A/N:

This is the longest one-shot I've written to date. So you'd better enjoy it, haha. (I know that quality is more important than quantity, but I hope this is both ;D)

I also want to take the opportunity to thank Ibuberu once again for proof-reading my stories. I know that takes a lot of time and effort, but I'm very happy with the awesome criticism and feedback she gives me! So thanks a lot :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon in any way.

Gambling

"Tickets please!"

"Shoot…" Blue's eyes darted from the conductor, who had just entered their compartment, to the only way out – the window next to her. The fields outside flashed by, having been transformed into a green blur due to the train's high speed. Could she make it? No, jumping would probably equal suicide. This called for some other tactic…

"You don't have a ticket, do you?" Green drawled, waking her from her frantic thoughts. He sat in the chair opposite her, one leg resting on the other. "Bad habits die hard, I see."

Blue shot him a furious look. "Don't judge me! You don't know anything about the situation I found myself in!"

"Oh, let me guess: you spent all your money on ridiculously expensive clothes you're not going to wear anyway, thus leaving nothing for something as trivial as a train ticket."

Blue opened her mouth in protest, but closed it again after a few seconds. Green smirked.

"Enjoy those dresses while you can, Blue… by the looks of it, you're gonna get caught. Do you know what the fines for dodging fare are nowadays?"

"Why would I know," she huffed angrily. "It's not like I ever get arrested."

"Well, looks like there's a first for everything," he said, the corner of his mouth going up.

Her eyes narrowed. "You are enjoying this…."

"It's nothing personal, Blue – let's just say I like justice being done."

He smirked again and looked her in the eye. "Have you ever heard of the word 'law', Blue? Perhaps I should clarify the conception for you?"

He had to be given credit for not cringing under the withering look Blue shot him. "I'm not going to play along with those sick games of yours, Green," she said, practically hissing. "Just you wait – I'm gonna get out of this train withoutpaying so much as a penny."

She paused; then, bending forward defiantly, added, "In fact, I guarantee you will be the only one going home with a fine."

"Tsk. Don't promise things you can't make true."

She winked, patting his knee. "That's why I'm such a fan of bets. I always win."

"If you weren't about to get apprehended, I'd report you to the authorities myself," he growled, shoving her hand away.

Blue laughed behind her palm. "You know you'd never do that, honey. Talk about false promises! Well, are you in or not?"

He paused. "What are the stakes?"

Her lips curled. "You win, dinner's on me. Iwin… you're gonna be the one paying. In the restaurant of mychoice, naturally."

"Annoying woman, who said I wanted to go out with you?"

"I did," she said, smirking. The chestnut-haired girl looked over her shoulder.

"Oooh, looks like the key element to my victory is almost here…watch and learn, Green." She shot him one last smug look, before plastering a deeply-grieved expression on her face. Seconds later, a heavy man in uniform arrived at their table. He tipped his hat.

"Good evening, young lady! Ticket, please!"

"I cannot believe you did that."

"You'd better get used to it," she replied simply. "Now you'll think twice before doubting me like that again, hm?"

"You were downright lying Blue! How can you not even feel remotely guilty?"

"Because it's for the bigger cause," she said smugly. "This way." She gripped his arm and pulled him a side-way in.

It had been twenty minutes since they had gotten off the train, but Green was still furious: furious because she had humiliated him; furious because he was forced to pay for a meal he didn't want anyway; and furious because she downright refused to give him so much as an apology.

…which he didn't deserve. 'Cause not only had he lost the bet, he had also become the victim of her winning-story. With much tear-wiping gestures and begging looks, she had somehow convinced the conductor that Green had grabbed her ticket; not only that, she had also darkly suggested that the reason for that theft sprang from her rejection of the boy's very impudent advances. (Green had wanted to point out that it was rather the other way round, but at that moment Blue had decided to start crying again.)

And thus, the conductor – a man with no spine, Green thought contemptuously – had fallen for Blue's lies, ordering Green to pay a fine and give his dearest apologies to the young lady sitting opposite him. Blue had gotten an encouraging pat on the shoulder, with the words that "a girl like her needn't worry; she would get herself a nice bloke, alright."

