Chapter Text
Hassel walked up to Brassius’s cottage door and took a deep breath before knocking on it. It took about the entire length of the house before he opened the door, but he still came before Hassel knocked the second time.
He wrote a speech in his mind that he was going to say as soon as he saw the other, but once he saw his face, he froze. Brassius wore a very nice, dark purple suit. He styled his hair. He even attempted to tie a tie around his neck while standing there looking up at Hassel. Goodness, this would be harder than he thought.
He let out a deep sigh and picked out some words to explain, “Brassius, I’m so sorry. I need to tell you something.”
“You forgot to make reservations,” Brassius guessed from his face.
“No, I did make them, but we might not be able to go.”
“If there’s some trouble, I can call them and see what the problem is.” Brassius insisted. Unfortunately, an angry phone call wasn’t going to fix this. Hassel fixed Brassius’s tie while they stood there. Much better.
“It’s me actually… I finally perused the menu this afternoon, and I realized the prices are way out of my range. I just started with the Elite Four, so I haven’t seen a cent from them yet—and my playing has all but blown out in terms of finances. I’m in that awkward stage of trying to find my footing and not completely aware of how much I actually have. But I did this to us, so I’m so sorry.”
Brassius undid the tie and tossed it behind him. He smirked at him, amused. “Why did you make the reservations in the first place then?”
“I thought a good date should be at a fine dining restaurant during the evening.” Hassel espoused and looked to the side.
“Well, yes, sure.” Brassius went inside and beckoned him to follow. “But we’re not exactly that kind of couple anyway. It’s not like we just met or we’re courting each other, Hass.”
Brassius disappeared into his bedroom, which is where Hassel stopped following him and talked from the door.
“We are in a sense.” Hassel argued.
“No, not really.”
“Well, fine. You’re right. I’m sorry I ruined our evening.”
Brassius came out in more comfortable clothes and a blanket. “Sometimes you act so pretentiously when the issue doesn’t even call for it.”
“So you have a solution?”
“Of course,” Brassius threw on a coat and grabbed what appeared to be random items in the room. “Grab two beers from the refrigerator and follow me.”
Hassel still wore a brilliant, white suit with his signature, small, shoulder cape he tried to sport on formal occasions. He questioned if he should’ve changed too. Unfortunately, Brassius kept his intentions mysterious this time.
Brassius took him to the middle of nowhere and hopped down a little cliffside. “Down here!”
Hassel looked down and regretted his shoe choices. And, just a little, his suddenly impulsive boyfriend.
“Brassius, these are my only good shoes!”
“Hass, get down here! There’s sand, you’re fine.” Brassius glared at him.
Even all the way up the cliff, literally towering over the other in every way, Brassius still stood with a bit more intimidation than he did. He jumped down and landed on the sand with a loud thump.
Brassius smiled at him and continued. Hassel followed with much less enthusiasm than before.
They reached a small beach facing the setting sun, no one else in sight. Hassel tilted his head and looked at Brassius. “A beach?”
“We don’t have much, and that’s okay. I don’t need to have champagne in some expensive restaurant when we’re just starting our lives. I can’t afford it, and neither can you. But we don’t need that.” Brassius dramatically opened up the blanket he brought and sat on it. “Sit, come here.”
Hassel sat and passed one of the beers to him. “Beers on the beach?”
Brassius clinked his against Hassel’s. “We can’t afford to lose touch while we take off. But we’re already rich, Hass.”
Hassel went to question the notion when the sky silenced him. Brassius chose a small, intimate spot where they had a full view of the sun setting and changing the sky every shade of gold and orange imaginable.
Brassius stared at him a moment, he could feel his eyes, but he just couldn’t look away from the sight before him. As it set, the sky slowly added colors, purples, reds, blues, until it changed into a lovely night sky. The stars slowly shone too, sparkling in greeting. He nearly cried at the sight of it all. He felt warm despite a chilly wind running through.
“Brassius, you’re right. You’re right that we have a good thing, and we don’t need very much to enjoy each other. Thank you for taking me here… I still think sometimes that I need to make a big thing out of… you see, where I’m from, I would’ve been married off to someone after a few formally arranged dates. It’s not that I don’t know where I am, I just want to do things right.”
“We are. Remember when you convinced me that we needed to put a label on our relationship? I hated the idea at first, but you explained the importance of doing it. We can make goals, make some ideas for the future, and we can tell people about them; but the most important part of this arrangement is both of us.”
Hassel pulled Brassius closer, and he purposely sat on his lap. He turned to him and touched his shoulders. “By the way, you look wonderful. Breathtakingly handsome.”
“You could’ve stayed in your suit too.”
Brassius scoffed at him. “For a beach date? Don’t be ridiculous, Hassel.”
Hassel chucked deeply and leaned in for a kiss.
Brassius put a finger in the way. “Promise me you won’t forget to be yourself no matter where you end up. You can’t afford to lose your essence in pursuit of your dreams. Even if I’m the one stumbling you.”
“Brassius, you could never—“
“Promise me or I won’t kiss you.” He snipped back at him.
Hassel took a second to enjoy Brassius’s angry little face he made when he was so serious and so passionate about something. His eyes glimmered silver and shot right through him, threatening him even though this was all because he loved Hassel so much. Hassel stifled a sob.
“Hassel, don’t you dare cry right now.”
“You’re so caring! It’s such a shame that no one ever sees this side of you!”
“Hassel, I swear to Arceus.”
“I promise that I’ll be careful and keep my integrity—no matter what. And I promise to talk to you if something happens between us.”
Brassius smiled at him with his eyes, satisfied with that answer. Instead of kissing his lips, Brassius pulled his head down and kissed his forehead. “Thank you for taking me out today, Hass. Spending time with you means the world to me.”