A Very Indigo Christmas

ETHAN – Midnight

Lyraeon

Hiding from a very drunk big brother
was both difficult and exhausting, though a fun game after a while.
Green had gotten extremely obnoxious, and Yellow suspected it had
something to do with the kiss she'd given Ethan, since he'd started
in on how she should avoid boys.

It wasn't midnight yet, but she'd
already been asleep on and off for an hour, curled up on the couch
with the best view out the big picture window at the front of the
ballroom. Surrounding her was a fluffpile of the various pokemon of
Pallet, plus a few other hangers on who'd grown tired before their
trainers that night.

Snow had started to flutter down around
when she'd first curled up there with a cup of hot cocoa, the
prettiness lulling her to sleep before the mug was empty.
Fortunately, also before Green had started his assault on the boy she
now considered her boyfriend, despite them not actually having a
conversation yet. She managed to sleep through both that event, and
the half hour her brother and Nee-chan had spent patching him up
after, though some of the evening's shouting had stirred her here and
there.

Ethan was still rough around the edges
from the wailing, shamefully holding an ice pack to his hip as
sobriety found him. He had learned the very hard way that there was a
big difference between having a couple beers with Blake and letting
himself drink till he was sick. It was also true that much of his
misery had been inflicted by Green through no fault of his own...
Ethan made a mental note to find someone both sober and impartial
later to find out if he owed Green a return lashing or not.

Right now, he just wanted some rest,
and there was a couch near the rear entrance to the ballroom that
looked like it'd be a great place to crash for a bit. It was bigger
and comfier looking than many of the pokemon center couches he'd
slept on over the years, at the least.

But once he got around to the front of
the couch, he found out it was occupied.

By the very girl he'd been playing
chase with all night.

He's finally caught up to her, and
they're alone, pokemon aside, but she's asleep and anyway... he never
decided what he was going to do once he finally found her.

It felt so cliche to think it, and
maybe it was just that his vision's still giving everything a bit of
a glow, but she looked like an angel to him, asleep and smiling on
the couch. So much about her made his heart rise inside his chest,
and he couldn't understand why. She was nothing he'd ever wanted in a
girl; she was baby-faced, bubbly, innocent,
and tonight was the first time he'd actually noticed her having any
kind of a figure. He was after someone wild and sexy, with knockers
the size of his head and who'd hang off his every word or
achievement.

He reached out almost unconsciously to
touch her forehead, brushing her bangs off her eyelids. He wanted to
blame how lightheaded the action made him feel on the alcohol, but it
wouldn't explain the slow smile spreading across his lips.

Something about this girl had charmed
Ethan from the moment he first saw her. He'd been, on some level,
obsessed with finding out more about her, and then tonight she'd come
out of nowhere and surprised him, which was something few people ever
managed.

He tried to name what stood out to him
about her, what it was that was drawing him to kneel to study her
face closer, even with the likelihood of Green coming for his hide
for getting so close to her. The fact she was so cute was definitely
part of it, but it wasn't the first thing to come to mind by any
means.

Yellow shifted slightly, eyelids
fluttering open and then shut again as she snuggled into her arm,
pulling her face away from his touch. Her smile spread at what she
thought must be a lovely dream filling her head. That cute boy had
come over to tell her goodnight. She was a little sad she'd never
gotten to talk to him all night, but she was sure she'd have plenty
of time to make up for that. “Goodnight, Ethan,” she
murmured, her words barely understandable as she wasn't truly awake.

He felt himself blush, his hand pulling
back as he didn't know yet if he should wake her. Then he realized he
of all people was blushing, and part of him still tried to blame the
alcohol, but most of him just watched her smile.

What was different about her? More than
anything else... That she was daring enough to make the first move on
him, and in that, that she actually liked him.

He was too handicapped by immaturity
and liquor to put it into words, but Yellow was doing the one thing
Ethan had never thought to when it came to the opposite sex: judge
them by personality first, appearance second. He was also too tired
to think about what to do with her further than spend some time with
her as soon as possible.

His eyelids were getting heavy, and the
section of the couch he was leaning against was more than comfortable
enough for him. He folded his arms across the portion of the cushion
that was unoccupied to act as a pillow.

Red was standing just a few feet away
as Ethan used the last of his strength to brush his lips along
Yellow's forehead, before settling his head into his arms and quickly
falling limp.

He was a firm believer in Yellow's
ability to take care of herself, but, to some degree he shared
Green's concerns about her choices in crushes. Ethan was a good kid
at heart, but he wondered what might happen once she was exposed to
the less innocent frame of mind Ethan inhabited.

Then he watched her hand shift in her
sleep, finding the edge of the boy's sleeve and taking hold.

No matter how hard Green tried, Yellow
couldn't and shouldn't be sheltered forever. And there was another
possibility here, which seemed to already be taking shape from the
simplicity of the sleeping pair's contact.

It could very well be Yellow that
corrupted Ethan, instead of the other way around.

Red turned to go find the others and
tell them they'd be staying just a bit longer. It seemed a shame to
wake any of the sleeping youngsters, human or pokemon alike, when
they were the ones truly enjoying their Christmas Eve.