pokemon; a very merry christmas | Red/Green

[kitsuneasika.livejournal.com]

Title: a very merry christmas
Pairing: Red/Green
Friendships: Red+Leaf+Green, Gold(Hibiki)+Silver+Kotone
Summary: When Leaf first told him that she put Red in charge of planning their annual holiday get-together, Green had thought that she had finally snapped.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon in any shape or form.
Notes: So, I was thinking last night that it's a damn shame that I don't have anything Christmas-y to post on Christmas. And then I looked at the background I've had the last few weeks and was struck with inspiration. And then this came out. It could be a lot better, I'll be the first to admit, but I want to post it on Christmas so it'll have to do for now. (Also, title is terrible, ripped off from a Christmas carol, has barely anything to do with the story, and will be changed as soon as I can think of something better. Not much better, but still better! And I need to stop making the first sentence of my fic into my summary. And yeah.)

This was originally meant to be gen, just full of friendshippy happiness, and then Red/Green had to sneak its way into there and ruin everything. Sigh. Crossposting this to pokegamefic.

Merry Christmas, everyone! ♥

a very merry christmasWhen Leaf first told him that she put Red in charge of planning their annual holiday get-together, Green had thought that she had finally snapped.

It wasn't that Red was necessarily bad at planning parties— he'd never really had the chance to, as Leaf had always insisted on being in charge of the festivities— but there was just something fundamentally wrong with the whole picture. True, Red was freakishly good at everything he touched (Green couldn't help but remember a summer when he was forced to learn how to play chess and ended up practicing for days just so he could beat Red at something and then Red had gone and won in five minutes), but Red and socialization just did not go together. Ever.

Still, Green had to admit that this wasn't as bad as he imagined. Not that he had imagined anything specific— when he had attempted to picture how this get-together would go, this general image of a cold, looming black shape all bumpy and cold and pointy that had glowing red eyes and was cold would pop up in his mind.

This was nothing like that. It wasn't cold, for one— Leaf's place was always cozy and warm during winter, even when the gym was freezing— and there were no looming black shapes, only Silver and Hibiki and Kotone, filling up the room with their chatter. Well, Kotone was doing most of the talking, his Eevee gathered up in her arms, while Hibiki threw in random comments whenever she paused, and Silver just crossed his arms and tried very hard to look like he wasn't enjoying himself. Nor were there any glowing red eyes just lying around the room. Speaking of which...

Green turned towards Leaf. "Where is he?" he asked, for what felt like the hundredth time. He hadn't seen Red in days, not since Leaf had told him that she had put him in charge. He hadn't even come back to the apartment to sleep, which really made Green curious— this gathering was nice, yes, but nothing that required days of constant work.

He'd better not have run off to Mount Silver for 'old times sake'.

He might have, Green suddenly realized, horrified. Red had always had a very skewed view of 'romantic'.

Leaf stood up, suddenly. "I'll make us something hot to drink!" she announced to the room, completely ignoring him as she headed for her kitchen.

"I'm not buying you any more milkshakes!" he shouted at her back. He didn't get a reply. This was faintly worrying. Leaf always defended her milkshakes— he would never get any answers out of her if she didn't.

He made a frustrated sound, and Eevee glanced over at him. He waved off her worry, settling down in the couch to wait for Leaf's return. She couldn't possibly stay in the kitchen forever.

A knock sounded on the door. Green began to get to his feet to answer it when Leaf raced out of the kitchen. She opened the door, just a crack, and slipped through it with a, "I'll be right back!", shutting it behind her. Everyone in the room looked at each other, rather awkwardly.

"What was—" Hibiki began, but was interrupted by an ear-splitting wail.

"I'll get it!" Kotone exclaimed, practically leaping off of the loveseat. Eevee jumped out of her arms and on to the table as she dashed for the kitchen. A moment later, the teakettle's shrieking stopped, and Kotone was poking her head out of the door. "She didn't put on enough water, so it'll take some more time," she told them, and then popped back into the kitchen.

Eevee padded over to Green, leaping on to the sofa. She gave him a plaintive look. "You little traitor," he grumbled, but he picked her up anyways, stroking the soft fur on her head.

The door opened. "Merry Christmas," Leaf greeted as she stepped in, an antler headband adorning her head. Green didn't get much farther in his thoughts than why is she wearing that thing before she stepped aside and Red entered, dressed in a Santa suit.

