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At first, the snow was light, dusting the ground beneath your boots but doing very little to stop the quick pace you walked. It occasionally fell in your face and on your hair, but you shook it off just as quick. Then it came down harder. The once lightly covered ground seemed to swallow your shoes with every step. It was getting harder to see, and while both you and Friede wore goggles, the white-out conditions were becoming too much. Friede practically dragged you to the first cave he saw.
“Charizard!” A flash of light, and the draconus lizard was out, the fire on its tail lighting up the surroundings. The snow beneath you started to melt with the heat. You stretched your arms out, a soft sigh escaping your lips as your fingers started to warm up. You glanced around the place. The walls were rocky, go figure, and there were long stalactites hanging from the ceiling. It was impossible to tell how deep the cave went, but as long as the heat stayed right where it was, you didn’t need to worry too much about that. To your left, Friede was already on the ground, leaning close to Charizard’s tail. His shoulders were shaking.
Charizard lightly growled when you pat its head, flashing you the best smile it could make.
“Thank you.”
You sat next to Friede, not enough to be touching, but enough to get his attention. Yellow eyes glared over at you.
“Remind me again why we’re doing this,” his voice was shaky, teeth clenched together.
“We have to get to Snowpoint somehow.” You hummed. You pulled your hands back, resting them on your lap. “It's getting pretty late anyways. We can wait for the snowstorm to blow over in the morning.”
Charizard let out a grumble, slumping down onto the rocky floor. It sighed, smoke blowing out its nostrils. Friede reached over to Charizard and stroked the top of the Pokemon’s head like you did before.
“Take a nap,” Friede whispered. He looked down at Captain, who was already snuggled up in his lap, dozing off. “I think Cap is alright with that.”
“Friede, um,” You avoided his gaze, instead looking down at your own hands. Despite being so close to Charizard’s fire, your own arms were still cold under your jacket. “Sorry for dragging you all the way out here with me. I know you hate the cold.”
A hand touched your shoulder, and you couldn’t help but melt into the feeling.
“It’s okay. I’ll survive,” Friede joked, giving your shoulder a squeeze. “I’d do anything for you– as the commander of the Rising Volt Tacklers, and your best friend.”
You returned his sentiment with a smile. Friede would let you drag him all the way to Alola for a malasada if it made you happy. Because you were good friends. Nothing else. You clenched the fabric of your coat sleeve and took a deep breath. It was hard feeling just friendship for Friede. He was a great leader to the team, that's for sure, but he was also an incredible person, caring for you and helping you reach your goals when things got tough. The two of you always joked around with each other, going on weird adventures and stupid side-missions much like this one. Whenever you were sad something didn’t go quite the way you wanted, he’d always be around to cheer you up and remind you just because you failed, didn’t mean you were a failure. You’d go as far as to say you loved the man. If only he returned your feelings.
Friede laid back, his upper body resting against Charizard. He took his goggles off his head and set them off to the side. White hair fell in front of his face, and you resisted the urge to read over and push the strands out of the way. He grinned in your direction.
“I’m going to sleep, and dream about being on the beach in Hau’oli City.”
You shook your head. “Pfft– Good luck with that, Friede.”
It took a little maneuvering, but eventually you found a comfortable, pebble-free spot on the ground near Charizard’s tail to lay. The air was still bitter on your cheeks, but you dozed off quickly.
The wind whistled in your ears, snowflakes gently falling at the opening of the cave. You weren’t sure what time it was, but it was still pitch dark, safe for the glow of Charizard’s tail. You moved in your sleep it seemed, now a foot or two more away from the fire than you were before. You sat up. Your arms were shaking, and your fingers felt twice as cold. Looking up from the ground, you immediately made eye contact with Friede. He was still laying against Charizard, his arms crossed over his chest. Captain Pikachu was nowhere to be seen.
“Cap’s back in his ball,” Friede supplied, as if he had read your mind. “Is it me or did it get colder in here?”
