Work Text:
Get up.
Get out of bed.
Get up.
Get up.
Get out of bed.
Get up.
Get up.
Get up.
Get up. Get out of bed. Pretend to be a normal, functioning person.
Blue reluctantly opened his eyes. It was Saturday, so no work. The week was over.
This part was always the hardest: finding a reason to actually get out of bed.
A fat, fluffy face was staring back at him, big brown eyes narrowed in annoyance. Eevee yipped, and bit his nose.
“Ah—OW!” He swatted her away, but she jumped back before he could get her. “What the hell?? I’m up, aren’t I? Fuck...”
Eevee gave him a look, a look he was intimately familiar with. She huffed, turned her nose up, and began dragging his blanket off with her teeth, so quickly he couldn’t quite grab it before it was ripped away and unceremoniously dropped to the floor.
It was...warm. Weirdly warm. Warmer than it should be in his room.
Which was nice, because he hated when it was suddenly freezing after being bundled up under his covers for the whole night. But it was still weird.
His window was open, curtains billowing in the familiar breeze that came with living in Pallet. And lounging beside his bed, the source of the heat.
“Hey. Who let you out.”
Arcanine barked, panted with his big doofy grin, tail wagging cheerfully. Blue sighed, and slowly, ever so slowly, sat upright. He rubbed his eyes, he ran his hands through his hair, he smacked his cheeks, and sighed again.
“Routine, routine! Don’t forget the routine! Shower, shower, shower! Make sure you brush your teeth today! It’s been a few days!”
“Right, right. Yeah, got it. Sheesh. Don’t you guys ever sleep?” He glanced around his, admittedly messy, room. He’d been slack on cleaning, lately, because of the sudden influx of trainers at the gym. “Hey, where are you?”
“Outside, outside! The sun is beautiful today...”
“Outside, huh?” He heard the telltale swish-swish of leaves rubbing together below his window, and glanced out to see Exeggutor looking up at him from below in the garden. “Who let you out?”
They did nothing but grin at him before returning to their previous activity of soaking up the sunshine. It was a beautiful day; the sun was shining brightly, no clouds to be seen. Blue buzzed his lips.
Routine, routine.
Step one: get out of bed.
Well, Blue was nearly there. At least he was sitting up. He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly through his mouth. Then, again. This was always hard, finding a reason to get up on the weekend. What could he do, today? Apply to another university? That didn’t require leaving bed, though. What needed to be done?
Clean. He could clean. That’d be his main goal for today: clean his room.
Alright. Reason for getting up found.
He swung his legs over the side of his mattress, firmly planted his feet on the floor (warm from Arcanine), and froze, halfway between standing and sitting.
His room was messier than he thought. Dishes, clothes, trash, scattered all around. Random bits and bobs and trinkets lay randomly on his floor, his dresser, his nightstand. This was...a lot. Where would he even start? Everything needed to be done, but what would be the best place to begin?
Shit. Shit. He was already getting overwhelmed.
His breath caught in his throat. He could feel his heart beating. One of the most uncomfortable sensations in the world, feeling his own heart beating in his chest, thudding erratically against his sternum, inside his ribs, connected to arteries and veins, surrounded by blood and fat and bones and—
Eevee wiggled her way into his arms. Arcanine whined, and plopped his big head in Blue’s lap, licking pathetically at his fingers. “Don’t lick,” he snapped.
Arcanine whined again, looking up at Blue with his big, black eyes. He looked so...sad. Aw.
“Ugh. Sorry. Didn’t mean to go off like that, bud,” he sighed. “You know not to do that. You know I hate it.” The gross, awful feeling of wet.
A few moments of calm, a few moments of breathe, just breathe, don’t focus on it. The comforting weight of Arcanine’s heavy head on his lap. The feeling of Eevee curled up against his chest, forcing Blue to breathe in sync with her. He waited, until he couldn’t feel it anymore. “...alright. Okay, I’m good. Come on, move it, move it.”
