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Ethan knew, with the certainty of the spine-chilling roar that Lugia was capable of releasing, that his mother would surely kick his butt and let him drown in the river next to their house if she ever caught her only child in the compromising position he was currently stuck in.
Her gentleness and patience aside, his mother did instill into Ethan the importance of respecting others’ privacy, and yet, here was her seemingly polite, well-mannered son: standing behind the glass doors that separated the wide balcony and the hotel suite’s glamorous lounging area, unsure of whether to announce his presence at the unfortunate risk of interrupting what seemed to be a father-son bonding moment, and consequently eavesdropping on the hushed conversation the longer he hesitated.
Really, Ethan only dropped by this late into the night because he wanted to see if Silver would be up to see a meteor shower that would happen in the next hour. It would barely count as a date anyway, with how abruptly he had learned of this exciting phenomenon, bringing nothing but his body and a shoulder bag full of snacks, water, and a hastily-folded blanket that was barely large enough to effectively keep them warm. He was cool if his boyfriend was not in the mood to brave the cold, February night— or, judging from the tender scene unfolding in front of his eyes, if Silver preferred to catch up with Lance over what appeared to be a near-midnight cooking session, indulging in an unhealthy amount instant ramen packs that utterly betrayed the Indigo League Champion’s healthy diet.
From across the room, anyone with eyes could see just how happy Silver was in that moment, the permanent scowl and tension always pulling his spine taut— gestures long ingrained from weathering the world all by himself, Ethan knew —melted away by the silly jokes that his father, Lance, lovingly cracked, showing the image of a tight-knit family with their easy smiles, drifting laughter, and similar, albeit different shade of red hair. They look as perfect as the families portrayed in a children's picture book, a sense of safety and stability that Ethan knew all too well was what Silver quietly craved, even after being abandoned by his own blood and having the world harden him as a result.
I should go, Ethan finally decided, lowering the hand that was about to knock on the balcony door and ruin their cozy, heartfelt atmosphere. A date could be arranged with a simple Poryphone call; a moment to unwind with a father who was busy chasing out evil organizations from Pasio per his duty as a Champion, however, did not appear as often as Ethan’s persistent hangout offers for Silver, and not even Lance’s bullheaded efforts to maintain a healthy work-life balance between Lear’s demands and the Indigo League could permanently fix that. Perhaps the pain that Giovanni inflicted may never stop haunting Silver’s heart, but if a night spent in the comforting bubble of his adoptive dad could soothe that ache, then Ethan would gladly give up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for it.
With a proud smile and a sincere wish to Arceus for them to have a peaceful night, Ethan turned around, ready to sling one leg over the tall balcony railing and make his secret escape. With Lugia’s Pokéball in his hand, he was ready to jump and let it catch his fall several stories below when a change in their conversation topic froze him mid-motion.
“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, but I’ll be leaving soon,” Silver suddenly brought up, his steady voice carrying over the sound of a knife’s rhythmic chopping against the hotel’s plastic cutting board and water boiling in a pot, unknowingly stopping the beat of Ethan’s heart when those simple, but world-tilting words eventually slipped through the crack of the balcony door, bared for the universe and his privy ears to listen in. “My schedule was confirmed earlier. I’ll depart early in the morning of the 14th.”
Without meaning to, a sharp gasp was punched out of Ethan’s lips.
Leaving? Silver is leaving?
Ethan let his grip on the railing go as if he had been electrocuted, his balance staggering following the news that shook him to his core. Against his better judgment, he looked back, gawking from his shadowed spot at the warm, glowing haven beyond the balcony.
That special part of his conscience— the one that suspiciously sounded like his worried mother, tugging at his heart with guilt the longer that she raged against him —yelled at him to leave immediately, that this was a personal confirmation only meant for family members to hear. It was both the logical course of action and the polite response for him to take, Ethan knew; the time for him to be informed about this as Silver’s boyfriend will come, eventually, and all he could do was trust and wait for his turn. Of course Lance was the very first to hear about it; the Champion was now his official parental guardian, after all.
And yet, despite everything, Ethan remained hidden in the safety of the balcony’s darkness, suffocated by the million questions now flooding his frantic mind and the heartbreaking, upsetting fact that Silver was leaving, possibly doing so alone and, from the looks of it, to some faraway place that Ethan has no idea where it was or for how long his boyfriend would be absent.
If their first time being truly apart was not enough to crush his heart into bits, the fact that Silver would leave on Valentine’s day— of all days —felt like a sick joke that the universe threw at Ethan. Sure, none of them have explicitly talked about their plans for that romantic day, but Ethan was determined to outdo last year’s messy celebration! How was he supposed to get his redemption if Silver was not even there to enjoy their greatest date yet?
For now, Ethan swallowed around the lump now lodged in his throat, trying and failing at keeping his misery at bay. If he was going to spy on them like some low-life Rocket Grunt, he might as well stay until he got the full picture, if only to prevent his mind from doing the craziest mental gymnastics and arrive at all the wrong conclusions.
Nothing changed between the duo, the natural dance of sharing a tight kitchen space uninterrupted by both the bomb that Silver had dropped and the gasp that Ethan had accidentally let slip. With both their backs turned against him, it was hard to get a read of their body language, but the way that Lance’s broad shoulder turned rigid as he stopped cutting the leeks was telling enough for him. “Are you sure that you want to do this, Silver? You know that this is a request, and not an obligation for you to do, right?”
Ethan frowned, his own reflection staring back at him. So Silver chose to leave, then? He could opt out of this… trip, but he decided not to?
“I know that. It’s all the more reason for me to go; this is important for me, Lance,” Silver said, an odd sense of urgency coloring his curt response. The sound of two ramen packets being ripped open— a tad too harshly, if the soaring sauce packets were anything to go by —echoed during his pause, followed closely by the round-shaped noodles entering the boiling water. “I’m not telling you about this just so that you can stop me from making my own decisions; I did so because I don’t want to go sneaking behind your back. I love and respect you enough as my dad to at least involve you in my plans.”
Something awful swirled in Ethan’s gut, swimming around in his bile like a bad omen, its arrival out of place and nauseating. All that he could gather for now was that it was crucial for Silver to leave, but the reason was pressing enough that not even Lance could sway his choice? What did his boyfriend so badly sought for that was not in this region, enough for him to even leave on Valentine’s day?
The pit that gnawed open in Ethan’s stomach grew wider, then.
“Okay, fine,” Lance relented, the exasperated huff that fled his control being a sign, more than anything, that they still had a long way to go in mapping their new familial bond. “I won’t interfere anymore than necessary. Promise that I can at least double-check your itinerary, your Pokemon team’s health, and what you packed?”