The sheer memory was enough for him to want to turn around and find the excuse-for-a-conductor, so he could tell him exactly what he thought of men like him. He'd probably do just that once he had gotten rid of Blue. If that would ever happen, that is. He cursed the person who had ever stated persistence was a good quality… it certainly didn't do him much good this evening.

He was brought out of his self-pitying reverie when Blue suddenly stopped, causing him to bump into her. "What was that for?" he grumbled, rubbing his chest.

"Perfection," Blue said, ignoring Green's question.

Annoyed, he turned his head to see what the girl was looking at. It certainly couldn't be the building in front of them; he didn't see anything that even came close to his idea of perfection. If there was one word he would use to describe it, it would be kitsch. The walls were of a baby blue colour; the small, heart-shaped windows were framed with white and light-pink shutters; and it the midst of it all, there was a rectangular shape Green assumed to be a door – though he could be wrong, since the little painted roses who were covering every inch of the surface made it quite hard to tell. But when Blue didn't walk on, and instead stepped closer to the window to examine the interior, he realised that this was the object of her praise. Moreover, judging by the menu displayed in the window sill, it was a restaurant. As in: the place they were probably going to spend the next two hours.

"Blue, forget it. I'm not going in there," he said, automatically going over to a defensive mode.

"You have no choice, do you?" she answered, peering through the small windows. "Look how cute it all is! There are heart-shaped chairs as well!"

If there was anything needed to make him run, this was it. Pride and dignity be damned; he refused to sit on heart-shaped chairs, eating – no doubt – spaghetti from each other's plate in Disney-style. Before he could even have taken one step towards the end of the alleyway, however, he was already stopped by Blue; she closed her hand around his arm with a steel-like grip, eyeing him with badly concealed glee.

"Don't think of running, Green."

He stared, taken aback at her apparent ability at mind-reading; but recovering just as soon. "Who said I did?"

A smile tugged around her lips. "Everyone who's spent any amount of time with you would know, Green. It isn't really your type of restaurant, is it?"

"Which is probably why you've picked it, I'm sure? Annoying woman."

"Oh, only partly," she said, bringing her face close to his. "But you're not gonna get out of this one, Green. You lose the bet, you pay; so were the rules and you agreed on it."

"Those rules didn't say anything about tolerating downright lying," he retorted heavily, putting all his effort into keeping his voice steady and his expression neutral. He refused to ask himself whether the difficulty of those tasks was caused by the anger he felt or through an entirely different emotion.

"They didn't say anything about prohibiting it either, did they?" she whispered with a smirk, breath tickling his face. She held his gaze for a while, before letting go and beckoning him towards the door. "Come with me, then."

Very reluctantly, and feeling as though he was headed for his execution meal, he followed her to the fairy-tale-like building. This was going to be one long night.

It was worse than he had imagined. The moment he entered, he was forced to shut his eyes due to the large amount of pink; then, upon sniffing the penetrating smell of incense, he repeated the act with his nostrils. Through half-closed eyes, he looked around. The small room, which some would call cosy – but he certainly would not – was crammed with round tables and the by now infamous heart-like chairs. Every spot that didn't already give room to furniture was occupied by statutes of arrow-shooting and cupcake-eating Cupido's; the pink walls were adorned with dried flowers and more-than-mediocre imitation paintings.

"Blue, this…"

He couldn't find the right words to describe the aversion he felt; so he settled for the first not-so-intelligent thing that came to his mind. "I'm not going to eat here. Just… just not."

"Suit yourself, honey," she said, winking over her shoulder while leading him the way to the back of the restaurant. "If you want to go through the rest of the evening on an empty stomach, that's fine by me – I'll just order double then."

He growled. "That's not what I meant, you obnoxious girl." With a heavy sigh, he sat down at the table farthest from the door, looking around with folded arms. "What's this? Some way to prevent me from running away?"

"Yes, I think it's a bit easier to grab you when we're sitting all the way down here," she said, giving him a broad smile. She then started examining the plastic menu card, softly humming and apparently totally at ease – a sentiment he didn't share in the least.

