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thingwithfeathers2010-12-24 03:03 pm
outstretched) wrote in thingwithfeathers2010-12-24 03:03 pm
Entry tags:
New Season (Red/May, one-shot)
Title: New Season
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,681
Genre: Romance, Fluff, Character Study
Fandom: Pokémon
Pairings: Red/May, Green/Leaf
Warnings: none
Summary: Red goes to Hoenn to recuperate after Mt. Silver and finds an unexpected companion.
A/N:
New Season
They first meet on a Sunday. Red is fighting his way up a rocky palisade, one patient handhold after another, the sound of the waves growing steadily louder as the cliff face grows closer to the ocean. When he finally breaches the ledge, he sees a girl there, dressed in red just like he is, her long bangs flipping in the breeze. She laughs gaily and lifts her arms to the Wingull that surround her, her smile flashing bright in the late summer sun.
Scattered pebbles shift under his hands as he pulls himself up and dusts himself off. She turns at the sound, eyes widening. "Oh," she says. "I didn't know anyone else came here."
Red shakes his head and hangs back, avoiding her gaze.
"What's your name?" she asks, Wingull covering her in a cloak of white and blue. "I'm May."
"Red," he replies, not sure if she will hear him over the dull roar of the waves. Her eyes widen, flicking over his red vest and worn black gloves, the world-weary Pikachu perched on his shoulder.
"Not—the Kanto Champion?"
He tugs on the brim of his cap, not sure whether to say yes or no.
"I guess a place like this would suit you, huh," May says, her blue eyes never leaving his face. Then she laughs. "It's okay," she says. "You're not bothering me. You can stay, if you want. Are you hungry?"
He walks towards her, reaching for his backpack as she sends the birds on their way. He shows her a thermos, a sandwich, some food for Pikachu.
She grins, pulling out a thermos and sandwich of her own. "Great minds think alike, right?" she says, sitting down and patting the sun-warmed rock beside her. "How long have you been in Hoenn?" He holds up three fingers. "Three weeks? Three months?" He nods at the second. "I guess you haven't seen much, then," she says thoughtfully, oblivious to his startled glance as she bites into her sandwich. "Have you even been off the mainland yet?"
He shakes his head.
May swallows, resting her weight on one hand. "I'm headed to Sootopolis to see an old friend," she says. "Do you want to come?"
Red studies her before he answers. "You don't want to battle?" he says quietly. She's the first trainer he's seen in months, and he can see the latent strength in her movements, in the six Poké Balls at her belt.
May shrugs with a smile. "I don't have anything to prove. I'm a Champion too."
--
Red likes living on mountains, but has never liked their insides. While May visits the Gym, Red chooses to hike over the treacherous volcanic trails, his hands hovering over the sharp edges of the blackened, twisted rocks as he finds his balance. Pikachu eyes the rocks warily, adjusting for Red's careful shifts in weight.
"Red!" May calls as the sun sets, trotting swiftly over ground he's taken ages to cross. "It's getting pretty dark out here. Aren't you hungry?"
Red waits until May reaches him. "Oh, your gloves," she says, lifting one of his hands and surveying the jagged tears in the cloth. "You'll have to get new ones. You're okay, though, right?"
Red nods, staring at their interlinked hands. She looks up, catching his gaze, and smiles.
"Come on," she says, giving his hand a tug. The roughened leather scrapes against both their palms. "Wallace wants to meet you. Did you know that you're famous?"
So are you, he wants to say, but doesn't, too distracted by the fragile feeling that's bubbling up in his throat.
--
"My father's gym is around here," May says, walking through a curtain of falling red and gold. "We should visit him too." Pikachu runs ahead of them, jumping into piles of leaves. Red follows after them both, following the scent of burning vegetation and the way the light crosses her narrow shoulders.
"There's a harvest festival in Petalburg next week, too," she says. "We should go."
--
"How is Hoenn?" his mother asks him. The autumn air chills the phone, tingling where he presses it to his cheek. Pikachu is asleep by his side.