From the way that Lance talked, it seemed like this might be a long, or maybe even taxing journey for Silver, if Lance offered to cross-check his preparations. Ethan tucked that detail in, forcibly ignoring the gut feeling that screamed at him about how there was something wrong, wrong, wrong amidst the innocent dinner he now witnessed.
“Yeah, don’t ever think of dreaming that Clair would stop calling you a worrywart anytime soon,” Silver scoffed, and Ethan could imagine his boyfriend’s usual eyeroll, then, those beautiful, lilac eyes tinged with what must be fondness by now. This was the closest to a truce— an approval —that his boyfriend could voice, and both Ethan and Lance knew this.
The silence returned as they waited for the noodles to finish cooking, interrupted only by the slide of a knife chopping down the remaining ingredients, or the several foil sauce packets being squeezed to empty its contents. Ethan thought that was the only thing he would get out of them for tonight until, in a surprising twist, Lance turned to Silver, gently asking, “What about Ethan, though?”
Ethan’s breath hitched, a palm soon slapped on top of his lips.
Silver, with his attention still zeroed in on mixing the broth to their preferred consistency, casually shot back, “What about him?”
“You don’t have to do all of this by yourself, Silver. You could take Ethan with you; he’d agree in a heartbeat,” Lance reminded his son, and if this was any other situation, Ethan would flash the Champion with his widest grin, hoping that it would be enough to convey his gratitude. Instead, Ethan was left festering in the same, sinking feeling from before; that this trip Silver was about to embark on seemed risky, or perhaps it was even dangerous enough in Lance’s eyes that he deemed it necessary to have someone watching his son’s back. Once again, before Ethan could spiral deeper, Lance put a metaphorical stop when he wisely pointed out, “He wants you safe and happy, Silver, just like I do. You’d be surprised at the lengths that one would go for their loved ones.”
Finally, there was light at the end of the tunnel, a flicker of hope in what had been an endlessly devastating night. Ethan found himself squeezing his eyes, then, wishing to Arceus for a simple yes from Silver to quell all of his worries. He would be otherwise fine if his boyfriend’s trip was short and simple, their time apart ending in a blink on an eye, and Silver would come back safely into his embrace as if he had never left. But if this journey was as concerning as Lance painted it as, if Silver was supposed to face perils in an unknown location all by himself, even though he was one of the most talented trainers he was blessed to know in his short life— well, Ethan would gladly drop everything and go to the ends of the world with Silver, just to make sure that no harm would come to his boyfriend’s way.
Please, Ethan desperately begged Arceus or any other Pokémon deity that was willing to listen to his prayer, let me protect him.
As if the universe was out to get him, what Ethan received next was far from the miracle that he implored for; it was closer to being struck by a lightning bolt, really, with how he was paralyzed after hearing Silver coldly toss Lance’s suggestion out of the window, his voice gruffly replying, “No, I don’t need him.”
This was a mistake.
Ethan wished this was just a dreadful dream that he was waiting to wake up from; the sharp ache crashing into his heart was getting too unbearable now, and yet his vicinity remained the same, lacking that startling, warping sensation of breaking free from the claws of a nightmare. All that Ethan could hear in his head was Silver’s voice echoing in an endless loop, that frigid, distant I don’t need him betraying every joyful memory they had shared up to this point, and no other despair he has ever survived could ever compare to the way he drowned helplessly in this one.
He was never someone who could keep his head cool in the heat of a moment, he knew— it was both his greatest strength and his biggest downfall, dragging Silver into his life out of sheer stubbornness and procuring losses as soul-shattering as that fateful battle with Red to dethrone and bring him back to Pallet Town. Now, more than anything, Ethan craved some semblance of calmness, just like how Kris could effortlessly gather her composure, if only to stop himself from wondering if Silver had been referring to the aid for his trip, or if he did not need Ethan and their precious relationship anymore.
Before his stomach could vomit his dinner onto the pristine balcony floor and bust his less-than-legal spying spot, Lugia’s Pokéball wiggled in his grip, his restlessness oozing out from the death grip he had on its plastic, red and white casing. It grounded Ethan for a split-second, and that was all he needed to snap out of his panic, turn his back from a sight that further tore at his weakened heart, and do what he should have done minutes ago: make his exit.
Ethan leapt, and this time, he did not bother to look back.
If Lugia noticed just how tightly Ethan clung to its neck after they soared to the wonderfully-cool skies, and if the deity Pokémon also saw that its trainer barely paid a glance to the meteor shower he had been looking forward to on their way back home, pressing his suspiciously-damp eyes on its smooth skin instead, well— no one was there to see or hear Ethan in this pathetic state.
Above the meteor shower that left its mark in the serene skies, fate quietly tutted in disappointment. It was such a shame that Ethan did not stick long enough to hear Silver finish his sentence, the carmine-haired boy trailing off with a soft, utterly tender, “I love him, and that’s all the more reason for me to keep this mission a secret.” just as the weight of their misunderstanding unknowingly broke his boyfriend into pieces. If he had lingered long enough, Ethan might even witness Silver catching the tail-end of the starry phenomenon from the kitchen, his first comment skipping past its breathtaking beauty as he whispered, amidst his muted awe, “Huh. Ethan would’ve loved to see that.”
After the chaos that was last night, Ethan should know better than to venture out to the world in his current state. Nothing good was going to come from openly sulking in public and failing to stave off a breakdown because his mind was a whirlwind of disaster, but alas, Pasio has a way of dragging someone out to enjoy its luxurious package whether they were up for it or not; this time, Typhlosion was itching to kill his excess energy through some battles, and no amount of grief weighing down his heart would ever stop Ethan from spoiling his lovely partner.
It was only far later— after his team had successfully steam-rolled the Battle Villa for the second time and Ethan got an overpowered pat on the back from Sawyer for his effort— did the universe oh, so kindly remind him that he was not yet off the hook.
One step out of Lear’s mansion, and finally, Ethan noticed the extravagant change a bit too late: the opulent streets of Pasio sprawled beyond him, but now, every inch of its corner was bathed in the pink and red colors associated with romance, the spike of couples exploring the region today further hammering the fact that Valentine’s day was nearing.
Ethan only wanted to grab lunch in peace after all that exercise. Must he see Silver in every shop that he passed and be bitterly reminded of that devastating night, in the very island he was now stuck to stay?
Trying not to wither away at each romantic gift proudly displayed on the busy shops was hard, but preventing himself from checking his Poryphone to see that Silver has yet to contact him was even harder. Being thrown off-kilter like this, his confidence fraying as Silver’s words rang truer each passing second without a single talk between them— this was torture to Ethan, and the only thing preventing him from stroming into his boyfriend’s hotel and demanding if he no longer needed him was his sad attempt of self-restraint, spelling out the world of trouble that awaited him if he acted on his raw emotions.
