Work Text:
Green pinched the bridge of his nose. “What are you doing?”
Red was on the floor in an absolute mess, with a bright, half-guilty, half-mischievous smile. “Carving pumpkins. It’s almost Halloween, so I thought, y’know, it’d be nice?”
“…you made a complete mess.”
“I, um…. Pika ate some.”
Of course he would. Green sighs, tries to assess this calamity.
Two pumpkins, looking more chopped than carved,
a very smug looking Pika with the orange-yellow of the pumpkin around his mouth,
seeds scattered onto the floor from a very useless piece of crumpled newspaper,
Red in the middle of it all, some pumpkin in his raven-black hair, chirping brightly, “We tried to carve a cute one and a scary one. It didn’t go as planned, but you get the image, right?”
“Unfortunately, no.” Green replies flatly, because with two pumpkins in front of him, one looked like it has been eaten from the inside out, and the other looked like it had been stabbed multiple times but never carved.
Red hums, thoughtful. “Hm. Maybe it’ll look better with the candle in it. Do we have some?”
“… we have the ‘8’ you bought on accident.” Green says, because of course he knows his supplies.
Red gasps, mock-offended. “It wasn’t an accident!”
“… we’re both 29. The next time we need an eight is when we turn 38.”
“Yeah! We’ll need it eventually.”
Green huffs a laugh despite himself. “Sure.”
Red stands up, brushes some pumpkin seeds off his pants. Pika dives and immediately munches on them, content. Red smiles fondly, ruffling its fur. “We gotta go buy some candles then, we can’t waste the 8, it’s the one with wax like sprinkles right?”
“Yes. The local store should have some plain ones. We’re also short of toilet paper.” Green replies, checking his notepad.
“Oh! Alright. And candy. We need candy for Halloween.” Red says, looping an arm around Green’s shoulders and trotting towards the door with him.
“Not too much. And stop indulging Pika, he’ll grow fat.” Green says, words stern but fondness seeping out of his tone.
Red grins. “Can’t promise.” He says, reaching for his keys and slipping his shoes on.
Green sighs, rolls his eyes, and presses a kiss to Red’s cheek. “I’ll clean up your mess and make dinner. Don’t wander and come straight home.”
Red cradles Green’s head and kisses him back, deep and sure and fond. When they part, he’s smiling like Green hung the stars. “Of course.”
Then he’s off, messy hair catching the orange-red color of the early evening sun.
🎃
Green made soup. A bit of spice with some noodles.
Red has successfully bought toilet paper and candles, and that is a huge feat for him. Green has gave him a kiss for that.
But Red has also bought candy in a bulk. A huge bulk. It could feed the entire neighborhood in Green’s opinion. Red thinks they should go around Kanto giving everyone candy since they’re bored anyway.
“It would be fun! Maybe we could call Gold and Silver too, see if they’re up to candy giving business.” Red chatters, devouring dinner as always.
“I’ve got gym duties to do,” Green replies, carefully sipping the soup, evaluating its taste. Pretty good. From past information, Red may like a bit more spice though, he thinks. The broth made it milder than he expected.
Red suddenly sets his spoon down and claps his hands like he just came up with the best idea in the world. “Wait. What about a huge Halloween party at Viridian gym?”
Green gives him a look. “We’re not doing that. Too much effort. We’re giving out candy anyway.”
“Aww— but it’ll be so fun. We could invite Blue and Yellow. I haven’t seen them much lately.”
Green stops at that. “…actually, that could be nice.”
“YES! I’ll text them. And we’ll bring half of the candy here—“
“..Red.”
“Yeah?”
“We only need one bag. We’re grown adults and we barely eat any candy.”
“Well, like— we might! Later. Next year. Candy doesn’t go bad that soon.”
“You buy a bag every time you go grocery shopping.”
“But it’s fun having so many!”
Green sighs. “You’ll get diabetes.”
Red immediately rolls up his sleeves and flexes his muscles. “Still intact.”
“Muscles don’t cancel out cell damage.”
“I use all the sugar healthily! I run too!”
“You don’t run that much.”
“I will with you.” He says, like it explains everything, leaning over the table and tangling his fingers together with Green’s.
Green sighs. “You can choose three bags, no more.”
Red blinks very innocently.
“No. you’ll buy more anyway.”
“Aw come on, Green—“
“I’m managing your health, idiot. At this rate you’ll cancel out all the nourishing food I make for you.”
Red smiles easily. “You’ll take care of me though. I’m positive we’ll last till, like, a hundred and twelve.”
