Work Text:
Sharing
It was Ash's turn to talk to the person at the hotel desk and Gary waited as patiently as he could while soaking wet and freezing. They hadn't planned on encountering rain but they really should have. Either way, they'd made it to the city and just needed to find a place to dry off and sleep — something that had been slightly more problematic than anticipated.
They really needed to get better at this whole planning thing but, in all fairness, traveling together hadn't exactly been planned this time around. They had started planning adventures together and traveled together more often than not these days, but this time had been an unexpected run-in. Gary hadn't even realized Ash was still in Alola after his visit with Kukui and Burnet. That meant no plans, no reservations, and, thus far, no luck finding a place to stay.
Gary tried to ignore the rising sense of despair when Ash turned back to him and made his way over. The last thing he wanted to do was camp in this downpour.
Still, he sighed dejectedly when Ash stopped in front of him. "No luck?"
"They have one room," Ash replied warily.
"Then take it."
"There's a problem."
"Problem?" Gary asked, voice hollow even to his own ears. He just wanted to warm up and change into dry clothes! Why was this so difficult?
"It's a suite. There's only one bed."
Oh.
Well. That sucked, but it wasn't a deal breaker. Not in this weather. A suite probably had a couch and he was willing to sleep on the floor as long as he got a warm shower out of it.
"Take it before someone else does."
Ash nodded dutifully and returned to the desk, returning to Gary a few moments later with two keys in hand. "Are you sure about this?" he asked, still wary as he handed Gary one of the keys.
"Am I sure about having running water and being out of the rain?" Gary asked pointedly. "Yes. Very. You can even take the bed as long as I get the shower first."
Ash nodded but Gary noted just how hesitant he still seemed. Odd. They had shared rooms before — plenty of times in fact. Enough to know that Ash would scope out the food options while Gary showered. Enough to have something of a routine.
The only thing different was the bed situation, which Gary wasn't concerned about. It wasn't like they were going to share the bed — a thought that twisted his stomach and heart alike. He tried his best to ignore that particular detail: he wasn't going to screw up their friendship over silly feelings this time.
"C'mon, let's find this room and get into some dry clothes," Gary pressed. "I'm freezing."
He let Ash lead the way — he couldn't possibly get them lost every time and the hotel was small enough anyway — and they were unlocking the room only a few moments later. They paused in the doorway.
It was smaller than expected. The couch was more of a loveseat and Gary doubted there was enough room for a fold-out bed, if the little couch even had it. He supposed he could sleep on the floor with his sleeping bag — something he had been prepared to do — but there was a difference between being prepared to do something and actually wanting to do it.
No matter. A shower was more important anyway.
The boys left their shoes and bags at the door, and Ash sank into a chair next to the small table and picked up the room service menu. "Go ahead and warm up," he said without looking up, "I'll order us some food."
Gary could only tiredly nod as he dug through his bag for his spare clothes. He wasn't looking forward to sleeping in a pair of board shorts and a t-shirt, but this was Alola and he hadn't packed the comfortable pajama pants he was longing for right now. At least the shorts were dry. He headed into the bathroom and turned the shower on as hot as it would go, letting the room steam up as he laid his clothes out on the long counter to dry. Shivering from being soaked for so long, he stayed under the hot water as long as he could, simply savoring the warmth and how much it soothed his tired muscles after all the ground he had covered in the last few days.
A hot shower was a rarity while doing field work. Washing up was often done in a lake or, in the case of this trip, the ocean, and on the rare occasion a camping spot had a shower, it was usually cold. Hot showers were a luxury found in pokemon centers and hotels, not far out in the wilds where Gary preferred to be.
A long while into his much longer-than-necessary shower, Gary remembered that Ash also needed to warm up and he reluctantly left the refuge of the warm water. He dressed quickly and left the bathroom to sink into a spot on the couch while Ash was ordering room service. He poked around between the cushions for a moment before determining that it didn't contain a fold-out bed.
"Food will be here soon," Ash announced, grinning widely as he hung up the phone. "And there's a laundry room down the hall."
The latter was almost more of a relief than the thought of food. "Great," Gary sighed, relaxing back against the cushions as he listened to the rain continue its insistent patter against the room's window. "Thanks for the food," he added as an afterthought.
