Work Text:
Tracey appreciated having an appointed knight—it meant he could leave the palace to mingle with townsfolk or explore the untamed nature beyond the royal gardens, and it was nice to have company. Gary would complain sometimes, but he still followed, always three paces behind.
Tracey looked back over his shoulder at his knight. Gary’s eyes, as dark green and full of mystery as the forest around them, were alert and wary. A hand rested on his sword, ready to draw it at the first sign of a threat.
“Gary,” Tracey said. “There’s no one out here. You can walk beside me.”
“And let an assassin or an ursaring attack you from behind?” Gary scoffed. “Not on my watch.”
Tracey shook his head with a sigh. Gary had been hand chosen from the royal guard to be Tracey’s protector for good reason—he was confident, clever, and devoted—but sometimes Tracey wished he would relax more. Tracey would’ve liked to have Gary beside him, closer than the lingering scent in the cloak he’d passed off to Tracey when the forest air got chillier.
But regardless, it was comforting to know Gary was there. Tracey didn’t hear any sign of danger—only the calls of pidgey, the buzzing and chirping of bug-types, and the babbling of a nearby stream—but if one made itself known, he could trust Gary to fight it off.
As he followed a path made by wild creatures, he took in how alive the place was. Butterfree and combee would flutter around the gardens back home, but it was nothing like the activity in these woods—pikachu and skwovet that eyed him warily with ears pricked before skittering up the nearest tree, caterpie and weedle crawling in the trees, a spinarak spinning a web, pidgey fluttering about, regal sawsbuck whose antlers nearly blended in with the foliage.
Tracey heard the familiar shing of Gary drawing his sword as a beedrill zipped past. He turned around to give Gary an amused look. “Were you seriously about to fight a bug?”
“Hey, I might have to,” Gary said. “You know Ash, the guardsman who’s always getting into trouble? He says he came in here to do some special training the other day and came across a scyther.”
“And you didn’t tell me?” Tracey asked, and immediately saw alarm flash across Gary’s face. “You didn’t mean to tell me just now, did you?”
Gary snorted. “I know how you are about bug-types. If you knew there were scyther here, nothing would stop you from looking for ‘em. And in case it slipped your mind, your highness, my job is keeping you safe.”
Tracey recognized the sarcasm in the way Gary said his title—the sort of thing that would get Gary a sharp rebuke from anyone else in the court if they heard him, but Tracey suspected was an odd form of affection. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking.
“Don’t worry,” Tracey said, turning around and continuing forward. “If we see any scyther, I know how to be careful. Besides, how could I be in any danger when I have the best knight in the kingdom with me?”
“Damn right you do,” Gary replied, and Tracey was relieved at the warmth in his voice.
As they kept walking, Tracey heard rustling. It could’ve been anything, but Tracey looked around. There were slash marks on the tree bark—a sign scyther lived nearby?
A scyther rushed out of the foliage and Tracey leaped back in surprise. Gary was between them in an instant, sword in hand. The scyther raised its scythes with a fierce cry, unintimidated.
“Hey, easy,” Tracey said placatingly. He put a hand on Gary’s back. “Gary, we must be in its swarm’s territory. Back away slowly.”
Gary nodded, stepping back. The scyther kept glaring at them.
Then Tracey heard buzzing. A beedrill zoomed their way from the other side and Gary’s sword dropped to the ground so he could shove Tracey out of the line of danger. Tracey was knocked flat on his back, stunned by the impact.
Shaking off the brief disorientation to sit up, he saw Gary standing in front of him, acting as a shield without the sword that lay at his feet. The knight’s tunic had torn, exposing a gash on his shoulder.
The bug-types lost interest in them to fight each other. Gary watched them for a moment before turning around to pull Tracey up. “Let’s run while they’re distracted.”
“Right.” Tracey picked up Gary’s sword. “You might need this.”
Their hands touched again as Gary accepted it. “Thanks. Now, run!”
