Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hau opened his eyes as he pulled away from the, really freaking awesome (and unexpectedly long) kiss that he is positive Moon and Glad will tease him about for the foreseeable future.

But, have they even seen Hop?
Totally worth it.

It took the Galarian an extra half a second to open his eyes and Hau thought the way they fluttered open was absolutely endearing. The cute little smile that followed it felt like a sucker punch to the gut.
But in a good way.
A very good way.

"That was fun," Hau said with a grin.

Oh how Hop wishes he had the confidence to say 'we shid do it again sometime'. But alas...

Hop dropped his eyes down and mumbled an embarassed agreement but... Hau couldn't help but notice his voice lacked the enthusiasm he would've expected.

"Was that ok?" Hau said with sudden concern in his voice.

"Aye! Yeah! Ah really like ye," Hop reassured, still not able to bring himself to look that beautiful boy in the eye, "Ah'm just... n-nervous. Ye ken... 'cuz Ah never... never done that before..."

Hau's expression fell.

Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit!

He stood up abruptly.

"I... uhh... g-gotta do... a thing."

And with that he fled up the stairs and into the concourse.

A now thoroughly confused Hop jumped up and pursued him.

"W-wait! Hau! Come back!"

Meanwhile, Moon and Gladion decided that since she already went and posted the pic of them kissing on her story, might as well make it into a series. Thus, they've been taking (mostly blurry) pictures of the two of them freaking out.

They stopped as soon as they noticed both boys running out of the arena.

"What happened?" Moon wondered aloud.

"Dunno. Suddenly Hau was lookin' a lil green around the gills and he ran out," recalled Gladion.

"We should go after them."
As she said this, she began to get up but her friend put a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Not yet," he told her, "Give them a some time to sort things out and then we'll check on them. Ok?"

Moon worried her lip but eventually sat back down.

"Ok," she murmured, "I just hate sitting around doing nothing..."

"I'm aware. You always choose action over inaction. It's the reason you're Alola's Champion as well as the reason Kukui has data on every pokémon species in the region."

Moon smiled softly.

"Although," Gladion sighed, "it's also the reason you're such absolute garbador at the Battle Royal."

Gladion may or may not have got an empty popcorn bucket shoved over his head after that last comment and Moon may or may not have had anything to do with it.

Over in the concourse, Hop is still running and having no idea what made Hau bolt all of a sudden. He finally managed to catch up with the taller boy after chasing him down one of the tunnels branching off of the arena.
He grabbed hold of the other's wrist to force him to stop.

"Bloody hell is going on with ye?" he asked him, breathless from running.

Hau looked at him with an expression of shameful guilt. Why? He doesn't have anything to be guilty about! This is completely unlike him and it's starting to worry his new friend.

"Hau, tell meh whit's wrong," he pleaded.

"I... I'm..."
Hau pressed his palm to his brow in frustration and hissed to himself, "You lolo boto!"

"Ah dinnae unnerstaun!" the other cried, his accent coming out a little thicker than Hau's use to in his distress, "Ye dinnae like meh? Wis this aw a joke tae ye?!"

"No! Hop! I-"
He put his hands on his head and gritted his teeth.
"I'm such a fucking dick!" he finally blurted out, "I'm so sorry Hop! I shouldn't've done that! Please forgive me!"

"Whit ye on aboot! Why ye shidnae kiss meh?" Hop demanded, "Acause Ah'm no braw eneuch fer ye? Ye think Ah'm some selly knab 'cause Ah'm a furriner?"

"What? No! Shit!"

Hau is very stressed right now! He only understood about 30% of what the other just said but he's 100% sure it ain't good.
He paced back and forth trying so so so very hard to come up with something coherent to say so Hop doesn't keep thinking this is his fault.
Because it's not. It's really not!

"It ain't like dat at all Hop!" Hau finally managed, "I just made a huge mistake but it ain't 'cuz of you! It's 'cuz I no freakin' tink 'fore I do nothin'!"

The look on the Galarian's face told him that he still doesn't understand.

"I kissed ya wit'out even askin'! I wen cockaroach ya first kiss, Hop! In front choke people!"

Now it's Hop's turn to only understand 30% of his friend's words.

Hop is so frustrated right now!
He's always envied how well his brother does under pressure.
What would Lee do if he was here? Probably get lost in the parking lot...
But seriously, what would he tell his wee brother?

"He wid say, 'Breathe Hoppy. Breathe'," the boy murmured to himself.

He shut his eyes and took a couple deep breaths. When he opened them, he reached out and gently took Hau's hand.

"Hau," he calmly began, "we need tae calm down and take a step back. Neither of us are making ony sense and we're no gaunnae figure this out until we actually communicate."

Fan-freakin'-tastic... the guy's a year younger than Hau physically but five years older than him emotionally.

That's just great for his already dwindling self-confidence...

But he's right.

The two of them sat down on the ground with their backs to the wall as Hau tried to collect himself.

