TOMMY
One down, one to go.
"What the hell just happened here?" Zedd demands, looking after Goldar, Pina slung over his shoulder. "Seriously?"
"You know I'd lay down my life without hesitation for you Zedd, but as you also recall we have an agreement - she offers to use her tail and you're on your own for the night." Not certain I really want to know what that means, but okay.
It's all I can do not to laugh - both at Dar's actions and the surprised look on Zedd's face as he carries her out of the room, giving a parting command to Zedd to grab his money for him when he's done playing. Quickly I make my expression as innocent as I can before Zedd sees my amusement. Still, I can't help but grin when Jason remarks, "That must have been one hell of a suggestion Pina made."
"Must have been" I agree lightly. Of course, knowing what the meaning is of the word I asked Zedd about - that was actually one hell of a suggestion too, never mind the tone I'd said it in. I'm just grateful that neither Andros nor Zhane were here to hear the question, as they'd know exactly what it means too, and I'm certain never let me live it down.
Zedd turns to me, suspicion heavy in his voice. "Yes, it must have been indeed. And how funny a coincidence that she made it at the same time you seem so intent on getting me worked up."
"Worked up?" Looking at him calmly, I give a slight shrug. "Honestly mate, I have no clue what you're talking about."
"Thomas, the only thing left for you to do to me is perch yourself on my lap, and I am telling you right now if you do so, the fact that we are surrounded by people will not do a damn thing to stop me from giving them a physical demonstration of how an Eltarian mates someone into exhaustion on top of a table in a convention room." Tempting, however….
Picking up Goldar's discarded cards and shaking my head at his pitiful hand, I pass them back to Eric to be reshuffled into the deck as I respond casually to my mate's statement. "You know I can never tell if half the things you say are meant to be a threat or a bribe of some sort."
"Right now it's a bit of both. Now tell me what's going on with you two and what you've been playing at since you joined us."
I shrug lightly. "We weren't the ones playing at anything, Zedd. Besides, why does there have to be something going on for us to want to join you two? Maybe I just missed you, as I said. Maybe Pina just decided that she wanted her mate's attention as she said." I indicate the table. "Speaking of playing however, are you going to play cards or not, mate?"
I can almost hear the thoughts racing through his mind as he's putting things together. Now that the game has stopped and I'm not currently distracting him, two plus two is rapidly becoming four. "You two did this on purpose?"
"Did what?"
Looking surprised and scowling just slightly, he isn't buying it, however he also isn't owning up to it either, at least not yet. "You know what."
"All I know is Pina must have made Dar one hell of an offer to get him to walk away from a card game. A card game you two clearly had locked up. Well, at least until you lost focus that is."
"You were deliberately distracting us!"
Giving him a dramatic look of shock, I make certain my tone matches my expression. "Now why on Earth would we do something like that?" I ask, still sounding innocent. And if he has half the brain I think he does, he better come up with the right answer.
"Thomas, listen I know what you're thinking and-"
"And what? You were just really lucky?"
"No, but-"
"But they were letting you clean them out?"
"Thomas." Tone one of exasperation, I decide to give him a chance, seeing as how I did cost him pretty much all of what he and Goldar did make off of the others, besides if he has even an ounce of sense, the next words out of his mouth will be an apology, a charming no doubt round-about one, but still.
"Yes?"
"Look, I know you're mad, but we didn't intend to- well at least not at first, but-" But? Giving him a slight look of impatience, I wait for his explanation which he seems to be having just a bit of trouble giving for some reason. Finally when it does come, I am definitely less than pleased. "But - I kept my promise, love." Wrong answer. So very, very much the wrong answer.
I pull away from him even as I turn to face him more fully. "Yes, you did. You kept your promise down to the letter in fact. I guess it's my fault for being so specific as to say not to cheat them with your powers, instead of just not cheating them at all." I stand up, glancing at his now very depleted pile of winnings. "I'm heading to the room to relax, if you have any sense at all you'll call it a night too." Moving away from the table I pause briefly before leaving him with one final word of advice. "Oh and before I forget, give Eric his hat back, Zedd. It's not your style."
