Octavio clasped his lover's hand tightly as he was led to who knows where. Elliott had told him he had a surprise for him and refused to give any more information than that. He couldn't help but be excited. The trickster had rented a car for the occasion and they'd driven to the outskirts of the city. That was a surprise in itself. It was well known throughout the compound that Elliott hated driving, especially in the city, and was more than happy to take advantage of the chauffeur services offered to legends to get them to and from events or meetings. On this occasion, he'd insisted on driving, stating he just wanted them to be alone today. How could Octavio argue with that? The previous few weeks had been extremely trying for them as a couple, as Elliott adjusted to his new medication. It wasn't easy, and the trickster wasn't particularly happy to be, in his words, "stuck sitting on the bench", when in reality he was simply placed on medical leave from the games. However, things had begun to settle down for them and Elliott was now looking forward to getting back to work, opting to use his last weekend off to plan a day out for the two of them.

"Can you tell me where we're going now?", Octavio asked, being forced to a stop for perhaps the tenth time, to allow his lover to readjust the blindfold that was continuously slipping off his face. They were walking somewhere, but he couldn't even begin to fathom where. Elliott tightened the scarf he was using to obscure the speedster's vision again, before taking his hand in his own and placing the other on the small of the younger legend's back, leading him again.

"Have a little patience, babe. We're almost there."

They walked another short distance, until Octavio felt a pair of firm hands on his shoulders, guiding him to a halt.

"Okay, are you ready?", the trickster asked, hands sliding up from his love's shoulders to begin undoing the blindfold.

Octavio's legs began to twitch with anticipation, as the soft fabric fell away from his face. His eyes took an aggravatingly long time to adjust to the early evening sun, mouth falling open to let out a small, but excited gasp when he realised where they were.

"Paintballing?!"

"Yeah", Elliott chuckled softly, returning his scarf to its rightful place, around his neck. "What'd'ya think? You up for it?"

"I think I should be asking you that question, amor. You're going down."

"Oh, am I now? Are those the terms we're setting on?", the trickster mused, as the pair made their way towards the kiosk. "Loser goes down?"

Octavio couldn't help but grin back at him.

"Alright, Witt. You're on."

Octavio surveyed the mini "area" in front of him. The ground was covered in sand, with various half walls and hay bales scattered around to be used as cover. He jumped about on the spot, impatiently turning back to face his partner who was only half dressed in the protective clothing they'd been given, his full focus on his phone.

"Elliott", the speedster sighed. "Mira, if that's something work related I won't need these paintballs to kick that perfect ass."

The holo-technician looked up, smiling shyly at him, shoving the device into his pocket before continuing to pull the protective garments over his own clothes.

"It's just mom", he said, pulling his bag of paintballs onto his shoulder. "She, um...just wants to know how t-things are going."

"Things?", Octavio questioned, holding the gate to the playzone open as the pair made their way into the mock arena.

"Y'know with the...meds and stuff".

"Oh. I...didn't know you told her."

Octavio was genuinely surprised that Elliott had chosen to open up about his mental struggles to his mother. He knew they were close but he also knew Elliott never shared any details that may worry the woman too much.

"I, uh, called her a few days ago", he began, rubbing the back of his neck. "Figured she ought to know her only son was on the verge of becoming a full time resident of the cuckoo's nest. I owe her that much, at least."

The awkward laugh that followed bothered Octavio to no end.

"Elliott…"

"Hey. It's...fine, okay?", the trickster assured, though neither of them knew if it was for Octavio's sake or his own. "Now. You wanna get covered in paint or not?"

This type of activity was right up Octavio's street. Being outside, on a nice summer evening where one of the main objectives was running was perfect for him. Much better than a fancy restaurant or stuffy movie theater. It was a nice change of pace from the typical games they were part of. Although, it didn't stop Elliott from getting up to his trickster ways. On more than one occasion he managed to sneak up on speedster without him even noticing and splatter him with paint, only to disappear again a few moments later, expertly using the various covers to his advantage. However, as the game began to drag on, he became more careless with his hiding spots and often gave himself away by snickering whenever Octavio walked past him. He'd originally planned this outing solely with Octavio's interests in mind, but it was turning out to be a lot more fun than he'd originally thought it would be.

