April Fools- Pokemon Namelessshipping Album Fic

Part 7:

A/N: BTW, April Fools as an album is a lot more clever than this silly little fic, it just passes the vibe check and I like the lyrics in the songs. If I were to pair songs from the album to the fic in serious, I would say Friends With You, Feelin so Matryoshka, Toynbee Tiles, Pleasure Cruise, and Pink Smoke (Blue doesn't do a lot of pining in what I have written, but slowburns are a great opportunity to write some horrific pining)

Warning: Depiction of self harm near the end, take care of yourself :)

"Could you teach me... how to break down with elegance?"- Feelin so Matryoshka, April Fools

Blue ended up getting off of work early. It wasn't his fault that Red was convincing. Either way, Blue was now standing in the kitchen, helping Red make a salad for dinner. "Where'd you even learn to cook anyways?" Blue held an onion, trying to figure out how he was supposed to slice it up without slicing his hand open along with it.

"..." Red didn't answer him. Blue held the onion to the chopping board, trying to position the knife properly. Red set the bowl of cut up veggies in the sink and walked over to the counter. He grabbed one of Blue's wrists as he spoke, "You cut it in half, then try to cut it up further." Red mumbled, grabbing the onion in one hand, and guiding Blue's hand to slice it down the middle. He then moved one of the onion halves to rest on the flat side, and sliced it vertically and horizontally. Red's hand was warm, and his grip on Blue's wrist was firm but gentle. He held his hand steady as they finished chopping up the onion, and Blue could feel a hint of his breath down his neck.

"Okay.. got it." Blue mumbled, feeling a bit flustered. Red hovered over him for a few brief moments as he grabbed a carrot from the pile of veggies that Red had gathered. Blue didn't dare look up at Red, instead choosing to glance down at Eevee who was awaiting a bit of carrot expectantly. He sliced the ends off the carrot and gave them to Eevee. Red went back over to the bowl of veggies. He had been washing them thoroughly, and at this point Blue figured they were clean, but he didn't say anything. He finished chopping up the veggies (An assortment of carrots, onions, cucumbers, and bell peppers) and glanced back over at Red. "So, is this just a generic salad?" He prompted. Red nodded, grabbing the bowl and moving it over to the counter. He grabbed the chopping board full of vegetables and slid them into the bowl. Blue watched as Red tossed the salad.

"..." Red clicked his tongue, glancing around.

"Whatcha looking for?"

"I forgot where I put the dressing." Red smiled sheepishly.

"Red, there are only 3 cabinets. I'm sure you can find it." Blue chuckled. Red shrugged, walking over to the cabinets above the oven and sink. He opened them and after repeating the process a couple of times, he fished a bottle of dressing out from one of them. "How many groceries did you buy?"

"A week's supply for two people."

"That's a lot of food, man."

"I need to eat a lot, and you need to eat more than you do."

"I know, I know. My eating habits aren't stellar. Did you do anything else this morning?" Blue's hand rested on his hip and he shifted to lean on the counter.

"I took Pikachu for an outing. He's glad to be back home in Kanto. I really didn't spend much time here, but I did a hundred push-ups and sit-ups while the TV was on in the background."
"Wow. You really are a bit of a health-nut." Blue cringed, Red had really gotten his life together. He knew Red was objectively better than him, that had been drilled into his head years ago, but this realization about Red somehow made him feel even more pathetic.

"I try." Red frowned, sliding a healthy helping of the salad into his bowl. Blue wasn't really jealous at this point, he just felt a tad of admiration for Red and a large helping of self-loathing he refused to unpack at the moment. Blue served himself some of the salad and put a small helping of it in Eevee's bowl. Pikachu was laying on Eevee's make-shift cushion bed, asleep to Blue's relief. He didn't dislike it, but Pikachu had a tendency to shock him every time he and Red bickered. Or at least, when they used to bicker. Aside from what had happened earlier, he and Red hadn't bickered once. Blue sat down on the sofa and Red sat down next to him. The sofa was small, it was really meant for one and a half people rather than two, and this fact made things a tad awkward. Blue inched away from Red and into the sofa, but their thighs were still touching. Red seemed like he wasn't super aware of this, he was picking at his salad. Eevee climbed onto Blue's lap- to his dismay. Now the sofa was really cramped, between the warm, furry bundle that now sat on his lap, and the equally warm, sweaty mountain man that sat not even inches away. Blue awkwardly chewed on the leaves, Eevee was sniffing at the bowl.