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poliwhirl42 · 8 months ago

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Burgundy was beside herself. Out of all the terrible circumstances she could've found herself in, this was among her worst nightmares.

A few hours ago, she’d had the misfortune of running into the very bane of her existence- another sick irony with it being the very same PokéMart near Castelia City that she’d crossed paths with him (and his two cronies) a few years prior.

To add to her bad luck, the already bad weather had picked up into a torrential downpour during this chance meeting with her rival, immediately halting her plans to swiftly exit the building and get on the next subway to Arceus-knows-where.

Cilan had suggested they walk to the nearby Pokémon Center, but to their dismay, pretty much everyone in the vicinity had the same idea to request a room for the night, and they found the center completely booked. Burgundy seethed as she and Cilan (against her will) walked out of the building towards the subway, leaving an apologetic Nurse Joy and Audino behind, continually suggesting to latecomers that they try hotels in Castelia City.

Upon reaching their destination with painful small talk among the throngs of soaking-wet travelers also trying to find shelter for the night, they finally entered one of Castelia’s more reputable hotels and dashed to the lobby, wet clothes sticking to their skin, praying to Arceus that there were two rooms available. Burgundy counted her lucky stars that, amidst Cilan’s annoying bragging, he had a membership to this particular hotel chain that was “guaranteed to accommodate a gym leader and A-Class Pokémon Connoisseur like himself.”

And then, came the apologetic half-smile from the concierge. “I’m so sorry, but it appears that we only have one room available. Is that alright?”

“We’ll take it,” Cilan said quickly, before Burgundy had the chance to respond in a flustered outrage. His normally calm green eyes bore into hers with a hard look that insisted they didn’t have much else of a choice at this point. Gritting her teeth, she relented, and after a swift swipe of Cilan’s credit card and a press of a plastic room key card to his palm, they made their way to the fifth floor.

And then, he clicked the door open, and they were met with one, king-sized- and admittedly, incredibly cozy and inviting after the day they’ve had- bed.

One.

Heat rose to Burgundy’s cheeks as she stared wide-eyed at the bed, horrified by what this could mean.

Cilan cleared his throat a bit awkwardly, before taking a breath, sensing her discomfort. “I’ll call down and request to have some extra bedding sent up to assemble on the floor. You take the bed,” he offered graciously.

Burgundy looked away, guilt rushing into her system. She wished one of Georgia or Trip’s Ice-Types could suddenly materialize and blast away her seemingly permanent blush with cold air.

“Pas besoin de ça,” she responded finally, in a quiet voice. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Cilan nodded, seamlessly hiding the relief he felt at not having to sleep, while thoroughly exhausted and chilled to the bone from the rain, on an old carpeted floor. “Only if you’re comfortable with it.”

“BUT!” She then turned to him and jabbed a finger into his chest, angry eyes glinting. “I will personally call the League and have you excommunicated from your gym leader position if you dare lay a hand on me! I won’t fall for your tricks, sale pervers!”

Cilan smiled and bowed, then raised his right hand as if taking an oath. “I can assure you I wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing.” He reached down and hauled his backpack onto the hotel desk, taking out a small toiletries pouch and a bundle of clothing. “For now, let’s get some much-needed rest.”

Burgundy’s hands balled into fists at how utterly unfazed he was by this unfortunate predicament. Waiting for him to disappear into the bathroom, she made quick work of changing into her pajamas and slid into the bed. She had to admit, she practically sunk into pillows, the warmth and softness of the bedding enveloping her like a cloud. Bitter circumstances aside, she could stand to push her pride out of the way for what probably might be the best sleep of her life.

Cilan came out, donning a modest pajama set, and set his unused toiletries down on the desk next to his backpack and pokéballs. He then turned and headed for the bed, eyeing Burgundy as he peeled back the duvet on his side, and climbed in. The pink that had since left Burgundy’s cheeks instantly returned, unfamiliar with the close proximity she now shared with her rival, of all people.

“We could make a wall of pillows,” he suggested humorfully.

Burgundy snorted. “Am I that repulsive to you?”

He laughed. “Not in the slightest. I just thought it might make things more comfortable for you.”

She frowned. “I’ll be sleeping as far away as possible regardless, you immonde créature.” She exaggeratedly scooted as far to the left side of the bed as possible, being sure to clutch the edge to avoid falling off.

He chuckled. “Whatever works best for you.”