When Hop thinks his friend has finally began to relax, he asked gently, "Can ye please tell meh what this is all about? Why are ye upset?"

After a couple more deep breaths, Hau collectedly explained, "I'm upset because... I didn't ask ya if it was ok before kissing ya and stole your first kiss without your consent. That wasn't cool of me and I'm really sorry."

Hop nodded his head, finally understanding why his friend was acting so strange.
After a moment, Hop began giggling into his hands.

"That's... the sweetest thing Ah've ever heard Hau," he said, unable to stop the goofy little smile from spreading across his face, "but ye dinnae hivty be sorry. Ah'm really happy ye kissed meh. Honest."

"R-really?" Hau murmured, a hint of relief in his voice.

Hop nodded again.
"Ah... really, really like ye Hau. Ye are kind and funny and always see the bright side of everything and everybody... and... Ah cannae think of onybody Ah'd rather have ma first kiss..."

Hau's chest felt tight.
In a good way.
A very good way.
So why was there still this awful knot in the pit of his stomach?

Hau chewed his bottom lip in thought and then looked down at his hands in his lap.
"Dat's... uhh... good to hear," he said quietly, "but it still wasn't right of me to do dat. Tutu always says 'consent is important'."

"Lee says that and aw... err... also."

They sat quietly together for a couple minutes, finally starting to process everything that happened.

"So... uhh... just so we're clear," Hau said, "you ain't mad at me?"

"Aye, correct."

After another moment of silence, Hop started, "And... just so we're clear... ye do like meh and only freaked out because ye suddenly realized ye kissed me without asking first?"

"Umm... yup... that's pretty much it."

They happened to glance up at each other at the same time.
The boys started snickering at each other.

"Oh man, we're a couple a idiots, ain't we?" Hau said, the tension finally leaving his body.

"Aye, we're a bloody mess," agreed Hop feeling the relief as well.
Then he said, "Can Ah ask ye one more question?"

"Yeah, of course!"
Hop was relieved to hear some of that typical happy-go-lucky enthusiasm in his friend's voice return.

"Hypothetically speaking... if Ah were tae give ye permission... wid ye wanty kiss meh again?"

"Oh. Uhh... I mean... hypothetically... I would kinda... yes definitely would wanna do that."
His voice pitched up at the end as if he was asking a question and it made Hop giggle.

They sat there a little longer.

"Hey... uhh... kinda random but... have ya ever heard of honi?"

Hop shook his head.

"Well... technically it means 'kiss' but kine... it's not de kine... it's a thing Alolans do but it doesn't have to be as... kine... serious as... de kine... a kiss... and de kine... could I possibly say 'kine' anymore times in this sentence?!"

That had Hop full on laughing which helped Hau relax (even despite how it slightly raised his heart rate).

"Ok, Ah think that makes sense."

"May I... uhh... have your permission to do that... with you?"

An internally gushing Hop gladly replied, "Aye! Yes! Just tell meh what tae do."

Hau's face brightened up and he explained, "Ok! Shoots! It's real easy! We just... sorta... put our foreheads together and breathe for a little bit..."

It's sounds kind of odd... but Hop doesn't care! He's just happy to be here.

Hau turned to him, bowed his head forward, and held out his hands.
Hop blinked noctowlishly at first but then figured it out and placed his hands in his friend's.
They're warm...
Finally he leaned forward and lightly touched his forehead to Hau's.

"Like this?" he asked softly, since their faces were very close to each other.

"Yeah..."
Hau gave the other's hands a squeeze.
"Mahalo."

After a little while, they pulled away from each other and got to their feet.

"I like that," Hop mentioned bashfully, "I wish we did that in Galar."

Hau rubbed the back of his neck and smiled warmly.

"Hau?"

The boy, of course, gave the handsome little Galarian his full attention.
Who wouldn't?

"Wid ye..."
Hop fidgeted with the hem of his jacket.

Come on Hop! Be brave!
For Arc-sakes, he faced down the apocalyptic poison dragon of doom while his brother laid unconscious in a bloody heap with an apocalyptic-poison-dragon-of-doom spike impaled in his back!

This should not be so difficult!

"Wid ye likety kiss meh?"

Hau's initial gut reaction was 'yes, please for the love of Koko, yes' but his stupid blunder from earlier was still weighing on him.

"I... don't think I should... not yet," he answered, trying really hard not to get lost in Hop's big, lillipup eyes, "I'm sorry... I know you're ok with it but it still matters to me. I'm still angry with myself-"

Hop grabbed the taller boy by the front of his tshirt and dragged him down into a kiss.

It wasn't nearly as long as the first one but it was still freakin' awesome.

When Hop released him, Hau looked at him with pure shock on his face.

"Now we're even," Hop proclaimed, "Ye kissed meh without ma permission? Ah kissed ye without yer permission."

