The first time he tries to kiss her, everything goes horribly wrong.

It is only during the aftermath of the Guile Hideout catastrophe that he finally makes his move, once the whole trifling issue of saving the world is out of the way.

"So, how about a celebratory—"

The rest of his innocent question goes unanswered when she treads warningly on his shoes, presumably hoping against hope that the light pressure will persuade him to keep his mouth shut.

"Not in front of them," she hisses, subtly indicating the two trainers from Hoenn, who look on with matching expressions that border on bemusement. At her words, they exchange looks and glance hurriedly away, both turning a brilliant scarlet that he is sure will put traffic lights around the world at envy. Thankfully, the de-petrified senior Dex holders are far out of earshot, standing at the balcony of the Battle Dome and admiring the view of the horizon, blissfully unaware of what is going on some distance away.

Gold grins through his haze of pain. "Does that mean a later, the—?"

His question is left hanging in the air when she abandons all pretences and promptly steps on his foot, sneaker-shod feet grinding down mercilessly upon his toes.

"No," she reiterates, placing unduly vehement stress upon the single syllable.

As soon as he recovers from the painful throbbing of his maligned foot, he proceeds to kiss her anyways, right before the eyes of the two juniors – mostly just for the heck of it, but also because he'll never get one if he keeps waiting around like this – and hopes fervently that she will just appreciate it and just live in the moment, like any normal girl would.

He's quite proud of the way he does it, too—it's the whole she-bang, sweeping her partially off her feet and cradling the back of her head against his arm, swooping down right over her as he kisses her right on the lips.

It's the kind of thing which happens in the movies that has all the girls swooning. He should know, since he's watched enough of those movies – and tried to pick up some techniques too, while he's at it.

For a single glorious moment, she's frozen too still to react and only blinks up at him with something approximating owlish, vaguely homicidal bewilderment.

Then, she splutters a single incoherent word – which sounds suspiciously like his name – and reaches up to slap him on the side of his head.

Gold nearly drops her then and there – though in all fairness he shouldn't be that surprised, seeing as how this sort of reaction is only to be expected from a stuffy, prudish bookworm like that.

Which, of course, makes it all the more appealing to pursue her.

"H-hey!" Crystal sputters, her reddened complexion putting Ruby and Sapphire's to shame. "Wh-what was that for?"

He rests his cue stick on his shoulder and smugly rubs his nose. "I figured someone had to start something!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he notices the two younger trainers edging away towards the glass doors, where the rest of their number continue to gawk at the sunset – which, he is certain, cannot be anywhere near as interesting as what he is experiencing now. Oh well, their loss, he grins to himself, but stops when confronted with Crystal's disapproving frown.

"What? You didn't like it? Come here, I'll do it better this time, I swear!"

"Nghhh," she mumbles ineloquently back, and makes a half-hearted attempt to move away. Perhaps the fact that there's nobody left to witness their antics helps his case somewhat, for which he is quite grateful.

This time, she doesn't protest – much – when he shepherds her towards a wall and bars her escape routes with his arms. She only nibbles on the inside of her cheek and scowls half-heartedly at him, though he is met with little resistance when he presses his lips to hers.

It's definitely something, he thinks with great exhilaration, to finally be where he's wanted to be for quite a while now. She tastes of mint and tropical fruits, summery and fresh, with a hint of blackcurrant. Interesting, that. The more he probes, the more intrigued he is by what his senses offer him, and he is more than a little taken aback when her hands snake up his back and wind themselves in his hair, knocking his cap askew in the process.

He minds none of this, even if he spent several hours in the morning fixing and gelling his hair up to perfection in all the right spots.

"Mmm, well, isn't this a change of heart?" he chuckles, but swiftly shuts his trap when she yanks sharply at the back of his head.

"You talk too much," she mutters into his mouth, and kisses him again, with surprising eagerness.

"S-sorry," Gold laughs, but is silenced when her fingers push gently but insistently against the back of his head, pressing them closer together with the motion.

Oh, it's awkward all right, the way their noses bump against each other and their teeth scrape against one another, the way half the time he ends up biting her lip – how embarrassing, he isn't as good a kisser as he thought, then. The fact that they can barely see what they're doing and what they're knocking into does not help matters any, what with the fading sunlight, but all of this is inconsequential in the face of what is happening.

In some far-off part of his mind, at the very back of his consciousness, Gold is somewhat mind-boggled by this turn of events, but there's no way he's not enjoying this.

As his wandering hands slip further south, he is rewarded by a brisk slap on the wrist before she guides them back up.

Ah, well. There's more time for that in the future.

Just when he's getting comfortable – this is definitely something he can get used to – the sound of voices cuts through his blissful reverie like a hot knife through butter.

Crystal gasps and unsuccessfully tries to shove him away, embarrassment written over her features. They glance up as one to catch the rest of the Dex Holders making their way back indoors, driven back to the warmth of the building by the chilly evening air.

"Oh—" Red's greeting dies before it is even voiced when he catches sight of them, tangled up in a mess of limbs against the wall like a pair of red-handed teenagers – which they are – caught in the act.

In the ensuing stunned silence, a discreet cough could be heard from someone in the group, and Gold almost swears he can hear a few Kriketune chirping in the background.

"Um," Gold begins unhelpfully, but Blue is the first to react, grabbing the arm of the person closest to her as she proceeds to drag them off.

"Well now!" she begins brightly, as she tugs Yellow towards the exit. "Why don't we just leave them to continue where they left off?"

Crystal's stammered objections go unheard as the rest of the group try – and fail – at attempting to fit simultaneously through the door.

- - x x x x x - -

epilogue. Written for the Pokémon kink meme on LiveJournal. Usual disclaimers apply.