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“I… don’t think that’s right…” Ash says, tilting his head to the side.
“But it has to be!” Goh protests, though even he must admit that it doesn’t look quite like it should. “I followed the directions!”
Ash’s answering retort is halted by a knock on the door. “Come in!” he calls, tilting his head to the other side like that might make the sight in front of him make more sense.
“Hey Ashy, Goh,” Gary calls from the other room. “I brought housewarming wine.”
Goh perks up at that. “Yes, please.”
Gary’s laugh grows louder as he comes closer. He pauses in the doorway, wine bottle in hand and hip leaning against the frame as he raises an eyebrow at the scene before him. “What’cha doing there, Goh?”
Goh blushes, holding up the instruction booklet. “Uh, assembling a nightstand?” He pokes the piece of furniture in front of him, frowning when it wobbles precariously. “Well… trying to, anyway.” He slumps in defeat. “I don’t know what I did wrong.”
Gary stands over Goh and holds out the bottle of wine to him, gesturing toward the instructions with his free hand. “Trade?”
“Yeah, okay,” Goh says, glum.
“Can build your own portable radar system, but you’re bested by commercial furniture,” Gary quips, grinning when Goh flips him off.
“I’d like to see you do better,” Goh grumbles as he leaves the room. He digs around in the boxes on the kitchen counter until he finds the corkscrew, returning with the open bottle to find his attempted build already disassembled as Gary fits the pieces back together with easy confidence. “Got the wine open, but I have no idea where the glasses are.”
Gary shrugs. “Guess it’s straight from the bottle, then.”
“You really don’t have to put our furniture together, you know,” Goh tells him after taking a long drink of wine, passing it over to Ash when he’s done.
“Yeah, but you might turn it all into ticking time bombs of death if I let you do it,” Gary says, pausing in his task to take the bottle from Ash. “I don’t want your futon breaking apart underneath me while I’m visiting.”
Goh rolls his eyes, but he has to admit that Gary’s nightstand is looking a lot more stable than his did. “This really isn't fair. How are you good at this too?!” The asshole isn’t even reading the instructions.
“I’ve been living outside of the dormitories since I worked in Sinnoh,” Gary says, tightening a screw with sure movements. “Already built a ton of these.”
“Aww, look at you bein’ all handy around the house,” Ash teases, ruffling Gary’s hair. “Total husband material.”
“Are you really gonna test my patience when I have a hammer within arm’s reach, Ashy?” Gary asks. “Did your years with Misty teach you nothing?”
“Taught me to dodge,” Ash says, saluting Gary with the wine bottle. “And run away.”
“But not to keep your mouth shut in the first place, huh?”
“You’re asking a lot of my preteen self, Gar,” Ash muses. “How much self-control do you think I had?”
“In a word? None.”
Goh leaves them to their bickering as he orders takeout in the other room, busying himself with sorting through boxes while he waits for the food to arrive. It doesn’t take more than forty minutes or so, but Gary has already moved on to building the bed frame when Goh pokes his head in to tell them dinner’s ready, the nightstand moved aside to make room for the bed’s various parts.
They end up eating in the bedroom, passing the bottle of wine over boxes of greasy pizza like they’re dumb teenagers again. “I wouldn’t have brought alcohol if I’d known you were doing this,” Gary says, frowning down at Goh, who’s laying on the floor with his head pillowed on Gary’s thigh. “C’mon, you lush. Get up. If I don’t finish putting this together, you’re gonna be laying on the floor all night.”
Goh groans in complaint, rolling several feet away to sprawl out on his back. “Gar. Gar, listen,” he says, slurring a little. “You—you are so… so…”
“Handsome? Brilliant?” Gary supplies, still unfairly coordinated with the screwdriver in his hand even after drinking almost as much wine as Goh. “Charming? Irresistible?”
“Well, yeah, that too,” Goh says, frowning. “But that’s not—what was I—” He trails off, brow pinching with concentration as he tries to regain his earlier train of thought.
