Work Text:
Honeymoon Mishap
“Uh, babe?”
Gary didn’t look up as his fian– no, husband approached him from behind. “I said I'd be right back,” he reminded his partner, eyes on the paper in front of him.
“Babe,” Ash tried again, exasperation clear.
“Hang on.” He was too engrossed with the resort's list of today’s activities to look up. Deciding whether they would be spending the morning on a boat tour of the bay or on a shuttle downtown to check out a few local places was something that had to be done now or they would miss both options.
“It, uh, kinda can't.”
Gary recognized that sheepish, slightly frantic tone and looked up. Ash was wobbling on one foot, the other held up behind him like a flamigo, a pained expression upon his face. “What'd you do?”
Ash held out a seashell – a fragment of one, with a sharp pointed edge… with blood on it.
“Ash!” Gary looked down at the foot Ash was holding up and saw a crimson rivulet running down his foot and onto the floor. There was a veritable trail of it from the door in from the deck overlooking the beach – a trail that a frazzled employee was scurrying to clean up before any other guests saw it. “You're getting blood everywhere!” he hissed, pulling Ash away from the counter he was standing at and into the nearby restroom.
“You’re the one that made me wait!” Ash protested as Gary gathered a handful of paper towels and knelt down to begin wiping away some of the blood.
“I left you alone for five minutes!” Gary complained. Now they weren’t going to be able to do either of those options. “What on earth did you do?” he demanded.
“Stepped on a seashell,” Ash replied through grit teeth, as though it were obvious, which Gary supposed was fair.
“I see that.” Gary tossed the paper towels in the trash and grabbed a few more. There was a lot of blood and Ash was wincing badly but it didn’t look too horrible from the little bit he could see. He couldn’t see much with how much it was bleeding but he saw enough to tell that it was a clean puncture wound. “I meant, what were you doing when you stepped on it?”
“Coming to meet you,” Ash snapped. “Are you gonna help or are you just gonna be a grouch?”
“I’m trying to help!”
“Pika!” Pikachu interjected loudly from Ash’s shoulder, waving his paws. “Pikapi, Pipichu!”
“We’re not fighting,” Gary sighed and reached out to pat him on the head. “Sorry,” he muttered, glancing over to briefly meet Ash’s eyes before drawing away to toss the freshly bloodied towels in the trash. He grabbed a few more and passed them to Ash. “C’mon, let’s try to get back to the room without making the hotel look like a murder scene.”
Ash gave a shaky laugh. “I’ll do my best.”
It was awkward enough just maneuvering him towards the bathroom door, Gary couldn’t imagine how much of a nightmare it was going to be to get them back up to their suite on the top floor. He wrapped an arm around Ash’s waist, steadying him as much as possible to allow him to hobble while holding the fresh paper towels to his wound.
“Thanks, Gary.”
“You’re welcome… Arceus, you’re like an eevee kit. Can’t be left alone for three seconds without getting into trouble,” he grumbled, helping Ash through the door and back into the lobby.
“Good thing you like eevees so much then.” His voice was pained and Gary instantly felt bad for being such a grouch with him. It wasn’t like Ash had done it on purpose, and it was just a minor accident with no chaos from legendaries or other pokemon. The last few days of their honeymoon weren’t ruined. Probably.
Ash’s blood trail had been cleaned up and another hotel employee was waiting near the restroom with a wheelchair. “Champion Ash! Can I help you to the first aid station?”
Being the first champion of the region certainly had its perks, even so many years later.
Ash gave a grateful smile and hobbled over to the wheelchair and lowered himself into it. “Thanks a lot! I think just to our room, right?” he asked, peering up at Gary as Pikachu hopped into his lap. “You’ve got your first aid kit, don’t you?”
“The room’s fine,” Gary agreed, “but we’ll need more than just that kit.” He didn’t have his field bag with him, so the first aid kit really only consisted of some alcohol wipes, bandaids, a little tube of antibiotic ointment, and a small pack of pain meds. While that was fine for any minor wound they might get on their little hikes here in Alola, it wasn’t going to cut it with this.
“I’ll have medical supplies brought up to your room,” the woman with the wheelchair offered. “Now let's get you up to your room. Are you sure you don't want to go to the first aid station? Our nurse can get you patched up in no time.”
“Nah,” Ash waved the question off before looking up at Gary with a bright grin. “I don't need a nurse when I've got Gary! He's always patching me up.”
Gary felt his cheeks heat but stubbornly ignored it. How Ash could still be so sweet and full of sunshine while he was in pain and bleeding was beyond him. He knew he wasn’t capable of that brightness even when he was in a good mood. Oh well, Ash could continue being the cheery one. He followed along beside his husband and the woman from the hotel.
