Disclaimer: I don't own Thunderbirds.
Scott's breath was laboured as he pulled himself back to his feet. Hazel eyes watched him, looking down at him with thinly veiled amusement. Lips, shining a little as the light reflected off of them, twisted into a smirk, and his sister cocked her hip, one hand resting casually on it.
Kayo wasn't breathing hard at all.
"Time for a break?" she offered. Scott huffed at her, insulted and pride a little stung that his stamina was flailing while hers was still going strong.
Too much desk work and not enough time exercising – rescues notwithstanding – was making its presence known, and to Scott's annoyance, not only was Kayo wiping the floor with him, but he also had an audience to witness just how out of practice he was.
"He's getting old, isn't he?" Gordon's stage-whisper carried loud and clear across the gym, and Scott scowled. The agreeing hum from John, down in person to watch his big brother's embarrassing performance, didn't help his mood at all.
"If you don't have anything constructive to say, you can leave," Scott pointed out, finally straightening. "Or you can join in. I'm sure Kayo wouldn't mind more opponents."
John arched an eyebrow at him and deliberately slouched back against the gym wall, broadcasting his lack of interest. As Scott didn't particularly want his infamous post-space clumsiness making itself known, he let that slide.
Gordon, on the other hand, was on thin ice and Scott wasn't going to let him escape.
The fish seemed to sense danger, because he stepped back and raised his hands defensively. "Oh, no," he said, "I wouldn't want to interrupt Kayo kicking your ass."
"Bold of you to assume you're good enough to interrupt," the woman taunted. "Scott might be abysmal today, but at least he's not too much of a coward to try."
That was a backhanded compliment – so backhanded, in fact, that Scott wasn't sure he could really count it as one at all.
"Scott looks like he needs a break," John pointed out; the worst thing was that he wasn't exactly wrong, even though Scott's pride rankled at the idea.
"Whose side are you even on?" Gordon rounded on him, eyes wide and broadcasting sibling betrayal; clearly giving Scott a respite hadn't been part of their shared scheme.
"My own," the ginger said matter-of-factly, and Kayo snorted.
"What did you expect?" she asked Gordon. "You, me, the mat, now. Let's give Scott his much-needed break."
There was no mercy from any quarter today, although with siblings like his, that wasn't particularly surprising – especially when the siblings in question were this trio.
Still, he was the eldest, and little siblings weren't getting the last laugh today.
"You heard her," he told the blond, strolling over to him and pretending that his breathing was far more under control than it actually was. He really needed to get back in practice again. "You're up, Gords."
Amber eyes widened. "In these?" he demanded, gesturing to his typically loud shirt and cut-off jeans. Definitely not training clothes, but Scott wasn't going to let him get out of it that easily.
"What, can't you move in those?" he asked, not giving his brother a moment to digest the words before lunging forwards.
Gordon yelped as he found himself in a headlock. "Gerroff, Scott!" He wriggled futilely, attempting to escape, but Scott knew his brother's tricks too well to get caught out that easily.
"Is there a problem?" he asked mildly, adjusting his grip to prevent the fish from slipping down through his hold. "I thought I was getting old – are you telling me you can't even escape from this?"
"Urgh," Gordon grunted, before his wriggling took on some form of direction, and Scott had to actually put some effort into preventing him from escaping. "Scott!"
Scott was unrelenting, apparently not too exhausted to keep younger brothers under some semblance of control – or at least, to keep Gordon under control.
John, it transpired, was another matter entirely.
The ginger had slipped his mind as soon as he'd shown negative interest in joining in with their training, and maybe Scott was losing his edge, because that was a rookie mistake. John was never predictable.
He was also just as much of an annoying little brother as Gordon, when he wanted to be.
A foot hooked around Scott's ankle without warning, an arm caught his throat in a chokehold that was more performative than choking but still had plenty of momentum behind it, and before he realised what was happening, he was flat on his back, John leaning back up against the wall as though he'd never left and Gordon successfully achieving freedom.
It all went downhill from there, Gordon's outfit apparently no real barrier to some sparring, and already worn out from the bouts against Kayo, Scott couldn't regain the upper hand and and stayed down.
The squid landed on top of him, not utilising any standard holds but instead falling on the tried and true tentacle hold where it felt like he had more limbs than a human ought to. It was more like a restraining hug than an actual hold.
"Easy there, old man," Gordon gloated as Scott tried and failed to escape. "Don't want to hurt yourself."
Scott glared up at him, but before he could find a comeback, Kayo's voice drifted into earshot.
"Good technique." She'd moved away from the sparring mats, presumably to leave him and Gordon plenty of room, to stand next to John. "Very nicely executed."
"It's easier when they're already distracted," John shrugged. "If Scott was paying attention, I wouldn't have managed it."
"Like you weren't waiting for me to stop tracking you," he wheezed, reluctantly deciding to give up for the moment. Gordon was fresh, while he'd already spent a good hour or so on the mat. With the leverage also in his brother's favour, he wasn't going to be getting up until Gordon got distracted.
The hold was feeling rather like a hug, but certainly wasn't letting up in intensity or restraint. Scott let his head fall back against the mat and glanced over at the pair leaning against the wall. Turquoise and hazel eyes were eyeing him and Gordon with twin gazes of amusement.
"Enjoying yourself?" Kayo asked.
Scott rolled his eyes. "I'm being constricted."
"You'd run off if I let go," Gordon muttered into his neck. "So deal with it." It wasn't like Gordon was giving him much choice.
"This was supposed to be a spar," Scott pointed out futilely.
"We sparred," Gordon shrugged. "You lost and the forfeit is staying right here." Scott didn't remember that being agreed before their dubious spar.
"For how long?" he ventured. "I do have things to-"
"Until I decide otherwise," Gordon told him matter-of-factly. "So I hope you're comfortable, because I'm not moving any time soon."
Knowing his brother, Scott could believe that. Not because Gordon was prone to inactivity, but because if Gordon said something, he meant it.
He mentally resigned himself to his fate.
Kicking off gumnut-logic's fluffember/fluff&fun event using both day one prompts, "whisper" and "pants". I have no idea how much of this event I'll manage, and this'll probably be one of the longer offerings this month, but Scott deserves fluff after the last two months, so I'm going to do my best to provide!
Thanks for reading!
Tsari