Warning: Slash and fluff

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

Laying on the table was a CD held within a plastic case. The label was blank; it almost looked unused. Next to it was a pink portable CD player, set with a pair of earphones.

Plopping herself down on the other side of the table across from her junior, Blue gave a sly smirk as she gestured towards the objects on the table. "See for yourself."

Gold eyed at the disk warily, tawny orbs darting back and forth between the CD and its owner. Rarely did Blue ever grace anyone with her presence what with her constant traveling to whatever world wonder that caught her interest at the moment, nor would she choose to visit Gold of all people when she did decide to come back on the radar. Her mischievous expression further unnerved him.

"That's not gonna explode or anything, right?"

Blue snorted. "Don't be silly! Why would I even think of harming my dear little junior?"

"Oh, I dunno. I mean, who was it that told me a fire stone fell near the bank of the river and then pushed me in? And who was the one that made her Jigglypuff Double Slap me to wake me up, in addition to a Hydro Pump by her Blastoise?" Gold raised a brow, the hint of a smirk pulling at the corner of his lips.

The brunette waved it off, a dismissive look on her face. "You know I do it 'cause I love you."

"Riiight."

Her face of mock hurt made Gold snicker. Despite their rocky start and not meeting up often, Gold liked Blue. She was spunky, and one of the only people that was willing to play pranks on the other Dex Holders along with him. She also seemed to take a familial liking to him, treating Gold like a little brother (much to Silver's chagrin and denied jealousy.)

But even with his weird yet somewhat close relationship with her, Gold still didn't know Blue well enough to decipher why she was here. It didn't seem like Blue was going to explain herself either.

Said girl was now leaning back into her chair, all signs of jokes gone from her face as she put on an intent expression. She popped the CD out of the case and into the player before nudging it towards Gold. "But seriously. I think you'd like to check that out."

Gold tentatively took the object. "Why? What's on it?"

"You have it in your hands. Like I said before, see for yourself." Blue then stood up, sauntering over Gold's chair. She laid a hand on his shoulder, a coy smile gracing her lips. "I think you'll like it. A lot."

"...is it porn?"

A whack on his head followed by a glowering Blue gave him the answer.

"Don't be stupid!"

"Then tell me what's on it!"

Blue glared at the Hatcher, exasperated, before she sighed dramatically, crossing her arms against her chest as she stared him down.

"Gold," she started, "you like Silver, right?"

There were many people that considered Gold a very blunt person, though, of course, none of it was meant unkindly. His tendency to rashly say whatever was on his mind didn't help his protests against their accusations. Unsurprisingly, Gold wasn't easily offended if others were blunt to him as well. As a firm believer of straightforwardness, he didn't see anything wrong with not cushioning whatever people had to say.

But Blue's question (really, it was more like a statement) didn't fail to bring a light flush upon his cheeks. Mild bewilderment raced through his mind at the sheer candor, but he inwardly took a deep breath.

Stay calm.

" 'Course I do," he replied breezily. "He's like my best friend! Why?" One look at Blue's deadpan stare, however, told him that his act was futile, and he slumped slightly, pursing his lips.

"Tch. What's it to you," he muttered, looking away. He could feel the smirk on Blue's face, and he grit his teeth in slight annoyance.

"Then tell him!" A noise of incredulity escaped from Gold. He thought Red had some terribly stupid ideas, but this one just pranced away with the last slice of the cake.

"And risk losing my balls in his rage?! No thank you," he scoffed. In actuality, as much as he hated to admit it even to himself, Gold was scared. What he said before wasn't a lie; Silver was his best friend. Not to mention it took him damn near forever to finally earn the redhead's trust as a best friend.

It was this trust that revealed to Gold the sides of Silver that hasn't been shown to anyone save Blue herself. It was this trust that allowed Silver to barge into Gold's home with not even a glance of apology, sitting himself in front of the TV to await Proteam Omega's showtime. It was this trust that set free Silver's opinions and thoughts through blurbs of sarcastic commentary. And it was this trust that put a crack in the cold and stoic front that Silver had up against the world, exposing an empathetic young man who had a hot temper yet had a heart of pure gold, sometimes even shown with a rare (and tiny,) but beautiful smile.

With that smile, that genuine smile that softly lit sterling eyes with contentment, Gold fell. Hard.

But telling Silver how he felt could risk their friendship, their trust. Once that trust was gone, so was everything that brought Gold to like him, and nothing was worth that risk.

"You'd be surprised," Blue calmly replied. "Just listen to it. I'm not kidding, Gold."

With this, she gave his shoulder a firm squeeze and headed for the exit. Gold turned around, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Where ya going?" he asked as the brunette opened the door.

"Whatever calls to me," Blue tossed over her shoulder with a grin. "Take care." She closed the door, and Gold was alone, the CD player still in his hands.

The player was scratched lightly on the bottom, showing constant use over Blue's ownership. The button symbols were worn and faded. Its accompanying earphones were in a bundled mess.

Shrugging, Gold untangled the earphones and place them in his ears, fumbling with the CD player before hitting the "play" button.

A roar of scuffling noises blared through the earphones, and Gold swore as he turned down the volume to an appropriate level. The noises continued before focusing into a voice that sounded uncannily like Blue's. Her voice suddenly rang clear, as if she was talking straight into the microphone.

