Title: Taming the Playboy
Summary: What's this? Enrique no longer flirting with his girlfriends? He's teammates are understandably baffled. Has the Italian playboy finally found himself a partner and ready to settle down? There is only one way to find out…
Pairings: Tala/Enrique, Spencer/Robert
Mentioned: Miguel/Kai, Bryan/Garland, Ian/Kevin
Warnings: Fluff. Odd Pairing. Oneshot.
Disclaimer: Don't own Beyblade or any of its characters.

My second attempt at a serious Enrique pairing. Hope it turns out alright. Please enjoy!

Tapping his fingers in a rhythmic way on the table in front of him, Johnny rests his chin in his other hand as he leans his elbow on the table. He narrows his piercing violet eyes as he stares suspiciously at a certain blonde haired teammate of his. The longer he stares at the Italian, the stronger the feeling that Enrique is hiding something from him and their two friends grows.

"Is it me, or is Enrique acting a little strange lately?" he asks in a harsh tone.

Next to him, Oliver elegantly pushes aside a strand of green hair from his dolphin gray eyes, turning them to also glance at his blonde haired best friend. "I'm afraid I've noticed that too," he sighs.

Glancing up from the newspaper, Robert follows suits and turns his gaze towards their teammate. He watches silently as Enrique speaks with his lady friends, but this time there is no accidental brushing of the hands, no arms around the shoulders and no offers to go clothes shopping.

In fact, he dare say that Enrique isn't flirting with them. Could it be that he is actually just having a casual conversation with them?

"Look at him," Johnny states as he waves an irritable hand in the blonde's direction. "He's surrounded by girls, and yet isn't flirting with any of them."

"I know," Oliver once again sighs, a hint of concern edging its way into his voice. "You don't think he's sick, do you?"

"I'm sure he's fine," Robert interrupts the chance of more theories to be revealed. "Perhaps he is finally settling out of his playboy ways. We should be proud of him."

"Or he's found someone to settle down with and hasn't told us," Johnny mutters under his breath, still looking in his teammate's direction.

A gasp passes Oliver's lips. "You think so?"

"Listen, the two of you should leave him be," Robert says, being the voice of reason as usual.

"Aren't you at least a little bit curious?" Johnny asks, giving Robert a stern glare of disproval.

Robert merely sighs and places his tea cup down quietly before turning to give Johnny a stern look of his own. "What Enrique wishes to do in his free time is none of my concern. So long as he isn't hurting himself or others, it does not concern me in the slightest. If there is in fact something bothering him, I wish for him to tell us of his own free will."

An expression of guilt flitters across Oliver's face as he looks away to the side. Johnny on the other hand simply frowns, appearing more determined to know what's ailing the blonde than before.

"Yeah, but what if something happens and he can't tell us?" he asks, discreetly glancing over his shoulder to watch as Enrique waves goodbye to the ladies and retreats into the crowded streets. "I'm going to find out one way or another."

Without another word, Johnny removes himself from his seat and disappears into the crowded streets of Venice, discreetly ducking between people to follow Enrique without being seen. Oliver watches him leave, feeling torn between his curiosity and concern for his best friend and the respect he has for his privacy.

However, after much inner debate, his curiosity wins and he prepares a heartfelt apology for the instance where he no doubt will be confronted by the betrayed blonde.

"I'm sorry Robert," Oliver tells his captain and friend. "But I'm afraid I must agree with Johnny for this one."

Before Robert could say a word in an attempt to change his mind, Oliver too turns on his heel and quickly disappears into the crowds surrounding him. Robert watches him leave, an expression of surprise on his face. He stands up from his chair, his eyes quickly scanning the masses. However, it's all in vain. He can't see any of his teammates anywhere.

With another sigh, Robert sinks back down in his seat, his eyes staring blankly into his rapidly cooling cup of tea. Taking the cup, Robert presses it to his lip and takes a long sip to ease his frustrations.

"I told Enrique that he wouldn't be able to hide it forever," he mutters to himself as he places the cup back down. He rests his elbows on the table and elegantly folds his hands under his chin. "They're going to get the surprise of their lives."

--

Moving his way through the crowded streets, Enrique emits a soft sigh to himself. Finally, he managed to get away from the girls. He used to like hanging out with them, but now all they seem to do is annoy him.

