Work Text:
Beware The Fairy Types
Gary paused in the entryway to his childhood home and slumped against the door, taking a moment to just breathe . Everything hurt and he was exhausted to the bone. It had been a long time since a trip in the field had left him this drained and sore. There was a reason behind it, unfortunately, just as there was a reason he was here and not at his own house a short distance away.
Ash wouldn’t be home from training with Misty yet and Gary needed someone to apply the treatment properly before he could face his husband. He wasn’t exactly worried about Ash and Pikachu’s reactions, but he knew they would be exhausting. The travel home had started the evening before and the flight back to Kanto hadn’t been especially restful. To say he was tired was a massive understatement.
The pokeball wiggling at his belt was the only warning he got before Umbreon burst forth. Wholly unsurprised, Gary met her scarlet gaze tiredly. She stared right back, clearly unimpressed.
“I know,” he groaned. “I should've been more careful. Can't exactly do much about that now, can I?”
Her ears twitched and she huffed, apparently not liking his response, but he didn’t have a chance to reply.
“What are you doing here?”
Gary jumped at the unexpected voice and winced when pain shot through his arm and back. At least it was Tracey that had seen him first and not Ash. He wasn't ready to explain the situation to him just yet – Pikachu was absolutely going to freak out when he saw what had happened.
“I thought you would go straight home when you got back,” Tracey said, looking thoroughly confused.
Gary dropped his field bag next to the door with a sigh. “I need your help with something first.”
Tracey’s frown would have made him laugh under most other circumstances but with the pain medication wearing off, Gary didn't have the energy. “Does that have anything to do with you coming back three weeks early?”
“It's why I'm back early,” Gary confirmed, his voice surprisingly deadpan even to his own ears. He knelt down to retrieve a few items from his bag and tilted his head towards the stairs. He wasn't looking forward to the explaining and the poking and prodding that would follow. “C'mon, let's get this over with.”
Tracey’s expression was wary but he followed Gary towards the stairs regardless. “What'd you do this time?”
Gary groaned as he led the way upstairs to his old bedroom, Umbreon close to his side. It felt strange to be heading there after living in his own place for years, especially now that he and Ash were married. “I got nailed,” he admitted.
“I had a feeling it was that,” Tracey sighed somewhere behind him. “How bad?”
“Well, I didn’t break anything and didn’t need any stitches.”
“That doesn’t leave many options. How bad was the envenomation?”
“No venom.” Gary pushed open the door to his room and tossed the items he had been carrying onto the bed before sitting on the edge of it. “Kinda wish there was,” he mused, “probably would’ve hurt less.” He wished he was exaggerating. Arbok venom felt like lava burning through veins, but even that was preferable to this. At least the antivenin made the burning stop eventually.
“That really doesn’t make me any less worried, you know,” Tracey returned, leaning inside the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. Umbreon lingered next to him, her unimpressed stare having returned.
“Yeah, I know.” Gary had always thought that everyone worried about him too much, but now he wasn’t so sure. This time had been serious enough to worry him and close enough to seriously bad to shake him. If the attack had hit him straight on… He would shudder at the thought if it wasn't so damn painful.
“Alright,” Tracey sighed, visibly bracing himself. “What happened?”
Rather than replying verbally, Gary reached for the hem of his t-shirt. This was the sort of injury that needed to be seen to be understood – but the movement was pure agony. Putting it on had been just as bad but he hadn’t had much choice in clothing. Fieldwork was just backpacking with data collection and there was no way he was flying home from Kalos in his field clothes, but his only extra clothing was the cargos and t-shirt he was wearing.
So agony it was.
Gary tried to breathe through the pain as best as he could but he knew at least a few pained noises slipped out. Every muscle was taut, he grit his teeth as he turned so Tracey could see the worst of the bruising along the back of his shoulder.
Tracey’s sharp intake of breath was almost a relief to hear. It meant the searing pain he'd been in for days wasn’t just an overreaction on his part.
