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Peppermint Regrets
Ash's inability to hold his liquor was a well known thing amongst his friends. He had been sick in enough people's cars and hotel rooms that everyone worked together to keep an accurate count on just how many drinks he'd been given. He could have two drinks or maybe three beers, depending on the alcohol content, but shots and straight alcohol were strictly off limits – and he certainly wasn't allowed to pour his own drinks. No one wanted to deal with the aftermath.
It was perhaps fortunate that the person who paid the closest attention to this – his boyfriend – was also the person in their group with the highest alcohol tolerance.
Gary had no problem wresting a glass from Ash’s hand the second he heard the hint of a slur and would down it in one go just to get it away from his partner, only to turn right back to whatever conversation he had been in as though nothing had happened. He could somehow keep drinking and socializing while keeping a close watch on Ash, making sure he didn’t hurt himself and that he sobered up and still not end up hungover himself. Even if he'd had more alcohol than anyone else in the group, Gary Oak could be trusted to keep Ash from puking in someone's car or challenging everyone in the room to a pokemon battle or wandering off in search of some legendary pokemon.
“It's those Galarian genes," he had joked plenty of times.
Whether it was due to Galarian heritage or not, Gary could drink the rest of the group under the table… He would probably end up sneaking off with Ash at some point but he was, oddly enough, the least likely to do something stupid with alcohol involved.
Until someone forgot the rules at his grandfather's Christmas party one year.
Gary typically wasn’t a fan of big get-togethers, though his grandfather’s holiday parties were a rare exception. He had known many of the other professors since he was a young child and had always looked forward to seeing them and hearing stories about the pokemon they had encountered or were currently working with. Even better was when he had reached the age to share his own stories.
But he wasn’t excited for this year’s party. In fact, he was dreading it.
An interesting year had passed since the last holiday party. He’d dropped out of university, left the research community, and promptly dropped off the face of the planet in favor of a long journey on the other side of the world with no explanation to anyone outside of his little family circle. He’d been home for barely two months – two long months with a grueling transition back to society – two months of setting boundaries and shutting down conversations about other people’s expectations of him. Expectations were what had led him to a place where he’d needed to travel alone just to figure out which perfectionist voice in the back of his head was actually his. It turned out that voice wasn’t a perfectionist at all and had been the one telling him to slow down and enjoy things all along.
Figures his own voice was the one echoing his grandfather.
But this party was going rather well, all things considered. No one had bothered him about school and while he had to dodge a few questions about projects and field trips that he had little interest in, he found himself enjoying talking to the professors as an outsider again. He was able to relax and enjoy a few drinks with friends and just have a good time…
Until he left the living room to find where his boyfriend had wandered off to. He was probably in the kitchen eating his body weight in sweets. After the drinks he’d had, Gary probably should join him and get some food in his system before he found himself accidentally drunk in the middle of a serious conversation, like what had happened at the last holiday party.
But before he could make it more than a short distance down the hallway, Ash stumbled in from a different room, staggering and barely able to stand.
“Gaaarryyy!” Ash cheered when he spotted him and Gary had to catch him to keep him from stumbling right into a wall.
Gary cursed under his breath as he wrapped an arm around Ash’s waist to keep him upright. “How are you drunk?” he asked incredulously.
He had been keeping an eye on his absolute lightweight of a boyfriend the whole night, but a distraction – a conversation with Professor Ivy and Misty – had taken his attention off of Ash for a grand total of fifteen minutes. Just enough time, apparently, for him to get absolutely hammered.
What he’d had and who gave it to him, Gary wasn’t sure but either way Ash was well beyond his limits.
“It tastes like candy canes!” he said, his words all blurred together as one, as he waved his drink.
It definitely smelled like candy canes. Dawn. She was the one who had come up with a list of ten different candy cane cocktails to try out. But she wouldn’t have been crazy enough to give him this much alcohol. She definitely wouldn’t want to risk a repeat of her last victory party, right?
Gary hadn’t been there for it – he had been kayaking through a crystal clear spring, looking for pokemon at the time – but he had heard all about it. Apparently Ash had gotten a little too full of himself and had challenged Misty to a battle… which he’d lost and then cried about until Pikachu got annoyed and shocked him. And then he threw up in May’s hotel room. And again in Tracey and Misty’s.