His feet were already planted on the floor; all Blue needed to do was push. Eevee clambered up his chest, up his shoulder, to sit on his head.
One, two, and…
He was officially out of bed.
Step one: complete.
Step two: go to the bathroom.
Easy. Open the bedroom door, go down the hallway to the bathroom, open the door.
Step two and a half: take a shower.
“You gonna chill out in here or what?”
Eevee yipped. Of course she would, it was her job. She’d be doing a pretty piss-poor job if she didn’t wait for him in the shower.
Turn the water on. High, as hot as it’ll go, with no cold water. Then, let the room to steam up. It was easier this way, to wait for the room to get the same temperature. Sure, the sweatiness was nearly unbearable, but at least it wasn’t such a shock to leave the hot immediately into the cold.
He sat on the toilet, pulled out his phone, and waited.
Leaf texted him yesterday while he was at the gym, and he hadn’t gotten to look at it yet.
[ Check it out!!!! :O AAAAAA ]
Attached was a picture of her, smiling big and beautifully, posing cheerfully next to a fucking Zapdos. Its wings were golden, nearly shimmering. A shiny Zapdos.
He smiled. [ Can’t tell the difference, is it shiny or not?? Looks normal to me… ]
Kris texted him, too. Well, sort of him. She sent a picture to their group chat. A few pictures, actually.
[ guess who i caught footage of wandering around town today like some kind of mythical beast. ]
Red, blurry and out of focus, from around the corner of a convenience store somewhere in Johto. Then, another, through the window of said convenience store, of him shopping around, with Pikachu on his shoulder. She was pointing directly at Kris’s phone camera. Finally, one of him smiling and waving at her. Ethan and Leaf had already sent their responses.
Leaf: [ WTF!!! Tell him to stop by pallet. So I can beat his ass up ]
Ethan: [ lol imagine it wasn’t him and u were just taking pics of some random stranger. ]
Blue looked at the images. Well, the last one, the clearest one, of Red smiling brightly at Kris. He looked good, happy. No visible bumps or bruises, at least. He looked like he’d been eating decently, and his skin had a healthy tan. His shirt was torn around the bottom hem, his jeans had gaping holes in both knees, his shoes looked scuffed to hell and back. His hair looked unwashed. He looked like he hadn’t showered in a week.
How incredibly on brand for Red. [ Tell him to take a bath. I can smell his stink from here. ]
He was starting to sweat, so it was time to get in.
He adjusted the temperature so it wouldn’t burn his skin off, stripped his night clothes, which was really just a t-shirt and boxers, and after tossing them on top of Eevee, stepped in the shower.
Showering was a relatively simple affair. Blue scrubbed over himself viciously with his washcloth, rinsed. He shampooed his hair, washed it out. Conditioner, same treatment. Let the water run down his body. He stood there motionless for so long that Eevee barked at him. “Ah, yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I’m good.”
Blue didn’t move.
What was Red doing, right now? Was he still in Johto? Was he spending time with Kris and Ethan, telling them about his recent travels? No, he’d probably already taken off. Kris probably told him Leaf wanted to beat him up, probably told him Blue hadn’t said anything at all. She probably told him that Blue had been busy with the gym, so if he really wanted to catch up, he’d have to go to Viridian, himself. But he probably didn’t—didn’t want to, that is. Didn’t see much of a point to it, and went on his way to wherever the wind took him next, flying on the back of Charizard and vanishing, again, to not be seen for another six to eight months.
He probably didn’t stop by Pallet. He probably didn’t come and see his mom, or Leaf, or Gramps. He probably said, can’t stay for long, I’ve got plans elsewhere.
Or, maybe he did.
Maybe he did come to Pallet. Maybe he did stop by to see his mother, to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek before ducking his head and apologizing for not keeping in touch more, sheepishly showing off his broken phone with a shrug and a laugh. Maybe he let her cook him some lunch, some home-made, made-with-love food for him to take with him on his travels.