“Fuck, Gary…” he breathed.
Gary knew how it looked. Well, as much as he could see in the mirror – which wasn’t much considering how hard it had become to look over his shoulder far enough to see the damage in said mirror. Oh, this month of healing was going to suck, and not in the fun way.
“That’s usually Ash’s job.” Gary winced when Tracey flicked his uninjured shoulder. “You’ve been spending way too much time with me,” he observed, thoroughly amused despite the pain.
“Hold still,” Tracey said firmly, grasping him by the shoulders. He didn’t sound annoyed, just concerned, and his hands were gentle as he traced the outline of the injury. “What type of attack was this?” he asked quietly, his voice almost awestruck. Gary likely would have felt similarly were the dark, nebulous bruises on someone else’s body. “Psychic or Dark?”
“Fairy.”
“Hatterene?”
“No.” Gary had to suppress a shudder at that thought. This one had been bad enough – he didn’t even want to think about what an attack from her would look like. “I don’t want to ever get nailed by her. She could kill me easy.”
“Looks like this one could’ve too, if it was six inches to the left,” Tracey replied.
“Yeah, if it had hit me in the head or che— Ow! Stop poking it!”
“I’m not poking,” Tracey retorted, “I’m making sure you didn’t break a rib!”
“I think I would know if I broke a rib, Trace.”
“You say that now, but how long was your wrist broken before you got it checked out?”
Gary rolled his eyes – he was still a teenager when he had that particular injury. “It was a hairline fracture and I didn’t wait , I was in the field in the middle of nowhere. I had to hike three days to get to town. Besides, the doctors said I did everything right.”
“You had your rapidash with you!”
“Yeah, but not a saddle!”
“With all the fooling around you and Ash do, I’m surprised you didn’t just go bareback,” Tracey muttered under his breath.
“Hey!” Gary huffed a laugh once the surprise wore off. Damn , that was a bold response from his friend. “Y’know, I’m actually kinda proud of you,” he admitted after a moment.
Tracey was quiet for a moment and Gary winced again as his fingers pressed into the colorful bruise spreading outward from his shoulder. “Sorry,” he said softly, his hand smoothing over Gary’s shoulder blade.
“Don’t be,” he ground out. “I just said I was proud of you.” And he meant it. It was nice to know that Tracey could still occasionally shock a laugh out of him.
“I meant that press. I could tell it hurt.”
Gary shrugged – or tried to. Pain tore through his right shoulder at the movement and he had to grit his teeth to breathe through the pain. “I’ve been through worse,” he managed to gasp out after a moment, though that couldn’t sound much further from the truth.
“Maybe, but that doesn’t change how much it must’ve hurt when it happened – stop moving.”
“Then stop touching it for a second!”
Tracey sighed but his hands lifted away and Gary let out the breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. He hadn’t realized just how tense he was until his shoulders relaxed, only to immediately tense again when the slight movement of relaxation made the injury positively scream all over again. His groan came out closer to a whine than he would’ve liked but he was in far too much pain to actually complain about it. This had been far from the first time he had been back in the field alone since backing away from the formal world of research a few years earlier, but it was the first actually dangerous situation he’d been in with a pokemon since he was a teenager and his reflexes clearly weren’t what they used to be.
Gary couldn’t blame anyone but himself. He had forgotten how much time had passed and had gotten cocky and impulsive.
Tracey’s hand settled on his other shoulder and squeezed gently. “Has your grandfather seen this yet?” he asked softly.
“No.”
“Gary –”
“Don’t give me that,” Gary huffed impatiently. “I told him when it happened, he just hasn’t seen it yet.”
“But he knows?” Tracey pressed, drawing another eye roll from Gary.
“Yes,” he retorted. “I told him about it as soon as I could actually speak coherently after it all… That’s why he knew I was coming home early. I just told him not to tell you guys so you wouldn’t worry.”
“We wouldn’t worry so much if you didn’t hide injuries and force yourself through pain like this.”
