Wowch, I haven't posted anything in a while...
Anyway, this is just a fluffsome little oneshot about a bunch of athletes relaxing in a bar after the Winter Olympics. Tala, Lee, Tyson, Mariah and Rei are figure skaters, Max, Spencer and Bryan are ice hockey players, Kai's a snowboarder, and the barmaid is preyed upon. Enjoy! Oh, and they're all...you know, late teens early twenties kinda ages. In case you wanted to know. So yeah, here you go:
Hey Kai, what do you think of -that- piece of ass?"
Kai Hiwatari sighed into his drink. "You've been hanging around that American skater again, haven't you?"
"Yeah. Oh come on, can you blame me? He's fit, nice, and he's massive-"
"Stop. Please."
"-ly sexy." Tala covered quickly, smirking. "So, what do you think?"
"Of what, Tala?" Kai asked, disinterest clear. Tala did nothing but ogle men when they were out together, and it was rare he had his eye on anyone remotely fanciable. Kai had learned to be sceptical of every person Tala pointed out to him, that way if they were actually nice looking he could be pleasantly surprised. As Tala pushed his chin up and pointed, he sighed. Tala was indicating a group of Chinese athletes, but not one in particular. "Which -one-, Tala?"
"The one who I was skating against. The one with the ponytail and a green shirt on?" Kai observed, then shrugged.
"I prefer the one next to him."
"Unlucky then. See that girl with pink hair? They're partners. For skating. They're supposed to be 'good friends' and we all know what that means."
"...That they're friends?"
"Yeah, -sexual- friends. Anyway, the one in green is so much prettier. I remember his skate. He was brilliant..." Kai knew exactly what Tala was going to say next. "Not as brilliant as me, of course-"
"You arrogant bastard..."
"And you love it, Kai." Tala laughed, winked, then carried on. "Russian men have won gold in the figure skating for the past few Olympics, I couldn't end the winning streak." Then, he sighed. "I can't remember his name."
"Whose name?"
"The guy! Over there! The one I pointed out to you!"
"What's that tone of voice for? If you can't remember who lost to you, that's your problem. I remember perfectly the people I've beaten. And mine is a real sport besides, not just jumping around and smiling..." Tala rolled his eyes at him and snorted.
"I dare you to try a jump and fluff it up. If you'd ever hit yourself off solid ice after getting a metre up in the air you wouldn't talk like that." Kai shook his head. He and Tala had this argument regularly, and they never agreed.
"Whatever, Tala. If you can't remember his name, go and ask him what it is and stop being a moron."
"I'm going to."
"Then get going. Talk about your stupid costumes with him, you'll both enjoy that."
"They're not stupid, they're a necessity. Can you imagine me trying to skate in clothes like -you- wear? A big stupid hat and goggles and a funny suit? I don't think so. I'd look like an idiot."
"You look like an idiot in those flouncy rags you wear on the ice anyway. So I suppose the look matches the personality." Kai said slyly as Tala got to his feet, earning him a playful prod.
"If that's so, what do your clothes say about you? Your snowsuit's pretty thick, so..."
And he grabbed his drink and scooted off before Kai could say anything else.
"...Bryan?"
"Hey Spencer."
"What are you doing?"
Bryan Kuznetsov looked down into his drink. What was he doing? Was it not obvious? "I'm trying to forget being a goal away from a medal. You can join me if you like." Spencer stood over him for a second and then sat down, looking worried.
"Are you okay? I know losing was hard, but...we can always do better next time...don't feel so bad about it..." Bryan wondered, really and truly wondered how the hell Spencer expected him to just forget the crushing and horrible sense of failure in his chest. "At least you didn't hurt yourself."
Bryan looked over at the arm Spencer was resting on the table. Of course. He'd hit himself off the goal after smashing into that American moron on the ice. "What's up with it?"
"Sprained. And it's my right one as well. It took me forever to button this shirt up..." Spencer supplied morosely, looking down and letting his hair flop over his eyes.
"So what do you have to do for it? No hockey, no fighting, no writing?"
"And no pool." Bryan nodded sympathetically, knowing that pool was one of Spencer's favourite ways of whiling away his time.
