smash_logs | I will fix the formatting when my internet works better oops

Entry tags:

I will fix the formatting when my internet works better oops

Who: plants. Two of them. With flowers. Also a bubble.
What: bubbles.
When: Uh.
Where: UH.
Warnings: Bulba is a tittybaby.

It seemed as though it was that time of year again. The time of year when the Academy collectively lost its shit and weird stuff started happening. Though to be fair it had just sort of been escalating this time, things had already been growing steadily weirder and more concerning, but he didn't know what to do about it. Rumours were circling and those pesky bug things kept popping up unexpectedly, amongst other things. But for a while he just thought the rumours were only rumours. His team was still alright though, and he was still able to check in on Vinnie while he was safely abroad in Kanto.

But then his phone stopped connecting to Kanto.

And then the sky started getting weird.

So then he worried. He worried a lot. His worries kind of got in the way of some things, since he got awfully pre-occupied. Was Vinnie okay? Was weird stuff happening in Kanto too? It couldn't have been, it was just stuff that happened here. He was probably fine. Clearly he was just overreacting like usual. There was definitely no reason to be spacing out and letting a bag of dirt tip out of his wheelbarrow... Which... Just happened.

"Ah, crap."

He didn't notice the slight warble and shimmer of something or other that was manifesting (?) nearby as he got his soil mess all under control. If it hadn't been directly in front if him when he looked up, he might have missed it entirely. Well, maybe not, but that didn't matter because he was there and it was there and Bulba dropped the bag of dirt all over again.

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"Hey, beautiful."

The voice rang out as though the universe itself was responding to Bulba's wishes, as familiar and loving as anything the shiny Saur might've imagined in his daydreams. The image that appeared in the dimensional bubble, however, was anything but.

Vinnie stepped through the door of the Safari Zone rest house, looking remarkably well kept compared to when he left to start the volunteer program - that was a fresh haircut and everything. But even more notable than that was his smile. Bright and unrestrained, it seemed to light up every aspect of him. And what waited for him was another face that quickly blossomed into a similar look of joy.

"Vinnie." Erika's Vileplume was ever the picture of a proper lady, even with a baby Nidoran♂ sleeping on her lap. Though her tone was characteristically refined, she glowed with fondness the moment her eyes laid on the Venusaur.

He strode over like it was the most natural thing to do, and kissed her like it made everything right with the world. There was a pleased giggle in her throat as she kissed back. The Flower Pokemon repeated his name in a delighted whisper as their lips parted. "Vinnie," she teased, "you're going to wake the baby."

Relenting with a soft chuckle, the Venusaur reached out, carefully took the newly hatched Pokemon and cradled it in his arms. Remarkably, the baby Poison Type stirred, but did not wake.

Edited 2014-07-08 06:47 (UTC)

The amount of emotional whiplash that jerked the Venusaur around was astounding.

He had been so surprised and naturally delighted to hear his lover's voice calling, his reactions were running ahead of him before he could process what he was actually seeing. All he saw was Vinnie's smile, as beautiful as he had ever seen it. Bulba's chest warmed at the sight, so pleased in that brief moment. A bright smile of his own had lit his face, so relieved after all his worry to hear him, to see him so happy. Vinnie's name had already been on his lips, ready to welcome him back.

A tender voice brimming with love said it for him, and all of Bulba's thoughts slammed to a halt. Everything was different in an instant. Bulba's voice died in his throat as he realized that everything thus far had been for the pretty lady Vinnie was walking towards.

The pretty lady Vinnie was kissing more sweetly than Bulba could have ever imagined.

The pretty lady Vinnie looked so utterly content with, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him. Like that entire moment was everything it was supposed to be, basking in the warm happiness of someone that made him complete and whole.

Bulba didn't notice how flat his ears had become against his head, or how tightly he was clenching his teeth. Nor did he notice how tight his through had become. All he could see was the care in his boyfriend's touch as he gave them to another and the way his happiness rolled off of him in waves.

