Just Drunk Enough

"Happiness, straight from the bottle,

When real life's too hard to swallow." - Three Days Grace

The crimson headed man sat at the bar, taking swigs of his beer as he watched a Unova game on the TV above. Other men hardened by life's hardships littered the parlor around him. Underage teens danced in their drunk daze on the dance floor to some party music. Bright lights flashed everywhere, there was a fight going on in the corner. Silver paid them no mind. Just shut up and drink the alcohol.

"Hey man. You feeling better lately?" Samson, the bartender asked him. "You didn't go for the whiskey this time, you only went for a beer." Silver looked up at him with his tired grey eyes, and gave a curt nod. "That's good. I just noticed you went for something lighter this time. Refill, brother?"

"No thanks. I just need to get my head straight, think straight for a while."

"And so you come to a bar and drink our liquor to get your head straight?" Samson smiled, a youthful fun smile. Samson was easy to talk to, even to a guy like Silver, who never really spoke, except to insult people. Silver actually chuckled at how ridiculous that sounded.

"Yea, you think it's working yet?" He responded and Sam laughed.

"Look, I ain't judging, brother. At least once in a man's life, a man has got a problem he's got to drink down." Samson was rinsed off a glass, and left in the sink.

"Hey, Sam. Can I get that refill now?" Sam cordially took the glass and refilled it. Just as the bartender tended to Silver's needs, he heard the doors open and the nightly breeze filled the stuffy bar. He heard a lot of people gasp, but Silver didn't care; he never cared. At least, he didn't care until he saw Sam's reaction. Samson almost dropped the glass, but caught it while spilling the beer on the floor, his eyes on the person who just entered, all wide with wonder and with recognition. Now Silver had to turn around to see who it was that was causing everyone to stop what they were doing.

And he was just as surprised to see her here.

She sure has matured a lot since they last saw each other. She used to be just thin, like a lot of girls at the age she was when they met. Now she was thin with a few curves, proving that she had developed from a teen girl into a woman. Under her feet and long legs were stark black heels which gave her better posture and gave her a look of purpose. She wasn't really flat-chested when they met, but she was never really impressive when it came to her breasts. They grew, but they weren't crazy huge, which Silver thought was purely disgusting by the way, though they had developed. She had a sleeveless black dress that showed off those shoulders, and the hem ended at her mid-thighs, high above her knees, showing off those long, model legs. And her hair was actually down for once; the caramel brown locks drifted down her shoulders and her back, swaying with every movement, the bangs swishing before her eyes. Those warm caramel eyes swept the bar for a moment, and she flashed her viewers a bright white grin before strutting over to the counter.

"Champagne please, I don't have a preference." She asked, setting down her purse. The woman pulled out her Pokegear and checked her messages, only to dismiss all of them.

"Lyra, what the hell are you doing here?" Lyra's head perked up at hearing her name, and looked at the man beside her. She scrunched her brows in confusion, feeling some kind of deja vu at seeing this man. Those cold, steely silver eyes looked down at her. "Don't you know what kind of people hang around here? Some of these people are disgusting criminals, and yet you come in here dressed like that?"

"Do I," She leaned in closer to examine his face, to which he flinched back. "...know you from somewhere..?" Finally her face showed recognition. "Oh my Mew... oh my Mew! Silver! Is that you? Geez, if it weren't for that red hair of yours, I wouldn't have remembered you at all!" She laughed, but it didn't lighten Silver up.

"Lyra, don't you know what happens around these places? If I were you, I'd get out of here. You're dressed," He couldn't quite come up with a word. "Like that, and there are rapists who hang around here, you know." He inwardly growled at the fact that his words weren't working. Then again, had they ever had any effect on her stubborn ass? "It's not safe for you here."

"Dude, I'm the Johto Champi-,"

"And that means nothing. What do you think they're gonna do, ask to battle you first before they kidnap you?"

"Calm down, Silvy, I'll be fine. I only came in for a drink." Silver laughed coldly at this.

"What is so wrong in your life that you need a drink? You never drink."