Tracey ran, Gary beside him. Despite the danger, part of him couldn’t help but enjoy the thrill of it all—the feeling of an all-out run, Gary matching him stride for stride, was exhilarating.
They eventually arrived at a peaceful clearing. A sawsbuck was drinking from a river nearby, but bounded off at the sound of their arrival. Tracey dropped to the ground, spent and breathless now that the adrenaline was fading. Above him, Gary staggered and dropped onto one knee, bracing himself against his sword. Tracey heard him panting.
Regardless, the first words out of Gary’s mouth were, “Are you okay?”
“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.” Tracey pushed himself into a sitting position and looked at his knight. Gary was bleeding—blood was still seeping from the gash on his shoulder, and his face was marked with smaller cuts. Tracey rested his hand just beneath the shoulder wound, on fabric that was wet with blood. “You’re bleeding!”
“Oh, that?” Gary shrugged, then stiffened as if it had hurt. “It’s just a flesh wound. I’ve had worse, I’ll live.”
“But it hurts, doesn’t it?” Tracey asked. “Let me help.”
Gary looked at him, wide-eyed, before softening. “If you insist, your highness. I’ll talk you through it if you think you can handle it.”
Tracey nodded firmly. Sure, he was a little nervous, but he could do this. He had to—after all, Gary had gotten hurt protecting him.
Immediately, Gary was struggling out of his ruined tunic. He tore a piece of fabric off and passed it over to Tracey. “Step one is to get it clean, which means water. Soak it in that stream over there.”
Tracey nodded, heading for the stream. He brought it back, soaked through, and sat beside Gary. As gently as he could, he cleaned the wound, trying not to get distracted by the way his stomach lurched at the sight of so much blood, or Gary’s lean but nicely muscled frame, or how… intimate the act felt. Gary barely flinched as he worked, but tensed when he stopped. “You done?”
Tracey nodded. “I think so.”
Gary took a deep breath. “I’ll be honest, I hate this part.” He handed Tracey a flask. “You have to disinfect it. Pour some of that on the rag—and be careful with it, that stuff’s valuable.”
“Of course, sir knight,” he teased, relieved to hear a soft laugh in response. He was careful in pouring, and in cleaning the wound with it. For all his strength and pride, Gary still hissed in pain. Tracey hesitated. “Is that bad? Should I stop?”
“No, it’ll hurt no matter what you do,” Gary said. “I’m a trained warrior, I can handle it.”
Tracey still felt a twinge of guilt as he listened to Gary’s pained hisses. But soon enough, it was over. When he handed the flask back, Gary drank from it.
“Good,” Gary praised, making Tracey’s heart flutter. “Now all you’ve gotta do is pat it dry and bandage it.”
At some point, Gary had torn much of the fabric into long strips. He handed them and what was left over.
Tracey finished up, somehow managing to keep his hands steady. “How’s that?”
Gary flexed his shoulder experimentally and winced. “It’ll do.” He gave Tracey a sidelong look. “Thanks. For a sheltered prince, you make a decent field medic.”
“I’m glad I could help,” Tracey said. “You protected me, taking care of you is the least I can do.”
“The least you could do is nothing,” Gary replied. “I swore an oath to protect you, you don’t owe me anything.”
Maybe he had a point, but to Tracey, that just sounded… wrong. A king’s duty was to his people, and as future king, he needed to do what he could for the people around him. And responsibilities aside, he liked Gary. He hoped Gary liked him. It was hard to tell sometimes.
“I could never do nothing when you need help,” he said simply.
Gary looked at him for a moment, expression unreadable. Then he offered the faintest smile. “Let’s get you home.”
Gary had to admit he was impressed at how well his prince was faring. Tracey looked tired, for sure, but he was still keeping up a steady pace. Gary stayed three paces behind, but he must’ve lost more blood than he’d realized. His strength was flagging and he felt hot from exertion.
He wiped sweat off his brow and bit back a groan. It was a good thing Tracey was walking ahead of him; he doubted he looked particularly strong right now.
