Chapter 3 – Interaction
Roane's eyes blinked open of their own accord, just as they always did, exactly one minute before his alarm went off. Rolling over and sitting up immediately, he stretched and waited for the buzzer to sound, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and yawning. Holding his hand over the button as it went off, he let it pulse exactly seven times, as if each one ingrained the 'be awake now' concept a little more into his brain. Finally switching it off, he headed over to jump in the shower. It was the most sure-fire way to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when he had to go inspect the Privates later.
With most of his normal routine completed, Roane walked over to the control room and absentmindedly flipped the lever that sounded Gohan and Mirai's wake-up call. He was using a new sound today. He liked to switch it up to keep them on their toes, and he had come across a perfect noise to throw at them just yesterday. It was the standard "Hull Breach" warning that most submarines and space ships were equipped with these days. The jarring noise grated over the entire base for 30 seconds, bringing a smile to Roane's lips as he pictured their startled reactions.
That done, he went back to his room to practice for a few minutes. About a month ago, on one of their days off, he had held Gohan and Mirai to their word about showing him how to fly. He'd picked up the basics of it pretty well, though it was harder than they made it look. He didn't have much time to devote to developing the skill, with his current employment taking up so much of his time, but he did manage to get in at least a little practice every day. He had the hovering thing down, and could move from side to side, but wasn't exactly ready for the loop-d-loops and crazy acrobatics he had been shown were possible.
Touching down on solid ground again, he grabbed his bullhorn and headed over to start the day. They didn't know it yet, but Roane had planned a little field trip for them. Deciding after a review of their contract that it was within his power to grant them permission to leave the base; he had purposefully planned this excursion for the Friday directly preceding a day off. After three months of virtual isolation out here, he thought they were all beginning to feel a bit stir crazy. He counted it as a happy coincidence that and old buddy of his had called him up a few weeks ago to offer him some work on the family's farm, so he'd been able to bargain a day of work for Gohan and Mirai out of it. Changing things up was beneficial now and then, and it would give them a chance to have some good, down-home cooking in exchange for the day's labor.
After Mirai's very polite questions about the security of their identities had been answered and dealt with, they all piled into an old Jeep that had come with the base and headed off to the farm in question. With the much less camouflaged outfits they had changed into, namely jeans and t-shirts, they didn't set off as many 'military' identity flags. Also, Mirai had obtained Roane's permission to disguise his hair, since it was a rather distinctive shade and his face quite well known in the outside world. While they were switching clothes he simply transformed into a Super Saiyan, becoming an instant blonde. They had already been informed that their job here was not so much for the physical difficulty, but to get a change of pace and to do something good for someone else. Mirai wouldn't have really pegged Roane for the altruistic type, but he had a feeling that an old army friend of his was involved. Either way, it suited him fine. Roane had indicated that afterward they were going to be allowed to spend their day off in the city nearby, which was a huge luxury by their current set of standards.
"You boys better be on your best behavior," Roane lectured them as he drove, "I won't have you embarrassing me on this outing, or doing any less than your absolute best at these tasks."
"Yes, sir" they both affirmed.
"But at the same time, since we're kind of incognito here, you shouldn't call me 'Sir' for the rest of the day, or be afraid to act normally" Roane informed them, expecting the instructions he gave would be followed precisely. They rode the rest of the way mostly in silence, since the old Jeep's radio didn't work. There was still some nice scenery going by though, as they made their way through the countryside. Mirai held Gohan's hand and rubbed small circles into it as they waited, at least with them both sitting in the back they could have this small moment.
When they finally reached the property, they could tell right away that this was more of a family run operation than a big corporate farm. An ancient, but well-kept farm house sprawled behind the front fence, and various out buildings littered the grounds behind it. Worn dirt roads ran between all the structures, a few of which looked in need of sprucing up. None were as bad as one of the large old barns though, it was so dilapidated that it looked ready to fall over in a strong breeze. Acre upon acre of crops stretched out around them, right up to the edge of the forest. As they got out of the car, they were 'greeted' by a trio of dogs, but they were quickly called off by the farm's owner, who limped out of the house with a cane when he saw Roane.
The old man shook Roane's hand and clapped him on the shoulder as Roane introduced Gohan and Mirai as a couple of friends of his. The dogs sniffed at their feet while handshakes were exchanged all around, and Gohan bent down to pet the happy border collie that had taken a liking to him. It was while squatting down with the dog that he heard their day's agenda.