As he grabbed his own card – more to have something to do than because he was actually interested in the listed food – a small lady dressed in a flower-patterned apron came walking their way.

"Well, I guess you can't say the service isn't fast," he muttered, laying down his card without having so much as looked at it.

"Hello my dears," the old lady squeaked once she had reached their table. Green raised an eyebrow. "Have you already decided what you'll be having?"

"Yes, a tonic and – eh – the specialty of the house," Green said, fervently hoping it wouldn't be something heart-covered.

"I would like the vegetarian meal, please," Blue said, handing over her card. "And a glass of red wine."

"How long have you been together, young ones," the woman asked, giving them a toothless laugh.

"We're not – "

" – only just recently," Blue interrupted with a broad smile.

"Ah, but you just look lovely together, my dears," the elder lady replied. "The moment you entered, I could see that this was one special couple. I have a keen eye for detecting true love." She gave them an affectionate squeeze. "So, won't you two be having the special dating course?"

"We're not dating," Green answered with as much emphasis as possible, shooting Blue a furious glare.

"It's half the price of a normal course." His gaze darted back to the woman again.

"…right," he said, noticing from the corner of his eye that Blue was on the verge of breaking. "I – eh – just forgot that we were… dating. It's, you know, just a recent thing…" He paused, wondering when he had become just like the eye-lash-batting girl opposite him. He shoved the thought to the back of his mind. This was purely a financial matter. "So. What exactly is being served with that – ahum – date thing?"

"Spaghetti." He slowly closed his eyes.

"How many plates do we get with that?" he asked, fearing the imminent answer.

"One, of course! Just like in the Disney-movies!" The very idea seemed to give her thrills.

"Aha." He slowly exhaled. This was not a good moment to lose his temper, he reminded himself.

"Then we'll order that instead," he replied with a forced smile, returning the lady his menu card.

"I love spaghetti!" Blue beamed the moment the woman was gone.

"I felt the same before they started serving it on one plate."

"Oh, but isn't that romantic, Green?" She smirked and leaned forward. "Do you know what the chance is of picking the same string?"

"I'd actually rather stay ignorant about that fact," he said, pushing back the images her words created.

"I'm sure you do," she replied with a smirk, leaning back in her chair again. "Well, I already love this restaurant."

Green raised an eyebrow.

"Where else do you get reduction by simply holding back the truth?"

"Right," he said. "For a moment there I'd forgotten about your fetish for lying."

"Very funny." She looked to her right when a person dressed in suit approached them. She blinked. "Looks like they value fast service here. Well, all the better."

Moments later, a black-haired young man reached their table. He bowed and gave them a sticky smile. "Good evening, sir; young lady. What a beautiful evening, isn't it?"

Green refrained from telling the truth; he wasn't sure his honesty would be appreciated. With a tad of chagrin he watched as the waiter wordlessly put down his tonic, but accompanied Blue's glass of wine with a "for the beautiful young lady"; once again showing off his undoubtedly much-trained skills.

"Yes, thank you," he said curtly, indicating that the man could leave. Blue fixed a wide smile upon him.

"I really love this place. Not only do they know when to give reduction, they also appreciate beauty when they see it."

"I hope you're not talking about yourself here?"

"You don't think I'm beautiful, then?"

"I didn't say that. Merely that most people would label your word choice as rather arrogant, at the very least."

"So you do think I'm pretty?" Blue immediately retorted, ignoring his last statement. Green growled.

"Annoying woman, there's no way to make conversation with you…" He seized his glass and emptied half the contents in one gulp. Bitter. Just what he needed.

"Well," she said, playing with her own glass. "Perhaps I just want to hear certain things from you."

"I already was aware of that part," he answered dryly, recalling the many times she had fished for compliments.

Silence ensued. Blue slowly sipped from her wine-glass, letting her gaze travel through the restaurant – undoubtedly spying on the other guests – while Green occupied himself with the tonic and his own gloomy thoughts.

"Oh!" Blue exclaimed after awhile, abandoning her wine glass and clapping her hands. "The dinner's already here! The service really isfast here, isn't it?"