It was a secret that he should have been angry about. A small, tiny voice in the back of his mind was telling him as much. Yell out to him, it said. Don't just stand there. Let them know you can see.

But if he did he'd wake the precious child in Vileplume's arms that they were doting on so carefully.

If he did he'd tarnish that breathtaking smile.

He couldn't bring himself to do it. All he could do was watch as another voice crept in louder.

Just when have you ever made him so happy?

Not waiting for Bulba to find his voice, the world in the bubble marched on without him, playing out the sweet, secret encounter with no thought to his feelings.

Just like the rangers had taught him to, Vinnie gave the baby its ID number for tracking and vaccination sprays. Once he laid the Nidoran♂ down in a temporary nest, his attention was returned to Vileplume. He sat down next to her and gently placed his hand on hers - their fingers easily found where they belonged, entwining like two halves of a whole.

"I'm really glad you visited." There was still a lingering air of bashfulness in him as he said so, but the warmth in his face was unrepentantly genuine. This only seemed to endear Vileplume more as she smiled anew back at him.

"So am I." Her words were simple and soft, but her presence alone made them resonate in the stillness of the room - elegant, feminine, and loving.

The Venusaur continued, earnestly, "I missed you, y'know? When you're here... everything makes sense." As he leaned in to nuzzle her, he murmured, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Whatever else was exchanged was lost to time and space. The vision in the bubble grew hazy, distorted - and then popped out of existence.

It wasn't like he had needed to see it to know what would have happened next. The Flower Pokemon's answer would have been something as tender and loving as she was. He'd brush the hair across her cheeks more gently than anyone could have guessed possible, and kissed her with all the light in his heart that she filled him with.

You need to be angry, the tiny voice said. This is something you need to be angry about. Please be angry.

Except there was no reason to get angry. It wasn't clear if this mirage of joy was even real. Weird things were happening around the school again. It could have just been a weird thing. Maybe he had stumbled upon a window that was glimpsing into Vinnie's real time life, or something entirely different, or something that was just entirely a sham.

Bulba clutched his shirt over his chest, realizing that between what had been in front of him being real or not, he wasn't sure which was actually the tragedy. Was it the world in which he was not the person giving Vinnie that happiness, or was it the fact that that happiness and the world it could exist in didn't?

When has he ever smiled like that for you? He didn't know.

When has anything ever made sense with you? It hadn't.

What would he do without you? ... Probably a lot of things, honestly.

Have the option to pursue someone that actually fit all that criteria, for one.

Each thought was another unseen fracture in his delicate self-confidence. It had taken ages to build it up, layer by delicate layer, but it was still so fragile and new. It was a tender new sapling, and the clouds that had started to roll in over it bode no good intentions.

The yardwork could wait. He needed to take a walk. Clear his head. Fail at it miserably. At any rate, he just needed to be moving.

Some time later - who knew how long? Minutes, hours - that familiar voice came ringing back into Bulba's ears. This time, however, it was a faraway sound, maybe almost imagined.

"Bulba?"

A beat passed, just long enough for the listener to question its existence, or perhaps dread another window opening up to an unwanted scene. But then it came again, more desperately, and accompanied by the sound of running.

"Bulba!"

This time, the space between cries had been shed out of urgency. "BULBA!" It was definitely Vinnie's voice, and Vinnie's body, and Vinnie's face, etched with both worry and relief. He ran after Green's Venusaur like his life depended on it, slowing down just short of Bulba.

It sounded like he'd been running a freakin' marathon, he was so tired. He looked dishevelled too - feet and clothes covered in dirt, hair still wild and long, held only in place with an unfamiliar headband. "I--" pant, "finally--" pant, "fuckin'--" more panting.

Vinnie propped his hands on his knees to catch his breath. After a moment's reprieve, he had collected himself enough to continue. "Shit. I've been looking for you everywhere. I thought somethin' happened t'you..."

