Thanks so much to all my reviewers! I'm just so happy that other people enjoy this pairing too. XD I actually feel pretty good about getting this chapter up, lol. For a while, I've had this problem of writing two chapters and then not being able to get anything else done. But I've broken the curse, muahahaha! cheers in triumph Sure.

Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. Cars. DARN!

The Art of Seduction

By Basil-Ovelby

Chapter 3

Chapter 3: You as a Sexual Being

With the past two chapters, you've been slowly forming a lasting relationship with your love interest. After a few weeks of this, you should be ready to move on to this next step. In this step, we will begin to turn that trusting, friendly relationship into something more. Remember that you must move slowly in order not to frighten them away. One of the worst things you can do is rush through this.

This chapter involves letting your love interest begin to see you in a more sexual light. You know that you're good friends by now, thanks to the first two chapters, but now you've got to have themselves questioning their further feelings for you. This isn't flirting yet. None of your actions in this chapter should relate directly to them, but plan your actions to happen as if by chance in the presence of your love interest. Let your love interest know that you are indeed a sexual being. You are free to think of your own ideas, but a few to get you started would be wearing less or more revealing clothes, moving/walking in a more sexual manner, and acting innocently seductive (to others or to your love interest). I'm sure you'll be able to think of more of your own…

"Red's settin' up th'pool!" A man with grungy brown hair under his oversized trucker's hat stood watching the spectacle. He had earlier introduced himself to Junior as Mater. He clasped his hands together and fidgeted around excitedly.

Junior, Strip and Lynda stood off to the side, watching silently. It was one of those old, free-standing pools, and it definitely looked like it had seen better days. It sagged horribly, and there were mud streaks lining its faded blue sides. Junior was surprised it even held water. The local fireman, Red, had connected a few of his hoses together so that it could be filled up.

"I can't even believe we still have that thing. It looks horrible!" A man with dirty-blonde hair and an old military jacket tied around his waist stood not far off, the light-haired man from breakfast standing next to him. They'd already introduced themselves as Sarge and Fillmore.

"Now, don't say thaaat… Fillmore grinned at the other man through half-lidded eyes. "It'll be fun, come on, Sarge."

"There's no way you're getting me in there!"

"It'll be nice and cool…"

"Like I care."

Fillmore shrugged, the smile never leaving his face. He went back to watching the slowly rising water in the pool. It was almost full. Mater was leaning over the edge with his arms in the water, legs dangling in the air.

Junior was grinning to himself. This would be the perfect opportunity to… how had it been worded? Reveal himself in a more sexual light. He gave Strip a sidelong glance and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"So Strip… you gonna go swimming?" He asked innocently.

"Well…" Strip brought his hand up to rub his chin. "Sure would feel nice. It's a little warmer here than I'm used to." He chuckled. "But… I didn't bring trunks or anything."

Junior turned to face him. "Who needs trunks? I'm fine swimmin' in my jeans…" He kicked his foot out a little bit as he said this.

"Well…" Strip started again. "I guess it wouldn't hurt nothin'." They both looked over to see Mater abruptly fall into the pool. Strip turned to his wife. "You wanna swim?"

"Actually, I'd love to." She smiled and looked down at the t-shirt she was wearing. "I don't mind gettin' this old shirt wet."

Mater popped his head over the side of the pool and hung his arms over the ledge. "Ya-hoo! This here feels great!" He gave a huge smile.

Fillmore was slowly dragging Sarge closer to the pool, his hand gripping one of Sarge's wrists. Sarge was being difficult and sliding his feet begrudgingly.

"Come on, Sarge. You know you wanna get in."

"And I know I wanna smack you across the head, hippie." This statement merely made Fillmore shake his head in amusement.

Junior tugged lightly at the sleeve of Strip's shirt. "Let's go!" He gave his most winning, and hopefully most charmingly seductive, smile. He started walking towards the pool, stripping his shirt off as he did so. Flipping his hair back as he pulled his head out of the shirt, he tried to look as positively dashing as he could.

He looked back to see if Strip was looking at him and was most dismayed to see him looking the other way, saying something to his wife. He gave a little scowl. The two of them then walked towards him, Lynda holding Strip's hat while he took off his own shirt. Junior forced himself to look in front of him towards the pool to keep from ogling.

"You ready, buddy?" Strip gave him a little nudge with his elbow, patting his hat back onto his head.