"Gold, if you're listening, which you better be, then Imma say one thing: if you hurt my baby brother, then I am completely not responsible for the dismemberment of your reproductive organs. And if you think I'm joking, try me."

A shiver went through Gold's spine, and he subconsciously tucked his knees into his chest.

The CD then went quiet for a few seconds before tuning back into a cut conversation, this time with Silver's voice coming through before Blue's entered the mix. The next few minutes were just streams of mundane conversation between the two, and Gold began to get bored. Was this Blue's new way of torturing him? Listen to vapid conversations until he died of tedium? Gold rolled his eyes, but continued listening, half hoping that whatever reason Blue gave him this would show itself sooner or later, half wanting to listen to Silver's voice, which always had a tone of ease whenever he talked to Blue, the occasional chuckle getting picked up by the mic. Gold felt his heart warm pleasantly, and he coughed to hide his embarrassment despite being the only one in the room.

But even Silver's laughter was being overrun by Gold's impatience, and he was about to jab the "stop" button when Blue finally said something that piqued his curiosity.

"So Silver... meet any interesting people?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like... anyone catch your eye? Find a pretty girl around here? What about Crys? She's cute."

Typical Blue. Always nosing into things that weren't her business. Still, Gold couldn't help but wonder himself if Silver really did have someone he liked. It wasn't like he showed any hints toward anyone, or at least not that he saw. Or maybe he just wasn't aware.

"Crystal's a nice girl."

"Ehhh? How boring..." Blue sighed. There were a few moments of silence-probably Blue thinking to herself-before she began talking again.

"What about Yellow?"

"I think she's scared of me..."

"Sapphire?"

"Too noisy. Besides, Ruby'll kill me."

Blue laughed. "That he will. Then how about some guys? You seemed chummy with that Lance guy. Or Green?"

A snort was heard before Silver replied. "I think a certain someone would be more interested in Green than I would."

Indignant spluttering courtesy of Blue overtook the recording, followed by Silver's soft chuckle. Gold mentally took note of this to make fun of Blue next time he met her.

After a series of threats and more flustered stammering, Blue calmed down before continuing with her interrogation., listing the names of all the Dex Holders and a few that were unfamiliar, every single one of them denied by Silver one way or another. It was a while before Blue finally asked what Gold was waiting for.

"Then... whaddaya think of Gold?"

Silence. Gold held his breath, not wanting to miss the response.

"Never." Silver's voiced seemed much quieter than before.

"Ohh, really now?"

"He's obnoxious. And full of himself. And a huge flirt."

The sinking feeling inside Gold was hard to ignore. His shoulders drooped in dismay. Of course it was stupid of him to even hope that whatever he felt for Silver was mutual. It was obvious throughout the entire conversation that Silver didn't have anyone that he was interested in. And everything he said about Gold was true. It wasn't the first time he's been described as such. He wasn't one to really care about what others thought of him; it was their problem if they didn't like him.

But for some reason it stung hearing those words come from Silver.

How Blue thought Gold would enjoy this recording didn't make sense at all. Unless this was her idea of a prank. She did seem a little shifty as she was giving him the CD.

With a long sigh, Gold reached to take out the earphones when he heard something that made him freeze.

"Oh Silver, then why on earth are your ears the same color as your hair?"

..What? Gold's hands fell to his lap as he continued listening.

A pause. "That's natural if you randomly accuse someone of liking someone else."

"Really? 'Cause you looked totally fine when I was asking about Crys and the others. Not a single change in facial expression either, save a few laughs. But once I brought up Gold, you turned beet red."

Blue's voice rang clear with a teasing undertone. Gold could just picturethe coy smirk she'd be wearing in this situation as she cornered Silver with her observations.

"You're seeing things," Silver shot back in defiance.

"Oh I'm seeing things alright," Blue giggled, "I'm seeing that my lil' brother's lying to me about a certain 'obnoxious flirt who's full of himself.'" The silence was thick with tension before Silver responded.

"W-whatever..."

"Aww, now you're stammering! How adorable," Blue gushed, and Gold tried to stifle a laugh at the mental image of Silver's annoyed grimace. "Admit it, hon. You like Gold, dontcha?"

Pauses between unfinished protests were followed by a heaving sigh, and a thud was heard, as if someone plopped into a chair.

"...tch. Noisy woman," Silver grumbled. Blue laughed.

"Come now, you hang out with Green too much." The sound of a chair being scooted out was heard before Blue seated herself. "Anyway, I didn't hear a denial, so is that a yes?"

Silver groaned. "Fine, fine, fine! Yeah, I like him, happy?" he growled, though it had no signs of anger, only defeat.

As he was listening, Gold couldn't stop the warmth that was slowly bubbling inside, and he swallowed thickly, trying to calm his excitement. But when Silver gave his annoyed confession, it was like a bomb of pure elation exploded inside him, and Gold's heart soared. His brain refused to intake this new piece of information despite the self-inflicted pinches given to prove that this wasn't a dream.

Silver liked him. Silver liked him. Gold. The annoying, headstrong, and cocky flirt. HIM.

Gold didn't even realize that he was grinning like an idiot until he reached to remove his earphones. He knew he was embarrassing himself, but he couldn't even bring himself to care. Getting out of the chair, the CD long forgotten, Gold sauntered-skipped would be more like it-towards the door.

He'd find a way to thank Blue later. Right now, he had a certain redhead to find.

End.