Chapter 6: Jol i Latibae

"That's not true," Sportacus said, but it sounded weak even to his own ears. Robbie stared at him for a moment more, telling him frankly with his eyes "we both know you're lying" but after that moment, Robbie shrugged.

"Regardless," he said. "I'm telling you now that I'm not a social person."

"But you want to be."

Sportacus exhaled in relief at the briefest flicker of emotion on Robbie's face. It meant he had a handhold, finally.

"You want me to want to be that," Robbie asserted. Sportacus shrugged this time.

"I didn't deny that. But you didn't deny it either."

There was a pause, and the two of them were stuck in a stare down.

"You want to be friends with people, and be warm and not all alone. I know you do Robbie." he continued. Robbie grit his teeth.

"So what?" he shot back. "It's all a lie. I'm always alone, and I'll always be alone. Being friends with that lot would be stupid of me. It'd be lying to myself, wouldn't it? Because I honestly don't like them. Forcing myself to smile and laugh with them would be a lie, something fake that would just let me be content on the surface and trick myself into feeling happy. Who wants that? Besides you of course."

Sportacus sighed.

"You don't know anything about love Robbie," he said. Robbie rounded on him again.

"I don't know about love?" the man hissed. "You've completely forgotten, haven't you? Or did you just push it out of your head to make room for more stupid ways to use sports equipment?"

Sportacus drew his eyebrows together in an expression of confusion. Robbie stepped forward again, swiftly, and slammed his hands down on the table, one hand on each side of the sports elf. Sportacus froze, thrown off.

"I see." Robbie said flatly, staring straight into those winter sky blue eyes. "I'll remind you then."

Sportacus didn't even have a chance to protest before Robbie's mouth was on his, and he froze again, feeling a tingling warm feeling spread…

He wanted to fight. He wanted to push Robbie away and tell him to not do it again, he still didn't hate him, and he better hurry up and get to the party.

But he couldn't move or even make a sound.

'Please,' he thought. 'Please, forgive me for this.'

He couldn't help it when he started kissing the man back. It was out of his control.

Robbie broke away first, his eyes half closed in a way that caused the sports elf to shiver. Sportacus could feel his heart hammering away in his chest, but it was only when Robbie backed away, hand coming up to touch his lips, that Sportacus felt fear.

"Alright," Robbie said suddenly. Sportacus blinked in confusion.

"H-huh?"

"I'll come to the party." Robbie explained, eyeing the sports elf in a way that made him nervous, with a mild smirk that said clearly 'I won'.

"That is what you wanted, isn't it?" he finished smoothly. Sportacus nodded hastily, and moved toward the exit with Robbie following behind.

"The cocoa better not be sugar free, or I'm leaving immediately."

"I already said it wasn't."

"Good."

"Hey guys!"! Sportacus announced loudly, swinging the door open and stepping inside. "Guess who I found?" He stepped aside and revealed Robbie, who was trying his best to look casual, but the shivering was giving him away.

"Robbie Rotten!" the group exclaimed. He stuck his tongue out at them.

"Going to invite me in or what?" he asked snidely. Stephanie made a face at him for being rude, but Mayor Meanswell hastily invited him inside, closing the door once he stepped in and then bustling off to get another mug of hot cocoa.

Robbie cast a glance around the room, found an unoccupied chair, and slumped down in it. Sportacus almost beamed gratefully at the man for being such a good sport about it so far, but he remembered the conditions on which Robbie had agreed, just in time to suppress the bright smile into merely a softened look of gratefulness. He startled a little when a present was shoved into his arms. He looked down at Stephanie, who was smiling brightly at him, and he managed an equally bright smile back.

"For you!" she said cheerfully, before bouncing off to distribute the rest of the gifts before Stingy could claim them all. He watched her wistfully for a moment before looking down at the present in his arms. He held it up to his ear and shook it carefully, careful to not disturb anything fragile. Though, he very much doubted it was anything breakable.

He sighed a little when Robbie snatched his small package from the pink girl, but couldn't find it in him to complain. That is, until Stephanie looked at him expectantly. He hastily remembered that he was her hero.

"Robbie, be nice," he warned. But he knew very well it sounded half-hearted. He was trying to call on something that wasn't there, and it showed.

No one noticed but Robbie.

