Title: I'm a father?
Subtitle: Murphy's Law
Rating: PG-13
Pairs: Rei/Bryan, Kai/Tala, Spencer/Ian, Tyson/Max and various other pairings
Note: Know what they say about Murphy's Law; well we're about to prove it. Mariah sees Kai kissing Tala, then later when Lee and Kai give a present of baby clothes to Rei; she overhears the tail end of a conversation and misunderstands. In a rage, she attacks Kai, accusing him of cheating on a pregnant Lee. Max has an accident.
Additional note: The beginning of this chapter has been one of the toughest things I've written in awhile; it's violent-so be warned. And I'm darn nervous about it. It seems you can take the boys out of the Abbey, but you can't take the Abbey out of the boys.
Disclaimer: Them-all, Me-Zip
~*~
The front door of the Demolition Boys rented home slammed shut, as Tala slowly turned to face his three subordinates, a two-toned shadow at his shoulder. His red hair seemed to crackle with his suppressed fury. "Bryan, to our room, now." The anger in his voice was all the more menacing for its quietness. "Spencer, Ian go to yours as well."
The three vanished as if they had been teleported. When they were out of earshot, Tala murmured, "We can't do anything that will cause bruises, if Rei sees them, he'd get upset."
"Agreed, and I have the perfect solution."
"Then, I will allow you to discipline him."
"As you wish."
~*~
Bryan stood facing the door, with the wall to his back. He kept his face blank, eyes down and his wrists crossed behind his back, a position of discipline back in the Abbey. He didn't look up when the door opened and closed. A soft whisper of feet crossing the carpet reached his ears, but that was all.
In the continuing silence, Bryan had to resist the urge to move, calling upon all the training he had had to keep from looking up and meeting his captain's eyes.
Tala stared at Bryan's posture; knowing that the lilac-haired Russian was thinking of the hours they had all spent in the same position at Boris, Voltaire, or some guard's whim.
"Bryan." He purred, as he stepped so close to the other that he could feel the heat radiating off him. "You promised me that you would leave Rei alone tonight, I'm very disappointed in you."
Bryan remained quiet. Tala reached out and grabbed a handful of lilac silk and pulled Bryan's head up, so that their eyes met. "Who am I?"
"Captain of the Demolition Boys."
"What are you?"
"A Demolition Boy."
"As your captain, what do you owe me?"
"Absolute obedience."
"Did you give it to me tonight?"
"No."
"Is there any excuse for disobedience."
"No."
'As your captain, I've decided to hand the right to discipline you to Kai, captain of the Bladebreakers, since it was one of his team members, you laid hands on; despite being told to leave said team member alone."
Stepping back, Tala nodded to Kai, who bowed and stepped forward. "Do you recall a conversation we had earlier today? One where I told you to not force Rei in any manner."
"Yes."
"Good," Kai said as he sat down on Bryan's bed, and eyed the other youth. "It would cause Rei a great deal of distress, if he were to learn what happens here tonight, you will not tell him. This is a matter between captains, understand?"
"Yes."
"Then strip and come here."
Face blank, Bryan obeyed. Reaching the bed, Kai reached up and yanked him down and over his lap. Holding out his left hand, the bluenette accepted the hairbrush his lover slapped into his palm.
"Count to fifty, Tala."
Bryan tensed, as he waited for the first blow; when it came, he bit the comforter to keep from crying out and he heard Tala say, one. As the blows came at varying intervals it was impossible to set for them. By number fifteen, he was moaning, crying by twenty-five. Number thirty-five had him screaming, and by fifty, he was beyond sounds, all he could do was lie helplessly under the punishment.
At fifty, Tala took Bryan's shuddering body into his arms and lifted him from Kai's lap. Kai rose from the bed and threw the hairbrush in the general direction of the dresser. While Tala cradled his teammate: Kai prepared the bed. When he was finished, Tala laid Bryan down and cringed, when he whimpered. Drawing up the bedclothes to cover the boy, Tala and Kai left the room and went downstairs.
They spent the night holding each other; lost in thoughts of regret.
~*~
At Bryan's first cry, Ian crawled onto Spencer's lap and shivered. Wordlessly, the large blonde held his tiny lover and rocked him slowly, tears sliding silently down his face. Too many ghosts, too many memories crowded his mind to allow him to rest, so he spent the night cradling his world to his chest and wishing for the luxury of dreamless sleep.