Careful not to touch Charizard’s tail, you scooted your body closer to Friede, just inches away like before. You didn’t have any fire type pokemon with you. The best you could do was just be semi-close to Friede. If only…
“Would be nice if we had blankets or something.”
Friede’s eyes were on you. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but nothing ever passed his lips.
“Maybe we should try and go deeper?” You looked into the narrowing section of the cavern. Water was dripping down from the ceiling. “Actually maybe that’s not a good idea–”
Your words cut off at the sound of your name. You glanced back over at Friede. He was holding a hand out to you.
“Get closer to me.”
“Huh?” You felt your face heat up, and you were grateful the red light of the cave left no trace of it.
“We can share body heat. At least until morning when it finally warms up.”
Leave it to Friede to be level-headed even in a situation he hates. You bit at your lip. That definitely was a good idea, but the last thing you wanted to do was freak out on Friede over your own feelings then have an awkward journey to Snowpoint and back when he told you he doesn’t feel the same way. The two of you would pretend things were fine but he'll eventually kick you off the crew from how weird it got between you two. Then you’d never see Friede again–
An arm tugged at yours, pulling you out of your catastrophizing and onto Friede’s lap. Your chest was pulled flush against his– as much as they could with the coats, anyways– and his arms wrapped securely around your waist. You instinctively shifted your legs, now fully straddling him. Being warm was the last thing you had to worry about now, with your body burning from the situation. Friede grinned.
“You were taking too long.” He hummed, leaning his head back against Charizard. His next words came out in a whisper. “You’re really warm.”
Friede noticed pretty quickly how stiff you were. One of his arms trailed up your back, pushing you towards him. Your head landed on his shoulder.
“You can lay on me, I’ll be fine.”
“Y– yeah,” Friede tilted his head, yellow eyes staring into your own. His eyebrows pinched together. His bangs fell back over his face.
“Are you okay?”
You didn’t respond. Instead, before you could stop yourself, you reached up, taking the hair and pushing it back behind his ear. Your hand stayed on his cheek.
“Your hair was bothering me,” you tried to reason, and it came out as a whisper. You glanced down at Friede’s parted lips. He licked them.
Friede said your name, but you looked away this time, eyes focused on the scales of Charizard’s head. It was certainly asleep by now. You heard your name again.
“Friede,”
A short moment passed, and before you could even say anything else, a pair of cold, slightly chapped lips pressed against your own. You weren’t sure what you were expecting out of a moment like this, but it left you unable to move. To even think. Part of you was convinced you were still on the hard floor, dreaming up the situation as you always did back on the ship. You wished you could pinch yourself, but your hands wouldn't budge. Friede pulled back. He looked at you with half-opened eyes. There was a frown on his face.
“I–” Your body finally caught up. You cut off the rest of Friede’s sentence, pushing your lips back into his. He hummed, pulling your body even closer to him, and one of his hands pressed itself against the one on his cheek. You felt the same relief as the warmth of Frede’s Pokemon provided, but this warmth felt better. It felt natural, and you couldn’t get enough of it. Your other hand pressed against his arm.
Friede soon pulled back again. The fingers on your hand interlocked with yours, falling down to rest on your leg. He cleared his throat.
“I like you!” you blurted out, your free hand slapping against your mouth immediately after. Friede laughed.
“Really? I thought you kissed me back because you hated me?”
You playfully punched him in the shoulder. He laughed even more, his body underneath shaking yours.
“Shut up!”
The laugher soon died down, the cave being filled with the sounds of wind and dripping once more. You yawned.
“Let’s talk about this in the morning,” Friede whispered. His thumb rubbed the top of your gloved hand, his other hand stroking your back. You rested your head against his chest.
“Okay,” you responded, closing your eyes. The faint beating of Friede’s heart lulled you into a warm sleep, dreaming of the two of you on Hau’oli City’s beach.
The wind died down with the setting of the moon. Through the light snowflakes, the sun reflected off the ground and onto your face. To your left, Friede’s shoulder was against your own, walking side by side with gloved hands interlocked by your waist. With his other hand, he pointed out a quickly growing city in the distance. Snowpoint was near.