"You'll just have to find a nice girl-" Spencer looked up, eyebrows shooting into his hairline. Bryan swallowed the rest of the sentence, clearing his throat. "A nice...guy, to take your mind off it." Then, as an afterthought. "Sorry."
"Doesn't matter. It's no worse than what the rest of them say."
"Sorry, Spence. I wasn't thinking."
"No. they never are either. S'why they keep introducing me to women."
"But you're...um...gay."
"They think I'll just...magically become straight if they find me the perfect woman." Bryan found the drink snatched from beneath his nose.
"Hey-" But Spencer was gulping it down, setting the empty glass back in front of his captain and sighing.
"I'll go and get you another. Wait there."
Rei looked up as Mariah, his skating partner, stood. "Where are you going?"
"The bar." Rei looked down at the half-full bottle Mariah had been drinking from and then looked up again, eyebrows raised.
"Where are you going?" He repeated. Mariah was known to get herself into all kinds of trouble, so it was best to know where she was going and, unless it was something you really didn't need to know, what she intended to do there. She was a first-class performer, but a complete lost cause as a 'responsible adult'.
She shuffled her feet, then smiled. "The bar-"
"Mariah-"
"-maid."
"Oh." Rei leaned back in his chair, eyes flickering about until he located the petit and delicate-looking barmaid. She was dark-haired and dark eyed, and-
"Those are fake. I bet you they're fake." Was his only comment. Mariah snorted at him and walked away, leaving Rei and Lee (Gary having disappeared to the cash machine) staring after her. Both of them sighed. "How did she get to be such a-"
"Whore? I don't know." Said Lee in exasperation.
"Well, I was going to say tart, but..."
"But both apply, right? So, anyway..." Lee steered the conversation away from his younger sister none too subtly. Rei declined to comment, knowing that Lee and Mariah were often at odds with each other. In fact, not often, -always-. "You got any plans for the near future?"
"No, not really. Although I might go and ask that idiot why he keeps pointing at us..." Rei nodded over to the other side of the room, where a tall redhead was getting to his feet. Lee shrugged, pushing a beer mat round the table. "Well the one standing up is the one who got gold over me. He's probably just pointing out who lost to him."
"Isn't that a little arrogant of him?"
"No...he deserved to win in the end...you should have seen him on the ice Rei, he was so co-ordinated...so flexible..."
"Flexible? Lee, are you crushing on the guy who beat you?"
"Well you have to admit he's pretty good-looking..."
"Nah. His friend looks better. But he looks like an overbearing snob as well."
"What, the one with two-tone hair?" Rei nodded, prompting Lee to shrug. "I don't think he's my type."
Tyson Granger watched the barmaid flirting with the short Chinese girl sadly. He had wanted another drink. Another drink and possibly some flirting to take his mind off his bronze medal. Tyson was aware that it was terribly unworthy for him to be disappointed about getting a medal but he had been aiming for the -gold-. He would probably have won it if he hadn't fallen...
He was just contemplating the horrible feeling of -knowing- he had done it wrong and had therefore screwed everything up when someone appeared beside him, leaning against the bar. "What's up? You look a bit depressed..." Tyson looked up and felt his mouth drop open.
"I...got bronze..." He said, eyes drinking in the vision of scrumminess before him. Beautiful blonde hair, striking blue eyes, full lips, lips which parted and-
"You're miserable because you got bronze? How about buggering up your fingers and having your team come sixth? And hey, I'm still smiling!" A hand was waved in front of Tyson's nose, the first two fingers taped together.
"How did you manage that?"
"Ah, I knocked into some guy when we were playing the Russian team. I'm on the American ice hockey team, by the way. Anyway, what about you? How come you're so miserable over a bronze?"
"Because I could have had gold. But I fell over. I coming out of a jump and I sort of...screwed it up. It hurt, as well. I had to get back up and start skating again but I was all out of rhythm and I -sucked-."
"Can't have sucked that much if you finished with a medal. What's your name, anyway?"
"Tyson Granger." The blonde held out his bad hand, laughed, and offered his other one. Tyson shook it, smiling.
"I'm Max Tate. And I could really use a drink!" He finished loudly, prompting the barmaid to turn away from the girl she was flirting with, blushing and flustered.