Enrique-Poo, lets go shopping! Enrique-Poo, buy me that dress and I'll give you a kiss. Enrique-Poo, do you think this dress makes my bum look big?

Really, it's enough to drive him up the wall.

Making his way to the local battle arena, Enrique ducks into one of the locker rooms. The girls, if any of them had followed him with more demands, would never enter here. The locker rooms, in their minds, are way too 'icky'.

Emitting another sigh, Enrique pauses to glance in the mirror, lifting his hand to rake his fingers through his hair, carefully grooming himself. As he gazes into the mirror, he realizes that he can see the door behind him in the reflection. His heart almost skips a beat when the door slowly begins to open. His heart then begins to flutter frantically in his chest when the figure of a tall male with wild red hair and icy blue eyes.

"Tala," he breathes softly.

The red head glances up, turning his piercing eyes towards Enrique's still form who is gazing at his reflection in the mirror. A small smile graces his lips as he lets the door close shut behind him with a soft click and he quickly crosses the room. He comes up behind Enrique, grabs him by the shoulders and spins him around, quickly pulling him up against his chest, trapping the blonde's hands between them.

A light blush spreads across Enrique's cheeks as he finds himself nose to nose with the handsome Russian.

For a multiple of long, drawn out seconds, the two gazes into each other's eyes, seemingly lost in the presence of each other. However, the drawn out stillness comes to an abrupt end when Tala draws Enrique closer to his chest, dipping his head down to place his lips firmly against Enrique's ever-so patiently waiting ones. He tightens his grip on the young Italian, the kiss growing more passionate with each caress.

The force of the kiss is so passionate, so intense, that Enrique has to grasp onto Tala's shoulders tightly with his hands to prevent himself from completely sinking into Tala's arms. He loves being in Tala's arms, but he too wants to show the Russian how much he feels for him by pouring his emotions into the kiss as well.

Three weeks. It's been three long, agonizing weeks since he's even spoke to the red head. Three weeks without his heated kiss. Three weeks without his strong arms around his body. Three Goddamn weeks without the intense thrill he gets when he feels Tala's hard and powerful body against his.

And dammit, he's going to make this moment last as long as possible.

Slowly breaking the kiss, Tala places a hand behind Enrique's head, his fingers slipping easily through the golden strands as he pulls Enrique closer against him, causing the blonde to rest his chin on Tala's shoulder as the Russian buries his face in the curve of Enrique's neck.

"I've missed you," he whispers, his hot breath tickling the delicate skin on his neck.

A sigh of contentment passes Enrique's lips as his half-lidded eyes slip close and a small graces his lips. He tilts his head ever so slight to the side, his lips brushing against Tala's ear. "I've missed you as well," he whispers.

Slowly, Tala pulls back slightly, but makes certain that Enrique stays perfectly still and placid in his arms. He gazes down at the Italian who in turn gazes up at him, his usually charming, playboy eyes holding warmth and love within their blue depths.

Those eyes soon slip close however, after realizing that Tala is slowly edging forward, ready and willing to pull the both of them into yet another soul searing kiss.

"Argh, not again!" a familiar voice suddenly yells, startling the embracing pair and causing them to spring away from each other in surprise. They turn wide eyes towards the door and watches as it opens, revealing not only a scowling Scotsman, but a heavy embarrassed Frenchman hiding behind said Scotsman.

"Johnny?" Enrique says in surprise, a sense of dread making its way into his chest. "Oliver? What are you two doing here?"

"Never mind that," Johnny says as he stalks into the room, stopping a few feet in front of the blonde. "The question here is what are you doing with him?"

A frown appears on Tala's lips as he moves to stand in front of Enrique, shielding him away from the other redhead's wrath. "What does it look like?" he asks, easily towering over the shorter teen.

Sporting a blush that could easily rival a blazing fire, Oliver elegantly taps his chin, a bashful yet thoughtful look appearing on his face. "I guess that would explain why he wasn't flirting with his lady friends anymore," he murmurs quietly to himself.

Although the words that left Oliver's mouth were quiet, Tala picked them up easily with his almost canine like hearing. He raises an eyebrow and glances over his shoulder, a small smile making its way onto his lips. "You stopped flirting?"