"I'm always ready." Junior responded with a little smirk. He then used his arms to hoist himself up on the edge, promptly losing his grip on the slick surface and sliding ride into the water.

With a splash, he burst back out of the water, clutching his upper-arms. "It's f-f-f-freezing!" He chattered.

Both Strip and Lynda stood leaning over the side, chuckling at his predicament. Mater swam over joyfully. "Heeeey buddy, don't it feel gooood?" He gave a huge smile, his two front teeth sticking out over his lower lip.

"I-I guess, if you live in A-A-Antarctica…" Junior rubbed his arms in an effort to warm himself up. He finally felt himself starting to get used to the freezing cold water.

There was a splash from the other side of the pool and Junior turned to see who it was.

"Holy hell!" Sarge was already pulling himself halfway up the ledge and gripping it tightly, wanting to get as far away from the water as possible. "This is like… ice water!"

"Aww, it can't be that bad…" Fillmore leaned on the edge and rested his head on Sarge's shoulder. This, however, turned out to be a bad idea as Sarge took the initiative to pull Fillmore head-first into the water.

It was Fillmore's turn to come up sputtering this time, and he wrapped his arms around his body, shivering. "O-Ok, I guess it is pretty cold…"

Junior chuckled to himself and turned to see Strip and Lynda sitting on the edge. Well, what was the fun in that? Now almost completely used to the water, he slipped down under it and made his way slowly towards them.

Once he could make out the shadow of the older man above him, he popped out of the water, grabbed Strip's legs, and pulled him down with him. Much splashing and flailing ensued, and Junior laughed as Strip finally righted himself.

"You've just gotta jump in, Strip. S'th only way to do it." He playfully made a few waves in Strip's direction. Strip grinned devilishly in his direction, a glint in his eye. "Uh-oh…"

Junior turned to swim away but was too late as Strip charged forward, dunking him completely under the water. He came back up in a flurry, spraying water everywhere.

"Hey, you!" He grinned, chasing after the already running Strip. He pounced on the older man, latching onto his back, and sending them both under the water.

It was at this time that Mater found the hose, still steadily streaming out water. He aimed it towards the middle of the pool, his finger in the middle of it so that it would spray water everywhere. Junior and Strip came up out of the water only to be met in the face with the spraying water.

Junior wrapped his arms around Strip's neck and hid his face behind the other's to protect himself from the water, grinning the whole time as he heard Mater laughing in triumph.

All of a sudden, the water stopped. Mater looked down at the limp hose. "Well, darn." He looked out of the pool to follow the path of the hose and saw that it had been disconnected somewhere in the middle, water now pouring out all over the dirt. "Whoops." He shrugged, tossing the hose out of the pool. "Oh well."

"Mater, you idiot." Sarge looked out at the water spreading out across the dirt. It bothered him, but not enough for him to get out of the pool and fix it.

Junior brought his head up to rest on Strip's shoulder and let one of his hands move down, ever so subtly, to rest on his chest. "Having fun?" It was an innocent question – could be taken a variety of different way.

Strip merely chuckled like always and then let himself fall backwards, pushing Junior back in the water with him. Junior immediately let go and swam back up, surfacing with a splash. Strip was smiling at him. "I always have fun." He glanced around, looking for something. "Hey, where'd my hat go?"

As Strip made his way back to the edge where his hat had fallen off, Junior let himself float towards the middle of the pool. A little grin made its way to his face. He wiggled his fingers a little under the water. He'd been touching him… he'd been so close… and there hadn't even been any clothes between them! He gently chewed on his bottom lip and sighed in bliss.

He floated until he made it to another edge and hoisted his elbows onto it so as to stay above the water. He looked out across the pool to see everybody. Mater was doing something a little ways away where he kept taking huge breaths and diving down into the water. Sarge was resting peacefully, much like Junior, with his elbows on the edge, his head tilted back. Lynda had finally gotten into the pool herself and walking around near the edge, slowly lowering herself until she could get her whole body into the water. Strip was not too far from her, having found his hat, and was now leaning up against the edge. Fillmore was…

Fillmore was right beside him!

Junior gave a little eep and almost lost his grip on the edge. Fillmore grinned and pulled himself halfway up the edge so he could rest his chin on it. He gave Junior a knowing look. "So, you like the old man, huh?"

"W-what?" Junior stammered.