I head out of the room, heavily disappointed in my mate. I can hear him toss Eric's hat back and scoop up his and Dar's remaining money before following me. "Thomas, wait!"
I don't wait, but let him catch up with me at the elevator. As the doors open and we step on, he says, "Thomas, I'm sorry. I didn't think-"
As the doors close, I spin on him. "No, you really didn't, did you? How in all the hells did you think, after my request, I'd be okay with you cheating them that badly? A little bit to mess with them, fine, but Pina tells me that Wes was about to have to dip into his house payment to keep playing!" He looks like he wants to respond, but I continue. "And yes, before you even say it I know they didn't have to keep playing, but they play more for fun than to win! And then when you kept winning, it probably became a matter of pride! This isn't a way for them to make money, Zedd, not like it is for you guys. I get that it's fun for you to cheat people and normally I wouldn't care that much, but these are my friends and I thought you'd have more respect for at least me if not them than that."
The doors open and I stalk off the elevator and head for our room. As I open the door, I can hear that Pina and Dar are rather - busy. Well, good for them. In my current mood, my own mate will be lucky to get a good night kiss from me, never mind curling up with him - possibly for the next week. I can feel him checking the bond, and while it's tempting to close him off, I think this is one of those times that it's a good idea for him to feel how disappointed and upset I am over his treatment of my friends.
I kick my shoes off and settle on the bed, turning the television on and turning the volume up just enough to somewhat mute the mating pair next door. I pay Zedd no attention when he sits down on his side of the bed. He sighs heavily. "Thomas, I am truly sorry. Maybe we shouldn't have done it, but I lost my temper just enough to want to get them back."
"For what? What could they have possibly done that warranted that?"
"Eric made fun of my hair for one thing." As I turn slowly to give him a look that says there better be a hell of a lot more than that coming in his explanation, he's much to his credit very quick to continue.
He sighs again. "Thomas I swear I didn't just disregard what you told me earlier. In fact, neither of us did, at least not going into it as Dar and I had agreed not to beat them too badly and even assured Jason of as much when he joked that he didn't want to have to be the one to explain to any significant others how the boys ended up coming home from a business trip flat broke."
"So I ask again, what happened?" I press.
"After we assured Jason that we would behave the others joined us assuring us in jest that they'd 'take it easy' on us so they didn't get in trouble with you, to which Jason made a remark to them that he highly doubted that'd be necessary, and in truth to be careful playing against us, that in the mood to win we could be ruthless and take no prisoners. The others laughed a bit and joked it off, which was fine, or it would have been had they just let it be only that."
"But?"
"But they didn't. Dar and I started out losing the first two hands, as we always do, so that we can assess the skill level of the people we're playing with. Believe it or not we were actually doing it to be nice, so that we knew how much to tone down our cheating so as not to actually cost them much. Unfortunately this only got their mouths going again and they started mocking me a bit, making comments about the 'big, scary, former lord of evil' and how we'd better be careful with our betting or else said former lord of evil was going to end up getting his allowance cut off by his former red wearing husband." Oh hell.
Head in hand and knowing very well by them mentioning my Red Zeo Ranger powers they were just trying to show Zedd my inclusion in their red wearing group, I however also know they picked possibly the worst way to do so. "Zedd, I'm sorry if they offended you with their joke that I was in charge of our finances, however what you don't know is the reason they very likely went that route is because all of them know how I have to typically be the voice of reason where money and their betting is concerned when were all out together, as they will easily start spending far more than they have, just as they did tonight."
"Thomas, I don't care if they think you're in charge of our finances, or hell even my business as in truth I do have rather poor decision making skills when it comes to money at times. I just…listen rubbing in the fact I am a former lord of evil, and ignoring the jabs about having to answer to you where my gambling is concerned, even that wasn't really that bad, but when they started comparing me to a - what did they say? - feral bloodthirsty wolf that had been collared, put on a leash, and trained to be a lap dog - well, that pushed me over the edge just a bit."
"Wait, what?" Shaking my head and trying to follow him, I'm still a bit lost by the wolf comparison.