Despite the blush on the bridge of his nose, Enrique flashes Tala a charming smile and shrugs. "They're no where near as fun as you are."

Tala suddenly turns around and frames Enrique's face within his two large hands, leaning forward so they are nose to nose. "I should hope not, or Italy with suffer from a fangirl shortage."

Enrique laughs softly and is about to reply when he suddenly feels a hand roughly grab his shoulder and rip him apart from Tala. "Stop that!" Johnny orders, a look of total disgruntlement on his face.

"What is your problem?" Tala hisses at him as he spins around to face him, baring his fangs threateningly, ready to defend his mate if need be.

"You, stay out of it," Johnny returns with just as much venom before turning his attention to his blonde haired teammate, a look of betrayal in his eyes. "How long has this been going on?"

A weary sigh escapes Enrique's lips as he glances over Johnny's shoulder to share a glance with Tala, silently telling him to be silent for now, that he had anticipated something like this would happen. Biting his bottom lip, Enrique turns back to Johnny, refusing to meet his gaze. "He helped me during a street battle that almost turned deadly…which was a few months ago now."

"What?!"

Enrique winces from the outburst and he wrings his hands in front of him, showing everyone just how nervous he is. "Does that bother you?" he asks suddenly. "That I'm gay?"

"I don't care that you're gay!" Johnny says loudly, his eyes narrowing fiercely. "What I'm pissed off about is that you felt the need to hide the fact that you're in a relationship from us. I thought we're past that whole 'we're just teammates' thing."

Blatant surprise appears in Enrique's eyes at the outburst. He stares at his teammate for a long and silent moment before he quickly glances off to the side, an expression of guilt flickering across his face. "You're right," he murmurs as he bashfully rubs his arm with his hand. "I'm sorry. I should have told you. I just didn't know how you would react."

"I probably wouldn't have reacted this badly if you just told me," Johnny mutters as he runs a weary hand through his wild hair. "I mean, goddammit, this is a surprise. I never imagined you dating someone like Tala."

"I know," Enrique whispers softly, still looking off to the side.

Not liking to see his lover looking miserable, Tala sidesteps Johnny and moves to stand next to Enrique, boldly wrapping an arm around his shoulders. Enrique gives a weary sigh as he leans against Tala's powerful frame and curls up against his side. Tala places a quick kiss on his forehead before turning his attention to the slightly scowling Scotsman before him.

"Now that you know Enrique and I are dating, what are you going to do about it?" Tala asks, causing Enrique to lift his head up and glance expectantly at his hotheaded teammate.

"What can I do?" Johnny mutters as he folds his arms over his chest, continuing to scowl heavily at him. "You're going to continue seeing him no matter how much I rant and rave, aren't you?"

A wolf like grin spreads across Tala's lips as he pulls Enrique closer against him. "You got that right."

The emotion of approval appears in Johnny's eyes for a moment, silently happy of the response. He would have been even more pissed off if Tala replied that he wouldn't pursue Enrique just to keep the peace. That's like saying; I love him, but not enough to fight for him.

"So what's the point in getting all worked up?" Johnny asks, going back to scowling with his usual frown. "As I said, I'm only annoyed that he didn't just tell us. We thought that he was sick or something by the way he's been acting lately."

Oliver suddenly giggles into his hand. "Looks like he was just love sick," he says, causing Enrique to blush lightly again, half from embarrassment and half from guilt at realizing his best friend is in the room also. He glances off to the side towards Oliver, a questioning look in his eyes, silently wondering how his best friend is taking the news.

"Oliver…" he starts, still feeling a sense of guilt.

"It's ok," Oliver cuts him off and gives him a warm smile. "If he makes you happy, that's all that matters."

Enrique breathes a sigh of relief and he gives the young Frenchman a grateful smile. "Thanks Ollie."

"I'm also annoyed that you people thought I would be homophobic or something," Johnny continues his explanations of his previous actions. "I mean, who cares? There are plenty of gay people out there."

"More than you know," Tala suddenly mutters, a sly smirk appearing on his lips when he notes the confusion on not only Johnny's face, but Oliver's as well. "I'm not the only Russian in a relationship," he explains. "In fact, all the blitz boys are seeing someone."