He stumbled and found himself in his prince’s arms. As he met those big brown eyes, wide with surprise and concern, heat rose to his face like it had been set ablaze. “Gary? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Gary said, pulling back. “I might be hurt worse than I thought, but I can last long enough to get you home.”
Tracey frowned, almost looking hurt. Then he put a hand on Gary’s forehead. “You’re hot!”
“Took you long enough to notice,” Gary joked.
Tracey blushed at that, then shook his head. “No, I mean you’re burning up! How long have you had a fever?”
Gary put his hands up appeasingly. “I didn’t even realize I had one until now.”
“What?” Tracey sounded utterly incredulous. Gary had never heard him so wound up.
All Gary could do was shrug in response. “I’m a knight, pain tolerance kind of comes with the territory.”
The movement did make his shoulder hurt, though.
Tracey gave him an odd look, a mix of concern and fond exasperation. He took off the cloak, draping it gently over Gary’s shoulders, then reached for Gary’s hand. “Lean on me if you need to.”
Gary knew he shouldn’t do that, knew he should pull away and continue following from three paces behind. But Tracey looked at him pleadingly and he had to relent. But he didn’t lean on Tracey. He carried himself with all the strength and dignity he could muster, head held high.
He could endure it.
Part of Tracey was prepared for when Gary collapsed—prepared enough to catch him, to hold him steady, and to ease him onto soft grass beside a stream. The other part could never be prepared to see his knight in such an awful state.
Gary was trembling, a dark flush and a sheen of sweat on his face. He didn’t even try to hold back a groan as he curled his body into Tracey’s. Heat was coming off him in waves. Tracey held onto him, rubbing his back and fighting panic.
The two of them alone in the woods, Gary sick and injured, wasn’t exactly ideal. Gary was practically helpless, which meant it was up to Tracey to look after him and keep him safe. But how would a sheltered prince do that? He wasn’t exactly much of a fighter, and they had no medicine to even ease Gary’s pain.
All he could do was rub Gary’s back in an attempt at comfort and think. He’d been a frail, sickly child for the first few years of his life, and he’d been treated with countless remedies in an attempt to cure his ailments—if he tried the ones he could remember, maybe something would help Gary.
At least, if he tried the less gruesome ones. He had a feeling bloodletting would do more harm than good, with how much blood Gary had already lost.
He mostly remembered bitter herbs that blurred together too much in his mind to do much with the memory of, but he also remembered a sweet berry supposedly good for nullifying toxins. If he could find them, maybe they’d help. Reluctantly, he moved away from Gary’s side, standing up. He could do this.
Gary had been hot before, but now he felt chilled to the bone. He shivered and curled into his cloak. What a miserable time to be alone.
Wait. Why was he alone? Where was Tracey? How long had he been gone? Was he in trouble?
Gary had to find him. He staggered to his feet, bracing himself with his sword.
His legs shook, threatening to give way with every step. But he’d been trained to fight through pain and exhaustion. He could do it—he had to, his prince was out there alone. He could deal with the consequences of pushing his body well past its limits once he knew Tracey was safe.
He tripped over a root and dizziness swept over him. He barely managed to keep his balance by grabbing onto the nearest tree branch, and swallowed hard against the bile rising in his throat. His muscles screamed in protest when he took another step.
He kept trying, but his vision was growing dark and his limbs felt both shaky and impossibly heavy. Soon his legs gave way entirely and everything went dark.
Tracey had eventually found the berries he remembered—or at least, he hoped he had. They were pink, almost heart-shaped, and when he tasted one he found it as sweet as he remembered, but only time would tell if it’d help Gary. He followed the river back to where he had left his knight.
Gary was gone.
Tracey felt a rush of panic.
“Gary! Gary, are you here? Are you okay?”
He faintly heard a groan. He rushed in the direction of the sound. Then he spotted Gary.
Gary was lying in a heap on the ground, bundled in his cloak and trembling. Tracey knelt at his side. “I’m here, Gary.”
