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lemonjelloarts · 3 years ago

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Kiss, but don't tell.

[2.5k+ one shot.]

The writing's been on the wall for years now: Lunick and Solana were enamored with each other, and the question was when, not if they would get together. But once they finally do, they choose to keep it secret, at least for a little while... and just let their relationship be truly only theirs.

[Canon-compliant, Post-canon fic. Some established relationship/dating in secret trope fluff! I wanted to finally write a companion piece to one of my arts I've made.]

Normally, both Lunick and Solana were the exact opposite of the type of people who would hide behind deceit and secrets kept from their friends and family- especially those within their own Ranger Base. But hey, extenuating circumstances called for an exception every now and then.

The glass doors to the Ringtown base slid open as Solana entered through them, ready to give back her report from the mission she’d been on so that she could be off the clock for the evening. She stepped up to the Operator desk with a gleeful grin- which was admittedly perhaps one of knowing a bit too much- and plugged her Styler into the save machine, charging up any energy she’d expended as the Operator on duty handed her the typical report paperwork.

The teal haired girl slid them across the desk towards herself, and leaned over it as she began to fill the forms out. “All went well?” the young man asked, and Solana nodded, looking up at him in a fleeting glance.

“No hiccups,” she confirmed, scribbling in her badge ID number at the bottom once she’d ticked off all the correct boxes and sliding the forms back to him for processing. “Has Lunick come back yet?”

The blonde man let out an amused huff and straightened the papers on his desk, turning in the chair away from her as he reached to place them to work with later. “About half an hour ago. Said he was going to catch the 6:00 ferry to Summerland and get in some beach time while he could.”

It was a lie. And she knew it. He was not in Summerland right now- nor on the way there. But it was by far something she held judgment about in even the slightest way; for she was just about to as well, and was really just making conversation to sell the alibi. Solana grinned toothily, pushing some hair out of her face with an eye roll. “We’re lucky he’s not stationed there, you know. Him and his vacation obsession; we’d never see a day of work outta him in his life if he lived there full time.”

“I was just surprised he wasn’t going with you,” the man teased, a crooked smirk on his lips. “Usually you’re attached at the hip.”

“So the rumors say,” Solana simply joked back with a small laugh, too elated to disagree. “I actually think I’m gonna run out for the evening too, if anyone asks and is looking for me. The sunset off of the Fall City Harbor is just beautiful, you know. And it’s been a while since I spoke to the owner of the Lapras down there.”

“Harbor’s another great date spot,” he mentioned passively, and was met with a knowing deadpan at the insinuation, which he raised his hands in surrender to. “Just saying! I could easily give Kazuki a ring on the styler for you if you wanted to change your plans!”

Solana laughed, shaking her head and taking her styler back with a satisfied click of disconnecting the cord. “Very kind of you, but somehow I think he and I will manage to both enjoy our evenings just as they are, thanks.”

Pivoting with a small snicker, the girl hurried upstairs to the dormitory floor. She hastily showered and changed out of her uniform and into casual clothes, and was in the middle of braiding her hair up into an otherwise regular ponytail when the text came through.

Right, two lefts, another right, middle path, then another left :] <3

That was all the message said. And she grinned upon reading it, able to decode exactly what the content meant. She typed back a response: Be there in 10. See you soon! <3 and hurried down the stairs with her Plusle on her shoulder, excitedly rushing out the door and to the north, into Lyra Forest.

But instead of turning right at the riverbank to head through Krokka Tunnel to Fall City, the Rank 10 Ranger made a left, crossing the small wooden bridge and veering herself deeper into the heavy thicket. Deep Lyra Forest had always been a beast within itself- the treelines were all so similar and maze-like, and it was so incredibly easy to get lost within. Rumors had even been passed around town for generations that some spirit of the forest itself changed the paths each night, rendering it unmappable and unable to be navigated properly. And it was almost true- only the most seasoned Ringtown Rangers knew their way best around these areas. And even then sometimes Solana still felt herself get turned around.

