Water Wars
They worked for a bit more, the blazing sun that didn't seem to want to go away leading the adults to soon be calling out to check out that creek Sally had mentioned to them. Even Wufei was ready for a break since otherwise he was liable to pass out from the heat added on to the unfamiliar work. Inside he was so grateful for Sally for calling in help having now found out what it would have been like had he been doing this all by himself. It would have been Hell. Of course he wasn't going to thank her but he'd do something for her to let her know he appreciated her help and careful interference. Everyone trooping into the house the ladies took the upstairs to change and the guys took the bottom. Soon the guys were in the front hallway in their summer trunks and towels around their necks as they waited for the girls to hurry up and get down.
"They're probably showing their suits off first, my sisters use to take forever when it came to shopping for bathing suits." Quatre offered as he sat on the steps in his purple swimming trunks and a white T-shirt till they got there. "I use to go nuts waiting."
"But oh to be a fly on the wall." Duo said with a chuckle as he rocked back and forth on his heels in his black trunks with red stripes on the sides. "I wonder if any of them will be wearing a bikini."
"Baka." Wufei muttered as he shot the idiot a dark look as he leaned against his wall in plain blue trunks as he crossed his arms in front of his chest with a scowl. Who cared what they were wearing as long as they hurried up so that they wouldn't have to stand here all day and wait for them. Besides it was the girls, who cared what kind of suit they were wearing. They could come down here naked as the day they were born and..okay not as naked as the day they were born, Wufei amended with the faintest of pinks on his cheek.
"Here they come." Heero said as he nodded towards the stairs where they could hear several pairs of feet and chatting. He was wearing blue trunks as well only they matched his eyes thanks to the fact that he hadn't picked them out. He'd mentioned to Relena about this and the fact that now he'd have to go shopping to get a new pair since his old one needed to be replaced and she'd offered to pick him up a pair while she was getting her own swim suit. She'd been practically jumping with joy over the fact that she'd found a pair that matched his eyes though he had absolutely no idea why that was such a big deal so long as they fit and weren't pink or some other girlie color.
"Hey guys, sorry we took so long." Sally said as she walked down in an emerald green suit with a knee length wrap of the same color around her waist. "Maia didn't bring a suit so we had to improvise. Thankfully Hilde was in such a rush to get here she just grabbed both her suits instead of picking one."
"Just had to adjust the straps a bit." Hilde agreed as she came down wearing a black bikini top and olive green shorts over the bottoms till they got there. "So you boys ready to hit the water?"
"Yup, that we are." Duo agreed with a wide smile as he grinned at how well his girl filled out that top. He'd whistle but she'd hit him and he already had enough bruises from earlier. "Looking nice Relena, doesn't she, Heero?"
"She looks fine, Maxwell." Heero said as he shot Duo a glare after glancing in Relena's direction since Duo had brought it to his attention. Her suit was a bikini as well in turquoise, it suited her though he wasn't sure she should be showing so much skin though Hilde's was showing more. She was wearing a flimsy black wrap around her waist like Sally had and that Heero approved of. "You look nice too, Maia." Heero added as he nodded at the young girl who was nervously following behind Relena looking more then a touch nervous in her green two piece though it was more conservative, likely something Hilde wore for swimming as an exercise instead of a chance to show off to Maxwell, Heero thought with a hint of a smile.
"Thanks, Heero." Maia said with a small smile back as she walked down the stairs with Noin coming down last. She wore a suit similar to the one Maia was wearing in fact only in a flattering gold color. She wore black shorts over the bottoms while Maia was wearing her towel as a cover.
"Well lets hit the water!" Duo said with a grin thinking that they were lucky guys to have this kind of view for the coming hour or so. "It's calling our names and it would be rude not to listen after all."
"You just want to see them without the covers." Trowa pointed out with a hint of a smirk in his green trunks with a smirk as the girls broke out in laughter.
A half an hour or so later
"I propose a water war." Hilde called out as she jumped onto Duo's back with a laugh, water dripping off of her. The water had been nice and cold when they'd arrived and everyone had dived in regardless, eager to get out of the heat. Now that their bodies were use to it they were all swimming around and not looking forward to getting out any time soon. "Duo and I challenge you Heero and Relena."
"What kind of water war?" Relena asked as she swam closer, wondering what Hilde meant since they'd all had a huge splashing war earlier and even Maia and Wufei had joined in. "And we need a partner?"
