Yaaaay! I got another chapter written! dances You don't know how happy it makes me that I actually might get this one finished! It's pretty much amazing. Maybe it's because I just love this pairing so much, hehe. XD
But anyway, thanks for all the reviews! They make me excited and wanting to write more! I didn't have any idea really, where this chapter was going when I started writing it this morning, lol. It just kinda… came out like this.
Disclaimer: Cars and all its characters belong to Disney and Pixar.
The Art of Seduction
By Basil-Ovelby
Chapter 5
Chapter 5: Let the Love Show
One thing that will really help in seducing your love interest will be having some kind of common interest. You must find this on your own. Obviously, truly sharing an interest would be the best circumstance, but even if you have to pretend a little bit, it will still work. That's not to say that you should go out of your way to find something you completely dislike and saying it's your favorite thing in the world. That could be and probably would be disastrous. No - at the very least, try to find a middle ground somewhere. Take full advantage of it.
In this chapter, you will implement this shared interest and use it to help you start flirting. Yes, it's that time. After passing the test in the last chapter, you're good to go on the flirting field. Remember to always take it slow, however. Don't go out there with your sex drive kicking – it will only lead you into trouble. Take little risks with your flirting and you will actually get farther than you could by totally over-doing it. Your love interest will see that you're interested in them as more than just a sex-object.
Junior sat outside their motel room, leaning up against the wall. It was such a nice day out that he didn't want to stay cooped up inside. He idly twirled his book in his fingers, contemplating the new information he'd read.
"Common interest…? Well… we're both obviously into racing…" He leaned his head back against the wall, looking up at the clouds. Lynda and Strip had left a little earlier – Mater had come over excitedly talking about something he wanted them to see. Junior had politely declined, having wanted to read the next chapter of his book. It was rather nice – he now had some time to think everything over without any interruptions.
He let his eyes close as a warm breeze weaved its way through the tall cones surrounding him. It really was beautiful here…
"Thinking about someone, lover boy?"
Junior opened his eyes with a start to see Chick looking down at him. He gave a little sigh of relief and held his hand to his chest.
Chick just laughed at him. "Someone's a little jumpy… did you think I was someone else?" He walked a few steps closer and sat down next to him.
Junior just ran a hand through his hair. "What? Er, no, I don't know… I just…" He trailed off.
Chick just patted him on the shoulder. "It's ok. I know you've got your mind on other things…" He gave him a suggestive grin. "So anyway, uh… how'd it go with the old man last night?"
"What do you mean?"
"Anything happen? Did you do anything?"
"What? No! I mean… his wife was there, and uh… just… no…"
Chick playfully elbowed him in the side. "Aw, come ooon… you can't let little things like that get in your way. You've just gotta go after 'em with all you've got! Like me, for instance. I had an incredibly pleasurable night last night, and that's 'cuz I went for it!"
Junior gave a little smirk. "Yeah, well… I'm interested in a little more than just… sex…" This was a little bit embarrassing.
Chick leaned in a little closer. "Hey. Lightning and I? We didn't just have sex… we had piping hot sex! It was amazing, man!" His eyes got all starry as he stared off into space. "In fact, he wants to get together again later tonight. If that's not the start of something bigger, I don't know what is."
Junior looked down at his hands again, twirling his book. "But… but, I don't know… you know…?"
"Aw, young, innocent Junior… you haven't opened your eyes to the wonders of the world yet!" He wrapped his arms around the younger man's shoulders and clutched him to his chest.
"Ack!" Junior struggled to get free but to no avail. After a few suffocating minutes, he realized that Chick was stuck in la-la land, thinking about last night. "Hey, uh… Chick? I can't… I'm having trouble breathing…"
Chick snapped out of it and let Junior go, grabbing his shoulders instead. "Junior, I will tell you everything you need to know."
"…what?"
"Yes, just listen to my every word and everything will work out fine!" Chick popped to his feet and grabbed Junior's hand. "Come now, we must be off to find your true love!" And with that, he took off, dragging Junior behind him.
"What in the world have I gotten myself into?"
----------------------------
The two of them peeped around the corner of a building, watching Strip and Lynda walk along behind Mater. Mater was gesturing wildly and telling them about something, occasionally turning around to walk backwards. Junior noted that the sidewalk they were walking on would soon have them walking right by their little alcove.
"Alright… now… when you go out to talk to him, you've gotta be suave, charming… flirtatious…"
"What? I'm not going out there! What's he gonna think – me coming out of an alleyway like this? He's gonna think I've been spying on him!"
Chick continued to watch around the edge. "Well, you have been!"
Junior stood up straight, taken back. "But… but… but I didn't, I mean… I didn't think that… er, this… this was all your idea!" He whispered fiercely.