Gary’s eyes fluttered open. They were distant and glassy, but there was a flicker of recognition. He managed a weak smile. “My prince… you’re okay…”
“Yeah, don’t worry about me,” Tracey said. “I’m sorry for leaving, but I had to look for something that could help you. I think you were poisoned.”
Gary’s response was a low groan. His eyes closed again.
Tracey cradled Gary’s burning cheek with a hand. “I know you feel bad, but can you try to sit up and eat? I found some berries that might make you feel better.”
Gary struggled upright, and Tracey helped him. For a moment Gary’s jaw was clenched, eyes tightly shut, but then he looked at Tracey with a smile Tracey guessed was meant to be reassuring.
Tracey held out the berries in his hands like he was feeding a ponyta. Gary took one, eating it slowly, tentatively. It must’ve gone down easily enough, because once he finished it he immediately took another.
He seemed a little better once he’d finished the last. At the very least, his breath was coming more easily. Tracey had to hope once the berries had more time to work, Gary’s fever would go down and his strength would come back.
When he met Tracey’s gaze, his eyes seemed a little clearer. “Tracey?”
Tracey was momentarily startled by the sound of his name coming from Gary’s mouth. He wanted to hear it again, and he couldn’t help feeling like in another life he had , more times than he could possibly count. But he pushed those feelings aside for now. “What is it?”
“Don’t leave my sight again. Please,” he added, as if remembering it wasn’t exactly his place to give Tracey an order. Not that Tracey minded.
More than anything else, he wanted Gary to say his name again.
“Of course,” he said. “But can you do something for me?”
Gary nodded dutifully. “Anything for you.”
Say my name again, Tracey thought. “Rest,” he said instead. He guided Gary to lie down beside him, head on his lap. Propriety had never mattered less.
Gary seemed to realize the same thing. He closed his eyes, expression softening as Tracey tucked his cloak around him like a blanket. “Tracey,” he said, and a thrill shot through Tracey once again at the sound. “Never change, no matter what anybody tells you. I would kill and die for you in every lifetime.”
Tracey looked down at Gary, blinking. That fever was really affecting him. “Please don’t.”
Gary smiled at that. “Okay, I’ll try, for you. But if it comes down to it…”
“Don’t think about that,” Tracey said, running a hand down Gary’s back—mindful of his wounded shoulder. “You won’t be killing or dying today. Just rest. I’ll keep you safe.”
“That’s backwards…” Gary mumbled, but with all his energy being used to heal, he couldn’t protest further. He soon gave into his exhaustion, breaths growing deep and even.
Tracey watched him breathe, enraptured with the sight of him. The way the flush on his face accentuated the splashes of freckles across his nose and cheeks, how the soft peacefulness of his expression contrasted beautifully against his sharp features.
Tracey knew as a prince, he wasn’t supposed to fall in love with his knight—it went against so many rules for both of them—but how could he not? Putting a devoted, brilliant, charismatic, and handsome young man Tracey’s age right in front of him (or three paces behind him), forbidding him from falling in love, was like asking a sableye to guard your jewelry. He could only resist for so long.
His mother would probably want him betrothed to some other royal from a neighboring kingdom. A way to ally their small and vulnerable kingdom with another. The Cerulean Kingdom had four princesses, and he liked them just fine—Misty in particular had been a friend to him since they were children, the only ones who couldn’t quite fit in when their families had meetings, and she would tug on his sleeve and flash a mischievous grin and they’d sneak out to the pond to watch the water pokémon—but he couldn’t feel the same way about any of them that he felt about Gary.
Gary grumbled in his sleep and stirred slightly, nuzzling into Tracey’s body in a way he never would when he was awake, and suddenly none of that mattered. For now, they were together, nobody around to tell Tracey how to feel or rebuke Gary for being vulnerable in front of him.
Tracey ran a hand through Gary’s hair and heard him sigh softly, and that was the only thing in the world that mattered.