Spin The Bottle
Chapter Four
This Is All Lots of Fun And All But How About We Play Something Different?
Diana was completely confused, "What do you mean?
"Well, I thought, that here on your island, everyone went around naked and…oh. Hi, Ollie. I was just asking Diana about…"
Ollie was standing next to Hal with a hand on his shoulder. He was squeezing a little harder than necessary, "Yeah. That's cool. Hi, there, Beautiful. Can I talk to you for a minute Hal?" he asked Hal as he smiled and gave Diana a wink. As Hal stepped away with him, he looked back at Diana and rolled his eyes, pointed at his head and made the "crazy" gesture.
Once Ollie had walked Hal a few feet away from Diana, he whispered, "You're gonna ruin the show."
Hal stared blankly back at him, "The show?"
"Yes. The show!" Ollie replied in an exasperated voice. "Oh. I'm sorry. You're only twelve. Sometimes I forget how young you are. Well, it's like this. Although they spend most of their time naked here, when there are visitors they dress to greet them. Then later, after they've gotten to know you and trust you. They go back to doing things the way they normally do. You'll see what I'm talking about."
"Oooohhhhh," said Hal. He was still a bit confused, but he was very willing to wait and see just exactly what this "show" was all about.
Diana walked over to where Clark and the rest of the group were talking to the other young Amazons, Artemis, and her Mother. Donna was holding onto Clark's hand. Diana noticed that Clark had a worried look on his face but seemed to be relaxing after her mother had said hi to him and not scolded or swatted or in any way attacked him for having a filthy paw on her youngest daughter.
Donna let go of Clark to go watch Zatanna do a couple of magic tricks. Everyone's attention was on Zatanna at the moment so Diana took the opportunity to talk to Clark. "I just spoke with Hal."
Clark waited for a moment for her to continue. He was listening but watching the tricks at the same time. When Diana didn't continue, he turned his attention to her.
When Clark looked at her, Diana smiled sweetly and continued, "For some reason he seemed to think that all of us Amazons would have been naked! Can you believe that? The only time we are naked is when we go swimming. Not when we are performing day to day activities. I wonder how that idea came into his head? He's never been here. Only you have, and we did not have a chance to go swimming last time you were here, so I know that you would not have told him something like that. Besides, you do not lie unless you are protecting your best friend from being swatted."
Clark was staring down at the beautiful smiling face of Diana. He was paying rapt attention now. His mouth hung open. He couldn't believe his ears. All of the girls and women here swam naked! Every time they swam! And Diana said that they didn't get an opportunity to swim the last time he had visited! Did that mean that she meant to swim with him today, sometime in the future, just the two of them? Did she secretly hate him and want her mother to swat him to death?
His head was swimming.
He couldn't seem to see straight for a minute.
His eyes felt a bit hot.
He covered his eyes with his hands. Now it felt like his hands were burning. He turned towards the beach and ran into the water. Kneeling, he ducked his head in and moved his hands to let the water flush out his eyes. He realized it was salt water but it didn't bother him.
As soon as he let go, he felt the water around him bubbling and boiling! His eyes! They were giving off heat beams! How could he stop it? What if he hurt somebody? He could never live with himself. What if his heat beams burned all the way through the earth and came out in China? Wait a minute. He wasn't sure where the other side of the world was when he was on Themyscira because it was more of a magical realm.
Oh. Wow. His eyes had stopped. He stood up and turned to rejoin the group. Everyone was staring at him.
"New power kicking in there, Clark?" Bruce asked.
"Was the water just now boiling?" Dinah asked.
"I think it was bubbling." Helena responded.
"Whatever just happened, it wasn't magic." Zatanna informed everybody.
"Are you carrying some kind of Kryptonian weapon?" Kator asked curiously.
"I do not think he ever carries weapons," Shayera responded.
"Hope you didn't kill any fish," Arthur muttered.
"Clark would not do such a thing," Mera replied.
"Wow! You sure jumped into the water fast! One moment your halfway up the beach and the next your boiling sea water!" Barry stated. He wondered if he and Clark would have a chance to race, just the two of them. It was fun when they could go all out. He could outrun Clark, but only by kicking the Speed Force into the next gear. Normally they tied or got distracted before the race was over by some emergency or other.