"To put it bluntly they compared me to the wolf in the fable Little Red Riding Hood, only the ending to my story involved me being collared and neutered by the red wearing hero – and it is not funny!" Looking highly offended now as I quickly cover my mouth to hide my completely unintended laugh, I know it's going to take some fast talking to calm him down now.
"You're right it's not, mate. I'm sorry, I wasn't laughing at you, just…okay, it's not funny, not laughing, please continue."
Eyes narrowed and looking decidedly unhappy now, he however does at least go on with his story. "When they decided to go there, which again, it's not funny, Jason stepped in and warned them to watch out, because housebroken or not, a wolf is still a wolf and poking one with a stick is never a smart move. However they didn't seem to listen, or care as that just led to more jokes to the point that it was getting on Dar's nerves too."
"And that's when you both decided to take them for everything they were willing to bet with."
"Yes, and that's when we decided to take them for everything they were willing to bet with" he agrees looking surprisingly satisfied. "So you see now, why we did it? I wasn't trying to ignore you or disregard you, they pushed me into it."
He's not serious, is he? "So - you decided to clean them out because they teased you?"
"That wasn't teasing, mate. Besides there's more to it than that."
"Such as?"
"My reputation for one thing." Uh huh.
Giving him a highly unimpressed look, I shake my head slowly. "Zedd this has nothing to do with your reputation. They didn't tease you because of who you were, or even who you've become, they teased you because you're with me, and that's just how they are to anyone who comes into that red colored circle of idiots. Besides, they didn't treat you any different than they would me - and have. So I ask you again, what's the real problem?"
"Thomas that is the real problem - look, if they tell anyone - and I mean anyone - how easily you just made me behave and just by getting mad at me, people are going to start to think I'm not a threat any more. If that happens, well, there are lots of people out in the universe that want me dead or want revenge for past actions that currently leave me alone because they still fear me. However if they get it in their heads that I'm no longer dangerous and find out how much you mean to me, we'll both - not to mention Pina and Dar - be in a lot of danger because they'll try to come and kill me or take you to hurt me."
I frown taking in his explanation and knowing he's being truthful due to what he's feeling and I can feel as well through the bond, however… "Zedd-"
"Yes?"
"That is such bullshit." In his stunned silence, I go on. "I'm not saying that your fears are - just that you think that the others would spread that kind of information. I know you've mentioned that Andros has a big mouth, but both he and Trey know how your reputation keeps you - and by extension, me - safe. And they weren't even there - they aren't coming until tomorrow. And really how many other Earth Rangers leave the planet?"
"Thomas, word spreads. Trust me, leaving the planet or not, it always finds a way, love."
I take a breath. "Fine, word spreads, I'll agree to that to a small degree. However, I still don't think that's ultimately what made you do what you did."
"Oh?"
"Zedd, you are so used to being the dominant male in the room, when they treated you like - well, to continue with the wolf metaphor - one of the pack, instead of the leader, I think it dented your pride a little bit, and after hearing what they said, I can kind of understand how you took it and why. However, the way I see it, they were comfortable enough with you as my mate, to give you a hard time - no different than you've seen Jason do with me. They were treating you like one of us. They've accepted you and would never do anything to make you or me look weak outside the security of the group." Seeing his uncertainty, I say, "It's probably an Earth thing." I pause thoughtfully. "Or maybe not. After all, Goldar gives both of us a hard time on a regular basis and you don't think anything about that."
"That's not the same."
"Why isn't it?"
"Aside the fact that he is not an entire group of people targeting you, he makes certain to only tease you about things that include me in them. Why do you think the only thing he really picks at you for is how loud we are when we mate? He knows you're more sensitive and likely to get your feelings hurt by mistake if you misunderstand something he teases you about, so to avoid hurting your feelings he doesn't really pick at anything unless he's certain it won't really bother you." Taking a breath and continuing softly, he shakes his head. "Besides he considers you family now, he would never say anything to deliberately hurt your feelings as such."
"He considers me family" I repeat, before giving him a calm look.
"Right."
"Because we're bonded and he's your best friend, your family."
"Exactly."