Well, that and a familiar voice cutting through the buzz of people.
One of the last few shops that Ethan needed to walk by before entering the food court was a quaint-looking, but busy plushie shop. The storefront advertised small-sized Pokémon keychain plushies with magnets that were sewn into each side, perfect to be sold in pairs for a subtle, but personally-matching Valentine’s day gift. While the Johto legendary birds versions hung on the display piqued his interest, he ultimately perked up when he heard Lyra’s sweet laughter from within the store.
Right. Perhaps meeting with a friend would get him out of this frustrating rut.
With his footsteps lighter than before, Ethan strutted in, weaving amongst the teenagers squealing at the cute selections, both hands outreached to surprise Lyra from behind, now that her back was against him. She would whack him in the head and wrangle him to buy a plushie for his trouble, and surely, seeing her cheerful smile bloom afterwards would be enough to cure his long-lasting dizziness.
“Do you think I missed anyone for the giri choco?” Lyra asked aloud, and Ethan wondered who she was talking to until she shifted her balance to lean more on her right leg, revealing a wisp of teal hair tied in two separate ponytails and a yellow backpack half-concealed beside her. “Dawn and I are making several batches of them together this year, and I don’t want to miss anyone! Can you help look over the list for me?”
After a beat, both Kris’ silhouette and Lyra’s Poryphone came into view, the girls still unaware that Ethan was inching closer.
“Ah, you should probably cross Silver out, though,” Kris swiftly noted, her thumb sliding over the list on Lyra’s Porypyone with the sharpness of analyzing ground-breaking research data from Professor Elm. Her words slide from her lips as easily as citing percentages, but they turn Ethan into stone the moment the implication dawned for him. If it was possible, his heart sank even further after hearing what she added next. “Silver is leaving on Valentine’s day, remember? You probably won’t have a chance to give them to him. We don’t even know when he’ll be done.”
Ethan’s breath was punched out of his lungs, then, feeling very much like he just fell from a tremendous height, no Lugia or parachute to save his life.
Even in the hussle and bussle of the crowded shop, the sentence was hard to mishear: it was when will Silver be done, not when he will come back.
The moment that the cramped shop gave enough leeway, Ethan swiftly ducked towards the display rack that Lyra and Kris were lounging around, thankful that its broad surface was obstructed enough for him to snoop from the opposite, vacant side. Like this, he could safely swerve from their sweeping gazes as if he were never here and— while stamping down the guilt that ate him alive, that monster appearing bigger and uglier now especially because he did this act consciously —gather more hints, even though his suspicious method was unfaithful to their long friendship.
He knew full-well that he could just interrogate them point-blank and get his demands, instead of breaking their trust by pretending to be some cheap version of a secret agent like this; Lyra and Kris have always been two of his most honest friends dating from when they were toddlers, after all, and they would never clam up now. And yet, despite knowing that comforting truth, nothing was adding up; Ethan was not blind about that. The fact that half a day have passed and Silver did not take the first chance he has to tell him— his boyfriend —was weird, but this very scene unfolding in front of him, where his best friends talked about his lover’s trip as if they knew about it all along, a knowledge that they learned far before he did...
The line between his doubt and faith was blurring dangerously, and trying not to implode on himself while Silver’s small, gentle smile haunted him took a herculean effort from Ethan.
“Right. That’s too bad for him,” Lyra sighed, and Ethan could picture her crestfallen face behind the eyelids he vehemently scrunched shut. He tried to time his inhales and exhales, but the rhythm was instantly lost after Lyra added, “I feel horrible for Ethan, though.”
“Me too, especially after all that boasting Ethan did about wanting to surpass their Valentine’s day date from last year,” Kris said, and it was rare to hear her show actual support for their relationship; she was the one who dramatically did the most eyerolls and fake gags each time he and Silver dabbled in the tiniest display of affection, after all. Then, with a hint of confusion, she pondered, “I still can’t figure out why Silver had accepted it, though. You’d think he would at least bargain for a different date if he’s so eager to go.”
“Right?! Honestly, if I was as lucky as Silver and scored a boyfriend who was as dedicated and committed as Ethan, I wouldn’t let anything get in the way of Valentine’s day!” Lyra grumbled out the same sentiment, but too soon, the seething heat in her voice faded out, swapped instead with words laden in defeat. “If there is one day where it’s publically tolerable to drop his tough guy act and be a little more cheesy for his sweet boyfriend, then that’s the day for him to return all the love that he was given, no?”
Again, Ethan’s heart shuddered from another agonizing clench, but it was not brought forth by the protective stance that Lyra readily took for him. The whole reason he was put in such tizzy, why he was heartbroken for the first time in his life— it was all boiled down so obviously in his best friend’s anger:
More than wanting to be the first to hear about his sudden decision to leave, all that Ethan wanted was for Silver to consider and willingly choose to stay for him afterwards, to purposefully make time for him on that revered day— was that too much to ask for?
Apparently it was, according to the universe. Ethan had been too focused on blinking rapidly to stop the tears from coming, absorbed as he was in the effort to fill his burning lungs with air that Kris’ response caught him off-guard, knocking him clean like a bowling pin as she murmured, “Well, maybe Ethan just isn’t his top priority this time around.”
One step at a time, Ethan backed out of the shop as if the very tiles that laid along its floor started to vanish below his shoes, threatening to swallow him whole if he did not flee fast enough. He did not remember how he shouldered his way out of the stuffy shop undetected, nor did he remember running towards the beach instead of the food court, calling for Lugia’s help again to whisk him away, now that his growling stomach had magically quieted. It felt fitting to be greeted by a bleak, gray depressing sky once they ascended to the sky, the chilling gale very well numbing the constant twinge in Ethan’s heart.
They were just teenagers, halfway to the cusp of entering adulthood, still so innocent and naive no matter how many Pokémon Leagues they had rightfully conquered or regions they had traveled to. Perhaps that, in itself, was what drove Ethan to make this novice error; he loved Silver too much, dove head-first into uncharted territory with only his youthfulness as his guide, and Ethan paid the price by letting Silver take up every inch of his heart, hoping with the immaturity of first love that he was just important to Silver as Silver was to Ethan.
Way below the stratosphere, in the same, crammed shop that Ethan had escaped from, Kris took note of the matching Ho-Oh and Lugia plushie keychains hanging side-by-side from the display rack. Using one hand, she fondled its right and left wings respectively so that the magnets sewn into each end would cling tight, never letting go now that they were attached together. She took a long, considerate look at them, her mind fleeting to those chick flicks that was Lyra’s source of serotonin, discarding the cringe-inducing proclamations of love and, instead, zeroing on the concept that often underlaid those movies: soulmates.
