Archive of Our Own ^beta

It didn't feel like anything to write home about.

Not because they didn't love each other, it was very apparent that they did, but that didn't mean the coveted first kiss went smoothly. At first they tried to cope with it through half-hearted teasing, but they weren't fooling anyone. The way Hop's laugh trailed into nothing when he mentioned how he felt like he almost broke Shield's nose going into it, the tone Shield carried when they recalled how they had unromantically sneezed immediately afterwards... Neither of them seemed to really mean it. After a week they just stopped talking about it. 

They still spent most of their time together. They made a point to have a pokemon battle at least once a week with new pokemon while they worked on filling up their pokedexes, and afterwards they would take turns picking where to go for food. And they'd laugh and smile and hold each other's hands, but they wouldn't kiss each other. It wasn't like they didn't want to, they were just afraid of what the other one thought. 

"So where did you even find that Gardevoir? I've been looking everywhere for one!" Hop exclaimed, taking care not to let any crumbs from his curry fall off his fork. 

"She was on that big hill cliff thing outside the gates," Shield wiped their face with their napkin, their heart swelling with pride in their new pokemon. "The Lake of Outrage! That's what it's called. She was up at the top of the hill."

"You're going to have to show me, because I've been looking there for weeks and the only pokemon I can ever find up there are Golurks and Barbaracles." His mouth was full, but Shield didn't mind. "We can go camping! And we can scout out some new pokemon for our matches."

It was really sweet to see him get all fired up like that over something as simple as camping. "I can bring some stuff to make curry, if you want. I've been experimenting and I think I've found something new for us to try." Shield rested their chin in their hand, smiling as they pictured the idea. "I hope you don't mind spicy stuff."

Hop cocked an eyebrow. "You kidding? I invented  spicy. I've been eating tanga berries since before you were born!" That was something he liked to say, even though Shield was older than him by a couple months. To him it felt like it nailed the point home.

Shield only grinned. "Challenge accepted. This time tomorrow, Lake of Outrage, bring the spiciest berries you've got and your Grookey." They stood up from their seat and stood beside Hop's seat. "I'll see you then." They smiled, hugging him around the shoulders.

