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Beneath The Mistletoe
"More mistletoe!" Ash chirped, pointing upward for what must have been the eighth time this evening.
Already resigned to his fate — not that it was a bad one at all — Gary rolled his eyes and pressed a quick kiss to Ash's cheek before turning right back to his conversation with Professor Ivy. Pikachu hopped over to his shoulder and gave him a wholly unnecessary consoling pat, earning himself an appreciative scritch behind the ears.
Another year, another one of his grandfather's holiday parties. Gary was enjoying chatting with the professors and Ash's friends this year, but he had a suspicion that his grandfather was up to something with all the mistletoe. Granted, Misty had helped Tracey decorate, so it very well could have been her that was up to something.
Actually… With the way she and Dawn kept giggling and pointing out the mistletoe to everyone, it was definitely her.
No matter, there was nothing to worry about as long as he stuck close to Ash. But his drink was nearly empty and there were only so many stories he and Professor Ivy could share about the Calusa region — and they'd shared most of them when he'd tagged along on a lapras research trip in the Orange Islands this past fall. It had been his first trip in the field since his journey in Calusa. But, as nice as it was to enjoy field work again, his life wasn't devoted to it anymore and he was quickly running out of stories to share, patience for people, and alcohol to make the whole thing go smoother.
The social facade was starting to slip but, fortunately for him, Professor Ivy had known him ever since he was still in diapers. No professor knew him as well as she did, save for his grandfather.
"You're getting bored," she observed, a hint of a tease to her serene voice.
"It's not you," he assured her unnecessarily.
"You were always more interested in pokemon than people," she returned with a warm laugh. "Go on, take a break from all the socializing."
Though he was fast running out of energy for people, he flashed her a grin. "You're my favorite professor, you know that?"
Another warm laugh met that and Ash chuckled somewhere behind him. "You tell me every time I see you. Now, go on, get away from the people and the mistletoe."
Ash's arm wound about his waist at the mention of the mistletoe and a kiss was placed against his cheek. "How about some food?" he suggested with a bright smile that told Gary he'd had enough to drink tonight.
One more drink and Ash would be stumbling into the walls, barely able to speak. Food was a good idea. They started towards the hallway only to be interrupted a few steps later.
"Oh, Gary!"
He didn't have to look up at Dawn's teasing voice to know that they had just walked under yet another bundle of what was definitely Gary's least favorite plant. With a dramatic groan, he leaned over and pressed another kiss to Ash's cheek. He didn't mind kissing his fiance but this was getting old fast.
"C'mon," he muttered, tugging at Ash's hand, "before they get any other ideas."
"We should make the mistletoe more interesting," Ash replied cheerfully, following along, wholly unbothered by Gary's rapidly fading patience.
Gary glared up at the offending plant as they passed by another little bundle. "By burning it?" he asked perhaps more seriously than the occasion called for.
Ash laughed. "By challenging anyone who stands under it to a battle!" Pikachu voiced his agreement with an excited chirp.
It was the most Ash thing Gary had ever heard come out of his mouth. He snorted in amusement and drained the last of his drink. "I still like my idea," he declared. "C'mon, let's get something to eat."
"What?" Ash laughed as they stepped into the hallway and made their way down to the kitchen. "You don't like my idea?"
"It's a very you idea," Gary returned, smiling despite himself.
"That means you love it."
He'd definitely had enough to drink. At least he was at the cute stage of inebriation and not the obnoxious stage.
"That's going a little far."
"Aw, you know you love it!"
Gary steered him into the kitchen — thankfully empty — with a hand on the shoulder and ducked his head to steal a quick kiss on the lips. "You know I love you."
Ash's resulting smile was sappy enough that Gary couldn't help a small laugh as he dipped his head for another kiss. These kisses he was happy to give: the other ones necessitated by some stupid plant hung for the sake of mischief, not so much.
One kiss quickly turned into two, turned into three, and Ash's fingers threaded through Gary's hair, pulling him closer as their lips caressed in the privacy of the kitchen. Pikachu gave an irritable squeak as he hopped off Ash's shoulder and scampered off to the counter. He savored his fiance's warmth as he wound his arms about Ash's waist and pulled him even closer with a contented sigh. This was more like it…
"I don't hear you complaining about the mistletoe now," Ash murmured cheekily as they separated a few moments later.
Gary swatted at the bill of Ash's backwards-turned hat in retaliation, laughing at the trainer's affronted squawk as it went tumbling off his head.
"Why do you always do that?" Ash whined, scurrying to pick it up.
Gary turned to the counter where bottles of alcohol were lined up with another laugh. He'd thought they would have learned from last year's peppermint schnapps debacle to not leave alcohol out with Ash around, but at least Ash had apparently learned his lesson this time around. He hadn't helped himself to a glass of the strongest alcohol in the house in any case.
"The better question is, why do you not expect it at this point?" Gary asked, pulling a few bottles closer and trying to recall the recipe Dawn had made earlier. It had been chocolatey and sweet, but he had an idea to make it stronger and even more chocolatey.
