(no subject)
Title: Mossdeep Summers
Author: bitternarration
Rating: T
Verse: Game, Gen III
Characters: Steven Stone, Wallace
Summary: Steven is reminded of the summer he spent in Mossdeep City and the person he was then.
A/N: For pokeprompts. Prompt, Summer Skin by Death Cab for Cutie.
@ pokeprompts
Mossdeep Summers
to: s.stone@devoncorp.com
from: wallace@sootopolisgym.com
subject: Old Memories
Dearest Steven,
I came across this photograph the other day and I was reminded just how terribly long it has been since we last spoke, let alone saw each other, and I couldn’t help but write. I heard you were recently promoted to the Vice-President of Geological Research and Development or some such surely depressing stiff-collared job. Not quite the dream I remember you having that summer but congratulations none the less. I simply can’t imagine how terribly dashing you must look in a suit.
I’m not sure if you’ve heard or not but I was promoted to Gym Leader not so long ago. I would be lying if I told you it isn't everything I dreamed it would be. Certainly not non-stop excitement but there are no words to describe what it is like to run a gym, my gym. You really must come to Sootopolis and see what I have done here. I doubt that I am the best leader to ever grace Hoenn as you believed I would be all those years ago but I’m certainly the most debonair. If there are two things that can be said about the Sootopolis gym, they have always been; elegance and skill.
I’m sure you must be busy so I won’t waste anymore of your time, I just wanted to see how you were fairing these days and send you a copy of that picture. I wonder what those boys in that silly photograph would have to say if they saw the two of us now.
Yours sincerely,
Wallace
p.s. - Sixteen, what a dreadfully awful age. Highlights, with my hair color! I would ask what I was thinking but the bigger question is why in the world did you associated with me?
attachment: mossdeep.jpg
The small grin that had turned the corners of his mouth up flared into a full smile as Steven Stone opened the email’s attached image. Two teenagers burnt by the summer sun with smiles wider than the girth of a Snorlax smiled up from Steven’s computer screen. Simply looking at the picture took the young man back to that summer when he had met, and practically been inseparable from, Wallace. Had it really been only four years? Steven shook his head and continued to smile to himself. God, how fascinating Wallace had been. How easy their friendship. How unexpected their romance.
“Mossdeep summers,” Steven mused, rotating his chair so that he could look out his office window and across the western sea. His computer screen’s reflection was cast on the window, the ocean background of the picture matching up perfectly with the water outside Steven’s window. The reflection of two faces laughed at him from the corner of his eye but he didn’t notice. Steven’s body remained in the office, sinopia eyes cast out over the ocean, thumb and forefinger absently rubbing a smooth stone between them but his mind, that was no longer in the office or even in Rustboro City. No, it was miles and years away, remembering the summer with Wallace and the boy he had been then.
* * * * *
“Champion? That’s it? That is your deepest secret Steven? Your secret is that you want to be Champion? You make me feel like a real deviant,” the boy laughed, giving up on nipping at his companion’s freckled shoulder so that he could roll off of the gray haired boy and fall to his side. Steven looked down at the other, propped up on his elbows with a mixture of confusion and irritation in his eyes.
“Well it is. You asked what my biggest secret is and that’s it. I haven’t told anyone else,” Steven argued. His eyes softened as they moved over the boy beside him, fascinated by everything from the mess of turquoise hair that bordered his handsome face like the mane of a Luxray to the golden toned body below it and the very unique mind inside. Wallace was more different than anyone Steven had ever met before and that spoke to him.
“Fine. Fine. It’s deep and dark and a terrible secret if you say so. I think its frighteningly cute though. You can be Champion and I will be a gym leader, together we can bring the elegance back to pokemon battling,” Wallace continued to joke, his fingers sliding over Steven’s still pale arms. It had been his mission all summer to prove that Steven could tan instead of just freckle. They had spent almost everyday under the sun but as the summer drew to a close, it seemed as though he would fail that particular mission.
“Why limit yourself Wallace? I’ve seen you battle, you’re amazing, you could be Champion for sure.”
“Champion? Me?” Wallace broke out into mirthful shrieking at that idea, flipping himself onto his stomach and propping himself up on his elbows like Steven, their two shoulders touching before he realized that the other wasn’t laughing. Steven wasn’t even smiling so Wallace calmed his laughter for a moment. “Fine. I’ll do it, with you, we’ll challenge the Elite Four then the Champion and become Champions ourselves.”
