Inspired largely by my biology professor and shenanigans in his class. This one's also set post series and I hope you enjoy!
"Hic!"
Twitch.
Silence.
"Hic!"
He felt his teeth grit.
Another stretch of silence.
"Hic!"
"Valon, for pity's sake hold your breath!" snapped Alister at last, delivering a scorching glare to his younger friend. Raphael also glanced at the young teen with some concern, but he said nothing; it had been a long day at work and he was too tired to get involved in the soon-to-be argument.
Valon hiccupped again, looking miserably at Alister. "Already tried—hic—that, mate. It's—hic—jus' not –hic—workin'."
"Then go drink some water or hold your breath, but at least try to control your hiccups," growled Alister irritably, turning up the volume on the television.
Valon sighed (punctuated by another hiccup) and padded out of the room, going into the kitchen to get a cup of water. He filled it to the brim and then took a healthy swig out of it, but in the next second he hiccupped again and the Australian dropped the plastic cup, choking on the water he had ingested.
Raphael must have heard the commotion, because in the next second he felt his left arm getting raised above his head. Valon continued to just cough until the water went down, then glanced up at the blonde in gratitude. "Thanks—hic—Raph."
The older biker raised an eyebrow. "Even after all that you still have them?"
"Yes," replied Valon, hiccupping loudly as he got the paper towel roll. He got on his knees and dropped a couple of paper towels on top of the spilled water before wiping it up and throwing the used paper away. Stupid bloody good-fer-nothin' buggers, he thought angrily as he stalked back into the family room.
After a few more minutes of listening to Valon, Alister sighed and looked over at the brunet. "You tried to hold your breath, and Raphael said that the water didn't work."
"Hic—Yes. I'm tryin'—hic—my 'ardest to stop, but it just isn' workin' and—hic—now it's 'urtin' my stomach. You 'ave any—hic—ideas that might—hic—'elp?"
Alister raised an eyebrow in interest.
Raphael, correctly interpreting Alister's silence, said without looking away from the television, "Alister, you may not use this as an opportunity to get back at Valon for April Fool's Day."
"Now why would I want to get revenge? I just don't want to listen to him hiccup obsessively for the next ten minutes," replied Alister.
Ignoring Valon's distrusting look, Alister continued calmly, "Try doing a handstand while you're holding your breath."
Valon shot him an incredulous stare. The mental image of the normally stoic redhead doing a handstand in the middle of the family room was so absurd Valon could not even picture it. "Wait 'alf—hic—a minute. That—hic—works?"
Alister shrugged. "Always."
Hesitantly, Valon wandered to the corner of the room and glared balefully at both of his older companions. "If either of—hic—you laugh, I swear I'll—"
Alister rolled his eyes, while Raphael held up his hands in a reassuring manner. "We won't try anything, Valon," replied Raphael.
"Though," said Alister, getting to his feet, "you might want to do the handstand in the hall. That way if you fall, you don't hit the coffee table."
While Alister's logic was certainly sound, Raphael noticed the almost wicked gleam in the gray eyes just before both of the other bikers left the room. His friend had likely just thought of something to do at Valon's expense, and he was almost inclined to intervene on the youngest bikers behalf.
…Almost. Raphael had not forgotten about April Fool's Day.
He could vaguely hear Alister ordering Valon to do a handstand, and he also heard a brief mention of Alister fetching something from his room, but the blond made no effort to go see how the Australian was doing. He was certain he would not be able to keep a straight face, and Valon had made it clear he didn't want anyone laughing at him.
A few moments later, however, a startled yelp of shock had Raphael moving out of the family room to see just what Alister had done—the slender biker's definition of "revenge" had much to be desired, and though he had never seriously hurt anyone Raphael was not about to make an emergency run to the hospital.
When he got to the doorway it was to find that Valon was dangling a few inches off the ground, a rope looped around his left ankle. The teen was far enough off the ground to prevent him from being able to place his hands down, but not high enough to hurt him should the rope snap.
Raphael followed the rope with his eyes, coming to rest on the wooden railing of the second floor balcony. A rope had been looped around it and tied securely. Alister was looking down at Valon, a rare look of amusement on his features and a barely suppressed chuckle trying to make its way out of him.
"Lemme—hic—down from 'ere, you bugger! I'm—hic—warnin' ya, you better let me—hic—down or else!" said Valon, flailing desperately in an attempt to free himself.
"If that balcony breaks you're fixing it. Anyways, I thought I said no revenge for April Fool's," said Raphael, trying to contain his own amusement.
"Payback for Halloween. I don't like buckets filled with ice cold water dropped on my head."
"Ah."
"All right, already! You blokesgot your—hic—laughs in!" snapped Valon, continuing to struggle. "Congrats, you–hic—got me back good. Now—hic—lemme down!"
"Even after all that you still have the hiccups?" asked Alister, surprised in spite of himself.
Valon ignored the comment, instead looking desperately to Raphael. "C'mon—hic—Raph, help!"
As amusing as it was to see the youngest of the trio dangling helplessly from the banister, Raphael figured that Valon had just about enough of being upside down. He was about to ask if the red-haired biker would let the Australian down when—
"Hic!"
Both Raphael and Valon blinked, staring at each other in disbelief before looking up at Alister.
The redhead had a mortified expression on his face, one that was replaced with an annoyed scowl. "Great, now I've—hic—got them," he said irritably.
"Serves ya—hic—right!"
That particular comment got Valon a one-way ticket straight to the ground.
Raphael sighed, helping the teenager to his feet before looking up at Alister. "All right you two. Come back in the family room—I have a sure-fire way to get rid of the hiccups."
Exchanging glances, the two younger bikers followed after their older friend curiously. The blonde led them to the sofa and made them sit down before digging in his pocket. He pulled out some pocket change and separated two coins from them, handing one to both Alister and Valon.
"All right. I want the pair of you to look real closely at these coins. Observe every detail, down to every scratch in the surface. In two minutes, I'm taking back the coins and you're going to tell me every detail you can remember," said Raphael. "The one who gets the most doesn't have to do laundry this week."
Valon and Alister both took the coins and stared down intently at them. They never noticed that Raphael had left, nor did they notice that the room had suddenly gone very quiet.
They did notice, however, that their hiccups had not gone down—if anything, they had intensified. Valon noticed this after about a minute of a half of doing nothing but staring at the coin and hiccupping every few seconds. But he was not about to lose a challenge to Alister, so he kept his eyes on the silver coin.
It was just as he was about to ask how much time he had left when the POP sounded in his right ear.
Valon and Alister jumped, letting out identical cries of shock and whirling around to face Raphael. The burly man had slipped behind them while they had been observing their coins, taking advantage of the distraction to scare them. He was now grinning broadly, holding what had been a plastic grocery bag in his hands.
"What the 'eck, Raph! You gave me a 'eart attack!" said Valon indignantly, placing his hands on his hips and scowling. Alister bore a similar startled look on his face, though it was quickly replaced by a trademark emotionless expression.
Raphael calmly returned to his seat, once again beginning to watch the television set. "Maybe I did," he said. "but it worked."
"What did?" asked Valon in bewilderment. "If you're talkin' 'bout scarin' the livin' daylights outta me 'n' Alister, then you'd be right!"
Raphael raised an eyebrow at his friends, his eyes twinkling in mirth. "Neither of you have the hiccups anymore."
"…Oh."