"Very much so," Green said, a bit bemused. That would be the only good thing about the place, then.

"Spaghetti for the two love-birds!" the smarmy waiter from before cooed, placing a steaming plate of pasta on the middle of their table. Green suppressed the urge to smack the man in the face. Instead, he thanked the waiter, scanning the tray in his hands.

"Why do we have only one fork and knife?"

"Because you have to feed each other, of course!" the man chirped.

Blue clasped her hands for her mouth to stop herself from roaring with laughter; Green's fingers did the same with the table-cloth, only to prevent him from yelling in frustration.

"…right," he said after a few moments, when finally trusting his voice again. "Although this may be customary in your restaurant, I prefer to get my own forks, knifes and spoons."

"But monsieur!" the man exclaimed, seemingly shocked. "Feeding each other is a token of love!Don't tell me you never do that at home, hm?" He nudged Green with a knowing look.

"We don't – ah – feed each other," Green said through clenched teeth. "And even if we did, it wouldn't be any of your business. Not that we have one, but… you shouldn't pry into one's other love life," he finished, clenching his glass.

Blue finally lost it. With much noise, she burst into laughter, falling back into her chair and gasping for air; tears streamed out of her eyes. Green was dimly aware that their table had within seconds become the centre of attention; many guests whispered, gesturing in their direction and sharing curious looks.

The waiter coughed. Blue slowly averted her eyes to the man, as if to ask what that was for; then, realising that the entire restaurant was gaping at her, she closed her mouth and cleared her throat.

"Right. Looks like I kinda… lost it." She laughed nervously.

"Is mademoiselle alright?" the waiter enquired in a worried tone. Both Green and Blue looked at him, realising at once that he had mistaken her outburst for a fit of crying.

"Oh..." Comprehension dawned on Blue's face. He knew what was coming. In a flash, she conjured a sad smile on her face, meaningfully wiping some tears away; even after all this time, Green couldn't be helped but be startled by her ability of adjusting herself to the situation at will.

"It's just that… you know, sometimes it's hard to be with someone like him," Blue sighed, looking at the waiter with shimmering eyes. "Even though I love him, he refuses to give me compliments. He isn't romantic at all; in fact I had to drag him to this restaurant myself, otherwise we wouldn't be here… and you know what he said about our love life. Well, lack thereof."

Green dropped his glass with a clatter – he didn't care. In shock, he stared at the girl opposite him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he mouthed at Blue, teeth clenched. Blue ignored him with a smile, still looking at the waiter.

"Oh, but monsieur!" the man exclaimed. "You should be very grateful for a beautiful girlfriend like that! This isn't the way to treat a lady, you'll only lose her!"

"I'm not in need of relationship advice, thank you," Green grumbled through clenched teeth. He stooped to collect the remnants of his dropped glass, and handed it to the waiter. "My apologies for the broken glass, you can add the costs to the check. Now if you'll excuse us, we have a dinner to attend to."

The waiter was rooted on the spot, tray and pieces of the shattered glass still in his hands – then, finally realising what he was told to, he hastily excused himself and almost ran towards the kitchen. Green fixed his glare on the other guests in the restaurant to let them know the show was over, then directed his attention at Blue.

"What were you thinking, Blue? Making a fool of me in front of all these people? Not only that, also making a fool out of yourself! Do you have no shame?"

"Oh Green, calm down," she soothed. "You know I had to play along, otherwise people would think I'm crazy."

"Better crazy than saying in public we – we – " He couldn't get the words out of his mouth.

Blue eyed him compassionately. "Don't worry, hon. It was all an act, you know that just as well as I do. As far as these people are concerned: we'll never get to seem them again. And…" she paused, seemingly wondering whether she should go on or not. "…if we actually were together, I would never have made a scene like that. I wouldn't make fun of it then."

"What difference does it make?"

"That's yours to decide." She picked up her fork and shoved it into the spaghetti. "I don't know what your plans are, but I'll start eating this before it gets too cold."