Steven smiled at that, rocking his body to bump shoulders with his partner but the other was already moving. Rolling off the bed, Wallace sprang to his feet and moved to stand before Steven, hand outstretched. The still lounging Steven just followed the other with his bright eyes, grinning as the flood of sunlight through the window illuminated Wallace’s frame. Each hard line was set aflame in the afternoon light, his brilliant hair becoming like the very sea. As usual the teenager wore next to nothing, tight swim-briefs that did miracles for his hardly covered ass and groin. How comfortable Wallace was in life and with his body. It was one of the many things Steven admired about the other.
“Enough of this, let’s hit the beach,” Wallace begged, stretching his offered hand toward Steven. All Steven wanted to do was keep Wallace here and continue to admire him, not share him with the world. However, Wallace’s turquoise eyes commanded Steven and, with a groan, he dropped his head, took the offered hand and scrambled off the bed.
* * * * *
It was late afternoon and the beach crowd was fading when the two teenagers arrived. The sand still hot under their feet and between their toes as they sprinted across it toward the foamy surf. At this time of day, the tourist families were north of the island, watching as the majestic wailords, and smaller wailmer, broke the ocean’s surface in their nightly dance. It left the beach to Wallace and Steven, exactly how the latter preferred it.
A large smile possessed Steven’s face when Wallace broke free from him and collided with the first wave, diving through it into the ocean. His golden body was accepted into the water like a lost child being swept up into their mother's arms. Like the water pokemon the teenager was so fond of, Wallace belonged amongst the waves and, when his head broke the surface with one of his ever present carefree smiles, Steven’s breath caught in his throat.
“Come on cave-crawler, the water is fantastic,” he sang out over the crashing surf, summoning Steven more with his eyes than the gesturing hand.
“I’m good bubblehead,” Steven laughed back, falling onto the sand. The warmth of the golden grains radiated through his shorts but Steven paid it no mind. He hugged his knees to his chest, mind on Wallace. There was no doubt in Steven’s mind that the boy would become leader of his gym, or that he was capable of becoming Champion if he so desired. Wallace was amazing. He had shown Steven the simple joys of life this summer, had made the city boy fall in love with this little island town, as well as in love with the boy with the summer skin.
In just a few days Steven would be back at school in Rustboro City and Wallace would be training at the Sootopolis Gym. To be a gym trainer, a prodigy to a gym leader, and Juan at that! How Steven envied Wallace. Steven’s mind had to work overtime when he tried imagining the other in that setting. How Wallace must just dazzle.
“Where’d you go?” The voice caught Steven by surprise, Wallace now sitting at his side on the beach. Steven jumped, head spinning to face the other, sending his slate hair fanning out around his face. Wallace just smiled and repeated the question.
“Nowhere. I’ve just been sitting here.”
“I meant, where did you go in here?” Wallace laughed, knocking his fingers against Steven’s skull. “You’re eyes glaze over when you think too hard. It’s like you just leave your body. I have always wanted to know where you leave to.”
Steven’s mouth slowly curled into a smile and his hand took Wallace’s, fingers knitting together as they fell into the sand. With his other hand Steven gestured out over the horizon. “Out there. In here,” he explained, bringing his free hand to his forehead. “I was trying to picture you at your gym and how great you must be. All those poor, unsuspecting challengers,” he smiled, leaning over to kiss Wallace’s warm shoulder before moving to drop an easy kiss on his lips.
“You’ll just have to come see,” Wallace breathed slowly, smiling against Steven’s lips. “Now come on, smile for the camera.” Wallace swept his previously discarded camera off the sand, rose it above them and dropped his head against Steven’s in a second. Steven smiled, feeling turquoise hair tickling his shoulder, their fingers still intertwined in the sand. The camera flashed and Wallace said something about how they could never forget now but Steven was already gone. His mind miles and years away, in an office overlooking Rustboro City and the Western Sea, but the memories of the turquoises haired boy would remained, for always.
* * * * *
The sun was setting over the Western Sea, casting long shadows across the city of Rustboro and bathing Steven’s office in golden light when the man turned from the window. The picture on his computer was buried under a half-dozen email notifications. The man rubbed his small stone between his thumb and forefinger, mind racing before finally settling on a decision.
With all the grace of a prep-school graduate and practiced businessman, he typed a quick email response before standing from his desk. He didn’t hesitate as he grabbed his jacket. Nor did he pause when he clicked his office lights off and slide through the door, leaving behind the corner office with a breathtaking view of the Western Sea. Only the computer screen was left to illuminate the abandoned office, a copy of the last email sent still on the screen.
to: wallace@sootopolisgym.com
from: s.stone@devoncorp.com
subject: RE: Old Memories
Bubblehead,
Still up for bringing elegance back to battling?
