Gordon is my boi, so naturally I'm going to torture him the most xD. Hands off, Kayo!
Chapter 20.
Gordon didn't share his brothers doubts about his dancing ability.
His style was maybe a little unorthodox, but what he lacked in rhythm he more than made up for in enthusiasm.
That was one of the main reasons why he'd selected Rio as his destination. Samba dancing had numerous interpretations and was renowned for being impromptu in nature, meaning that you were safe so long as you were lively.
"Have you tried samba before?" Gordon asked, swaying his hips to a beat that was emanating from a bar slightly further up the beach.
Kayo tilted her head in interest, "No, but I'll try anything once. What do you have to do?"
Gordon shrugged and continued to bop on the spot, "Not much, just kind of go with the flow. It's mostly forward and backward steps interspersed with hip movements," the aquanaut pointed to a group of garishly dressed young women swaying away with drinks in their hands, "Like them!"
Kayo raised a dubious eyebrow, "Not sure if they're sambaing or just plain drunk. Speaking of which, can we grab some refreshments? I'm parched."
Always excited by the prospect of food and/or drink, Gordon nodded and led the way towards a stall offering fresh coconut water. The man behind the counter was portly and had the look of someone who knew how to weed out potential customers, "Hey, amigo! You and your lady friend are thirsty? We have lots of fresh coconut here, very good for you, yes! You pay one hundred reals for two coconuts, and your friend Carlos here will add a special local twist completely free of charge! We have a deal, yes?"
"Deal!" Gordon beamed, slamming down the money. Kayo quickly did the maths and rolled her eyes upon realising that the aquanaut had just paid nearly twenty dollars for two coconuts they could have quite easily picked themselves.
Gullible guppy.
Any suspicion Kayo was feeling increased when she realised that Carlos seemed to be taking an awfully long time to prepare the drinks. She cringed when a bead of sweat ran down the vendor's face and fell into the coconut he was opening, making a mental note to offer that particular one to Gordon.
"Here you go, my friends!" Carlos exclaimed with a freakishly wide grin, sliding the coconuts across the counter with a grunt, "Now, you make sure to come back to Carlos if you get thirsty later, yes? I give you a favourable rate you not find anywhere else in Rio! Happy dancing!"
"Thanks, pal!" Gordon smiled and eagerly seized his coconut before leading Kayo back up the beach, oblivious to the sweat he was guzzling.
Kayo took a tentative sip of her own coconut and was pleasantly surprised at the refreshing taste that spread around her mouth. It had a slightly limey edge to it, and was sweet without being overpowering. Carlos may have looked, acted (and smelt) a bit shady, but he certainly knew how to make a good drink.
"Woohoo! I'm getting another!" Gordon announced as he tipped his head back and drained the last few drops into his mouth, "That was deeeelicious!"
"Grab me another one too," Kayo ordered, savouring the invigorating flavour as it slid down her throat.
"F.A.B!" Gordon affirmed with a wink, before trotting back to the grinning Carlos.
-x-
Meanwhile, some serious adventuring was afoot back on Tracy island.
"Should we really be doing this?" John asked doubtfully, casting a worried glance over his shoulder, "It seems like a complete violation of privacy and trust."
"Not to mention ridiculously dangerous," Alan added, making sure he was well behind all three of his brothers as they padded along the upstairs hallway, "Can't we raid Grandma's room instead?"
At the front of the pack, Scott paused and shook his head in irritation, "Alan, this might be our last opportunity to see the inside of Kayo's room. To go where no man, at least as far as I know, has gone before. Aren't you even a little curious?"
Alan fiddled with the sleeves of his jumper nervously, "Well…yeah, a little I guess. But what if she realises we've been in there? She'll skin us and use our hides to make a new purse."
Scott tapped the side of his head with an index finger, "I've already disabled all of the security cameras in this part of the house, so she'll have no footage to use as evidence at our trial. Also, do I have to remind you that we have John? He's got a memory like a supercomputer, plus he's as neat as a pin. He can do a visual sweep of Kayo's room once we're inside, then make sure everything is left in order before we leave."
Alan turned towards the redhead to assess his feelings on the situation. Much to his surprise, John seemed to be in a cooperative mood.
"Scott's right, Alan. We mustn't turn down the opportunity to gather intel on a colleague. Just keep telling yourself that it's all in the name of science," John reassured, throwing his youngest brother a smile.
Alan very much doubted that. His little antennae were telling him that the other three were more concerned with getting revenge on Kayo for the various traumas they'd suffered as a result of her 'experiment'. The five thousand dollar hole in Scott's credit card, Virgil's brush with hypothermia and John's killer hangover had all yet to be avenged.