Green regarded her in silence, contemplating whether he should give in or not. In the end, his growling stomach settled the matter. He picked up the silver spoon and shoved it into the pasta, attempting to whirl the slippery strings around the object. It proved to be a nearly impossible task. Blue looked at him with amused eyes, pinning the spaghetti to her fork with ease. She made a funny movement with her head, as though she wanted to say something but held it back in the last minute; Green was more than grateful for it. He didn't know if he could survive one more comment about feeding each other or any other activity that could be traced back to a non-existing romance. After silence had ensued for another five minutes, though, and Green still hadn't managed to get so much as one string of spaghetti on his spoon, Blue let go of her silent act.

"Never knew you were so handy with a spoon, Green."

Green shot her a death-glare. "No comments. You are the one responsible for all misfortunes tonight and you'd better not make it worse."

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic." She smiled up at him, and Green felt the strangest urge to forget and forgive all of tonight's actions. "But I don't want to be hold responsible for death by starvation, so if you want, you can have my fork."

When she saw his look, she laughed and leaned forward to pat his hand. "Don't worry, honey. I mean I'll trade my fork for your spoon. It wasn't a hint about me feeding you spaghetti. Unless that is what you desire, of course…?"

Green raised his eyebrows. Blue gave him a mocked sad smile and then winked. "I should know better than that. Well, here you go – "

She handed him the fork; Green didn't take it. Both looked at each other.

"What is it now?"

"If you don't mind, I'd rather get my own fork."

"You'll have your own fork."

"I mean a clean one."

Blue's eyebrows went up to her hair roots, an indignant expression on her face. "Are you disgusted by me?"

Green wove her comment aside with an irritated hand gesture. "How much trouble is to get a new one. Just ask that waiter who likes you so much."

Blue sighed, her head in her hands. "You're doing this for the love comment, don't you?"

"That's what you make out of it."

She growled, then came to her feet. "Yeah, yeah, I get the message. I'll get you a new fork. Perhaps even more, seeing how loved I am by the serving personnel."

She gave him a knowing look, then headed to the kitchens, swinging her hips. Green rolled his eyes. The lengths she would go to to provoke him…

A few minutes later, she had already returned, a triumphant expression on her face.

"Here you go!" she said, holding a gleaming set of forks, knifes and spoons in front of her. Green reached out to grab them, but Blue shot her hand backwards and gave him an expectant look. He grumbled.

"Fine. Thank you."

A wide smile appeared on Blue's face, and with a graceful gesture she handed him his dinner-things. "There you go. It wasn't that hard to get them."

"Hm." He grabbed some spaghetti with his newly-acquired fork and lifted it to his mouth. Oh, this was good…

"Well, that little lady made some objections… going on that with a date course, just one plate and one set of forks, knifes and spoons are needed. She probably gets all her thrills from seeing young people acting lovey-dovey." She watched Green eat his spaghetti, not getting a reply.

"But that other waiter, the black-haired one… he chirped it was alright and handed it to me at once. Couldn't refuse me anything, being such a charming girl. And those were his words, not mine. In case you thought I had another ego-act going on," she added after a small silence.

Still no answer. Green ate the pasta with relish, momentarily blocking out Blue's words. After all that he had gone through tonight, he deserved some time to eat his food in peace. And if Blue really wanted an answer out of him… well, she would have to try harder.

"How does it come, Green, that that waiter has called me beautiful more times this hour than you have in the past six years?"

Green finally directed his attention at Blue, looking momentarily up from his food. "He's only called you that three times."

"My point exactly."

He paused, looking at the girl opposite him. He knew where this was going. "You do realise he only calls you that because you are a guest in his restaurant, don't you?"

"Are you implying that he doesn't mean anything of it?"

"I'm just making the observation that it is a basic rule in business to make your guests feel good about themselves. They're the key to its success, after all."

"So you think he paints every guest a false picture like that."

"As long as it stays believable, yes. And it doesn't necessarily have to be false; though for the outcome of the case, that detail doesn't matter."

"Well, for me it does," she huffed. "I don't want to be fed lies."

It was silent for a moment, in which Green finished the last strings of his spaghetti and Blue stared around with a sulking expression on her face. Then –

"If only you could tell me I'm pretty, Green."