"I never drank. But now, that's changed. That Irwin guy did kidnap me, the stupid stalker, and locked me in a hotel room, tied me up, hid me, chained me to the bed. He did try to..," She waved her hand as she tried to find the appropriate words. "...do things to me, but I managed to get out. Morty had his Gengar come rescue me after I answered him when he called me that night. It was a pain in the ass to get to the phone while having one foot chained to the bed, hands tied behind my back and my Pokeballs were in the opposite room. But Irwin's arrested now, and that was like, what was it, a year ago now. Another reason I took up drinking, Mom remarried to this asshole of a lawyer who treats me like I'm some failure at life, or a disgrace to humanity or something." Sam handed her a glass of champagne, and she took a sip. "I found out Falkner was cheating on me with some Violet City slut, went through this whole hell of a break up, and I had to get in a fight with Whitney because she was trying to break up Ethan and Kris and just drama, drama and more goddamn fucking drama." She sipped, no, chugged her whole glass of champagne.

"And so you order a champagne to drink it away? Champagne's too light, you might want to go for something harder." Silver sipped his own beer, watching her.

She shook her head. "Nah, I ain't trying to get drunk or anything, I just need something."

"Samson, get this girl a beer." Silver ordered, but Lyra stopped him.

"You know what? Make it whiskey." Silver stared at her with confusion.

"Okay, we don't want you to get drunk off your ass, Lyra. Just take the beer."

Lyra glared at Silver, feeling some familiar feeling bubble up in her chest. "I can too, handle the whiskey." She turned to Sam. "Gimme the drink."

"Lyra, I can handle the whiskey." Silver stated, feeling the same familiar feeling bubble inside of him. "I don't think you can."

"Oh, you don't think I can?" Now they both recognized that feeling. The feeling of competition, the feeling of rivalry. They were becoming rivals again, they could feel it. "You want to test that theory, Silver?"

"You're on, Lyra."

"Hey Silver!?" Lyra screamed loudly to be heard over the chanting around her. The two rivals got into a drinking contest, and everyone in the bar came around to watch, and were cheering them on and placing bets on who would last longer. So far, no one was out yet. "You remember that time, when you thought you could hold your breath longer than I could!? And," She had to stop for a moment due to hiccups. "And we tested it by seeing who could swim to Cinnabar the fastest!?"

"I totally beat you that day! I remember that, because I won!" He stood up and shouted at her, then chugged down the rest of the whiskey bottle.

"No way! You cheated that day, you cheater! You rode on Feraligatr, and I swam, damn it, I swam!" She then busted out into giggles. They were both drunk as fuck, but so far, no one was out yet.

"I held my breath longer than you did! And made it to the island faster!"

"But I still swam the whole way!"

"Well, you remember that day at the Burned Tower!?" They have been screaming memories of their journey back and forth, sharing their thoughts with everyone in the bar. "When I kicked your ass, and you fell down the hole, and scared the legendary Pokemon away?"

"I beat you in battle that day! In fact, I kicked your ass every time we fought! Why?" She drank her bottle down, and took some vodka from Sam. "Because I'm an ass kicker that's why!"

"But you still scared away those Pokemon with your face!"

"Yo, Silvy! Do you remember that time, at Goldenrod Tower!?" She started laughing hysterically. Who knew these two had such a tolerance for alcohol? Most people in the bar would've been knocked out by now. Or vomiting. "A-and, I was just about to sneak into the building and destroy their whole plan, but then yooouuu showed up! And, and when I was going up the stairs, you caught up to me, and you blew my disguise, endangering the whole mission! And then, right in front of the Team Rocket dude," She started choking, she was laughing so hard, but took a large gulp of the liquor. "And you took all of my clothes off?"

"I didn't take them all off, just your shirt! And I tried to go for your skirt, but you kicked me in the face!" He was laughing too. They've never been this drunk before. Only when competing each other would they get so drunk. But neither one was backing down, so they kept drinking, and would probably keep drinking until they died or did something stupid. Or died doing something stupid. "And you kept trying to get dressed while battling the pissed off grunt!?"

"I remember that!" They both were laughing so hard, that they fell onto the floor, laughing their drunk asses off. Everyone in the bar surrounding them were laughing and chanting, "Drink! Drink! Drink!"