"That was disgusting! I'm so glad I don't have super strength. What did you have for breakfast this morning dude?" Hal asked with his face scrunched up.
Ollie was looking back and forth between Clark, the Queen and Diana. Trying to guess what had happened and what the queen's response would be. The queen looked mystified but she did not look worried.
Clark was starting to shoot up in height. He still had a little ways to go to catch Arthur, Kator and Ollie and he was still slim but he was big boned and it was obvious that he was going to be large. His muscles were already developing. It was a combination of genetics, hard work and now that they had formed a league, daily exercise and training. Still, at his age, the clinging wet shirt showed off his developing musculature nicely. It didn't make the same impression that it did on Arthur or Kator or Ollie or even the slightly older Bruce, but it was still impressive.
"Hey. We all know you're getting muscles, but you wanna learn to use that card at the right moment. Showing the ladies what you got, first thing, takes away from the anticipation and the mystery. We can talk more about it later or tomorrow if you want. Just drop by my place. I'll be happy to go over some things with you." Ollie suggested.
Clark was staring back at everybody apologetically. Artemis and a couple of the young Bana girls were staring at him with some amusement and a little interest.
He felt a lot better. His eyes weren't burning. He didn't feel like he was losing control again. Good. Everything seemed to be back to normal.
Diana walked up to him. "What just happened, Clark? Is it as Bruce asked? Did you just develop a new power?" she asked with excitement and concern.
Clark smiled weakly, "I think so. My eyes started shooting heat and I couldn't make it stop."
"Well, the water seemed to help. Perhaps later, you and I will have a chance to go swimming and you can work on controlling your new power!" Diana suggested enthusiastically.
Clark froze. Then he turned and raced back into the water.
About an hour later Clark had figured out that he could keep from shooting heat from his eyes if he thought of just about anything but swimming with Diana. He decided to play it safe. In order to keep his mind from wandering back to the idea of a naked Diana swimming with him, and the wonderful mental picture that went with it, he decided he have to substitute that particular thought with one that was completely disgusting.
He remembered Arthur's comment. It gave him an idea. "Dead fish stink." Yeah. That's what he would do. Everytime he pictured a naked Diana he would repeat the phrase, "Dead fish stink." He was sure it would do the trick.
Everyone had a good time. They had raced horses, and raced on foot. Clark and Barry and Diana had stayed out of the foot race. Artemis had won a couple of horse races and so had Diana.
The queen had escorted them to the arena for more games and competitions. Artemis had won a couple of archery rounds and so had Ollie. When it came time for the javelin throwing contest, Shayera and Kator had each won one with an annoyed Artemis coming in a close second both times. Bruce surprised several when he won the discus throwing contest.
The queen even allowed them to have a sparring match with swords but she made sure that they used some wooden training swords. The top four were Artemis, Bruce, Kator and Shayera. Diana, Clark and Arthur did their own contests. Artemis was paired against Shayera and Bruce against Kator. All four were very serious about winning were fairly evenly matched. Kator and Shayera had a slight advantage in strength and speed but the determination and skill of both Bruce and Artemis were amazing to watch.
Since this was a day for fun and not for proving who was the best, the impressed queen called a draw and awarded each of the four with a first place warrior of Themyscira ribbon and a piece of gold.
Clark, Arthur and Diana had their own little tournament. Clark won the discus throw. Arthur and Diana tied for the Javelin throw. Clark pointed out the he had come in second. He had thrown it a little too hard.
The Queen didn't allow Diana to sword fight, and she did not allow any wrestling. She did not want to give any excuse for her daughter and the other young Amazons to be touched by the young males.
It was about the middle of the day when they left the arena. So what's next on the agenda," Ollie asked to anyone in general.
"We should go exploring in the woods!" Diana suggested excitedly she was having lots of fun.
"Just you and I? Okay. That's cool." Ollie answered with a smirk.
"No. All of us. But we should probably split up into smaller groups." Diana suggested.
"That's perfect!" Ollie blurted out. "Why don't we split into small groups. Each group can sit down somewhere here in the sand and we can play this really cool game I know before we go exploring. We'll explore with the same group that we play the game with." He looked over at Hal and gave an almost imperceptible wink.
"What is the game called?" everyone asked.