"Really?" Oliver gasps in surprise, his eyes widening slightly in disbelief. It's hard enough getting his head around the fact that Tala can be loving and passionate, but the fact that the rest of the badasses from Russia are also in relationships? He had always thought the Blitz boys would scoff at the thought of ever falling in love with someone. This is big news!

"Who?"

"Well, Kai has been dating Miguel for over two years now," Tala says, rolling his eyes a little when he recalls just how loving the two are towards each other.

Johnny stares blankly at Tala for a moment in disbelief. "You're shitting me?"

"Nope," Tala smirks. "They're practically married. And Bryan is dating Garland, believe it or not."

"But those two fought like cats and dogs!" Johnny tries to argue, recalling many a time where he witness the two physically getting into each other's faces.

The corner of Tala's mouth twitches into a perverted smirk. "And they made up like rabbits."

"Oh…," Johnny mutters blankly before a queasy look appears on his features. "Ew…"

"And Ian is dating Kevin from the white tigers, but his teammates don't know about that yet," Tala concludes with a sharp nod. "They won't like it when they find out. Everyone knows they hate us with a passion."

"What about Spencer," Johnny says as he gives Tala a pointed look. "Who is he dating?"

--

"Hey."

A shiver of delight races down Robert's spine when he recognizes the voice. He glances over his shoulder, a smile quickly making its way onto his lips when the vision of a tall, muscular and handsome blonde haired Russian completely takes over his sight. He gives him a small nod, his smile growing warmer when Spencer moves forward and places a hand on the back of his neck, gently tilting his head back ever so softly to place a kiss to his lips.

Pulling back, Spencer takes a seat next to him at the table, but keeps his hand on Robert's neck, his fingers tenderly kneading out any knots he might have. "What are you doing out here all by yourself?" he asks.

A soft chuckle passes Robert's lips when he realizes that Spencer's voice is heavy with protectiveness. This powerful but docile Russian is rather protective towards him, not that Robert finds that a burden at all. He loves the way Spencer is possessive of him. Who could be better at chasing away would be admirers of the both male and female variety than Spencer.

That is how they first got together, more than six months ago now. Robert was being pursued by a rather audacious gentleman who refused to take his rejection, even going to such extremes as stalking him. It was on the streets of Munich that he was being followed relentlessly and where he physically collided with Spencer. The tall blonde quickly and effortlessly took on the role of his bodyguard. Not only did he frighten his suitor away, he scared him off completely and he never tried to pursue him again.

They've been together for a few months now, but it feels like they've known each other for years.

"I wasn't alone when I first arrived here," Robert quickly explains to his boyfriend, leaning forward to place a hand on his arm to prove his earnest. "However, Johnny and Oliver were struck with a case of almost incurable curiosity, which could only be fulfilled by none other than Enrique himself."

Taking a moment of silence to mull over these words, a smirk soon appears on Spencer's lips and he releases a small chuckle. "He's been missing Tala then?"

Chuckling softly, Robert merely nods his head in reply, moving to lean his head against Spencer's shoulder. He releases a small sigh of contentment when Spencer wraps a strong arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer towards his hard body.

Enrique has been together with Tala for as long as Robert has been with Spencer. They both decided together to keep their relationships a secret from their teammates on the ground that they had no way of predicting what their reactions would be.

"They're going to cop an eyeful," Spencer sniggers quietly. "They haven't seen each other for a couple of weeks now."

"Enrique isn't the only one missing someone," Robert says softly, tilting his head back to look upon Spencer's face, the smile of contentment still gracing his lips. "I've missed you too."

As soon as those words pass Robert's lips, Spencer silences him from saying anymore with his own set of lips. He places a hand on Robert's chin to successfully deepen the kiss further. With the strong arm around his shoulders, Robert finds himself suddenly sitting in Spencer's lap. Fleetingly, he thanks his lucky stars that no one is around at this moment in time and quickly succumbs to the passionate kiss, happy in the knowledge that there should be no interruptions.

"Should we tell them or let them find out for themselves?" Spencer asks after he pulls away from the kiss.

Panting softly, Robert licks his lips in thought. "Hmm, let them find out on their own."

Do I get to claim first Tala/Enrique? I hope so. Haven't done an odd pairing for a while, have I? I just had this urge to do an odd pairing for Enrique X3

Please review.