"Shhh!" Chick waved for him to be quiet, and Junior immediately shut his mouth. Chick then turned around to face Junior. "Hey, look at me."
Junior obediently did as he was told.
"Now… you like him, right?"
Junior nodded his head.
"You want him to like you?"
Junior nodded his head again.
"You want to get in his pants?"
Junior hesitated a bit as he felt a blush rise to his cheeks. He finally nodded his head.
"Then you've got nothing to worry about! Now, go out there and do your stuff!" Chick gave him a push, catching him off-guard. Junior went flying out from the alley before he could stop himself and felt himself plow into something soft, falling to the ground on top of it.
"Holy shoot!"
Junior rubbed his aching head and tried to push himself back up into a sitting position. He looked behind him to find a very surprised Mater.
"Ack! I'm sorry, I…" he began trying to dust off Mater's clothes. "I… I tripped, I'm so sorry!"
Mater just gave a little grin. "Well, that's ok, buddy. S'just an accident." He pushed himself to his feet and then reached down to help Junior up.
Junior felt exceedingly awkward and glanced back to see Strip and Lynda looking at him. Strip tipped his hat. "Afternoon, Junior!"
"A-afternoon, Strip." He glanced nervously down towards the ground and shifted his feet. He could have strangled Chick. "So, uh…"
"'Ey, Junior, wanna come to th'museum?" Mater exclaimed happily.
"Museum?"
Lynda nodded her head. "Mm! Mater was just going to go show us around the new Hudson Hornet Museum."
"Sure, I'd love to go." Hmmm… maybe this wouldn't turn out so bad after all. He might not have to plot too horrible a death for Chick.
"Come on, come on, let's go then!" Mater could barely hold in his excitement and he began leading the group once more. Junior made his way back to walk next to Strip and his wife.
"So what have ya been doin' all day?" Strip asked.
"Not much… I was reading earlier. Was gonna try to catch a nap or something…" He glanced at the alley he'd come out of as he walked by and saw Chick staring out at him. Chick made some kind of gesture with his hand and then pointed to his rear. Junior wasn't quite sure he knew what the other meant until he then saw Chick point to Strip. Blushing furiously, he shook his head 'no'.
"Huh? What was that?" Strip had noticed his head movement.
"NOTHING! Nothing… ahaha… had a little, er, itch is all." Junior took the older man's arm and pushed him forward a bit more quickly until they were clear of the alley. "L-let's get going. I wanna see the museum."
---------------------------
Junior had a good time following Mater around the museum. It had been set up quite nicely, and Junior enjoyed seeing all the old racing artifacts, pictures and clippings. Though he hadn't been born when the great Hudson Hornet had won his famous races, he knew plenty about him from stories.
He also enjoyed watching Strip enjoy the museum, as the older man seemed to be walking on air. Every picture, every tiny piece of history seemed to set him alight with wonder. Junior couldn't help but feel himself melt inside as he watched Strip adoringly.
"The Hudson Hornet was my inspiration, you know? He's the reason I started racing!"
"Really?" Junior followed Strip into the next room. From behind him, he heard Mater talking to Lynda. "Hey, Mrs. The King, have ya ever seen a diff... diffeerrren-shal?"
Strip nodded his head and went to stand in front of a display of trophies. Junior looked down in awe at the three Piston cups sitting in the case. Above the case were pictures of various race tracks from back in the day.
Junior looked over to see Strip staring longingly at the pictures on the wall. There was a bit of wetness in his eyes.
"I… I miss it already… It was mah whole life, you know?" He bit his lip and glanced over to Junior. "I guess… I guess I just wanna know if I made a difference out there fer someone." A blush rose to his face and he looked sheepishly to the ground. "Now I just sound like a bumbling idiot, heh…"
Junior felt love well up inside him so strong that he swore he could have exploded. "Well, I… I…" He looked towards the ground as well, not able to look at the older man. "I know that you've inspired lots of people." He shifted his feet. "Every day that I race… I… I think about you and… and how much of an inspiration you've been to me…"
He rubbed his fingers together nervously to get the sweat off. Reaching out a little bit, he lightly touched the other's hand with his fingers. Taking a deep breath, he slipped his hand around Strip's, intertwining their fingers. He didn't move, didn't breathe.
With a tiny side-glance, he looked up at Strip and saw the other looking back at him. Both of them gave little embarrassed grins, Strip looking back down at the ground and Junior using his other hand to come up and scratch his nose. Strip idly rubbed the inside of his leg with his foot.
"Well, I'd say this is the most interesting room yet!"
Both men gave a little eep and instantly broke contact. Chick stood next to Junior, arms crossed and looking at the three Piston Cups.
"Certainly a lot of new things to see here, hm?" He slowly raised his head to look at the two men, a knowing smirk on his face.