They spent the next hour or so trying to outwit each other and splatter each other in paint. Octavio couldn't help but take the game a little seriously, especially now there was a tempting prize on the line. He'd been doing well so far, despite Elliott's attempts to play mind games. The trickster had landed some pretty decent shots on him but ultimately, the game was in Octavio's hands. Elliott may have been stronger, but Octavio was faster and it easily tilted the odds in his favour. Especially now, as the game was beginning to come to an end and he hounded his lover like he was prey, wanting to get a couple more shots on him to solidify his win. Elliott almost made it too easy, as he slipped about on the sand as he ran, eventually losing his footing as he rounded a corner, collapsing in a heap on the ground.

"Okay...I surrender. You win", he panted, rolling over onto his back, as he lover came to hover over him, a triumphant smile on his face.

"You surrender?", he mocked, playfully. "What's the thing you always say? Quitting is for losers and since you've already lost…".

"I'm also out of balls", Elliott chuckled, reaching a hand out towards his partner. "Be a gent and help your beloved boyfriend up, would you?"

Octavio grinned at him as he took his hand and began hauling him up, his smile quickly turning to a look of shock, as a paintball was smashed over his head. He could just about make out his lover dashing away and cackling with delight, as blue paint trickled from his hair down to his cheeks.

"Elliott!" he yelled after him, but he couldn't help but laugh as he watched his boyfriend stop to do a little victory dance, as he began to gloat.

"Guess who doesn't even need holo-gear to trick, ya? That's right. Me. Master of decep-decept...Fooling people! The crowd loves him. No one's safe. Not even- ahhhh."

It was Octavio's turn to cackle now, as he watched the trickster pull his protective goggles off and toss them to the side. They were now covered in bright yellow paint, along with most of his face.

"And Anita's been telling me my aim is off", he sneered.

"You little...You're in for it now!"

The speedster couldn't have ran away if he tried. His sides ached from laughing so hard, allowing Elliott to quickly catch up to him and playfully push him into a pile of hay.

"Has anyone ever told you yellow's a great colour on you?", he giggled, as the trickster lay down next to him. He smiled softly at his lover, wiping some of the blue paint from the younger legend's cheeks, with his thumb.

"Blue doesn't look half bad on you either."

"I've always been more a green fan", Octavio grinned. "It's a shame they didn't give us any."

"I guess we'll just have to make our own", Elliott replied, moving his thumb downwards and running it teasingly over his partner's lips before, leaning down and kissing him deeply. Octavio sighed happily into the touch, running his hands down his lover's back, the gesture causing the trickster to pull away with a shy smile, reminding him that they were still in public.

After toweling off as much paint as possible, which turned out to be a lot more difficult than they originally thought, the pair walked back to their car, hand in hand. It was now early evening and the carpark was close to empty, with any remaining patrons packing up to go home, leaving the space deserted. Elliott felt a pleasant sense of tranquility, as they walked. If the last few weeks had taught him anything it was to treasure moments like this, and to ultimately take better care of his partner. Octavio could have easily dumped his sorry ass a long time ago but he didn't. He felt incredibly lucky that Octavio chose to spend his days by his side despite everything, and how the biggest worry on the speedster's mind right now, was what they were going to eat.

"Someone's worked up an appetite", Elliott teased his boyfriend, who was now clutching his stomach after it had let out a particularly loud rumble. He couldn't stop himself from laughing at his partner who nodded vigorously, as his stomach continued to gurgle.

"Good thing I bought snacks".

"Why, do I feel like I'm in highschool again?", Elliott mused, as he climbed into the back seat, raising an eyebrow at his boyfriend who was already making quick work of the snacks.

"Did you spend a lot of time in the backseats of cars, during highschool?", Octavio chuckled, as his lover settled down next to him.

"I did actually. But it was more because I was never cool enough to ride shotgun."

"I think you're cool enough", Octavio began, running a tantalising finger down the other man's chest. "You can ride my shotgun any day of the week."

"Jeez, and people say my jokes are bad", Elliott elbowed him playfully, before digging through the snacks, settling on a bag of popcorn, for himself.

"Can't blame a guy for trying", the speedster smirked, as he laid back into the seat. "The back seat of a car in an empty parking lot seems like the perfect opportunity to have a little...fun."

The trickster continued to munch on his popcorn, running one hand thoughtfully over his bearded chin, as if considering his partner's words.

"Alright", he grinned, moving to sit cross legged on the seat, allowing him to face the other. "Truth or dare."

Octavio peered over at his boyfriend, expecting him to be joking but he looked deadly serious.