He had been hoping to avoid that this time but apparently he wasn’t quite so lucky.
“Seriously, Ash, how are you drunk?” Gary repeated. He reached for Ash’s drink to take it from him, but his boyfriend held on to it as though it were a lifeline. Gary, of course, wasn’t going to let him get away with that, no matter how hard Ash tried to take another drink from the cup. “Ash, stop ,” he complained when Ash continued to giggle and squirm, trying desperately – and very drunkenly – to keep the drink away from Gary. “You’re hammered, you don’t need any more!”
“I’m fine!”
He was most certainly not fine, judging by how slurred those two words were.
There was one easy way to fix this and Gary hoped for his sake that whatever Ash had been given wasn’t too atrocious. He finally managed to wrest the glass from Ash’s hand, spilling a fair amount of ice cold liquid in the process, and quickly raised the glass to his lips, throwing it back in one quick move without a second of hesitation.
The fumes hit the back of his throat a split second before the powerful flavor registered and Gary immediately knew he’d made a mistake. Not only was it not some cocktail the girls had made, it was far more liquid than he’d thought. It burned all the way down and he fought hard not to gag as his stomach attempted to refuse it.
“Well, that’s instant regret,” Gary choked out as soon as he was sure the drink wasn’t about to come right back up. “Who the fuck gave you straight peppermint schnapps?”
He swallowed hard and let out a long breath, trying in vain to get rid of some of the alcohol fumes still lingering in his mouth and throat.
“Actually, no,” he decided about two seconds into Ash’s attempted explanation. There was no way he was making it through one of Ash’s drunk explanations with the way his stomach was fighting him. “I don’t want to hear it. We need to find Tracey–”
“Traaaaaceeeyyy!” Ash called rather obnoxiously, his voice sing-song as he peered around the mostly empty hallway. “He’s not here,” he determined, staggering back against the wall. “Gary, I don’t feel so great.”
Gary groaned and shook his head. He knew he shouldn't have left Ash alone with Dawn and Misty around – but none of them would be stupid enough to give Ash Ketchum, of all people, straight peppermint schnapps. No one would be dumb enough to do that, or so he had thought. He had to get this mess figured out and fast, because that had been enough alcohol to drop a rhyhorn and Gary was definitely going to feel that soon.
“C’mon,” he hissed, tugging Ash along with him into the living room. Tracey wasn’t in there either, but Misty and Dawn were. “Dawn! Do you have anything to do with this?” he called across the room, not giving a damn who heard.
He didn’t have time to give a fuck if Rowan or any of his numerous other former mentors in the room saw that he was pissed off and becoming more hammered by the second – though he did worry about them seeing him vomit on the living room floor. That seemed to still be a very real possibility.
Fortunately Dawn and Misty immediately dropped their conversations and rushed over, Chloe right behind them. “What did he drink?”
“Peppermint schnapps.” His stomach twisted at the very word and he had to fight not to gag. Oh, tonight was going to suck so much.
“Straight?” Chloe gasped.
Misty's eyes widened comically – or what would have been comical, if Gary wasn’t fighting off a wave of dizziness. “Yeah,” he groaned. “A whole glass of it.”
“Don’t tell me you drank it,” she said.
“Okay, but it won’t change anything.”
“Gary, you didn't!” Chloe's reproach was met with a resigned sigh from Gary and a giggle from Dawn.
Misty shook her head, not quite able to hide the amusement in her eyes. Gary doubted she even really tried to hide it. “Tracey told you that was going to bite you in the ass one day,” she replied, her lips curved in an awkward smile as though she were fighting not to laugh.
Gary rolled his eyes. “So I'm guessing none of you gave it to him?” he asked.
“Definitely not,” Misty replied.
“Who would give him that?” Chloe asked.
“Someone who hates Gary,” Dawn snickered. “Did you really drink the whole glass?”
“Goh?” Chloe suddenly called across the room. “Did you give Ash alcohol?”