Lee looked up from the joke Kevin (who was still in the infirmary after hurting himself in the slalom) had sent Rei. It didn't seem all that funny, but then it wasn't really legible. Over time they'd gotten used to his practically nonsensical text language, but they were having trouble deciphering what 'wf', 'mn' and 'bsrd' were supposed to mean. They needed Gary really, he was good with Kevin's odd messages, but he'd deserted them to go to bed. Lee looked at the joke one more time then gave up. "Maybe...he's still a little concussed?"
"If he's concussed, why would they give him his mobile? I think we just have to conclude that he talks absolute rubbish." Lee laughed, taking a swig of his drink.
"I think-"
"Hey." Both of the Chinese athletes looked up to find the redhead from before standing on the other side of their table. "I know this'll sound stupid, but I couldn't remember your name and it was driving me mad not knowing, so...what's your name?" Lee stared, prompting Rei to kick him under the table.
"Uh...I...Lee. And you are-?"
"Tala. Tala Ivanov. Mind if I...have a seat?"
"Have mine, I need another drink." Rei said, shooting to his feet and moving aside for Tala, winking at Lee when the Russian's back was to him. "See you later, Lee."
As Lee watched Rei walk away, puzzled, he felt a hand touch his thigh...
"Well?" Mariah turned, blinking.
"Well what?"
"Are they...you know...fake?"
"I don't know. I haven't had a chance to check. I might've done if -Blondie- over there hadn't called Lucy away. She's called Lucy, by the way." Rei watched Mariah glaring at the blonde man standing a few metres away near the other end of the bar and sighed. Mariah was hopeless. Completely hopeless. "Rei, look like you want a drink!"
"I -do- want a drink. Look, she's coming over."
"Good, she's been talking to that guy up there for far too long!"
Rei turned his eyes to see who exactly Mariah was turning her anger towards this time and found his gaze returned by a pair of intense crimson eyes. Such beautiful eyes...
Attached to Mr. Snob. Great.
Mariah grinned at him then turned away. "Hey, Lucy..." But by that point Rei had stopped listening. He was too busy being hypnotised, watching the man with two-tone hair coming closer coming closer and...
"Can I buy you a drink?" The voice coming from that milky, pale throat made Rei's knees feel like jelly, so much so that he completely failed to notice Mariah dragging Lucy up onto the bar and kissing her.
"Uh...s-sure..." He said weakly.
Bryan smirked as half of the bar erupted into cheers and catcalls. "Hey, they should have women kissing in every bar, don't you th...um..." He stopped, not wanting to cause any more awkward moments. "So how's your wrist?"
"Fine."
"Not in pain or anything are you?"
"No." Bryan sighed.
"You want another drink?"
"No." At that point, Bryan decided to take his life in his hands and just ask what the matter was.
"Spence...what's wrong? If it's the other guys-"
"It isn't about that. It's about a guy though."
"Oh. Oh. I get you. Right." Bryan said, nodding sagely and feeling slightly uncomfortable. He didn't quite know how to comfort Spencer about something like that...
"It's...well, the guy I like, he's straight. Imagine yourself really liking a woman who you know is a lesbian..."
"Sucks, then. Would have been fun finding out she was a lesbian though..."
"You just know she is."
"No, I would want proof. Naked proof." Spencer just sighed.
"The guy I like wouldn't give me naked proof of anything. Not intentionally, anyway..." The blonde said, looking miserable.
"Well...you could ask him. He might have never...you know, thought about you like that. Or he might be gay and not telling anyone." Bryan knew he was clutching at straws, but he couldn't stand to see Spencer so unhappy. The blonde sighed, looking wistful.
"Bryan, are you gay and not telling anyone?" Bryan stared. Had Spencer just said-? But...but what? Eh? Before he had a chance to gather himself back in Spencer stood up, looking hurt and dejected. "See? Not gay and not interested. And I've made a fool of us both for nothing!"
"No, wait a minute. Sit down." When Spencer stayed on his feet, Bryan grabbed his undamaged arm and dragged him back down again. "So you...want me? Like...like in -that- kind of way?"
"Yes."
"...Why, though?"
"Because...I just do. Why does anyone like anyone like that?"
"So you want...to...ah..." Bryan struggled for a nice way to put it, but his crude side won. "You want to fuck me?" Spencer blushed bright red.
"I...not just that. I mean like...date you...but you're straight..." Bryan stared at the table.