Burgundy rolled her eyes, before reaching over to shut off the lamp, settling in a bit more comfortably. She wondered briefly if Cilan was more of a night owl, and if he’d wanted to stay up a bit more reading or watching television or doing whatever the hell it was that he did in his free time, but now that the light was off, it was too late to go back on that. After all, it was well after 11 p.m. and she didn't need a Psychic-type to tell that he’d also had quite the taxing day.

“Well, goodnight,” she said at last, into the dark.

“Goodnight, Burgundy,” he said back, his voice already heavy with sleep. “Sleep well.” He then shifted a bit and turned on his side, his back to her, in efforts to give her even more privacy.

At this, Burgundy let her mind wander a bit. She couldn’t shake the weird sting of disappointment she felt. But for what? What did she think might happen? What did she want to happen?

She then heard the gentlest sound of Cilan’s breathing, and grimaced. His grace and elegance in everything, even in the simplest way he snored, both irritated and dazzled her.

In the safety of the dark- and making sure Cilan was definitely sound asleep- an indulgent scenario came to mind. In another life, a life in which she willed herself into being amicable- perhaps even more so- with him, they were stumbling into the room after escaping the rain, slamming the door shut and engaging in a heated makeout, bowties and vests and loafers strewn carelessly along the floor, until they finally collapsed on the bed in a panting heap. In the morning, they’d wake up in each other’s arms, among a disheveled mess of sheets and dare-she-say nakedness, totally not resembling scenes she’d oftenly fantasized about seen in the movies.

A quick flash and loud clap of thunder jolted her from her reverie, and she immediately cursed herself for indulging in something so disturbing with her self-proclaimed sworn enemy not even a foot away. Bringing her hands to cover her beet-red face, she slowly inhaled and exhaled.

She wasn’t ready to come to terms with the fact that she found Cilan attractive. And she wouldn’t breathe a word of that to anyone- not even Georgia- when she could barely stand to admit it to herself. For now, the unbreakable wall would stay up, and she’d continue to excel as a successful Pokémon Connoisseuse, and use whatever future run-ins with Cilan as a grand opportunity to rub her newest achievements in his face.

An overwhelmingly drowsy sensation was beginning to overtake her, and attempting to drown out the noise from the thunderstorm- and the noise in her mind- she mirrored Cilan’s position, flopping on her side away from him, and pressed one of the pillows to her ear, eventually giving into sleep.

-*-

Burgundy awoke to the sound of quiet rustling. Still a bit half-asleep, she slowly sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes to find Cilan, freshly showered and dressed, packing up his things and preparing bowls of pokemon food for Pansage, Crustle and Stunfisk, who sat patiently in the corner of the room. He glanced up upon hearing her stir and smiled warmly.

“Good morning. How did you sleep?”

“Fine,” she muttered, glaring up at him beneath unbrushed purple curls. “And you?”

“I slept quite well,” he replied, before faltering. “Although…”

She narrowed her eyes and raised a suspicious eyebrow. “What?”

“It’s nothing.” He chuckled a bit nervously.

She growled dangerously, eyes burning into him. “Tell me or else.”

He set down the bowl of food for Stunfisk before straightening up. “Forgive me for overstepping, but…I think you really ought to invest in a CPAP machine. I hear they help immensely with sleep apnea!” he suggested cheerily.

Burgundy gaped at him. “WHAT?! What in the world prompted you to suggest such a thing?!”

“Well…in all honesty, I thought at first it might have been the thunder, but-”

“Do I snore?!”

“Well…perhaps.”

“Do I or don’t I?!”

He paused, then sighed resignedly. “...Yes. Like an Emboar.”

Burgundy felt her face turning red for perhaps the tenth time in the past 24 hours, and instinctively grabbed a pillow and chucked it at Cilan, hitting him square in the face.

“I might’ve deserved that.”

“You also deserve the privilege of buying me breakfast,” she quipped as she got up, brushing past him to gather her things and ready herself in the bathroom.

Cilan shook his head, amused and oddly grateful for the circumstances they’d found themselves in yesterday that led to now.

“I’d like nothing more,” he said to himself, with a smile.

#SORRY IDK WHAT THIS IS BUT I NEEDED TO GET IT OUT OF MY SYSTEM #sommeliershipping #pokeani #anipoke #best wishes #Cilan #Burgundy #the ol' share the bed trope #how original I know #but I had this saved in my drafts and I've been wanting to get back into the swing of writing sooo #this was some good practice albeit a bit rusty #enjoy Burgundy being all over the fucking place in this #they're at least 18 here btw lol so don't come after me

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