~*~
Promptly at nine the next morning a cab deposited Kai and Tala outside the Wales Hotel. The pair gazed for a few moments at the building. "Hmm, Mr. Dickenson sure did right by the White Tigers, didn't he." Tala observed.
"I asked him to find them something that was upper scale, but not ostentatious; no need to make them uncomfortable." Kai replied, as they paused outside the entrance.
"Getting soft in your old age?" Tala asked, then ducked as Kai took a swing at him with Rei's bag. Laughing, the redhead opened the door and entered. Kai smiled slightly and followed.
~*~
Five minutes later, they stood outside Room 812. Nodding to Tala, Kai knocked and the door opened to reveal a casually dressed Lee and a smiling Rei wearing a plush white robe. As Lee stepped back to allow his visitors to enter, Rei pounced on Kai, snatching the bag from him.
As the tiger dropped the bag on the foot of the rumpled bed and began to yank out the contents, both Kai and Tala scrutinized him for any signs of anxiety or trauma. But, aside for a little puffiness around his eyes: Rei looked happy. As the lively sprite bounced off to the bathroom, Lee cleared his throat and brought the other captain's attention to him.
"Care to have a seat, it'll take Rei some time to get changed, so we might as well get comfortable; while we're waiting."
Kai and Tala nodded, then both crossed the room and sat down in the leather chairs in front of the windows. Once he was comfortably settled, Kai nodded toward the closed bathroom door. "How . . ."
Lee sat down on the foot of the bed and shrugged. "Not too bad. He had a few restless moments and whimpered a couple of times, but other than that, not bad." He turned to look at Tala. "What about Bryan?"
Tala's eyes darkened. "Bryan is currently scrubbing every surface in the house that isn't covered with cloth or carpet, or too delicate for it with a toothbrush. It should take the rest of the day." It was a small lie, but Lee didn't need to know that the truth was; Bryan was ensconced in bed and being waited on hand and foot by Ian and Spencer.
Lee's jaw hit the floor. "Tala!"
The Russian shook his head. "I told him to leave Rei alone, he disobeyed, and this is his punishment."
Lee just stared at him.
"Forget about it, Lee. Let's concentrate on the really important. The tournament begins in two days and we need to decide do we tell Bryan before or after it." Kai said, glancing at Tala and facing Lee. "Did Rei give you any specifics on what happened last night?"
"Yes, but only because I asked." Lee ran a hand over his face, "Bryan surprised him in the bathroom; and pinned him against a sink, then kissed him." Lee sighed. "Rei said, that if it hadn't been for the fact, Bryan's hands started wandering; he would probably have laid with him right there on the tiles! As it was, Bryan touched their kitten; and that woke him out of his haze. And well, you heard him last night, he stomped on Bryan's instep and escaped."
Kai and Tala both nodded. "So," Lee continued, "How are we going to work this? Do we use the straight approach? Sit Bryan down and tell him that in roughly six and a half months; he's going to a father."
"Want to help tie Bryan down first." Tala said, bluntly. "You tell him that he's got a kid coming and he's going to go berserk." Startled, Lee's mouth dropped open. "Are you serious!"
"Very serious." the redhead replied, "Lee, you know very little about us and the hell we've gone through. Kai knows, but even he doesn't know everything. Rei knows some of it, but he'll never know all of it, because Bryan will never tell him." Tala paused, leaned forward and held out a hand to Kai, who leaned over and grasped it. Turning his head, Tala met Kai's knowing eyes and sighed, then he turned back to Lee: who shivered under that glowing regard.
"When we were prisoners of the Abbey, we had no control over anything – not even our own bodies." Tala whispered, "Sometimes, we were forced to service the guards; usually as a punishment for some infraction." His eyes grew distance; as he remembered things; he'd rather forget. Kai rose and went to stand by him, drawing him close with an arm around his shoulders.
Lee swallowed hard against the bile rising in his throat. He wanted to get up and flee the room, so he wouldn't hear anymore. But, he forced himself to sit and listen.
Kai looked down at Tala with concern: then he knelt and gently took Tala's face between his hands and kissed him. The embrace helped to draw Tala back to the here and now. He blinked at Kai, then nodded his thanks. Raising his eyes, he met Lee's sick ones and smiled grimly.