He watches May as she feeds a few wild Zigzagoon, a small, fond smile on her face.
"Beautiful," he replies.
--
Red plucks at the sleeves of the yukata that Norman lent him, feeling vaguely exposed. (Meeting Norman was surprisingly uneventful, especially because Red, as always, had nothing to say.) Despite the neat row of safety pins that keeps him from tripping over the hem as he walks, it's still a little baggy in the shoulders; he feels like he used to when Leaf dressed him up when they were children.
They walk between aisles of festival booths, the night lit by the soft glow of lanterns. Pikachu trots at May's side, looking up at her as she talks.
"Pikachu," he calls, and the two of them immediately turn. Pikachu returns to him and hops up onto his shoulder, nuzzling his cheek as Red's hand comes up, stroking behind his ears.
"You look great," May says, the corners of her eyes crinkling.
Later that night, they watch the fireworks from the roof of her father's gym. When he leans over and kisses her, the only thing he can think about is how weird it is because he didn't have to push his cap out of the way first.
He tries to pull away after a moment but May seizes his shoulders and pins him to the floor, her laughter fluttering like butterfly kisses against the hollow of his throat.
--
He can see his breath frosting in the air by the time he finally meets Brendan and Wally, and old memories of Mt. Silver intersect with new memories of Brendan shaking his hand and Wally challenging him to a battle.
"We still haven't battled yet," May says as they walk with Wally to the Pokémon center. "Does that bother you?"
Red shakes his head.
May takes his hands in a light hold, easily broken. "Thanks for battling Wally," she says. "It really means a lot to him."
"Thanks for showing me around Hoenn," he says.
She laughs and kisses his cheek. "It was my pleasure," she says. "Think of it as an early Christmas present. That reminds me—I still have to get you something. Do you have anything you want?"
Red's hands tighten around hers. "No," he says. "There's nothing."
--
"You're never coming back, are you?" Leaf asks him, exasperation and amusement mingling in her voice. "It's Christmas eve! You're not going to spend it alone again? I've got something for you."
Red shakes his head, although he knows Leaf can't see it. "I'm not alone," he says. "I...met someone."
Green calls the next day. "What do you mean, 'you met someone?" he demands the moment Red picks up.
Red doesn't say anything, and eventually Green sighs.
"Is she nice? Or he," he corrects himself. "Whatever. Are they nice?"
"She's the Hoenn Champion," Red says.
Green whistles. "I guess that's what it would take," he says. "Her name's May, right? How did that happen?"
"We were both traveling," Red says.
There's a pause.
"Um. Okay. Congratulations, I guess," Green says. "But you are the worst friend ever. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas," Red replies.
--
Red and May end up going back to Kanto for New Year's, because his presence at Leaf's party is the only present she asks for every year and Red can't turn her down. When Leaf answers the door, she pulls Red into a hug that pins his arms to his sides and makes him stand on tiptoe.
"Red!" she cries. "I really thought you weren't going to make it this time. How was Hoenn?"
"Nice," he says.
Green wanders over and peers over Leaf's shoulder. "May, right?" He says, extending a hand. "I'm Green. Nice to finally meet you. Red's said a lot about you."
"Really?" May says.
Green laughs. "Well, he's said something about you, so for him, yeah. Come on in." Green escorts May to the coat rack while Leaf drags Red to the punch.
--
"I'd love to go to the hot springs," Leaf sighs. "Green, let's visit Hoenn."
"I have to run the gym," he says automatically. Leaf turns large, wounded eyes on him and he holds her gaze levelly, but once her lip begins to wobble, he throws up his hands. "Fine. Fine. God."
Leaf makes a noise of delight and throws her arms around his neck. Green sighs and turns to May, ignoring her. "So who won when you guys battled?" he asks, gesturing between her and Red.
"No one," Red says. "We haven't."
They both stare at him.