They had traveled together enough times for it to have become almost automatic for Ash to figure out food, but that didn't mean Gary appreciated it any less.
"That couch doesn't look very good for sleeping," Ash commented pointedly, to which Gary could only nod.
"Doesn't look like it folds out, either. I guess I'll just set up the sleeping bag on the floor."
Ash looked positively scandalized at that idea. "Don't do that! The bed's huge, just sleep in it."
Pikachu looked just as scandalized. "Pi pika, pipichu!"
He had a point but… there were complications that he didn't want to discuss with Ash just yet. They would probably get to the point where they had to discuss those complicated feelings but they weren't at that point just yet. For now, Gary preferred to push them aside and ignore them the best he could. Maybe if he did that long enough, the feelings would go away.
He doubted it, considering they had been there since he was nine and had only grown stronger over the years.
Either way, ignoring it was hard enough any time they shared a room in a hotel or a pokemon center. It would be even more difficult sharing a bed.
There had to be another option but Gary found himself nodding his agreement despite himself. After the long day of travel, he had little energy to think of an option Ash would go for. Might as well just sleep in the damn bed.
"Fine," he agreed reluctantly, "but I'm hitting you back if you kick me."
Ash only laughed. "As long as you're not sleeping on the floor." With that, he stood and made his way to the bathroom, presumably for his own shower.
Gary slumped back against the cushions with a sigh as soon as the door was closed behind Ash, his mind swirling with thoughts. This wasn't a good idea, but arguing with Ash over sleeping on the floor was an even worse idea. Maybe they should just get it over with and have the conversation, but then again, if it went poorly, Gary would have to brave the weather to find a different place to sleep. He doubted that would happen but wasn't about to take the risk — not on a cold, rainy night.
As if sensing his turbulent thoughts, Pikachu hopped up in his lap with a little squeak of a greeting. The little mouse yawned cutely and nuzzled against Gary's shirt before peering at him with curious eyes. "Pi, pipichu?"
Offering him a small smile, Gary reached out to give him some of his favorite scritches behind the ear. "I'm fine," he replied quietly. "It's just complicated."
"Pika…"
The doubt in his little voice almost made Gary laugh. It probably would have, if it wasn't his own feelings they were talking about. "It is," he pressed. "I already screwed up our friendship once, I don't want to do it again."
"Pi pikapi pikachu pika!"
"I don't want to risk it tonight when it's raining like this."
"Piii," his friend's starter sighed and settled more comfortably in Gary's lap.
The little guy wasn't giving up but the conversation was apparently over for now. Gary had a feeling they would come back to it the next time they were alone without Ash in the room — Pikachu was a persistent pokemon, after all.
"I'll talk to him soon," Gary relented after a moment.
They had plans to travel the Orange Islands together the month after next anyway. He could talk to Ash sometime on that trip, probably. The Orange Islands were a safe place for him — if it went wrong, he could just go visit Professor Ivy. But he wasn't going to worry about that now. For now, he was going to enjoy a few moments of peace and rest while Ash was in the shower and they waited on their food to arrive.
"Pika pipichu," Pikachu replied, earning an eye roll from Gary.
"I will. Now's not the right time. Just let me rest a bit, alright?"
"Pi."
He always had to have the last word — that had been the case ever since the little guy had first shown up at his grandfather's lab all those years earlier. Gary only shook his head and closed his eyes, relaxing to the sounds of the rain against the window and the running water coming from the bathroom. Before he knew it, the day's travel caught up to him and sleep pulled him under.
"Falling asleep already?" Ash's amused voice interrupted the unexpected nap.
"Only because you were taking so long," Gary returned through a yawn.
"You're one to speak," Ash argued. "You were in there almost twenty minutes!"
"Yet you still want me to sleep with you."
Ash's cheeks turned nearly scarlet in an instant and Gary had to bite back a laugh. He was so easy to rile up, even after all these years. It was almost too much fun.
They were interrupted by a knock at the door and a voice calling, "Room service!"