Lovers whose fate were intertwined so undeniably that, no matter how hard the very world tried to tear them apart, they would always find a way to return to each other’s embrace.
Small as it may be, the hope that burned in her weary soul was good enough for her to look for the good in this complex situation, and that, to her, was enough. Kris turned to Lyra, then, smiling gently at her as she pointed out, “The Silver that we know now is different from the Silver we met in Johto, though; he’s kinder, both to himself and others. I think we might be underestimating his change of heart.”
Lyra blinked twice at Kris’ sudden change in demeanor before she, too, released her breath, grasping onto the same shred of hope as her best friend. Chuckling, she said, “Yeah. Silver is probably bringing the Distortion World to their briefings just so he can secure a date with Ethan as we speak. He loves him, after all.”
Ethan was convinced that everything that followed afterwards was the stuff that his nightmares were made of, and he was not exaggerating this by any means.
For once, Silver now seemed awfully distracted all the time, even when they hung out with others. Gone was his primal need to tease Lance's cape obsession until his dad flushed as red as his hair, challenge Blue to a battle just for the sake of knocking their cocky senior down a peg, or scam a dessert out of Leaf by agreeing to her spontaneous bets that he knew he could cheat his way to win them; studying the carmine-haired trainer that stood beside him was like seeing the husk of his former self, his lilac eyes gazing into a distant future that Ethan could not begin to guess, physically present but floating away from his reach like a shadow. Their friends and family let Silver be after shooting pitiful glances that remained obliviously ignored, and they sneak around the very reason for his lover’s change in attitude around Ethan, no one daring to speak about the large, obnoxious Copperajah in the room.
But, with each moment that slipped from his fingers, the gulf between them yawned wider, and it was hard for Ethan to deny the simple truth that he missed Silver, even if he was sitting a breath away from him. He wanted to see his boyfriend’s cool composure melt because he always smiled each time they met, to catch his warm laughter after cringing from his horrible jokes, or to simply be asked in that deep, rich voice of his about how his day had been— but alas, Silver kept each interaction curt with his absentminded replies, and how was Ethan supposed to compete for his undivided attention with an opponent that he barely knew anything about?
Kris’ bitter hypothesis— that Ethan had fallen from Silver’s top priority —was looking more plausible with each passing day spent in stiff silence, and Ethan soon found himself losing his fight, letting himself be consumed in a limbo now that each attempt to connect with Silver felt more like he was phasing through him, instead of actually reaching him.
At least Silver was still concentrated during Pokémon battles; he still oozed the same, smug ruthlessness in his tactics as his older self, in the fleeting chances that he indulged in a public match. That, by itself, counted as a small mercy for everyone involved, his Pokémon included.
Feraligatr released one last Waterfall attack to seal their victory, and only when Blue’s Arcanine fell in a heap of wet fur did their practice battle come to a fruitful end. Silver strode towards his starter Pokémon, not minding the way the damp ground soiled the soles of his shoes in favor of giving Feraligatr much-deserved chin scratches, smiling proudly as he recalled his partner into his Pokéball.
“You only won this time just because of the type advantage, Silver!” Blue shouted from across the field, chin jutted up. Ethan internally winced; their senior was truly a piece of work, if the way he still insisted on having the higher ground after such an indisputable loss was anything to go by. With the same Pokéball that contained his fainted Arcanine, Blue thrusted it in Silver’s way, proudly declaring, “Next time, I’ll be the one who’ll take you down!”
Under the same tree that graciously shielded them from the snowflakes, Red slapped a palm to his forehead, the sound of the skin-to-skin contact bouncing along the tranquil vicinity. Beside him, Ethan flashed his embarrassed senior with a weary, sympathetic smile; he knew a thing or two about dating their arrogant rivals, after all.
“Yeah? Don’t cry when my Tyranitar crushes your Zapdos, then,” Silver smoothly countered, ignoring Blue’s squawk as he rolled his lilac eyes. If anyone bothered to look closer, they would notice that his jab contained half the venom they usually spat, which meant that as the adrenaline rush drained out of his lover, his absent, faraway default for this week made its return. Just as quickly as it came, the joy blooming in Ethan’s heart was ripped petal by petal when Silver asked, in a clipped manner, “Are we done here now?”
Before Ethan could interrupt, Blue staked his claim first, slinging one arm around Silver’s taller frame to drag him back towards the city plaza, the strained rivalry between them shifting into a more companionable atmosphere. Their senior shot him a look that screamed, are you dumb? and offered, “Of course not! You and Ethan are coming with us for lunch; it’s the loser’s treat just for today, okay?”
With a squeeze to Ethan’s shoulder, Red stood up first, his longer strides helping him to catch up with Blue and Silver, who were already leaving the partially-destroyed, snow-covered rectangular battle pitch for Lear to discover and throw a raging fit about its disastrous state. Even from afar, Ethan caught the seconds before Red’s hand pinched the free side of his boyfriend’s waist, earning a choked laughter from Blue that ultimately led to the purpose of his sudden tickle attack: for Silver to be released from the uncomfortable weight of his leather-jacketed arm, and for that same arm to loop around Red’s arm instead, coming home to its rightful resting place.
Their one-sided squabbling sparking to life finally snapped Ethan out of his trance, and he soon scrambled to join the trio, slotting himself on the empty spot on Silver’s left. At this point, Silver would usually level him with a small, but earnest smile, and Ethan would reciprocate with a blinding grin of his own before intertwining their hands together, a gesture they had established early on was acceptable to be shown in public. Wherever they went next, no matter how sweaty their skins grew to be, they would never let their hold go, content to quietly bask in the simple reassurance that they were both here, sharing the same moment and air, very much alive and happy in each other’s company.
But now, as the remnants of winter showered Pasio in its powdery snow, Silver’s gloved hands remained cradled around his Poryphone as if it was something precious, barely sparing his focus for an increasingly-crestfallen Ethan or the breathtaking sight of Centra City now sprawled in front of them. His lover’s mind was tangled elsewhere, on a matter so private that Ethan could not penetrate, and taking a peek at the chat bubbles with too-small font proved to be a futile attempt in checking who Silver was fervently texting.
Even with his own hands protected by the knitted gloves that his mother had painstakingly made and mailed for him, Ethan’s skin was achingly cold underneath all that layer.
“So, what about you lovebirds?” Blue asked, pivoting the spotlight to Ethan and Silver, the latter still engrossed in rapid-fire texting to his mysterious contact. When Ethan was the only one who responded with a confused look, clearly not following the tangent that Blue had been on, his senior’s face broke into a cheeky grin as he rephrased, very dramatically, “We were talking about the 14th. Do you guys have anything, you know, fun planned for Valentine’s day?”