He wrapped his arms around their back and squeezed them, laughing under his breath. "You got it!" As the two pulled away, a similar thought crossed the both of their minds, but was quickly pushed away, leaving them in awkward silence before Shield shyly ducked their head into their coat and walked out into the rustic streets of Hammerlocke. 

~~~

Shield was the last to show up to their spot on the lake. They could tell before they even set foot on the island because of the plumes of smoke drifting lazily up into the blue sky. They had to sneak pass a few large, lumbering pokemon, but it wasn't anything Shield hadn't done before in their many travels across Galar. They pulled their tent out of their knapsack as they approached Hop's setup, calling his name as they picked up the pace.

"Hey! You made it!" Hop caught Shield in his arms, hugging them tightly before pulling away. "I was making some curry for Grookey while we waited. He has a huuuge appetite.." 

The grass pokemon was reclined in the shade of a tree, an already sizable stack of dirty curry dishes stacked beside him as he finished yet another plate of sausage curry. Grookey burped, satisfied before he rolled onto his side to rest.

The pair laughed, holding each other's hands as Shield set their tent bag aside in the grass near Hop's. "So I guess we should wait until he wakes up for me to try and make my surprise?"

"Are you kidding? He's full, not me!"

"Will you set up my tent while I cook then?" Shield leaned against Hop's shoulder, batting their eyelashes like they'd seen all of the models in commercials do. 

"Pfft yeah, sure!" He grinned shakily, his cheeks giving away his embarrassment. He squeezed their hand once, for luck, before turning away to pitch Shield's tent. It was big, and red, and comfy, too. A few months back a Corviknight had stolen his tent poles to make a nest and he'd had to crash with Shield in their tent before he could get into town to buy a new one. He could still remember how nervous he was about even asking them if he could sleep in there. His heart had caught in his throat and stayed there for what seemed like forever. He remembered staying up late into the night, talking with Shield in hushed tones while rain poured down on the roof of their tent. Hop tried to break out of his trip down memory lane enough to at least nail one stake into the ground.

"Hey, Hop?" Shield called, placing a few berries aside. They had tossed a little cloth over the mixing bowl to hide what berries specifically, but Hop was pretty sure he could see a lipa berry in there.

"Yeah?" He set aside the stake hammer and turned fully to look at them.

"I left my packaged curry mix at the hotel, do you have any with you?"

"You're using the packaged stuff??"

"I like the way it looks! It's cute getting to make pikachu-shaped rice."

"I think I have some in my bag." Hop counted the tent poles in his head, making sure he had all of them with him. "But I think Grookey might be using it right now."

Shield furrowed their brows in confusion before looking at the pokemon, curled up tightly with Hop's bag, chirping in his sleep. "Ah. I see."

After a few more minutes of struggling with tent poles and making sure the now plain, berry only wasn't burning, the two trainers were finally ready to sit down and eat. Shield sat criss-cross-applesauce in front of Hop, a determined glint in their brown eyes as they set the steaming plate of curry in front of him.

"It took me three weeks to gather all the berries necessary for my spiciest creation yet," Shield almost bragged, resting their hands on their knees. "If you're too chicken to even think about trying it-"

Hop quickly scooped up the plate, not even bothering to use his spoon as he shoved handfuls of steaming rice and sauce into his face. His challenger sat in awe, mouth agape as he downed it all in one fell -gulp!- He wiped his mouth proudly with his palm, and set the plate down to the side. 

They sat in silence, eyes fixed on each other, waiting for the first sign of a crack in either of their expressions. Hop's eyes watered from the fire burning in the pit of his stomach and the length of his throat, but still he didn't move. Shield was the first to break.

"Hop, are you-"

He immediately shot up, gasping and gulping for the cold air of sunset as he fanned his face frantically. His sudden movement shocked Grookey, who had been asleep this whole time, and the pokemon began to panic, screeching and running in all directions as his trainer rambled on and on some nonsense that a surely swollen tongue muffled.

Shield wasted no time in standing up, but after that their brain froze. They didn't think it would actually be that spicy, but clearly they had been mistaken. Quickly, they pulled their water bottle from their bag and chased after Hop, yelling after him to stop running around so he could drink something.

The two ran in circles around their camp until finally Shield managed to rugby-tackle Hop to the ground, making him land face first in the grass and dirt, which actually seemed to help drown out the spicy taste. Shield pulled him up and held his shoulders firmly, catching the cap of their bottle between their teeth and popping it open. "Here, have some of this!" They pushed the bottle into Hop's hands.

The boy shook as he drank, the adrenaline from all of the heat starting to finally drain from his system, replaced by the cool water from the bottle. "Wow.. you weren't kidding.." He wheezed, his head lolling back in relief as he breathed the cold air around him. "Where did you find those berries?"

He realized a little too late that Shield wasn't looking at him. Their brown eyes were wide, pupils shrunk in surprise and mouth agape. Hop slowly turned around and quickly adopted the same expression. Normally, a Grimmsnarl wouldn't be a problem, but given that the only pokemon in the area that was at least slightly friendly was a month-old Grookey, both trainers agreed wordlessly that it would be better to hightail it away from the hulking dark-type pokemon. The two barreled into Shield's tent, almost knocking it over as they clambered childishly onto Shield's sleeping-bag. They only remembered that Grookey was even there when the little creature jumped on Hop's lap, fur on edge and shaking.

The two were silent, clinging close to one another and listening closely as they heard the Grimmsnarl eat the spicy curry outside. "Okay... should have planned for that..." Shield finally said, their grip on Hop's coat loosening enough to let him breathe.

"I'm more surprised that it even wants to try that," Hop chuckled breathlessly, looking sideways at Shield. "I mean, I could hardly take it."

"That's an understatement and you know it."

"Agree to disagree."

Shield chuckled and rolled their eyes. "Either way, I think we're gonna be stuck in here for a while. I left my bag out there, and there's... a lot of berries in there."

"Great." Hop raised his eyebrows, prying Grookey off of his lap and setting him on the sleeping bag, "All my stuff is in my tent."

"And I guess neither of us are going to want to go out and get it..." Shield sighed, smiling weakly and holding their face in their hands. "Welp! It's our adventure on Route 3 all over again!"

"I guess so," Hop agreed, trying to block out the details of that little "adventure." He glanced at Shield to see if they were thinking about it, too. They were mirroring him in action and thoughts, staring back at him with an even more awkward look in their eyes.

Neither of them were sure if they even wanted to talk about it. Shield's mouth felt dry as they held their breath, trying to think of something to break the silence. 

"So.........." 

"What... now?" They both cringed at the awkwardness. 

"I have a spare blanket in here," Shield observed, braking eye contact to gesture to the heavy flannel blanket in the corner of the tent. "I'll take that if you want the sleeping bag."

"You don't have to do that," Hop insisted, crawling over to the blanket and picking it up. "Oh, I should take my shoes off."

Shield sighed, disappointed in themself. They thought they'd be able to talk about this by now.. Maybe they could try again? "I mean.. if that Grimmsnarl was a hoard of Rolycolies, this really is like last time, huh?" 

"We're still missing the rain, though!" Hop laughed, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders. "Honestly, I could go without it. It made it almost impossible to sleep."

"That and your snoring." Shield snorted, remembering how loud Hop was that night.

"I do not snore!"

"I literally have a video of it on my Rotom phone!"

"It's edited and you know it!"

Shield laughed harder, putting their face in their hands. Their shoulders shook as they wheezed through their fingers. "How- ha ha- would I even do that?"

Hop waved his hands, dismissing the thought. "You have your ways! I know you do!"

The two talked for hours and hours, laughing and teasing and reminiscing about That One Time on Route 3, somehow always dancing around the subject of their first kiss. As the sun finally set outside, the two had turned to telling spooky stories that they had heard whispered in Stow-On-Side.

"...and then... the Driftblim DISAPPEARED! The girl tangled in it's wires and they were never seen again!" Hop posed dramatically with Shield's flashlight under his chin. His partner feigned shock and terror, throwing their hand against their forehead and fake-fainting onto Hop's lap.

"The horror! The sheer horror!" They gasped, writhing and tossing their head side to side in their act.

"Oh, get off it!" Hop snorted, pushing them off of him and onto the floor. The two laughed and Shield grabbed their flashlight back.

"If we keep on like this we won't get any rest at all. We should go to bed."

"You sound like our mums," Hop snorted, gathering up the blanket that had pooled around him.

"I mean, one of us has to be," They retorted, flicking the flashlight off. They could see his outline in the dark, faintly making out his movements as he wrapped his blanket tighter around him. "Goodnight, Hop."

"What, no kiss goodnight?" Hop protested, leaning against the side of the tent. Shield raised their eyebrows, but he didn't see. All he knew was one moment Shield was over there, and the next moment, Shield hand their hands in his, and their lips pressed gently against his. His heart shot up into his throat and he stiffened up, clutching Shield's hands tightly as he shyly kissed them back. 

"There," Shield mumbled, clearly as shaken up as Hop was as they pulled away. "Now sleep. You’re gonna need the energy for tomorrow if you want to catch that Gardevoir."

The Gardevoir was the last thing on his mind. The only thing his brain could hold onto was how

that was a kiss to remember...