He barely prevented himself from choking in his pasta. "Eh?"

"I would believe it if it came from you. Not from some smarmy waiter who tells every guest – according to you, at least, I'm not so sure if it was all lies in my case – the same thing. After all, you never tell stories. If you say something, it is truthful. Isn't that right?"

"… yes, I suppose," he said slowly, on his guard.

"And since you've never said such a thing before… not to anyone, as far as I know… well, it would mean much more to me than some second-rate waiter's words." She smiled at him (there was a hint of insecurity, just visible for his eyes) with an expectant look in her eyes.

And Green knew he was trapped. He could stay quiet or deny for all he wanted – only to make matters worse. Blue would be in a bad mood, taking his words for granted. Her anger was likely to continue after tonight, and he didn't know if he could muster the energy to cope with a very light-inflammable Blue for an indefinite period of time. Plus: he'd lie. And he felt a strong aversion towards such actions.

He rubbed his temples and growled, "Pesky girl… why do you even want to know. Isn't your ego high enough as it is already?"

"That's got only so much to do with it. How hard is it, Green? It takes only three words, if you want it to be over soon. But it can also be more, of course. If you feel like being descriptive..." She batted her eye-lashes in a flirty way. He fixed an irritated gaze at her.

"I don't want to be forced into to saying something."

"No-one forces you, Green. It's just a hint."

"I've never seen a hint less subtle than that."

"Yes, well, I like to be clear." She paused, the slightest wavering of insecurity passing her face. "Perhaps you don't think I'm pretty then? You think I'm ugly? Or – " she gasped for air, seemingly disturbed by just thinking about it – "fat?"

He sighed deeply and rolled his eyes towards heaven. "No, I don't think you're fat. I don't even know how you got that thought into your head, because you have a perfectly normal figure. And – I can't believe I'm telling this you of all people – nor are you ugly. Jeez, what is it with women these days? It seems no-one ever is just content with the way they are."

"It isn't something of these days, Green. It is just part of being a female."

"Well, thank God I evaded that fate, then."

He sighed, and she smiled at him. "What?"

"Just – thank you."

He raised an eye-brow. "For being born a male?"

"No – well, that too. But mostly for giving me the best veiled compliment ever. It takes a magnifier to decipher it, but it's probably the farthest you'll ever get saying something positive about my appearance. So, thank you."

She caught his eye, looking at him with an indefinable searching expression – and he couldn't tear his gaze away. His brain got him dimly the message that this evening had had way too much intimacy for it to be let passed as an insignificant friend-date; he dismissed the thought. He just wondered when Blue's eyes had become so deeply azure like that, and why his body was ignoring his mind's orders.

In the end, he did manage to look away. Definitely too much intimacy, he thought wryly. It was never a good sign when your body took over, at the cost of common sense and well thought-out actions. Especially when a person was so much defined by it as him.

"Right," he said. He avoided her gaze for fear of having another numb-going experience. "I think we'll skip desert, won't we?"

"Actually – "

"Since I'm the one paying, I say we will," he interrupted in a final tone. He couldn't wait to get out of this place.

"Well, ok," Blue sighed. "The spaghetti was pretty filling anyway, so it doesn't matter that much. I wouldn't say no to something refreshing, though. The dish has left me all thirsty – "

"Don't bother, you won't get it. Let's go." He pushed his chair back and came to his feet, indicating for Blue to do the same.

"Skinflint."

"Better close-fisted than broke. Besides, you have no right to complain seeing as I've paid for the pasta and for that train ticket of yours. Get up."

She huffed, then came to her feet. "Yes, sir. As you wish."

"Good. Now let's get out of here..." He walked towards the bar, Blue behind him.

"Hey, you mustn't make things bigger than they are, Green. The dinner can't be that much, since you insisted we did a half-price course." Her lips curled up at the last words.

Green shot her a look over his shoulder. "Don't start on that. I'm forgetting that episode the moment I've set foot out of this place."

"Good luck to you," she grinned, shimmering with the promise of keeping him reminded the rest of his life.