This was the chance, Ethan thought, his slumped body jolting alive from the hope that coursed through his veins. If there was a time to properly ask Silver about the so-called “secret trip” that he planned to execute on Valentine’s day, to quell his unfaithful spying attempts once and for all, then it was now or never.
Unfortunately, just as the question was ready to roll from the tip of Ethan’s tongue, Red used the pause between them to sharply elbow Blue in his ribs, the equivalent of a harsh stop talking blazing in Red’s frown. The pressing words instantly died in Ethan’s throat when Blue sheepishly corrected himself after that harsh nudge, glancing at Silver as he dodged his mistake with a strained, “O-Oh yeah! You had that thing going on, right, Silver?”
Maybe this was what it meant when the heartsick female leads in Lyra’s romance dramas narrated about knowing where their love was not enough to save them, Ethan deliriously thought. After all, even Red and Blue— two trainers who came far later into Silver’s life compared to Lyra and Kris —knew about the details of Silver’s travel?
Those two and the rest of Silver’s scant-few loved ones, all of them except for Ethan?
Anyone else would let their anger consume them whole in this kind of situation, submerging everything else like a tsunami would flatten a coastal city in its fury— Ethan understood that; he saw where the temptation came from. He imagined flinging the damn Poryphone away just to buy him enough time to fish the truth out of Silver, or to let his frustration flow out in angry tears just so his boyfriend would look at him in the eyes for once, except Silver easily snubbed the raging fire inside of him when his Poryphone rang, turning his back to their group and parting ways from them with a quick and simple, “I have to take this. Go on ahead and text me the restaurant’s address, okay?”
His next exhale rattled unsteadily, as if his withering soul was also expelled from the tether of his body with the wispy, white vapor forming around his lips. Now, more than ever, Ethan wanted to use his traveling skills and run to the edge of the world where he could hide, away from Silver and anything else that could inflict further pain on his breaking heart. Maybe if he fled fast enough, hiked a mountain top high enough, he could even pry himself free from the cages of his own, hurting mind.
If this was Silver’s way of urging them to break up, Ethan only wished that he would be a little considerate by doing it; he has witnessed, at an unfairly young age, of just how cruel the world could be to anyone, so surely he could take a quick, straightforward I don’t love you anymore told to his face. Stringing him along with this convoluted game of telephone was a cruelty that Ethan thought his loving, gentle Silver was incapable of doing to him.
When the first warm trickle of tears graced his cheeks, Red came into his blurry field of vision, and albeit he could barely see the face that his senior was making, his worry was spelled in his slow, deliberate signing anyway. His firm fingers spelled out, “Are you okay?”
No. After all the triumphs and losses he had undergone in Johto, after the many ways that he was stretched thin ever since arriving in Pasio, it came as a startling realization that this was the first time that Ethan was unwell, and learning that Silver was behind the way oxygen seemed to evade him felt very much like being stabbed in the back.
“Actually, I’m starting to feel sick. I probably caught the flu that’s been going around the region,” Ethan croaked out, the lie tasting like ash even though it was a necessary means for him to make his shameful exit. He made the rookie mistake of glancing up, flinching when he saw the devastated looks that Blue and Red exchanged with each other, both of them looking equally as remorseful for a fault that was not even theirs to begin with. Recoiling, he took one wobbling step back from his seniors and whispered, “I’m going to go back to my hotel room and rest now. I feel like I’m about to throw up.”
Ethan was tired of running away for the whole week, yet here he was: weaving into the busy crowd until his seniors could no longer see his retreating back, going wherever his weary legs could take him until the space was empty and wide enough for him to call upon Lugia's help.
Distantly, before the hectic plaza could swallow him whole like a plane would in a thick cloud, Ethan could hear Blue’s desperate scream as his senior tried to chase after him, “At least wait for Silver to come back, Ethan!” reverberating loud above the hustle and bustle.
Ethan did not look back, and Silver was not the one who pursued him.
Watching the tail-end of the fiasco go down from a distance, Silver instantly tuned out the gruff voice from his Poryphone rattling off the objectives that he needed to fulfill, feeling very much like he had terribly screwed up the most important thing in his life with no way to reverse his wrongdoings and the misery that entailed.
Being an avid and well-versed hiker, Ethan kept a risky secret from his loved ones: if the situation was dire enough, he wielded the nifty knowledge of being able to disappear deep into the wilderness, hiding in a magical world where no one could swiftly find him, erasing his very existence until he was ready to resurface again. The only one who could come close enough to grasp the gravity of that prowess, Ethan supposed, would be Red; even then, his senior never went all-out, picking the ‘easy way out’ by rooting himself in one place only, except that Mount Silver was a safe haven as much as it was a ruthless prison to him.
That was how— after Ethan had bolted out from having lunch with his seniors and Silver —he found himself spending the countdown towards Valentine’s day: his Poryphone and Pokégear both turned off, completely cutting himself out from any social interaction, only trusting his instincts and skills to camp-hop from the beach, forest, caves, and mountain peaks with only Lugia and Typhlosion as his trusted companions. He never stayed too long in one location; whenever his Typhlosion sensed any unwelcome guests nearing, Ethan would quickly pack up and eliminate any signs of life in his camping site, slipping out by-foot until he stumbled upon a place that was isolated enough for him to discreetly fly with Lugia to their next destination.
Ever since leaving New Bark Town for his journey, Ethan had never truly been alone anymore; there was always someone around, be it his best friends or passing trainers, filling the silence with their chatter and the gnawing emptiness in his heart with the pleasantness of their interactions, fleeting and temporary as they may be. This impromptu camping trip might just be the longest he had gone without any human contact, and to say that he was coping fine with the drastic change would be a big, fat lie.
Fleeing did not make the excruciating scar on his heart any better, as he had fruitlessly hoped. It made Ethan wonder why he stubbornly stuck with this awful plan anyway, wasting the cold, winter nights crying into his own arms when he could actually run away for good, taking this opportunity to silently return to Johto, coming back home to where his parents would undoubtedly welcome him with open arms, without any questions.
Booking a flight without triggering anyone who was searching for him would be so easy. Hell, if he was so scared of being caught red-handed, he could very well brave the long and arduous trip with only Lugia and a prayer to Arceus for a safe trip, even if he never did cross-region traveling before and that it was perilous to attempt alone for your first time.
There was nothing holding Ethan back from leaving all this hurt behind if he wanted to, and yet...
“Ethan, there you are!” Silver yelled, his projected voice carrying loud and clear from below the steep mountain trail that led up to Ethan’s pit stop for the night. Even in the dying light of the sunset, where the colorful shine was drastically muted by the dreary winter, it was impossible for him to miss Silver’s lanky figure, heaving from the physical exertion of climbing with next to no gear in this deathly temperature, his carmine hair thrown in a whirlwind of mess from the high altitude breeze.
