he's still just as relaxed, still just as content, and then the phone rings and his adrenaline skyrockets. all that work they did? gone. everything's clinched and it'd be a whole process to make it right again.

he shifts when knox actually seems engrossed in the phone. and then he watches knox spread the mess onto his bed so he can type.

that's fine. it's fine... he winces and reaches over, pulling his shirt from his hoodie that was close enough to the bed for him to get to without leaving knox' side, and cleans up the mess with his shirt before holding it out for knox.

right as knox seems to enter reality again, and he's cursing and irritated.

"i thought i wasn't allowed to touch summer?" it's a joke, which he shows by moving to clean knox' hands for him...because knox seemed annoyed and judging by the way knox is reacting, he assumes play time is over and now knox is annoyed because they were, once again, interrupted before knox could get what he wanted.

well, all of what he wanted, anyway.

knox prescott

god damn it

i'll rewrite it when i'm not upset but basically:

1. thinks of inviting sam, likens him to a pokemon, is put off by that thought
2. is pissed at summer once again for ruining sexy times
3. makes a joke saying if sam doesn't put clothes on, summer will end up dead in a ditch somewhere bc he horny af and dumb
4. puts clothes on 

samuel carter

☉

sam was waiting for an invitation. it seems odd, but he was. an invitation to join him wherever he's going, but knox is sensitive when it comes to summer and because of that, sam lays back and picks up his own phone. no notifications, except his mother sending him various articles and memes.

he ignores them and looks at knox, watching him get dressed with a lazy smile, phone on his chest, properly distracted.

dear's not so bad, he thinks, with a slow blink. but then he's scolded about his nakedness and he stands, groaning at the feeling in his ass and ignores it for the time being.

"i'm going to get a shower, but before you go--" he doesn't stall long, he pulls down a gift box. it's black, with constellations around it and a pitch black ribbon tied around it. big enough to hold three collapsed pokéballs.

"i was going to wait for christmas, or maybe our one month, since it's custom for some couples to get each other things."

within are three collapsed pokéballs, one holding a zoroark, one holding a gardevoir, and another holding his prized shiny alolan ninetales that he was passing to knox.

"this is the gardevoir, the others you can figure out whenever you feel. but for now, use the gardevoir. you'll have to be patient with the teleportation, maybe go in spurts this time to meet with summer, as this gardevoir is younger than mine and teleportation's like a muscle, needs stretched."

knox prescott

he tries to call the unknown number, but surprise, surprise. either the phone is dead, she's already out of minutes, or she's broken it. it could be an actual mistake, a random text from a random stranger, but he knows summer's drunk texting, and she's useless without her auto-correct on. 

no, this is her. and if she's this fucked up, then something's wrong. and it has to do with his father, and with him, and with sam. 

should i bring him? he's thinking as he's checking his pokeballs. as though sam is part of his arsenal. the thought makes him feel weird. sick. wrong. he frowns, shakes his head, wipes it from his face before sam can turn back around. 

he's holding a box. a far-too-detailed box that represents them. knox takes it and is...stunned. 

he opens his mouth. to say thanks. to say anything. fucking say something, you ass. 

"i almost stole your gardevoir." not that. he flinches, but he's glad he said it. it's been weighing on him for some time now, especially because said gardevoir was integral in saving his life. 

"when i came up to sign the contract. to come see you. before i...knew you. i thought about it. only for a second, i promise, but it was still there." he opens the box and sees not one, but three pokeballs inside. he touches them with a shaking hand and then looks up. 

"i feel like i don't deserve this. but i want to."

samuel carter

☉

'i almost stole your gardevoir.'

when? recently? couldn't have been. maybe, when he went to get supplies that first time? seems most logical. perhaps. is that why he left? huh.

knox confirms the questions floating around in sam's head. knox fingering over the pokéballs was the reaction he had been hoping to get.

"i would capture my soul and give it to you if i could. for now, these will have to do." he leans over the box to give knox a soft, gentle kiss. "you do deserve them, because you are my knox, my starlight."

there is no intention of a 'line' here. it's just sam, being honest, being transparent.

"as far as you having nearly stolen my gardevoir, don't fret. i would have missed her, but i have another, and eventually would have gotten over the emotional toil of her disappearance."

knox prescott

"back again with the melodrama," he says, but he's clearly relieved. he doesn't know what he'd been expecting. logic told him of course sam won't kick me out or leave him or want nothing to do with him, but still there's a way a shadow can cast itself on a person. it lingers, no matter where the sun is. 

but sam isn't looking at him any differently and in fact, he's saying words that knox can't fathom. 

to lose captain? even if he were taking care of another pikachu, he couldn't imagine replacing her. because she's captain - the one and only - just like sam is his one and only.

"that's kind of fucked up, sam," he says, looking a little concerned. but then he relents, because he doesn't want to start something before he leaves. 

"take your shower," he says as he pockets the pokeballs, "but don't get too clean."

samuel carter

☉

when knox mentions the melodrama sam just smiles, because he can tell knox is just mad he hasn't thought of as cute of a name as 'starlight' for sam. because of that, he just lets knox get all bashful and pull away.

but then knox says something that likely holds more weight than sam realizes.

'that's kind of fucked up, sam,'

but it's shrugged off, like it's supposed to be forgotten. sam can't forget it though. it plans on loop. over and over. even as knox says for him not to shower too much, sam is sobered, and those words circle his mind like a shark for blood. he's feeling, thanks to knox. he's feeling a lot more than he normally would, and it has him thinking as well. thinking differently. not just stone cold logic, but warmth and emotion.

you're kind of fucked up, sam,

"i won't. be safe." it's short, but not completely out of character for him. he leans to give knox a parting kiss, before heading toward the shower, mind shifting gears into deep thought as he makes his way to the bathroom.

knox prescott

no snarky comment? no quirky response? he didn't even ask to come. he didn't even seem worried. the door to the bathroom shuts and knox turns to look at it, frowning. he has an inkling as to what he said, but it's not like sam to just completely walk away from him like that. 

usually, knox is the one leaving. 

"i really am going to strangle you," he mutters to summer's drunken spirit, wherever she may be. he drops the heal ball sam had pointed to and a gardevoir emerges. she's shorter than sam's companion, and her leaflike ears are a bit more pointed, but a softer color.

hypatia...an alien voice whispers in his mind and he shivers. 

he tries to think back, but it feels like static. or like he's thinking to himself. or he's thinking too many things and - the gardevoir flinches and holds up a hand. 

"is talking just better for now?" she nods. "okay. i need to go here." he pulls up maps on his phone and shows it to her. she frowns, but then extends a hand. 

and with one last look at the door, knox leaves. 

samuel carter

☉