Alan could have quite easily added his blistered backside to the list, but wasn't willing to do anything that might jeopardise the silver medal he was currently clutching. If Kayo came home early and found him pawing around in her wardrobe, his chances of emerging from the competition with a medal of any colour would shrivel up and die alongside the ounce of pride he still had left.
"We'll need someone on lookout duty," Virgil informed, twisting around to glance at Alan as Scott picked the lock to Kayo's room, "If you're too chicken to come inside, then that can be your job."
Alan sighed. He was desperate to not do anything that might endanger his score, however as always, the urge to mimic his brothers was strong.
"Alright, fine!" Alan hissed, scowling as Scott finally managed to click the door open.
"They shouldn't be back for at least another couple of hours," John informed as he followed Virgil into the unknown, "But give us a signal if we have to leave quickly."
Alan's scowl practically split his face in half, "Yeah, the signal will be me locking you all in and then celebrating my ascension to first place."
"Careful," Scott warned, poking his head back around the door, "Or the only ascension you'll experience is the one-way kind."
Alan tried desperately to channel his inner frustration into imaging what Scott's head would look like shaved.
-x-
Meanwhile, back in Rio, the party was just getting started.
Brightly coloured dancers had materialised seemingly out of nowhere, and had started up a lively samba sequence in the middle of the beach Gordon and Kayo were on. Music thrummed out of a pair of huge loudspeakers someone had set up in the boot of their car, accompanied by the chants and whistles of the locals as they closed up their stalls and took to the sand to party.
Thunderbird Four had drawn the attention of several children who had paddled out to take a closer look at the yellow submarine, however the majority of the beach's attention seemed to be on the glittering dancers and spirited beat of the samba drums.
Unfortunately, Gordon's own attention was firmly fixed on the bottom of his third coconut.
As was Kayo's.
"I'll jeesh get 'ush 'shome 'moar…" Gordon slurred as he swayed back over towards Carlos, who already had two fresh drinks waiting for the aquanaut.
Kayo smirked as she sucked the last few drops out of her own empty shell, giggling at the loud slurping sound the straw made. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so light, so happy, so….carefree.
Oh good, Gordon was coming back with a fresh round.
Kayo eagerly seized her fourth coconut from the blond, pecking him on the cheek in gratitude before slurping like a madwoman.
"D'you…wanna 'dansh?" Gordon asked, staggering on the spot slightly as he glugged from his own shell of liquid gold, spilling a healthy amount down the front of his shirt in the process.
"S-Sure thing!" Kayo hiccupped, knocking back her final mouthful before blithely tossing the empty husk over her shoulder. Through her slightly blurred vision, she could just about make out the form of Carlos waving yet another coconut at her.
"L-L-Later!" Gordon slurred, grabbing Kayo's hand and elbowing past several awkwardly jigging tourists. Upon reaching the epicentre of the 'dancefloor', Kayo kicked off her flip flops and called every ounce of coordination to the forefront of her mind as she struck up a lively rhythm in tune with the blaring samba music.
Gordon kicked off his own shoes and followed suit, playfully bouncing his hip against Kayo's as the beat momentarily picked up speed.
Kayo snorted with laughter and grabbed the aquanaut by his shirt collar, before yanking his face closer to hers. She'd had zero success in the smooching department over the last four dates, but that was all about to change…
Before Kayo could identify which part of Gordon's face she was aiming for, a nearby tourist roughly bumped into her. With reflexes that were significantly slower than usual, Kayo absorbed the impact and flopped onto the sand with a surprised giggle, the entire spectacle proving too much for her befuddled senses.
While Thunderbird Shadow's pilot was preoccupied with staggering to her feet, a young dark haired woman took the opportunity to sidle up alongside Gordon. Clearly intrigued by the aquanaut's sandy blond hair and pale complexion, she quickly scanned him up and down before nodding in visible approval at his swimmer's physique.
Kayo's haze of delirious happiness hit a speedbump when the woman, who was obviously a local judging by her obvious samba expertise, started to dance alongside Gordon, expertly swinging her hips in time to the music.
Much to Kayo's fury, Gordon seemed quite happy to play along. He shot his new dance partner a flirtatious smile as he executed a couple of well-timed foot stamps in perfect sync with the drums. Just as Kayo was about to live up to her name and quite literally KO the new arrival, two more woman suddenly materialised and began shamelessly chatting the aquanaut up.
Kayo hissed in anger as she staggered to her feet, swaying slightly when her brain objected to the movement. Deciding to mull over her options for punishing Gordon away from the myriad of bright colours encircling her, Kayo teetered away from the centre of the 'dancefloor' and over towards the welcoming silhouette of one of the palm trees lining the now dark shore.