“I don’t hide injuries–”
“Just the severity of them.”
Gary rolled his eyes again. He was quickly running out of energy and didn’t have it in him to argue it, especially considering what he needed to ask of Tracey next. “So, speaking of hiding injuries, uh… could you maybe not tell Ash?”
“There’s no way he’s not gonna notice, Gary.”
“I didn’t say I was gonna keep it a secret, I just asked for you not to tell him.”
Tracey softened immediately. “You want to tell him yourself?”
“He’s gonna freak out when he sees it, Trace.”
“Yeah, for good reason!”
Gary groaned and moved to rake a hand through his hair, only to flinch when he was once again overcome with searing pain. “It’s not that bad,” he grit out once it passed.
This time Tracey was the one rolling his eyes as he shook his head. “You are so full of shit, Gary.”
Briefly stunned by the retort, Gary was quiet for a moment. “Jeez, Trace. Wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?”
“No. I’m just tired of you making things more difficult than they need to be.”
“I'm not doing it intentionally.” This time it came out entirely as a whine but Gary couldn't quite bring himself to care. Pain and exhaustion were melding together too much for that, each making the other worse. He didn't have the energy left to care about pride anymore.
“I still say you're full of shit,” Tracey retorted, though his voice was gentle. He could probably tell how quickly this was draining Gary’s energy.
Lacking a ready response to that, Gary merely held out one of the items he had taken from his bag: a tube of ointment that had been helping with the pain.
“Could you put this on it, please?” he asked flatly.
“Don’t be mad at me,” Tracey said as he took the tube with a short nod. “Being a terrible liar is a good thing, y’know.”
“You’re not as helpful as you think,” Gary muttered.
“Yet you’re here, asking for my help instead of going home to your husband or your mother in law.”
“Speaking of—”
“I won’t tell Delia either, don’t worry,” Tracey cut him off as he unscrewed the cap and squeezed some of the ointment into his palm.
There was a brief pause before…
“I wasn't expecting the color,” Tracey admitted, pulling a tiny laugh from Gary. He hadn’t expected the brilliant violet on his first use either.
“It's made from berries grown in Alola,” he explained. “Apparently it's popular among dragon trainers after battling fairy types.”
“Has it been helping?”
“Better than anything else.” The pain medication, strong as it was, only took the edge off enough that Gary could just barely push through it. With both the meds and the ointment… Well, he'd been able to get through two flights and a long cab ride home without killing anyone or crying. Or downing a bottle of Kalosian red wine. That had to count for something.
Tracey’s hands settled on his shoulder as he set about gently rubbing it in. “I'm glad it's helping.”
Soothing as the ointment was, the barest pressure of the watcher’s hands on the injury was overwhelming and all Gary could do was give a single stiff nod. Tracey mercifully changed the subject, rambling on about some of the goings on in the lab that he had missed while in the forests of Kalos. Gary was sure he was attempting to distract him from the added pain of applying the ointment – not that anything could actually distract himself from it. Still, he hung on to his friend's quiet voice and focused on his breathing, counting the seconds between inhale and exhale and the next inhale until…
“Anything else hurt?” Tracey asked as he finally lifted his hands away.
Despite all the focus on his breathing, Gary needed a moment to catch his breath before he could reply. “My whole body is one big ache, Trace,” he groaned. “I don’t think there’s a single thing that doesn’t hurt right now.”
“With an attack like that, I’m not surprised... I’m honestly surprised you didn’t end up in a hospital.”
“I did. I just wasn’t admitted.”
“You got checked out though, right?” Tracey pressed, screwing the cap back onto the tube of ointment and passing it back to Gary.
Gary resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he took it. “Everything looked fine… Well, ‘cept my shoulder – that’s fucked.”
“How badly?”
“Can’t do shit for at least a month. Probably won’t be able to surf for like, four.”
“Well, winter’s right around the corner, so you wouldn’t be doing it much anyway,” Tracey reasoned.