“Goh's been puked on more than anyone else, he's not stupid enough to do that,” Gary interjected impatiently. His mouth was starting to water unpleasantly and he desperately needed to get the taste of peppermint and alcohol fumes out of his mouth. Sure enough, Goh was shaking his head from across the room, a baffled – quickly becoming far too amused for Gary’s liking – expression upon his face.
“C'mon,” Gary groaned, stepping back into the hallway, “we need to figure this out before I spend the next twelve hours on the bathroom floor.”
“Why’re y’gonna be on th’bathroom floor, babe?”
The fact that Ash hadn't wandered off told Gary that they had less time than he’d thought. He was going to strangle whoever had thought to give him a glass of the strongest alcohol in the house.
“The same reason you’re gonna be spending the night on a different bathroom floor,” Gary returned with barely a second glance at Ash as he steered him down the hallway towards the kitchen.
“Bu’ I don’wanna–”
“Not now, Ash!”
Despite Gary’s best efforts to steer him, Ash managed to stagger into every piece of furniture, whining the whole way as the girls followed behind them. Their giggles and whispers trailed after Gary, though everything was starting to feel fuzzy and he could only make out bits and pieces. He had done some stupid things with alcohol – in the safety of his private dorm room – during university, but he’d never had so much alcohol all at once and knew without a doubt that he was never downing a drink like that before knowing the contents ever again for the rest of his life.
However short that was going to be. He was quite convinced it wouldn’t be long. He was definitely going to die on the bathroom floor tonight – which made it all the more imperative that they sorted out this mess now.
Before he humiliated himself by making a peppermint-scented mess of his grandfather’s floors.
“... Serena?” he happened to catch Dawn – or was that Chloe? – ask the other girls. He would’ve glanced over his shoulder to check if he didn’t have to focus so hard on walking straight. He doubted he was even managing that with the way Ash was bumping into one thing after another.
“No...” Now that was definitely Misty, but he couldn’t make out the rest of her words. Something about jealousy but not…
Yeah, he couldn’t follow the conversation happening behind him and steer Ash towards the kitchen at the same time.
Seriously, who the fuck would have done something so stupid? Granted, he could’ve just gotten rid of the drink instead of knocking it back like a shot, but since when did he do things the easy way?
Regardless, he needed to find Tracey. Tracey would know what to do and if he didn’t, then he could figure it out. He was the most responsible one, after all.
It felt like an eternity, but they finally made it to the kitchen at the end of the hall. He pushed the door open and almost cried with relief when he spotted Tracey in the kitchen with Delia and Brock.
“There you are!” he exclaimed, depositing Ash in the empty seat at the breakfast nook and darting over to the pantry. He pulled out a water bottle and quickly pushed it into Ash’s hands.
“What happened?”
“Ash, what did you do this time?”
“How are both of you hammered?” was Tracey’s incredulous reply as he ignored Brock and Delia’s questions entirely.
Gary ignored Tracey’s question and instead met his eyes pleadingly. “Please tell me you know who would be dumb enough to give Ash a whole cup of peppermint schnapps,” he begged.
Tracey shook his head. “No,” he replied, “I’d imagine someone who wants to get rid of you for the night, but I don’t know who would go that far.”
Gary ignored the other part of that and dropped his face into his hands with a little groan of despair. He already felt nauseous and now that uncomfortable warmth that came with too much alcohol was starting to sink in, and Ash had already made the jump from giggly and curious to quiet. Sick was just around the corner for Ash and Gary was certain he wasn’t far off either.
It was Delia who stepped up to help Ash with the water bottle. “Ash, dear, who gave you that drink?” she asked as she held the bottle steady for him.
Thank goodness for Delia. Gary took the moment to fetch a few water bottles and electrolyte packets for himself.
“You did,” Ash replied, still slurring his words terribly. The water spilled down his chin and all across his shirt as he tried to sip it.
“No,” she shook her head and took the kitchen towel Brock passed her to help Ash clean up. “I gave you a very tiny sip, Ash. Who gave you a glass?”
“You did,” he repeated, sounding utterly pathetic.
