"Crossword" by thebirdgod

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or the characters contained within Beyblade. Also, most crossword questions came from the Courier Journal, a newspaper in Kentucky.

Pairings: JohnnyxRobert, MiguelxKai, TalaxClaude, SpencerxBryan

Notes: I've probably made up words, 'jeaned' being one of them, so fair warning to you. Comments are very welcome, flames are less welcome, but as I have no way of stopping you, I really won't try. Probably some OOC throughout the story, but I figure I should use some creative license and go with it. Hope you enjoy! :) thebirdgod

Chapter 1

33 Across

Music drifted through the ancient castle, echoing off river rock floors and wool tapestries that graced the walls of long corridors, telling of history long since past. At the end of one such corridor, was large oak door, opened just slightly; and it was from that room that the music was wafting out into the halls.

A quick glance into the room would a lot you with the view of a gorgeous, garnet-eyed German whom was stretched languidly across a plush couch, a book held delicately in his lithe hands. Pink-tinged lips mouthed the words to the songs, his eyes dancing across the words printed on the yellow stained pages. Deftly, he flicked a lock of amethyst hair out his face before picking back up on the page.

Distantly at the end of the hall, he could hear the heavy booted footsteps of his best friend, and idly he marked his page, awaiting the appearance of the Lord of this particular castle. He didn't have to wait long, for soon a taller man walked in, his crimson hair pulled back by a lavender bandana. The German took a moment to let his eyes roam over his friend's visage. The redhead before him stood at six feet tall, with dazzling violet eyes, that paired strangely well with the vibrant, shoulder length hair he kept held back. Broad shoulders led down over a muscled, well defined torso, to slim hips hidden by a loose pair of torn up jeans. An eyebrow arched slightly, its ring piercing moving as well, which only led the German's eyes back to the two gauges in the redhead's left ear, then the two on the right, with another smaller ring now through the cartilage at the top of the ear. A stud gleamed from the taller man's right nostril, and led lastly to the two symmetrical rings mirroring one another on a perfect bottom lip.

"What?" the thickly accented voice suddenly asked.

The German cleared his thoughts quickly, pulling up an excuse from the back of his mind to cover up the fact he was checking out his best friend. "I can't tell if you have a new one or not."

The redhead tugged gently on the ring in his upper ear, "This one's new, I got one other one, too, but I'll show you it later, it's still kind of sore…" the Scot trailed off, his attention returning to the paper in his hand.

The heliotrope haired man prayed that the other piercing was not where he thought it was.

"I actually need your help," the Scot began, interrupting the German's lude thoughts, "This crossword is being stubborn."

So the German sat up, placing his book on the coffee table before him. He waited patiently for the Scot to take a seat at the left corner of the couch; his favorite spot. How silly it was that the German naturally moved to give him the favored position without thinking. "Which one?" the purple haired man asked as his friend plopped unceremoniously down next to him.

"Who was David Copperfield's second wife?" Violet eyes moved to look curiously back into garnet.

"Agnes." The reply was rapid and steady, the German leaning close to his friend, pretending to be looking at the defaced paper, though he was secretly marveling at the warmth that radiated off of the Scotsman's hard body.

The taller of the two opened his mouth to ask the next question, when the doorbell rang loudly through the castle halls. He bit down hard to keep from growling at the inopportune timing. He handed the paper rather abruptly to his crimson eyed friend, saying, "Number 33 across has me stumped, I should know it though, and you're probably going to make me feel stupid when you give me the answer."

The German smiled fondly at the redhead's back as he began to exit the library, calling back over his shoulder, "I'll be right back." His eyes followed the muscled back as it left the room, and with some effort drug his gaze back down to the paper at hand. "33: God of whom Wednesday was named…."

*~*

The redhead stormed past his blond friend, causing the Italian heartthrob to jump at the unmistakable irritation rolling off the fiery Scotsman. Enrique ran a hand through his unruly hair before following, hoping whoever Oliver had let in was there for a good reason, or else they may be throwing bodies over the Cliffside…

He came to an abrupt halt next to Johnny, as the pair stared into the living room with a mix of surprise and intense confusion; and a little more than just annoyance from the redhead. For before them, sitting on the large beige sectional were none other than the Blitzkrieg Boy, Kai included, and the Battalion. Relaxing at one end was Bryan, who was comfortably placed in his boyfriend, Spencer's lap, a lazy smirk crossing his lips as he caught the Scot's look of displeasure. Next to them was Kai, followed by Miguel, Claude, Aaron and Mathilda. Tala stood off to the side lecturing Ian about appropriate behavior while visiting the Majestics.

While Oliver chatted delightedly with Kai, Johnny swore in Gaelic under his breath.

Enrique looked to his twitching friend, and chose the appropriate course of action, valuing the life of his bubbly lover, and his own. "Why don't you go snag Robbie, and I'll play the gracious host?" he offered, before walking in to greet their surprise visitors. He wrapped an arm around the emerald haired man's waist, joining him in conversation.

Johnny stood fixed to the spot a moment longer, part of him wondering why he felt so envious of his two friends. Perhaps it was because they had found true love, and all the Scot had was unrequited.

Vaguely he heard footsteps jogging up behind him, the clear, stunning voice of the German clearing the fog from Johnny's mind. He turned his periwinkle gaze to meet that of his friend's garnet.

"33 was Woden, a Norse god. It took me longer than I thought," the man stated, a blush marring porcelain features.

Johnny found himself smiling down at his friend, enjoying the dusting of pink, and the way the German pouted his satin looking lips.