"I knew you shouldn't have gone so far," Green says. "Hoenn messed with your head. Leaf, let's stay home."
"You are not using Red as an excuse!" Leaf says. "We're going to Hoenn or you're sleeping on the couch for a week."
Green leans over to Red and speaks in a stage whisper. "You see what I have to put up with? You should run while you still have a chance, man," he says, winking at May.
Red shakes his head furiously and turns away, tugging his hat down. May laughs and loops an easy arm around his waist.
The new year begins with champagne-laced kisses and a chorus of raucous greetings, and Red doesn't think he's ever been happier.
--
They're walking back to Pallet in the new January snow when May stops. "Here's a good place," she says.
"For what?"
Her hand goes for the first Poké Ball at her belt. "Red," she says. "Let's battle."
Red looks at her, hands in his pockets.
May grins. "It'll be my Christmas present," she says. "Let's start the New Year with a bang."
Red's eyes soften in acknowledgement, and Pikachu leaps from his shoulder to stand ankle-deep in the gathering drifts.
--
"Tie," she says, laughing and breathless.
"Good match," Red says.
"Yes," May replies, her smile bright, "We are."
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,681
Genre: Romance, Fluff, Character Study
Fandom: Pokémon
Pairings: Red/May, Green/Leaf
Warnings: none
Summary: Red goes to Hoenn to recuperate after Mt. Silver and finds an unexpected companion.
A/N:
Forxxkraitxx as a holiday gift. Prompt: Red and May try to find decent Christmas gifts for each other. They forget to tell their friends/families that they are a couple; friends/family eventually find out.
Merry Christmas, everyone! ♥
New Season
They first meet on a Sunday. Red is fighting his way up a rocky palisade, one patient handhold after another, the sound of the waves growing steadily louder as the cliff face grows closer to the ocean. When he finally breaches the ledge, he sees a girl there, dressed in red just like he is, her long bangs flipping in the breeze. She laughs gaily and lifts her arms to the Wingull that surround her, her smile flashing bright in the late summer sun.
Scattered pebbles shift under his hands as he pulls himself up and dusts himself off. She turns at the sound, eyes widening. "Oh," she says. "I didn't know anyone else came here."
Red shakes his head and hangs back, avoiding her gaze.
"What's your name?" she asks, Wingull covering her in a cloak of white and blue. "I'm May."
"Red," he replies, not sure if she will hear him over the dull roar of the waves. Her eyes widen, flicking over his red vest and worn black gloves, the world-weary Pikachu perched on his shoulder.
"Not—the Kanto Champion?"
He tugs on the brim of his cap, not sure whether to say yes or no.
"I guess a place like this would suit you, huh," May says, her blue eyes never leaving his face. Then she laughs. "It's okay," she says. "You're not bothering me. You can stay, if you want. Are you hungry?"
He walks towards her, reaching for his backpack as she sends the birds on their way. He shows her a thermos, a sandwich, some food for Pikachu.
She grins, pulling out a thermos and sandwich of her own. "Great minds think alike, right?" she says, sitting down and patting the sun-warmed rock beside her. "How long have you been in Hoenn?" He holds up three fingers. "Three weeks? Three months?" He nods at the second. "I guess you haven't seen much, then," she says thoughtfully, oblivious to his startled glance as she bites into her sandwich. "Have you even been off the mainland yet?"
He shakes his head.
May swallows, resting her weight on one hand. "I'm headed to Sootopolis to see an old friend," she says. "Do you want to come?"
Red studies her before he answers. "You don't want to battle?" he says quietly. She's the first trainer he's seen in months, and he can see the latent strength in her movements, in the six Poké Balls at her belt.
May shrugs with a smile. "I don't have anything to prove. I'm a Champion too."
--
Red likes living on mountains, but has never liked their insides. While May visits the Gym, Red chooses to hike over the treacherous volcanic trails, his hands hovering over the sharp edges of the blackened, twisted rocks as he finds his balance. Pikachu eyes the rocks warily, adjusting for Red's careful shifts in weight.