“Still sucks.” It sounded gloomy even to Gary’s ears but he was starting to be too tired to care. Besides, it was just Tracey. He’d seen – and heard – worse.
“I know it does. I’m sorry, I know you like going to Alola in the winter.”
Gary sighed, the sound a bit more dramatic than he’d intended. He’d been looking forward to hiking and mountain climbing this year. “No surfing, no climbing, and even with my lightest gear, my pack’s too heavy to handle…”
“Getting home must've been rough, huh?”
“You have no idea.”
“Well, I've had to maneuver harbors with a sprained ankle so I can only imagine two airports with only one functioning arm.”
“Zero out of ten,” Gary groaned. He eased back against the pillows, biting back a whimper as he went. Damn, it was like it kept getting worse. “Do not recommend,” he continued as though everything was just fine in the world and that he didn't want to curl up and cry because of how badly everything hurt and how relieved he was to be back in Pallet. “Worse than hiking three days with a fractured wrist for sure.”
Tracey smiled sympathetically as he took the tube of ointment from Gary’s hand and set it on the bedside table. “I'm sure,” he said gently. “What do you need right now, Gary?”
“I kinda just want to sleep until Ash and Misty get here.”
“Good. You're healing, you need the rest. But Ash is going to Delia’s house and Misty and I are meeting them there for dinner.”
It took all of Gary's willpower not to wail into his hands at that. “I don't have the energy for that,” he said instead.
“Delia’s expecting you.”
“I can't, Trace.”
“Then you're gonna have to come clean to Ash.” Tracey held up his cell phone and Gary groaned pathetically. “Don't be dramatic, he's only screwed up once.”
He wasn't going to let it go easily, Gary knew, the stubborn fuck. He was almost as bad as Gary when he set his mind to something. “Then can you at least get me some pain meds?” he reluctantly gave in, reaching for the phone with his good arm.
“Sure.” Tracey pressed the phone into his palm and flashed him a reassuring smile. “Anything else?”
“A shot of whatever alcohol happens to be in the house?”
Tracey frowned. “Those aren't supposed to be mixed.”
“It's either that or Hypno.” He was going to get some sleep until his husband got back home, no matter the method. Umbreon could huff and Tracey could frown all they wanted.
“You’re lucky I don't get you anything peppermint as payback for you always being such a pain.”
Gary’s stomach churned at the memory – a holiday party gone awry a few years earlier, the memory still too strong to stomach. “You’re too nice to make me sick when I'm already injured,” he retorted.
“You know me too well.”
“You spend too much time with me.”
Tracey cracked at that, a small snicker escaping him as he shook his head. “You’re too much at times, you know that?”
“I take pride in it.”
He laughed again and, for a minute, everything felt normal… Until Tracey nodded towards the phone in Gary’s hand. “Call Ash while I get your meds and whatever the lowest proof alcohol we have in the house is.”
“Please let it be Kahlua.”
“I'm not bringing you a shot of Kahlua.”
“Why not?” Gary whined.
“You’re the one that said I wouldn't make you sick while you're already injured. Now, call Ash. I promise he won’t freak out.”
“Wanna bet?”
“Call him, Gary!” Tracey called over his shoulder as he headed out of the room and into the hallway beyond.
He was going to be a pain in the ass if Gary didn’t call him so Gary sighed and brought up Tracey’s contacts, his finger hovering over Ash’s name. He hesitated, staring at his husband’s name before giving another sigh – this time of resignation. Ash didn’t do calm reactions, so where Tracey was getting this idea that Ash wouldn’t freak out, Gary didn’t know.
Ash was absolutely going to freak out and Gary doubted he had the energy to deal with it. At least he’d be able to tell Tracey ‘I told you so.’
Taking a deep breath, Gary pushed the call button and fought down a groan of despair when it started ringing. He held his breath, hoping that this just happened to be one of the rare days that Ash forgot his phone at home. Or that he’d fallen into a river and destroyed this phone, the same way he had destroyed four others.