Cavecrawler
p.s. - You were hot.
Author: bitternarration
Rating: T
Verse: Game, Gen III
Characters: Steven Stone, Wallace
Summary: Steven is reminded of the summer he spent in Mossdeep City and the person he was then.
A/N: For pokeprompts. Prompt, Summer Skin by Death Cab for Cutie.
@ pokeprompts
Mossdeep Summers
to: s.stone@devoncorp.com
from: wallace@sootopolisgym.com
subject: Old Memories
Dearest Steven,
I came across this photograph the other day and I was reminded just how terribly long it has been since we last spoke, let alone saw each other, and I couldn’t help but write. I heard you were recently promoted to the Vice-President of Geological Research and Development or some such surely depressing stiff-collared job. Not quite the dream I remember you having that summer but congratulations none the less. I simply can’t imagine how terribly dashing you must look in a suit.
I’m not sure if you’ve heard or not but I was promoted to Gym Leader not so long ago. I would be lying if I told you it isn't everything I dreamed it would be. Certainly not non-stop excitement but there are no words to describe what it is like to run a gym, my gym. You really must come to Sootopolis and see what I have done here. I doubt that I am the best leader to ever grace Hoenn as you believed I would be all those years ago but I’m certainly the most debonair. If there are two things that can be said about the Sootopolis gym, they have always been; elegance and skill.
I’m sure you must be busy so I won’t waste anymore of your time, I just wanted to see how you were fairing these days and send you a copy of that picture. I wonder what those boys in that silly photograph would have to say if they saw the two of us now.
Yours sincerely,
Wallace
p.s. - Sixteen, what a dreadfully awful age. Highlights, with my hair color! I would ask what I was thinking but the bigger question is why in the world did you associated with me?
attachment: mossdeep.jpg
The small grin that had turned the corners of his mouth up flared into a full smile as Steven Stone opened the email’s attached image. Two teenagers burnt by the summer sun with smiles wider than the girth of a Snorlax smiled up from Steven’s computer screen. Simply looking at the picture took the young man back to that summer when he had met, and practically been inseparable from, Wallace. Had it really been only four years? Steven shook his head and continued to smile to himself. God, how fascinating Wallace had been. How easy their friendship. How unexpected their romance.
“Mossdeep summers,” Steven mused, rotating his chair so that he could look out his office window and across the western sea. His computer screen’s reflection was cast on the window, the ocean background of the picture matching up perfectly with the water outside Steven’s window. The reflection of two faces laughed at him from the corner of his eye but he didn’t notice. Steven’s body remained in the office, sinopia eyes cast out over the ocean, thumb and forefinger absently rubbing a smooth stone between them but his mind, that was no longer in the office or even in Rustboro City. No, it was miles and years away, remembering the summer with Wallace and the boy he had been then.
* * * * *
“Champion? That’s it? That is your deepest secret Steven? Your secret is that you want to be Champion? You make me feel like a real deviant,” the boy laughed, giving up on nipping at his companion’s freckled shoulder so that he could roll off of the gray haired boy and fall to his side. Steven looked down at the other, propped up on his elbows with a mixture of confusion and irritation in his eyes.
“Well it is. You asked what my biggest secret is and that’s it. I haven’t told anyone else,” Steven argued. His eyes softened as they moved over the boy beside him, fascinated by everything from the mess of turquoise hair that bordered his handsome face like the mane of a Luxray to the golden toned body below it and the very unique mind inside. Wallace was more different than anyone Steven had ever met before and that spoke to him.
“Fine. Fine. It’s deep and dark and a terrible secret if you say so. I think its frighteningly cute though. You can be Champion and I will be a gym leader, together we can bring the elegance back to pokemon battling,” Wallace continued to joke, his fingers sliding over Steven’s still pale arms. It had been his mission all summer to prove that Steven could tan instead of just freckle. They had spent almost everyday under the sun but as the summer drew to a close, it seemed as though he would fail that particular mission.
“Why limit yourself Wallace? I’ve seen you battle, you’re amazing, you could be Champion for sure.”
“Champion? Me?” Wallace broke out into mirthful shrieking at that idea, flipping himself onto his stomach and propping himself up on his elbows like Steven, their two shoulders touching before he realized that the other wasn’t laughing. Steven wasn’t even smiling so Wallace calmed his laughter for a moment. “Fine. I’ll do it, with you, we’ll challenge the Elite Four then the Champion and become Champions ourselves.”