"Enough about that." Tala said, leaning back in his seat and dismissing the ghosts of his past. "Lee, I'm only telling you this, so you'll understand when I say, that once Bryan knows of Rei's condition; the tiger isn't going to able to take a piss without Bryan following him to the bathroom."
"Oh, Ancestors, not one of those!" Lee groaned, "I've got a cousin that was like that. The first time his wife got pregnant, you'd have thought no one had ever had a kitten before. He had to control every . . . thing . . ." Lee's voice trailed off, his eyes slowly growing large. "Control."
The phoenix and wolf stared at the lion, as the White Tiger captain got to his feet and began to pace. Lee continued to talk to himself. "Control- that's the key. Bryan needs to control, because he doesn't know any other way. The dominant controls the submissive; but Rei is no real submissive and resents Bryan's attempts at dominance. So, how do we make them equal?"
"Neutral ground." Tala said promptly, "Someplace, where they can really talk to each other."
"Central Park." Kai said, suddenly. "Rei's calmest, when he's surrounded by nature. We could take them to a corner of the park and keep other people away, while they talk."
"Sounds good to me." Tala said, looking over at Lee, who nodded.
"All right, then we'll take them there right after the tournament." Kai decreed; relieved that a solution had been found, now all they had to do was wait.
At the other end of the room, the bathroom door opened and Rei emerged; ready to face the day.
"I'm going to order room service, does anyone want anything?" Rei asked, as he headed over to a desk and opened a drawer, pulling out a sheet of paper, a pen and a menu. He held out the items to Lee, who took them and sitting began studying the menu.
As he was doing that, Rei eyed Tala and sighed, "All right Tal, what did you do to Bryan?"
"Your lover is currently learning the joys of cleaning house with a toothbrush. I gave Spencer and Ian very clear orders that they were to keep him at it, no matter how much he bitched." Tala replied blandly, as he took the paper items and pen from Lee; the lie coming easier with each retelling.
"And that's all you did." Rei waited for an answer, but Tala ignored him in favor of dealing with choosing breakfast; before handing off to Kai.
"Tala."
"Rei, that's enough. Tala isn't going to tell you, so leave it alone." Kai ordered. The cat-boy glared at the two Russians, but didn't say anything else. He just took the pad from Kai and walked away, his braid swishing like an angry tail.
Lee eyed him as he stalked pass, and sighed.
~*~
"That's right, we want three 'Goldie Lox', two with a pumpkin muffin, one with a banana muffin, one apple cinnamon French toast, five glasses of Four flowers juice and three coffees. Yes, that's Room 812, thank you." Hanging up the phone he turned and announced, "Breakfast will be up in about fifteen minutes."
"All right," he said, as he walked over and shoved Lee further down the bed. "What are the three of you plotting?"
"A trip to Central Park." Lee grinned at him. "I'm sure you can find a tree or two you'd like to climb." Huffing indignantly, Rei leaned back and snatched a pillow up and smacked Lee with it.
Tala and Kai smirked, as a mini pillow fight broke out.
~*~
Mariah was just opening her room door, when she heard, "I'm going back to the house to check on Bryan and the others. Are you coming with me?" The voices sounded familiar, and she peeked out to see who the speakers were.
Kai and Tala stood waiting for the elevator to arrive; they didn't see the interested pair of eyes peering at them.
"No, Rei says, he and Lee promised to take Mariah shopping today. It seems Mr. D. gave each White Tiger a BBA credit card and told them to buy whatever they wanted. I hope he put a limit on Mariah and Kevin, because I don't know how they'd handle carte blanche."
Mariah glowered at the bluenette and stuck her tongue out at him.
Tala snickered, earning him a glare as well. The elevator 'pinged' and the doors opened to reveal an empty car. "Have fun." Tala grinned at his boyfriend, before giving him a quick kiss and entering the car.
Kai waited for the doors to close, before snorting, "Right, fun. More like crowd control." Then, he headed back down to Room 812.
"Just you wait, Kai." Mariah muttered, as she exited her room. "Crowd control, indeed."
~*~
Rei groaned, as Mariah piled another bag into his already overloaded arms; Kai and Lee were similarly weighed down. It had seemed to him, that Mariah had taken peculiar delight in burying Kai under packages. This had been going on for four hours and he was about ready to drop everything and run for the hills!
