AN: Hey there buddy bear (Tigger)! Okay, this is a chapter with the troops in the camp. This is after Tala has taken control of everything. Enjoy! I don't own Beyblades people. Just love writing about the characters!
Looking up at the sky, my blonde hair fell back, tickling my neck. I laughed quietly to myself. A few people turned around to see what I was laughing at. A piercing glare came from the guy right at the front. Even though he was at least 30m away, he knew it was me. I looked at the ground in shame; he was so nasty to me.
After a brief moment of silence, Tala started talking again. Stupid Russian arsehole thinks he's better than the rest of us. I thought to myself. Nothing was ever good enough for him, he always berated me if I did something wrong. It was just so…annoying.
Once again, I looked back up at the mysterious Commander Tala, I sighed. Everyone was drawn into what he was saying…either that or his striking beauty, I chuckled inwardly. Why did I have to be the stupid idiot who actually asked for help with training? Since then he has been waking me up at an ungodly hour in the morning to run and practice everything that we had done the previous day.
Tala had given me so many nicknames that referred to me being vertically challenged or just short. I hated it with a passion. Did no one care that I did not want to be a short arse and that making fun of me hurt me? I stared at the ground on which I stood. Hey look an ant!
"Chibi, what do you think you are looking at that is more important?" a heavily accented Russian voice broke me peaceful silence that I had encompassed myself in. startled by the sudden silence, I came back to the real world.
"Sorry Sir, I got side tracked for a moment. Won't happen again Sir!" deep down he knew it would. Tala was a boring crackpot that seemed to think that no one was more important then him. Self centred prat. If only something or someone could take me away from this life that I had.
As I gazed around my surroundings, Tala finally decided that he had bored us enough with his long-winded speech. People were leaving, so I joined the tail end people. It was the only place where the other soldiers thought that I should be. Walking slowly, I felt a hand wrap around my waist.
"What the fu…" I started to yell. Turning toward the direction of the arm, the man just looked down on me. His aqua blue eyes smiled gently. I completely stopped moving. Tala was smiling at me and it was a first. Listening carefully, I tried to hear a choir of angels sing to the heavens cause Ivanov smiled.
I heard no angelic voices singing. My world was tumbling into darkness; my feet went from underneath me yet I did not touch the ground. All was black.
Peering down at the blonde, Tala watched him breath steadily. His little chest rose and fell while it also moved with the beat of his heart. Chibi had fainted out on the grounds while in his arms. Had the motion been to… forward? Shaking his head, Tala continued to watch.
How inconsiderate was it of him to surprise the little man with that affectionate touch. He stalked Tala's dreams with taunts and alluring strings of words. This could not affect his duty as commanding officer though. Tala had put himself into a bad position.
Taking hold of Max's hand he kissed it lightly and then left the private room. As he walked out of the room, a doctor went in to check on his new patient. Walking quickly, Tala left the building and went to the rifle range. Pulling out a sniper rifle and walking to the furthest position he could, he aimed at his target. A small red dot he had painted on a tree in the forest that surrounded the camp.
Firing, his aim was slightly off. Adjusting himself, he fired again. This time he hit the dead centre of the target. Pulling out a pair of binoculars, he looked at the once red dot. The bark of the tree had splintered and the red dot had been destroyed. After many hours of practice, he had hit his target.
Rolling onto his back in the shadows of the trees, Tala thought back to the end of his speech to the troops. He hadn't taken his eyes off his Chibi. His chibi…that was a new thought. Closing his tired eyes, Max's face swept across his eyelids. The vibrant blue eyes and the strawberry blonde hair. A small smile graced his lips at the thought of his chibi.
Falling asleep in the cool shade of the trees, Tala's mind drifted thousands of miles away. It left to go to the Bahamas for a little holiday. Thinking to himself, this nap will help me come to terms with dealing with Max now that he knows my true feelings about him. Soon he drifted off into the land of nod.
In the shade, Tala tossed and turned in his sleep. The ground underneath him was as flat as a pancake and would spend the night trying to spring back up. His dreams were filled with all the rigorous exercises he had made the young man do. In his thoughts, gotta be cruel to be kind, replayed itself over and over again.
Max was forced to do 50 push-ups if he didn't hit the target with a bullet when they practiced rifle shooting. Laps were done as another punishment. All these punishments had made the man stronger and yet he was still not sure of himself. The muscles, which now were built up to perfection, had made the gentleman more nervous.
