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Gary walks quickly through the halls of the hospital, heart lodged firmly in his throat as he peers into each room he passes, moving on when he doesn’t see familiar brown eyes peering back at him. He’s made a full circuit of the ER, desperation mounting when he can’t find him—is it a sign that it’s more or less serious than Gary fears if he’s already been moved from the ER?
Finally, he goes to the nurses’ station to ask for help. His breath catches when he glimpses broad shoulders under a singed blue vest, the usual red hat missing as the man laughs with Officer Jenny about something just beyond the divider meant for hospital personnel.
“Ash!” he calls, relief flooding him when the other man turns around, face going soft and pleased when he spots Gary.
“Hey, Gar, what you doing he—”
Gary cuts him off by curling his fingers into his collar and pulling him up for a kiss.
Ash smells like smoke and the acrid stench of burnt hair, but his lips are warm and soft under Gary’s, parting a little to let Ash’s contented hum escape.
“You saw the news, huh?” Ash asks when Gary pulls back, a line of black soot smudged across one of his cheeks. “Sorry.”
“Not sorry enough,” Gary guesses, voice sharp. “Considering you probably won’t even wait a month before you find the next life-or-death situation to hurl yourself into.”
Ash gives him a sheepish grin and carefully does not contradict Gary’s assumption. They both know he’d be lying anyway.
Gary sighs. “What was so important that you decided running into a burning building was a good idea?”
Ash’s eyes light up as he opens his vest a little. In all the excitement, Gary hadn’t even noticed he’d been holding the bottom of it closed. Slowly, the fabric shifts as a furry head pokes out.
An eevee pup barely the size of one of Gary’s hands peers at him with a curious expression, its little ears twitching in Gary’s direction.
“Oh,” Gary breathes, charmed despite himself.
“This little one was trapped in the basement,” Ash explains. “And, well, I couldn’t just—”
“I know,” Gary says, pressing a kiss to the top of Ash’s head. “You wouldn’t be you if you weren’t heroically throwing yourself in harm’s way for baby eevees.”
Ash laughs, leaning further into Gary’s chest. “Does that mean we can keep her?”
Gary glances down at Ash tucked against him, looking happy but tired as Gary’s arms come up to hold him. Beyond that, the little eevee yawns a little before it disappears back into Ash’s vest for what Gary presumes is a much-needed nap. “Yeah, we can keep her, Ashy.”