“I gave you a glass of water and told you to go find Gary, Ash. How did you end up with a whole cup of alcohol?”
“It tasted like candy canes,” the trainer whined. “I wanted more’n Misty left th’bottle out.”
“Ash!” Misty groaned, rubbing her temples and suddenly sounding as tired as Gary felt. “You’re not supposed to pour your own drinks!”
“Yeah,” Dawn chimed in, her hands on her hips. “Don’t you remember what happened with the coconut rum at Tracey’s birthday party?”
“Probably not, consd, consi – fuck,” Gary broke off as he felt everyone’s eyes turn to him. He brought a hand up to his face and rubbed his eyes wearily, hoping it would make everything feel a little more stable. If the room was already feeling like it was spinning then they definitely had a problem.
“You didn’t drink the whole glass, did you?” Tracey asked him worriedly.
Gary would have nodded if he wasn’t so sure that the movement would cause him to vomit all over the kitchen. He had to take several steadying breaths before he could speak. “D’you guys have this under control?” he asked, waving his hand vaguely in Ash’s direction. Fuck , he was slurring almost as badly as Ash already. “‘Cause I need to go prepare to die on my bathroom floor.”
“We’ve got Ash, dear,” Delia assured him. “You need to have water and go to bed.”
It wasn’t often that Gary heard her sound so stern with him and all he could do was nod his head, though he immediately regretted it. He waited for the wave of nausea to pass before replying. “I’ll go to bed as soon as I’m done dying,” he promised. With the way his stomach was twisting and turning, he had a feeling that would be a while away but he let himself be led from the room by Tracey without a complaint.
At least someone would be looking after Ash.
Speaking of… He paused next to Ash, dipping his head to press a clumsy kiss to Ash’s cheek – and very nearly face-planting onto the table in the process.
“You’re not drinking for a month after this,” he managed to tell his boyfriend, meaning it whole-heartedly while Ash stared up at him with wide eyes.
“Where’re y’goin’?” Ash asked, looking and sounding so pathetic that all Gary wanted to do was wrap him up in his arms and squeeze him and hold on to this adorable moron for as long as he could.
He was definitely hammered. As if there had been any doubt.
But a fresh wave of nausea forced Gary out of the room before he could give Ash any sort of answer.
He rushed up the stairs ahead of Tracey and into his bedroom. The door slammed in Tracey’s face but Gary didn’t have time to feel bad for that. He darted past a rather alarmed Arcanine and startled Umbreon – curled up together on the bed – and into the ensuite. It was doubtful that he had ever been so grateful for the little bathroom, tiny as it was – just a toilet and a sink with a tiny vanity, but plenty for instances like this.
As pure peppermint and alcohol forced its way back out of him, his only thought was that he was never going to drink one of Ash’s drinks like that again.
…
… … …
…
It was late in the morning when Ash finally dragged himself out of bed. He felt truly awful: sick as could be and guilty as hell when he remembered what had landed him in this particular hungover state. Though he wanted nothing more than to burrow right back under the covers and stay there for another week, he wanted to check in on his boyfriend. He wanted to make sure Gary was okay and wanted to be there to take care of whatever migraine the hangover triggered, but more than anything, he just wanted to cuddle up with him and sleep their collective hangovers off together.
His mother didn’t let him leave until he had choked down some toast and water, but he found himself and Pikachu at the Oak residence a short time later. Misty let him in with a knowing little smirk, though she looked rather pale and a bit ill herself.
“He didn’t die on the bathroom floor, in case you’re wondering,” she told him, lips twisting into a lopsided smile as she directed him up the stairs.
Ash darted up the stairs as fast as he could without risking being sick or falling down them and made his way to the room at the end of the hallway. He cracked the door without knocking and peeked in but it was too dark to see. All of the lights were off and the blackout curtains were drawn tightly – the same as with a migraine.
Pikachu hopped off his shoulder and ventured into the room but Ash waited at the doorway. “Gary?” he called softly, careful to keep his voice down.
No response.
That was honestly what he had hoped for. Gary sleeping it off was the best thing that could happen right now.
Ash ventured into the room, noting how it smelled faintly of peppermint, something that made his stomach clench uncomfortably. It was a scent he could go a while without smelling again, especially after the way his own night had ended.
