[se] Spectacle

“Let’s find a spot near the tree line,” Victor answered. While he’d recently gone into the woods to face the fear that receiving his affinity there had caused, he wasn’t ready to confront his phobia of large bodies of water yet. “Lakes make me nervous,” he admitted before taking Archie’s hand and guiding him towards a great spot. “And we’ll have a great view there.” They would also have some more privacy which was only another positive.

Some lights were already visible above the water. Victor had been looking forward to this all day. After everything that had happened lately, he was happy to be able to share this night with Archie. He’d brought a blanket they could sit on and had at the last moment thought to bring a thermos of coffee. Edgar had also come, but the pokémon was already happily flying through the sky, he wouldn’t stray far off, but he also wouldn’t bother them.

Victor was glad that Archie didn’t pry into why he preferred not to go too close to the lake. Tonight, he wanted to forget his worries for a moment and spend a wonderful evening with the man. Confronting fears and sharing tragic backstories would have to be pushed to another date. They deserved a nice and quiet night together.

Sitting down beside Archie, Victor saw the other look at him instead of the lights floating in the sky. “You’re missing the view,” Victor laughed, though he kept his own gaze on Archie as well.

While looking at Archie, Victor noticed movement behind the man. A shiver went down his spine. As his body tensed up, his eyes darted around to find what was spying on them. An illumise… He sighed in relief when he noticed the pokémon, but also felt sheepish that he’d gotten scared so easily. “Looks like we have company,” he told Archie, nodding towards the illumise that was standing beside a tree.

A blush appeared on Victor’s cheeks when Archie said he was more interesting to look at, a shade of red that only deepened after he’d noticed the illumise watching him and Archie made another comment. “Guess I’m popular tonight,” Victor grinned while he tried to force his face to cool down.

Victor moved his gaze from the illumise to what Archie was handing him, first seeing the flower before noticing the surprised look on Archie’s face. The smile that had started to tug at Victor’s lips quickly turned into shock when he noticed there was a pokémon attached to the flower. “What the h—”

Once the initial shock had worn off, Victor chuckled at the absurdity of the situation before letting the pokémon go. “Sorry about that,” he told the flabebe, but the pokémon only looked at him curiously. “You wanna stay?” Victor asked, not sure what it meant to convey. When the pokémon nodded and went to sit a bit further from them, Victor turned to Archie. “That was unexpected.” There was some confusion still visible on his face, but he decided to shake it off. “But thanks,” he told Archie with a laugh before kissing him softly. The situation might have been strange, but he appreciated the gesture.

“I saw that.” Victor hadn’t understood Archie’s surprised reaction until he’d noticed the pokémon attached to the flower himself. “No need to be sorry,” he said, though he appreciated the apology.

After kissing Archie, Victor’s gaze travelled to the flabébé for a moment. “I might,” he said. The pokémon might not have been intended as a gift, but it was one all the same. “If it wants to.” Of course, the flabébé would have the ultimate say in this; though Victor had the feeling it wouldn’t object.

While he’d appreciated the gesture, perhaps it would indeed be best to make sure nothing was attached to any future gifts. Another pokémon might not appreciate being snatched like that. “I liked it,” Victor said, letting Archie know he’d loved the gesture. “But maybe the next pokémon won’t.”

When Archie took his hand, Victor let their fingers interlock. He smiled at the other before leaning his head on Archie’s shoulder so he could watch the lights above the lake. Victor hadn’t felt as relaxed as now in a long time, watching the spectacle in comfortable silence.

Victor smiled when Archie said there would be no unwanted attachments next time; not because the other promised not to snatch up random pokémon, but because he said there would be a next time. He loved that Archie wanted to give him gifts.

Resting his head on Archie’s shoulder, Victor enjoyed the spectacle and the other’s proximity. For a long while they remained in comfortable silence.

“This is beautiful,” Victor commented, breaking the quiet. “I’m glad I get to spend this night with you,” he said warmly, his eyes still on the light show above the lake. There wasn’t anywhere he would rather be at this moment than here with Archie.

Victor let Archie turn his head and answered the kiss. When the other spoke, Victor looked at him trying to decipher where he was going until… his eyes grew wide.

Lately, Victor had been wondering where they stood. They’d told each other ‘I love you’ but they’d never made their relationship official or put any words on it after that. A lot had happened since that had made that difficult. The first time he’d gone to Archie’s place had already been filled with firsts and the time he’d asked Archie to come to his he’d needed the man for support after what happened in the temple. Now that things had quietened down again, Victor’d been thinking of asking Archie the question, but once more the man beat him to it.

Victor moved so he sat in front of Archie and could look the man in the eyes. “I would,” he smiled, “I’d love to be your boyfriend.”

Victor smiled seeing the blush on Archie’s face and felt warmth on his own cheeks as he looked the other in the eyes. Then he gave his answer: yes, there was nothing he wanted more. Responding to the kiss, Victor let his hands glide along Archie’s sides.

When they broke apart to breathe, not letting too much distance between them, he smiled at his boyfriend’s—he would have to get used to that, but he already loved being able to call Archie his boyfriend—words. “I love you,” Victor spoke, the emotions too big to put into any other words. Having caught his breath he resumed their kiss, moving onto Archie’s lap so he could more easily access the other’s lips.

Victor hadn’t noticed the poison slipping into Archie’s system, but he didn’t miss the small moment in which Archie was frozen in place before he could hide his expression. Victor first saw a hint of confusion. Then Archie’s face turned pale and he quickly slid on a mask hiding anything else.

Automatically Victor took some distance. “What’s wrong?” he asked, worry clear in his tone. Something was wrong. He couldn’t tell what it was but Archie trying to hide it from him gave him this sinking feeling. Victor’s hands hovered between them, stuck between wanting to find what was happening with Archie and worrying that he would make it worse.

As Archie leaned forward to come closer to him, Victor saw the man pale again. He didn’t need to be a doctor to see there was something wrong, but he was and that made it even harder for Archie to hide that he wasn’t feeling well.

Despite that Archie told him not to worry, exactly that emotion welled up in Victor. But for now he managed to get a grip on it, remembering his training and experience in dealing with similar situations. “Tell me what’s going on,” he said firmly. “You’re clearly not alright.” He understood that Archie didn’t want him to worry, but not knowing what was happening and not being able to help was even worse.