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Green is standing before a backdrop of glittering fairy lights, looking down at him. His hair is perfect, his jeans artfully threadbare. Red loves looking at him normally, and like this, eyes bright from the buzzing party mood, he's so beautiful that it's almost hard to look at.
Red's gaze cuts away. Green gives a small laugh and leans down, their faces close together. "Dance with me?" he says, his proximity making his quiet words audible over the background noise.
Red blinks and shakes his head fast.
Green's smile turns a little knowing, but it doesn't dim. He kneels down so that he's peering up into Red's face. "Just one," Green says. "You don't have to be good at it, no one else is. Just look at Bugsy." He jerks his chin back towards the boy in question, who is doing an enthusiastic jitterbug on the dance floor.
Red's brow furrows. Green must know what Red's answer will be—why is he...? He shakes his head again, harder.
Green's smile does fade after that; Red watches it dim in his peripheral vision, still refusing to look at Green straight on. "Would you say no if Leaf asked you?" he says, slight sharpness in his tone.
Red's mouth presses into a confused line as he thinks about it. Thinks about Leaf here, arms folded on his knees as she laughingly invites him to dance. Thinks about reaching out and taking her hand. "No," he says, feeling his answer out, "because...it wouldn't matter."
"You saying no does matter to me," Green says, his voice carefully even. Trying not to make a scene. Red wants to draw back, but doesn't.
He reaches out instead. He traces his fingertips over the back of Green's hand, feeling phantom eyes from the crowd boring into his back. "In front of everyone?" Red says, small.
"I put a slow song you'll know in the queue, and it's coming up next. We can dance right here. We don't even have to go onto the floor with everyone else." Green's other hand comes over Red's, warm. "I know it's a lot. But..."
Red always says no when Green asks him to do things like this. When Green invites him to try the new restaurants that open in town, when Green goes out hiking with Brock's group of friends. He knows that Green wants to show him off, and he hates it just as much as he hates when people crowd him for autographs or try to take photos of him, clamoring for him in a way he can't control. But this isn't a league function—it's just Misty's birthday party. She's known Red forever, and everyone else at the party is an old friend, too. Everyone already knows that he and Green are together. No one has bothered him all night, besides a few friendly hellos in passing. And Green is looking at him, steady and open, waiting.
Isn't that the point of a rival, to pull him forward into situations unknown?
"Just one," Red echoes. Green's entire face lights up, and the sight of it makes Red blink again.
"Yeah," Green rushes to reassure him. "Only one. It's not hard. Just follow my lead."
The slow song hasn't come on yet, and the speakers are still pumping out some bubbly popular tune. Misty's voice cuts through it, a happy burst, and someone else laughs. Green stays kneeling in front of him, a dopey smile on his face. Red reaches out to touch the corner of his mouth, wondering at it, and Green's smile widens.
"I'm excited," Green says. "I want to dance with you, like everyone else gets to dance with their boyfriends."
The thought of it makes Red want to curl up like a metapod, but Green has turned his face to kiss the pad of Red's finger, his gaze sliding to hold Red's out of the corner of his eye. Red starts to blush for an entirely different reason. "Green," he whispers, tense, and Green obligingly pulls away.
"Too much?" Green says, but the knowing smirk on his face says he doesn't really need an answer. His voice drops to a purr. "Sorry. I'll save it for later."
Maybe, Red thinks, he should say yes to Green more often.
The pop song ends and a slower song takes its place. Red's head lifts; it's one he remembers from his childhood, his mother singing along to it on old cassette tapes. "This one?" Red murmurs.
Green nods. "It was always playing at your house." His expression grows shy. "It makes me think of you."
He stands, reaching out a hand, and Red takes it. True to his word, they don't move from their spot. Green wraps one hand around Red's waist, the other lifting their entwined hands to the side, and they sway together.
Red doesn't know where to look when Green is standing so close. His eyes dart around the room. Only a few people are dancing, but nobody seems to be paying attention to them, either. His eyes catch on Janine's, but she just smiles and gives him a nod before turning away to reply to Falkner. Eventually his gaze drops to Green's shoulder, the collar of his shirt. Green's hand tightens on his waist, and when Red looks up Green is looking at him with open, unguarded affection.
"Hi," Green whispers.
Red's gaze skitters away again. This close, he feels Green's answering chuckle as a reverberation against his own chest.
"Thanks for dancing with me."
Red just nods. He still feels nervous, not sure what his body should be doing—but the rocking motion of Green's body is predictable, even a little soothing. As the song climbs into the bridge he remembers his mom in the kitchen, holding a soup ladle to Red's mouth so he could join in on the impromptu kareoke, and he smiles.
"I love you," he murmurs in Green's ear.
Green gives a slow, happy sigh. "I love you too," he replies.
He presses his cheek to Red's. Red closes his eyes, letting himself drift away on the music, in Green's arms.