After the third ring, Gary was starting to think luck was on his side. But then the line connected and his husband’s voice came through the phone loud and clear.
“Hey, Tracey!” Ash greeted cheerfully.
Gary grinned despite the combination of pain, exhaustion, and dread over Ash’s likely reaction. At least he still got to surprise Ash. “It’s not Tracey,” he replied, sing-song, relishing in this one little win.
“Gary! ”
There it was. The delighted cry that felt like warm sunshine on cold skin. It was one of the reasons he so loved surprising his partner at every chance over the last nine years of their lives.
“I knew you were up to something!” his husband exclaimed.
“Yeah… It didn’t exactly go as planned though,” Gary admitted. His surprise wasn't supposed to be just yet, and he felt a pang at the thought of missing the little camping trip he had planned. Those weren’t the only plans impacted either – this recovery was definitely going to suck.
“What do you mean?” Ash’s curious voice held a note of wariness and concern. He could probably already tell that something was wrong.
“Your surprise wasn't supposed to be for another two weeks. I'm home early.”
“What happened?” Ash’s voice turned serious quite suddenly.
Gary hesitated as he briefly debated how much detail to give his husband. Keep it vague and tell him the details later or to just rip the metaphorical bandage off and come clean now?
“I'm okay,” he assured the trainer. It wasn’t a lie: he was alive and in one piece. The injury would heal in time, just like every other injury that came before it. “But I got nailed.”
“What happened?” Ash asked, voice still dead serious.
Gary had hoped he wouldn’t ask that just yet but it seemed luck wasn’t on his side this afternoon. Umbreon nudged his hand with her nose and he sighed, unable to lie to Ash. “I, uh, got hit by a Dazzling Gleam.”
“You what?! Where are you?”
“My old bedroom.”
“I'll be right there!” The line went dead and Gary groaned. That was just about exactly how he thought it would go.
So much for getting some sleep. Now he was definitely going to need that shot of whatever alcohol Tracey decided to bring him. As if sensing his thoughts, Umbreon nudged his uninjured shoulder with her snout and stared at him reproachfully.
“What? I told Tracey he was gonna freak out!”
She huffed and laid her head back down atop her paws, clearly uninterested in listening to his defense.
Oh well, no matter. It wasn’t like she could do anything about Ash’s reaction either. Besides, she had been there. She was the one who had knocked the attack aside and protected him while he was on the ground barely conscious.
She could be as impatient with him as she wanted. She had earned it.
Gary set aside Tracey’s phone and leaned back against the pillows in an attempt to get comfortable. Ash might have been rushing home but Gary was going to get some rest, goddammit.
Then Tracey’s voice came from the hallway.
“Against my better judgement, here’s some ibuprofen and I found some vanilla vod—” Tracey paused in the doorway, frowning. “You didn't call Ash, did you?”
Gary would have crossed his arms over his chest if his shoulder wasn't absolutely throbbing. “I'm gonna go ahead and say I told you so now.”
“You called him?” Tracey asked doubtfully.
“Yes,” Gary snapped. “I told you he would freak out. Two words in and he was already climbing on Charizard to come home…” He paused, eyeing the little glass of clear liquid in Tracey’s hand. “Vodka was seriously the lowest proof?”
“No, I just know that you like this one.” He passed the shot glass and pills over, wincing when Gary tossed them both back. “Don't make a habit of that.”
“I won't,” Gary replied, pulling a face at the sweet alcohol and reaching for his water bottle with his uninjured arm. “But… since Ash is on his way here, could you get me anoth—”
“Absolutely not.”
“Please?”
“Gary. No.”
Gary pouted childishly, though he had to fight down a grin to do so. It didn't matter that he was twenty-six now – he was going to keep being an annoying younger brother to Tracey. That's just how things were, injured or not.
Before Tracey could do more than utter a tired sigh, a loud roar came from outside, followed by the familiar thump of Charizard landing. Gary frowned, staring curiously in the direction the noise had come from. He could distantly hear Ash’s footsteps running up the porch stairs.