Maybe he did stop by to say hi to Leaf, after letting her punch him in the gut, after letting her hug him and kiss him on the cheek. Maybe he talked to her about his latest big catch, his latest Legendary. Maybe they shared hunting stories, of the one that got away, of rumors about rare Pokémon spotted around here, around there.
Maybe he did stop by the lab. Maybe he said hello to Gramps, let him look at his bursting-with-information Pokédex, let him upload all his data to the world-wide servers, after sitting and having a cup of tea, after letting Gramps go on his spiel of you’ve gotten bigger, you look healthy, how have you been my boy it’s been ages since I’ve last seen you.
Maybe he did stop by Viridian. Maybe he did stop by the gym, after Blue had already left for the day, only to find out it was closed for the weekend. Maybe he cursed his luck. Or, maybe he said thank Arceus, I have an excuse now.
Maybe he was still in Pallet, in the house next door, in his room, fast asleep and snoring loudly under the weight of his childhood blanket patterned with the evolutionary stages of Charmander, Pikachu curled up on top.
Maybe he was long gone, soaring high above the clouds on Charizard’s back, grinning wildly as the dragon swooped and swerved around through the air, towards his next destination.
Red was both everywhere and nowhere.
And as long as Blue stood in the shower, in the bathroom, he’d never know for sure. He’d be left unaware, ignorant.
Eevee barked again, more urgently.
“Right. Yeah, okay. I’m coming out. Sorry.”
He toweled off. He dried his hair. He had four new notifications. One from Leaf, the rest from the group chat.
Leaf: [ Ofc it’s shiny. Who do u think I am. ANYWAY u wanna see it? U busy today?? We can get lunch somewhere or something??? Maybe have a battle???? It’s a lovely day to get ur ass kicked! ]
No mention of Red. The limbo persisted.
But, a battle sounded fun. It put a wrench in his plans to clean, which sucked, but he wanted to spend time with Leaf and meet her new Zapdos. Plus, it’d get him out of the house for sure. [ Yeah, I’m free. What are you thinking? Konbini? ]
And, the group chat.
Kris: [ UH OH! Stinky! ]
Ethan: [ UH OH! Stinky! ]
Leaf: [ UH OH! Stinky! ]
He snorted loud, and shook his head. [ Damn hive mind in here... ]
Step two: complete.
Step three: wash his face.
Easy enough.
Squeeze out the face wash, spread it between his hands, slather it on his face, rub it around violently, splash water to rinse until he felt like he was drowning, pat dry. Done.
Step three and a half: shave.
Shaving was new, for Blue. He hadn’t needed to, before, but the new hair was prickly, itchy, patchy, and made him want to scratch his skin off.
So, rather than do that, he decided, he needed to shave.
He fumbled with the bottle of cream, wincing as it slipped out his grip and clattered around in his sink loudly.
He didn’t exactly have a father around to show him the ropes, and he’d rather die than ask Gramps, so he chose instead to look up tutorials and video guides online. All of handsome older men going through the motions of getting a clean shave, how to care for your skin, how to avoid razor burn. All non-personal. All commercialized. All advertising this or that.
After an hour of scrolling he managed to find one of some Gym Leader in Kalos he hadn’t met yet, an older DILF with a friendly demeanor. Apparently, he made the tutorial as a guide for his trans son. It didn’t have a lot of views, compared to the others, but all the comments were singing praise about how easy it was to follow, how grateful they were he uploaded it for public view. And that was good enough for Blue. So he saved it, for whenever he decided it was time to start shaving.
The time had come.
He hit play.
Wash your face first.
Let a warm washcloth sit over the area for a few minutes.
Lather the shaving cream well between your hands with a bit of warm water. It should foam up nicely when you rub it into the hair.
It’ll be easier to start with a multi-blade razor, but the best results will come from a single blade. We’ll work up to that.
Wet the blade with hot water.
Now, we start.
First, shave with the grain. Go slow. If you go to quick, you’ll cut yourself. Get in the habit of slow, clean strokes. One stroke, then wash it off. Easy goings make for a clean shave.
