#amefriede

Amethio thinks he's going to be sick. Spinel is right. Friede's hands are moving of his own accord, touching his chest, arms, hips, and Spinel's gaze is fixed on Amethio the whole time. "Friede- Friede! What are you- why would you-"

"Friede, tell him. He's not listening to me. Tell him how you feel."

Friede pauses in his motions, and tips his head to observe Amethio. There's no feeling to it- for all the expression he shows, he could be looking at a pile of dirt. All the warmth Amethio has come to recognize from him- the passion, the drive, the lo-

And Friede opens his mouth, and says, "Because I'm in love with Spinel. Why else?"

Amethio can't breathe. He can't feel the way blood drips down his wrist from how hard he's pulling at them. His voice, soft as it is, cracks. "Why would you do this to me?"

"To you?" Spinel laughs, and nudges him to continue with the tip of his finger on Friede's chin. "Amethio, be realistic. You're still the same self-centered little brat that you've always been, aren't you?"

Amethio growls in his throat, and if he focuses on glaring hard enough then maybe his vision will go blurry enough; maybe he won't notice Friede's fingers slipping open buttons, skating lower. "Don't you dare act like you know me-"

"I've known you longer than you've known Friede. How well would you say you know him?" And Friede is sinking lower, on his knees as Spinel reclines lazily onto the table with his hand still caught in his hair. "Not well enough, I suppose. It takes a twisted mind to fuck someone else in front of their ex-lover."

He laughs, and Amethio tears his gaze away. He won't give Spinel the satisfaction of his attention, not like this. "You've done something to him. I know you have. Friede, you wouldn't just abandon the Rising Volt Tacklers so easily! Say something! Did I- did they really mean so little to you?"

"The Rising... Volt Tacklers," Friede echoes.

He inhales, but doesn't dare to look back. Not yet. "Yes- yes! Your friends-"

"Meaningless," Spinel interrupts. "They left you to die in Laqua. They never came back for you. I did that. I was the one who helped you."

"That's... right," Friede says, uncertain. "I would've died. Amethio... you never came."

You never came.

A rage that's been simmering in him boils over, and he throws his whole body weight forward. Amethio's body is snapped taut, held back by the ropes, but he snarls and makes every attempt to lunge at Spinel anyway- and hot wet tears fling from his face and spatter across the ground.

"I searched for you for months!" he screams, and his throat hurts and his heart and chest and stomach and head all hurt, and the only thing he can see is Friede's wide irises staring back at him-

Friede's wide, pink irises.

Pink irises.

"I searched for you for months," he breathes, chest heaving for air, shoulders drawn back and behind him as he strains to lean forward. Yes, definitely pink. "But you were gone. And now I've found you again."

Friede has all but stopped in place, staring at Amethio with a mixture of apprehension and disbelief. Spinel's eyes narrow.

"Don't listen to him, love," he says silkily, and his hand dips into the pocket of his labcoat. "If he really looked for you, he would've found you easily. How long were you out there for... two weeks?"

"Two weeks," Amethio repeats, and the horror dawns on him. Friede and Charizard, alone and injured in a forest full of rampaging pokemon-

In his hand emerges a glass vial of sickly pink liquid, and with his thumb, Spinel flicks off the lid and downs it. Then, he seizes Friede's face in both hands, and leans down to kiss him. Friede's body tenses. "Wait-" But they connect before he can finish, and every ounce of fight left in him vanishes all at once. A thin dribble of pink trails down from the corner of their mouths, and Spinel breathes in deeply as he pulls away.

"Much better," he croons, stroking Friede's cheek, and he dazedly tilts his head into the contact.

"I was right," Amethio whispers, and fury overtakes him once more as he starts to pull at his bindings again. "I was right! You're using Laquium on him!"