His legs itched with a familiar buzz, a tell-tale sign that seeing his boyfriend urged him to run again, even if following through would brand him as a coward forever. It was not too late, after all, and Ethan knew that nothing could truly prevent him from calling Lugia and vanishing for good. And yet, he was shackled in place, unknowingly tuning into that small, tiny part of his heart that sang upon meeting Silver again, its instincts beating passionately against the cage of his ribs, oozing with the visceral, greater need to meet him halfway in the middle and gather his shivering body in his warm embrace.
“Please don’t run!” Silver cried out, forcing his shaky legs to rush past the slippery slope when Ethan slowly stood up, determined to bridge the distance between them even though anyone with a mind as logical as his would know better than to traverse such a dangerous track without a hint of carefulness. Ethan was ready to open his mouth, then, to shout back that he had no plans to, but the sheer desperation that echoed as Silver shouted, “I’ve been looking all over for you!” snapped his jaw back shut.
There it was, the very reason why he never left Pasio, delivered right to his doorsteps after a long, meandering transit: after all that he went through, a part of Ethan still wanted to be found by Silver.
In a way, it was terribly ironic that their reunion fell on Valentine’s day, of all days.
It must took an eternity for Silver to finally step into the premises, but the moment passed in a blink of an eye to Ethan; one second, his boyfriend had only been a faint, red speck in the snowy mountain peak, but now, he was barely standing upright in front of him, awkwardly bent with only his palms on his legs averting him from face-planting to the ground, the wheeze of his panting breath being the only sound to slice through the thick silence of the mountains.
Lugia and Typhlosion bared their sharp fangs, then, ready to release more than just menacing growls to evict the person who had reduced their Trainer into a sobbing, grieving mess for the whole week, someone who they had once trusted to sneak in snacks for them and battle alongside with. Maybe Ethan would graciously let them, had Silver caught onto him right away; by now, after shedding too many tears and coming to the startling realization that he loved his boyfriend too much to be the one to draw the line, all that was left festering inside of Ethan was a deep-seated exhaustion, feeling very much like a bonfire whose ran its course and was fated to die with a single brush of wind.
Something shifted inside of him when Silver finally glanced up, locking the lilac eyes that he secretly longed to see again with Ethan’s red-rimmed, dull gray eyes. Was it odd to note the petty satisfaction stirring in his gut knowing that, upon closer inspection, Silver had suffered just as Ethan did during their separation? That there was a tormented tale told in the loss of baby fat around his cheeks and what must be hours of precious sleep from his bloodshot eyes, just like how Ethan himself had let his grip on reality go in favor of crying to himself every waking second?
There was no time for Ethan to dwell further on that matter; Silver finally opened his dry, cracked lips, his lilac eyes searching into his somber, gray ones before he quietly rasped out, “Why haven’t you picked up my calls for the past week? I was—”
Before Ethan could reign his agony, it violently surged out to snap at Silver, showing a glimpse of it by cutting his boyfriend’s words short with a bitterness that spoke for itself. “You were what, Silver? About to break up with me over a phone call because you were too busy to even make a proper speech for it?”
Ethan’s hands were balled tightly by his sides, his knuckles turning white while his nails dug sharply into his palms, but the shock that slackened Silver’s jaw made it look as if he had been slapped in the face.
“W-What? Ethan, why would you say that?” Silver protested, his lilac eyes searching wildly for an answer in Ethan’s snarl and finding nothing helpful to defuse his fury. He made the risky choice to reach for Ethan’s hand, then, even though the threat of being mauled by Typhlosion was still very much present, all for the sake of peering deeper into the windows of Ethan’s soul as he demanded, “Look at me, please— Ethan, what are you even talking about?”
Oh, Ethan thought, feeling his listless anger reignited as if someone had thrown gasoline into the weakened fire, it stung even more that Silver was pretending that everything between them was fine.
“The more important thing here is: what are you not telling me, Silver?” Ethan spat out, and seeing Silver flinch tore yet another wound across his fragile heart; it was the closest confirmation that he was, indeed, hiding something from him. As if the dam inside of him had collapsed, he finally let the days-long hurt flow like a tsunami, flattening any chance of interruptions as he pressed on, “Why does everyone else in our circle except for me know that you’re leaving Pasio? And did you also need to leave on Valentine’s day, of all the days that you could pick out?!”
Silver did not look like the teenager that he was now, standing in front of him; in fact, he resembled his 9-year old self in this very moment, like the version that Ethan had bumped into when Celebi took him time-traveling into the past, fear riddling his youthful face at the real possibility of losing someone in his life again. Gone was the confidence that oozed in abundance from his voice, his words wavering as he pleaded, “Ethan, you don’t understand—”
“That’s the thing, Silver; all the signs are clear to me!” Ethan butted, gasping for air after his cry bounced around in a sickening echo, a byproduct from all that yelling or the ache in his chest that doubled with each look of hurt that Silver sent his way. His vision was hazy, too, and the next time that he blinked, his cheeks were eerily warm from the tear tracks that defied the weather, rolling down his cheeks without a single care for the cold of his dignity. Gritting his teeth, he continued, “Everyone’s talking about you leaving Pasio. None of your loved ones know about how long you’ll be gone for, let alone where you’re going. And what’s worse is that the only one left in the dark about all of this is me, your boyfriend! If you do love me, if you truly cared for me like you said you do, wouldn’t you at least tell me about this right away, just like how you didn’t miss to inform everyone else?!”
Silences that blanketed the mountain were always deafening no matter which peak you hiked; even the constant blizzards that surrounded Mount Silver like a wired fence was strangely tranquil, in a sense. Ethan knew that like a fact, as absolute as how the sun would always show itself once the storm has passed.
The one that followed after his rapid, grief-stricken tirade was a touch different from that, though. It was suffocating, tense, and stretched far too long for his short patience to handle, and tucked somewhere in there— in the way the fight was drained from Silver’s shoulders, in the weakening grip he has on Ethan’s arm —was the answer to all of this drama: Ethan was not loved as ardently as he was led by Silver to believe.
As if the past week had not wrecked him enough, this simple realization broke Ethan in every sense of the world. He was suddenly so exhausted now, done fighting for a relationship that was doomed to end because their love was not enough to save it. If Silver wanted to prolong this with lies and half-assed explanations, then Ethan was determined to save him from the effort; they should have ended their relationship from the start if Ethan was no longer important to Silver, after all.