Eagerly accepting the distraction, Ash rushed for the door and took the overloaded tray of food from the man at the door. Though he wanted to pick on Ash some more, the desire for food won out and Gary headed over to the little table situated in front of the window and waited patiently for Ash to bring the food over.
It was nothing fancy and Gary'd had better here in Alola, but he couldn't complain — especially considering Ash had been kind enough to order for him. Either way, the food was filling and Ash and Pikachu were good company. And they were out of the rain.
After eating, they took a few minutes to head down the hallway to the laundry room to toss their rain-soaked clothes in a dryer before returning to their room, where Ash promptly plopped down on the couch and reached for the television remote. Gary joined him without hesitation and watched as Ash flipped through the channels until he settled on a channel showing battles from the recent competition that Ash had just competed in. A quiet fell over them as they watched, broken only by the occasional comment on a pokemon on the screen.
It wasn't long before the long day of travel caught up with Gary.
"I'm beat," he declared after the third time of nearly nodding off on the couch. "I don't care what you do, but I'm going to bed." He would have already been asleep in his tent if it wasn't for running into Ash and deciding to travel together.
"Already?" Ash asked, his surprise clear in his voice. "What happened to being nocturnal?"
"It's raining and I've been doing field work for the last three weeks," Gary reminded him. "I'm tired." The rain always made him tired and ready for a nap, which was perhaps fortunate in this situation. Maybe he would already be asleep by the time Ash came to bed.
But that thought was clearly in vain.
"I should go to bed too," Ash sighed reluctantly, reaching for the remote. "I've got a long day tomorrow."
Gary tried not to let his disappointment show. Instead he shrugged his shoulders as he stood and made his way across the small suite to the bed.
"You can leave the tv on, if you want," he said, settling on the side of the bed closest to the window.
Ash did exactly that as he followed Gary to the bed and settled on his own side. "Don't hog the blanket," he warned, crawling beneath the covers.
"Don't kick me," Gary retorted, giving the blanket a good tug just to annoy Ash.
He rolled over, facing away from Ash, though he was well aware of every move the other teen made. While Ash fidgeted and tried to get comfortable Gary sighed and buried his face in the pillow and tried hard not to think about how much he had wanted this exact thing — although, in his fleeting and embarrassing fantasies, they were always cuddled together beneath the blankets, speaking in hushed voices, sharing kisses…
No.
He quickly shut down that unhelpful line of thought. There was no way he was going to think about this years-long crush on his friend right now when the other boy was next to him in bed. It was too much to think about, too much to consider, too much to lose.
Not to mention embarrassing as hell.
Nope. He was going to listen to the rain and go to sleep like a normal person.
But sleep didn't come as fast as he hoped, despite him nodding off on the couch. No matter what he tried, he couldn't get his thoughts to settle — though this had started to become a more common thing. Insomnia brought on by feelings that he knew they needed to talk about soon had become a nightly occurrence whenever he and Ash traveled together. It was as embarrassing as it was frustrating, and the last thing he wanted to do was talk about his feelings.
He tossed and turned while Ash snored peacefully. The occasional kick was returned with little venom until Gary eventually drifted off in the early hours of the morning. It would definitely make for a difficult day of travel and Gary had found himself wondering, shortly before finally falling asleep, whether or not this was reason enough to take a rest day. It was certainly reason enough for a late start, which was as close to a rest day as he usually got when he was traveling.
He awoke to the sound of Ash puttering about the hotel room in the morning. Gary blinked blearily at the sound of the television playing replays of some competition and groaned tiredly when he was met with the sunlight filtering in through the window. At least it wasn't raining today. That would make things easier once he left the hotel and started traveling.
"Oh, sorry! Did I wake you up?" Ash's voice asked, far too loudly and cheerfully for first thing in the morning.
Gary shook his head and buried his face back in his pillow. "What time's check out?" he asked sleepily, voice muffled by the pillow.
"Eleven. Why?"
"Because I'm gonna sleep in." Gary could feel Ash's stare even with his face buried in a pillow.
"You didn't catch a cold from being out in the rain, did you?"
The concern in his voice felt like a warm blanket being wrapped around him and Gary felt his cheeks heat in response. He burrowed deeper beneath the covers and shook his head again. "No, I just couldn't sleep," he returned, lifting his head from the pillow.
