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Cyrus had never minded bad weather much. Storms didn’t exactly scare him, not even as a child; quite the contrary: the pitter-patter of drops against glass and the rumbling of thunder in the distance had long been his favorite companions during the days he spent studying at the Celestic Town research center, or in the privacy of his study room in Team Galactic’s HQ.
But if there was something he couldn’t stand, it was those long winter days where heavy gray clouds filled up the sky, not letting one drop of rain escape and frost fogged up the windows, immersing everything in a landscape even an apparently constantly brooding individual like him found unbearably depressing.
After he had moved in with his partners in that cabin at the edge of the White Forest, he had at least found the perfect company to help him get through those glum days. Sitting together in the living room, enjoying a warm drink or even better, cuddling up on the couch in front of an old movie or while reading a book where the little joys that helped make even the dullest winter weekend the slightest bit more bearable.
Yet, that didn’t mean Cyrus had become immune to that wintertime gloom. Especially when one particular event got in the way.
“Another gray day, isn’t it?”.
Cyrus gasped. He jolted in his seat, which excited a low giggle from the other voice.
He turned around: an older, mint-haired man was standing in the doorway, his tall frame idly leaning against the hinge with a mug in his hand.
“Arceus, Ghetsis”, the younger man mumbled. “Could you please knock next time you come in?”.
“Aw…I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to spook you like that”.
Cyrus glared in his direction, only to immediately stick his nose back into his book. Nonchalant, Ghetsis raised his cup to his mouth and took a sip, sighing out in delight.
“I just wanted to come in and treat you to a little drink, if you’re up to. This coffee is out of this world”.
The rich smell of roasted beans tickled Cyrus’s nostrils. Why not, a taste of coffee couldn’t do him much harm.
“Uhm. I suppose I’ll try”.
Ghetsis couldn’t have seemed giddier. “Ah yes, that’s my boy. Give me the time to make you a cup and I’ll be right back, alright?”.
“That works”.
Cyrus impatiently waited for Ghetsis to clear the area to resume his reading, grumbling as he nervously skimmed through the page, trying to find the exact point of the paragraph concerning protostars he had been busy analyzing. However, his study session was short lived, as Ghetsis returned to the living room holding a plate with two warm mugs of freshly roasted coffee.
“I made it just the way you like”, he announced, placing the small tray on the tea table right in front of the couch. Cyrus mumbled a ‘thanks’ and grabbed the cup closest to him: to his relief, he assessed that Ghetsis had remembered not to add milk and had even sprinkled some marshmallows over the top.
He poked at one with the teaspoon Ghetsis had placed near the cup and, head still bent over the pages, proceeded to taste it.
“Oh, mint marshmallows. That’s new.”
“They came in free with the mixture. Aren’t they just divine?”.
“They’re alright”. Cyrus didn’t avert his gaze from the book, not caring that he was bent forwards, the front and back covers almost hiding his face.
The detail didn’t escape Ghetsis.
“You ought to fix your posture, darling. You wouldn’t want to find yourself at my age with your back in shambles, would you?”, he poked at him in a comically exaggerated posh tone.
“Well, I regret to inform you not everyone carries themselves as regally as you do, my Lord”.
Ghetsis smirked, teasingly massaging the top of Cyrus’s back.
“Royal or not, back pain is no joke. Want me to give you a pillow?”
“What I would really like right now, is for you to leave me alone so I can finish my book in peace”.
“Oh oh…my, the weather sure is giving you an attitude today”.
Cyrus grunted. Why was he so teasing, and HOW did he look so cute while he was doing it?
“You think the stupid weather is giving me a problem?? The only thing I care about is my coffee and this- STUPID book! So PLEASE, mind your own business and…”
Taken aback, the man withdrew his hand from his boyfriend’s shoulder, and stared back at him. He could sense the frustration in every lineament of his face, his furrowed brows, his scrunched nose, his tense jaw.
“I know what’s up. Still angry that the two of us and Cynthia can’t spend time together, aren’t you?”.
Cyrus looked away and sighed.
“…all right. Yes. I’m not mad at her, it’s just…frustrating that this damn championship is taking so much time from her. I was hoping at least the weather would have kept her home today…I even asked her to call, but I haven’t heard from her since she left this morning. I just wish I could have had her to…well…myself, only for a little while”.
