Chapter 5

Robbie sighed in contentment, burrowing further under the covers in a phantom embrace. Turning slightly, there was a strange sensation of falling before crashing painfully to the floor. Well, not quite. Tears stinging at the corners of his eyes, he opened them only to stare into two apologetic, sky blue orbs.

"Sorry, Robbie. I forgot about the ties." Delicately lifting him off of his chest and into his arms, Sportacus slid off the skateboard and slowly stood. He looked down worriedly at Robbie, feeling horribly guilty at his oversight. The slight man was shaking slightly, tears streaming uncontrollably down his cheeks and he bit back a whimper from the pain. "I…I'm sorry!"

Flustered, Sportacus set Robbie back on the bed before flipping over to a wall compartment and digging through the store medicine bottles. With the tablets in hands a summoned glass of water, he rushed back to the bedside. "Robbie…? I have you pills for the pain, but I'm going to have to move you again, ok?"

Scooting up to the head of the bed, Sportacus tentatively lifted Robbie up until he sat upright, leaning against his shoulder. Threading an arm under Robbie's shoulder, he offered up the small mound of painkillers. After a long moment the shivers of pain subsided, and Robbie accepted the offering in silence. Resting his chin on the much taller man's shoulder, Sportacus murmured, "I really am sorry, Robbie. I'll do my best not to forget again." Shifting Robbie's weight to the wall behind him, Sportacus rose, cheerful once again. "I know! I'll bet you're hungry. What do you want for breakfast? Some toast and juice, maybe?"

Robbie turned a pale shade of green. "Toast? Juice? What're you trying to do, poison me next?"

"But Robbie, everyone should eat a healthy breakfast!"

"…don't say that word."

Sportacus blinked. "What word?"

"The H word! You know…"

"H…happy? Help? Healt-"

"THAT'S THE ONE! Don't say that around me, you got that? And don't feed me that stuff, either. Preservatives are in food for good reason. They help you live longer."

Sportacus frowned, scanning his larder-board. "You mean you won't eat anything hea-…that word you don't like? I don't know. That can't be good for you, Robbie. I don't think I have any food that you'd like. You sure you wouldn't like some Sports Candy?"

A gagging sound came from the bed in reply. "No thanks. You were already going to go get my stuff today, anyways. I'll just have to add food to the list." Robbie gave him a pointed look that Sportacus returned, uncomprehending. "The list, Sportakook! I can't make one if you don't give me anything to make one with!"

Sportacus smiled when he realized what Robbie was asking for, in his own brusque manner. Somersaulting across the room, he rounded up a few sheets of paper and a pen before flipping back and handing them to Robbie, who snatched them away grumpily. Scribbling quickly, within a few minutes he handed his instructions back to the hero.

"Just get what's on there and don't touch anything else! It's bad enough that I have to let you into my house in the first place. Everything should be where I've listed it, so there's no need for you to go poking your nose where I shouldn't be."

Glancing over the paper, Sportacus nodded in assent, tucking the list into his belt before skipping over to the portal and starting down the ladder. "Be back soon, Robbie! I'll make you breakfast when I get back!"

Robbie only snorted in response.

Only minutes later, Sportacus stood in the last place he'd ever thought he'd be invited. It was much bigger than he expected. For a minute, all he could do was walk around, gawking like a tourist.

"This place is huge! And so messy!" He reached one bracer bedecked hand to touch a random contraption, giving a start when it whistled back at him. That's right! Robbie told me not to touch anything… Fishing the piece of paper out of his belt, Sportacus began the scavenger hunt. He had no idea what half the things on the list were for, but he collected everything as promised. After many trips up and down the ladder, a rather intimidating pile stood stacked next to the billboard. Without even breaking a sweat, Sportacus picked up as much as he could carry and started trudging back towards the airship.

Wow. It's MY lucky day! Stingy thought, stopping his car suddenly. Who knew that someone would be nice enough to leave a pile of wonderful stuff out for him? Looking around, Stingy spotted the white rope ladder leading up to Sportacus's zeppelin. Ooooh. So Sportacus left this stuff here! Well, I'm sure he won't mind me taking a few things. Rummaging around, he stopped when he spotted a small book bound in handsome, dark purple leather. No sooner had he picked it up than he heard a sound above him. Uh oh, he's coming back! Throwing the tome on the seat beside him, Stingy sped off for home.

Cheerfully munching on a bowl of Choco-Frosties, Robbie ignored Sportacus's lectures on good nutrition and sent him back down the ladder to haul up the rest of his stuff. Despite of the happenings earlier that morning, he was feeling surprisingly happy. It must be those pain pills, he thought vaguely, swallowing another mouthful of refined sugar. They must be pretty strong. I can barely even feel my ribs anymore! Distracted by Sportacus's reappearance, he grinned as the silly blue elf deposited his TV near the bedside. Silly? Since when has he been silly?

Sportacus noticed his Robbie's whole-hearted smile and did a double take, simply disbelieving his eyes. Striding over, he leaned down to get a closer look at the cereal. "Wow! Maybe that stuff really is better for you that I thought!" Still bent over, he turned his head and smiled up at Robbie. "I'm glad something's made you so happy." Straightening, he flipped back to the ladder and descended for another load, oblivious to the deep blush spreading on Robbie's face.

Stingy ran to his room, slamming the door in his excitement. Alright, let's look at my new book! Opening the cover, he flipped through the first few pages, reading snippets of text inscribed within.

Today, I tried a new baking recipe using ingredients similar to the last cake…

Sewing project didn't go so well today. It looks like I'm going to have to resew the zipper all the way around! And plastic is such a pain to work with…

I just stumbled across a new TV series and, I have to say, I think Farscape is the best show ever. And the main hero…

Stingy rolled his eyes. This sounded like one of the girls' writing! What was Sportacus doing with their stuff? Turning more pages, he tried reading some more to see if it got any better. This is weird. Someone's a good drawer, but why are there so many pictures of guys?

For a brief moment, I thought today might be my lucky day, but no. A really cute guy moved into town. Normally this would be a cause for rejoicing, but even since he got here the local kids have been nothing but trouble. I'm certain he has something to do with it! I'll have to see if I can't talk him out of whatever he's doing…

What is wrong with me? That sports freak couldn't be more aggravating. The kids are still being noisy, and everyone fawns on this guy like he's some sort of…superhero. I keep telling myself I have to find a way to send him packing, but it never really works out. What I can't figure out is why I seem to find him more and more attractive even when he annoys me to the point I can't think straight. Once I get rid of him, it'll go away.

Stingy's eyebrows shot up. Is this who I think this is? Flipping to the next page, Stingy took one look, flinched, then quickly slammed the cover shut. Doodles of machinery and outfits were all very well, but drawings of Sportacus sans clothing were not something he wanted to see. I'd better…go give this back to Sportacus, because this is SO NOT MINE.