"Amiga would like another drink, yes?" Carlos yelled from his stall, his sweaty face visible even through the shadows of the night.
Kayo ignored him, placing a hand against her cheek as she lowered herself onto the sand. Deciding that she was suffering from sensory-overload, Kayo began to inhale deeply through her nose, trying desperately to get a slightly firmer grip on her hazy senses.
Nearby, Carlos was busy mixing a drink for one of Gordon's new 'friends'. The 'friend' in question was a long-legged brunette, who was wearing shorts that were far too tight in Kayo's humble opinion.
Kayo watched with interest as Carlos carved the top off a fresh coconut. Her position in the shadows granted her an unobstructed view of what was behind his stall. Carlos had made sure to assemble all of their coconuts underneath the counter, informing them coyly that he didn't want to share his 'grandmother's secret recipe'. Kayo at the time had been more concerned with the prices he was charging, and hadn't given much thought to the actual preparation of their drinks.
The fog clouding Kayo's brain dissipated with a pang of adrenalin as she locked her gaze onto the items Carlos had stashed beneath his counter, safely out of sight.
There could be no mistaking the bottles of Tequila, nets of limes and bags of sugar.
"Holy hell on a Thunderbird…" Kayo muttered as she watched Carlos drain a fresh coconut before surreptitiously pouring a mixture of the aforementioned ingredients into the empty husk, "He's been giving us margaritas!"
That explained the delirious happiness. And the carefreeness. And her willingness to snog Gordon.
They were both as drunk as skunks.
-x-
Scott frowned from his horizontal position on the sofa, "How long do I have to keep this on for, Virg?"
"Not sure," a voice answered from one of the neighbouring sofas, "I think the packet said twenty minutes."
Scott gingerly lifted the slab of cucumber covering his left eye and checked the clock, "Eight minutes to go."
After a very thorough (and educational) tour of Kayo's room, Scott, Virgil and John had selected a handful of items to 'borrow' for 'further analysis'. According to John's definition, 'borrowing' entitled them to effectively steal whatever they wanted under the excuse of not charging Kayo rent, while 'further analysis' meant they were under no obligation to replace what they had stolen, again under the excuse of not charging Kayo rent.
Scott and Virgil, being the rather vain peacocks that they were, had raided Kayo's toiletry bag and had nabbed several containers with nice smelling stuff inside. Closer inspection revealed that they'd abducted three different types of face masks, various nail polishes and a large vat of moisturiser.
"I feel more beautiful already," Scott sighed he as tucked his hands behind his head, oblivious to how ridiculous he looked. After much deliberation, both he and Virgil had selected the 'Charcoal Cleanser' mask from the pile of tubs they'd purloined, smearing a generous amount across each other's faces before ordering John to butcher a cucumber so that they could wear the slices across their eyes.
As the icing on the cake, Virgil had also suggested that they wrap their heads in towel turbans. Scott had agreed without hesitation.
Alan had almost laughed himself into oblivion upon spying his two eldest brothers sprawled in the den with black gunk covering their faces, pieces of cucumber slapped across their eyes and white towels wrapped around their heads. All they needed were matching white bathrobes and they'd been set to join the local Women's Institute.
John meanwhile, had been more selective in his plundering.
Kayo's room had sported a pretty impressive bookshelf, complete with a wide array of publications on everything from astronomy and applied physics, to equine husbandry and horticulture. There had also been a couple of shelves devoted entirely to fiction, but John had ignored those. He'd never been a great lover of anything that wasn't grounded in science.
What had really caught his eye was the sheer number of magazines that Kayo owned.
Ten, twenty…no, at least thirty, and all seemingly about the same thing. Women's fashion, female celebrities, the latest diet trends, how to get revenge on your ex…
John was fascinated. Never before in his life had he encountered such literature.
Drawn to new knowledge like Gordon was to food, the redhead had filled his arms with as many magazines as he could carry, almost breaking his back in the process.
Alan, meanwhile, had been quite prepared to feign ignorance over the entire spectacle. After relinquishing his duty as watchman, the youngest had turned on his heel with the intention of paying the fridge a quick visit…
…only to catch sight of the fluffiest dressing gown he had ever seen hanging from a hook by Kayo's bed.
Alan was a sucker for all things fluffy. Blankets, pillows, slippers…rumour had it that he even had a fluffy seat cover stashed in one of Thunderbird Three's storage lockers.
The desire to mimic his brothers making a rather aggressive and unplanned return, Alan had dawdled for precisely three seconds before scampering into Kayo's room and nabbing the object of his desire, pointedly ignoring Scott's raised eyebrow as he clutched the dressing gown to his chest and scurried off after Virgil and John.
A successful raid if ever there was one.