CHAPTER SIX : Ogling and the pretense of practice

I apologize. it sort of feels like this story is kind of off track already from the original plot and the characters seem to just go all hormone crazy, its awkward.

I don't even know why I am writing again. It's been a year and this isn't a really common pairing but I felt the need to write again.

So yeah.

Again, I don't own anything. Sorry for any grammatical mistakes in advance.

_-oOOo-_

He could hardly remember what it felt like to be another boy, free from the restraints of the family's name and burden, free to run about and lack decorum for once.

There was one time that the older Kabras were sent to some urgent gathering of sorts on how to wreck the world and make the poor, normal and unsuspecting people toddle off in fear. What was left in their big mansion was a battalion of maids and butlers and two kids who's minds still floated in the clouds and saw the world in a different, much innocent light.

Ian remembered the lack of tutors and that single week seemed to stretch like an eternity of throwing his small, starched shirts in favor of loose trousers and white shirts that gave so much freedom. The lack of a strong hands wrapping themselves of their shoulders were absent too, and the memories were vague, but he recalled fearing it's loss, and what sacrifice he had to do for their little happy time.

There was the feeling of sand in his hands, the taste of cookie batter and sleeping to the sounds of the waves rushing to the shore. Everything was so full of light, too full of laughter, too uncomfortable now to remember. It felt like a future waiting to happen but it was extinguished way before it had a chance to grow.

Happy things just didn't seem to like him. Or will ever.

The smell of the saltiness of the sea wafted into Ian's room, the breeze making the curtains flutter so prettily just like in those romantic movies their maids seemed to love. His room was full of moonlight, making the dark spaces of his room that seemed to scare him seem safer. It felt too familiar, the feel of the softness of his silky sheets cradling his body and the way the room was cool enough for him to try to burrow deeper into the sheets.

His door opened suddenly and the smiling face of her mother suddenly entered his view. There was a part of him that wanted to jump out of his bed and into those arms that carried expensive, satin-lined purses more than they have carried him as a kid his entire life. But the smoothness of her expression and the way she seemed to hold two silver covered boxes too carefully rang alarm bells in his head even at such a young age. He was too much of a Kabra not to know the feeling of a game starting, and his big participation in it.

"Hello darling! We just got back from Italy half an hour ago, " she smiled, a smile he now knew to be ones that merged families or ended them just as easily. " I am afraid dear Natalie is already asleep, so she'll have to do her part of the test on her own tomorrow, but seeing that you are awake-", she stared at him softly, too softly. It was a scary thing, but before, the urge to follow her every whim and command was still in the forefront of his brain, like a good dog to it's master.

He slowly got up from bed and folded his hands on top of the ivory colored sheets meekly, like he was taught to do. A tiny smirk formed on her lips and it was gone just as quickly. "What test mother? ", he remembered asking.

She waved her hand indifferently, and her thin gold bangles clinked together too merrily. "Since you are turning 6 a month from now, tradition states that you take this test just like every Lucian before you, darling boy." Oh. A test. Ian loved tests.

"In the middle of the night?" his excitement of doing something for his mother showed too clearly in his voice, and his mom smiled even bigger. "Yes, but you must never tell anyone one." She wagged her finger playfully but the coldness of her voice and eyes conveyed the warning to do exactly as she said.

He remembered too much of that night. The needles carefully cradled in red satin, the vials of pretty colored liquids with crystal stoppers. He remembered surprising Mr. Vaughn, his favorite and their elderly butler with a smile and a mug full of hot chocolate to warm him from the breeze. He ruffled his head as thanks and quietly admonished him for being out of his bed at such a late hour. The butler held his hand and took him near the stairs, even asking him if he needed anything for to sleep better. He remembered feeling affection and craving it as he smiled and said goodnight.

Ian could still hear him coughing too hard as he tiptoed to his bedroom, the coldness of night seeping into him more and more with each step.

What's more, he felt a loss of something important . The short walk to the room aged him, and by the time he reached his door, he was shaking.

There were no more coughs that echoed through the night, the sign of Mr. Vaugn watching over them at night. Ian also hated chocolate since then.

His mother was so proud of him that on his birthday, he was given a gold gilded chessboard with its pieces made out of ivory. It now sat in the storage room in their mansion, for now Ian had already learned to moves people's lives like those pieces in this chess board.

A sharp and impatient tap on his shoulder made him breakout from the memories.