The Alolan boy busted out laughing.
That's not how it works! It's about his own sense of morality but... Arceus, Hop is so dang cute! How could he possibly argue with that face?

"Fair 'nough."

They hugged it out.

Before the silence got too awkward, Hau suggested, "We should get back to the match. Glad and Moon are probably wonderin' where we went."

"Aye... but first..."

Hop's not sure what's going on but stealing that kiss made him feel... something.
Good?
He's going to go with 'good'.

Bloody hell, he canNOT believe what he's about to do.

"Ah wanty thank ye fer sharing that bit o' yer culture with meh. It wis really cool. Ah wis wondering... wid ye like tae try something with meh...? Something fae ma culture?"

Hau got that enormous grin on his face that Hop has come to love. He said, "Shoots! Yeah, that sounds awesome!"

The Galarian walked forward and carefully put his arms around Hau's neck.

Ok. He admits it.
It's a tiny little white lie...
But for some reason, Hop can't seem to bring himself to give a damn. He's not exactly thinking straight; he just knows he wants to keep chasing this intoxicating feeling.

"Ye just tell meh if Ah shid stop. Aye?"

"Of course."

So... why exactly is what he's about to do 'a little white lie'?

Well... it's because his grandmother is from Galar.

Not Kalos...

Any guilt Hop may have had disappeared when Hau wrapped an arm around him and cupped his hand on the back of his head, enthusiastically reciprocating the deep kiss that the former clumsily initiated. Hau even stumbled back to lean on the wall to steady himself because... damn... he's feelin' a little light headed.

Hop leaned further into him, not fairing any better in the whole coordination department.

Holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshitholyshit!

Hop has no idea what the heck he's doing but it's freaking amazing!
And when Hau slotted his fingers between his braids to gently stroke his scalp, Hop felt... something.
Good?
He's going to go with 'good'.

Arceus, he should look for a decent thesaurus app later.

"Oh shit!"

The boys detached themselves from each other and saw Moon and Gladion at the mouth of the tunnel leading into the concourse.
Moon had just dropped her phone.

"You should probably just get a rotom phone with how much you drop the damn thing," Gladion teased.

"A rotom phone?!" she gasped, "In this economy?!"

Hop buried his burning face into Hau's shoulder yet was practically bouncing up and down, very eager to get back to what they were doing.
Meanwhile, Hau narrowed his eyes at the the other two kids.

He knows his friends too well. And he knows that a certain Alolan Champion doesn't have nearly the same moral compass as him when it comes to doing things without another's permission.

He reluctantly pulled Hop's hands off of his neck and started to walk towards them.

"Moon," he said coolly, "were you just filming us?"

"No!" she lied, snatching her phone off the ground and not-so-subtly checking to make sure she got the video.

"Are you lying?"

"Of course not!" she lied again.

Hau sighed.
He's not mad. A little embarassed, but not mad. Of course, he can't just let this slide in front of Hop.
And, if he's being entirely honest, he'd like to take this opportunity to show off. Actions speak louder than words, after all.

So, even though he ain't mad in the slightest, he has spent enough time around a certain short-tempered Team Skull Boss to know just how to fake it.

The Alolan lazily cracked his neck from side to side and rolled his shoulders back. Silently, he squatted down into a basic sumo's stance.

Looking her dead in the eyes he began to count down in a low voice, "Ten... nine... eight... seven..."

"Welp! Time to go!" Moon announced, grabbing Gladion by the hood and fleeing into the concourse.

Where were they going?
Anywhere but here!

Gladion eventually took the lead, but quickly realized Moon was still holding onto his hood. As they ran, she was looking down at her phone, trusting Gladion to guide her.

"Are ya sure you wanna post that? He seems really pissed," he called back to her.

"I just did!"

"Arceus, give me strength..."

"Hey, it's just SnapChatot. I don't have any of our parents on there or anything."

"You're certain there's no one in your friends list who shouldn't see that?"

"Well..." she began, "I guess I do have Hop's older brother in there. But Lee's a super chill dude!
And gay. Very gay.
Plus he's like an old man when it comes to social media. He rarely looks at anything that isn't DM'd to 'im."

In retrospect, they shouldn't be worrying about that right now because Hau is taller and faster than both of them and gaining ground very quickly.

Oh well.
Hindsight and all that.

"I hope you're right."

"It'll be fine Glad! Trust me! Ain't no way Lee's gonna look at my story!"

Gladion couldn't respond, because Moon jerked him backwards, putting him behind her just in time for Hau to tackle him to the ground while the girl made her escape.

All's fair in love and war, after all.

The former Galar Champion looked up from his phone with a glassy look in his eye.

He blinked a couple times and whispered, "Ah'm gaunnae bloody kill 'im..."

"Which one?" Plumeria teased, enjoying this a little too much.

Leon slowly looked down at his phone and then slowly back up again.
His bottom eyelid twitched.

"AH'M GAUNNAE BLOODY KILL 'IM!!!"