"What? Oh, the name? Let's split up into our groups first and then I'll tell you." Ollie answered.
Reluctantly, everyone agreed.
"Okay. Here's how we're gonna do this. We have seven guys and seventeen girls. So we'll have one guy in each group. One group will have a few more girls than the others but that's just how it has to be with the odd numbers and all."
Ollie pulled a dark green bottle from his bag and laid it on the sand. "Okay. The ladies are going to pick a guy. The guy will come and spin this bottle in the sand. Whoever the bottle is pointing at when it stops spinning is on that fella's team. That cool?"
Everyone seemed to think it was a fair idea.
"Okay, ladies. Let's have Hal go first." Ollie suggested.
All of the girls looked at each other, "I thought you said that we would pick the guy?" a few of them asked simultaneously.
"Well, sure. You want somebody other than Hal to start?" Ollie asked innocently.
Hal took on a hurt look.
"No. It is alright if Hal goes first," Mera spoke for the girls.
Hal stepped forward into the circle of girls enthusiastically.
"So I just spin it?" he asked.
"Yep. Just give it a spin," Ollie confirmed.
Hal bent down and gave the bottle a spin.
Ollie moved his right hand slightly. The bottle stopped. It was pointing at Helena. She smiled and walked over and stood next to Hal.
"One more spin there, Hal." Ollie said.
Hal gavc the bottle another spin.
The bottle stopped. It was pointing at one of the young Bana Amazons. She walked over and stood next to Helena.
"Okay. That's group number one. Barry. Why don't you go next?" Ollie suggested pleasantly.
Barry ended up with two Bana Amazons.
Kator ended up with two Bana Amazons.
Arthur ended up with Shayera and a Bana Amazon.
Bruce was next. He ended up with two Bana Amazons.
Clark ended up with the last two Bana Amazons.
"Well, since I'm the last guy, I guess the rest of you ladies are with me," Ollie said just a little too enthusiastically, as he walked over to Diana, Artemis, Dinah, Zatanna and Mera.
Other than Hal, all the boys were suspicious.
Diana and Zatanna and Mera were not too happy with their group.
Before anyone could object, Ollie said, "Now to start the game. You're all gonna love it. Each group needs a bottle. I've got six more right here for you guys. I'll go ahead and use the one that's already out. Each group has a bottle? Good. Okay, the game isn't a whole lot different than what we just did. It's called "Spin the Bottle" you all are gonna love this game, especially my group. Everybody ready to play?"
Everyone nodded.
"Okay. Oh, Diana. Do you think you could get your mom and the other grownups to go fix us something to eat. I don't know about you all, but I'm starving, what with all of those competitions and all."
Diana seemed surprised at Ollie's request. Artemis was indignant. "The Queen does not cook! And you will address her as "Your Highness" or "Your Majesty" or as the Queen. Is that understood?"
Ollie looked very apologetic, "I'm so sorry, gorgeous. Man. You look amazing when you're all riled up. Your eyes actually light up or something. Wow. No worries. It won't happen again. I haven't had a mom or dad for a few years and it's easy to forget stuff. The only thing I remember well about my mother was her cooking. It was fabulous. So I tend to think that all mothers cook. Especially beautiful ones (my mom was very pretty)."
Artemis paused, the expression on her face changed from shock to anger to understanding and then suspicion. Her gut told her that this one was up to something. She would keep a close eye on him. Still, he was fair to look at and he had matched her at archery so she was trying to keep an open mind.
The adults had relaxed their vigil a bit. The children had been having a good time and everyone was behaving. The Queen and Little Donna walked together a little ways from the group.
"I want to go exploring, Mother. Can I go get Clark and Diana to take me into the woods while you watch everybody?" Donna begged.
"Not right now, little one. We will let them play with the older kids for now. I'm sure there will be time later."
Donna put on a slight pouty face but did not pursue the matter. She was sure she would have a chance later.
"So here's how we play. I spin the bottle. Whoever it's pointing at when it stops spinning goes with me into the woods. We tell each other a secret and give each other a gift with our eyes closed. Then we come back. I figure after eight spins or so and everyone will know how to play the game really well and we can take a short break from playing and go on a hike with our group." Ollie's face looked triumphant.
Everyone split up into their groups and each of the seven boys gave their bottles a spin.