"Sort of like how Jason is my best friend and part of my family?" I give him a minute to absorb this before I say one more thing. "Zedd, just like you trust Dar, I trust Jason. I trust that in my absence, he would have stepped up and taken care of you if there'd actually been anything to it. I know you said he gave them a tactful warning that they were pushing things a bit, but had he really felt you were in danger or beyond upset, I know, and I think you do as well that he would have beat the hell out of every last one of them."
"I didn't even consider that" he admits.
"Why? You make a point to remind me that Dar is now my family, well Zedd, Jason's now yours. I mean is this really any different than when you trusted Dar to take care of me when you were gone? You knew, even if he still wasn't overly fond of me, that he would protect me and watch out for me because he's your best friend, your family. So if you can trust your best friend with your mate, why would I not trust my best friend to take care of mine?" I'm still irritated and disappointed, but now there's more than enough to go around. Again, while I'm very glad that they are so accepting of my relationship with Zedd, they certainly didn't think things through on how to show that acceptance. I sigh, remembering that David had said that Zedd looks so human that it's easy to forget that he's not, and apparently just as easy to forget that despite his reputation his feelings can still be easily hurt with the right ammunition. My attention returns to my mate.
"No, it isn't any different. Thomas, I'm sorry."
"If it makes you feel any better, I'm not upset with just you now. While I still don't agree with what you did, I will agree that they should have thought before they spoke, or at the very least heeded Jason's warning. The problem is that I can't do anything about it." Seeing his curious look, I explain unhappily. "It's like with Annwyl. You couldn't go and straighten him out about how he was treating me and I can't say anything to them."
Silence falls between us for a minute. Finally Zedd says hesitantly, "Perhaps Dar and I should talk to them tomorrow. Explain that we didn't realize that they were just giving us a hard time instead of out and out mocking us like we thought, thus the cheating them at every opportunity."
And I'm rather proud of him for this solution. "That might work."
He creeps a little closer. "Are you still angry at me?"
"No, I'm not angry any more, but I'm still more than a little disappointed in all of you." Abruptly, I frown. "The thought just occurred to me. You said that there are lots of people out there after your blood and if they think you aren't a threat anymore, they'll come after you."
"Right. So?"
"And part of the reason you think they won't find you a threat anymore is because I made you behave."
"Right. Again, so?"
I raise an eyebrow at him. "So, if I can make big, bad Lord Zedd behave, wouldn't many of them just assume that now I'm the one to not be messed with?"
He rolls his eyes, not seeming nearly as taken with this notion as I am. "Not necessarily."
"Why?"
Sighing and studying me for a minute he shakes his head. "I don't want to say, I don't want you mad at me again."
"I'll be mad at you if you don't say."
"Thomas." Voice pleading he however does cave in the end, apparently realizing he's in a rather no win situation tonight. "All right, fine, some of them might view you as an even bigger threat than me, might, however the more likely outcome will be that all the others will think that I've gone so soft that I can be controlled with nothing more than the promise of sex."
"At which point, we - together - prove otherwise."
He sighs dramatically. "I'm going to run out of places to hide the bodies."
"We'll think of something." A roar from the next room cuts over the television and our conversation, startling me. "Wow - whatever she's doing, he's apparently enjoying it."
Zedd looks amused. "Oh he is, however don't ask what it is as you probably don't want to know. Trust me, I accidentally walked in on them once, it ruined my sleep for a week."
"Well now I really want to know."
"Let's just say desacta doesn't even begin to cover it. By the way, you do know what that word means, don't you?"
I try to look innocent, but I'm sure I'm failing miserably. "You said that if I'd watched the movie, I'd know, but I haven't watched it yet. I'd rather watch those types of movies with you."
"But you do know what it means."
"Zedd, I am a scientist and trained researcher. Of course, I know what it means, why on Earth do you think I said it and said it in that tone."
"Devious brat." I shrug lightly. "So, forgiven?"
"For now" I agree.
"If you're not too upset with me, perhaps we could see if we can beat them in the volume department?"
I smile slowly. "Oh, I have no doubt we can, but a hotel with paper thin walls isn't exactly the best place for such a contest, lover."
He leans over and kisses me. "Then perhaps we could pretend we're out in nature being serenaded by the animals as we mate?"
I chuckle and kiss him back. "Why not?"