Which also, however, made it the perfect place to hide in plain sight. Solana carefully followed the instructions given to her at every fork in the path once she’d hit the deep forest- right, two lefts, another right, the middle path, and then a final left, dumping her into a small clearing that was shaded nearly entirely by the large canopy of decades’ old trees surrounding it. The slowly-setting sun just barely peeked through them in irregular shapes of a casted warm glow, really setting the scene to take Solana’s breath away- even though she’d knowingly arranged to meet here. And standing right in the center of it all, with a small Ivysaur he’d captured and befriended on the way in making a lopsided heart with its vines behind him, was Lunick himself.

“Evening, Sunshine. Had a good day at work?” He smiled: it was that same crooked and adoring smile he’d always given her. And it made Solana surge forward all at once, practically crashing into him instead of answering, and grabbing either side of his face to press her lips against his in a fervent kiss.

He immediately reciprocated; in fact, he’d practically met her halfway, as his arms wrapped around her back in a loving need to just be able to hold her close. It was this that they were hiding: the fact that they’d recently come to terms with the realization that they both have had romantic feelings for one another, for years now, actually. And had just been too dense and afraid of ruining what else they had to be able to address it before now. They were bound to be met with countless ‘I told you so’s and ‘I knew all along’s once the Delcatty got out of the bag, and so… They’d agreed to keep it their little secret, at least for a short while. To keep the nosy friends, and coworkers, and townspeople- all in the dark of the truth, to just let their relationship… be theirs. Surely they were owed the right to that after all this time of dancing around what both hoped it would one day come to be.

Still, the change was so new, and they were both learning to navigate it together. Solana pulled back, rubbing her thumb over his darkened cheek, and searched his eyes with her own. They practically sparkled in this light, and Lunick couldn’t help but feel almost entranced by them. “Is this okay?” She asked, abetted on a whisper, practically just an exhale of catching her breath. And Lunick just laughed, a haughty laugh, right in her face, before pressing their lips together again briefly in affirmation.

“Just saying- Getting to kiss my girlfriend is so much more than okay,” he swore with the widest of jubilant grins, pulling her torso flush against his own so he could wrap her even further in a warm embrace. He didn’t have to clarify to her what her title was in the way that he did- she was there when they had defined their relationship for good, after all. But he liked saying it anyways, he liked the way the word felt on his lips, liked the way he’d been dreaming of calling her that for real for so long, and now he finally could, and never planned on stopping saying it unless it changed for an even better one down the road.

Even though he teased, Solana just beamed back up lovingly, unable to find it within her to get worked up over the way her breath caught at the reality of it all hitting her again. “Just making sure,” she spoke softly, using her fingers to skim through some of the dark hair that ghosted the nape of his neck. But that inability to fire back at him was temporary, for the smile quickly curled into something more smug, as she stretched on her tiptoes to whisper against the shell of his ear. “By the way, capturing an Ivysaur just to make a grandiose romantic entrance is so cheesy of you.”

He scoffed, reeling back just enough so she could see the determined look on his face. “Not uh. I finally get the chance to spoil you this way, I will not be shamed for going all out. Quite frankly, I don’t think it was enough, I should have found a Roselia and-“

Solana just laughed and interrupted, kissing him again to cut him off (and just because she could). “I never said it wasn’t cute.”

Lunick let out a flustered huff- she had him exactly where she’d wanted him. She finally untangled herself from him just for a moment, dropping to a kneel to pat the middle evolution on its bulb and give it some very deserved praise and affection for a job well done.

Her boyfriend watched as she cooed and coddled over the wild Pokémon, and it only made him fall for her harder. Moments like these, where it was blatantly obvious just how much care and love for the world around her Solana exuded… Those were amongst some of his absolute favorites to witness.

“Thank you for going along with his crazy schemes,” she spoke with a small delighted hum to the grass type, scratching under its chin. “You’re free to go home now. Or you’re also free to stay with us here, if you’d like.”

Before she’d gotten the chance to stand up, she was bombarded by the greetings of a little blue mouse, who careened into her and nearly knocked her off her crouched balance. Solana giggled, catching Minun before she could fall back to the grass beneath them, shaking her head in amusement at the enthusiasm. “Hi, sweetheart, yes, I know. I didn’t say hi to you yet either!”