"Red!" May calls as the sun sets, trotting swiftly over ground he's taken ages to cross. "It's getting pretty dark out here. Aren't you hungry?"
Red waits until May reaches him. "Oh, your gloves," she says, lifting one of his hands and surveying the jagged tears in the cloth. "You'll have to get new ones. You're okay, though, right?"
Red nods, staring at their interlinked hands. She looks up, catching his gaze, and smiles.
"Come on," she says, giving his hand a tug. The roughened leather scrapes against both their palms. "Wallace wants to meet you. Did you know that you're famous?"
So are you, he wants to say, but doesn't, too distracted by the fragile feeling that's bubbling up in his throat.
--
"My father's gym is around here," May says, walking through a curtain of falling red and gold. "We should visit him too." Pikachu runs ahead of them, jumping into piles of leaves. Red follows after them both, following the scent of burning vegetation and the way the light crosses her narrow shoulders.
"There's a harvest festival in Petalburg next week, too," she says. "We should go."
--
"How is Hoenn?" his mother asks him. The autumn air chills the phone, tingling where he presses it to his cheek. Pikachu is asleep by his side.
He watches May as she feeds a few wild Zigzagoon, a small, fond smile on her face.
"Beautiful," he replies.
--
Red plucks at the sleeves of the yukata that Norman lent him, feeling vaguely exposed. (Meeting Norman was surprisingly uneventful, especially because Red, as always, had nothing to say.) Despite the neat row of safety pins that keeps him from tripping over the hem as he walks, it's still a little baggy in the shoulders; he feels like he used to when Leaf dressed him up when they were children.
They walk between aisles of festival booths, the night lit by the soft glow of lanterns. Pikachu trots at May's side, looking up at her as she talks.
"Pikachu," he calls, and the two of them immediately turn. Pikachu returns to him and hops up onto his shoulder, nuzzling his cheek as Red's hand comes up, stroking behind his ears.
"You look great," May says, the corners of her eyes crinkling.
Later that night, they watch the fireworks from the roof of her father's gym. When he leans over and kisses her, the only thing he can think about is how weird it is because he didn't have to push his cap out of the way first.
He tries to pull away after a moment but May seizes his shoulders and pins him to the floor, her laughter fluttering like butterfly kisses against the hollow of his throat.
--
He can see his breath frosting in the air by the time he finally meets Brendan and Wally, and old memories of Mt. Silver intersect with new memories of Brendan shaking his hand and Wally challenging him to a battle.
"We still haven't battled yet," May says as they walk with Wally to the Pokémon center. "Does that bother you?"
Red shakes his head.
May takes his hands in a light hold, easily broken. "Thanks for battling Wally," she says. "It really means a lot to him."
"Thanks for showing me around Hoenn," he says.
She laughs and kisses his cheek. "It was my pleasure," she says. "Think of it as an early Christmas present. That reminds me—I still have to get you something. Do you have anything you want?"
Red's hands tighten around hers. "No," he says. "There's nothing."
--
"You're never coming back, are you?" Leaf asks him, exasperation and amusement mingling in her voice. "It's Christmas eve! You're not going to spend it alone again? I've got something for you."
Red shakes his head, although he knows Leaf can't see it. "I'm not alone," he says. "I...met someone."
Green calls the next day. "What do you mean, 'you met someone?" he demands the moment Red picks up.
Red doesn't say anything, and eventually Green sighs.
"Is she nice? Or he," he corrects himself. "Whatever. Are they nice?"
"She's the Hoenn Champion," Red says.
Green whistles. "I guess that's what it would take," he says. "Her name's May, right? How did that happen?"
"We were both traveling," Red says.
There's a pause.
"Um. Okay. Congratulations, I guess," Green says. "But you are the worst friend ever. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas," Red replies.
