Chapter Text
The sheets that Silver was laying on probably cost more than he’d ever been able to gather added up. They were luxury sheets, silk from some fancy sounding Pokemon in Hoenn, hand woven and dyed. They managed to keep him warm but not hot. His pillow was filled with the finest swablu down, same as the massive comforter.
He should have been asleep the moment he laid down, and yet… he was wide awake.
Not only was he wide awake, he was restless. No matter how he laid, he couldn’t get comfortable. The evening had been nice; dinner was filling, Mama and Gold had come, spending several hours until Silver promised he was fine.
But, even if he had felt fine before, he was certainly not fine now. There was a steady buzzing, and he knew it was only in his head, his team was out of their balls and all sleeping soundly. But his mind couldn’t calm down from the damn static in his head.
He sighed, rolling over once again, his phone lit up on the (antique) bedside table. He knew he shouldn’t look at it, the light would destroy any chance of sleep, but honestly, sleep wasn’t going to come anyway.
There was a text from Gold, a sweet good night message. It suddenly hit that this was their first night apart since he woke from stone (and he was there before frequently as well). His stomach twisted uncomfortably.
They’d been dating for nearly six months, it had taken them four to locate Giovanni, and then two months for Silver to feel ready to stay with him. Of course, it wasn’t like Mama and Gold had just let him leave, they’d both spent lots of time with Giovanni before they decided that they trusted him.
It was touching how much they cared.
And Giovanni had been nothing but wonderful. He’d allowed Silver to pick everything out for his room (or at least when it came to the colors, Silver was just shown swatches and told to pick). He’d been spending all of his time getting to know Silver, especially since he apparently disbanded Team Rocket. Making up for lost time and trying to prove that he cared.
He even made sure to get to know Gold and Mama, thanking them profusely for taking care of Silver before they reunited.
Silver could honestly say he felt comfortable around his father, maybe not as comfortable as he was with Blue or Gold or Mama, but it was a start.
His father wasn’t the problem. He should have been able to sleep.
Completely giving up on getting any meaningful shut eye, he opened his phone, he typed a message to Gold before quickly deleting it. This was his problem, he didn’t need to bother Gold.
Instead of the message asking if he was still awake, Silver texted a simple, good night. Just as he went to close his phone and grab a book (his father had picked out a whole library for him), Gold’s smiling face popped up.
Suddenly feeling guilty, Silver debated not answering, but it was his fault Gold woke up in the first place, it would have been even more rude not to answer.
“You can’t sleep, can you?” Gold stated, already knowing the answer despite phrasing it like a question.
Humming in response, Silver sat up so that he was leaning against the headboard.
“Me neither, it’s weird without you next to me, and I-“ Gold started, he suddenly stopped speaking before there was loud shuffling. Probably him attempting to avoid stepping on one of the house pokemon or his team.
“I didn’t braid your hair,” it was almost whispered, as if Gold was only just now realizing it.
Playing with a strand of loose hair, Silver nodded to the phone, even though Gold couldn’t see him, he knew him well enough to know what he was doing.
“I’ll be there in ten, your dad gave me a key, so just sit tight,” Gold sounded like he was running down the stairs, the call ended with a click before Silver could get a word out, especially a refusal. It was too late, Gold was supposed to be in bed, he was supposed to be in bed. There was no reason for either of them to be awake.
Silver attempted to call back, only for the familiar voicemail greeting to play through the speakers. Hoping to catch his boyfriend before he wasted that much time coming over, he shot off a quick text telling him that he didn’t need to worry.
It sat delivered but not read.
Less than fifteen minutes later, the door to his bedroom was softly opened. Sneasel’s head popped out of the tower she was lounging in, climbing down to claw at Gold’s leg.
Rolling his eyes, Gold released Aibo, shooing them both away. Silver pulled his legs up to his chest, resting his chin on his knees. He frowned, blinking up as Gold came to sit on the edge of the bed.
A warm smile and a comforting hand wrapped around his jaw, caressing gently.
“You didn’t need to come all the way here, sorry,” Silver said, looking down at the sheets as he ran a finger over them.
With a light flick to the forehead, Gold shook his head, “You weren’t the only one who couldn’t sleep,”
Gold settled on the bed behind Silver, forcing him to look forward when he attempted to figure out what his boyfriend was up to. He didn’t need to wait long, a familiar and relaxing tug against his scalp, and he knew exactly what Gold was up to.
Braids.