Ready to rip the bandaid once and for all, Ethan took a shaky breath, burned holes on the ground with the tears now burning his eyes, and said, “You know what, if you don’t have anything more to say, then let’s just break—”
“I do love you, Ethan!” Silver desperately yelled at the last second, jolting both Ethan, his two Pokémon, and possibly the whole region by his booming shout, the open space around them broadcasting his proclamation as the words echoed in their descent. If that was not enough to catch Ethan’s attention, Silver was now clinging onto both of his arms with renewed vigor, his fingernails poking into his skin with the kind of graveness that was so unlike him. A sinking feeling lurched in Ethan’s heart, then, one that quietly whispered that he might have made a huge blunder; he was proven right when their gazes met again, Silver’s lilac eyes glinting with a world of sadness and sorrow, tears pooling in his eyes because of him. Ethan was so stunned by the sight that he almost missed the sniffle that escaped from Silver, his words a little wet around the edges as he said, “I love you so much that I negotiated out of the International Police’s request just to have the evening for Valentine’s day off! That was why I haven’t been able to say anything to you yet, Ethan!”
The unspoken I didn’t abandon you was written boldly in the tears angrily streaming down Silver’s face, and finally, it felt like their situations were roughly flipped now, with Ethan being the one suddenly splashed with a bucket of cold water. It felt like he was thinking straight for the first time this week, seeing everything with a fresh set of eyes, now that the surprise that was driven into him had flushed out his anger.
“W-What?” Ethan choked out, feeling very much like he was seconds away from fainting. A jumble of questions ram straight into the forefront of his short-circuiting mind, and he chained himself to the easiest one to parse. “T-The Interpol? What do they have to do with you?”
Silver deflated like a popped balloon, wearing the same kind of exhausted shadow that lingered each time his biological father found a new way to put a dent in his independent life. One look was all it took for Ethan to guess who was plaguing Silver, but not in a million years could he ever expect where this talk would lead them to. “My old man and Team Rocket had just resurfaced a week ago, remember? He’s been utilizing his Guzzlord to physically eat all of the evil crime organization’s headquarters in Pasio, stripping them of their key powers. Looker is going all-out to catch him this time, even if he had to stoop low enough by teaming up with Giovanni’s son to take him down.”
The harrowing, vivid memories of the past week flashed in front of Ethan’s eyes, and looking back, everything made perfect sense now; the abrupt flip in Silver’s mood, his focus being absorbed elsewhere, and, most importantly, the lack of Valentine’s day talk between them, even though Silver had been open to celebrating it last year. One by one, the puzzle pieces slotted in place, and Ethan gasped as the big picture— the one that was warped beyond its true form —finally dawned for him.
It was all just a misunderstanding.
A colossal, silly misunderstanding, possibly the most inane one made in their century. It was one that, in hindsight, they both could entirely dodge had Ethan persisted in pestering the truth out of Silver rather than running away from it, or if Silver was smart enough to lay out his circumstances to Ethan as best as he could, within the constrains of his private agreement with Looker.
“W-Wait! So—” Ethan stuttered, at a crosswalk between letting the testimony that Silver was actually not leaving to blossom into elation, allowing it to float him all the way to the moon, or surrender to the guilt like a hiker would at the face of a volcanic eruption, facing all of the idiocies that led to this moment knowing that he could not turn back time to fix them. “D-Does that mean you’re—”
“Not leaving Pasio? Yes. It’s more like I’m touring it to go on a wild Swanna hunt, just to make sure that Giovanni won’t start eating the establishments here once his Guzzlord ran out of evil crime organization bases to eat,” Silver acknowledged, still knee-deep in his own remorse to even realize that not all of his faults were his own to carry, this time around. The hold he had on Ethan’s arms slid further down until their palms found home in each other, and it was a testament to just how wrong Ethan had been, thinking that their love had fizzled out; Silver coaxed his fists to unfurl with the same, tender touch that was reserved only for him, and Ethan went willingly, clasping his sweaty skin with his boyfriend’s cold, drier one like he was starved of this familiarity. He never let go, and Ethan knew this was the closest that Silver ever came to displaying the scars that never fully healed in his heart, the ways that abandonment and loneliness from days long gone have shaped them to be the man that he was today, which was all the more reason for him so stay and listen as his lover weakly whispered, “I know that this is a very important mission, that’s why I accepted it, but I didn’t expect for Looker to start so soon, especially with Valentine’s day within sight. I’m sorry that I fumbled so badly; I promise I didn’t mean for it to blow up this way. I just didn’t want to get your hopes up by saying that I’m in the middle of arranging for some time off; it would be cruel for you if my shift can’t be taken over because all hands were needed on deck. In the end, I was too busy lobbying to even tell you of what I’ll be up to. Lance and our friends ended up hearing about my sudden job first just because I have no specific agenda with them in the near future.”
In a heartbeat, as easy as breathing, Ethan left his week-long suffering in the past, throwing them down this mountain peak in favor of enveloping Silver in a hug, feeling every inch of his skin, blood, bone, and heart swell from just how right it was to collapse into his embrace.
Ethan missed this, badly— Arceus, how did he even begin to think of ever living without Silver?
“Don’t talk like all of this is entirely your fault, Silver,” Ethan begged, and his knees finally gave out when Silver’s slim arms latched protectively around him, translating his yearning in just how tightly he was pulled into the embrace, wanting nothing more than to ensure that the harder they were engulfed in each other’s love, the faster it would to soothe both of their heartbreak. He sobbed into the beautiful, carmine strands of his windblown-hair, his walls coming down one by one the moment his boyfriend's familiar weight registered against his body, his body relaxing for the first time in days when his Pecha-berry shampoo invaded his senses. “I-I s-shouldn’t have jumped into conclusions and acted rashly just because I heard our friends talk about your plans first! I should’ve went straight to you for answers! But I listened to my emotions, now I’ve made a total mess out of what should’ve been a simple issue, and I— I-I’m so sorry for ever doubting you, Silver! I’m so sorry for being stupid, and I’m sorry for even thinking— no, for trying to even break up with you! It nearly killed me to go through with it, so please—”
“Shush. I know, Ethan. I know. I pieced that together,” Silver reassured him, and Ethan was unsure of why he cried harder in the next moment; whether it was because of the kindness that his boyfriend selflessly extended, or because Silver had managed to pull Ethan’s hat off, letting it drop to the snowy ground in favor of brushing the back of his head, toying with his hair like he used to, the gesture so much like coming home. He could almost feel the fond smile gracing Silver’s face as he added, “Then, we both got a lot to make up for each other, wouldn’t you say?”
“Huh?” Ethan blurted out, his brain churning as slow as the snowflakes drifting aimlessly in the air. There was something that Silver was insinuating here, one that was out of his currently-disastrous reach, so he opted to part from their hug and ask, “What do you mean?”