A wheelbarrow tipped over at the greenhouse, and no Bulba to be found? That had been grounds for a goddamn panic attack.

Shamefully, he had ignored his name the first time he heard it despite the happy leap his heart had taken. The Venusaur wasn't going to let his hopes get the better of him a second time today, he was still reeling over the first. It wasn't him. It couldn't have been, he was still in Kanto. This was a cruel joke and he wasn't going to fall for it.

And yet it persisted, and Bulba couldn't bear to not look for the voice calling his name. A tired, dishevelled, out of breath boyfriend was not at all what he could have expected. For a moment, his tongue still felt like lead in his mouth. In the back of his mind, he kept waiting for a softer voice to say his name again for him. But it didn't come, and Bulba shook the feeling. He was the only here to check up on the other Venusaur right now.

"Vinnie!"

That seemed like it did the trick. The thoughts that had been weighing Bulba down scattered for an instant, filled only with the desire to make sure that the Vinnie in front of him was alright. Oh, and real. He'd prefer real.

A concerned hand found Vinnie's shoulder, and Bulba leaned down to look at him with wide, surprised eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm alright..." He was, wasn't he? He was fine.

"What about you? Are you okay? What are you doing here? I thought you were still in Kanto but I couldn't get a hold of you and..." Wait. "Where'd that headband come from?"

STARE.

He was, in fact, very real. And very headband. "This? Well, my hair was gettin' too long again, but I didn't want t'pay for a haircut..."

Vinnie stood back up, but his eyes were still confused and anxious as he looked Bulba over. "I was there one second and here th'next. I think--" Ah, his shoulders slumped as the realization hit him. "Crap, I think all my stuff's still back there. An' I had a patrol shift tonight..."

Well, there was nothing he could do about that now. The Venusaur sighed deeply, pushing his faraway obligations from his mind and forcing himself to focus on what was in front of him. His red gaze met gold, brimming with concern. "I was plannin' to come back this weekend, but I couldn't reach you. Guess I'm here a little early."

There was a pause. His fingers twitched, wrestling with the decision to grab Bulba and hug him tight - but he hesitated. No, his priorities had to be making sure the other Saur was okay before he could let himself selfishly indulge in the urge to just hold him. Vinnie had sworn to look after him, and neglected that duty in his absence.

"...I was worried."

The hesitation shouldn't have meant anything. It should have just been a pause, a beat of concern. Nothing more than that, and nothing that should have weighed on the blonde. He smiled reassuringly, but in his mind all he could see were the fluid movements of Vinnie kissing someone else, taking their hand and touching them as if it were all as natural as breathing.

He couldn't help but wonder just how many times he had been the one to initiate the contact. He had been hoping, he realized, that Vinnie would do so. That there wouldn't have been any need to worry about what he saw, because there wouldn't have been any hesitance. Please, I don't want to think this way...

It was unfair. He knew it was unfair. What was even wrong with him.

Still, he couldn't bring himself to hug him on his own. What he did do, however, was nuzzle his face against the other Saur's shoulder. "... I was too. I'm glad you're here but... Are you okay? You didn't get hurt or anything when... uh. Whatever happened?"

Bulba pulled back to look Vinnie up and down, looking just as worried himself.

Vinnie couldn't put his finger on it, but something felt just a little off. The wheelbarrow he'd found had been tipped over and left outside the greenhouse - but there was evidence of someone who'd been trying to scoop the dirt back into the cart but had clearly stopped halfway through, someone who had to be Bulba, right? What had happened? Why was he all the way out here? And...

And why was it so jarring that Bulba had nuzzled his shoulder, and not his face like they'd grown accustomed to doing? It wasn't that big a change - he was still close, and that should've been good enough. Maybe it was just the fact that they hadn't seen each other in a while? But when he left, they'd... they were okay. Was he just overthinking it?