Compare to her, he, Kai and Lee hadn't spent a thing!
Finally, Lee called a halt to the spending spree and ordered everyone into a small corner cafe to get something to eat and drink before heading back to the hotel.
Sighing with relief, Rei dropped his burden and eased into a chair. Lee and Mariah both excused themselves to go to the restroom. Kai eyed him from across the table. "Tired?"
"Yeah," Rei replied, as he flipped open the menu, "I wasn't born to be a pack mule."
"Well," Kai said dryly, "you've got the stubborn part down, but your ears aren't long enough; and you're short a leg." It was worth the smack in the head for the double take Rei gave him; one like that came few and far between.
~*~
Back at the hotel, the three boys dropped Mariah's packages down on her bed with grateful hearts. Lee rubbed his aching arms and bowed to the bed. "Thank you for volunteering to take up the burden. My arms thank you and so does my aching back!" He said, factiously.
Kai and Rei laughed. Mariah didn't. She shooed them from her room, closing the door firmly behind them.
~*~
Kai pulled out a small package from one of his bags. He and Lee had found these in the second store they had gone to and as soon as they had seen items, they just had to get them for Rei.
"Rei," he said quietly getting the tiger's attention. He held out the package. "For you."
"Me?" Rei smiled, as he took it and began to open it. Lee drifted over, sat next to Kai and smiled, "Hope you like it."
Tossing the wrapping aside, Rei opened the small shirt box, and gasped. Inside he found a tiny white tiger playsuit: complete with attached mittens, feet and tail. Plus it had a little cap with tiny black tipped ears. And there was also an equally tiny lion playsuit.
Speechless, Rei lifted the tiny tiger suit out and turned it this way and that to view it from all sides. He ran the tail between his fingers and stroked the tiny ears.
"It's . . .it's beautiful." He breathed. His eyes began to pool and he dropped the garment to dash to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.
"Hormones." Lee sighed, as he rose to retrieve the playsuit. He turned his head and smiled, "I'm glad we found these, they're perfect for the kitten."
"Lee! Kai!"
Kai's head shot up, and Lee spun so fast, he almost fell down. Mariah stood in the open doorway, her mouth hanging open.
~*~
"Oh, tiger claws! Lee and the others must have taken it with them!" Mariah hissed, as she surveyed the piles of clothes, jewelry and other items. "The bag with Mother's bracelets simply isn't here! I'll have to go get it." She peered at her new wristwatch. "I better go now, before they decide to go somewhere."
She hurried to the door, snatching up her room key. A minute's brisk walk brought her to Lee's room, as she raised her hand to knock, she noticed that it wasn't shut all the way. Shaking her head, at someone's carelessness, she began to ease the door open.
". . . They're perfect for the kitten."
"Lee! Kai!"
~*~
One moment Mariah was standing in the door, the next she was a pink streak shooting across the room and attacking Kai, going for his eyes with her nails.
"You bastard! How dare you cheat on Lee with Tala! I saw you kissing that redheaded . . ."
"Mariah!" Lee shouted, as Kai tried to keep her from reaching his face. 'Where the hell did she get the idea that he and Kai were . . .'
"I'll scratch your eyes out! I heard Lee talking back in China about a kitten! I didn't know he meant he was having yours!" Mariah screamed, as she pummeled Kai with her fists.
"Mariah!" Lee grabbed her around the waist and pried her away from the Russian. Rei shot out of the bathroom attracted by the noise. "It isn't what you think! The kitten isn't . . ."
"Kai! Kai!" Ian burst through the door at that moment. The short Russian's chest heaved up and down, as he panted out his message. "You and Rei need to get to the hospital quick! Max is in the emergency room! He's had an accident!"
~*~
Ok, this chapter's over and I have to say I'm glad. I simply hated writing the beginning of this chapter. Doing something that cruel to Bryan even if he is a pain is against my nature. A spanking like that will turn the muscles in your ass to mush, making sitting a painful proposition.
Ok, the food came from Sarabeth's at the Whitney, which also has a place in the Wales.
Goldie Lox: scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and cream cheese.
Four Flowers juice: a special blend of banana, pineapple, orange and pomegranate juice.