Steven smiled at that, rocking his body to bump shoulders with his partner but the other was already moving. Rolling off the bed, Wallace sprang to his feet and moved to stand before Steven, hand outstretched. The still lounging Steven just followed the other with his bright eyes, grinning as the flood of sunlight through the window illuminated Wallace’s frame. Each hard line was set aflame in the afternoon light, his brilliant hair becoming like the very sea. As usual the teenager wore next to nothing, tight swim-briefs that did miracles for his hardly covered ass and groin. How comfortable Wallace was in life and with his body. It was one of the many things Steven admired about the other.
“Enough of this, let’s hit the beach,” Wallace begged, stretching his offered hand toward Steven. All Steven wanted to do was keep Wallace here and continue to admire him, not share him with the world. However, Wallace’s turquoise eyes commanded Steven and, with a groan, he dropped his head, took the offered hand and scrambled off the bed.
* * * * *
It was late afternoon and the beach crowd was fading when the two teenagers arrived. The sand still hot under their feet and between their toes as they sprinted across it toward the foamy surf. At this time of day, the tourist families were north of the island, watching as the majestic wailords, and smaller wailmer, broke the ocean’s surface in their nightly dance. It left the beach to Wallace and Steven, exactly how the latter preferred it.
A large smile possessed Steven’s face when Wallace broke free from him and collided with the first wave, diving through it into the ocean. His golden body was accepted into the water like a lost child being swept up into their mother's arms. Like the water pokemon the teenager was so fond of, Wallace belonged amongst the waves and, when his head broke the surface with one of his ever present carefree smiles, Steven’s breath caught in his throat.
“Come on cave-crawler, the water is fantastic,” he sang out over the crashing surf, summoning Steven more with his eyes than the gesturing hand.
“I’m good bubblehead,” Steven laughed back, falling onto the sand. The warmth of the golden grains radiated through his shorts but Steven paid it no mind. He hugged his knees to his chest, mind on Wallace. There was no doubt in Steven’s mind that the boy would become leader of his gym, or that he was capable of becoming Champion if he so desired. Wallace was amazing. He had shown Steven the simple joys of life this summer, had made the city boy fall in love with this little island town, as well as in love with the boy with the summer skin.
In just a few days Steven would be back at school in Rustboro City and Wallace would be training at the Sootopolis Gym. To be a gym trainer, a prodigy to a gym leader, and Juan at that! How Steven envied Wallace. Steven’s mind had to work overtime when he tried imagining the other in that setting. How Wallace must just dazzle.
“Where’d you go?” The voice caught Steven by surprise, Wallace now sitting at his side on the beach. Steven jumped, head spinning to face the other, sending his slate hair fanning out around his face. Wallace just smiled and repeated the question.
“Nowhere. I’ve just been sitting here.”
“I meant, where did you go in here?” Wallace laughed, knocking his fingers against Steven’s skull. “You’re eyes glaze over when you think too hard. It’s like you just leave your body. I have always wanted to know where you leave to.”
Steven’s mouth slowly curled into a smile and his hand took Wallace’s, fingers knitting together as they fell into the sand. With his other hand Steven gestured out over the horizon. “Out there. In here,” he explained, bringing his free hand to his forehead. “I was trying to picture you at your gym and how great you must be. All those poor, unsuspecting challengers,” he smiled, leaning over to kiss Wallace’s warm shoulder before moving to drop an easy kiss on his lips.
“You’ll just have to come see,” Wallace breathed slowly, smiling against Steven’s lips. “Now come on, smile for the camera.” Wallace swept his previously discarded camera off the sand, rose it above them and dropped his head against Steven’s in a second. Steven smiled, feeling turquoise hair tickling his shoulder, their fingers still intertwined in the sand. The camera flashed and Wallace said something about how they could never forget now but Steven was already gone. His mind miles and years away, in an office overlooking Rustboro City and the Western Sea, but the memories of the turquoises haired boy would remained, for always.
* * * * *
The sun was setting over the Western Sea, casting long shadows across the city of Rustboro and bathing Steven’s office in golden light when the man turned from the window. The picture on his computer was buried under a half-dozen email notifications. The man rubbed his small stone between his thumb and forefinger, mind racing before finally settling on a decision.
With all the grace of a prep-school graduate and practiced businessman, he typed a quick email response before standing from his desk. He didn’t hesitate as he grabbed his jacket. Nor did he pause when he clicked his office lights off and slide through the door, leaving behind the corner office with a breathtaking view of the Western Sea. Only the computer screen was left to illuminate the abandoned office, a copy of the last email sent still on the screen.
to: wallace@sootopolisgym.com
from: s.stone@devoncorp.com
subject: RE: Old Memories
Bubblehead,
Still up for bringing elegance back to battling?
Cavecrawler
p.s. - You were hot.