"Well, I know any outfit you're part of will be set on workin' hard, but just get to as much of it as you can, seein' as how there's only the three of you" the farm's owner advised them. "There'll be a hot, home-cooked meal for you at the end of it, either way, just like we agreed. I really appreciate you takin' the time off to come out here" he finished with a nod in Roane's direction.
"It's no problem, sir, glad to pitch in" Roane assured him.
"Do you remember where everything is, or should I give you all the grand tour?" he questioned.
"I'm pretty sure I've got it down, supplies in the north barn, scrap behind the old barn, and dinner at 6 o'clock sharp?" Roane grinned. He'd obviously put in time here before, Gohan noted, still scratching the dog's head. The old man chuckled and patted Roane on the shoulder again, saying he'd leave it in his capable hands then. As he began making his way back to the house, the dogs broke off to follow him, but the collie turned halfway and dropped it's front paws so he was half laying down with his tail still wagging happily in the air.
"No, no, I can't play right now" Gohan laughed, waving him off.
"If you're done?..." Roane began, bringing his attention back around.
"Oh, uh, sorry, s-" Gohan stopped himself from calling Roane 'sir', "just acting normal."
"That's fine, but between you and me, I know what you boys are capable of, and I'll be highly displeased if everything on my list isn't done by the end of the day" he admonished them.
"Right" Mirai nodded. "I'm guessing that would be the north barn?" he gestured, ready to get started.
"It is indeed, let's go get that orchard harvested boys" Roane enjoined them. Since that was the most time sensitive thing on the list, Roane had them take care of it straight away. Actually, when ol' Murphy had heard it was just the couple of them, he told him over the phone not to worry about that field after all, as it was a job more fit for a couple dozen men. Roane knew that hiring the labor for that would not be cheap though, and made it their first priority. Starting up the small tractor used for pulling the fruit trays, he drove them out to the 10 acres of cherries and gave them the rundown.
"Larger, or rather more well off farms, use rigs that shake the tree to get all the cherries off, letting them fall on tarps that are then dumped into a sorter that blows away any leaves and such. Those set-ups are not cheap though, to either buy or rent, so we're going to be using a modified version of that technique today" he explained. Indicating the stacks of plastic trays on the trailer behind the tractor, he continued, "Once all these are full, we'll go back for another load." Grabbing a stack of four tarps off the back, he told them to spread them out under the tree, with it's trunk in the middle of where the corners would meet.
"Now, a normal person wouldn't have the strength for this, they'd have to preposition the ladder under each branch and give them a good shaking one by one; it makes the harvest take a long time when done by hand. But I'm counting on you to be able to give the tree a good shaking right at the trunk, without damaging it of course, and get this thing done within a couple hours" Roane motioned for Mirai to step up. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Mirai wrapped his hands around the tree, pushing and pulling on it gently at first, to get an idea for the woods' tolerance. Feeling like he had a fairly good reading on it, he shook the tree quickly, making it seem as if the whole thing vibrated. A rain of cherries fell on him immediately, though he kept shaking for a good 10 seconds, just to make sure. Roane walked around the edge of the tree, looking to see if there were any clumps still hanging on, but found only one small section on an outlying branch.
"Good work. After you do that, always check to see if there's any clingers. You have my permission to fly, in fact I insist on it, since the speed it provides you will be the only way you can get this whole orchard done in the time frame I'm looking for." As Roane spoke, Mirai flew up to the branch and gave it another small shake, with it finally releasing it's payload.
"So, here's how I want you to work this. You each will have your own row of trees. After you've spread out your tarps and done the shaking, you'll probably have to pick out any twigs or sticks by hand, but then the leaves you should be able to blow away all at once with that handy 'ki' stuff you showed me before. Also, since you can fly, picking up the tarps and dumping them into a line of waiting trays should present no logistical problems for you. I will be following behind you, moving the trays onto the trailer while you go on to the next set of trees. Any questions?" Roane asked, though he clearly expected none.
"No, that's really well thought out" Gohan replied, moving to stake out the neighboring row while Mirai finished with his tarps. "There is one thing though," he couldn't help himself, "Are you sure you'll be able to keep up with us?" Roane got in his face with a slightly aggressive posture, only a small smile giving away that he was actually pleased with Gohan's competitive attitude.