“Where were they training?” he asked curiously. It couldn't have been far.
“Route Twenty-Two.”
Gary raised his eyebrows, impressed. Apparently his favorite flying lizard had gotten faster since he'd last seen him. The front door opened and closed loudly, followed by Ash calling his name and racing up the stairs. He and Tracey shared a look: a combination of amused and tired.
The trainer appeared in the doorway, wind-ruffled and so much cuter than he had any business being. Fuck, he'd missed him and that bright smile… which was nowhere to be seen as he rushed across the room and threw his arms around Gary.
He drew back as though he had been scalded when Gary gave a pained hiss. “I’m sorry!” he yelped. “I’m so sorry, babe, I didn’t think—”
“It’s fine,” Gary grit out despite the sudden urge to strangle his husband.
“It’s not,” Tracey said with a sigh.
“Shut up, Tracey,” Gary muttered, not wanting to get his already hyperactive husband any more overexcited than he already was.
“He’s right,” Ash retorted, voice suddenly quite a bit sharper. He sounded like his mother preparing to scold him and Gary found himself sitting up a bit straighter, only for the pain to shoot through his shoulder like a lightning bolt. “Fairy type attacks are one of the worst to get hit by because they affect the nervous system. You’re the one that taught me that.”
Gary’s breath left him in a sigh. “Aright,” he groaned, once again unable to argue. “So it looks pretty rough and it hurts a lot, but it’s not that bad,” he insisted. “It’s not permanent and it’ll heal. I’ll be good as new in a few weeks.” The month would suck, but he’d be fine. He’d be back to hiking and climbing mountains with Ash soon enough.
He hoped.
Ash looked doubtful, Tracey even more so.
“Gary, I can see the bruises on the front of your shoulder,” Ash said, surprisingly evenly. “Is the rest just as bad?”
“Worse.”
“Trace.”
Ash glanced back and forth between them before setting his gaze resolutely on Gary. It was almost intimidating to be on the receiving end of that determined stare – it would have been intimidating, had they not known each other their entire lives.
It would have been hot if Gary weren’t in so much damn pain.
“Let me see the rest,” Ash said, clearly bracing himself.
“It’s not that bad,” Gary repeated, despite how feeble that sounded even to his own ears. “It’s just bruising and muscle damage, no stitches or anything.” He didn’t have to brace himself as though he were about to see mangled flesh and bone. It may have felt as though his arm had been ripped off and sewn back on haphazardly, but it certainly didn’t look like it.
“It doesn’t need stitches to be a bad injury,” Ash retorted.
“Alright you two, don't make me call your mom,” Tracey interjected tiredly. “Gary, just show him the rest.”
Gary was sorely tempted to push Ash’s buttons a little more just to make him do it. Delia would chase both of them out of the room in an instant, demanding that they let him rest – which was all Gary wanted at this point. But that took more energy than simply giving in.
Sighing, he sat up a little bit straighter and gestured for Ash to come closer. “I don't feel like moving,” he told his husband.
“That’s fine,” Ash said, stepping forward to look at the back of Gary’s shoulder. “You don't ha—” His voice died when he saw it and Gary fought back another tired sigh.
A tense quiet filled the room for a long moment, until…
“You said on the phone that you were okay…” Ash said quietly. “This isn't okay, babe.”
“It'll heal.”
“This was really close, Gary. If it had hit you any further over…”
Gary’s words failed him at that. There was nothing he could say to that, true as it was. “But it didn't,” he finally replied after a long, tense moment stretched between them. Never mind that it was only because of Umbreon's interception of the attack that it clipped him instead of landing a direct hit.
Before anyone could say anything further, the front door opened and closed loudly, the sound echoing all the way to Gary’s room on the second floor.
“Ash!” Misty’s voice called from the front hall. “Where are you, you colossal idiot?”
“Pikapi, pika!”