“Handsome and able to fix you up? Lucky you!” she chirped, smiling and shooting Gary a quick wink.
“I am,” Ash agreed. Pikachu squeaked his agreement and Gary felt his cheeks heat even further.
Gary sometimes wondered during this trip whether the staff was like this for every couple that stayed in the honeymoon suite or if it was because of Ash. It was probably a little bit of both. People tended to like going out of their way for Ash, courtesy of his bubbly personality.
They made it up to their room without incident and Pikachu scampered right in and promptly disappeared as Gary held out a hand for Ash and carefully pulled him to his feet. The wheelchair was left at the door for Ash to use if he needed it over the rest of the day. Gary doubted they would need it but apparently the hotel had a few on hand and the staff positively insisted that Ash use it as much as he wanted. He had a feeling he would be scolding his husband for racing down the hallway or popping wheelies or something equally childish and ridiculous, but that wasn't an important concern right now.
“Let's get this cleaned up,” he murmured, gently guiding Ash through the bedroom and into the bathroom.
As they passed through Gary caught sight of Pikachu's tail sticking out of the top of his hiking bag as the electric type dug through it. He shook his head, hoping he wasn’t attempting to steal any snacks out of there while he and Ash were preoccupied. Ignoring his partner's starter for a moment, Gary helped Ash get situated on the edge of the bathtub and turned on the water, giving it a moment to warm up as he took the handful of bloodied paper towels from Ash and tossed them in the trash can.
“Pipichu!”
Gary turned in time to see Pikachu hop up onto the bathroom counter with a little red bag clutched in his paws.
So that’s what he had been doing.
“Thanks, buddy.” Gary took the first aid kit, set it on the edge of the tub, and gave Pikachu a quick pat on the head before turning back to Ash. “Alright, you pain in the ass,” he started, though there was no heat to it, “this is probably gonna hurt a bit.”
“Can't be as bad as getting electrocuted,” Ash replied, giving him a grateful smile as Gary knelt next to the tub to check the water temperature.
Pleased with the water temperature, Gary took Ash’s foot and held it under the running water, murmuring a quiet apology at Ash’s wince. “You've definitely been through worse,” he commented idly. The water ran red, staining the white tub, and Gary cringed a little. He'd patched Ash up plenty of times, but this was a lot of blood – he really hoped Ash hadn’t fucked up any of the delicate little muscles and tendons in his foot. “Can you move your toes at all?”
Ash hissed in pain but wiggled his toes nonetheless. “Hurts a lot, but yeah.”
“Yeah, it's gonna be hurting, but it looks like you probably didn't do any serious damage if you can still move…” The water was starting to run clearer, which Gary took as a good sign. “Pikachu, can you get me a clean towel?” he called over his shoulder as he peered at the wound.
He could actually see it clearly now that the blood was washed away. There was still some crimson oozing from it but the flow had slowed and the wound didn't look too deep. A squeak came from his side and he looked down to see Pikachu holding up a hand towel for him. Gary gave him a grateful smile, took the proffered towel, and began gently dabbing at Ash’s foot.
“Ow!” Ash yelped, attempting to pull his foot out of Gary’s grasp. “Ow – don't touch it!”
But Gary held him firmly by the ankle as he wiped away the little bit of blood that was there and examined it to gauge how deep it was and if there was any debris stuck in it. “I have to, Ash, just hold still a sec…”
He hoped there wasn't anything stuck in there because Ash would likely end up kicking him in the face if he had to pry a piece of shell out of the bottom of his foot. To be fair, he would probably have the exact same reflex were the tables turned.
A knock sounded at the door. “Room service!” a cheerful voice called from the hallway outside the suite.
“Oh, thank god,” Ash breathed, letting out a deep sigh of relief when Gary set the towel back on the counter and stood to get the door.
“Stay here,” Gary told Ash, perhaps a bit firmer than was necessary but he never really knew with Ash. “Just keep your foot under the running water for now,” he instructed as he stood to get the door.
Ignoring Ash’s grumbling, he rushed out of the bathroom. At the door was another cheery hotel worker eager to help Ash, complete with a stack of fresh towels, on top of which was a small paper bag from the gift shop. The man with the towels passed Gary the bag, which he peeked into to find a bandage roll and a handful of gauze pads, all in their sterile wrappings, along with a tube of ointment and a small bottle of antiseptic.
Perfect .
After a quick thank you, Gary took the towels and the bag into the bathroom, where he found Ash obediently waiting with his foot under the water.