Subtitle: Murphy's Law
Rating: PG-13
Pairs: Rei/Bryan, Kai/Tala, Spencer/Ian, Tyson/Max and various other pairings
Note: Know what they say about Murphy's Law; well we're about to prove it. Mariah sees Kai kissing Tala, then later when Lee and Kai give a present of baby clothes to Rei; she overhears the tail end of a conversation and misunderstands. In a rage, she attacks Kai, accusing him of cheating on a pregnant Lee. Max has an accident.
Additional note: The beginning of this chapter has been one of the toughest things I've written in awhile; it's violent-so be warned. And I'm darn nervous about it. It seems you can take the boys out of the Abbey, but you can't take the Abbey out of the boys.
Disclaimer: Them-all, Me-Zip
~*~
The front door of the Demolition Boys rented home slammed shut, as Tala slowly turned to face his three subordinates, a two-toned shadow at his shoulder. His red hair seemed to crackle with his suppressed fury. "Bryan, to our room, now." The anger in his voice was all the more menacing for its quietness. "Spencer, Ian go to yours as well."
The three vanished as if they had been teleported. When they were out of earshot, Tala murmured, "We can't do anything that will cause bruises, if Rei sees them, he'd get upset."
"Agreed, and I have the perfect solution."
"Then, I will allow you to discipline him."
"As you wish."
~*~
Bryan stood facing the door, with the wall to his back. He kept his face blank, eyes down and his wrists crossed behind his back, a position of discipline back in the Abbey. He didn't look up when the door opened and closed. A soft whisper of feet crossing the carpet reached his ears, but that was all.
In the continuing silence, Bryan had to resist the urge to move, calling upon all the training he had had to keep from looking up and meeting his captain's eyes.
Tala stared at Bryan's posture; knowing that the lilac-haired Russian was thinking of the hours they had all spent in the same position at Boris, Voltaire, or some guard's whim.
"Bryan." He purred, as he stepped so close to the other that he could feel the heat radiating off him. "You promised me that you would leave Rei alone tonight, I'm very disappointed in you."
Bryan remained quiet. Tala reached out and grabbed a handful of lilac silk and pulled Bryan's head up, so that their eyes met. "Who am I?"
"Captain of the Demolition Boys."
"What are you?"
"A Demolition Boy."
"As your captain, what do you owe me?"
"Absolute obedience."
"Did you give it to me tonight?"
"No."
"Is there any excuse for disobedience."
"No."
'As your captain, I've decided to hand the right to discipline you to Kai, captain of the Bladebreakers, since it was one of his team members, you laid hands on; despite being told to leave said team member alone."
Stepping back, Tala nodded to Kai, who bowed and stepped forward. "Do you recall a conversation we had earlier today? One where I told you to not force Rei in any manner."
"Yes."
"Good," Kai said as he sat down on Bryan's bed, and eyed the other youth. "It would cause Rei a great deal of distress, if he were to learn what happens here tonight, you will not tell him. This is a matter between captains, understand?"
"Yes."
"Then strip and come here."
Face blank, Bryan obeyed. Reaching the bed, Kai reached up and yanked him down and over his lap. Holding out his left hand, the bluenette accepted the hairbrush his lover slapped into his palm.
"Count to fifty, Tala."
Bryan tensed, as he waited for the first blow; when it came, he bit the comforter to keep from crying out and he heard Tala say, one. As the blows came at varying intervals it was impossible to set for them. By number fifteen, he was moaning, crying by twenty-five. Number thirty-five had him screaming, and by fifty, he was beyond sounds, all he could do was lie helplessly under the punishment.
At fifty, Tala took Bryan's shuddering body into his arms and lifted him from Kai's lap. Kai rose from the bed and threw the hairbrush in the general direction of the dresser. While Tala cradled his teammate: Kai prepared the bed. When he was finished, Tala laid Bryan down and cringed, when he whimpered. Drawing up the bedclothes to cover the boy, Tala and Kai left the room and went downstairs.
They spent the night holding each other; lost in thoughts of regret.
~*~
At Bryan's first cry, Ian crawled onto Spencer's lap and shivered. Wordlessly, the large blonde held his tiny lover and rocked him slowly, tears sliding silently down his face. Too many ghosts, too many memories crowded his mind to allow him to rest, so he spent the night cradling his world to his chest and wishing for the luxury of dreamless sleep.
