No hands.)
"Okay...?" So... so just hold the pocky in his mouth. Okay. Red is weird but this is a bit of a stretch, even for him. At least Green is kinda figuring out why Crys told him to bring pocky up here.
Red plops the end of the pocky in Green's mouth, and Green holds it, and - and then Red fucking takes the other end in his mouth and Green is not blushing and uh, uh -
"What the fuck are we doing?" Green's voice is a bit slurred, but Red hears him well enough. Red has the advantage of being able to sign.
(Get to the middle.)
Fuck he knows exactly what Red is trying to do now and, and -
"No." Green bites off the end and looks away and pretends Red can't tell he's blushing. "No way. No fucking way."
"Coward."
"You shut up, I'm not gonna - !"
"You just know you're gonna lose."
Green's mind reels, his rival instincts battle it out with this stupid crush he has, and unfortunately - or perhaps quite fortunately - rival mode wins. "Fine. You're wearing a coat out there next time you train if I win, though, got it?"
"Mhm!" Red knows how fucking cute that little mhm is, Green knows Red knows, and he - or maybe he doesn't know, either way, Green hates how it makes his heart melt. He doesn't know if Red is intentionally being flirty, or... or what.
Probably not. Green was an asshole until pretty recently, and even now he's not a great friend. Red just likes fucking with him. That's all. That's all.
For a moment, they just kinda stare at each other from either end of the biscuit, Red's eyes see right through Green and Green desperately searches for any trace of anything in particular in Red. He's so hard to read sometimes, it's hard to tell what he's thinking, and that sends Green's imagination flying in circles upon circles upon circles. What if and it couldn't be and maybe and no way all soar through his mind as they keep eating to the center of the pocky, as they play this stupid game, and in a way it feels like an extension of their rivalry, or friendship, or whatever this is, it's always so close but not close enough -
They're nose to nose, and they've fallen still. Green feels frozen in place.
So of course, Red moves in to kiss him.
No, rather, he moves to the center and gets the bigger bite of pocky, because he's the one with a sweet tooth, and he's somewhat starving up here, and he's just hungry, and that's it, that's all, the way Red pushes into the kiss and the way his hand rests on Green's thigh means absolutely nothing.
Red pulls away with a mouthful of Green's speechlessness and chocolate pocky. He kinda... kinda didn't expect Red to just go for it, but then again, Red has been the more experimental one lately.
"...I-I guess you won't be wearing that coat, huh?" Red just grins at him, and Green kinda breaks under the pressure of that smile. "Jesus, Red, i-if you want to kiss me, just come out and say it."
"That's not as fun."
"What d'you mean that's - ?"
"You're cute when you're flustered."
...Red is just fucking with Green. That's all.
"Come here, you idiot."
And Green is just an experimental teenager. That's all.
Red may be the instigator, but Green doesn't have much impulse control, so whenever he pulls shit like this Green will always jump right along into it, once he's over the stuttering on his tongue and fluttering in his chest. He kisses Red hard, desperate but somehow still hesitant, friends don't do this but I want to do it anyway, some such sentiment shared between sighs spilled into each other's mouths and fingers knotting in each other's hair. I've missed you, I miss you, some such sentiment shared when Green shoves Red to the ground and pins him down by his wrists. The stone floor is cold and rough and yet Red just kisses back, Red doesn't seem to care about comfort, or maybe he doesn't even notice the ground, maybe he's just as lost in the moment as Green is.
Green caresses Red's cheek, and with one free hand, Red pushes on Green's head to deepen the kiss. Friends don't do this. Friends don't do this.
Green wonders, duly, if they could be more than friends.
He wonders, more somberly, somber even with the taste of chocolate and Red on his tongue, when Red will come home.
He wonders if Red will come home.
(And he will, years later, Red will come home. It'll be weird and scary and just plain hard to cope. Red will struggle and panic but Green will keep his arm around him, he'll hold his hand, he won't be perfect but he'll be enough for Red. They'll kiss each other again in a way that friends don't but a way that lovers do, and Green's mind will finally stop reeling, it'll settle on I love you and Red's will settle on I love you too. Red will offer him another pocky stick in the wee hours of the morning when they can't sleep, and Green will indulge the teasing, but only for so long, and then he'll opt to shove Red into the mattress and kiss him and taste chocolate and love on his tongue.)