"You're really trying to live out this highschool fantasy, aren't you?", he quipped, but decided to humour him. "But I get to go first. Truth or dare?"

"Truth".

"Of course you'd have to pick the boring one", Octavio smirked, adjusting his position so he could face his partner, also. "Hmmm...Okay. How did you lose your virginity?"

Elliott furrowed his brows as he considered the question, looking at his lover with a confused look on his face.

"What do you mean, how did I lose it? You were there."

The space between them fell silent, as an insatiable heat flooded to the speedster's cheeks.

"W-what?"

It was only when the trickster's ruse was broken by quiet laughter, did Octavio realise what was happening, causing him to blush even harder.

"Aw, sweetie. The look on your face was so priceless".

"Vete a la mierda. I hate you", Octavio pouted, punching his partner lightly on the arm, as he continued to laugh at him.

"Okay, okay. If you must know, it was with this girl I was kind of dating."

"What was her name?"

"Kelly. I think she ended up getting married to some guy from Tristen. A lot of people came here when everything started going to shit there. I'm pretty sure she has kids and everything now."

"And how was it?"

Elliott smirked at the younger legend.

"Are you asking if she was better than you?"

"No. I already know the answer to that", Octavio grinned back at him, causing his partner to laugh.

"It was...fine. Nothing amazing but it wasn't bad either. She was a nice girl."

"How old were you?"

"Twenty one."

"Interesting."

"How did you lose yours?" Elliott asked, only to receive an innocent smile in return.

"I don't remember picking truth. I pick dare."

"Alright", Elliott sighed, looking around the vehicle for inspiration, his gaze landing on the pack of spicy tortilla chips and strawberry lace candies, Octavio had already half eaten. He pulled out one of each, before passing them to his lover.

"I dare you to eat both of these at the same time."

Octavio chuckled at the request.

"Calm down, Elliott. We don't wanna get arrested for doing anything too crazy."

His partner looked at him expectantly, as he shoved both items into his mouth and began to chew.

"It doesn't even taste that bad. Kinda good actually."

"You wanna see something cool?", Elliott asked, plucking one of the strawberry laces from the pack. Octavio watched with great interest as the trickster placed half of the candy in his mouth, only to pull it back out a few seconds later, proudly displaying the knot he had tied.

"Impressive. Has anyone ever told you, you have quite the talented tongue?"

The trickster smiled coyly back at him.

"Maybe."

"Okay my turn!", the speedster announced, taking a mouthful of soda before continuing. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare".

"Oh, he wants to live on the wild side now. I like that", Octavio spoke, a teasing tone to his voice. "I dare you to kiss me."

Elliott feigned offense at the request, putting on a mock deep voice.

"I don't know, man. That seems kinda gay. I don't want my football coach to find out."

"I won't tell anybody", Octavio hummed, placing a hand on each of the trickster's shoulders.

He spread his legs as best as he possibly could, in the confined space, encouraging his partner to follow him, as he lay back on the seat. Elliott felt deliciously warm as he situated himself on top of him, propping himself on one elbow to support his weight, while using his free hand to cup the younger legend's cheek, as he leaned downwards. Octavio could only describe the sensation as electricity coursing through his veins, as their lips met, the sparks nipping and biting at him in the most pleasant way possible. He couldn't compare it anything else. Not even the adrenaline he got from his stunts, gave him a better high than being with Elliott. He sighed contently when the trickster pulled away, their eyes meeting as he brushed the stray curls out of his boyfriend's face.

"Dios mío, I'm so hopelessly in love with you, Elliott."

It still sometimes baffled him as to why, anyone could love him as much as the speedster claimed to. Yet, his words made Elliott feel safe, perhaps even a little emotional, as smiled warmly at the love of his life.

"Hey, being the hopeless romantic is my thing. Stop coming for my brand."

He ran a gentle thump across his partner's slightly swollen lips before continuing.

"But, I love you more than I can even begin to understand. I'd do anything for you."

Octavio heeded the trickster's words, a coy smile making its way onto his face.

"It's funny you should say that, amor. I was kind of hoping I could have my prize for winning the paintball now."

Elliott's eyes seemed to sparkle with a wicked essence, as he listened to the request, dipping his face lower to place a series of searing kisses to his lover's neck. He winked at his partner as he began to tug away his shorts. Octavio may have beaten him in paintball but, there were some activities that Elliott Witt could not be bested at. This was one of them.