Work Text:
The pitter-patter of the rain against the windows felt like someone had lain a warm blanket over Bede's soul. He's not one for thunderstorms but gentle rain is lovely. He took a glance away from his book to gaze outside, watching the droplets pour down. Recently, he's felt more at ease than ever in his annoyingly drawn-out existence. Or, it felt drawn-out before he befriended, and subsequently began dating, Hop. Their relationship and new, cozy little flat had him feeling like a curled up cat in a sunny window.
He blinked and turned the page.
A few minutes pass, and as he tugs his blanket over his knees and adjusts himself on the couch, he wonders Why isn't Hop home yet? It's getting late, and Bede's getting cold.
The boy huffs and shakes his head, puffy white hair swaying as he turns his attention back to his book, raising an eyebrow at a sudden bout of cheesy romance.
An hour passes and Bede is bored of the book, having left it abandoned on a side table in favor of making some tea. He's placing it delicately onto the coffee table in front of the couch when a slam at the door causes him to jolt, tea splattering to the floor and his new beige sweater. He takes a deep breathe (Calm Bede, calm,) and tries not to seethe as he stalks towards the door of his and Hop's shared flat, yanking open the door-
"Who on earth-" He pauses mid-grumble, purple eyes blinking wide, "Hop?"
"Hey." Speak of the devil. There stood his boyfriend, smiling nervously with his arms casually behind his head, drenched to the bone. With a bruised nose. "Am I allowed in, sweetheart?"
Bede finally snaps out of his odd haze, yanking Hop inside by his wrist. The boy says 'Whoa,' as he's pulled through the threshold, giggling afterwards. Bede leaves him standing near the door as he retrieves a freshly washed towel, quickly drying Hop's hair even as he whines 'Bede, my hair! C'mon, It would've dried in a few minutes anyway!'
"Oh, hush." Bede chides halfheartedly, pulling away the towel from his hair to quickly dry off his torso. "Now, what had you out so late? And why is your face bruised?" Bede pauses, folding and placing the towel down. "Is there someone harming you?"
Hop's eyes go a little wide at the idea, quickly shaking his head, "No, no! I just, uh.. I might've been so excited to get home I tripped over a rock while coming up to the door, and slammed into it." He glances off to the side and grins with slight nervousness. "No one's hurting me, promise. Though with the look you had on your face, if someone was, I'm worried you'd do somethin' drastic.." He mumbles.
"I would." Bede bluntly says, stepping forward to grip Hop's chin lightly, turning it left and right to check for any other bruising. He sighs. "I feel like I should be more alarmed about you slamming into our door so hard you get a dark bruise, but truthfully, you've done that sort of thing so many times I've grown desensitized to it." He chuckles- it's an obvious tease, but Bede still leans close to press a light kiss on that awful purple bruise as an apology. He's satisfied when the surrounding skin takes on a red tint.
"Come on," Bede leads him into their living room, taking off Hop's coat and hanging it on the top hook of their Hatterene coat hanger (a late birthday gift from Hop). Their TV buzzes with quiet but lively chatter of some random show Bede had put on as a distraction during the lonely night.
He suggests Hop sit down for a bit to recover from running all the way home in the rain, while he goes to refill and reheat his ruined tea. While he's watching the steam drift towards the ceiling, he has some sort of nervous sense that he should turn around.
"Beeeeeedeeeeeee!" Comes only a moment later after his nervous thought- instinct correct. Bede does not shriek as he barely dodges his boyfriend's open arms, only able to yelp out a few words before dodging another lunge. "What are you doing!?"
Hop giggles (and Bede's heart sings, but he won't admit it), turning swiftly on the kitchen flooring due to his fluffy Wooloo socks (a Christmas gift from Bede), holding his hands out like they're clawed, wiggling his fingers. "I wanna hug, Bee! Come heeere!"
Bede turns tail and runs, sliding on the hardwood floor- "NO! Hop, no, you're still soaked-!" he shrieks despite it being near midnight, almost slamming into a doorway as he turns into a guest room. Once inside he quickly realizes he's now cornered, at the mercy of his wet-golden retriever-like boyfriend, and excited but nervous adrenaline makes his heart race and his breath stutter. "Do not." Bede narrows his eyes, but the wobbly smile on his face is enough to give away his enjoyment.
Hop sticks out his tongue tauntingly and comes barreling towards him once more. At the last second, Bede ducks under his wide-spread arms, rushing out of the room and up their stairs, determined to make it to safety (a locked door, even though Hop will still whine his way in, or bribe Bede with Sylveon merch).