“Wow, you actually listened,” he observed, smirking a bit as he knelt down next to the tub again. Ash held up his middle finger and Gary laughed. “Did you want me to poke at it some more?”
“No.” There was a definite pout in that voice and Gary couldn’t help but smile at it.
He reached for Ash’s foot again and examined it once more, noting the wary expression that crossed Ash’s face as soon as he did so. “I'm not gonna poke at it,” he assured him, “but I have to disinfect it.” Ash gave a little whine that had Gary shaking his head in amusement. “It'll only sting a moment, you baby.”
Pleased with how much the bleeding had slowed, Gary turned off the water and reached for the bottle of antiseptic. It said no sting on the label and Gary hoped that was accurate. For someone who had spent much of his life traveling in the wilderness, earning himself plenty of little (and not so little) injuries along the way, Ash could be the absolute biggest baby with these things. He had the sneaking suspicion that Ash did that specifically to get to him – Ash knew he couldn't ever see that pained expression and hear that little whimper that escaped him whenever he cleaned a wound without pampering him for the rest of the day.
Oh well. He didn't mind pampering him. Ash deserved it on occasion.
“Alright, hold still and – that's the exact opposite of what I said, Ash,” Gary groaned when Ash squirmed and tried to pull his foot away. “Do you want to lose your foot because you were too much of a baby to have it properly cleaned and got an infection?”
“No…”
“Then hold still! ” He wasn’t actually annoyed with Ash, regardless of his tone, and Ash seemed to know this, judging by his lack of argument. Gary opened the bottle and grasped Ash’s foot again, watching as his husband took a deep breath. “Please don't kick me.”
Ash gave a shaky laugh at that. “No promises.”
Gary's lips quirked into a small smile. “Just don't kick me in the face.”
“I won’t.” Ash promised. “I wouldn’t want to give a reason to divor– ow!”
Gary had taken advantage of his distraction to pour the antiseptic over the wound. Sure enough, Ash flailed enough that Gary had to hold Ash’s ankle in a death grip to avoid being kicked in the face. He shot Ash an amused smirk as he set the bottle down. “Don’t want to give me a reason to divorce you a week in?” he guessed.
“You’re gonna give me a reason for divorce,” Ash grumbled under his breath, pulling a laugh from Gary.
“We would’ve broken up years ago if you couldn’t handle a little wound cleaning,” Gary returned. He grabbed the towel again and began gently wiping away the remaining moisture on Ash’s skin. “You can handle it, Ashy-boy,” he assured him when he heard Ash whine again.
Tending to Ash’s wounds sometimes felt akin to attempting to trim an angry skitty’s claws and today was no exception. He reacted the same to any injury, no matter the severity. Gary had to pause occasionally to wait out a particularly pitiful whimper but made quick work of drying off his foot and applying a large dab of antibiotic ointment, but he was used to it. They’d done this plenty of times before.
Finished with the cleaning portion, Gary gave Ash a gentle smile and lifted his hands away from his foot and instead rested them on Ash’s knee. “I need to get the bandage ready, just breathe for a minute, okay?”
Ash nodded, still looking pained and a bit pathetic, and watched as Gary capped the tube of ointment and retrieved the bottle of antiseptic, closing it as well. He set them on the counter and pulled the bandage roll and a gauze pad out of the paper bag. Rolling his eyes at Ash’s anticipatory whine, Gary opened them both and looked back up at Ash.
“I know it hurts, but I need you to be as still as possible for this part.” He waited for Ash to take another deep breath before asking, “ready?”
He groaned and shook his head but… “Yeah,” he sighed after a moment. “Just get it over with.”
Gary shook his head amusedly as he folded the piece of gauze in half twice and contemplated the best angle to place it for the bandage. “You’ve got this, Ash,” he assured him. “Pressure,” he warned, giving him a second before pressing the gauze against the wound.
Ash winced and hissed, his entire body tensing, but he didn’t flail this time. He held perfectly still as Gary picked up the bandage roll, wrapped it securely around his foot, folded it under, and tore off the excess. As soon as Gary’s hands lifted away, he heaved an enormous sigh of relief and slumped back against the wall.
“Owwww.”
Setting about cleaning up, Gary only shook his head again. He stood to throw away the trash and pressed a kiss to Ash’s forehead. “Do you want any painkillers?” Rather than replying, Ash picked up the first aid kit that had been thus-far untouched and dug through it for the little bottle that was in there. Gary took it from him and set the kit on the counter. “C’mon, let’s get you to the bed and I’ll get you some water, “ he said, helping Ash up to his feet.