“That’s oddly specific.” Green says, untangling their fingers and standing up with their bowls, placing them down in the sink.
Red nods very seriously. “I just know! You’ll have to scold me so many more times.”
Green comes back from the kitchen with a mug of water and flicks his forehead. “Do the dishes. And at least try to take care of yourself when I’m gone.”
“Gone?” Red echoes, puzzled.
Green doesn’t miss a beat besides what he almost let slip. “I have duties. Business trips.”
“Oh yeah! Right. You always pack the fridge with food for each meal though. You’re gonna stop doing that??”
“If I decide that I need to nourish your independence too.” Green replies dryly, picking up his pokegear and filing through it.
Wishing, just a little, that he had more time.
The email from his doctor with the test results stays unchanged.
To Green Oak,
I’m very sorry to say this, but your scan results show that your organs are all heading towards failure soon. A likely cause could be the pokemon attacks you mentioned taking as a child. I can only prescribe you painkillers and tell you to eat what you want, do what you want—
and maybe tell your friends and family once you feel ready.
🍬
The day of the party is wild.
Blue decorating the gym like it’s her personal show.
Yellow helping out here and there, organizing the kid’s play areas.
Red absolutely sugar high and not admitting.
Green baked a perfect pumpkin pie to share with the adults— Red, Blue, Yellow, himself and the gym trainers who’ll help out today.
Apparently, Yellow had the same idea.
“Two pumpkin pie slices? Yay!!” Red exclaims, already helping himself with Green’s. “Delicious. As always.”
Blue takes a bite too, and gasps. “Oh my god. I need Green as my personal chef too.”
“Green’s my boyfriend, sorry not sorry.” Red says, immediately placing a hand on Green’s waist and kissing his cheek.
“.. you got pumpkin pie on my cheek, idiot.” Green says, wiping it away. His plate has a slice of Yellow’s. It’s slightly burnt but very good. Mellow, not much spice.
Red casually takes a bite from Green’s plate and hums. “Mm! Very pumpkin. Nice!!”
Yellow blushes a little, smiling. “Thank you. I worked pretty hard on it.”
Not much spice, Green thinks.
Not that it means that much.
Just—
Yeah.
He should stop thinking about that.
💫
It’s night. The crowd of kids are starting to thin as parents pick them up and the kids happily show them their basket full of treats.
Green’s leaning against the wall, watching Red and Yellow chat with a few kids. They’re talking about making pokemon their friends. Something Yellow proudly learned from Red. They’re giggling. Soft.
Mellow.
Green shakes his head. He shouldn’t really compare himself with everyone Red surrounds himself with. It’s an old, bad habit.
Red looks up, and their eyes meet. His smile grows brighter, and he gives a little wave. The kids follow his gaze and nudge him teasingly. Red grins, whispers something to them, and then gets up and runs toward him, tackling him into a tight hug.
“Watcha watching? My muscles?”
“No.. just how gentle you are with kids. It’s quite hot.”
Red groans. “Gosh. You rizz me up so bad. Mr cool Viridian gym leader is super hot too, you know? Your eyes are too pretty when you watch me.”
Green smiles, tilts his chin so Red has better access, and catching the sign, Red kisses him. Not once. Twice. Three times—
“Uh, sorry— gym leader. All kids are gone now. Shouldn’t we.. close the gym?” Says one of the gym trainers.
Green blinks. Looks around the place and— yeah. Everyone’s gone. Yellow must’ve got them to their parents. He looks back to the gym trainer and nods. “I’ll lock the gym, we can take the decorations off tomorrow since it’s pretty late. You can go now. Thanks for helping.”
The trainer bows, hastily picking up their bag and leaving. He looks a bit flustered, which Green is sorry for.
Red’s still smiling though, almost smug. “Shall we go home?” He says, taking Green’s hand and bringing it to his lips.
Green’s mouth twitches into a small, reluctant smile. “Idiot.”
They hold hands all the way back, because of course they do. Red points out constellations wrong and swears they’re right. Green stumbles against a sidewalk but Red catches him easily, kissing his forehead and being obnoxious about it.
And all Green can think of is how lucky he is, despite the scars his body holds and the nightmares Red has to hold him through sometimes.
He does, sometimes, feel jealous about whoever Red has loved, or will love after he dies—
But not really, because right now?
He’s here with him.
Laughing together. Holding hands. Pouring him so much love it’s almost silly.
And that’s more than enough for Green, who has already made peace with the end.
.. just not enough for him to tell him that he probably won’t make it to 38 to use the candle with him.
♡