He had made it outside – barely – before the little bit he’d had came right back up. It was awful, even with his mother walking him back home and up the stairs to his bed, and he hated to think of how Gary’s night must have gone. He’d had so much more to drink in one quick go and Ash knew he would have holed himself up in the bathroom by himself, refusing to let anyone else in there to take care of him, the proud idiot. He’d hoped Gary’s most recent journey would have knocked some of that pride out of him, but that didn’t seem to have been the case.
His poor boyfriend.
To think he had been so excited to catch up with Professor Ivy after his journey. Ash felt terrible for getting in the way of that.
He felt terrible in general – his head hurt, he was uncomfortably warm, his stomach hurt, and nausea twisted at his guts relentlessly. Definitely one of the worst hangovers he’d ever had, but Gary probably felt ten times worse, so he took extra care to close the bedroom door as gently and quietly as possible.
A faint glow came from the bed, Umbreon’s luminescence providing enough light to cross the dark room. Ash was grateful because this was definitely not a time he wanted to fall over Arcanine. Fortunately Arcanine was sprawled in front of the windows and not the door this morning, keeping a wide open path from the bed to the tiny ensuite bathroom.
Pikachu had hopped up on the bed and was sniffing at the pile of blankets that presumably housed his boyfriend.
“Pipichu?” the little mouse ventured softly, his eyes large and round with concern.
A shaky hand extended from the blankets and Pikachu nuzzled it briefly before curling up against it. Gary’s hand fell still on Pikachu’s fur and Ash heard a tiny groan come from the depths of the blanket pile.
Reassured by the fact that Gary hadn’t told him to fuck off yet, Ash sat on the edge of the bed and reached for the blanket, tugging it away gently. Gary was curled up beneath the blanket, snuggled amongst his pile of pillows, and would have looked rather comfortable if it didn’t look so miserable. He was pale with dark circles beneath his eyes, his hair an absolute mess. Ash couldn’t recall a time he had seen him look quite so bedraggled. At least he didn’t smell like someone who had spent the night on the bathroom floor – instead he smelled like peppermint.
Ash decided it was probably in his best interest not to mention that part. “You okay, babe?” he asked softly instead, smoothing some of Gary’s hair out of his face.
“I never want to see another candy cane in my life,” Gary grumbled in reply. Umbreon huffed, clearly having had enough of her trainer’s antics already.
A wave of guilt twisted Ash’s stomach – already unsettled and displeased from last night’s alcohol. “I’m so sorry,” he said, reaching out to stroke his boyfriend's hair the way Gary could usually tolerate with a migraine. Hopefully this was okay. “I had just poured that glass, I’d barely had any of it, Gary.”
“I noticed.”
Ash snickered at the dry response. At least Gary seemed to be taking it in stride. Ash had been a little worried that he would be as dramatic as he had been the night before. His memories of the evening before were blurry, but he distinctly remembered Gary saying something about preparing to die on the bathroom floor.
He was very much not dead on the bathroom floor – something Ash was grateful for – but was certainly miserable and Ash couldn’t help but poke at him just a little bit.
“So much for those Galarian genes, huh?” he teased, managing a grin despite his headache and rocky stomach.
He was met with another groan as Gary buried his face in a pillow. “Fuck off,” the former researcher whined.
Ash couldn’t help but laugh, though he regretted it when it only made his head pound harder. He laid down next to Gary and tugged at the corner of the blanket, immensely surprised when his boyfriend relinquished it. Even more surprising was when Gary rolled over and snuggled close against Ash’s side, head resting on his chest.
He never did that when he didn’t feel well. Ash smiled to himself and gently ran his fingers through Gary’s hair as he closed his eyes and felt his boyfriend relax against him.
Maybe that journey had knocked some of the pride out of him.
Maybe…
Maybe it was time to start thinking about that next step together. If Gary was willing to let him in his room, to cuddle with him, to share his little nest of blankets with him, then maybe they were ready to share their space permanently.
But that was something he could think about when they weren’t both hungover and queasy on peppermint fumes.