Ash hobbled to the doorway with Gary’s steadying arm around his waist but shrugged him off once they reached it. “I got it,” he said and Gary watched with a sigh as he hopped across the room to the bed and sat on the edge of it. “I’m gonna rest here a minute –”
“You’re going to stay there,” Gary corrected, setting the bottle of painkillers on the bedside table next to him. There was no way his husband was going to be hopping around the suite on one foot. Something would definitely end up broken – probably Ash’s nose from face planting. Or his neck, or his ankle… or the expensive television. Either way, it was best to keep him in one place.
“But we were gonna –”
“You’re going to stay off your foot and rest until lunch because the adrenaline from hurting yourself is going to start wearing off and you’re gonna be hurting,” Gary cut him off firmly as he set about rearranging the pillows. He arranged most of them against the headboard and gently pushed Ash back against them before taking one of the extras and placing it under Ash’s injured foot.
“We don’t have –”
Gary rolled his eyes. “Ash, you were bleeding all over the lobby twenty minutes ago. Shut up and stay in bed.”
He left the room briefly to fetch them each a drink from the kitchenette and returned to find Ash still in place, arms crossed over his chest, an undeniable pout upon his lips. Shaking his head amusedly, he crossed the room and set Ash’s drink on the nightstand before walking around to the other side to climb on the bed. He sighed as he laid back against the single pillow he had saved himself and passed Ash the television remote.
“You’re the one that hurt yourself,” he explained at Ash’s questioning look.
“Why are you – nevermind, here.” Ash ignored the remote, instead reaching behind him and pulling out two of the four pillows Gary had arranged there. “We don’t both need to be uncomfortable.” He took the remote from Gary and turned on the tv, beginning to flip through the channels in search of something to watch.
He stopped on an action movie, some superhero movie – so many had come out recently that Gary had given up on trying to keep track. Instead of watching, Gary pulled his phone from his pocket and set about navigating the apps. If they couldn’t go downtown, then maybe Gary could at least order food from downtown. The hotel staff had told them at check-in that they could order from the local restaurants through their room service. Gary was certain it was just another perk of them honeymooning in a region that Ash was a multi-time champion in, but he wasn’t about to complain. It was a little early for lunch, but it would take a while for the food to arrive anyway.
While Ash was absorbed in the movie, Gary set about picking them out enough food for a small feast, placed the order, and retrieved the field guide that was on his bedside table. Ash seemed to be enjoying the movie and Gary decided not to take away from that by nitpicking the details or complaining about the effects – honestly, why did everything have to be CG? – so he distracted himself by reading about the coral reef that they had snorkeled on just the day before.
As the movie was wrapping up there was another knock at the door. “Room service!”
Ash looked over quizzically as Gary slid off the bed and headed to the door. “What'd you get?”
“You’ll see,” Gary called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the main room of the suite.
Gary had splurged on a large spread of food from the most recommended local place that they hadn’t tried yet. There were fish tacos, the toppings separated out into containers to keep the tortillas from getting soggy, a big bowl of a tropical fruit salad, a few little appetizers that had looked tasty, and a slice of coconut cake for each of them for dessert. It was a lot of food, but the fruit could be picked at throughout the day and the cake could wait until later.
Besides, it was their honeymoon. Why not indulge in a little too much food?
He took the bags from the woman at the door and carried them to the coffee table, where he began arranging the food containers so that they could eat and watch the television from the couch. Ash was still preoccupied with the movie in the bedroom, so Gary took advantage to find a movie they would both want to watch, settling on an older action-adventure favorite from their childhoods. It was already twenty minutes in, but they both knew the movie by heart so it hardly mattered.
There was a shuffling and an odd thumping from the bedroom and Gary looked up to see Ash hopping across the room on his uninjured foot. “What are you doing?” he asked, fixing Ash with an unimpressed look as he wobbled in the bedroom entryway.
“I heard ‘it belongs in a museum’ and I smelled food.”
Unable to bite back his laugh, Gary only shook his head as he crossed the room to wrap an arm around Ash’s waist. “C’mon, you dork,” he said fondly, helping Ash across the room to the couch.
“Oh, yeah, I’m the dork. I know you: Jurassic Park’s next and then probably that one with the feraligatr eating people and then –”
“Oh my god, shut up and eat, will you?”
He should have known that their honeymoon would involve a day where one of them got hurt and they ended up in their room all day. Of all the things that could have gone wrong, at least it was something that resulted in them bickering over movies while they pigged out on delicious food, just as they did as kids in Pallet.
Nothing had changed, not even with them being married.