"I am not one to balk at a hard days work, Private, but if you really get that far ahead, feel free to come back when you've finished the whole acreage and help load trays too" he challenged him. The quicker it was all done the better, in his mind. Gohan grinned and looked over to catch Mirai's eye, seeing the mischievous twinkle in them as well.
"Deal" he said with a nod. "Hey Mirai, race you to the end of this row?"
"Sure, though I've got a whole tree's head start on you, I don't know if that's really fair" Mirai accepted his proposal with a teasing lilt to his voice.
"Are you kidding? You're going to need it" Gohan laughed, arranging his tarps. He stopped and waited until he and Mirai were in the same position on their respective trees.
"On your mark...get set...go!" he counted down. From Roane's perspective, what seemed to be happening was that a very large, yet controlled, wind swept through the two rows. Trays of cherries just seemed to pop up in a neat line every few seconds in front of the next tree down the row, with leaves and small twigs continually swirling in the air around them. Roane realized his mouth was slightly open when a stray piece of leaf flew into it, making him grimace and spit. All of a sudden, he felt a hand on is shoulder, and spun around. Gohan was standing there, grinning like the cat that got the canary, as Roane felt Mirai's hand on his other shoulder only a few seconds after that.
"I told you I'm faster" Gohan prodded Mirai as they dropped their hands, having used him as an effective goal line. Roane stared at them for half a second, then regained his composure.
"Alright, new plan" he said, going over and starting up the tractor, "Load these that you just did onto the trailer, and let's see if you boys can still go that fast on the next set of rows while aiming for a moving target." For the rest of the harvesting, Roane drove the tractor up the row at the same time they worked, quickly filling the trailer. It turned out the longest part of the process was driving back to the barn for a new set of trays, as the tractor could only go so fast. When they drove in the last load, Roane glanced at his watch.
"An hour and fifteen minutes?" he practically exclaimed, shaking his head. "We spent a lot of that driving too..." he mused, not for the first time wondering who the heck Gohan and Mirai really were. It wasn't his place to ask those kinds of questions though, his job was to keep them on track.
"I need to point out to ol' Murphy that he needs to call up a packing shed to come pick these up. You two go back to the north barn and load up that flatbed truck behind it with fence posts."
"Just out of curiosity, what are you going to say when he asks how we got this done so quickly?" Mirai wondered. Roane grinned and held out his arms in an 'I've nothing to hide' gesture, "No one saw anything, there's nothing to say an entire battalion wasn't out here shaking these trees" Roane said innocently. He wouldn't normally stretch the truth like that, well, lie, in this case, but it was a small one to protect them while they did as much good as possible for this family.
While Roane trotted off to do that, Mirai and Gohan made a b-line for the barn, still full of energy after having only worked up a light sweat in the trees. Moving that fast in normal gravity was a piece of cake for them, plus they had a good time with their own little side bets on who could finish how much first. Mirai currently owed Gohan two back rubs and chocolate cake tomorrow on their day off, while Gohan owed Mirai a foot massage and a bottle of wine. It was looking to be a pretty good day, tomorrow was...
They had the truck loaded up with the thick posts in no time, in fact more quickly than it took Roane to make it back. Noticing there wasn't exactly anyone else around, Gohan nonchalantly pushed Mirai up against the side of the barn, giving him a wide grin as he asked, "So we're supposed to 'act normally', right?"
"Gohan..." Mirai chided, as if he shouldn't have been surprised. Gohan stole a kiss anyway. Several in fact, until he felt Roane's ki approaching them again. "Time to build a fence" he whispered seductively in his lover's ear before pulling away.
"You always know just what to say to make my heart race" Mirai chuckled somewhat sarcastically, pushing away from the barn.
"Well, I do know you better than anyone else" Gohan got in one last tease before Roane appeared around the corner.
"Alright boys, hop in the cab and let's get going, this fence won't build itself" he commanded, heading directly for the truck. If he had any notion of what they'd been doing just before he appeared, he didn't make a point of it.