He leaned back against the couch with a huff.
“It’s selfish, isn’t it?”.
“I don’t think it is”. Ghetsis scooted beside him, placing his hand back on his head so he could comb through his hair. “It’s normal to want some time for yourself and your significant others. I think we should have a little talk with her when she comes home, what do you say?”.
“And what if it sets her off?”.
“Mm…she doesn’t look like the type to. I wouldn’t be too worried about that”.
Cyrus scoffed. “Oh, trust me, I’ve known her for much longer before you came into the picture. Believe me, she takes Pokémon battles very seriously”.
Ghetsis couldn’t help but flush thinking back to the many times he had seen their girlfriend coming home covered in dust and sweat after a particularly intense match, shutting herself in the bathroom for a boiling hot shower and, only after she had calmed her nerves, coming back downstairs to apologize for her gruffness and greet them with a kiss.
“I know. But it never hurts to try, does it?”
“Guess you’re right…”.
Ghetsis’s hand travelled down to Cyrus’s cheek, stroking it gently with his index finger.
“And until she comes home, you have me to take care of you…isn’t that right, sweet boy?”.
Cyrus blushed, prompting a loving giggle to escape Ghetsis’s lips. As he looked back at him, he realized his attention seemed to have diverted to his book.
“What is it that you’re reading?”.
“Oh, it’s nothing. Just some old, boring tome I got at Canalave library”.
“Oh, my. And what is it about?”.
Cyrus handed the book to him, so that he could take a good look at the cover.
“Life and Death Stars. Interesting…sounds exactly like your type of thing”.
“I guess it is”.
The older man tilted his head, with that curious puppy dog look in his eyes that Cyrus was so weak for. He opened his mouth, as if to ask more; but his boyfriend didn’t give him the time to, as he snaked an arm around his neck to help himself climb into his lap, back against his chest.
“C…Cyrus? What… are you doing?”.
“Didn’t you say I needed to mind my posture? Well, let’s start by finding a comfortable seat”.
Ghetsis grinned. Cyrus knew he had caught him in the right spot. He always found it adorable when he, or Cynthia, cuddled up into his lap whenever they craved some intimacy, be it cuddles or just tender words whispered into the other’s ear (or, if they were up to, something more…). The fact their bodies were the perfect size to be sitting on his legs without weighing too much on him certainly made it even more endearing.
“Well now, I can’t say no to that. But what do you say…”. His arms girded Cyrus’s waist, eliciting a short yelp from him. “…you rest those tired eyes for a while and let me do the reading for you? You do look like you’re getting bored of staring at those pages…”.
Cyrus struggled to keep his perfectly stoic expression in place; however, his cheeks, which had grown as red as Tamato berries, gave Ghetsis the hint he was expecting.
“Aw…what, not being a little tease anymore, are we? First you get all grumpy and needy…and yet you chicken out the second I get up close and personal?”.
His boyfriend seemed to be too flustered to even attempt to reply; all he could get to come out of his lips was a small grumble, which Ghetsis apparently found hilarious.
“See? Anyways, does that sound like a good afternoon plan…”. He rested his lips against the tip of Cyrus’s ear. “…pretty boy?”.
Oh-oh.
That seemed to be enough convincing for Cyrus to slope (or melt?) backwards into Ghetsis’s chest, spreading the book a little wider over his thighs and tilting it at the right angle, so that his boyfriend could easily read it by leaning his head against the crook of his neck.
Easy to say, it hadn’t taken much for Ghetsis to win the teasing game.
“Where should I start?”.
Cyrus pointed at a paragraph, just under an illustration of three large, different colored stars.
“Hm-hm. I see…hopefully I do my best, with all these scientific terms”.
“Wouldn’t expect that from a fellow smartass like you”. Ghetsis chuckled at his boyfriend’s humorous quip.
“Oh and…sorry for the coffee earlier. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that”.
“No worries baby. Apology accepted”. The faint smile coloring Cyrus’s lips couldn’t help but fill Ghetsis with tenderness, as he proceeded to read the short essay his boyfriend’s finger was pointing to.