Once you’re done, you can go back over against the grain. This will help catch any strays you may have missed.
After that, we’re done! Wash off whatever shaving cream is left-over. Then, you’ll apply your after-shave. This helps protect your skin from getting bumps.
And remember, this takes time. You’re learning, and that’s okay. If you ever need help, watch this whenever you want. Don’t be afraid to ask for anything.
You’re doing great. You’re loved, and you’re wanted. Never forget that.
Blue stopped, paused the video, let out a shaky sigh. Felt his breath hitch. A tear rolled out his eye, and plinked pitifully into the sink, the edge of which he was gripping so tightly his knuckles were the same shade of porcelain.
...right. This was...a personal video. One a father made, for his son.
He rewound the video ten seconds.
You’re doing great. You’re loved, and you’re wanted.
You’re doing great. You’re loved, and you’re wanted.
You’re doing great. You’re loved, and you’re wanted.
You’re doing great. You’re loved, and you’re wanted.
You’re doing great. You’re loved, and you’re wanted—
Step three: complete.
Step four: brush his teeth.
The homestretch. He was over halfway through the routine.
Brushing his teeth had always been a bit of a challenge. Exeggutor was right; it’d been a few days since he last did. Not that he didn’t do anything at all to clean them—he swished mouthwash around for a few seconds before he left on the days he couldn’t manage, but obviously it wasn’t enough.
Running his tongue over his teeth, Blue felt the plaque build-up. “Gross,” he muttered. “How’d you let me go this long, Vee?”
She sniffed, stood up, circled around, and plopped herself right back down in his dirty clothing. No help at all from her.
That was fine, he couldn’t expect her to do everything.
He grabbed his toothbrush, and wet the bristles under the water. Toothpaste was disgusting. He wished that the flavored kinds came in packaging other than bright kiddy colors, with cartoon characters and cutesy Pokémon decorated on them. Instead, he forced himself to put up with the plain, nasty mint, because he was “an adult.”
Blue squeezed out an acceptable amount of toothpaste, then a little bit more, because truthfully, he barely put any on there.
“Alright,” he sighed. “...here we go.”
He gagged as soon as it came in contact with his tongue. Eevee whined.
“Fuck. Son of a bitch. Alright.” He spat, spat the little bit of toothpaste he managed to get in his mouth out, as much as possible. “Alright. Fine. Fine.”
He rinsed the toothpaste off. Reapplied the tiny bit he started with, mashing it farther into the bristles.
“Second time’s the charm.”
He started the timer, and went at it.
Two minutes was an eternity.
Upper left mouth. Lower left mouth. Just the front, first. Thirty seconds, then the other side. Upper right mouth, lower right mouth. Thirty seconds, then the inside. Upper teeth. Make sure to get all the way in the back.
Gag. Take a moment. Breathe in through the nose, and out through the mouth.
Lower teeth. Make sure to get all the way to the back.
Gag. Take a moment. Breathe in through the nose, and out through the mouth.
His alarm went off as he was debating whether or not to brush his tongue. He knew he was supposed to, it was a part of good hygiene, but he hadn’t found a way to not almost throw up, yet.
Whatever. He brushed his teeth.
He cupped his hands and washed his mouth out as thoroughly as possible, swishing the water and spitting as many times as it took to get rid of the awful feeling of the toothpaste, the terrible taste of mint and fluoride.
He ran his tongue back over his teeth. They felt smoother, at least. There were a couple of spots he missed, but the greater majority felt clean. He pulled his lips back, to try and find the bad spots. Taking the now toothpaste-free toothbrush, he scrubbed at the back of his mouth, trying to force the plaque away.
One more cursory run-over with his tongue, and he found...similar results.
Whatever. Good enough.
“How’s it look?” Blue asked, grinning down at Eevee, all teeth.
She didn’t even look up.
...whatever.
Step four: complete.
Step five: get dressed.
The longest step.