"Oh."
"So..."
"Yeah..." Tyson smiled nervously, wondering what to say next.
"Um." Max smiled back. Taking this as encouragement, Tyson cleared his throat.
"Max, are you gay?"
"No."
"Oh."
"I'm bi."
"Right." Tyson swallowed, took a deep breath, and tried to calm down. He really liked this guy, so... "Max, can I...can I kiss y-umf!"
Apparently Max had had the same idea, only a few seconds faster...
Lee looked down at the hand resting lightly on his thigh and blushed. "So. Um. Tala..."
"Yeah?"
"You, ah...you can actually do a Biellman spin? Like...get your foot right up over your head?" He asked, taking refuge in what he knew best- skating. Tala looked disappointed at the topic of conversation, but replied readily enough. "Yeah, I can. I'm pretty flexible, I guess..." He said lightly, hand moving up Lee's thigh a little. That combined with the recurrence of the word 'flexible' made Lee blush and look away. "There's no other guy in the world like me, you know." Lee, completely misinterpreting what Tala meant, burst into a spontaneous coughing fit, giving Tala the perfect opportunity to stroke his back. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I...I'm fine..."
"We should practice together sometime. Maybe we can make it so we're the only -two- guys in the world to be able to-" Lee coughed again, wheezing slightly. "Are you okay? Here, have a drink..." Lee accepted Tala's questionable beverage and took a sip. And then the hand was back on his thigh again, rubbing slow circles. "So what are your plans for the rest of the night?"
"I...I don't know..." Lee said, acting on autopilot.
"Well why don't we sit and talk for a while? Get to..." Tala's hand slipped further up Lee's leg. "Know each other? Like...what do you like doing, Lee? Apart from skating?"
"I...uh...I like to read...swim...uh...y-you?"
"Me? I like sex. Lots of sex. Do you?"
"...Yes..." Lee's voice was barely a whisper as Tala got a bit closer, draping an arm around his shoulders and still continuing that slow, rhythmic movement-
"Do you think I'm attractive, Lee? Because I think you are. And if you think the same way..." Tala's hand moved further up again, brushing Lee's crotch. The Chinese gasped, considered his options, then grabbed Tala and kissed him. As he broke away, the Russian was smirking.
"Perfect."
"So..." Rei stared into those deep, deep eyes and felt his chest tighten. "I'm Kai. Kai Hiwatari. And you are-?" Rei blinked. Kai Hiwatari? The name sounded familiar. Oh, yes! The guy who got gold in one of the snowboarding events!
Rei suddenly realised that Kai had asked him a question and smiled nervously. "I'm...Rei Kon..."
"The figure skater, right?"
"Yeah." Kai smiled at him, a smile that made Rei's knees feel weak.
"I wasn't going to come over. My friend..." He pointed over to where Tala was dragging Lee out of the door. "He told me you and your skating partner were together. But then when she started feeling up the barmaid..."
"Yeah. She...she does that..." Rei was painfully aware that what he was saying was stupid. "A lot. You know. So...um...snowboarding?"
"Mm." Kai took a sip of his drink. "But I've done nothing but talk about that since I got here. I'd rather talk about something else. Like...your hair. How did you get it so long?" Rei gasped as Kai's hand sneaked up behind his head, clenching around his braid and tugging gently. "So the rumours are false..."
"W-What?"
"Someone told me it was fake."
"Oh! No! It just hasn't been cut since I was about eight, so it's had a decade and more to grow in..." Kai's hand stayed on his braid, so Rei gabbled on. "When I leave it down it's long enough to reach-"
"Here?" Kai put his drink down, bringing the free hand round to Rei's mid-back.
"No...a...um...lower than that..." Kai's hand drifted, resting just above Rei's belt.
"Here?"
"No..."
"Lower than that?" Rei swallowed.
"Yeah...lower..." Kai's hand dropped to his backside, squeezing gently.
"Here?" He asked, looking up with a smirk on his face. Rei felt his knees wobble and nodded.
"Yeah..."