Or did Bulba blame him for not being there? Even if nothing bad had happened to him directly, being apart while Shadow bugs swarmed the school, while tears were forming in the sky... Why hadn't he come back sooner? What kind of lousy excuse for a boyfriend was he? He should've, work experience be damned. At the first sign of trouble, he should've come running.

Vinnie's face fell under the growing weight of guilt on his mind. "I'm fine," he insisted. "Just... disoriented."

Awkwardly at first, he reached out his arms and pulled Bulba tightly to his chest in a hug - but even in doing so, he didn't match the happy glow of that fleeting vision. Where one had been shining with warm, welcoming love, this one's arms carried a different message in its embrace: I'm sorry.

His sweet scent filled the air like an apologetic gesture as Vinnie closed his eyes. "I should've been here. I'm not leaving you again."

The circumstances were entirely different, Bulba reminded himself as he greedily wrapped his arms around Vinnie to hug him tight in their embrace. He had been eager to return the gesture once it had been started. It had been so long, and he'd missed it so much, even if the hug was much more wary than what Bulba's confidence needed at the time. The circumstances were different. He had to remember that. Anyone would have been hard pressed to feel happy when they were tugged out of their business and thrown back into the fray of oddities. He was just worried and disoriented.

All he had waiting for him was Bulba and all the confusing thoughts and troubles that came with him.

Stop it, he told himself. Vinnie was there and holding him. It shouldn't have mattered how he was doing it. He was real, and warm, and smelling just as sweet as he ever did. That was just for him. That was his. Vinnie wasn't going anywhere, he said so himself.

But only because he didn't know any better.

Bulba bit his lip, quickly pressing his face into the warm crook of Vinnie's neck to try and shake the thoughts free. "It's alright as long as you're alright," Bulba murmured against his skin. "I'm sorry this is messing things up for you..." That should have been his real concern anyway. If neither of them had been able to contact each other, would there even be a chance to explain or apologize to his current higher ups? If it seemed like he was ditching everything, how much harm would that do. Were they going to be looking for him if all of his stuff was still there... "I hope we can figure it out."

"This isn't a great way to come back but..." Bulba sighed and pulled slightly to look up at him, still as tender as ever despite the confusion in his eyes. "Welcome home."

Ah. There was the firm embrace he'd grown so familiar to. He probably had been overthinking it. Vinnie relaxed noticeably in Bulba's arms as he inhaled deep - that was an aroma he'd gone too long without, it felt like...

Home, huh?

Home was somewhere familiar. Safe. Where you belonged. It used to be the Garden, and it used to be Red. Most days when he thought about where he actually belonged, it was a feeling - a memory - that came to mind more readily than a place that still existed. Maybe Smash Academy didn't fit all those criteria, but Bulba did. He was a home that waited for him always.

"Yeah. It'll be fine." Vinnie smiled gratefully - though small, it was a warm, comforted smile that fought back against uncertainty with the knowledge that he would always be welcomed back. He wanted to feel how the word sounded rolling off his own tongue, to hear it again. "I'm home," he said.

This was fine, Bulba told himself. This was enough. The warmth in his smile, small as it was, was real. The whispers in his brain didn't know anything. Sure maybe there had been some uncertainty around Vinnie but that was... it wasn't anything. It didn't mean anything. It was okay. It was okay.

He could believe it. He was going to believe it.

It was easy enough to convince yourself that an overcast day was still an okay enough day to have a picnic in. There was always the chance the sun would come back out.

Bulba smiled back with as content a hum as he could manage. "I missed you," he said, tilting his head against Vinnie's shoulder. His mind was already trying to hark back to what he had seen, but Bulba took in a heavy drag of Vinnie's scent and focused his energy on the floral notes instead.

It was heartening to still hear Bulba say it, but there was still something slightly off that Vinnie couldn't place. The other Venusaur still wasn't as... openly affectionate as usual? It couldn't have just been his imagination. The Bulba he remembered would have leaned in for a kiss - that's what would've felt right in this moment. His boyfriend had always been careful with how far he went physically, but Vinnie could still tell that each gesture was greedily coveted. Maybe he was tired of having to initiate everything? Vinnie did have a degree of responsibility there.