He's five steps away from the door when he hears rapid footsteps rush at him from behind. "Hop-!" He yells in anticipation, fingers grazing the doorknob, but he's pulled into a tight embrace before he can grasp it. Bede groans dramatically as Hop squeezes tight around his waist, rubbing their cheeks together. Bede's halfheartedly trying to push him off, face caught between a grin and a grimace because Hop smells like dirt and grime and really needs a shower- but still, Bede realizes, there's nowhere he'd rather be right now.
"Got you!" Hop smiles big and wide, and celebrates by pressing messy kisses to Bede's cheek, turning it a light pink moments after. He loosens his grasp and instead cards his hands through Bede's Wooloo-soft hair, fingers getting caught on fluffy curls. "Sorry," Hop apologizes, not at all sorry, "I just missed you."
Bede shakes his head fondly, leaning into the touch. His eyes glimmer with unspoken adoration as he cups Hop's cheek. "I missed you too. You were out a while, which reminds me- why is that?" Bede raises an eyebrow. The boy is almost always back in time for movie night.
Hop rocks back and forth on his heels energetically, reaching into his pocket. He pulls out a recently polished Poke-ball, presenting it to Bede. He takes it with a questioning glance.
"So, I've been looking for this for a while, just each time I got the chance- but never really expected I'd find it. So when I did tonight, I had to stay out and catch it if it was the last thing I did." Hop rubs a hand across Bede's arm. "Happy I Love You Day."
Bede rolls his eyes fondly at the mention of the supposed date- Hop had made up the little holiday when he decided there weren't enough reasons to get Bede gifts, or praise him, or... Bede really can't express how much his lover makes his heart flutter on the daily.
He blinks away the lovesick thoughts to press the release button on the Poke-ball, curious what Hop would've stayed out so long for.
Out pops a sparkling little fluffball- an Eevee. But more.. crème-colored. It chirps at him, rubbing against his leg instantly. Bede instinctively lifts it into his arms as it processes in his mind.
"You found a shiny!?" He exclaims, cradling the small Pokemon as Hop chuckles, nodding. "Yeah! Nearly had a heart attack when I saw her!" It's a girl, too? Hop really was lucky today.
"Hello there.." Bede strokes a delicate hand over it's head a few times, smiling softly when it nuzzles into his touch each time. He's unaware of Hop watching him with such a fond look in his eyes he'd surely get overwhelmed if he saw it. Finally, he sets the cuddly Pokemon down and returns her to her ball for the time being- he was feeling a bit emotional.
"I can't believe you found a shiny," Bede huffs, leaning into Hop's side. Hop wraps an arm around him in response. "And she's for me." Bede mumbles the last part as if he can't really process the fact. Hop kisses his forehead.
"Of course she's for you. She's special. And obviously Pokemon aren't defined by how special they are, or what they look like- but you're special to me and it seemed like a good way to make that known. I'd do a lot to make you happy, Bee." The watery look in Bede's eyes isn't too surprising, but he still cups Bede's face to keep him from hiding away, embarrassed for having emotions. "I love you."
Bede sniffles pathetically (you're not pathetic, Hop's voice scolds from in his head), letting himself be pulled into an embrace, soothing, warm hands rubbing down his shoulders and back, light kisses being pressed into his neck.
"I love you too." And Bede says it without hesitation, because it's the whole truth and not something he should hide anymore. Even if it scares him. "I love you- so much." He steps back to look the other boy in the eyes, and finds himself falling all over again.
There's a kiss pressed to the corner of his mouth, a silent question. Bede responds by kissing Hop properly, brushing his fingers through the hair at the back of his neck, melting into it when Hop tucks a curl behind his ear and sighs in content.
They kiss leisurely, pouring out their love into each reconnection, each peck across eyelids and the tips of their noses, words unspoken but so obvious in the quiet of their stairway.
Bede's just pressed a kiss to Hop's jaw when the boy suddenly jolts, slamming his chin into Bede's forehead. He barely has time to react to such a startle before Hop's rushing downstairs, panicked, shouting: "I'm so sorry for that but I forgot the tea! That's the expensive kind!"
And as he soothes his stinging forehead, listening to Hop distantly whine about how it boiled over but 'I swear I'll make more, Bede, and we can watch our planned movie before bed', his hand drifts to his chest, where he can feel his heart fluttering.
"Yeah," Bede thinks, descending the stairs, "I'm at ease."