"Remember that time, Lyra, when we were at Victory Road?" Lyra watched him from the floor as she sipped her bottle. "When you beat me in battle? And I thought it was the end of the world? Well, it wasn't, I've gotten better!"

"I'm still better than you! I can kick your ass in drinking, battling, swimming, breathing, skydiving, dancing, fishing, flying, moonwalking..." Her voice trailed off for another second. Silver stood and reached down for her hand, trying to help her up, but when they stood, they fell down again on top of each other, laughing again. The people around had to help them back on the chairs as Sam handed them another drink.

"Well, I realized something that day! You were actually better than me, and I would always be the loser." He chugged the next bottle.

"Aw, Silvy!" Lyra looked about to cry. But then again, she was so drunk, no one knew if it was genuine or alcohol. "You are not a loser, you are a winner." She patted his back, but then they went from the argument of "I'm better than you," to "You are so great."

"Lyra, you are an amazing trainer!"

"Silver, you're a tough trainer, one of the strongest I've ever battled!"

"Lyra, you're the only one who hasn't cared about my insults!"

"Silver, you're the only trainer I've ever been afraid of!"

"Lyra, you're the one person who I've never won against!"

"Silver, you're the coolest dude I know because you went against Team Rocket despite your dad's wishes!"

"Lyra, you still weren't afraid of anything despite watching your dad die!"

"Silver, you are my favorite opponent and the only one worthy of being my rival!"

"Lyra, you were always amazing."

"Silver, you're always so cool."

"Lyra, you're so nice to people."

"Silver, you may be an ass, but you have your good moments."

"Lyra, you're so... good to me."

"Silver, you're always so... honest. You've never lied to me, which is more than I can say for most people."

"Lyra, I've always thought you were pretty..."

...

She said something, but he couldn't hear her over the people chanting. What were they saying? List, list, list?

"What did you say, Lyra?"

"You thought I was pretty?" Her face looked like she sobered up, but he couldn't be sure.

"Beautiful, gorgeous..." He admitted. He was so drunk that he didn't care what he was saying right now, but he could feel it in his heart that whatever he was saying, he meant it. "Lyra, you were always so beautiful that I never knew how to really talk to you. So I'd insult you like I'd insult everybody." He leaned in closer so she could hear him. "And I'm sorry."

"Silver..." She put the bottle down and tried to blink away her blurry vision. "Oh my Arceus, Silver..."

"Lyra..." He swallowed also setting down his drink. He gently stroked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. "Remember how we would tell each other everything because we figured that since we hated each other, that we wouldn't care about our secrets?"

"Yea..." She watched him with those innocent brown eyes. Those warm caramel eyes melted him inside, melted his cold silver. "I remember. I told you everything, whether you actually cared or not."

"You see, that's the thing." He swallowed, his eyes bright now instead of that usual coldness. "I did care, Lyra. I didn't want to at first, I tried not to, but I did. I tried to deny it, but I couldn't. I care, Lyra. I've always cared."

Lyra looked down, and Silver felt her warm, soft hands on top of his tepid one. "Silver, I..." She halfheartedly smiled at something. "I've cared about you too. I've always worried about you. When you would scream at me, I didn't care, I just wanted to know if you were okay. I remember when I would pass you as you were training, and I would wonder about whether or not, you were going insane. And I was too afraid to help because I worried that I was the problem." He squeezed her hand, and she smiled beautifully, squeezing it back. "Silver, you're one of my favorite people, and it actually hurt me when I became the champion, because then my schedule got crazy and I couldn't see you anymore. And I tried to deny it, but I did. I wanted to see you again."

"Lyra, remember that time when we both defeated Lance and Claire? And you hugged me and kissed my cheek that night after we won, thanking me for the victory? I know, it probably meant nothing, but I still thought about it. Like you weren't afraid of me anymore. I secretly wished that you would hug me more often."

"Silver, I never don't mean anything."

"Lyra..."

"Silver..."

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" The crowd behind them were chanting in excitement at the scene unfolding before them. The two laughed at the noise.

And, though no one in the bar knew if it was the alcohol, peer pressure or if it was genuine, Silver cupped one side of Lyra's face with one hand, his other still squeezing her own. And both adults leaned in for that first kiss.