It was potentially something else he would have to fix, if he wanted to do his job right. It did bother him, not knowing exactly what was wrong. He could only guess right now, and doing so only raised the possibility that he didn't now Bulba as well as he thought he did.

They were small worries though, and best left undwelled upon - not while he could try and make things better. Vinnie planted a kiss on the corner of Bulba's mouth before telling him, "I missed you too."

He had to be there for him now, right? Make up for lost time? In truth, Vinnie longed for close company again, so he was earnestly hopeful when he asked, "D'you think I could crash in your dorm for a while? Since... well, my shit's not all together right now."

It was okay.

He had almost wondered if the kiss had been out of reservation or if it was an invitation, but Bulba had cut the thought by lifting his head and pressing a somewhat eager kiss against Vinnie's lips. It was almost as if the younger Venusaur had just needed some sort of nudge to remember what was or wasn't ok. He'd missed this touch so much, he should have stopped hesitating.

Vinnie missed him too, after all.

"Oh...!" Bulba replied, blinking a bit owlishly as he pulled back a bit. "That's right, you wouldn't have... Of course you can." It would have been hard to say no to that face, even if he had been inclined to say no. Which he hadn't. Instead he felt a selfish rush in his pulse at the very prospect of it.

"There's a spot with your name on it."

Vinnie relaxed a bit more, reassured by the sincerity he felt in Bulba's kiss. Maybe all it took was a little reminding. Things hadn't gone wrong because he'd left - at least, not irreparably so. He just had to keep at it, and be the man Bulba wanted him to be.

"...Thanks." There was a hint of bashfulness in the Venusaur as he said so - relying on the younger Saur always made him at least a little bit sheepish, even if he relished being able to share the burdern with someone he trusted. It shouldn't even have been a big deal, really. They slept over in each other's rooms plenty of times, both before and after they started dating. This was nothing to overthink.

He'd have to borrow a toothbrush though. Get a razor and a change of clothes, too. Bulba seemed kind of surprised by the headband too - that probably meant it had to go. "Maybe I should get a haircut while I'm here, too - what d'you think?"

Bulba looked mildly horrified. "What, no, you'd have to get rid if the headband. Don't get rid of the headband." This was very serious.

"Er... I mean, unless the long hair is bothering you. That's alright then." He reached up to lightly ruffle the back of Vinnie's hair. There was kind of a lot of it. "... It looks really nice on you though."

Vinnie blinked at the reaction. "You like the headband?"

He didn't mind having longer hair, even if it got a bit wild and scruffy - he'd just assumed that generally, people wanted boyfriends that kept their hair short and neat. The headband had just been a makeshift solution for too much hair in his face. It was a little baffling that Bulba preferred it.

"When Erika's Vileplume stopped by, she said I oughta cut it... but if you like it better, I'll keep it."

There was a brief flash in Bulba's eyes, a quick surge if emotion that was somewhat hard to place in its brevity. Something akin to surprise, perhaps. Bulba knew it more intimately as an unwarranted pang of fear in the back of his mind. "Oh she did drop by," he remarked lightly. That wasn't a big deal. It wasn't.

But he was grinning. "Yeah, I really like the headband." Bulba casually leaned in to pepper another playful kiss on his mouth, trying his best just to focus in Vinnie and his lovely hairbands. "You look good in just about any haircut, but this one is going to net you a bunch of kisses probably."

Vinnie smiled, turning just a bit pink at the compliment. "I guess I can live with that," he joked. It was rather nice to know that there was at least one thing he could do to make Bulba happy - and it was simple, too. Note to self: get more headbands, get more kisses.

Bulba had looked a bit surprised at the mention of Vileplume, but he sounded like it was something he kind of expected. Out of curiosity, Vinnie asked, "Did you know she was gonna visit?"

"Not really..."