“Like human babies are born from a womb, stars are born in massive clouds of gas and dust called nebulas. Star forming regions are triggered by disturbances to these clouds, which initiate gravitational collapse. The chemical composition, mass and angular momentum of the gas and dust in the collapsing region are key ingredients that determine the evolution of the star that eventually forms. Proto-stars above a critical mass of 0.075 solar masses eventually become hot enough to initiate hydrogen fusion in their cores: the key requirement for it to attain the status of a true star. Gee Cyrus, whoever wrote this has quite a way with words…I have to admit I am hooked”.
Had Ghetsis looked to his side, he would have noticed he wasn’t the only one getting hooked.
However, it wasn’t the process of star birth that Cyrus was enraptured by: for some reason, Ghetsis’s voice seemed to have taken on a soft, almost whispery tone, his hands loosening their grip on Cyrus’s hips to allow themselves to relax. He read slowly, but not to the point of slurring his words: instead, he pronounced each word with clarity and careful intonation, taking care to highlight the focal parts of what he was saying.
And to say he claimed to have trouble reading scientific literature…
“Gravitational pressure causes newly formed protostars to heat up, until their core temperature reaches 15 million degrees Kelvin. At this stage, a process of nuclear fusion begins, which uses hydrogen as fuel to sustain the reaction and helium gas is formed from the fusion of the hydrogen nuclei. At this stage, the inward pull of gravity in the star is balanced by the outward pressure created by the heat of nuclear fusion. Due to this balance, the star is stable and because of the nuclear fusion, considerable heat and a yellow light is emitted from the star, which is capable of shining for millions or even billions of years depending on its size. As the star ages, it continues to expand and the hydrogen gas available for fuel is used up, causing the star to collapse under its own weight, triggering a compression of the core which causes it to be being heated up again…”
A pleasing chill raced down Cyrus’s spine: Ghetsis’s lips, now close to his ear, continued to murmur. The little puffs of warm breath caused a strange, tickling sensation in the back of his neck and… was it just him, or was Ghetsis’s tone getting weirdly sensual?
Or maybe it was just the sensation of his fingertips rubbing circles into his hips, his hands sliding down his thighs to join his in helping to support the book (or was it just an excuse to caress the back of his hands?)…either way, it was driving him crazy. And Ghetsis seemed to be way too aware of it not to be doing it on purpose.
Cyrus closed his eyes.
“Smaller stars like our Sun naturally follow a shorter lifespan, its main sequence followed by the white dwarf stage. The dwarf stage for a star is the beginning of the star’s death, thus granting it the moniker of “beginning of the end.” Next comes the black dwarf stage, where it has exhausted all its fuel and can no longer maintain its integrity, fading into the dark, spatial background”.
At this point, Cyrus too felt like he was drifting into a black void. No more pressure, no more worries overriding his blank mind; not even the contents of what he had been studying so assiduously made any sense to him.
The one thing remaining was the feeling of his boyfriend’s warm body pressed against his, heat encircling him, tingling over his skin, creeping up his cheeks as the teasing of Ghetsis’s breath alternated from his ears to over his exposed, vulnerable neck. He would have wanted nothing more than for him to kiss it, right then and there.
They were close, so dangerously close. And as overwhelming as it was to wait, his mind begged that he would never stop.
“On the contrary, the death of a high-mass star is a much grander spectacle. After a star has finished consuming its fuel, its inner core begins to heat up and become enlarged, starting a carbon fusion which leads to the consumption of constantly higher mass elements…”
Ghetsis, please…
“…out of which the terminal stage sees silicon fusing into iron, rendering the core unable to fuse further and eventually causing it to rebound…”
Oh Arceus, Ghetsis…please stop pausing, stop teasing me…
“…running into the leftover material still falling inward whilst triggering huge shockwaves, in a final fiery explosion called a supernova”.
Cyrus couldn’t hold it in anymore. One more word from him, and he felt like he too was going to…
“And just like that, our star friend exploded”.
Removing his hands from his boyfriend’s waist, Ghetsis pulled him close in an embrace, his lips now firmly pressed against the side of his neck.
Oh Arceus. Oh Arceus oh Arceus oh Arceus…
“Like this”.
Still holding Cyrus close, Ghetsis pursed his lips; and before the young man could even attempt to squirm away, he released them in a brief, yet intense pop.
That was it.
Cyrus slammed the book shut, almost flinging it away; swift as an Arbok, he twisted his whole body around, clutching Ghetsis’s face in between his quivering hands.