Ash winced and Gary stared at him, unimpressed. “You left them behind, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t mean to! I panicked!”
“Clearly,” Gary rolled his eyes.
“I’m gonna go let Misty know what’s going on,” Tracey said, jumping at the first chance to leave the room. Gary couldn’t exactly blame him.
“You are so lucky she has a pelipper on her team now.”
Ash cringed but nodded. “She’s still gonna kill me.”
“Serves you right for leaving your pokemon and best friend like that.”
“You said you got hit by a Dazzling Gleam! What else was I supposed to do?”
“I don’t know, maybe realize that me calling you from Pallet meant I was okay enough to travel all the way from a different continent. Maybe give me a minute to explain, or maybe don’t leave your friend and pokemon alone on Route Twenty-Two with no explanation!”
Ash winced again. “Yeah, I probably shoulda thought for a second.”
Gary could only tiredly nod. He loved his husband but, damn, it took all of his energy to keep up with him sometimes.
Ugh. Why couldn't Tracey have just called Delia instead of making him tell Ash? Well, no better time than the present to put down some boundaries.
“Look, this is as painful as a migraine and I'm exhausted. I can't have you freaking out every time you see it, alright?”
Ash nodded. “Yeah, I get that, but I think I'm allowed a freak out when you tell me you got hit by a really powerful attack. It's only fair with how much you lecture me every time I get hurt.”
Gary’s eyes narrowed. He could argue that half of the time Ash got hurt by a pokemon it was by doing something damn near suicidal, whereas Gary's own impulsivity had resulted in far fewer injuries. But that would take too much energy.
“Fine,” he sighed. He rolled his eyes when Ash raised his eyebrows, eyes widened in surprise.
“You really must be feeling rough, huh?” he asked sympathetically.
“Two flights and a cab,” was all the explanation Gary had to give. They'd had the same after their honeymoon – Ash had only hurt his foot then, but he'd whined as though he'd been hit by a powerful pokemon attack. He would understand.
Sure enough, Ash gave a sympathetic wince and nodded. “We were all gonna have dinner at Mom's, but I'm guessing you're not really feeling up to that, are you?”
Gary shook his head. “I was gonna sleep until you got back but Tracey made me tell you. He said Mom would be expecting me.” Realization flickered across Ash’s face at that. “What?”
“Did the professor know you were hurt?”
“Yeah, ‘course he knew.” Never mind that he'd called his grandfather on a pure impulse, like a scared child. He was grateful he had done so, though. His grandfather had booked everything from the hotel in Kalos to the cab home from the airport. He hadn't needed to worry about a thing from the brief hospital visit to the moment he set foot in the doorway…
Except how much he hoped this would heal quickly.
“That means Mom probably already knows, and even if she doesn't, she's not gonna be offended by you staying home and resting when you're hurt. If you wanna go home and sleep, you can, I'll cover for you.”
Gary relaxed in an instant. That was all he wanted. “You'd do that?”
“Of course!” Ash exclaimed. “We're married, isn’t it kinda my responsibility to take care of you?”
“Not necessarily…”
Ash rolled his eyes. “Wrong answer, Gary. Mom would kill me if I didn’t take care of you.” He took Gary’s uninjured hand and pressed a kiss to his knuckles with a reassuring smile.
Either the painkillers were already kicking in or his reassurance was actually reassuring enough to make a difference, but it seemed that the pain levels were suddenly just a tiny bit more bearable. It was enough to ask the childish question that had been burning at him ever since Ash had walked in the door. “Can we go home now?”
Ash gave him another smile and nodded. “Yeah, let’s check in with your grandfather and get you home.”
It distantly occurred to Gary just how much smoother this afternoon would have gone if he had done that first instead of running into Tracey and having to tell Ash sooner than he wanted. Oh well. There was nothing he could do about it now.
At least he was heading home, where he could sleep in his own bed and his husband would bring him food and coffee and whatever books he wanted, even if he was being a pain in the ass. What more could he ask for?