"You couldn't sleep?" Ash echoed. "But you usually sleep as hard as I do."
"I'm aware." It came out a little more irritable than he intended it, but Ash stating the obvious wasn't going to help him catch up on lost sleep.
"Why couldn't you sleep?"Ash asked curiously.
Gary rolled over and stared up at the ceiling, giving up on going back to sleep just yet. "I just have something on my mind," he admitted.
"Anything I can help with?"
It absolutely was, and this was absolutely a great chance to talk about his feelings for the trainer. It was the best opportunity that had come up in months of knowing that he should say something.
"Not really," he replied instead.
He mentally kicked himself, unsure of where his confidence went every time he so much as thought about talking to Ash about this. How bad could it be? Ash wasn't the sort to have negative reactions to his friends talking about something serious, and he probably wouldn't have a problem with another guy having feelings for him, especially considering the fact that he and Goh had dated.
Yet, for some reason, he froze up every time a chance to talk to Ash arose. That, or he'd panic and suddenly revert back to his old habit of picking on the trainer. Fortunately, Ash took those moments in stride but Gary wondered just how Ash put up with him sometimes.
Ash, however, didn't seem entirely convinced by his answer. He eyed Gary for a moment that stretched on long enough to make Gary wonder what it was Ash was seeing. But Ash let it go and flashed Gary one of his kind and earnest smiles. "Well, if you change your mind, you have my number," he returned cheerfully.
Oh.
Right. They were headed separate ways for another few weeks before they were supposed to be back in Pallet. Gary's stomach clenched uncomfortably at the realization. He'd been enjoying having Ash as a close friend and frequent travel buddy this year.
"You have to leave soon, don't you?" Gary asked, hoping that his disappointment wasn't showing through.
"Pika," Pikachu agreed sadly from his perch on the windowsill. There was a hint of a warning to his little voice, telling Gary that soon meant very soon. They were probably running later than intended.
Ash nodded. "A ferry and a plane," he reminded Gary.
The researcher had his own ferries to catch this afternoon, but they both had multiple departure times and were short enough that he could sleep in a few hours and still make the travel day work. "Still coming to Pallet for Tracey’s birthday?" he asked.
"I'll be there," Ash promised, that painfully earnest smile still in place. "Still going to the Orange Islands afterwards?"
Gary flashed him a quick grin. He never missed a chance to visit the Orange Islands. "Still want to go with me?" he asked.
Ash's smile turned mischievous. "Against my better judgment."
A laugh escaped Gary but Pikachu interrupted them with a warning "pikapi," before he could reply.
Ash and Pikachu clearly needed to hit the road and Gary needed some time alone to get some proper sleep. "Get going," he told Ash through a sudden yawn. "I'll see you in Pallet."
Ash grinned and shoved a few last items into his bag. "See you in Pallet, Gary," he returned warmly before turning back to his bag and continuing to load his belongings back into it.
How everything he owned had ended up scattered around the room over one night, Gary wasn't sure, but he didn't have the energy to attempt figuring that out right now. Instead, Gary rolled over and buried his face in the pillow once more, hoping sleep would come quickly. For a few short moments, there was only the sound of Ash puttering around and shoving belongings into his bag. It was quiet enough that Gary should have felt himself starting to drift off, but that didn't happen. Instead, his brain was as awake as ever, alert to every movement Ash made in the quiet room.
Sleep wasn't going to come easily this morning either.
"Bye, Gary," Ash called over his shoulder as he adjusted his hat and opened the door.
"Later," Gary replied tiredly, not bothering to raise his head from the pillow.
The door closed behind his friend and Gary sighed and rolled over to stare at the mused blanket and pillows on Ash's side of the bed, eyeing the still-indented pillow with more longing than he cared to admit. He really needed to have that conversation with Ash because this was getting ridiculous.
Maybe when they were in Pallet for Tracey's birthday. That way, when — if, he corrected himself quickly — things went wrong or turned awkward, he could go ahead to the Orange Islands and Ash could do whatever he wanted.
Definitely. That was exactly what he was going to do.