Work Text:
Mother Always Knows
Gary was taking his sweet time this afternoon, Ash noted. He wondered if his boyfriend had run into some interesting pokemon on his way to their spot, but he doubted it. There were plenty enough pokemon around but nothing that would make Gary late for their… did these count as dates? All of these times meeting in the woods, walking along the river, sitting beside the lake had to count as something with how much kissing they did during those trips out.
Ash glanced at the time on his phone and sighed. What was taking him so long today?
“C'mon, Gary,” he groaned, tilting his head back against the tree he was leaning against. Pikachu climbed down from his spot atop Ash’s hat to sit on his shoulder. He cooed quietly and patted Ash’s shoulder, drawing a little laugh from the trainer. “It's fine, buddy,” he assured his pokemon. “He probably just had to help Tracey with something.”
Which meant he would insist on taking a twenty minute shower before coming to meet him, even if he was already running late.
Barely a moment later, Pikachu’s ears twitched, the only warning he had before Gary burst through the edge of the trees and into the clearing Ash was waiting on the opposite side of.
“Sorry!” he called breathlessly. Umbreon followed along beside him as he made his way across the clearing.
Ash had to fight not to laugh as he pushed away from the tree he had been leaning against while he waited. Gary’s hair was a mess, his clothes rumpled. He looked very much as though he had run all the way here.
“What took you so long?” Ash asked curiously.
“Your charizard threw a temper tantrum,” Gary called back, scowling faintly.
Ash laughed a bit awkwardly. “He does that,” he said apologetically.
He wished he'd seen Gary’s response to that. On one hand, it would be funny to see someone so used to obedient pokemon deal with his most difficult pokemon, on the other, he was sure Gary could handle him just fine. Ash was curious about what methods he used to manage Charizard. Gary was good with difficult pokemon – maybe Ash could learn a little something from him.
Gary shrugged it off as he came to a stop in front of Ash, still breathless. “Tracey says he must like me because he calmed right down when I came over.”
“You're pretty likable when you're not being a pain,” Ash agreed with a mischievous grin that Gary rolled his eyes at.
“Oh, shut up.” But his cheeks had taken on a distinctly pink hue and Ash's grin only widened as he held his hand out. He took Ash’s hand and let himself be pulled into a hug.
Ash took a deep breath to calm his heart rate as he pulled Gary close. His heart rate always shot up in these moments – it was just the excitement of it all. This was all so new to them both still. Every touch made his heart stutter, every kiss made the butterfrees in his stomach flutter in a wild dance.
As he took that breath, he noticed something.
There was a particular scent with the fire types, not unpleasant, but distinct. Ash grinned at the smell of it on his boyfriend. Gary usually took a shower after helping in the lab before meeting him, so Ash rarely got the chance to see this side these days – windswept and breathless, skin humid, smelling of sunshine and earth and smoldering embers. It was this adventurous side of him that Ash loved – er, liked ?
Love was too strong of a – oh, this wasn’t the time for that. Not when Gary was breathless and handsome and in his arms.
Ash couldn’t resist pressing his lips to Gary's almost immediately. The butterfrees in his stomach started their fluttering and he couldn’t hold back the little laugh that bubbled up at the giddiness that filled him. Gary only kissed him harder.
This was where they always lost track of time, where one kiss turned into two turned into an hour.
“Wait,” Gary breathed between kisses a few moments in.
It took Ash a moment to register exactly what he had said. He pulled away slightly when the words clicked. “What is it?” he asked curiously.
Gary smiled. “Grandpa knows.”
Finally , Ash wanted to say. They had been sneaking around for the few weeks they had been in Pallet and he had been starting to wonder if his boyfriend was ever going to tell the professor. He barely stopped himself from saying it and instead grinned. “You told him?”
Gary’s smile faltered. “Not exactly.”
Uh oh. “What happened?”
“He… kinda caught us?”
Oh. They hadn’t exactly been as discreet as they could have been and he knew it. Ash tried not to cringe too noticeably. “What did he see?” he asked, attempting to ignore the leaden weight in his stomach.