"Robert! Come in here and see who came to visit!" Oliver called out from the living room, ripping the German away from those stunning violet eyes.

"And bring that sulking Scot with you!"

Growling low, Johnny led them into the living room, where Robert gave warm smiles and heart felt greetings to the two teams. The amethyst haired man caught sight of Johnny flopping down onto the chase lounge near where Bryan and Spencer sat snuggled together. Uncharacteristically, the Scot made room for Robert to come sit down.

And the German did so, not wanting to miss a chance at being so close to that delicious heat the overly attractive highlander produced. He settled himself down politely, amused when one of the booted feet found itself across his jeaned lap. Robert crossed his hands over the boot, and continued to speak, "So to what do we owe the pleasure of your company today, gentlemen, my lady?"

'Always polite,' Johnny thought to himself absentmindedly, tugging at the piercings in his left ear, 'though it is rather endearing they way Robert plays the part of host so well in my home.' Confused briefly, he mused, 'Has it always been this way? Has Robert always fit so well into my life?'

"Well, the tour has us cutting through Scotland before we begin heading South through Europe," Kai replied softly, "From here we will be heading to France, then to Spain, Italy, Germany and then Russia, where the tour shall end officially."

'I don't think I ever remember Kai being so shy or so soft spoken,' Johnny pondered, 'and is he casting glances at Miguel?' Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he listened into the conversation, watching the blond Spaniard as he began talking.

"I've procured my family's sailboat so that we can sail from Spain to Italy. Nothing is more relaxing than the sound of waves lapping at the sides of the boat," Miguel trailed off, his eyes dancing with some sort of nostalgia.

Mathilda smiled, and playful punched Miguel in the arm, "You're obsessed," she said, watching as her captain rubbed his arm, "but it will be nice to sail under the starry sky."

"Ah, amore!" Oliver exclaimed, grabbing Enrique suddenly, letting the Italian spin him into a waltz, "How romantic!"

The German coughed into his hand, bringing the attention of their guests back to the conversation at hand, and away from the dancing lovebirds as the pair whispered words of love in French and Italian to one another.

"I must insist that upon reaching Germany you stay at my castle."

"We wouldn't want to impose," Miguel began, receiving another whack in the arm by Mathilda. Johnny wondered if she was secretly abusive to the other members of her team.

"Nonsense, you will stay with me in Germany."

Johnny smirked to himself, letting his eyes run over the angular features of his friend's face. He knew the lithe man would not budge in his decision, and the argument had already been closed, whether the other teams liked it or not. 'I imagine since Robert's offering ups his home to this rough bunch, I should do the same,' and while the Scot was not overly thrilled with this self-admittance, he was quite pleased with the thought that it would earn him Robert's favor.

"How long will you all be here in Scotland?" the accented voice asked, a hand moving to scratch his chest through his shirt.

"Our exhibition match is tomorrow night, the day after we're supposed to spend the morning sight seeing, then boarding the flight to France that afternoon." Kai responded politely. The Russian/Japanese man had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"I'll go make up some rooms then," the Scot said resolutely, carefully removing himself from behind Robert, and ultimately up off of the chase lounge. He missed the slight frown that crossed his German companions mouth.

"Don't argue," Enrique replied as soon as the Scot was well out of ear shot, "Johnny's been moody lately."

"It's what happens when he gets left here in the castle," Oliver supplied to the confused guests. Suddenly, the Frenchman cried out, "My heart, I have a wonderful idea!"

"Ah tell me, my love," Enrique replied, pulling his lover to him.

"We'll invite them to my home in France! We can have a pool party!"

"Brilliant, my beautiful buttercup!" The blond exclaimed, dipping him low for a kiss.

"What do you all think?" Robert inquired of the two teams, doing his best to ignore the heated make out session going on before him.

Kai looked to his Russian teammates, mostly to their captain, Tala, and when he shrugged (partly due to Ian's insistent begging) the dual colored haired man state, "We're in."

"So are we," Miguel replied with a charming smile, his aqua eyes briefly wandering to catch Kai's.

*~*

Days passed quickly at McGregor Castle, the first day consisting mainly of placing the guests into their respective rooms, and everyone settling down to dinner, with surprisingly no incidents, much to the McGregor heir's delight.

The exhibition match had taken up the second day with training, and that night with the exhibition itself, but it too had run smoothly, and by the morning of the third day the two teams had bonded rather well with one another, and with their Majestic hosts as well.

Crushes between teams had been dually noted, and three very mischievous males snuck quietly down to Johnny's wine cellar, whispering their devious plots to one another as they hid behind a couple of barrels.

The first pair to be bombarded with matchmaking schemes was to be Tala and Claude, and it was to be done on the flight to France. Enrique of course, would be flying the jet, and at the right moment would simply tilt the plane to get the two men to fall into the bathroom. The only problem was finding a way to get them both into the small hallway at the same time.

"Oh, don't worry, I have a plan." Ian stated, "The others will have to wait until we arrive in France, because Kai and Tala watch me like a hawk."

"With Tala absorbed in Claude, assuming all goes well, getting Kai and Miguel together will be a synch. It's Robert and Johnny we'll have to work hardest for."

Nodding to each other, they slowly and methodically began to plot out how to get Tala and Claude into that fated bathroom.

*~*

Well that's the end of the first chapter! Tell me what you think :) I'm a sap for anything involving Robert Jurgen (as you will see with some of my other fics). Hope you liked it!