"Whatcha making?" Ash asked, shoving his freshly-retrieved hat back atop his head.
"Something too strong for you, ya lightweight."
"Something with every type of chocolate alcohol apparently," Ash observed as Gary began measuring amounts of the various alcohols and liqueurs into a shaker. "You know what would go good with all that chocolate?"
"I swear, if you say peppermint…"
Ash pulled a bottle from the arrangement and pushed it towards Gary, who had to fight down a gag at the mere sight of it. The ending of last year's holiday party ran through his head and he cringed. His fiance only grinned widely.
"Keep that up and you can sleep at your mother's house," Gary warned. He eyed the ingredients before him and added another splash of coffee liqueur before topping the shaker off with some ice.
"You won't be saying that after you finish that drink."
He had a point there. It was Gary’s third drink and that was usually the point where they ended up sneaking off together. Still… "We'll see about that."
He shook the ingredients together until the shaker was frosty from the ice and poured it into his empty glass, taking an experimental sip. For something thrown together based on a loose memory of a drink someone else had made, it was pretty good. He definitely wouldn't be complaining about the mistletoe when he was done with it.
"I still say we should challenge people under the mistletoe to a battle," Ash pressed.
Gary rolled his eyes as he rinsed out the shaker and began putting all the bottles back. "And I still say we should burn it."
"Your grandfather's gonna love that."
Gary hummed thoughtfully and took another sip. "Not as much as Arcanine."
"What are you boys up to?"
Both men jumped at the sudden question and looked up to see Delia in the doorway, hands on her hips and that look in her eye that told them she knew they were up to something.
"Ash wants to make the mistletoe more interesting," Gary explained.
"How so?" she asked, voice justifiably wary.
"By challenging anyone who walks under it to a battle."
His grandfather walked into the kitchen behind her at that moment, an amused smile curving his lips. "Ah, so it's mistle-foe! I like it!"
"Don't encourage them, Sam," Delia sighed from beside the professor, her gaze firmly on Ash, a warning in her eye.
"Gary's the one that wants to set it on fire!" Ash defended.
His grandfather's humor disappeared at that. "Please don’t."
"I didn't say I wanted to do it in the house!"
Delia sighed and shook her head. "What are we going to do with you two?"
"Be grateful that they’re living in their own house now?"
"Gee, thanks, Gramps."
Delia cracked a smile at that. "Oh, you know Gary's not the one we need to worry about," she defended him with a tiny giggle.
"You're just saying that because he's your favorite," Ash returned, though his grin had returned.
"I'm everybody's favorite," Gary boasted, taking a deep sip of his drink. "Except Grandpa's — Tracey's his favorite."
"Tracey doesn't want to set the decorations on fire," his grandfather defended.
"Give him another drink and an hour with Misty and Dawn, then he will."
As if on cue, Tracey appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, though he froze when he saw that the room was already occupied. He quickly hid his hands behind his back, but not before Gary noticed the green objects in his hands.
"Oh! Um, don't mind me," he hedged awkwardly as he stepped into the room and started towards the trash can. "I'm just hiding something from Misty and Dawn."
Gary laughed at the handful of green bundles in his hands. "We were just talking about what to do with those."
"Please tell me you were planning on taking them down and getting rid of them."
"He was hoping to let Arcanine have some fun with them, apparently," the professor answered before either Gary or Ash could say anything.
A look of pure relief came over Tracey's face and he immediately passed the bunches of mistletoe over to Gary, who took them with a mischievous grin. "Please," he begged. "The girls are bad enough with alcohol involved. They're a terror with these."
"Misty's gonna be pissed when she finds out," Ash warned them.
Gary shrugged his shoulders. "Blame me," he offered. "She'll believe it."
"Considering it'll be your pokemon burning them, she'll have no reason to blame anyone else," his grandfather pointed out.
"She's gonna kill you both."
Gary waved off Ash's concern. "Brock will stop her."
"Brock's scared of her!"
"Pi!" Pikachu agreed.
"I'm not," Gary returned with another shrug of the shoulders.
"That's either brave or stupid of you," Tracey sighed, "and I'm not sure which." Pikachu and Ash both nodded their agreement, though Gary ignored them.
"You're the one who was gonna throw them out. At least my way destroys the evidence."
"Well, I think I've heard enough, boys," the professor spoke up, cutting off the impending bicker fest. "I do believe Delia and I will go enjoy our plausible deniability now, don't you, Delia?"
"Yes," she agreed, looking rather weary. "Boys, keep the pyrotechnics to a minimum and outside, please."
"My idea of challenging people to battles doesn't sound so bad now, does it?"
"No battling when you've had alcohol, Ash."
"But you get to set stuff on fire?" Ash demanded. Pikachu patted his shoulder with a consoling coo.
"Only because your mother and the professor don't feel like dealing with you guys and because I'm sick of dealing with the mistletoe."