Gary laughs. “Thanks for finally seeing reason, Goh. I knew you’d come to appreciate my better qualities eventually.”
“Always app—apprec—appreciated them,” Goh argues. “Just didn’t want your head getting bigger.”
“Are you saying you’ve always found me handsome?” Gary snorts, clearly amused. “Watch it, Goh. Your boyfriend’s right there.”
“In fairness, I’ve been trying to get in your pants since we were, like, sixteen,” Ash says from where he’s sprawled across the floor, hat pulled down over his eyes. “So, y’know, I don’t mind.”
Gary pauses in screwing down the slats, turning his wide-eyed gaze to Ash. “What?”
“You heard me.” Ash yawns.
Gary sighs. “You’re both drunker than I thought.”
Goh sighs too. “He never listens, Ash.”
“Nope. Clueless,” Ash agrees.
“Clue-less,” Goh sing-songs.
“Would you two—” Gary huffs out a frustrated breath. “Stop being dumb. It’s distracting.”
“Y’know what’s really distracting? You leaning over like that in those pants,” Ash says, tipping his hat up to get a better look. “Why d’you buy your pants so tight, Gary?”
Gary splutters a little. “Stop. I am building your bed. If I mess up and it breaks, you could get hurt.”
“Could be your bed too,” Ash says.
“S’big enough,” Goh adds.
“Yeah, well, we’ll see what you say about that when you’re sober.”
“Fine,” Goh says, placid. “We've only been saying it for years. What’s one more night?”
“You—you have not!” Gary argues. “I think I would’ve noticed if you’ve been trying to seduce me this whole time.”
“You’d think,” Ash agrees. “Not very observant of ya, Gar.”
Gary fumes as he fastens the last screw into the bedframe. He nudges Ash in the side none too gently with his foot to demand help bringing in the mattress, the dark-haired trainer grumbling the whole time about having to stand up after just getting comfortable.
Goh must nod off while they’re dragging it in from the other room because he jerks awake to find the mattress and bedding on the frame, Gary hovering over him. “Come on, slacker,” Gary says, holding out a hand to help him up. “Time to try out your new bed.”
“Could be our bed,” Goh mutters, letting Gary haul him to his feet.
“So you’ve mentioned,” Gary says, unimpressed.
Goh hums, dropping face-first onto the bed. He moans a little as he curls his arms around the nearest pillow. “S’amazing.” He pats the spot next to him. “C’mon, get down here already.”
Gary rolls his eyes. “I’m not getting in that bed with you when you’ve been ogling my ass all night.”
“Where ya gonna sleep then?” Ash asks, coming up behind Gary to rest his chin on the researcher’s shoulder.
“My bed,” Gary says, like it should be obvious.
“You’ve been drinking.” Ash frowns. “You can’t walk home now.”
Gary snorts. “I could take a cab.”
“Or you could just sleep here,” Ash says, exasperated. “We’ve shared a bed before.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t know I needed to fear for my virtue when we did it before.”
Ash lifts his head from Gary’s shoulder, looking vaguely alarmed. “Wait, are you still—”
Gary shoots Ash a venomous look. “Of course not, don’t be stupid.” He nudges Goh’s side until Goh finally rolls over with a huff to make room for him. “But whatever. I guess I’ll stay for your dumb slumber party. Hands off the merchandise, though.” He slips into the bed with a yawn. “I don’t feel like dealing with your gay panic in the morning.”
Goh snorts and rolls toward Gary, curling into his chest just to spite him. Well, that and the fact that his chest is really quite nice. But mostly for the spite. “No panic,” Goh promises, his arm snaking around Gary’s middle.
“Sure.” Gary’s tone relays his deep skepticism. He doesn’t try to wriggle away from the contact, even when Ash slides in behind him, fingers curling around the jut of Gary’s hip as he presses a sleepy kiss to the back of Gary’s neck. “You two don’t listen, huh?”