Originally, Blue hadn’t been planning on leaving the house, except to maybe go next door to see if Red was really and truly gone or if Leaf just omitted the fact he was still around, so he hadn’t needed to worry about what to wear. But, since Leaf wanted to get together, he needed an outfit.
It was nice out, cool but not cold, breezy as always, and with the sun shining down, it was almost warm. Not cold enough for a jacket, that’s for sure. And if they were going to be outside, walking around a bunch, he’d need something lightweight, something he wouldn’t sweat too much in.
So…where to begin?
Blue stood and surveyed his room. Right. His messy, messy room. With crap and shit all over the place. He somehow forgot about that.
He turned, and caught himself in the mirror.
Gramps had left for the day, and Daisy didn’t live at home anymore, so he walked back from the bathroom practically naked aside from clean boxers. Blue twisted, turned. His body fat distribution hadn’t changed much; it hadn’t even been a year yet, after all. Still had noticeable hips. Still had noticeable breasts. Still had a flat ass, but that one was, unfortunately, hereditary.
He peered, leaned in closer. A little bit of hair had begun to sprout up around his belly, around the spots where he did his shots. “Oh, hey. Look at that.”
Blue twisted, turned. He’d lost some weight, looked like. His stomach didn’t pudge out over the elastic band of his boxers as much as it used to. He put his hands over his chest, pressing flat, feeling the fat squeeze out, trying to escape from under his fingertips.
Blue twisted. Turned. Examined himself. First from the front, then from the side.
“...ugh.”
It wasn’t fair.
Blue liked boobs.
If it were on any other body, he’d love them. Decently sized, pretty perky. The kind that he’d pretend not to stare at in school, when girls would wear shirts that weren’t their size, their uniforms not fitting properly after growing and developing over break. The kind that fit perfectly in the hand, not too big but not too small. The kind perfect for showing off, if he weren’t trying to pass as a man.
Of course, he knew he was going to end up with bigger breasts growing up: it ran in the family. But...why couldn’t it have just...skipped him? Let Daisy deal with that baggage.
Blue dropped his hands. Twisted, turned. Examined his reflection in the mirror. Maybe he should skip the binder for his outing with Leaf; they’d be out and about til midnight, knowing her. They’d probably eat, then battle. Then, go shiny hunting, because Leaf loved dragging him along for that. Crawling around in the grass, climbing up trees, hopping down ledges, spelunking in caves...too much exercise, to wear a binder all day. Plus, Saturdays were usually his rest day.
His eyes looked behind him, behind his reflection in the mirror, scanning the floor of his room. “...where...hm.”
He had a bra in here somewhere.
Keyword: somewhere.
He tried to think of where it might be, of when he last wore it. The problem was, if he wasn’t binding, he was going free, because the only time he didn’t bind was when he was at home. He couldn’t even think of the last time he wore a bra.
His phone buzzed on his dresser. From Leaf.
[ Sorry! Was in the shower, but YESSS konbini!!! U read my mind. I’ll be there in like...20? 30? Which sounds good??? ]
“Twenty—! Hell no.” He couldn’t get dressed in twenty minutes. He’d be lucky to find a bra in twenty minutes. “Ah...hm…”
He brought a hand to his chest, tapped his fingers on his sternum, muttering to himself. Thirty minutes. Thirty minutes to get dressed, fix his hair, do any last prep, round up his team, pack his bag, get his shoes on. Thirty minutes wasn’t that long of a time, but it was longer than twenty. And those were his options: twenty, or thirty. He groaned. “Shit. Okay. Fine.”
He typed out a quick response: [ Gimme 30. Just lmk when you’re here ]
Timer: set.
He had thirty minutes.
Stage one: underwear.
Fuck the bra. He’d go without it. As much as he hated it, as long as no one noticed, as long as no one stared, as long as no one commented, it’d be fine. Leaf knew better than to say anything, and if Red was in town, if this was supposed to be some sort of surprise (which both Red and Leaf knew he hated, but as if that would stop his friends from doing something he hated, as stubborn as they are), Blue knew he could count on Leaf to smack him whenever he inevitably said something stupid.