Waking up suddenly and covered with sweat, Tala was flushed. He felt bad for all the pain that he had caused Max and had the urge to make it all up to the guy. Getting up slowly, Tala gathered up his rifle and canister. Walking back to the small room where Max was, he tried to think of something that was nice and would explain his feelings for the bubble of energy he had fallen secretly for.
His mind was racing with little things that he could say to the petal that had stolen his heart, but nothing was worthy enough for his ears to hear. Sighing to himself, Tala would have to come up with something before he entered that small room.
Max, I am sorry for the way that I behaved after the meeting. It is just that you have made yourself a little spot in my heart and every moment that I am with you or near you it grows. That was just not good enough. Why can't I just do it right and make him feel special? Is there someone else in his life that holds that special spot in his heart?
Tala was now becoming irrational with himself and couldn't stop the internal banter. Logic told him to say that it was out of place and that it was just supposed to be an arm over the shoulders so that he could steer him towards more training. Which meant more perving for Tala.
On the other hand, his heart told him to just let it all out and tell the little rascal how he felt. At least then he would be open for rejection and would have told the kid how he felt about him. This was going to happen either way so why should he prevent it now?
Stopping in front of Max's door, Tala straightened his uniform and made himself presentable before the soldier. Breathe in and out plus be careful about how you tell him about your feelings for him Tala. Taking a deep breath, Tala walked in the room and gave a little nod to the doctor as a sign to leave.
"Sir," Max was just able to make it audible. He looked terrible. All the colour from his face was gone and he looked weak.
"Tate. I am sorry for my behaviour earlier. It was…inappropriate at the time. I don't know what came over me. For that I am sorry," Tala thought about the words after they came out and then let his face soften for the guy in the bed.
"Sir, it is alright. You do not have to apologise for it," Max took his time in saying those words. His body was slightly tense, but Tala was expecting that to happen, "we all do it sir. Always at the wrong place and time. You are not the first to have done it sir. Your intentions came across clear though." A slight smile graced his lips.
"It was not the thing to say in an army camp chibi, but yes my actions did speak louder than those words that I tried to use to glaze them over with," he kept his gaze focused on the ground beneath him. The man in the hospital bed had other thoughts though.
"Tala, don't hide them. Express them then." Max got out of bed and kissed Tala. The Russian was taken by surprise. This small moment had taken a different turn than to the one that was playing in his mind before he entered the room. In that instant, Tala through his arms around Max. He was going to accept the kiss as an agreement that he was okay with them.
Breaking the kiss, Tala looked into the eyes of the man in his arms, "Are you sure that you want to be with me? Would this not effect how the men look at you, I mean they already think that I took pity on you."
"They actually thought I was brave for asking for assistance with my training. What you thought back when I first asked didn't show on your face, but it did on mine. I was scared and nervous. The thought of being told that I was not good enough to be taught by you would have crushed my very being," Max was being open now.
Grabbing the moment of silence, Tala kissed his chibi on the nose. He had disregarded his feelings for to long. It had been 6 months since Commander Voltaire had been buried in the forest. No one had liked him either so the barracks was much livelier now. Giving Max another kiss, he squeezed his hand.
"I must go now and deal with a problem that has been bugging me for a while. Do you think that the guys that you sit with at mealtime would mind if I tried to get to know them? I do get lonely sitting by myself," he had gone quiet.
Nuzzling the red head, "I'm sure I can talk to them about it… Sir." With that he walked out the door only to collapse in the passageway. Running to his aid, Tala picked him up and put him back on his bed. He smiled at the little man and left him to rest.
Walking back to the sleeping quarters, Tala called up one of his favourite men. A short guy with thick brown hair, which covered his eyes, only a pair of glasses gave anyone the idea of where his eyes were.
"Kenny, I want you to check the security of the area and make sure that it is in tip top shape. Take anyone you want to help you with it. Tell the men that Max is in the infirmary," Tala was frank but the man got the gist of what he wanted.
"Yes sir, right away sir. Johnny boy, come to the tech room with me!" Kenny yelled across the building.
"Hell yeah! I am sooo there!" the Scotsman yelled back. Tala left just as a tower of red hair made its way through the inactive soldiers.