Plusle at least took care of getting Minun off of Solana for her- by latching onto the other mouse himself and tumbling the both of them down into a snuggle pile on the soft grass. Staring at the two Pokémon in fondness, the teal haired girl stood back up to her feet, immediately looking over at her beloved expectantly. As if to express that she almost wished that were them right now.

He took her hand in his with a small smile of his own, and gently gestured to the backpack he’d brought and set down against a gnarled stump over on the side of the clearing. “I brought us a blanket to share, if you wanted to lay out and look up for a while. I mean, I don’t know how much of the sky we’ll really see, but maybe we can spot some treetop Pokémon in the branches, too.” Lunick squeezed her hand before leaning over to kiss her cheek, enjoying lavishly the way her skin warmed under the touch of his. “Oh, and two boxes of takeout for dinner. Some of your favorite.”

Solana’s eyes narrowed at him, but opposed to their usual glare they held whenever she did that, this was out of her flushed reaction filled with complete and utter adoration of him as a whole. And they did exactly that; together, they spread out the picnic blanket that Lunick had packed and dropped down onto it, slumped against one another with his arm around her hips as they ate the food he’d brought for them. It was nice. It was nice to be there- to be together- and the both of them very thoroughly enjoyed getting to be honest and open about their feelings in the privacy of being hidden within the forest.

Eventually, they did end up laying on the blanket just as Lunick had suggested. And it was just like all the hundreds of times they’d cloud or stargazed before- except a million times better, because they got to hold each other’s hand and press their sides so close and curled into each other that it was hard to tell where Lunick stopped and Solana started. And they could do this freely, without worrying about overstepping a boundary, without potential scrutiny, without anything else besides their love for one another.

Things fell quiet every now and again: they didn’t need to fill the silences when being together was simply enough. Lunick found himself staring at the sky blankly- he hadn’t even registered the shift from bright amber to burnt auburn that had melted now into a rich, deep navy blue. He felt Solana’s free hand on his chest, and let out a profound sigh, knowing she could feel the way his heart was pounding even after all this time.

“I think Spenser knows,” Lunick confessed, and tore his gaze away from where they’d been fixated as he was spaced out. He turned them over to his girlfriend now, awaiting her response, and only realized then that she’d never been staring at the sky at all. She’d only had eyes for him- she’d only ever had eyes for him. He smiled. He should have known.

“…I think Spenser has always known,” she parried back with a small snicker, scrunching her fingers up into a gentle fist on his breastbone before unfurling them again and smoothing out the maroon fabric of his t-shirt beneath them. “But the one good thing about having gone unaddressed as long as we did is that we’ve basically created a perfect excuse, Lunick. I mean, we hardly even have to be mindful of how we act when we’re in front of them all- I’m sure that a lot of it can be just written off as how we always were.” He pressed his lips together in a thin line of agreement, and she had the tiniest of toothy smiles in return. “So long as you don’t go kissing me in the Lobby, I think we can keep it all just for the two of us as long as we want to.”

Lunick rolled on his side to face her, greedily wrapping his arm around her side and cupping her face with his other hand as he snickered with a wicked grin. “I can't make any promises, Sol,” he taunted in a low voice, leaning in to catch her lips in a wanting kiss. When he pulled back it was barely an inch, the sides of their noses still touching, and his breath was close enough to hit her skin when he spoke. “But I agree. And I’m happy to keep it to ourselves for as long as we need before the tease-maggeddon starts.”

She laughed, reaching behind his neck to bury her fingers in the dark hair tufts just above the back of it. “And I’m just happy to be with you,” she added, and it sounded sincere. And don’t get me wrong- it was- but he knew her far too well to not see through the tactic.

“And you’re turning this conversation into a one-upping competition,” he accused with a grin, leaning forward to happily press their lips together before she could deny or try to ‘win’.

He loved her. He wasn’t ready to have that conversation yet, not so fresh into their actual established relationship, but he did.

And just the same way that he didn’t know she’d reciprocated the romantic interest all this time, he didn’t know now that she loved him too.

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