Bryan looked up to ask Spencer exactly why he was attracted to him in -that- way, but closed his lips around the question as he followed Spencer's gaze across the crowded room. The sight that met his eyes explained Spencer's longing, denied expression, at least. The Chinese girl and the barmaid were draped over the bar, embroiled in a furious kiss. Then there were the pair of guys- one blonde, one bluenette- also in the middle of a fierce kiss. And then the -other- pair of guys, who were feeling each other up unashamedly. Bryan could see how that might make Spencer a little jealous, and, yes, a bit miserable.
Especially when you thought...well, Spencer wanted to be like that with -him-.
Bryan thought about the many times when he had not been liked back by a girl and had had to endure being close to her all night. It was awful. The desire to reach out and touch her, to hold her...
Was that how Spencer felt about him? Was he secretly itching to turn and grab his captain, to hold him close, and...
Bryan noticed that, quite unintentionally, he was sitting -very- close to Spencer. But...
He cleared his throat, shifting slightly away. "Is your wrist still okay?"
"It's fine." The jealous look on Spencer's face grew as the blonde man dragged the bluenette away by his hand.
"Um...you...skating tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Not to practice, though."
"Just for a skate. I get you." The oriental man and his friend left next. "I'll come down with you. Make sure you don't get carried away and do yourself another injury." Spencer didn't say anything, just sighed. "...What's the matter?"
"Nothing."
"Stop lying. Does it hurt?"
"No! I said, it's fine!" Bryan did not believe him.
"Something must be the matter or you wouldn't be looking like that!" He reached out, grabbing Spencer's arm and lifting it gently. The younger Russian sighed and Bryan continued his scrutiny of the arm in question, not wishing to look Spencer in the face as he spoke his next words. "Is it...because of me?" The younger of the two Russians just pulled his arm away, frowning.
"I shouldn't have told you. It'll just be awkward between us now."
"No it won't."
"Stop lying!" Spencer turned Bryan's words back on him.
"Why do you even like me like that?" Bryan snapped back, glowering. "Are you saying I'm girly or something? Is that why you like me?"
"No! I just...don't like women. Not...I like them, just not like that..."
"Why?"
"I don't know why! But I look at women, and...nothing. But when I look at men...well, some men-"
"Like me." Bryan cut in rudely. Spencer carried on speaking.
"I just...it just feels right to want them. I don't expect you to understand. You don't care anyway." For the first time, Spencer looked heartily upset. "It doesn't matter for you, you can just assume a woman is straight and flirt with her as you like but I get so nervous, and I...I don't want to talk to anyone, because all the people I've ever had the courage to ask out have been taken, or straight, like you! I can't get a boyfriend because I'm too awkward and I only ever seem to like the wrong people!"
Bryan cleared his throat, anger gone. So Spencer was shy. It was strange to think that Spencer, who was one of the most aggressive hockey players Bryan knew, was so...vulnerable in that kind of situation. "You'll find the right person soon." He tried.
"I've found him five times over and he's never interested in me." Bryan patted his team-mate's back, sighing.
"What you need to do, Spence," He said, launching into one of the many motivational speeches he used before important games "Is get out there and get what you want. Just go for it and don't think about what bad things might happen. Take a few risks."
"You think so?"
"Of course!"
When Bryan found himself pinned to the back of the chair with a pair of scared eyes looking into his own. It dawned on him slowly that Spencer was about to kiss him. It was just sinking in when he felt lips touch his own. And as Spencer moved closer, a hand lacing through Bryan's hair, the older Russian realised that...well, it wasn't so bad, really. And while Spencer did have a noticeable lack of breast, his strong arms made up for that somehow. Or that was what Bryan decided as one of them curved around his waist.
When they drew apart, Spencer looked absolutely terrified. "I'm sorry! But you said- and I thought-"
"It wasn't that bad." Bryan smiled softly, kissing Spencer again, a quick peck that seemed to stun the younger Russian. He sat and blinked, one arm still around his captain's waist. "I suppose...I can see why you like it." Bryan considered Spencer carefully. All said and done, Spencer was a nice kind of guy- usually pleasant, fit, nice hair... "I suppose...I could give guys a try. But I'm not going to feel you up in public, if that's what you want!"
"It isn't!" Spencer laughed, grabbed his drink and downed it, then kissed Bryan again.
Bryan let him, feeling warm inside. He was sad to be leaving another Olympics behind, but judging by recent events he would have plenty of good memories of it...
Fin
Well there you have it. R&R please, you know it makes my day!