Fillmore narrowed his eyes a little and looked out across the pool at Strip. "The old man. Mr. Weathers… you like him?"

Junior followed Fillmore's eyes and also looked across the pool. He saw Mater swim up to Lynda. "Hey, Mrs. The King, you wanna play 'tea party' with me?" Strip had his eyes closed, his hat shielding his eyes from the sun, as he rested on the edge.

"L-like him? I mean… er, well… you can, you can tell?"

Fillmore lowered his head back onto the edge again and smiled. "It's pretty obvious, man."

Ack! It was obvious? Was he going too far? Did everybody know? Did Strip know?

"I don't think he knows though…" Fillmore waved his feet idly in the water. "I'm not gonna lie… he's pretty dense for an older guy…"

Junior let out a little sigh of relief. He shifted uncomfortably on his elbows.

Neither one said anything for about a minute. Junior just stared down at his feet. "So… you gonna tell him?" He turned to face Fillmore at the sound of his voice.

"I, er, well… eventually… I will…" Junior felt himself blush.

Fillmore lowered his glasses to look at him better. "Is that an 'eventually I really will' or an 'eventually now get away from me'?"

Junior looked out across the pool again, still blushing. "I'm working on it…"

Fillmore kicked his feet enough so that his lower body rose up to the top of the water, his feet poking out. "You really should, man…" He silently watched his feet sink back down. The only sound now was the occasional splash as both Mater and Lynda were playing the hold your breath and dive game. Junior felt the gentle waves of the water lap up against him.

With a little pat on his back, Fillmore let himself come away from the edge. "Love is a beautiful thing, my friend. If there's love, you know it can't be wrong."

Junior gave a half-smile. "Yeah…"

Fillmore began to float backwards, away from Junior. "Just think about it, ok?" Junior nodded, and the other man finally turned around and began swimming back towards Sarge.

With a little sigh, Junior first looked over to Strip, who looked fast asleep by now, and then up at the sky, watching the clouds above him. He rested his head back on the edge of the pool and let his eyes close.

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A few hours later, they were all getting out of the pool. Eventually, Mater had been able to gather them all up for an interesting game involving an inflatable ball and a long stick, which had turned out to be more fun than Junior had first thought, but now they were all pretty bushed. The sky was starting to turn a reddish-orange color as the sun got ready to set.

Junior hoisted himself up on the edge of the pool and slipped his legs over, coming to land in a rather slimy patch of mud and grass. "Ewwww…" He walked over to a patch of dry dirt and slid his feet around in it.

"Let's come back out n' play tomorra'!" Mater, still his usually happy self, stood dripping wet in his full clothes. Water ran rivulets down his face from his hat. "Maybe we ken even get out th' floaties!"

Fillmore walked over to him, carrying his shirt on his shoulder, and patted him on the back. "We'll look forward to it…" When he moved his hand away, he had to shake it to remove the newly acquired water.

Sarge tied his jacket back around his waist and pulled his white tank top back on, not caring that it got a little wet. "I thought it was supposed to rain tomorrow…"

"It is?" Strip was shaking his legs one at a time to try and get the water out of his pants.

"Yeah… don't remember where I heard it from though… maybe I'm thinking of some other time…" He gave a little shrug.

Lynda was also completely soaked since she'd had to wear all her clothes into the pool. She took handfuls of her shirt in her hands and wrung them out, leaving it quite wrinkled. "Whew! I'm soaked to the bone." She gave a little laugh.

Junior picked up his shirt from off the ground. Not really feeling like putting the shirt on over his wet body, he slung it over his shoulder like Fillmore had. "Why don't we head back to the motel. We can get out of these clothes."

"Good idea." Strip gave his hat a little shake and watched water come dancing off of it. He then plopped it back onto his damp hair and snatched up his shirt, shoes and socks from off the ground. The six of them headed back onto the main road to make their way back to the motel.

Mater stopped suddenly, standing straight up as if he'd just remembered something. "Oh hey, I'm gonna go see Lightnin'!" And with that, he took off in the other direction. Junior gave a little laugh and walked a bit quicker to catch up with Strip.

As they were walking, he saw two familiar faces approach from the other direction.

"Evening, ladies." Sarge barked out.

"Hey everyone." Sally gave a little wave and smiled. Flo, standing next to her, nodded her head in greeting. There was a little murmer of hello's from the guys. Sally looked to Lynda. "Oh hey, Flo and I are having a little girl's night out – get a couple drinks, maybe watch a movie or something. Would you like to join us?"