So, boxers. And that was it.
Stage one: complete.
Stage two: pants.
He’d do black on black, today. It was the easiest thing to put together, in such short notice. Time to locate his favorite black cargos. Good thing he knew where they were: wherever he tossed yesterday’s dirty clothes.
...wherever that was.
Retrace steps.
Yesterday, when he got home, he essentially just stripped and went to bed. So, theoretically, they should be… “Ah-ha! I knew it.” Right next to his bed. Covered in Arcanine fur. “...ugh.”
Whatever. They were still clean, relatively speaking. He washed them the day before yesterday, and only wore them once since.
He brushed them off, wiping his hands over the front and back, attempting and failing spectacularly at getting the fur off. Whatever, it was good enough. He tugged them on, first right leg, then left leg. Pulled them up over his hips, his flat ass, buttoned and zipped. The belt was even still looped around it, look at that. Time saver.
Stage two: complete.
Stage three: shirt.
Black on black was the plan. But...what shirt? Long sleeved or short? Patterned or plain? Button-up? Collared? There were so many options. Too many options.
He eyed the shirt he wore yesterday, laying crumpled on the floor next to his bed. ...no, he couldn’t wear that again—he had standards; he wasn’t trying to look, or smell, like Red.
Blue frowned.
It’d been nearly three years since he last saw his best friend in person. Last time he did was in Unova, and even then, they didn’t spend much time together; Blue was too busy mingling with others and fighting in the tournament to truly catch up, and Red was too busy exploring the region. Blue always managed to just barely miss Red whenever he was in town, only catching wind after the fact through the group chat. It was almost like...
Like he was being avoided.
Was that it? Was Red avoiding him on purpose?
Blue snorted and shook his head. Yeah, right. As if. No, Red was too dense to do something like that on purpose. Maybe on accident. Besides, Leaf wouldn’t stand for that. She’d drag Red by the ear to see him, if that’s what it took.
...wait.
Was Red in town? Was he, actually? Blue had thought that as a bit of a joke, but...it was hitting him. Was that why Leaf wanted to get together on such short notice? Because Red was in town, and she wanted the three of them to catch up?
So then the whole premise of the outing was a lie. They weren’t going to be out all day, they probably wouldn’t be going out at all. And if they were, it wouldn’t be for long. But then, that completely ruined the bare-bones outfit he was planning.
Shit. Shit. Now what? What was he supposed to wear? He couldn’t wear yesterday’s clothes, not for a special occasion. He had standards; he had an image to uphold. What would they think, if Blue showed up to spend time together in yesterdays clothes, covered in Arcanine fur? What was he thinking?
He couldn’t wear this.
He frantically undid his belt and wriggled the cargo pants down his legs.
“What are you doing.”
Blue jumped, twisted around at the waist. “Oh. So you let everyone out, huh?” Alakazam nodded, slowly, serenely. “Well, I need you to get ‘em back together for me. I’m headed out.”
Alakazam eyed him warily. Blue instinctively crossed his arms over his chest. “...you are naked.”
“I am not.” His pants were pooled around his ankles. “...I’ve got underwear on, don’t I?”
Alakazam’s finger lifted up, and Blue’s pants lifted back onto his waist, re-buttoning and re-buckling themselves. “Your heart was beating erratically, your mind racing. Where is Eevee.”
Were they? He couldn’t tell. He was too busy making up scenarios in his mind to realize. He shrugged. “Bathroom? I might have locked her in on accident, she was sleeping. Anyway—”
“Red is not in Pallet.”
His words stopped mid-sentence, his brain faltered. “...huh?”
“His presence is not here in Pallet. You can relax.”
“...he’s...not here?”
“No. He never was.”
Red wasn’t in town. He was gone, off on another journey in another region. He was far, far away from Pallet. He didn’t even stop by to say hello. Blue could relax. His best friend was gone again. He swallowed dryly, painfully, and nodded. “...thanks.”