"The fence between this farm and the neighboring one is in bad shape, and as I'm sure you could tell, it's owner isn't exactly in the kind of health that is conducive to putting up fences. The fence that runs along the road is fairly new, as it was just replaced a few years ago. But the one on the west side of the farm is a cattle fence, less decorative, more functional, and rather labor intensive" he described their upcoming task to them as they drove. When they arrived at their destination, the fence's disrepair was obvious. Lines of barbed wire sagged and in some places left wide gaps. Almost all of the poles leaned one way or another, and their wood looked to be decaying pretty rapidly at this point. Gohan looked from side to side, up and down it's length, scanning the area for any ki signatures that would indicate someone was nearby at the same time.
"Uh, they don't expect any of this to be salvageable, do they?" he asked, scratching his head.
"No, the old stakes will be burned and the rusty old wire melted down and recycled, eventually. Alright, get this truck unloaded boys. Then Mirai, you can start tearing the current fence down while Gohan and I go back for another load of stakes. Once all the supplies are moved over, I'll have you two start putting in the new one" Roane explained as they piled the new posts on the ground.
After the two of them had taken off in the truck again, Mirai glanced around just as Gohan had, feeling out if there were any surrounding ki's before taking a hold of the barbed wire. As a Super Saiyan, the jutting metal couldn't even come close to piercing his skin, so he didn't bother with gloves. Gathering all the lines of it at once, he began ripping them off the posts with a swish of his arm. He discovered that if he tried to go too fast, the posts that weren't as rotted held onto the wire more firmly, and starting to rip out of the ground. At one point, he came across a section that was so rusted the wire snapped in half when he pulled, though he'd been using the same strength as on the previous sections. He finally did get it all dislodged though, rolling it into a huge ball and then flying it back to the starting point with it above his head.
Roane and Gohan were just about to drive away from unloading the second batch of stakes when they saw him approaching.
"Here, throw that on the back, we'll take it to the scrap heap on our way to get the last of the posts" Roane indicated. While they were gone, Mirai found that removing the rotten wood was no less delicate a process than removing the wire had been. If he pulled too hard, the end of it was liable to break off in the ground. It actually was a task made harder by being in his transformed state, but he figured the practice in control was certainly worth something. When he was a little over halfway done, Gohan flew up beside him, beginning to help with the tear down.
Right when Mirai went to get a grip on the last piece, he felt Gohan come up behind him, pressing at his back and pinning him to the wooden post.
"Seriously?" he asked in mock indignation as Gohan began kissing at his neck.
"What?" Gohan feigned innocence as he switched to kissing the other side.
"You're incorrigible, that's what" Mirai retorted, closing his eyes with a sigh, "Haven't you learned any self control these past few months?" he joked, not moving to escape though.
"Oh, and I suppose you'd rather have a perfectly in-control lover" Gohan's low voice teased back at a whisper, "One who never gives in to the moment, who's always strict with you... You'd probably rather date Roane than me." Mirai laughed, turning to face Gohan and wrap his arms around his neck.
"On the count of three, drop to your knees and give me a blow job, Private" Gohan frowned, doing his best impersonation of their commander. Mirai groaned, rolling his eyes to emphasize how ridiculous Gohan was being.
"As if. You know I like being spontaneous" he reminded him, "I just think we should be a little more on task at the moment."
"But no one else is around... I thought we already established that if you want me to stay on track, I need constant supervision" Gohan continued to joke, but released Mirai so he could finish with the post.
"Well, maybe I should call Roane over here to keep an eye on you then" Mirai suggested with a grin, bending over more than necessary to renew his grip. Watching Mirai's ass closely, Gohan shook his head and put his hands on his hips.
"I knew you liked him better than me."
"I don't know, the way you keep accusing me of being after him, it's almost like you're trying to cover up something yourself" Mirai turned the tables on him, throwing down the now freed post. Crossing his arms over his chest as he faced him, Mirai also raised a highly accusing eyebrow. Neither could hold their stance for long though, before bursting into laughter. Once they had died down to a lingering chuckle, Gohan suggested they start carrying the old timber over, since it would take hardly any time flying. Each gathering up an armful, they quickly flew back to the truck, which Roane had already gotten started on filling. Though he was nowhere near as fast as them, he did remarkably well for a human. Once they'd taken all the loads of scrap in, it was finally time to start on putting up the new fence.
