Summary: The trio and kisses.

Contains Takeo/Tao/M-21

Set after season 4? Post-series?

I've mentioned this before, but when I do really long detailed scenes, my brain then swings off in the opposite direction and wants to write really shorts scenes to recuperate. XD;

Compete

By Dark Ice Dragon

Tao hummed when Takeo kissed the back of his head as he sat in front of his security PC.

"Ready?" Takeo asked, watching the number of feeds in front of them. He had visited enough times to start getting a feel of how they were grouped together.

"Nearly! Just gimmie a minute to…" Some of the camera shots changed to something else. "And done!" Tao hopped to his feet, interlocking his fingers and stretching his arms above his head with a groan.

"Okay, let's go," Tao said, grabbing Takeo's hand and leading the way out.

xOx

Takeo didn't say anything when M-21 leaned in to kiss his cheek while they did the dishes, though he did glance behind them when he heard a 'click'.

Tao's grin greeted him and he waved his phone in the air.

"Got one for the scrapbook!"

Tao was distracted from taking another picture by the doorbell, and after sliding his phone back into his pocket, went to open the door.

"How long until he turns this into a competition?" M-21 muttered, the slosh of water covering his voice.

Erk. Knowing Tao, he had already started tallying up the kisses to see who was 'winning'.

After the children piled into the house, the rest of the evening was spent trying to minimise the mess they left.

xOx

"Whew!" Tao said, flopping between Takeo and M-21 on the sofa. "I'm all pooped."

"I'm not surprised," M-21 said, and Tao was sure he felt M-21 roll his eyes. "You were running around the whole room."

"A loss is a loss – though how that happened, I have no idea," Tao grumbled. "Anyway. Muah!" He turned and kissed M-21, and this time saw M-21 rolling his eyes. He gave the same treatment to Takeo, who smiled. "Time to kick back and relax!" After the busy day they had, they deserved it.

xOx

M-21 panted as he dragged his feet up the stairs. He'd held onto his transformation longer than before, but he'd maybe held onto it for too long. His mouth was dry and the edges of his vision were brightening. He just had to make it to his room.

Except he tripped over his own feet. Instead of going head first into the carpet, M-21 hovered over it, a pair of hands catching him by the armpits.

When he was pulled to his feet, he caught a flash of purple.

"I thought we told ya to tell us when you were gonna transform?" Tao's scolding voice faded in and out of his hearing range.

"Thought you were busy…" he mumbled.

"We're never too busy for you," Takeo said, and M-21 closed his eyes with a sigh, feeling Takeo press his lips to his forehead.

"And it's not like I can't bring my work downstairs with me," Tao said with a huff. "I can multitask you know."

"Hn."

"But anyway," Tao said, taking hold of M-21's other arm. "Let's get you to bed, huh?"

That sounded like a good idea.

xOx

Takeo blinked when he pulled back from kissing Tao's forehead to see him squinting up at him. What was wrong?

"I want to do that with you," Tao said, crossing his arms and tapping a finger on his bicep. "You have an unfair height advantage."

M-21 snorted, draining his sink. "Like that would stop you."

Oh. Takeo drew his eyebrows in in confusion, bending forward again. "You could ask?" That was the simple solution.

He stopped when Tao placed his hands on his shoulders. "Nah, that's too easy."

Cold dread dropped into Takeo's stomach. He'd heard that phrase too many times now to know he was about to be dragged into another one of Tao's ideas.

"I'll kiss you on my terms."

Takeo stared after Tao as he walked away.

"You're fucked," M-21 said.

"Thanks…"

xOx

Takeo looked up at a slight pressure on his head as he and M-21 watched TV. He caught a glimpse of Tao's smile just before he swung over the back of the sofa and landed between them.

It took a second for them to get comfortable, arms going around each other and Takeo heard Tao hum when M-21 kissed him.

When they were done, they settled down to continue watching TV.

xOx

Tao hummed, taking one testing step forward. When he didn't fall flat on his face, he went to find Takeo.

Not on the balcony, not in the living room – aha! Tao grinned as Takeo's eyebrows shot up when he saw him.

"Are you going to do this every time now?" Takeo asked, tilting his head up as Tao leaned in to kiss his forehead.

"Nah," Tao said, unwinding his cables from his ankles and dropped to his feet. "It's cheating if I use the same tactic over and over again."

Takeo shook his head at that.

"Hey, rules make it more interesting!"

He got a wry smile in return. "Wouldn't it help if I knew the rules as well?"

Oh. Yeah. "Now you know," Tao said, sticking his tongue out at him.

xOx

Takeo frowned, on the verge of waking. There was someone else there, but the presence was familiar. Safe. He didn't have to-

Something pressed to his forehead and Takeo snapped awake, his hand grasping air.

Tao's cackling laughter filled his ears and with a groan, Takeo grabbed his pillow.

It hit the door just after Tao dashed out his room.

xOx

M-21 sighed as he stepped into the house, his jacket slung over his shoulder. Takeo followed after him, and Tao had stayed behind…

He took a deeper breath, narrowing his eyes. Tao had gotten home before them and since Tao hadn't left his shoes for other others to see and hadn't greeted them when they entered…

"Damn stone in my slipper," M-21 muttered, stopping in the entranceway.

Takeo gave him a sympathetic tilt of the head as he passed.

He got two steps into the living room.

"Gotcha!"

Takeo span but it was too late, Tao dropping from the fucking ceiling onto Takeo. They fell into a heap on the floor.

"Muah!"

"Tao!"

Smirking, M-21 walked over and kissed them both, ducking their flailing limbs.

He left before Tao could focus on him again.

xOx

Tao squinted at his screen, the numbers not making sense. "Really?"

"What's wrong?" Takeo asked, holding a cup of coffee out to him.

"Thanks," Tao said, taking it. "That!" He waved at the monitor with his free hand. "M's got the highest score!" He waited for Takeo to read the chart, savouring his coffee. Mm, Takeo knew his favourite.

"Of kisses?"

"Yeah!"

A wry smile crossed Takeo's face. "He does get us when we're distracted with each other."

"Oooh, that sneaky asshole!" Tao sipped his coffee again and looked at Takeo. "Truce, then? I was too focused on kissing you I didn't notice he was racking up points with both of us. If we work together, we'll beat him."

Takeo nodded. "All right." Then he smiled, leaned in and kissed Tao's forehead.

"Takeooo!" He wasn't going to flail, because that meant spilling his coffee.

"Now we have a truce."

"Hmph." Tao took another sip. "I'll get you back once this is over."

"I know." He didn't look that worried.

Since Takeo knew there would be retribution, he could focus on M-21. Heh. M-21 wouldn't know what hit him.