“Valentine’s day is still not over yet,” Silver chuckled, letting one hand go in favor of wiping away a snowflake that conveniently landed itself on Ethan’s right cheek, drying his tears along with the fleeting swipe. In this freezing temperature, the rush of warm blood to flush his face felt even more prominent, but Ethan found that he did not mind the embarrassment; Silver was studying him like he had fallen in love all over again, and a different kind of pleasantness settled over him, now that he knew just how adored he was; that their love was, indeed, enough to save them in the end. Then, with a mix of shyness and wavering courage that set the Butterfrees in Ethan’s heart free, Silver wondered, “If… If you’re not so mad about my stupidity anymore, would you want to watch a meteor shower with me?”
Right now, standing on this snowy mountain top, their misunderstanding was only a distant mark in the past, long forgotten at the face of Silver’s heartfelt offer. Ethan realized, then, of just how lucky he was to be alive, that fate was kind enough to let his path cross with Silver, leading him to witness this touching story come full circle.
“Looker gave the evening off for me, so we can go now— if you’d like, that is. I— I understand if you’d want to just… rest, after all of this. Or if you still want space from me. It’s understandable,” Silver explained, pushing on even though anyone with eyes and ears could parse just how anguished he was to let this special day— to let all of this effort —go down the drain. Ethan was ready to save his boyfriend from the disappointment, his thrilled response ready at the tip of his tongue, but Silver continued, “But Alakazam saved us a spot on that beach, near the cave that we like to relax in. I cooked your favorites— well, more like Lance and I did —in a bento, and I brought Tapu Cocoa, cups, as well as lots of blankets, too. I can promise you that you won’t be cold.”
“Don’t be silly, Silver. How could I be cold after all of that?” Ethan eagerly confirmed, as giddy as a child waking up to a pile of gifts on Christmas morning— no, like a man who got his very Valentine’s day wish granted by the love of his life. With a cheeky grin, he teased, “Plus, you owe me a cuddling session on top of it all, after all!”
Even as the sun kissed the February sky farewell with a last burst of its orange, purplish hues, Silver’s lilac eyes twinkled bright in the incoming darkness, and there it was: the very teenager that Ethan trusted his heart with, hopeful and positively brimming with unfiltered joy. “So that’s a yes?”
“Please, it will always be a yes for you, Silver,” Ethan reassured him, preening from just how far his mere honesty could touch Silver’s heart, that he still has the heavenly gift of eliciting a grin from his boyfriend after being apart for so long. Then, a thought suddenly struck him, Ethan blinking rapidly as he asked, “How did you even know about the meteor shower anyway? Since when did you tune into nature forecasts?”
Silver made a noise that sounded like a strangled, half-aborted attempt at clearing his throat, and Ethan was already grinning ear-to-ear, knowing that whatever explanation that would follow was likely to be out of character for his boyfriend and, most of all, hilarious.
“Steven Stone saw how much I pestered Looker about my leave, and I guess he understood just how important it is for me to be there for you on this specific day,” Silver said, shrugging his shoulders to fake some semblance of casualty, as if that would take away just how romantic his whole deed was to someone as publicly-sappy as Ethan, despite the way it had been poorly executed. Ethan was honestly ready to giggle at him, not for his jaw to drop after hearing what Silver spewed next. “He saw just how stumped I was over the constant rejections for my leave request, so he tipped me off about another meteor shower that coincidentally happens on the night of Valentine’s day, and since we haven’t seen one together, I thought that was a great idea for what we should do. He promised that the scenery would look just as amazing from the beach due to Pasio’s untainted ozone and the clear skies forecasted later in the night. I’m not the one with a degree in science here, but I trust in his judgement on this one. I can see that the advice came with good intention.”
He thought it was unthinkable to be even happier than he already was, but Silver was always set on proving Ethan wrong in all the right ways. There really was only one takeaway for Ethan to arrive at, after hearing all that Silver went through just for them to make precious memories together: Ethan was so, very loved, and he would choose no one else to be cherished by. Past the lump now forming in his throat, blinking his eyes desperately to clear his misty vision, Ethan croaked out, “You’re making it very hard for me to ever live without you.”
Silver’s answer came in a heartbeat, whispered in the bubble of air that they shared, now that he was leaning close, their lips a breath away from touching. “I promise that you won’t have to hold onto that fear. I intend to stay with you, Ethan, and I promise to love you with each day that I get.”
True to his words, after Lugia and Ho-Oh touched down, they spotted Alakazam and the rest of Silver’s Pokémon party waiting for them at the deserted beach, stationed under the lovely awning of coconut trees and greeting them with thrilled chirps at their trainer’s success. Ethan was guided by Sneasel to sit on an over-sized picnic mat that remained suspiciously clean from sand and snowflakes, and an assortment of things soon floated to the air out of the bulky bag hidden behind Feraligatr, the items glowing with Alakazam’s psychic energy: the bento box first, revealing a perfect serving of kitsune udon for two, still piping hot as it emitted a waft of smoke once the lid was taken off; a small box of Goldenrod cheesecake which was Ethan’s favorite dessert, now colored a creamy pink instead of its classic yellow tone to pay homage to the romantic celebration held for today; a selection of drinks that, in Ethan’s humble opinion, was over the top, along with Pokémon snack that would spoil both of their teams rotten; and, lastly, the matching Ho-Oh and Lugia keychain that Ethan saw at the plushie shop, this being the only gift that Silver personally plucked from the air to gently lay on Ethan’s shaking hands.
“I know that I don’t use a bag, but I’ll hang it from my belt loop whenever you use them,” Silver murmured, blushing Tamato-berry red from the edge of his collared neck and up to his ears at the prospect of wearing something so cutesy, but his resolve to please Ethan had clearly won out against his pride. He was someone who never went back on his words, if the determined glint on his lilac eyes was anything to go by. “It’s so we can match, if you want. That’s the purpose of these special-edition keychains.”
Here, blanketed in the cozy warmth of their Pokémon team’s messy circle and shielded from the weather by Alakazam’s psychic barrier, Ethan had no qualms to throw himself onto Silver, pulling him into a kiss that was both searing and soft, conveying his dreadful longing and gentle apology at the same time. Here, Silver could finally let go, and if anyone noticed that he cried a little as he melted into the sweet kiss, only Ethan’s kind hands were there to wipe them away.
When Lugia not-so-rudely interrupted them with a squawk for missing the beginning of the shooting stars, it was only right that Ethan dragged Silver up and pleaded with his partner to fly them up to the heavens. Today was the only day that it was acceptable for them to relive their first date experience, after all, this time with the company of the meteor shower dotting their impromptu skydiving session.