~*~
Promptly at nine the next morning a cab deposited Kai and Tala outside the Wales Hotel. The pair gazed for a few moments at the building. "Hmm, Mr. Dickenson sure did right by the White Tigers, didn't he." Tala observed.
"I asked him to find them something that was upper scale, but not ostentatious; no need to make them uncomfortable." Kai replied, as they paused outside the entrance.
"Getting soft in your old age?" Tala asked, then ducked as Kai took a swing at him with Rei's bag. Laughing, the redhead opened the door and entered. Kai smiled slightly and followed.
~*~
Five minutes later, they stood outside Room 812. Nodding to Tala, Kai knocked and the door opened to reveal a casually dressed Lee and a smiling Rei wearing a plush white robe. As Lee stepped back to allow his visitors to enter, Rei pounced on Kai, snatching the bag from him.
As the tiger dropped the bag on the foot of the rumpled bed and began to yank out the contents, both Kai and Tala scrutinized him for any signs of anxiety or trauma. But, aside for a little puffiness around his eyes: Rei looked happy. As the lively sprite bounced off to the bathroom, Lee cleared his throat and brought the other captain's attention to him.
"Care to have a seat, it'll take Rei some time to get changed, so we might as well get comfortable; while we're waiting."
Kai and Tala nodded, then both crossed the room and sat down in the leather chairs in front of the windows. Once he was comfortably settled, Kai nodded toward the closed bathroom door. "How . . ."
Lee sat down on the foot of the bed and shrugged. "Not too bad. He had a few restless moments and whimpered a couple of times, but other than that, not bad." He turned to look at Tala. "What about Bryan?"
Tala's eyes darkened. "Bryan is currently scrubbing every surface in the house that isn't covered with cloth or carpet, or too delicate for it with a toothbrush. It should take the rest of the day." It was a small lie, but Lee didn't need to know that the truth was; Bryan was ensconced in bed and being waited on hand and foot by Ian and Spencer.
Lee's jaw hit the floor. "Tala!"
The Russian shook his head. "I told him to leave Rei alone, he disobeyed, and this is his punishment."
Lee just stared at him.
"Forget about it, Lee. Let's concentrate on the really important. The tournament begins in two days and we need to decide do we tell Bryan before or after it." Kai said, glancing at Tala and facing Lee. "Did Rei give you any specifics on what happened last night?"
"Yes, but only because I asked." Lee ran a hand over his face, "Bryan surprised him in the bathroom; and pinned him against a sink, then kissed him." Lee sighed. "Rei said, that if it hadn't been for the fact, Bryan's hands started wandering; he would probably have laid with him right there on the tiles! As it was, Bryan touched their kitten; and that woke him out of his haze. And well, you heard him last night, he stomped on Bryan's instep and escaped."
Kai and Tala both nodded. "So," Lee continued, "How are we going to work this? Do we use the straight approach? Sit Bryan down and tell him that in roughly six and a half months; he's going to a father."
"Want to help tie Bryan down first." Tala said, bluntly. "You tell him that he's got a kid coming and he's going to go berserk." Startled, Lee's mouth dropped open. "Are you serious!"
"Very serious." the redhead replied, "Lee, you know very little about us and the hell we've gone through. Kai knows, but even he doesn't know everything. Rei knows some of it, but he'll never know all of it, because Bryan will never tell him." Tala paused, leaned forward and held out a hand to Kai, who leaned over and grasped it. Turning his head, Tala met Kai's knowing eyes and sighed, then he turned back to Lee: who shivered under that glowing regard.
"When we were prisoners of the Abbey, we had no control over anything – not even our own bodies." Tala whispered, "Sometimes, we were forced to service the guards; usually as a punishment for some infraction." His eyes grew distance; as he remembered things; he'd rather forget. Kai rose and went to stand by him, drawing him close with an arm around his shoulders.
Lee swallowed hard against the bile rising in his throat. He wanted to get up and flee the room, so he wouldn't hear anymore. But, he forced himself to sit and listen.
Kai looked down at Tala with concern: then he knelt and gently took Tala's face between his hands and kissed him. The embrace helped to draw Tala back to the here and now. He blinked at Kai, then nodded his thanks. Raising his eyes, he met Lee's sick ones and smiled grimly.
