Warning: This is unbeta'd. Read at your own risk!

A Birthday Kiss

"Green."

Though Red's voice was soft as it echoed about the cave, Green jumped in surprise. He hadn't expected the other teen to speak. His racing heart still not completely under control, he glanced over at Red and asked, "Yeah?"

Red was silent for a long moment. Just as Green was beginning to wonder if he was going to say anything else, the other trainer looked him squarely in the eyes.

"You asked me what I wanted from you, right?" Red questioned, his face showing a sort of strange determination that Green rarely saw from him outside of pokémon battles. It instinctually made Green tense up. Noticing this, Red continued on, "For my birthday."

At this, Green's eyes widened briefly in surprise. He nodded. "I did ask that," he confirmed. But Red had been so obstinate earlier, insisting with confidence that couldn't be denied that he didn't have anything in particular that he wanted. Green had been trying to drag an answer out of him for weeks, but to no avail. He had pretty much given up hope. "You've thought of something you want?"

Red nodded. When he didn't say anything else, Green absentmindedly wondered if this was one of those cases where he was expected to read the dark haired teen's mind. Not quite willing to put up with the silence when the answer he'd been seeking for weeks was so close to being revealed, Green spoke up again. "So? What is it? I—"

"Kiss."

"What?" Green asked, surprised that he was interrupted. Then, finally, the lone word sank in. Eyes wide, he jumped up from his uncomfortable seat on the cave's floor. "K-kiss?" he sputtered out, not quite believing his ears.

Red glanced away, the faintest of blushes visible on his cheeks. "If you don't want to…" he mumbled.

"Wait—No!" Green insisted, flustered and stumbling over his words. "I mean, yes! Um, I mean—that is to say, I don't mind. Yeah. It's, er, it's your birthday." He nodded, the gesture more enthusiastic than normal. He needed to remain cool and calm… Cool and calm…

Green made his way over to Red and plopped down in front of him. If his actions were more rushed than they usually were, Red didn't comment. For a moment, Green just stared, looking determined. Red returned the gaze with an impassive expression. Finally deciding to just go for it, the Tokiwa City gym leader shot forward…

And promptly knocked his forehead on the brim of Red's cap.

"Ah! Sorry!" Green exclaimed, jumping backwards. He watched with embarrassment as Red reached up and absentmindedly rubbed the bill of his hat before taking it off, laying it gently on the ground beside him. When the champion shot him a quick, expectant look, Green gulped. Okay, so he had messed up the first time. But that was fine—to be expected, even. Now that the obstacle was out of the way, he could do this.

Green leaned forward, more slowly this time. He would get this right… He had been dreaming of this, right? He could do it! Cool and calm… Cool and calm…

His eyes closed and he moved to close the remaining distance between them. He meant to be suave about it, so when their noses accidentally bumped he was so effectively startled that he moved to jump away again. Red, seeming to anticipate this, reached up and grabbed the back of Green's head, pulling him forward again. Red tilted his head to the side a bit, and their lips touched.

That was all Green needed in order to regain his confidence, it seemed. He eagerly pressed forward and took control. It was a little clumsy and chaste, seeing as how Green was hesitant to add his tongue in case he got too eager and made their teeth accidentally clash or something, but it was… nice.

Finally, the two pulled away from each other and stared. There was a brief moment of awkward silence before Green broke it with some small, breathy chuckles. Red gave a small smile in reply.

"Happy birthday, Red."


A/N: So, yeah. That was basically it. This is just a short one shot I wrote for a ficlet exchange with my very, very good friend (and future wife x3) Nerin. This is one of the things we decided to do to celebrate Red's birthday, which is today, by the way. Happy birthday, Red!

The rules for this exchange where that it couldn't go over a page, but my rambling tendencies kicked in and it ended up being a few paragraphs over a page. Sigh. But it's okay! Nerin went a little over the limit, too. Haha. We made the rules, and we can break 'em!

This is gameverse, by the way. Also, I wrote this using their original Japanese names. So, basically, for those following the English fandom, Green = Blue. He's the Viridian City gym leader that's Red's rival. ^^

Anyway, I'll stop before this author's note becomes longer than the actual fanfiction. xD I hope you all enjoyed reading this!