Gary noticed – and laughed , the jerk. “He saw us by the lake last night.”
Oh, thank goodness. That could have been so much worse. Ash’s breath left him in an enormous sigh of relief. “You had me scared there.”
“I know.” Gary flashed him a grin and Ash rolled his eyes.
Still such a pain. That was fine. Ash knew how to wipe that smirk off his face.
“We should tell my mom today.”
Sure enough, the grin fell away from Gary’s face and he was quiet for a moment before… “Okay,” he agreed. A small smile flickered across his face but Ash saw the trepidation in his eyes.
Ash was nervous too, but keeping their relationship quiet hadn’t been his idea, and he had known all the while that his mother wouldn’t have the slightest bit of a problem with it. He knew that Gary knew that too, but Gary had been having a harder time with people knowing about them. He was getting there, but sharing his feelings had always come easier for Ash than it did for Gary.
He offered a hand to his boyfriend and smiled when Gary took it. “Why don’t we get moving? We can tell Mom after dinner.”
… … …
The front door closed loudly behind Ash and Gary, accidentally slammed in Ash’s excitement for dinner. He winced and Gary shot him an unimpressed look.
“I didn’t mean to,” he defended, whispering. Gary rolled his eyes but decided not to say anything.
“Hello, boys!” his mother called from the kitchen.
Ash glanced back at Gary – he hadn’t told her that Gary was coming over. Although Gary had been coming over most nights, Ash supposed. It was an easy guess. Nothing to worry about.
“Hey, mom!” he called back, tugging Gary by the hand as he made his way towards the kitchen.
Dinner was nearly ready, it seemed, and it smelled delicious. He couldn’t wait to eat. All that time outside with Gary - walking through the woods, sitting by the river, kissing by the hillside…
It all worked up an appetite.
Enough so that Ash almost forgot what they had been planning on telling her all afternoon.
He gave Gary a glance over the kitchen table when he remembered, and hoped he understood the silent question. It seemed like it. Gary met his eyes and held his gaze for a moment before giving him a tiny nod.
Right. He was going to have him do this. That made sense.
He waited for his mother to finish talking before clearing his throat.
“There’s something we need to tell you, mom,” Ash began. He wasn’t nervous , but… he just wasn’t sure how to start the conversation without it sounding so serious .
It was wonderful, dating Gary, making out with him, spending countless hours together. But it wasn’t something that needed such a serious conversation, was it?
Delia looked at him expectantly, a small smile upon her lips as she took a sip from her mug. Her gaze slid over to Gary and then back to Ash. “Oh? Does it involve both of you?” she asked innocently.
Oh, she knew.
He didn’t know how, and he didn’t know how he knew that she knew, but she definitely knew.
Ash felt his cheeks heat and didn’t have to look at Gary to know his cheeks were turning pink as well. He gave a laugh and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Yeah. We, uh… We’re dating!”
“Well, it's about time you told me!” she declared, smiling. “I was getting tired of watching you two try to sneak around us.”
It came as a surprise even with him knowing that she knew. “You knew ?” Ash blurted.
“Oh, I’ve known , boys. It was only a matter of time before you two got together.”
“Told you she knew,” Gary chimed in.
Hadn’t he been the one wanting to keep it a secret? Ash rolled his eyes. “You did not!”
“I told you last week,” Gary retorted.
“And I told you that your grandfather wouldn't care two weeks ago!” Ash argued.
“Boys,” Delia sighed, though she sounded more amused than anything else.
Gary grinned and turned back to her as though he hadn’t been the one to start it. Ash rolled his eyes again but he, too, was smiling. Gary just had that effect on him these days, even when he was being annoying.
Which was still pretty much constantly.
Oh well. It was one of the things he liked about Gary anyway.
Delia smiled back at them with a sly twinkle in her eyes. “I see your flirting styles haven’t changed much,” she observed casually.
“ Mom!”