Careful! (Ash x Gary)

Chapter Twelve

1k reads! Guyyyyyysssss!! I never thought I'd see the day! It may seem minor, but this is a really big goal for me! Thank you guys for support and reading. I appreciate it!❤️

Also, there will be a slur mentioned, but the purpose of the first half of this chapter is very light-hearted and fluffy, the second half is another story......
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The little girl laughs as her brother prances around with her newly won stuffed Teddyursa, dipping the bear dramatically before handing it back to the pair of grabby hands. A loud, shrill scream causes her to visibly jump back and drop the soft bear onto the ground in front of her, dirt sifting softly through the faux hair.

"Gary, I swear to Arceus. Rock it again." Ash's voice wavers and his grip on the metal surrounding them tightens. He scowls at his husband's laughing, and stares at pole in the middle, fear consuming all of his facial features. Gary slides over to Ash's side, caressing his arm and placing kisses covering his shoulder. He soaks in the warmth of his body, slightly cringing away from the metal embracing his back.

"It's alright, baby. I won't rock anymore, I promise. Calm down now, we're safe. You're safe sitting right here next to me, okay?" Gary reassures the trembling man, understanding the reasons behind his shaky hands and sweaty palms. Irrational fears are a funny thing. The red-colored basket sways, the gears clunking as it lowers farther down.

"Oh, oh. Okay." His voice sounding more even, he follows the bright feather colors of a Braviary. "I'm so happy that it's beautiful today. Sunlight looks beautiful on your face, you know that?" Ash narrows his visual focus on the Braviary, who was now resting into a nearby tree and observing the people walking below.

"Flattering, love. Is this how you're luring me into bed tonight?" Gary chuckles and grabs a hold of Ash's hand, steadying it. "It is beautiful out. I like the warmth of the sun, feels nice after that blistering mountain that you insisted on staying on for arceus knows how long." Although he feels Ash stiffen, he drags his jaw over to face him and places a soft kiss. He tries not to loosen up some memories of that time with Ash, but at the same time he thinks that he should talk about it. If not to him, then to a professional. Truth be told, Ash and Gary married before his mom was consumed by the cancer. Oak took it hard. Ash took it harder. It took a total of three months before Gary could convince him to come back to their house in the Johto region. The night that they returned to their bed, Gary didn't want to leave it and instead spent an entire day relieving the aches that were brought on from sleeping in the mountains.

"It was a nice change of scenery," his light-hearted chuckle cut off by the screeching of the motors, the cart lowering to the ground finally. "Thank the arceus. You know, baby? I think I favor the ground." Their laughs surrounds them one last time before stepping out of the cart onto the platform with the worker. Small thank you's follows them out towards the inflatables sporadically placed around the flowers and benches.

"If your Pidgeotto hears you describing your love for ground types, you'll be cycling everywhere, doofus." Gary subtly pulls Ash by their interlocked hands towards the bench overlooking the water. As Gary turns around to face his husband, Ash pushes a deep red flower into Gary's kept hair. The stem of the flower scrapes gently across the inner folds of skin where the ear meets the head and the petals laying smoothly against his temple. The blood pools in his cheeks, matching a duller shade of the flower. His jaw falls slightly and his eyes never leave Ash's as his own runs over Gary's features. To the jade and amber pooling in his eyes, to the pink tint of his lips. Without voluntary will, Ash's hand pulls up Gary's jaw and his thumb runs over the blushing cheeks.

Just as his hand puts pressure on his neck, pulling the face towards his own, a prepubescent voice squeaks from behind them, "fags," small laughs following behind.