“Course not.” Goh would roll his eyes if they weren’t already closed. “You’ll just sneak off in the morning if we don’t hold onto you. Slippery bastard.”
“I—would not,” Gary denies, but it must sound weak even to his own ears if he doesn’t even follow it up with a quip about Goh being paranoid or something. “I can’t say 'I told you so' if I leave before you wake up.”
“Won’t get to anyway,” Goh mumbles, burying his face further into Gary’s chest. “Mouth’s gonna be too busy doing other things.”
Gary tucks a stray bit of hair behind Goh’s ear that had been tickling his nose. “What kinds of things?”
“I’ll tell you tomorrow,” Goh says, dismissive. “Hope you can keep up.”
“Of course I can.” Gary scoffs.
“Don’t disappoint me, now.”
Gary laughs at that, low and soporific as he pulls the covers up to his chin. “No faith. What happened to me being total husband material?”
“Still are,” Ash pipes up. “I was half ready to propose when I saw what you could do with that screwdriver.”
“God, only you two would get all hot and bothered from furniture assembly.” Gary chuckles. “Any other weird kinks I need to know about? Am I going to be mauled every time I fix the wi-fi? Clean the bathroom? File my taxes?”
Ash gasps. “You file your own taxes?!”
Goh lifts his head long enough to wink at Gary. “That’s hot.”
Ash giggles. “Gary Oak: Sexy Accountant.”
“Gary Oak: Sexy Tech Support Specialist.”
“Gary Oak: Sexy Pri—”
“Oh my god, just go to sleep already,” Gary says, voice muffled as he buries his face in the pillow.
Ash whines. “But we didn’t even talk about you being a sexy pirate—”
“No, just—absolutely not.” Gary’s shoulders shake with silent laughter. “Come on, you two. If you promise to shut up and go to sleep, I’ll cook you breakfast.”
“What kind of breakfast?” Goh asks.
“You both like omelets, right?” Gary shrugs. “Toast, bacon—”
“Hash browns?” Ash asks, hopeful.
“Sure.”
Goh frowns. “Can it be veggie bacon?”
Gary huffs. “Oh my fucking god—yes, whatever. Just go to sleep.”
Ash presses another kiss to the back of Gary’s neck. “And you’ll stay?”
“Yeah,” Gary agrees, tone going soft. “I’ll stay, Ashy.”
“Good, ‘cause you can’t sneak off before our marriage prop—prop—proposal.” Goh grimaces. “Talking’s hard.”
“That’s because you’re drunk, ya lightweight,” Gary reminds him. “And shouldn’t we try dating first before we head straight to marriage?”
“Nah, we’re good,” Ash says. “There’s nobody else I’d rather watch put our futon together. If that’s not grounds for proposing, I dunno what is.”
“Dork,” Gary accuses, but it’s fond.
Goh grins. “’M not hearing a ‘no,’ Gary.”
“You won’t. But I will rescind my offer for omelets if I hear another word from either of you.”
Ash and Goh wisely keep their mouths shut after that. And in the morning, when Goh opens his eyes to find Gary already awake next to him, he doesn’t hesitate to lean in and press his lips to Gary’s in a soft kiss. "Told you we'd still want you in the morning."
"Well, I guess I can admit I was wrong. It hardly ever happens, so..."
Ash lets out a sleepy chuckle from behind Gary. "So modest, Gar."
"It's one of my better qualities," Gary says, squirming out of their hold to sit up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get breakfast started."
"Oh yeah," Ash says with a sigh as they both watch Gary disappear through the doorway and down the hall. "Total husband material."
"Definitely," Goh agrees.
"We better hurry though," Ash says, bouncing a little in his excitement. He climbs out of bed and holds a hand out to Goh. "Or we'll miss the debut of Gary Oak: Sexy Chef."
Goh laughs and takes his hand.