His mouth pushed against Ghetsis’s warm, still half-open one: the sensation of his soft lower lip caught in between his sparked a feeling, almost a primal need in him. He grinded against him, causing the older man to gasp and strengthen his grip over him, one hand pushing against his nape while the other grabbed a hold of his sweater as he parted his lips further.
“Mm- you naughty little freak…”.
“You tease…”.
Had he been able to swear, he would’ve. It was an addiction, all of it: the sounds of kissing, only interrupted by strangled whimpers, the feeling of Ghetsis’s cheeks burning up under his palms, the welcome surprise of his tongue tickling the rims of his lips to then slide over his … slowly.
He wanted him. He wanted him badly. And by Ghetsis’s body language, he seemed to want the exact same.
“Cyrus…me on top, right?”.
“Please…”.
Lifting him off his lap, Ghetsis carefully laid his boyfriend on the couch, legs spread for him to kneel down between them. He was huge, even more now that he was looming over him; Cyrus felt tiny, a toy for him to handle as he pleased. His hungry eyes stared into Ghetsis’s, begging him to make the first move.
And just like that, the older man bent forwards, forehead pressed against his boyfriend’s as he sneaked a hand up his undershirt, the sensation of his warm slender fingers against his torso making him gasp.
Cyrus closed his eyes, ready for Ghetsis to finally take what he had been teasing him for…
RIIIIIIIIING!
“Oh, for crying out loud…right now?” Ghetsis grumbled, stretching to grab the phone standing on the tea table.
“Hello?”.
“Hi Ghetsis! It’s me. Cyrus asked me to call him back later today, but I haven’t really had the time to…”
“Cynthia!”
Cyrus’s heart almost skipped a beat. His eyes widened: Cynthia had remembered?? She really had remembered??
“I’m so sorry for forgetting, training really took a toll on me…hopefully Cyrus hasn’t been too unbearable today”.
Both giggled over the phone.
“Oh, nothing much, he’s just been…you know, moody over the weather. But I took care of that”, he replied, making sure Cyrus heard his last words clearly and taking delight in him blushing once again.
“Bet you did ~”.
“What? We’ve done nothing too…scandalous. I mean, maybe we could’ve before-”. Cyrus bolted up in an attempt to cover Ghetsis’s mouth with his hand, prompting him to burst out laughing and playfully push him back down.
“Well well…maybe it’s just me, but it sounds like I’ve interrupted something”.
“Don’t worry, you didn’t interrupt anything- “.
Cyrus growled in frustration and tried to wrestle the phone out of Ghetsis’s hands, still to no avail as Ghetsis pinned him down once again and shushed him.
“Hmm…I’ll take your word for it, I guess”. The woman chuckled.
“Anyway…would it be a problem for you guys if I told you Elesa and Caitlin have invited the three of us for dinner at their place? Undella Town isn’t too far away, you two could get here in a little over an hour…”.
“Oh, that’s an amazing idea! Let me ask Cyrus what he thinks…”.
The two men exchanged a glance. After a few seconds of doubt, Cyrus unexpectedly replied with a smile.
“He said yes!”
“Amazing! I can’t wait to see you two looking as handsome as ever…no need to dress fancy, consider it a dinner among friends”.
“Will keep that in mind. By the way, when’s dinner?”.
“Caitlin asked if you two could be here by seven. I told them I would like to come home a little earlier”.
“Perfect. Thank them for the invitation from the two of us…we love you, sweetie”.
“I love you too~”.
Ghetsis put the phone down. He and Cyrus were still laying on the couch, the older man straddling over his boyfriend’s lap.
“So…guess we’ll have to save this up for later”.
“Hm-hm”.
Ghetsis tilted his head. “You don’t seem to be too upset about it”.
“Oh, I am…a little. But if you think about it…”. He let the man rest his head on his chest, so he could caress his hair. “…Cynthia will definitely appreciate some personal attention from the two of us. Didn’t she say training took a toll on her?”.
“Ohhh…”. The older man paused for a second, and then burst into a snicker. “Oh my!! Who’s the tease now, hm?” .
“Both of us, I’m afraid”. Still giggling, Ghetsis snuggled into his boyfriend’s chest, as Cyrus moved some stray hairs away from his face to kiss his forehead. He then repeated the same gesture with his lips.
“But still, if you’re going to tell her about the book…do you believe she might want to read me a couple chapters too?”.