Disclaimer: Don't own any of it except scrawny assassin boy and Randolph. Thank you.

So, here's chapter seven for you. Thank you all for the lovely reviews. Busard in particular wrote me a very flattering note. Bon merci,

busard. Hope you all like it!


CHAPTER 7 – Hiding Out

Adam sat on the outer wall of the castle, holding his chin in his hand and resting his elbows on his knees. He sighed. He was replaying his first kiss in his mind. It had been brief, but he certainly wouldn't mind trying it again. If Duncan didn't kill him first. He eyed his surroundings warily, watching and listening for signs of his armed, dangerous future father-in-law.

There was a rustling sound in the bushes to his left. Adam froze. This was it. His death was imminent. The leaves parted . . . out came . . . Teela. Phew. Or maybe not, Adam thought, reddening as she sat down beside him.

"T-t-Teela!!" he greeted her like a pre-pubescent boy, his voice cracking embarrassingly. Teela smiled mischievously.

"My, my, Adam", she said, "Did you develop that stutter before or after you kissed me?" she asked him, direct as always.

"I-I can explain, Teela", he tried. She smirked, looking out at the lands surrounding the castle that were becoming shrouded in the gathering night.

"Explain what, Adam?" she asked, "I was there. I know what happened."

"B-but I-" Teela's eyes, still bent on the surrounding lands, became frustrated.

"Don't worry about it, Adam. It was just-"

Adam interrupted, his eyes now turned toward the horizon serious. "It may have been just a kiss to you, Teela, but I've been in love with you since I was twelve."

Teela's eyes flew wide open, the whites around her irises showing bright in the dampened light of early evening, her pupils contracting slightly.

"Adam, I-"

Adam turned toward her, smiling cheerily, and said, "You don't have to say anything, I know you don't feel the same way. It's okay."

Teela frowned, her eyebrows lowering dangerously.

"And what makes you think you know what I feel so much better than I do?" she demanded. Adam's eyes opened surprisedly.

"Huh?"

"I love you, too, doofus", she told him, crossing her arms over her chest huffily.

Adam's eyes shot open as far as they went.

"What?! I thought you said I was a worthless coward, and I was the last man you'd ever marry, and what about He-Man? I thought you liked him."

Teela rolled her eyes at him. "You shouldn't believe everything I say, Adam. If you hadn't noticed, I have a nasty temper, and I tend to say things that I regret later on. I don't think that you're a coward. I do think you're up to something, running off all the time like that." Adam gulped. Teela continued. "As for He-Man, he is very admirable, and I may have had a slight crush on him in my schoolgirl days, but I've long since realized that he is a little too like a river barge in appearance, and a cliché in personality for my tastes."

Adam became indignant. "Hey, He-man isn't cli- Oh, you're right."

Teela raised an eyebrow at him. She sighed and continued. "So, for your information, it wasn't 'just a kiss' for me either, although I might've wished my first kiss had been a bit more substantial . . ." She trailed off wistfully.

Adam blushed, but then registered something from her last sentence.

"Wait a minute, your first kiss? You were teasing me, you hypocrite?" He knocked her shoulder lightly.

"Well now", she teased, "I never said I'd been kissed before, now did I? You just assumed . . ."

Adam smiled. "You implied it, you little minx", he said fondly.

He thought now would be a good time to kiss her. He blushed and began leaning toward her, closing his eyes in anticipation. He slipped a hand around her waist for leverage as their lips touched for the second time. This time, Teela had time to respond, and she did so with exuberance, toppling Adam onto the grass above the outer wall, causing his eyes to fly wide open before they drifted closed again, and he readjusted his hold on her. Adam placed his hand behind her head, to press his lips more firmly against hers, and incidentally causing him to make an involuntary noise in his throat. Teela had her hands threaded through his hair when they heard two rather familiar voices approaching. Teela's hands froze, and she broke the kiss off alarmedly. She and Adam listened to the voices draw nearer with growing panic.

"Adam!" they heard Duncan calling out, "Adam, are you out here?!" Apparently, Duncan and Randolph had been looking for the prince.

Adam panicked, and stood up abruptly, causing Teela to fall backwards onto her rear and shoot Adam a sour look, but she remained silent, hoping, like Adam, to avoid discovery if at all possible. A hope that was slowly being destroyed. Duncan knew Adam's hideouts on the castle grounds about as well as Teela did.

"Sorry", Adam mouthed. Teela nodded sullenly, noticing that his lips were rather swollen. She smirked in satisfaction. Adam looked at her curiously, but said nothing.

"Adam! There you are!" Adam shot a few feet into the air before laying a hand over his fast-beating heart, breathing heavily.

"Ancients, Randolph! You nearly made my heart stop!!"

Randolph grinned. Duncan peered through the surrounding foliage in the early evening gloom.

"Oh, Adam, there you are", he said.

"Hey, Adam", Randolph exclaimed, "It looks like someone punched you in the mouth. Are you okay?"

Adam froze and blushed violently, possibly more mortified than he had ever been in his life. He looked over at Teela, nervously, and his heart sank as he saw that she matched him in that respect. And Duncan was here. Looking at him. He was going to die.

Teela stood up and brushed herself off, blushing but determined. Randolph took a double take.

"Mo-Captain Teela? Didn't see you there. Hey, you-" he trailed off as he connected the dots in his mind. "Oh!" he said, before grinning and punching Adam playfully on the shoulder. "Going for number two already? Way to go, Adam!"

A low, growling noise emitted from Adam's right. He shuddered.

"Uh, Duncan?" he tried feebly. "I . . . uh . . . I . . ." Adam tried desperately to think of something that wouldn't lead to certain death.

Teela stepped firmly in front of him, blushing and business-like.

"Father, stop that", she said in a voice that brooked no opposition. The growling stopped. The menacing glare, however, did not. Adam gulped, licking his swollen lips nervously.

"Adam and I love each other", Teela was saying, "It's something you'll just have to get used to." She smiled at Adam, and he momentarily forgot that he was terrified. Teela loved him. She didn't think that he was a coward, and she liked kissing him. She thought that He-Man was a clichéd river barge, but he could deal with that.

Randolph observed these goings-on in pleasant amazement. When he'd arrived, Adam had been convinced that Teela found him entirely unsatisfactory in every respect. Now, he had obviously been kissing her with enthusiasm, and had apparently confessed his love for her. He supposed they'd be engaged before he went back home. That made sense, he thought, considering the time frame.

"Duncan", Adam laid a hand on his mentor's shoulder, having apparently overcome his terror, "Let's talk in your office. I've got something to ask you", he said, looking in Teela's direction mysteriously. She made a funny face. The two men retired to the castle, while Teela and Randolph watched them bemusedly. After they had disappeared from sight, Teela shook her head and started on the short trek back to the castle. She felt rather disheveled, and thought she could do with some freshening-up.

"Randolph!", she called out to the boy behind her, "Come on, it's getting dark!"

Randolph smiled and followed her. He supposed mothers didn't change much over time.


Finis pour maintenant. Well, there you have it. My first attempt at a makeout session in writing. I imagine it wasn't the best, but I

suppose you can't expect it to be perfect the first time, now, can you? Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave your compliments and

critiques in my virtual mailbox.

-Burp.