Her eyes fluttered open, sunlight streaming into the room. Where was she? Oh, right, this is the hotel room.

Lyra stretched out her muscles, and her eyes felt heavy and her head was still fuzzy, and she recognized this feeling as a hangover. Lyra, though no one would suspect it, could handle alcohol very well, and she never experiences awful hangovers. Sure, she sometimes does things when she's drunk, but it's usually like a little voice in her head that's still sober tells her what she can and can't do, so she doesn't really do horrible stuff when drunk.

She twisted her foot, feeling the ankle pop when she noticed something. Her legs could feel the blanket. Aw man, was she naked under this? She hoped she didn't walk home naked or anything while she was drunk. She only remembered bits and pieces of last night, but looking over, she saw her clothes piled onto her suitcase. Good, so she wasn't naked on the way home. But she usually slept in pajamas of some sort, why the hell would she sleep nude? Even when she was drunk, she remembered to put clothes on at all times.

Wait a second...

Whose clothes are those piled beside her own?

...

Shit.

She rolled over, only to see a man she barely remembers lying there right beside her. Shit, shit, shit! He was facing her, and even had his hand on her stomach, and his arm behind her head, being her pillow. HOW THE FUCK DID SHE NOT NOTICE!? He was still sound asleep as the memories slowly returned, very slowly. In her drunken daze, she recognized this man as Silver, her old rival she ain't seen in years. His lips were at rest, not the usual scowl she remembered being permenantly tattooed to his face. His eyes were closed, and his brows weren't scrunched up in that angry expression like they used to be all the time. He looked... Relaxed, content, comfortable. She never would've imagined him being so calm in his sleep. In fact, she probably would've thought he was pissed off in his dreams too. But he was breathing softly, his chest rising and falling with each breath... His chest... Had no shirt...

Fuck, he was naked too!?

His long red locks were strewn about in his face, and he sighed sleepily. The one hand on Lyra's stomach shifted to on her lower back, and he brought her closer to him, and she could tell by her own bare skin, that his skin was also bare. He wrapped both arms around her, and held her to his chest, her face buried in the croon of his neck, and he snored softly. He was still sleeping.

The puzzle pieces of last night rearranged themselves and she finally remembered what happened last night. They met up again, they drank, they got into a drinking contest, and... Oh shit, she remembered the things they said! They were going on about memories, and then they were complimenting each other...

He told her she was beautiful.

But was that him or the alcohol?

The crowd behind them were wanting them to kiss. Kiss, kiss... Oh Mew, she kissed Silver! She remembered every freaking detail. He had one hand on her face, and her hands were in his hair, and they were both pretty enthusiastic about it. His other hand pressed her lower back, pressing her close to him so she couldn't escape. As if she wanted to. He held her then just as he was holding her now. Tightly pressed against him. And his lips were soft and gentle...

And then he walked her to her hotel room. She invited him in. They watched TV for a while. They started making out. Then off came the clothes...

He wasn't rough like she would've imagined. Not that she actually imagined this, but... She would've thought that he would be more rough, violent, reckless with her, forcing himself on her, and just being the cold, angry and vicious person she thought he was.

But it was nothing like that.

He was gentle with her. He actually opened up to her and showed her that there is more to Silver than fury. Silver actually seemed to care about her. The Silver she thought she knew would probably have just ripped her pants off and got to business. No, this Silver, the one who was drunk and vulnerable and honest carressed her, kissed her several times, on her lips, along her neck... He was surprisingly a pleasant... experience. She figured that since he was drunk, he would've been ten times worse, but it was actually better than that. But since last night was so great, now she wasn't sure if she wanted to try him sober.

She felt a warm pressure on the top of her head, and looked up to see Silver pulling away, realizing he kissed her head. He smirked at her, but it wasn't an annoying arrogant one like it used to be. "Trying to remember what happened too?"

"Yea, I think I got most of it." She smiled back somewhat awkwardly. He laughed.

"Yea, last night must've been crazy..." His silvery eyes watched her carefully, and he loosened his arms in case she wanted to leave, but she didn't.

"Really crazy. I don't think I've ever been that drunk before."