Alakazam nodded back; then, levitated a shirt out from his dresser. A plain black collared polo. “Will this work.”
“...yeah. Thanks, pal.”
“You are welcome.”
Stage three: complete.
Stage four: accessories.
Blue’s jewelry box was permanently open, with how often he dug around in it. Earrings, rings, necklaces, bracelets. In its own little pocket, sat his badge. The official badge of Viridian City Gym. He picked it up and examined it.
Still looked brand new, perfectly polished and ready to wear. It was slightly bigger than the ones he handed out at the gym, more detailed. Multi-faceted, with deep green emerald gems inlaid. It was his, to prove he was, in fact, the Gym Leader of Viridian City Gym. No one else in the world had this particular one.
In the tiny mirror of his jewelry box, he watched himself pin it to his collar, watched himself right it in place, watched himself make sure it was visible and secure.
Then, he picked up a necklace. Silver strand, with a pale white pendant. His friendship necklace, the other two parts currently somewhere in Pallet. He knew Leaf kept hers safe; she wore it as a bracelet, taking the pendant off and making it into a charm.
He knew Red’s was broken, with half left sitting on his dresser at home, on top of his old badge box, so it wouldn’t inevitably get lost. The other half was somewhere in Cerulean Cave, buried in mud and ice.
Blue wore his every single day. It had a crack running down the middle, one he managed to barely save with some maximum strength super glue.
In the tiny mirror of his jewelry box, he watched himself loop it around his neck, watched his fingers fumble a little with the lobster clasp before getting it secured, watched himself twist it back around so it sat properly.
His ears had been pierced at a young age, one of the few remnants of his parents he had left. He looked in the mirror. He left his hoops in last night, forgetting to take them out before collapsing into bed. But, they looked fine. They matched the outfit.
Rings would take too long to figure out. Blue was running low on time, and he still had an entire step left of the routine.
And that was that.
Blue was finally dressed, and it only took twenty minutes.
Step five: complete.
Step six: do his hair.
Less than ten minutes to do his hair was not ideal.
Blue ran his hands through the ginger strands, searching for knots. Since he washed it this morning, it was clean and soft, free from the gels or sprays he normally used.
He didn’t have time to apply everything. Which sucked, but he’d just have to deal with it. He took his comb and raked it through.
Blue cut his hair when he was nine years old, by himself, the day before his tenth birthday. He snuck the scissors out of the kitchen to his room, and cut his hair off in the middle of the night, in the dark, because he couldn’t deal with it being long anymore, was sick of asking, and was impatient. And, as a result, it looked like pure shit. Leaf laughed in his face. Red didn’t laugh, at least not out loud. But he made that face, the face that said he was trying really, really hard to not laugh, and it was proving difficult.
His hair didn’t look like that, anymore.
He still cut it himself, after a horrible encounter with a hairstylist who didn’t understand what he was asking for, but he’d gotten leagues better at it.
Actually, it was a bit too long, he realized. He’d gotten in the habit of keeping his bangs just above his eyebrows (because he had a big forehead), but they were now brushing his eyelashes. He combed it out quickly, trying to figure out if it was just his imagination or if it really was that long.
It was. Yikes.
He snatched the scissors from the counter and carefully, very carefully, positioned them. And…
Snip.
Maybe a little more.
Snip.
“There we go.” Blue combed around his hair. “...hm. Maybe…”
Snip.
Snip.
Snip.
Blue turned his head side to side, examining. That looked better. More well-groomed, less over-grown. Cleaner. He put the scissors and comb down, brushed his shoulders free of red hair. He squeezed a dollop of styling cream into his hands, spread it between his fingers, and raked it through his hair, making sure to get everywhere. He finger-combed, ruffled it up, shook his head like Arcanine did during baths.
Blue looked at his reflection in the mirror. Really, truly looked.
And couldn’t see himself anymore.
Step six: complete.
He was officially finished with the routine.
