Now though, the title does not seem to fit

Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Thank you. *Phantomness bows*

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks

Pairing: Lance x Red

Chapter 2

Red woke up, and blinking his eyes, found that he could focus. He was lying on a large bed that was very soft, but he had already known that. There were blankets pulled up over his body, and the air around them was pretty chilly. The person sleeping next to him had long red hair. Was it a boy or a girl?

He wasn’t sure, but he guessed a boy. He pushed the blankets down and blushed as he realized he was naked.

Yesterday, it had not mattered as much.

He saw a closet not far away, so he padded over and found a lot of silk clothing inside. He settled on a kimono of dark red and then padded to the bathroom.

He was going to shower, but his legs still felt a bit unsteady – even the walk had been quite a chore, so he sank down into the tub, found the shampoo and soap, and began washing his hair.

When had it gotten so long? He was overdue for a haircut, it seemed.

A few minutes later, he heard footsteps and saw the other man – well okay, it was just a boy a few years older than he was with long red hair and golden eyes – really pretty golden eyes – come in, stifling a yawn.

“Hi?” Red asked shyly.

“Good morning, Red.”

“What happened to me?” Red asked. Everything in his mind was muddled. He vaguely remembered things, like battling for gym badges and capturing pokemon, but in the past few weeks, he had dreamed about nothing but touches in the night.

To his embarrassment, just thinking about it made his body react.

Lance ignored Red’s blush and began brushing his teeth. “I found you frozen in a block of ice in Mount Moon. I brought you here, and my pokemon defrosted you. It took a long time though.”

“Oh.” Red colored. “Thank you.”

Lance finished brushing his teeth, and then began taking off his clothing – Red tried hard to look away, but he found that even if he didn’t look, the sound of rustling silk was somehow linked to his brain’s hormonal receptors, and a few minutes later, when Lance sank into the tub with him – which, Red now discovered, was a LARGE tub, at least eight by eight feet, so there was plenty of room for both of them to lie down in – and picked up another sponge without a word and began to wash himself.

Red really did try not to look, but there was no one else in here and well, he wanted to figure some things out.

Like if he’d really been touched last night or if it had been another dream.

Somehow, Red did not think it would be polite to ask.

Lance was keenly aware of Red’s eyes on him, but he did not acknowledge it, as he finally stood and reached for a towel. “If you stay in there much longer, Red, you’ll turn into a prune.”

Red colored and nodded, but did not make a move to get up.

“Red,” Lance added a touch of humor to his tone, “I am not going to stare at you, you know. We are both male, yes?”

Well yes, Red wanted to say, but that doesn’t mean I want to look at you!

“And who do you think has been taking care of you while you’ve been recovering? I’ve seen it all before.”

Red spluttered, but decided that saying anything else would probably be fanning the fire, and so he inched his way out of the tub and hastily wound a towel about his waist.

Lance wondered how long it would take for Red to crack, as he dried himself, applied lotion, and changed into his normal black catsuit, clipping on his poke belt and sliding his arms into his dark red jacket. There was no need to put on the cape at the moment.

Red looked around for clothing, and Lance blinked for a few moments before he returned with Red’s traveling backpack.

Red dug out clean underwear and a clean set of clothes, frowning a little as he noticed that they were looser. He had lost weight then, probably muscle.

He had not eaten in a while too, and his stomach rumbled loudly to remind him of this very vital fact.

Lance’s eyes crinkled up in a smile, as he finished blow-drying his hair and set the dryer down. Red was very grateful that he had managed to change and dress in that time when Lance had not been looking at him.

“Hmm. Well, I’ll see if I can whip something up, shall I?”

Red nodded, before something else piqued his interest. Although there was hot water in the bathing chamber, as soon as he stepped outside he began to shiver.

Why was it so cold?

It had been cold too once he had gotten out of bed…

Lance turned around as he heard Red’s teeth chattering. “Red, what’s wrong?”

“Why-why is it so cold?”

Lance sighed. “This place has no heating, Red. We’re in Whirl Islands.”

“Whirl Islands?”

“Yes, Red. We are in Johto.”

“Oh.” Red shrugged. He was not sure why Lance had bought him here, instead of to a hospital, but it mattered little.

He was better now, right?

But his teeth wouldn’t stop chattering!

Lance noticed this, and he sighed before he stood and gathered Red in his arms. Red would have protested, but now his brain was screaming about survival and he really, really wanted to get warm…

He didn’t even notice when Lance draped his heavy cloak around both of them.

Why wouldn’t he stop shivering?

Lance frowned. Lorelei’s voodoo magic may have turned out stronger than she had liked. He would have to have a word with his cousin later.

For now, he enjoyed having Red cuddled against him, even if it was purely innocent on the Pallet trainer’s part.

Lance hid a smile.

Still, about the matter of food… he would have to work on that. He himself ate fish and seaweed and other ocean life, much like his pokemon, and there was a small freshwater lake in one of the other islands, so there was no trouble getting water.

Red whimpered slightly as Lance stood and made to move away. Lance sighed, before he took off his cloak and wrapped Red in it.

“I’ll be back soon.” He promised.

Red nodded, and snuggled deeper. Warmth…

“And… Watashi wa Lance desu.”

Lance… what a nice name…

End Chapter

Completed 6/18/06

I would just like to point out a random fact that I found while scouring the web for championshipping fanfics.

A ‘Lance’ is made out of ‘Ash’ wood. ^^ And bizarre as it is, ‘Ash’ and ‘Lance’ are apparently the same word in Greek! Who would have thought?