"Enough about that." Tala said, leaning back in his seat and dismissing the ghosts of his past. "Lee, I'm only telling you this, so you'll understand when I say, that once Bryan knows of Rei's condition; the tiger isn't going to able to take a piss without Bryan following him to the bathroom."
"Oh, Ancestors, not one of those!" Lee groaned, "I've got a cousin that was like that. The first time his wife got pregnant, you'd have thought no one had ever had a kitten before. He had to control every . . . thing . . ." Lee's voice trailed off, his eyes slowly growing large. "Control."
The phoenix and wolf stared at the lion, as the White Tiger captain got to his feet and began to pace. Lee continued to talk to himself. "Control- that's the key. Bryan needs to control, because he doesn't know any other way. The dominant controls the submissive; but Rei is no real submissive and resents Bryan's attempts at dominance. So, how do we make them equal?"
"Neutral ground." Tala said promptly, "Someplace, where they can really talk to each other."
"Central Park." Kai said, suddenly. "Rei's calmest, when he's surrounded by nature. We could take them to a corner of the park and keep other people away, while they talk."
"Sounds good to me." Tala said, looking over at Lee, who nodded.
"All right, then we'll take them there right after the tournament." Kai decreed; relieved that a solution had been found, now all they had to do was wait.
At the other end of the room, the bathroom door opened and Rei emerged; ready to face the day.
"I'm going to order room service, does anyone want anything?" Rei asked, as he headed over to a desk and opened a drawer, pulling out a sheet of paper, a pen and a menu. He held out the items to Lee, who took them and sitting began studying the menu.
As he was doing that, Rei eyed Tala and sighed, "All right Tal, what did you do to Bryan?"
"Your lover is currently learning the joys of cleaning house with a toothbrush. I gave Spencer and Ian very clear orders that they were to keep him at it, no matter how much he bitched." Tala replied blandly, as he took the paper items and pen from Lee; the lie coming easier with each retelling.
"And that's all you did." Rei waited for an answer, but Tala ignored him in favor of dealing with choosing breakfast; before handing off to Kai.
"Tala."
"Rei, that's enough. Tala isn't going to tell you, so leave it alone." Kai ordered. The cat-boy glared at the two Russians, but didn't say anything else. He just took the pad from Kai and walked away, his braid swishing like an angry tail.
Lee eyed him as he stalked pass, and sighed.
~*~
"That's right, we want three 'Goldie Lox', two with a pumpkin muffin, one with a banana muffin, one apple cinnamon French toast, five glasses of Four flowers juice and three coffees. Yes, that's Room 812, thank you." Hanging up the phone he turned and announced, "Breakfast will be up in about fifteen minutes."
"All right," he said, as he walked over and shoved Lee further down the bed. "What are the three of you plotting?"
"A trip to Central Park." Lee grinned at him. "I'm sure you can find a tree or two you'd like to climb." Huffing indignantly, Rei leaned back and snatched a pillow up and smacked Lee with it.
Tala and Kai smirked, as a mini pillow fight broke out.
~*~
Mariah was just opening her room door, when she heard, "I'm going back to the house to check on Bryan and the others. Are you coming with me?" The voices sounded familiar, and she peeked out to see who the speakers were.
Kai and Tala stood waiting for the elevator to arrive; they didn't see the interested pair of eyes peering at them.
"No, Rei says, he and Lee promised to take Mariah shopping today. It seems Mr. D. gave each White Tiger a BBA credit card and told them to buy whatever they wanted. I hope he put a limit on Mariah and Kevin, because I don't know how they'd handle carte blanche."
Mariah glowered at the bluenette and stuck her tongue out at him.
Tala snickered, earning him a glare as well. The elevator 'pinged' and the doors opened to reveal an empty car. "Have fun." Tala grinned at his boyfriend, before giving him a quick kiss and entering the car.
Kai waited for the doors to close, before snorting, "Right, fun. More like crowd control." Then, he headed back down to Room 812.
"Just you wait, Kai." Mariah muttered, as she exited her room. "Crowd control, indeed."
~*~
Rei groaned, as Mariah piled another bag into his already overloaded arms; Kai and Lee were similarly weighed down. It had seemed to him, that Mariah had taken peculiar delight in burying Kai under packages. This had been going on for four hours and he was about ready to drop everything and run for the hills!