--
Red and May end up going back to Kanto for New Year's, because his presence at Leaf's party is the only present she asks for every year and Red can't turn her down. When Leaf answers the door, she pulls Red into a hug that pins his arms to his sides and makes him stand on tiptoe.
"Red!" she cries. "I really thought you weren't going to make it this time. How was Hoenn?"
"Nice," he says.
Green wanders over and peers over Leaf's shoulder. "May, right?" He says, extending a hand. "I'm Green. Nice to finally meet you. Red's said a lot about you."
"Really?" May says.
Green laughs. "Well, he's said something about you, so for him, yeah. Come on in." Green escorts May to the coat rack while Leaf drags Red to the punch.
--
"I'd love to go to the hot springs," Leaf sighs. "Green, let's visit Hoenn."
"I have to run the gym," he says automatically. Leaf turns large, wounded eyes on him and he holds her gaze levelly, but once her lip begins to wobble, he throws up his hands. "Fine. Fine. God."
Leaf makes a noise of delight and throws her arms around his neck. Green sighs and turns to May, ignoring her. "So who won when you guys battled?" he asks, gesturing between her and Red.
"No one," Red says. "We haven't."
They both stare at him.
"I knew you shouldn't have gone so far," Green says. "Hoenn messed with your head. Leaf, let's stay home."
"You are not using Red as an excuse!" Leaf says. "We're going to Hoenn or you're sleeping on the couch for a week."
Green leans over to Red and speaks in a stage whisper. "You see what I have to put up with? You should run while you still have a chance, man," he says, winking at May.
Red shakes his head furiously and turns away, tugging his hat down. May laughs and loops an easy arm around his waist.
The new year begins with champagne-laced kisses and a chorus of raucous greetings, and Red doesn't think he's ever been happier.
--
They're walking back to Pallet in the new January snow when May stops. "Here's a good place," she says.
"For what?"
Her hand goes for the first Poké Ball at her belt. "Red," she says. "Let's battle."
Red looks at her, hands in his pockets.
May grins. "It'll be my Christmas present," she says. "Let's start the New Year with a bang."
Red's eyes soften in acknowledgement, and Pikachu leaps from his shoulder to stand ankle-deep in the gathering drifts.
--
"Tie," she says, laughing and breathless.
"Good match," Red says.
"Yes," May replies, her smile bright, "We are."
no subject
*takes deep breath*
ASDFGHJKLASDFGHJSALH!!!
THIS! Holy Mother of God, THIS!
Th-thank you so much. Oh my God, sriously. Best Christmas Present EVER!!!
Thank you thank you thank you!!!
---
Ehem, now that I have shouted my fangirliness out, here is a proper review.
The battle. Oh my Lord, there was a Tie. Looks like Reddikins met his match, huh? Hell yeah.
Green and Leaf fighting over a trip to Hoenn was a nice comedy touch. I adored it. It had me giggling.
""Um. Okay. Congratulations, I guess," Green says. "But you are the worst friend ever. Merry Christmas.""
THAT line wins.
Once again, thank you so much!
Happy Holidays!
no subject
A-ahahah, any time Green shows up in any of my fics he steals the show, and this fic was no exception ._. so I'm kind of sorry for that. I'm happy to hear that this was to your liking, though!
Thank you for giving me such a fun prompt—I had a good time! Merry Christmas to you!
no subject
I'll be honest, I've never really liked May, in-game or in the anime. She was just so blah to me. But you, delightful person, have written her so... I don't even know, but I love it ♥
also, how did you even make Red/May work, like, seriously. You are an amazing writer ;~;
and extra ♥♥♥'s for Green/Leaf. Omg they're so adorable here :3
no subject
May wasn't really on my radar until I RPed across from an amazing May RPer over at
Um I just love everyone/everyone? I'm not that great, really; if you think about them I think they'd have a lot to offer each other (as would almost any pairing ever in Pokemon). Thank you though.
I LOVE GREEN/LEAF, HIGH FIVE. I need to write more Green/Leaf one day, orz. Thank you so much for this lovely comment!