I'll be brief. Dou you, perchance, know what yaoi or slash stand for? No? That's a bad sign. Come back only when and if you find out, deal?

Disclaimer: I own no character mentioned here, cross my heart! xx;
Off we go now…

Of Firsts and Fourths
-by Kitsu

The air was thick in Rocket's room that afternoon. Taking thoughtful glances at the three 'guests' that sat ever so stiffly on Sinedd's former bed, he proceeded to pace on worriedly, eventually adding a sigh to spread through the silence.

There was only so much he could do about the situation, for he was no sociologist nor psychologist, and neither was he all that communicative to begin with, but unfortunately, being the captain of a team, he had to act like he was all that the best way he knew how to. Because leaving this for his uncle to settle would lead to a disaster he didn't dare imagine.

Clearing his throat, he finally stopped beyond three (not quite mortified, truth be told) attentive gazes. "I'd like to…" he begun, but quickly corrected himself, "Okay, so maybe I wouldn't like to, but I fear I need to know," he stated, golden eyes as steady as he dared them to be.

Owlishly, three other pairs of eyes blinked, two of which an identical embarrassed ebony black, while the remaining pair shone a dispassionate icy green. "What is there to know?" Tia questioned calmly, sighing some herself. "I was filming a documentary on our sleeping habits, and they," she back-thumbed at the twins sitting rather stiff beside her, "weren't sleeping."

Throwing the now crimson-cheeked twins a fleeting, but fully worried, glance, Rocket focused more on his white-haired friend. "And you just…" he gestured, hoping they were catching his drift because saying it was quite, well, queer, "filmed it all anyway?"

The whitehead nodded curtly, once, before titling him a tired gaze. "Can I have my video camera back now?"

"Well, I suppose so…" Rocket wrinkled his forehead, before carefully reaching to his desk and taking the gadget in question, gingerly depositing it in Tia's awaiting hands. He had seen what was on it, oh yes. And by the time he could work the worry through his shocked brain he'd already have to gauge his eyes out to save himself from being haunted by it. Sometimes he just couldn't understand what was going on in that white head. Okay, so maybe she wasn't in the eye of the question, but she was still involved to a shocking degree.

And Tia seemed to know this. Instead of leaving with what had been confiscated from her, she sat put and cradled the electronic wonder in her lap as if holding the snake's apple, fiddling with it ever so slightly.

With another deep sigh (he was headed for hyperventilation if this went on for long) Rocket reluctantly eyed the twins, signaling subtly it was their time to explain. He managed not to flinch at seeing they were sat so tight together that the only way to be closer would have been sitting in each-other's lap and were holding hands so tight that their knuckles were clenched and white. Both pairs of ebony eyes were still gazing up at him in worry, even though their statures tried to communicate that they didn't care, that no matter what they'd still have each-other.

But Rocket needed to know what he was hiding in order to defend it from their coach. "What happened, guys?" he asked at last, not wanting to hear it in the least.

It was Ahito who lowered his eyes first. "Don't ask when you've seen the tape," he mumbled, his brother's eyes worriedly following his every move, reading regret and anger, but above all else feeling the bond running strong between them just as it had always been. With a sharp movement, Thran looked Rocket straight into the eyes as he spoke.

"It's a private matter," he insisted dryly, "and it never crossed our efficiency in the team, so I don't see why-"

"I'll tell you why," Rocket interrupted him, pacing away slowly before he sat himself on the chair to his desk, arms folding on his chest worriedly, but imposingly still, "it actually explains quite a lot. From Ahito's constant sleepiness to your frail constitution…"

"That's not it at all!" the goalkeeper flared, giving his sibling a jolt, "I've been born with this brain-cap, Thran's got nothing to do with it!" He let himself be pulled back down by his brother's arms though, needing him close now more than ever, just like he knew he needed him.

And, keeping him steady by himself, Thran shot Rocket the same identical hostile glare that he knew his brother was shooting him. It wasn't so much that their team-leader was questioning them like this, it was more that the exposure of it all was too sudden for either of them to handle with a clear head, even when the head in question was as sharp as his. Nonetheless, it was all he could rely on at a time like that. Thankfully, he believed it was more than enough.

"Why Rocket," he mused, suddenly calm even when his hands stayed firm on his brother's shoulders, "you act as though you've never tired it yourself...!"

Wincing, the tan captain swayed his dreadlocked head. "That's because I didn't, I-"

"Seventeen and you've never done it, captain…" Thran chided in mock-awe, feeling his brother relax slightly underneath his palms as he caught his drift, "what a waste of healthy teenage years, I say…!"

"Thran!" warned the leader, eyes darting to the amused whitehead as if to signalize they had a lady in their midst, but it all bounced off the wall when said lady caught his eyes again, somewhat worriedly.

"Seriously, Rocket?" she arched her eyebrows disbelieving, "You never masturbated?"

The captain could feel his jaw unhinge, slacking down in shock. Way to go and impress a girl with chastity, he thought to himself somewhat sarcastically, before forcing out a "Yes, of course I did! But-" he swallowed, trying to divert attention from his embarrassed self to the twins again, "it's not masturbation if you do it with or to someone else!"

Ahito's head lowered into the arch of Thran's neck and the older twin felt him relaxing against himself, knowing it was another sleep-attack. He wrapped his arms about him cradlingly before his lips curled into a small foxy smile. "Hear that, Ahito?" he chuckled, "Rocket says we've been having sex…"

"Let's do that next time," came the mumbled sleepy reply against his shoulder, "you're bottom, though…" before Thran lost his brother to dream-land. He felt the urge to caress that relaxed smooth face of his, and those clean Asiatic lines, poke that dark-blue goatee that he knew felt so soft… but he resisted, the weight of his leader's gaze was too strong to ignore. And lifting his eyes to meet it, he knew exactly what the guy would say.

"Thran, you know reason," Rocket was telling him, leaning his elbows on his knees tiredly, "incest is a dangerous thing to play with, won't you think of your parents, for example," he ventured, "won't they feel bad it's happened?"

Much to Rocket's surprise, the older twin shook his head no. "They already know," he assured him, "and they don't mind, I'm the only one who can stand by my brother and his disease anyway… might as well learn how to please him physically."

Rocket couldn't reply. He was shouting inside of himself, hating his words and actions more with each passing moment. Who was he to lecture somebody else if he, first, couldn't straighten his own issues with trust and affection? It was shocking though, all together, and he needed to be alone and think about it. "Right…" he sighed, for the fiftieth time since seeing the tape, probably, "just keep those lessons for yourselves and lock the door, alright?"

Then something amazing happened. Tia smiled to him, full-heartedly. And to the tan captain that was one of the most beautiful smiles in the world. He felt so at peace suddenly that he barely heard Thran voicing his approval, steadying his dozing brother against himself, ready to leave. It was alright. They were all one big family now they would learn to deal with it, because life wasn't easy.

Pained, but somewhat determined to hold on even more now, the captain escorted them to the door, lost in all sorts of conceiting thoughts when icy green eyes interrupted them gently. He leaned in the doorway over her, giving Tia her time to choose and say what she wanted to say, willing to hear what he heard in his dreams…

"Rocket…?" Tia breathed, "happy April Fool's day."

Before he recovered, both the twins and her were running down the hall, laughing.

-End #1-

… I won't beg for comments, but – if you feel like it and you had a good time reading it, you never know; telling me you liked it might actually make me write more (which would be something, considering my update rate). Have a nice day anyhow. Later!