"Dude, I know that Sinead is pretty but sheesh, you've been staring for hours," Dan muttered impatiently, sitting cross legged and barefoot beside on the training mat. He smiled at his naivety. Girls never did it for him, except Amy before, but it was almost like admiration to her strength and cunningness that could make other Lucians hide in shame, not to mention that she was beautiful in her own 'stare-at-her-longer-and-she-get's-more-devastatingly-gorgeous-every-second' beauty.

There was only one person for him. That thought made him sound like a lovelorn fool. To hell with fools. Every human being was one a dang lot of times in their life anyway.

"There you go again. She's not even wearing a skirt you idiot." He smirked at this. Was the younger one jealous?

"Oh but that uniform does wonders to her body," Ian winked at Dan, smirking inwardly at seeing his face flush red in both anger and embarrassment. "Shut up, as if you didn't look too," he laughed.

"That is already eye raping you british bastard."

"No worries my dear. She isn't really my type."

A pregnant pause followed after and Ian resisted the urge to look at Dan's face for her reaction. A cough followed and someone prodded his shoulder sharply to signal him to stand up.

"Come on, we don't have all day. We should do those weird yoga martial arts thingie postures." He couldn't see Dan's face, only his ridiculously tense shoulders and he stifled the urge touch those tightly coiled and delicious looking muscles and massage them. The memory of Dan giving him a massage made his body heat up so suddenly and his little thing almost gave a quite pathetic jerk.

Dan, still with his back to him, raised his arms above his head, stretching until every single muscle fluidly and devastatingly showed on his back, their skin tight black uniform showing every single one of them. He swallowed deeply at the sight. Long sleeved tight material covered his upper body while skin tight shorts that stopped just above the knee showed every beautiful detail of his arse. The little Ian started to tent and he almost whimpered thinking about charity work and their ruined yatch to help it settle down.

They were in the first floor of the main dome now, with all the rest of their relatives all around them. Jake was stretching his calves with Amy who looked happy and determined enough like this was some test she couldn't think of failing. Atticus looked at Natalie almost with a weird mix of disgust and admiration and she did some of the yoga postures with ease, him just sitting cross legged and staring at every one. The rest of the pairs were either doing their work with too much determination like time would pass faster if they got on with the exercises with faked rapt attention like both of the twins and as for Sinead and Hamilton's case, her correcting every posture and him scowling blackly in the corner.

All in all, it looked… well okay for them.

Hours passed and their bored instructor went around, just staring at the other pairs or sometimes correcting postures. It was boring, but every once in a while the sight of a beautifully created arse made him almost whimper and run to the nearest bathroom.

_ooOOoo_

Oh he wanted to punch him.

Dan could feel his gaze on his back for the last 3 hours and he wanted to throttle the jerk so hard because of it. What made him angrier is that he didn't even know why. Was his form okay? Did he do the exercises in a wrong manner? Was his shorts slipping to low, because dang it certainly felt that way. He consciously felt his back in a forced offhand manner to feel if the fabric covered things that should be covered. Yep it did.

He couldn't wait to go to the swimming pool. The Olympic sized pool looked so inviting that it made Dan almost want to cry. It was just beyond the hall and his weird mind could almost feel the cold jolt the water always gave him went he crashed headlong into it. Yes the island had a manmade lake and some weirdly beautiful falls ( he honestly didn't know how one could have done it but yeah, the Ekats and Janus' did a pretty good job with it). A groan behind him made him turn sharply and the slightly pink face of Ian Kabra greeted his eyes.

"Dude, seriously? Sinead again?" he raised his eyebrows and stared at him with disgust.

"My muscles are tired," Ian said smoothly, and shook his arms slowly as if to make a point. His eyes zeroed on the lean and beautiful, slightly pronounced muscles that graced his arms. Now it was his turn to blush. Looking down on the blue mat, his eyes passed a weird bulge. "Hey, are you hiding food in your pants?" he wondered curiously to Ian who blushed even harder.

"Eyes to the front, Daniel Cahill," Mr. Thorpe said sharply. He really didn't know who he was, but judging his white tank top that showed his muscles and muscly body ( hell yeah to redundancy ), he was a Tomas alright.

Dan grinned sheepishly and continued on with the exercises, wondering about the bulge when their uniform didn't even have pockets.

HIIII. I stopped here because I realized that I have forgotten quite a lot about the series and I think I should reread. Filler chappie, but hey at least it is something. *smiles sheepishly*

Hope you like it people.