Strip's face turned bright red and he started backing away. "I… uh… I, er, should… go check on Lynda…" He gestured towards the door before hurriedly backing out of it. He accidentally whacked his elbow on the doorframe as he left, and there was a quick "ow" as he brought his hand to it.
Junior watched him go and then turned angrily to Chick. "What was that all about! I was… I was doing so well!"
Chick put his finger to Junior's lips, shushing him. He glanced around furtively. "You were doing good, yeah… but now… now it's perfect."
Junior looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Well… now he's going to look at it like… being with you is dangerous."
"Why would I want that?" Junior received another shush from Chick.
"Because that's good! You're becoming something of an adventure for him – someone who's exciting and dangerous. You're like… like a bad boy!"
"But… I'm not a bad boy at all…" Junior mused, glancing down at himself.
Chick used his finger to direct Junior's head back towards him. "To him you are! Look at him! Do you think he's ever done anything like this before? He's a total goody-goody. He's got the whole rest of his life set out to live at home with his wife all comfy and hunky-dory, but decidedly safe. Zero excitement. Boring."
Junior was starting to see where Chick was going. "Ohh… I think I see…"
"Exactly! Why else would he come onto you? I mean, besides finding you attractive and all."
Junior scratched his chin and looked towards the door.
"So you've just gotta lay low."
Junior smirked. "What happened to your plan of 'get out there and do it'?"
"Well… so I thought of a better plan, ok?"
Junior crossed his arms. "Fine, fine…" He pursed his lips in thoughts. "So… what do I do now?"
Chick grinned. "Now… you just wait. Let him come to you."
----------------------------
That night, the residents of Radiator Springs were getting together to have a cookout. The Sheriff and Red had set up a fire pit a little ways out from the buildings and had gotten a steady fire going. Flo brought up a bunch of hot dogs, buns and s'more materials.
Junior walked over with Strip and Lynda. A bunch of people were there already, some cooking hot dogs and some just sitting on logs a ways back from the fire. Since coming from the museum, Strip hadn't said anything to Junior, but a few times now Junior had glanced over at the other man only to have him blush and quickly look away. Junior hoped that Chick knew what he was talking about.
Ahead of them, he saw the fire get closer and closer, it being the only thing giving off light in the desert twilight. The murmur of voices got louder as they approached.
"Hey, guys!" Sally gave them a little wave once they made their way into the firelight. She was roasting a hot dog over the fire.
"Glad you could join us." Fillmore leaned forward on his log to greet them. Sarge, who was sitting next to him, didn't say anything as he had his mouth full of hot dog.
Junior glanced around and was able to make out the figures of Flo, Ramone and the Sheriff in the firelight. There were a few other figures, but since they were back further from the fire, he couldn't make out who they were.
Strip and Lynda walked over to an empty log and sat down. Junior started to follow them, but remembered Chick's advice. He walked past where they'd sat and took a seat on a log further back, seeing Lightning sitting there. He glanced up and noticed Strip watching him.
He quickly turned to face Lightning, who looked at him with a big smile. "Heeey there! I haven't gotten to say anything to you yet!"
Junior gave him a little wave. "Hey."
"I feel so bad… the three of you came all the way down here and I've barely even seen you."
"It's no problem. It's really nice down here! I guess I can see why you like it so much."
Lightning grinned. "Yeah, it's really great down here. I've got to say, getting stuck down here changed my life."
"Mmhmm."
The two of them looked into the fire. It felt so warm in the slightly-chilled night air.
"So what have you all been doin'?"
Junior shrugged. "Not a whole lot, ahaha. Today we went to the museum – that was fun."
Lightning nodded. Your room's ok and everything?"
"Oh yeah, very nice! That's one of the cutest motels I've ever seen." He grinned.
"That's great. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."
"Mm."
There was some more silence as they listened to the murmur of other voices around the fire. Memories of the night earlier floated into Junior's head and he couldn't help but grin to himself as he remembered Chick pushing Lightning up against the wall. This, however, led to thoughts of him pushing Strip up against the wall, which made him blush furiously.
There were footsteps nearby and he looked up to see Mater and Doc Hudson himself come walking into the firelight.
"Hey Doc. Hey Mater!" Flo called out to the two of them. There were a few other greetings shot out.
"Evening, everyone." Doc smiled and walked over to take a seat next to Sally. Mater jumped up and down excitedly, hurrying next to the fire.
"Hoh boy! Marshmallers!" He picked up a poker and began piling marshmallows onto it. Junior chuckled to himself as he watched. He was beginning to get a little bit hungry himself.
Standing up, he made his way over to where all the food had been set out and picked up his own poker, sticking a hot dog on the end. He walked over to Mater and sat down next to him, sticking his poker out into the fire.
"Are you gonna have any marshmallers?" Mater glanced over at him.