Bulba's smile dimmed for a moment as he glanced away. It really wasn't anything to keep a secret, was it? Probably not. It wasn't as though he actually thought that Vinnie and this Vinnie were the same, even before the overall confirmation that it wasn't. Going behind his back wasn't something Bulba worried about with Vinnie for a number of reasons.

The part that should have been worrying was how he wouldn't have been mad if he was. Bulba wasn't thinking about that.

"Um. Earlier there was a... I don't know, a window or something. I just saw you both together, taking care of a baby Nidoran. Well, It was a different you, anyway. It was weird."

"A window?" It must've been like the weird bubbles that had been floating around - Vinnie had spotted one or two, but they hadn't shown him anything recognizable. He hadn't paid them much mind because of it.

"Well, I did take care of a lot've Nidorans - I was pretty much the only person who never got poisoned by them," he said with a fond chuckle, "so once hatching season came, I was just surrounded by kids." That had certainly been the highlight of the job. Thinking about it now, he really hoped they'd be all right without him there. It might've only been for a few weeks, but he'd definitely gotten a little attached to them.

"Lucky you," Bulba said almost jokingly, but he did mean it to a degree. He wouldn't have minded a pile of babies himself, really. It was easy to imagine Vinnie getting a kick out of a whole bunch of them too. "I bet that was the best part." For truly.

Nidorans hadn't been the tip off that things weren't correct though. Having that aspect confirmed just made it seem all the more plausible that only one detail really needed to be different for such a happy reality to be the real one. It was just a minor detail. He just needed to be out of the picture.

"It still wasn't you though," he continued quietly. "Your hair was much shorter. You probably listened to her about getting it cut since you were dating, I guess."

You looked so happy.

"Oh."

Vinnie's eyes went wide. That was unexpected. In fact, it was something he hadn't thought about for a long time. And Bulba... well, he could only imagine that seeing something like that out of the blue was upsetting, to say the least. That kind of explained why he'd been acting a little differently.

"I guess I used t'have a crush on her, but..." No, no, that definitely wasn't what Bulba needed to hear. Vinnie exhaled and started over. "You're right. It wasn't me. I'm here cuz I'm yours."

Bulba knew that. Bulba trusted him, right?

Of course Bulba trusted him. If Vinnie said it, he had to mean it. It wasn't in the other Venusaur's nature to say what he didn't mean. He could trust Vinnie. He always had.

Bulba looped his arms around Vinnie's neck, gently nodding even as he turned a bit pink. "That's right."

He just didn't deserve him at all. All it would have taken was a minor change in Vinnie's path and he would have ended up in someone else's arms that would have done a much better job at everything for him. He had liked her. She probably liked him. It would have been so easy for things to go that way. It hadn't though, he reminded himself. It hadn't at all. He was Bulba's. Bulba's heart felt warm with the notion but the rest of him still felt on edge.

It wasn't that Bulba didn't trust Vinnie. He just didn't trust himself. It felt stupid to say so though. He was just being irrational, right? It would be better to just try and ignore it.

"It was just... Hard to see it," he sighed.

Edited (too slep) 2014-07-22 06:22 (UTC)

His arms looped around the younger man and held him close in a tight embrace. Vinnie didn't say anything - there wasn't anything that needed to be said, right now. It was just a freak occurrence that deserved to be forgotten. The sooner it was gone from their minds, the better.

He nuzzled Bulba's cheek with his own, marking the other Venusaur with his comforting scent. The air around them grew in sweetness, enough sweetness to drown them both. This was real, it said. I'm real.

Bulba drunk in the scent and all it had to offer, losing himself a bit in its sweet promises. Closing his eyes, Bulba nuzzled Vinnie back a little bit needily, and held on to him a little too tightly. He wanted to wrap himself in all of it like it was a warm blanket- the sort that kept away all the frightening thoughts like a comforting shield. Everything was so much nicer when it all smelled as sweet as this.