"We'll show you." Duo said as he caught on then holding his breath went under the water on his knees until Hilde was safely on his shoulders before getting up so that she was perched up there in the slightly less then shoulder height water. His hands holding her legs they weaved slightly but stayed upright. "Basically the guy gets to deal with the weight and the girls on top try to knock the other girl off the guy's shoulders."
"I've played that before, it's a lot of fun. And this water is the perfect depth for it since you usually don't have time to hold your breath as you're going down." Quatre said with a grin before looking over at Sally questioningly. "Care to take the winner, Sally? I think we could take either of them."
"Sounds like fun and I'm sure we could." Sally agreed with a smile, thinking it sounded like a lot of fun. "The question is which one of them will win?"
"Well how about it, Heero? Please." Relena said as she gave Heero her best puppy dog look. Rolling his eyes Heero didn't answer but taking a quick breath lowered himself below the surface like Duo had done so that Relena could slide on. Once she was sitting comfortable and patted his shoulder to let him know she was ready he stood up and took her legs in his to keep her steady. Weaving slightly for a moment or two they were ready. Facing off at around the same height the girls grinned at each other then taking each other hands started trying to knock the other out while the guys tried to keep themselves on their feet.
"Hey, Wufei, what do you say we give Quatre and Sally someone to warm up on?" Noin said as she elbowed Wufei playfully knowing that this was far too undignified and kiddish to appeal in any way shape or form to the young man. "Unless of course your too sore that you can't handle my weight?" Noin added knowing the way to getting what she wanted was through his pride. "I'll ask Trowa if you're not up to it."
"You think I don't know what you're doing, Onna but I do." Wufei said as he sent her a dark look looking a lot younger for some reason though his hair was still in its usual ponytail and Noin was just itching to pull the band off. "I won't be tricked into doing it, especially by such an obvious ploy."
"I wasn't trying to trick you, Wufei." Noin said in her best I would never do that voice while still sounding genuine. "So will you? Please?" Noin said looking at him with her own puppy dog eyes which she doubted would be effective since she couldn't remember the last time she'd tried to pull it on someone other then her Daddy.
Blinking at her in surprise as he'd never seen that look on Noin's face he found it strangely effective. Sending her dark looks didn't diminish it either though he really hadn't expected them to. They'd never worked on her before after all. "Fine." Wufei said with something akin to a growl.
Calling over the challenge to Sally and Quatre who readily agreed to accept it the second match was soon on and an evenly matched one since Noin and Sally were evenly matched from their military training and were both in superior shape. Quatre and Wufei were also evenly matched though Wufei was quicker on his feet and after several minutes of struggle Wufei and Noin succeeded in sending Sally and Quatre crashing into the water. Grinning at their success Noin looked down at Wufei with a wide grin and blinked when she saw him smiling up at her with a pleased look on his face. After deciding that the winners would fight each other Wufei and Noin faced off against Duo and Hilde while Heero and Relena faced off against Sally and Quatre. Trowa and Maia were recruited to referee even though refs weren't really needed and once those battles were over Sally and Quatre changed places with Maia and Trowa who once they were talked into it proved to be quite a force to reckon with since no one was lighter on his feet or as well balanced as Trowa. Maia was also light and her small body structure hid the fact that she was actually quite strong and more then up to facing off with the other girls.
Trooping back with plenty of grins and bragging everyone was refreshed and in a good mood. Even changing partners it was agreed by everyone that Trowa and Maia were definitely the champions of the water wars though Noin and Wufei had been a close second. All the girls were delighted by this since they often worried about Maia and the fact that she so often stood on the outside of things. The girl was practically glowing with a ll the praise she was getting and even the guys went out of their way to tell her how well she'd done, even Wufei.
"So we putting in a couple more hours then dinner?" Duo asked as they trudged back up the path, his long hair swinging since he'd undone his braid so that it would dry quicker though since it was still pretty soaked it wasn't everywhere yet. "We're almost done replacing all the boards on the porches." Duo said glad to see the end of those boards as he grinned over at Wufei proudly then got a devilish idea. Moving over towards his pale he quickly yanked off Wufei's leather hair thong sending his friends hair down around his head before quickly stepping away to hide behind Heero where it was safest.
"DUO!" Wufei said as he tried to snatch it back but he hadn't seen it coming and wasn't quick enough. His hair hanging down to nearly reach his shoulders he glared at Duo who was hiding behind Heero. "Give it back and I might let you live, Baka."