Green stared. He had the whole outfit, from the polished black boots to the red-and-white jacket-thing to the ridiculous red hat with the white-poofy thing on the end of it. He looked as calm as always, just looking at them with absolutely no expression. Well, Green decided, at least he wasn't wearing a fake beard. The Pikachu hitching a ride on his shoulder had that part covered. He even wore a smaller version of that ridiculous hat, one of his pointy ears poking out through the cloth.

And then there was the bag. A brown sack, really, swung over delicate shoulders and bulging with lumpy shapes. Green couldn't help but notice how Hibiki's eyes fixated on it, and even Silver couldn't quite manage to look away, not for long. He had to bite back a grin. With all the places they've seen and all the things they've done, it was sometimes hard to remember that they were still kids. They all were, in a way, even if the rest of the world forgot.

Red upended the bag on the table, and presents spilled out in all shapes and sizes. Most were wrapped, but there were few here and there— mostly the oddly-shaped ones— that weren't. It was very clear what Red had been doing the last few days. Hibiki immediately began digging through the pile, all enthusiasm as he tore open the presents with his name on it. Silver was much more restrained, still picking through the presents but trying very hard to pretend that he couldn't care less.

Leaf left the door, and walked over to Green, sitting on the arm of the couch. "Where's Kotone?" she asked, leaning over to pet Eevee.

"Drinks," Green said, jerking his head in the direction of the kitchen. "The ones you abandoned."

Leaf actually colored, but she recovered quickly, shooting him a mock glare. "It was for a good cause," she informed him, then paused. She rose back to her feet. "But I should go help."

Green settled back to watch the unwrapping unfold. Hibiki pushed aside a present labeled 'FOR LEAF', and uncovered a Chikorita plushie. Both his and Silver's eyes lit up at the same time.

"It's mine!" Hibiki yelped, clutching it to his chest.

"No, it's mine," Silver said, and proceeded to tackle him.

Green watched the two boys struggled over the plushie, wrapping paper crinkling loudly under their bodies as they moved, and wondered if he should tell them that the tag on the Chikorita clearly stated 'FOR KOTONE'. After a moment he decided, nah. Watching them fight was too entertaining, and he doubted that they would actually hurt each other, if Hibiki's laughter was any indication.

He set Eevee to the side, standing up. Red looked up at he approached, and Pikachu leapt off of his shoulder, that ridiculous little beard fluttering upwards as he hit the ground. He scrambled past Green, leapt over Hibiki— who was currently on top of Silver—'s back, and settled himself next to Eevee on the sofa.

"Hey," Green said, leaning against the wall. Red nodded at him, closing his eyes briefly.

Green ran his eyes over Red's outfit again. It was still hideous, he decided, but since it was Red wearing it, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. "I'm glad you didn't wear that fake beard, though," Green said, announcing his thoughts out loud.

Red looked at him, tilting his head to the side in a wordless question.

Green grinned at him like the cat that caught the canary. "Because," he told him, "old geezers really aren't my type", and swooped in to steal a kiss. One kiss became two, and Red moved against him, clutching his sleeve with his hand while Green slung an arm around his shoulders, drawing him closer and closer.

Someone wolf-whistled and they broke apart, Green grumbling complaints under his breath the moment he caught his breath. He turned.

"Get a room, lover boys," Leaf said with a grin. She stood near the couch, arms crossed, cheerful. Six cups sat on the table, steam rising up from them in puffs of white. Hibiki and Silver were sprawled on the floor, neither scuffling anymore and both red— Hibiki rubbing the back of his neck, sheepish, while Silver determinedly looked to the side. Kotone sat between them, covered in torn wrapping paper, clutching the Chikorita plushie to her chest as she ate from a slightly-squished box of chocolates. It didn't take a genius to see who had won that argument.

"Shut up," Green said loftily, and hoped to heaven that he wasn't blushing.

Leaf grinned at him, and he was about to add something more to his retort when he was distracted by a hand slipping into his.

"Merry Christmas," Red muttered, his breath ghosting over the shell of his ear. Shivers raced down Green's spine.

"Merry Christmas," he muttered back, turning his head towards him and squeezing his hand.

This, Green decided, was definitely much better than he had imagined.