Lynda looked pleased. "I'd love to!" She looked down at her clothes. "Er… I should probably change first… and put my hair up." She wiped her wet bangs out of her eyes. "Could I run back to our room real quick?"

"Sure thing, honey." Flo stood with her hand on her hip. Lynda excused herself and walked quickly in the direction of the motel.

Sally looked at the four boys still standing there. "So what are you boys gonna do tonight?"

Fillmore had his shirt hanging around his neck and he reached up to lace his fingers through the armholes, letting his arms hang down. "I don't know… catch a bite to eat, maybe?"

"Hopefully nothing weird." Sarge eyed Fillmore.

Junior stretched his arms above his head. "I'm a little bushed… I'll probably just see if there's anything on TV or something…" Strip nodded and responded to his comment with a yawn.

They stood there for a few minutes, everyone just waiting in silence. Junior watched an ant carry a large crumb of something from one large crack to another.

"I'm back!" Lynda made her way back over to the group, wearing a fresh, clean outfit, her shoulder-length hair up in a ponytail. She had her purse with her.

"Alright, we ready to go, ladies?" Flo said with a smile. Sally and Lynda both nodded.

"Have fun, dear." Strip tipped his hat. Lynda came over to give him a quick peck on the cheek. Junior looked at the ground.

"You too. Don't you boys get into too much trouble while I'm gone." She flashed them all a smile and then the three of them headed off in the other direction.

Once they were gone, the four boys continued onward. When they got to the motel, Sarge and Fillmore broke away to head across the street. "You gentlemen have a nice evening, now." Sarge gave a quick little salute.

"We'll see you guys tomorrow." Fillmore grinned. He looked at Junior for a second longer than normal, but didn't say anything.

Junior watched the two of them head off for their houses as he followed Strip back to their motel room. He stopped for a second when he saw Fillmore's hand snake its way into Sarge's. He gave a little grin, noting that they were both heading in Fillmore's hut. So he wasn't the only one…

"You comin', Junior?"

He looked back to see Strip waiting for him and walked quickly to catch up.

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Junior flipped through the channels for the fifth time, still not finding anything on TV that was decent. He settled back in the pillows, not even watching the TV anymore. The two of them had changed into dry clothes when they got back, and then put all their pillows up at the head of bed so they could watch TV comfortably.

"Wait, go back… I thought I saw somethin'."

Junior changed the channel back a few stations and turned to an infomercial on a seven-piece knife set.

"Nevermind… thought it was somethin' else." Strip leaned back into the pillows and gave a little yawn.

Junior continued changing the channel. He'd started forming a little rhythm and was quite pleased with himself. He saw something familiar pop up on the TV screen and stopped. "Oh hey… The Deer Hunter."

"S'fine by me…"

Junior tossed the remote off the bed. "Whoops…" He resettled himself in the pillows now that he didn't have to hold the remote up any longer, and then turned his head to look at Strip. Neither one of them had bothered brushing their hair when they got back, so now his hair was sticking out in messy clumps. It made Junior smile – he'd never seen Strip except when for he was pretty well cleaned up.

"Hey, Strip?"

"Mm?"

"What are we gonna do tomorrow?"

Junior got the impression that Strip was shrugging into the pillows. "M'not sure…"

Junior idly watched Robert De Niro run around on the screen. "Maybe we could go see Lightnin' or somethin'… we haven't seen him yet."

"Mm…"

Junior stopped talking and watched the movie. Well, not really… he only half-watched it. He wasn't paying attention to it very well, especially since he was getting tired. After about fifteen minutes or so, he felt a bump on his shoulder and turned to see Strip completely conked out. He gave a little smile and rested his own head on Strip's. With his closest arm, he sneaked in to take the older man's hand in his own.

He continued watching the movie for another ten minutes, but pretty soon found himself dozing off as well.

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Lynda closed the door behind her quietly, not wanting to wake the guys. She smiled over at them, shaking her head in amusement, when she saw them asleep on the bed. "Oh, boys…"

She walked over to the TV and turned it off, then headed into the bathroom to get ready for bed. When she was done, she walked back out and turned off all the lights. Leaning over the bed, she kissed her husband on the forehead and gave Junior's arm a little pat. She then headed over to the cot and pulled the covers back, the cold sheets feeling wonderfully soft after her long day.