"But you look so cute with your hair down, Wufei." Sally said with a grin which widened as Wufei's cheeks went a distinctive shade of pink. Of course it was the truth since it not only made him seem younger but more vulnerable as well which was one of the reasons you were more likely to see a yeti then the man with his hair out of its usual ponytail. Plus it gave him a more pretty look, less severe. "I keep telling him he should wear it down more."
"Shut up, Onna." Wufei said with a burning glare that didn't phase his partner in the least. Refusing to chase after the braided baka the way Duo undoubtedly wanted Wufei continued to walk with a scowl on his face, refusing to give in to the need to get his tie back so he could put his hair up. He hated to be called cute or worse pretty which was something his grandmother was fond of saying.
"What I don't get is how your hair can stay the way it always is when it's soaking wet, Trowa." Quatre said before someone drove Wufei to commit a homicide. He knew that Wufei hated to be caught with his hair down since he looked so different without it pulled back from his face. Add in Wufei's glasses and it was hard to imagine it was the same person instead of a rather pretty looking young Asian man. "I mean shouldn't it go flat and get in your way?"
Sending Quatre a mildly surprised look Trowa simply shrugged, He had no idea why it was that his hair constantly defied gravity and he really didn't care overly. Well he didn't care unless someone asked him what kind of gel or mousse he used to keep his bang the way it was. He did not use anything, it was just like this naturally.
"Yeah that is weird, Trowa. If I didn't know for a fact that you don't use anything I'd swear that there was no way your hair could be naturally like that." Duo said with a chuckle, tucking the piece of leather into his pocket to give back to Wufei once they got to the house. "Though Noin's is kind of like yours only shorter and less in her face I guess."
"Yeah it is." Relena said in surprise never really having thought about it before since Noin's wasn't in the same league as Trowa's. "That's so weird." Soon everyone was in an argument about hair, well everyone but Wufei and Trowa who weren't even going to touch that subject with a nine foot pole.
Two hours later
Sally and Hilde were setting up the supper while everyone finished up whatever they were working on before it was time to eat. Duo and Quatre had both finished their jobs so they replaced Sally and Hilde while the girls worked on setting up the buffet and heating up what needed to be heated or putting together something. Once everything was ready to go everyone was called in and after cleaning up quickly everyone grabbed a paper plate and silverware before getting in line to help themselves to the wide variety of food available.
Sitting down beside Wufei who was trying some of Hilde's meatballs with a pleased look on his face Noin grinned at him. "This was a pretty fun day, Wufei. I'm glad you let Sally talk you into it."
"It went well." Wufei agreed with a nod as he surveyed the others who were sitting on the porch like Noin and himself or on patio chairs they'd brought. Everyone was eating and chatting and in a thoughtful mood Wufei imagined this was likely what a family dinner would be like. Not like his had been but how a regular family dinner would be. In a real sense these people here were his family besides his grandmother and that wasn't nearly as horrifying a thought as he would have thought it to be. His father use to say that you could tell a lot about a person by the friends he kept and Wufei suppose it was true. Of course his father had said that when he'd forbidden Wufei to play with the grandson of their cook's and Wufei was pretty sure that Quatre was the only one his father would have approved of, perhaps Relena and Mariemaia depending. But he..he wouldn't trade his friends in for others that his father would have approved of, even Maxwell.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Noin asked wondering what was going through his head since he had a rather surprised look on his face. Taking a bite of her chicken Noin made a mental note to ask Sally what she had added to the since there was a slight kick to it and one that made Noin plan to get seconds of it if there was any left once she'd cleared her plate or its present load and still had room for anything more. Of course there was that caramel cake Relena had brought..damn so many things to eat and so little room in her stomach.
"Nothing important." Wufei said, still in a state of slight shock over where his thoughts had been drifting. "You..you're very good with shingles." Wufei finally said not knowing what else to say since he was still recovering from the shock of coming to the conclusion that these diverse and often puzzling people were like family to him now from Sally to Duo.
"Thanks, you did a pretty good job yourself." Noin said with a big smile, pleased more then she should be at the off handed compliment. Wufei wasn't known to ever flatter or compliment unless he thought it was deserved and she couldn't remember the last time a compliment had meant so much to her. Likely because she knew it was an honest and truthful one, not meant to gain her favor or smooth something over, Noin thought with a slight shake of her head. "So are you really not going to paint that kitchen?" Noin added with a hint of devilment in her eyes as she watched him gap at her then look like he wanted to strangle her.
"NO!"