Blue had about three minutes before Leaf was supposed to arrive. He ran down the stairs, Eevee hot on his heels, and skid to a stop before the table. His belt was laying on top, his balls all sealed up and latched on. Alakazam worked fast.
As he tugged his shoes on, his phone buzzed.
It...wasn’t Leaf. It was an unknown number.
[ Hey sorry I missed you. ]
“...sorry pal, wrong number,” he muttered, then it buzzed again. And kept buzzing.
[ I stopped by the gym but you’d left already. ]
[ I didn’t have time to stick around, so I left a gift for you in the mail slot and headed out. ]
[ Sorry, this is Red! Kris gave me your number. I had to get a new one, old phone was busted to hell. ]
Blue blinked. Stared at the messages.
Red?
That son of a bitch. He had the audacity to text now. After nearly an entire year of radio silence. How dare he. He should’ve just left Blue well enough alone, if he knew what was good for him. He couldn’t make the time to stop by?
What a load of crap. He clearly had the time to chat with Kris, long enough for her to give him Blue’s number. He clearly had the time to fly out to Viridian.
But actually seeing Blue? No, no. That was too much for Red, apparently.
Blue was right. He was being avoided.
Why?
Why would Red do that? Weren’t they supposed to be friends, again? Best friends.
Didn’t he...want to see Blue, again?
No. Clearly not.
What if that was his last chance?
What if Red gets hurt, and no one’s around? Did anyone even know where he was going? Did he tell Kris where he was headed off to? He didn’t even say in his messages where he was, just that he was gone. He could be anywhere. On a mountain, in a cave, at the bottom of the ocean. Dead in a ditch. He could be somewhere Blue couldn’t even fathom.
Red could literally be anywhere at all and no one had any idea where he was or when he’d show up again.
Red could never show up again.
Red could be gone forever, and no one would know.
Blood, pouring out of lacerations, skin bruised black and purple, the cracking of bones, the snapping of tendons, the way the eyes bulge when someone is getting choked to death, the sound a young boy makes when he's—
Blue didn’t realize he was starting to hyperventilate until Eevee tugged—yanked, hard—on his pant leg. He practically collapsed onto the floor, and she leapt into his arms.
That piece of shit.
And he left Blue a gift. In the mail slot at the gym, because Pallet was too far out of his way.
When he came to, his phone was ringing. The alarm was going off. His thirty minutes were up about seven minutes ago.
He tugged on his other shoe, tied it, and fastened his belt to his waist. Blastoise, Arcanine, Exeggutor, Pidgeot, Machamp, and Alakazam; everyone, today, since Leaf wanted a battle. Alakazam’s ball shook slightly when he ran a thumb over it. “Thanks, pal.”
Blue glanced around the kitchen. Everything was in order. He had all his stuff; phone, wallet, Pokémon, bag. He was forgetting something, though. Eevee yipped at him from the floor. “Ah, right. Food. Sorry, sorry.”
“She’s been fed,” Alakazam’s voice sounded off in his head.
“Okay, see, that’s why you’re fat. I told Gramps you were over-weight.” She yipped at him again. “I don’t care if you don’t battle, you gotta stay healthy. You aren’t here just to look cute, okay?”
She was doing a good job of it, though. Blue couldn’t stay mad at her. He stooped over to scratch her under the chin, the way she liked it. “I dunno what I’d do without you, Vee,” Blue mumbled. “You keep me together.”
The doorbell going off startled him enough to jump. He checked his phone: ten minutes past what Leaf said. “Alright, stay outta trouble, okay?” He warned Eevee. “And if anyone breaks in, you know what to do.”
He gave her one more pat on the head, and headed to the door. He paused, right next to the mirror, and examined himself. Blue twisted, turned, looked himself over.
He grinned.
He frowned.
He pulled his eyelid down and stuck out his tongue.
He picked off a dried tear stain.
He took a deep breath, and swung open the door.
“You’re late,” he greeted.
“Oh, whatever.” Leaf shoved his shoulder with a smile and an eye roll. “C’mon, loser, let’s go. I’m starving.”