"Sorry, Ashy-boy. Two against one: you're outvoted. Better luck next year."
Tracey looked back and forth between the two of them, his expression somewhere between amused and worried. "Are we really doing this then?" he asked uncertainly.
"That depends," Gary replied taking another deep sip of his drink. "Did you get all of the mistletoe down, or do we have to go get more?"
"I took as much of it down as I could without anyone noticing. All of it disappearing at once would probably be more suspicious, don't you think?"
"How much is left?" Gary asked warily.
"Four, I think?"
That was impressive considering the sheer amount Misty had hung, but Gary wasn't quite sure he believed him. The amount Tracey had passed him was definitely not enough to have only left four of the accursed plants hanging around the house. "What happened to the rest?"
"Goh hid some behind the couch cushions and Brock may have snuck a few into the fireplace."
Gary laughed. "Nice!" He turned to Ash with a grin as he pulled a pokeball from his belt. "See? I'm not the only one setting stuff on fire."
The ball in his hand gave a single shake at the word fire. Arcanine was eager, apparently, but Gary knew his favorite fire type would stay put in his ball until he was called upon. Gary smiled. Such a good boy deserved to be rewarded. He finished off his drink in one large gulp, ignoring Tracey's reproachful look as he did so before nodding towards the back door.
"The fire pit's a little conspicuous, don't you think?"
"You're the one that took down your girlfriend's decorations, Trace," Gary pointed out. He opened the back door and stepped out onto the porch, almost immediately regretting not grabbing his coat first. "It's a little late to worry about being conspicuous," he said, fighting down a shiver as he tossed out the pokeball in hand.
Arcanine burst forth with an excited bark, clearly well aware of what he was being called forth for. He bounded down the porch steps ahead of Gary and looked back at him, tail eagerly wagging as he waited for his trainer to follow. Ash and Tracey followed along, the latter nervously looking over his shoulder while Ash chased after Arcanine, Pikachu clinging to his shoulder. An easy laugh escaped Gary as he followed his fiance and pokemon, the winter chill already forgotten.
The large fire dog led them automatically to the large fire pit a short distance from the back porch. It was a comfortable spot, surrounded by wooden chairs with a large pile of fire wood a safe distance away. They had spent many a night out here with Misty and Tracey, roasting marshmallows and watching the stars, and even more together, kissing and camping out. Arcanine pulled a large piece of firewood from the pile and brought it over to the firepit, setting it in place before going back to the pile and grabbing another. In no time, he had the wood arranged just so and he sat down, breathed out a flame, and watched as the flames took over.
Fire successfully started, Gary gave Arcanine an appreciative pat on the head before unceremoniously dropping the handful of mistletoe in the fire. He retreated a comfortable distance away and waited for Ash to join him as he always did. Sure enough, the trainer slipped an arm around his waist and nestled close to him, resting his head against Gary's shoulder.
"Admit it, my idea has its perks," Gary said, wrapping his arms around Ash's shoulders.
Ash leaned against him and reached up to take one of Gary's hands in his own. "The fire's nice," he agreed as Pikachu climbed from his shoulder to Gary's. "I still say Misty's gonna kill us."
"I'll deal with Misty," Tracey promised. "You two just enjoy the fire while it lasts. Can I trust you guys alone with fire?"
"Of course!" Ash squawked.
Gary flashed Tracey a grin. "We're very trustworthy, Trace," he returned innocently. "Why would you think such a thing?"
Tracey only shook his head and walked back up the steps to the back porch. "Be good, you two," he called over his shoulder before disappearing into the kitchen.
Ash turned to Gary as soon as the door had closed behind Tracey and gave him a grin that immediately made him wary. He was definitely up to something. "What are you up to?"
The trainer's grin only widened. "You're gonna hate me."
"What'd you do?"
He reached into his pocket and pulled something small and dark out, holding it up as high as he could over his head with a laugh.
Gary groaned, the sound half laughter, half despair. "Where'd that one come from?" He was certain he had taken all of the ones Tracey had collected.
"It was hanging over the fireplace earlier."
"The only one you could reach, huh?" He winced when Ash's elbow dug into his ribs.
"Funny enough, I took it down because I thought it might be a fire hazard."
Gary laughed outright at that, though he had to admit it was probably a smart move. "Look at you being the voice of reason tonight," he teased, voice fond.
Ash shook the little bundle of mistletoe over their heads. "So?" he asked expectantly.
"So, what?"
"How about a battle?"
"How about a kiss?"
"How about both?" Ash countered.
"No battling after drinking," Gary reminded him.
"Battle tomorrow, kiss now."
Gary pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Battle tomorrow," he agreed. "How about we head home and you can have more than just a kiss?"
"Deal."
Gary reached for Ash's face and gently tilted it enough to press a promising kiss to his lips, just barely delving in with his tongue before pulling away with a smile. "C'mon, let's get home before Misty finds out what happened to her mistletoe."