"I never knew you drank. I've only been that drunk once before, I woke up the next day in Sinnoh. Don't ask me how the hell I got there, I have no idea, all I remember was that it was a pain in the ass to get back home."

Lyra laughed. Then the moment was slowly turning awkward. "Is this awkward for you at all, Silver?"

He shrugged. "Not really. I used to just sleep with women and kick them out the next day, but this is your hotel room, so I can't kick you out."

"Oh." Lyra now felt disappointed. So that's what happened. He only slept with her because they were drunk.

"But they weren't you, Lyra. Lyra, I would never just kick you to the curb or anything. Last night was great. Better than what I've ever had." He leaned back down to stare at the ceiling. "All those whores want sex, sex, and sex. You didn't want sex, you wanted intimacy. It was nice."

"It was, but... It is a little odd to me that we were rivals this whole time and hated each other all the time, and after a few years, we suddenly meet up and get drunk and sleep together. This isn't wierd to you at all?"

"Well, if all those things you said to me last night were true, then no. If you really feel the same about me, and care about me as much as I care about you, then no, this isn't wierd. It actually... feels right." He turned over to look at her and leaned in close, so close that his teeth were grazing her ear. "I love you Lyra. That's why I've been drinking more heavily since you left; I missed you and tried to forget. I slept with other women, but they weren't worth my time, I drank and drank, even drugged myself trying to let you go, but I couldn't. It wasn't until last night that I finally accepted it, and, as if the stars were aligned, you came into the bar. I do love you, Lyra."

"I love you too Silver. I didn't want to admit it either. I've been running away to other regions, hiding in my training, adventuring and basically just running. I wanted to see you so badly, but I kept running, and hiding from my feelings. I just went into that bar, and when I realized that it was you sitting beside me, I-I... I was excited and worried at the same time." Lyra admitted. "You know, in a wierd way, I always consider you as one of my closest friends."

"You are my best friend, Lyra. Despite how many times I've been a jerk to you, you still came running back and tried to help me." He chuckled at something. "It wasn't exactly a love at first sight, but you are an aquired taste. You did kind of grow on me."

"I always told you my secrets, and you never told anyone. And I appreciate how honest you were, even if you hurt me. It urged me to be better." Lyra leaned in and kissed Silver's neck. "You also were hard to love, but it got easier once I realized that I did love you."

"Lyra..." Silver sighed, her beautiful name coming off his lips. He wrapped his arms around her again, not wanting to let go. "Lyra, I want you to promise me something."

"Yes, Silver?"

"Promise me..." He made sure she was paying attention to every word. "Promise you will never leave again."

Lyra stared at him, but then smiled, and easy, calm smile. "As long as you never leave me." She wrapped her own arms around him. "I promise."

"I promise to never leave you, my beautiful Lyra." Then Silver leaned down, pressed his lips against Lyra's, and the two held each other there as their lips locked them together.

"You know," Lyra said as she pulled away. "You really have matured from an immature angry pain-in-my-ass."

"And you know," Silver whispered. "You have matured from the annoying and clingy pain-in-my-ass."

"I love you Silver."

"I love you too Lyra. And," He swallowed before continuing, a smile tugging at his lips. "I hope you were on the pill or something, because I was too drunk to use a condom."

Author's Note:

Ha! Now how's that for a cliff-hanger!

I figured this could be set after Lyra tamed him, because you know how in the games Lyra makes Silver, well, not nice, but nicer. I was also gonna make a soulsilvership where Lyra's Togetic and Silver's Crobat, you know, have an egg together...

So far it's Crobat and Togetic, but I don't know what Pokemon yet, I'm still deciding, but yea, they're gonna be in-laws! Stay tuned for that one!

You know, I don't see Lyra as that big-mouthed air-head bubbly annoying girl that everyone makes her out to be. I see her as she uses that as a ruse for strangers, and once she gets to know them, she loosens up and is actually a funny and friendly girl. Unless she decides she doesn't like you, then she goes full out honest. If you look in my SSHOGALU (I have got to make shorter initials, imagine saying that as a word; shhhhooawguhloou...) and she just straight up calls Silver 'Mr. Jerk-Ass.'

Anyhow, I hope you liked this one! Sorry about the ending, but I thought it was funny, hope you did too!