Green didn't answer, but merely asked for the check at the counter. After having handed over the stated amount of money, and being bowed out with a, "Good-day to you, all the best for this beautiful lady," (Blue smirked; Green rolled his eyes), they finally passed the threshold. Green let out a sigh in relief.

"Come on, Green, it wasn't that bad, was it? I mean, the food was really good and you said yourself how fast the service was." She nudged him. "Not to talk about the waiters themselves or the décor. Or the special courses, of course."

He growled. "Annoying woman. Next time, I'll decide on the restaurant."

"Oh, so there will be a next time?" He bit his tongue.

"…no idea."

She smirked nonetheless, walking beside him in the cool evening. Night had already fallen: from behind curtains, dimly-lit rooms were discernable; on street corners, lamp-posts shone their light on the pavement. The dark water in the canals glistened as light-patches on an ink-black blanket. A breeze fluttered through the streets, and Blue shivered. He said nothing of it. Both walked on in silence, occupied by their own thoughts. A second, more profound breeze made Blue wrap her arms around herself, massaging her bare skin with her hands. As he watched side-ways, he could see her shivering uncontrollably. She bit her lip; he knew she tried to suppress it, like with everything that betrayed weakness.

"Instead of trying to prevent it, you'd better do something to get warm," he advised with frowned eye-brows.

"Yeah, like running circles?" she replied, the sarcasm getting lost because of her chattering teeth.

"Anything that suits you," he answered, slightly stunned by her ability of getting cold so soon.

"Well, n-no thanks. I don't feel like running on a heavy stomach. It isn't g-good for you."

"It's probably healthier than slowly freezing to death."

"Haha. Ever so funny…" She rubbed her arms. "C-can't you do something about it?"

"Eh?"

"Well, don't you have a jacket or something?"

He raised an eye-brow. "Do I look like I have one on me?"

"Where is a jacket when you n-need it?" she coughed, now desperately trying to get her hands on temperature. "Can't you use your body then?"

Green gave her a shocked look. Despite the cold, she had to laugh with flair, making the tones coming out of her mouth sound like misplaced hiccoughs. "S-silly, I don't mean like that. Just p-put your arm around me."

The shock that had come over him slowly subsided, being replaced by an inward struggle. With a doubting expression, he regarded the shivering girl next to him. Sure, she was cold, but…

"Oh, c-come on," she blurted out, wincing as another soft breeze blew their way. He let out a sigh, feeling familiarly annoyed at her pressing. He couldn't understand how she got so cold – it didn't even freeze. He himself didn't have any trouble with the weather. But on the other hand, she did look like she was on the verge of losing it. And it was only an arm.

"Alright then, have it your way," he growled.

He reached out his right arm and put it around her shoulders; both were frozen. The smile that appeared on Blue's face, though, melted any cold still lingering in the darkness. Her eyes shone and her mouth's corners reached upwards in a contented expression. It wasn't the pleased look she usually wore after getting something she had set her eyes on – it was deeper, it was softer. He couldn't put his finger on it. The warmth of his hand pervaded her skin, leaving a tingling sensation on the place they brushed. His breathing was deep and regular, slowing down the rhythm of his feet. As Blue smiled beside him, he realised in a flash he felt completely at ease. To his surprise, he was only so much shocked. (His mind reached a conclusion his body had already known.)

As they passed a group of young guys, who started checking out Blue with an appreciative air but averted their eyes as soon as they got hold of Green – coming to the silent conclusion she was already taken – he had to suppress the urge to grin. And he knew he never should have begun on the bet earlier that day, seemingly already ages ago. Gambling with Blue was a dangerous thing.

Before you knew it you had fallen in love.

A/N:

This was a lot of fun to write. And that is an understatement. Why? Probably because I like to make Green all annoyed. (Yes, I'm evil like that.) Don't worry though, I still love him, haha. And for some reason I always end up writing from his POV - it just feels more natural to me.

Well, I hope it was worth the read! If you want to let me know your thoughts on it, I'd be very happy. Do not hesitate to take your time for it and point out both good and bad things! That way I know what (not) to improve. And you're the reason I upload these stories on the Internet, after all!

~Snoaz