His own flower answered on its own accord, an extra wave to complement Vinnie's scent. It was devoid of any of the uneasy thoughts Bulba was trying to forget, its sweetness pure in its affection and happiness just for being by his side. This was what felt right. There was nothing to worry about.

Bulba leaned his head against Vinnie's drawing in a deep breath. "I missed this too," he sighed out into the other Venusaur's ear. "Things didn't smell as much like you anymore."

"It's all yours," he murmured. "Take as much as you need." Vinnie carefully leaned his head against Bulba's, soaking in the sweetness and letting it wash away his worries. If nothing else, he'd always been able to do this for Bulba. He'd be the rock he was meant to be, and let his scent protect and comfort the younger man as long as he could.

It was a promise his flower yearned to uphold as well. "I'll only smell like this for you."

He felt like he was soaring. His chest felt full and as warm as his burning cheeks. If he could, he'd want to stay just like this, safe and still and warmed by comforting promises. "Vinnie..." He murmured, lulled by the care in his scent. "I-"

Somewhat abruptly, Bulba cut himself off. Giving the older man a squeeze, he gently drew back as he gave his head a little shake. Bulba looked at him, wearing a smile that was every bit as loving as the words he couldn't quite say.

"I'm glad."

More than he should have been, maybe, but Bulba was focused more on what was in front of him. A strong, fixed point that wouldn't lead him astray. The blonde drew a hand over Vinnie's cheek, lightly caressing it before giving it a soft pat.

"We should get you settled in, probably..."

It was always the unspoken words with Bulba, wasn't it? Vinnie couldn't help but smile back all the same - the warmth from his sun was overflowing, infectious. This was good, he told himself. It was comfortable. Love was a feeling, a word he used in thoughts. Even before the Shiny Saur had formed a crush, Vinnie had loved him. The love of a dear friend, the love of kin and kind, they were loves that Bulba had held claim to for years.

But Vinnie still didn't have the confidence to name it the love that Lovers shared. It was a heavy word that his heart felt too untested to bear.

"Ah." Practical matters reared its head before he could dwell on it long, however. "That's probably a good idea..."

"Probably..."

Even if it had been his suggestion, Bulba was a bit hesitant to end the embrace. There was a special safety there in that moment. He could feel it in the warmth of Vinnie's body against his and his arms wrapped around him. The warmth would be peeled away once they parted, leaving him that much colder in its absence with only his own thoughts to pull around him.

He just wanted to stay here, where he knew they were comfortable. Where he seemed happy. ... He was probably just being stupid. There wasn't anything inherently special about right now. Things would be just as fine later. There was no reason to be afraid of letting him go.

"So we can just... put this on hold," Bulba said as he prolonged slipping away from him, "and maybe... pick up where we left off later?"

There were a lot of cuddles to make up, after all.

Lots of cuddles. Vinnie was all too ready to provide them. He could feel Bulba's hesitance in leaving the embrace, and it was a little sweet, actually. But it spoke to how difficult Vinnie's absence had been on him, and how much he'd been missed - he'd really been away too long.

He had to prove himself a reliable boyfriend again. Someone Bulba could count on for comfort, affection, support and protection. Someone worthy of his trust.

"Of course." Vinnie peeled himself away, and held other Venusaur's hand. Carefully, still a bit unpracticed, he slid his fingers in the cracks between Bulba's own as a reminder that he was still there - still connected to him. "Always."

It was not as smooth as his hand slipping between a pretty lady's, but it was just unpracticed. That's all it was. A little fumbling. The memory of touch was stronger than an ill-becoming worry as Bulba's fingers wrapped tenderly around Vinnie's. Remembering the desperate way they had held each other led to another memory and then another, and they were enough to keep the cool at bay.

There had been no regrets. Vinnie was there because he wanted to be. Bulba held on to his hand a bit tighter, trying to keep his own spirits high with his lover's reassurances.

Always.

It'd be alright. He could be enough.

"Let's bring you home."

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