Compare to her, he, Kai and Lee hadn't spent a thing!
Finally, Lee called a halt to the spending spree and ordered everyone into a small corner cafe to get something to eat and drink before heading back to the hotel.
Sighing with relief, Rei dropped his burden and eased into a chair. Lee and Mariah both excused themselves to go to the restroom. Kai eyed him from across the table. "Tired?"
"Yeah," Rei replied, as he flipped open the menu, "I wasn't born to be a pack mule."
"Well," Kai said dryly, "you've got the stubborn part down, but your ears aren't long enough; and you're short a leg." It was worth the smack in the head for the double take Rei gave him; one like that came few and far between.
~*~
Back at the hotel, the three boys dropped Mariah's packages down on her bed with grateful hearts. Lee rubbed his aching arms and bowed to the bed. "Thank you for volunteering to take up the burden. My arms thank you and so does my aching back!" He said, factiously.
Kai and Rei laughed. Mariah didn't. She shooed them from her room, closing the door firmly behind them.
~*~
Kai pulled out a small package from one of his bags. He and Lee had found these in the second store they had gone to and as soon as they had seen items, they just had to get them for Rei.
"Rei," he said quietly getting the tiger's attention. He held out the package. "For you."
"Me?" Rei smiled, as he took it and began to open it. Lee drifted over, sat next to Kai and smiled, "Hope you like it."
Tossing the wrapping aside, Rei opened the small shirt box, and gasped. Inside he found a tiny white tiger playsuit: complete with attached mittens, feet and tail. Plus it had a little cap with tiny black tipped ears. And there was also an equally tiny lion playsuit.
Speechless, Rei lifted the tiny tiger suit out and turned it this way and that to view it from all sides. He ran the tail between his fingers and stroked the tiny ears.
"It's . . .it's beautiful." He breathed. His eyes began to pool and he dropped the garment to dash to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.
"Hormones." Lee sighed, as he rose to retrieve the playsuit. He turned his head and smiled, "I'm glad we found these, they're perfect for the kitten."
"Lee! Kai!"
Kai's head shot up, and Lee spun so fast, he almost fell down. Mariah stood in the open doorway, her mouth hanging open.
~*~
"Oh, tiger claws! Lee and the others must have taken it with them!" Mariah hissed, as she surveyed the piles of clothes, jewelry and other items. "The bag with Mother's bracelets simply isn't here! I'll have to go get it." She peered at her new wristwatch. "I better go now, before they decide to go somewhere."
She hurried to the door, snatching up her room key. A minute's brisk walk brought her to Lee's room, as she raised her hand to knock, she noticed that it wasn't shut all the way. Shaking her head, at someone's carelessness, she began to ease the door open.
". . . They're perfect for the kitten."
"Lee! Kai!"
~*~
One moment Mariah was standing in the door, the next she was a pink streak shooting across the room and attacking Kai, going for his eyes with her nails.
"You bastard! How dare you cheat on Lee with Tala! I saw you kissing that redheaded . . ."
"Mariah!" Lee shouted, as Kai tried to keep her from reaching his face. 'Where the hell did she get the idea that he and Kai were . . .'
"I'll scratch your eyes out! I heard Lee talking back in China about a kitten! I didn't know he meant he was having yours!" Mariah screamed, as she pummeled Kai with her fists.
"Mariah!" Lee grabbed her around the waist and pried her away from the Russian. Rei shot out of the bathroom attracted by the noise. "It isn't what you think! The kitten isn't . . ."
"Kai! Kai!" Ian burst through the door at that moment. The short Russian's chest heaved up and down, as he panted out his message. "You and Rei need to get to the hospital quick! Max is in the emergency room! He's had an accident!"
~*~
Ok, this chapter's over and I have to say I'm glad. I simply hated writing the beginning of this chapter. Doing something that cruel to Bryan even if he is a pain is against my nature. A spanking like that will turn the muscles in your ass to mush, making sitting a painful proposition.
Ok, the food came from Sarabeth's at the Whitney, which also has a place in the Wales.
Goldie Lox: scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and cream cheese.
Four Flowers juice: a special blend of banana, pineapple, orange and pomegranate juice.