"Ahaha, maybe. I'll have to see how hungry I am."
Mater smiled and returned to watching his marshmallows start on fire. Junior looked behind him to see what Strip was doing. Both he and Lynda were having a conversation with Fillmore and Sarge. Strip looked so irresistibly cute in the firelight, smiling as someone said something rather humorous.
He couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. He really, really hoped that Chick knew what he was doing. He could be sitting next to Strip right now, maybe leaning up against him a little… maybe resting his head on his shoulder…
"Hey Junior, your hot dog's on fire!"
He whipped around to find his hot dog a ball of flame. He pulled it out of the fire and began blowing it out furiously. When he finally got it out, Mater was laughing at him. His hot dog was now black as a piece of coal.
"Aw, maaaan." He frowned down at the black lump. "Well, that sucks."
Mater pulled his marshmallows out of the fire and blew them out. "You cook stuff jes' like me!" He laughed again.
"Well, I don't mean to." Junior gave Mater a grin and then stood up, walking back over to the food. He didn't really want to waste the hot dog, so he figured he might as well try it. He slapped it into a bun and put a lot of mustard on it, hoping to cover up the burnt taste. He made his way back to his log, sitting down next to Lightning again.
"Have trouble with your hot dog?"
Junior playfully punched Lightning in the shoulder. "Aww, shut up." He took a bite from his hot dog and gave a little shrug. It wasn't horrible.
Lightning brought his hand up near his face and pushed a button on his watch so that it lit up. "Oh, whoops. I should get goin'."
Junior idly munched on his hot dog. "Have somethin' going on tonight?"
Lightning grinned, embarrassed. "I'm, uh, meetin' someone."
Junior's eyes lit up. He knew exactly where Lightning was going. He gave Lightning a little pat on the shoulder. "Well now, you have fun."
"Ahaha, thanks." He stood up and waved goodbye to everyone as he made his way away from the fire. "I'll see you guys later!"
Junior watched him leave and then bit into his hot dog again. He glanced over and watched as Strip waved to Lightning. The lonely feeling he'd gotten from over by the fire came back now. With Lightning gone, it was even worse. He stretched his feet out in front of him and stared at the ground. He could feel the warmth of the fire on his face.
He finished off his hot dog after not too long. The last couple bites had been the worst as that part of the hot dog had been the most burnt. He wiped his mouth off with his sleeve and gave a little yawn, scratching his neck. He slumped a bit on the log and looked out to see everyone talking amongst themselves. From this vantage, he could see Luigi and another younger-looking Italian man sitting a few logs away. He hadn't been able to see them when he'd first come in.
He wondered idly what Chick and Lightning were doing. Probably going at it already. He felt a tad bit jealous. How come Chick could nab someone like that so easily? Maybe if Junior had been a little bit more forward in the beginning… but no. It would work out, he just knew it. He hoped. He cracked his knuckles, deep in thought.
"Hey…"
He looked up to see Strip standing in front of him. He had his hands in his pockets and was idly rubbing one foot with the other. He looked embarrassed.
"Can… can I sit next to you?"
"Sure."
Strip sat down on the log, bringing his hands out of his pockets and resting his elbows on his knees. He awkwardly messed with his fingers.
"So, uh…" Strip's eyes were fixed on his hands. "So, uh… yeah…"
Junior felt a smile form on his face. Strip was so cute when he was uncomfortable.
"Yeah…?"
Strip adjusted his already-perfect hat. His hands were shaking. "I, uh… I, uh…" He trailed off again.
Junior felt a little sorry for him. He scooted himself a bit closer, resting his hand on the older man's knee. "Hey…"
Both of them looked up at each other. Junior gave him a little smile. Strip bit his lip and looked back down in embarrassment. He brought his hand up and tentatively touched Junior's hand. Junior, in turn, let his hand slip over the other's, holding it protectively.
Strip brought his other hand up and scratched at his forehead. "I'm… I'm sorry…"
Junior felt the other man's hand shake a bit under his. "For what?"
He gave a little, embarrassed laugh. "I-I don't know…"
Junior smiled and used his thumb to rub the other's hand in reassurance. "Hey… it's alright. Ok? It's alright…"
Strip nodded his head, still looking down at the ground. He kept tightening and loosening his hand. Junior moved his legs closer so that they leaned up against Strip's, feeling the warmth as they touched.
Strip finally looked up to Junior, his eyes searching his face, still asking for approval. Ever so slowly, he let his head fall down to rest on Junior's shoulder, his hat sliding off behind him. Junior felt him tense up a bit at first, as if scared that he would be rejected, but in a few seconds he felt Strip's body loosen up, leaning against him more for support. Gently, he let his own head come down to rest on Strip's, sighing softly. He nestled his cheek into the other's hair.
He continued to rub Strip's hand contentedly.