Robbie stared at him directly for a few moments, before hastily snatching the lid off of his present. Sportacus quickly followed suit, noticing that everyone else was tearing into their own.

He smiled vaguely and pulled out a picture frame. It was a picture from last Christmas, when Stephanie had hastily crammed a santa hat on his head, proclaimed herself and the other kids his helpers, and they had clung to them in their excitement at this new fun pretending game. If memory served, it had been the mayor who snapped the picture… he traced a finger along the frame and smiled.

He didn't care what Robbie said. He knew what love was.

Thinking of Robbie, he looked up from the picture and over to the man. Robbie had tossed the empty box over his shoulder carelessly, and was currently holding…

Socks.

Even Sportacus cringed a little. He couldn't blame them though. What do you buy a man you know nothing about? Socks, generally. It was the gesture that counted.

Robbie apparently didn't agree. He regarded them with a look of disdain, and looked up, mouth open and ready to tell everyone, loudly, what miserable gifts there were. But he inexplicably shut his mouth when he spotted Sportacus on the other side of the room. Robbie then looked as if he were trying very hard to not look like he was feeling anything in particular, and sat in the chair, stuffing the socks into his vest. Undoubtedly to throw them away at another time.

Sportacus offered up a thin smile of condolence to Robbie, and Robbie just glared daggers at him in response. Those daggers had notes attached: "I don't know why I even came here."

Sportacus moved over to him, deftly avoiding running children and packages of torn-into paper and bows, finally sitting down in the chair next to Robbie.

"So," he started, watching the kids play amiably. "Feeling better?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Robbie responded. "I have a headache from all the squealing and off-key singing."

"You could sing," Sportacus offered gently. Robbie leveled him with a look.

"I don't sing happy songs like that," he replied. "And even if I did, I don't sing in front of people."

"You should," Sportacus said, grabbing an extra cup of cocoa and pushing it into Robbie's hands. "Your singing voice is pretty good."

Robbie huffed, but Sportacus saw from the corner of his eye that Robbie's face was mildly red, and he was sipping the cocoa in an attempt to hide it.

The rest of the night was spent rather amiably, and Sportacus played with the kids until it was time for them to wander back home to their own families. Robbie was sprawled out on a couch, half buried in wrapping paper. Some sticky bows had gotten into his hair as well. Sportacus and Stephanie waved goodbye to the other kids from the door, and afterwards Sportacus chided her gently to brush her teeth, wash her face, and get into bed, otherwise she wouldn't have any energy tomorrow. She smiled sleepily and pranced off to obey, and he watched her go with a replying smile.

He sighed and looked at the mess left over, which the mayor was busily trying to clean. He posed heroically and pitched in.

Robbie continued to sleep, even when Sportacus gently pried the bows from his hair.

AN:

Heh. I update almost every single day and you guys still want them faster? You greedy little things, I love you. This fic is finished, so it's very likely it'll be a chapter a day. Enjoy it. My novel makes no progress.

The picture Sportacus got as a present is something interesting. On the surface level, it's cute, because Sportacus is an elf. And I found it ironic that Stephanie (who is thus ignorant of his elfness) would proclaim him Santa and herself and the rest of the children his elves. I can imagine the sheer confusion going on in his poor head. I also find it amusing to imagine Sportacus creeping around on christmas and shoving sports candy into people's shoes. And the mass amount of puzzlement come morning. But I digress. The other part of that present was that it was something from the previous year, gifted a year after. Stephanie is making sure that Sportacus stays there, by perpetuating this. Next year he'll get a photo from this party, and it'll keep going. He can't leave, or else there'll be a present for him left behind. It's actually fairly clever of the girl.

Sorry. I'm still giggling over Sportacus putting sports candy into shoes. I need help.

Anyway, Sportacus wins this round with Robbie (sort of) and there's a kiss. Yay! It's fun to imagine Sportacus as highly reluctant. It's always more fun when you have to slowly convince them. Ah! But this does not mean that Sportacus is any more ready to let go of his hero-ness! Make no mistake. Robbie kissed him, and he can berate himself and his traitorous body all he likes afterwards for kissing him back, but it's still Robbie who started it. And in Sportacus' mind, that just makes Robbie very very lonely. Which he is, but... anyway, you get the picture.

It's raining outside and I need to do laundry! Grr! Let up for 5 minutes so I can run with laundry to the building!

Reviews equal loves!