From the first time he spent the night with Gold, to after he was saved from stone, Gold braided his hair before bed. And at first, it was occasional as he slowly let Gold into the walls he’d been forced to build through the years, it was now such an integral part of his night. It was no surprise that he (nor Gold) could not fall asleep.
“I knew it would be hard when you left, but…” Gold trailed off as he began to expertly separate the silky crimson locks.
Neither spoke as Gold completed the familiar ritual. Each movement was a weight being lifted from both of their shoulders.
Taking a breath, Silver let his feelings pass his lips, “You wanted me, even when I was just street trash,”
There was a slight tug on the mostly finished braid, “You’ve never been trash, Silv, you were always a treasure, you just needed to be shown some care,”
“You saw something no one else could, not even me,” Silver spoke softly, allowing himself to relax into Gold’s embrace, “and then you kept going, always taking care of me, saving me, even though I didn’t believe I deserved it, even now, you’re here, just because I couldn’t sleep,”
It was silent, Silver didn’t exactly expect a response, he was more thinking out loud than anything else. He felt Gold pull a hair tie around the freshly styled braid.
“I don’t think I was the only one to see it. Pryce just made your own percept-” The rest of Gold’s sentence was cut off by the door to Silver’s room being opened.
Both boys froze in their spot on Silver’s bed. Giovanni’s mouth formed a little “o” as he stared wide-eyed at the boys who looked like a pair of stantler caught in the headlights. Despite the innocence of what they were doing, both boys couldn’t help but jump into excuses.
“Silv’s hair gets really tangled if it's not braided, that’s why I came back,” Gold held up the freshly secured braid as proof.
Giovanni blinked before slightly nodding, coming more into the room.
“I guess some things don’t change,” the man mused. He crossed the room to sit down next to the pair on the bed. He looked at them, but was clearly lost in a memory.
“When Silver was little, he was always getting knots in his hair. But-” the man reached out to lightly graze the tamed strands. His eyes looked somewhat misty as he pulled his hand back into his lap, he looked directly at Silver, “You loved when I brushed out your hair. You were incapable of sitting still, except for when I was tending to your hair,”
Gold nudged Silver’s shoulder. A brow raised as if to say see, I told you. The timing was nearly perfect as if it were planned, but Silver was positive that it was just coincidence.
“If you’d like, I can braid your hair before bed tomorrow.” Giovanni paused, glancing at Gold, “It’s been quite some time since I was able to, maybe you could come by and show me how again? Would that be alright with you, Silver?”
Nodding, Gold squeezed Silver’s shoulder.
A shy smile graced Silver’s face as he answered honestly, “I would really like that.”
And maybe he’d had family all along, Gold, his mother, Blue, his own father. It was a strange thought, but maybe it was the mask who’d been lying the entire time.
He deserved to be at peace.
————-
Epilogue
Scarlett sat calmly in her father’s lap, her big slate eyes blinking heavily as she halfway watched her older brothers building block houses (only to immediately have their pokemon knock them down).
A crème silk ribbon was tied into a neat little bow, ensuring the freshly made braid would stay through the night. Silver pressed a kiss to the top of her hair.
“Goodnight my princess,” the toddler yawned in response, she didn’t fight as Gold swooped in, picking her up and carrying her off to bed, with a warning to the boys that they were next.
Silver watched as they went, love in his eyes and peace in his heart.
“You’ve gotten really good at doing her hair,” Gold’s mother praised as she took a seat beside him, handing over a cup of tea.
Taking a sip before answering, Silver set the mug down on the coffee table, atop a coaster with snowmen made from the kid’s thumb prints.
“It’s funny, I have all of this,” he gestured to where the boys were begrudging picking up their blocks (to avoid Gold’s wrath when he got back from putting down Scarlett), and the rest of their full home, “because you accidentally spilled jam on me all those years ago,”
The woman beside him coughed out a laugh, he turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow.
“I have a confession to make dear,” she started, looking a bit bashful, “it wasn’t an accident.”
“What?” Silver asked, even more confused than he already was.
“I knew you wouldn’t agree to letting us take care of you, so I had to take matters into my own hands.”
Staring dumbfounded, Silver was stunned silent.
She smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear, “I knew that you needed a family, and if I had to do it over, I’d do the exact same thing,”
Grabbing her hand before she could pull away, Silver squeezed gently. A soft smile tugging on his lips, “I’m glad you did, this is the life I always dreamed of,”
The sweet moment ended fairly quickly as Gold came to corral the boys, him taking one and Silver taking the other. They had a chaotic and messy life, but Silver wouldn’t change it for the world.