With the track of the old one to follow, there was no worry about keeping the fence itself headed in a straight line, but Roane did stop to eyeball the posts and make sure they weren't leaning as they went. Mirai stood off to the side, next to one of the piles of new posts, and threw them to Gohan. Gohan used a miniscule ki blast to create a hole for the post, and then shoved it into the ground. As soon as Roane gave the 'ok' on it being positioned to his satisfaction, Gohan moved back and raised his arms to catch the next post. When they first started, they had tried both planting posts at the same time, but Roane didn't feel he was getting enough of a chance to properly inspect their work. This way may have technically been slower, but it was still light-years ahead of getting out a post hole digger. It was an easy thing for Gohan to keep each ki burst the same, making all the holes identical.
Finally they finished marking off the entire edge of the property with the new wood. Compared to what had been there before, it practically glowed. After they'd gotten the rolls of new barbed wire off the truck, Roane came over to them with a dangerous looking industrial staple gun.
"These staples are specifically made to dig into and hold onto wood. Start off your strand by wrapping it around the post a few times, then tie it off, like so" Roane demonstrated, "That will hold it in place while you attach it to the next post. You want the staples to be loose over the wire, so we can properly tension it afterward. Start with the bottom row and work your way up, we should have 8 to 10 lines overall" he finished instructing them. They were able to get it all strung up pretty quickly, with Gohan unraveling the wire while flying, and Mirai coming in behind him and stapling. The fresh metal practically glistened in the sun when the fence was finished, the bright wood almost making the pasture seem cleaner and refreshing somehow.
Mirai really enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment it gave him, seeing the whole thing put together, and knowing they had done that. He rarely (well, never, actually...) got this kind of satisfaction out of reading reports and signing contracts.
"I like this. Feeling like we really accomplished something good" he said out loud as he gazed over it. Roane looked over at him, pleasantly surprised to hear the idea conveyed in that statement, especially from someone who obviously came from such an upscale kind of life.
"That's three miles of fence you boys took down and then put up in the span of a couple hours. No harm in being proud of your work, especially when it's been done well" he complimented them. "Let's stop for lunch before we head to the next task, I'm sure you guys are probably getting hungry by now." Even though this wasn't nearly as much of a workout as Roane normally gave them, Gohan and Mirai weren't about to indicate they'd wait for food if they didn't have to.
Lunch on the farm was a pile of thick sandwiches, mounds of potato salad, and a couple gallons of iced tea. As plentiful as they were sure it seemed to ol' Murphy and his wife, it wouldn't have done much against a Saiyan's appetite if they'd really been working hard. Fortunately it would be enough to get by, and they could eat as much as they wanted once they got into town later. It wouldn't do to eat them out of house and home anyway, if they were to truly sate themselves at two different meals.
That afternoon's work was scheduled to be on the other side of the property, where the land they owned ran over and into the forest. There was a definite line where the current fields cut into it, and that was where the expansion was set to take place. A twenty acre parcel had already been outlined, though the amount of land they owned stretched even farther than that. The clearing of this plot was just to be able to add onto the adjacent crop for next year. The land was pretty free of underbrush, being at the edge of the woods, but it was scattered with trees that needed to go.
"Once we've got them all cut down" Roane said, gesturing to the trees, "we'll take the logs over behind the farmhouse to be cut up for firewood later. If we get this field ready to go quickly enough, we can spend the rest of the time until dinner on that." He handed each of them an ax as he spoke. Gohan looked at the handle and blade of the implement, speaking up once Roane was done.
"There's a faster way" he offered, setting the ax down. Flying up to the middle of the nearest tree, he gripped it around the middle and pulled it straight out of the ground, like it was nothing.
"This way we don't have to come back and remove the stump" he added, setting it down to the side of them.
"Yeah, but they'll probably question how the hell we got them out of the ground in one piece" Mirai said. He stepped over to the log and used a slice of ki to sever the root from the rest of the trunk.
"You might as well clean off the branches while you're at it, we can't stack them like that very well anyway" Roane gave them the go ahead on their new plan, and in no time they had all the trees worth making into firewood prepped and ready to go. Again, the longest part of it was ferrying the logs over to the farm house, since they couldn't fly them to the chopping block. They discarded the stumps on their way, though they left them all in one big pile in the scrap heap, since technically they could still be burned for fuel later if needed. Once they reached the wood shed, they pretended to need one of them on each end of the log to lift it, just in case anyone was watching. I reality, the trees were far too heavy for only two normal people to lift, but at least it didn't draw as much attention as a single person lifting the whole thing.
Gohan glanced around casually as they unloaded, checking to see if anyone was taking note of them, but the only one watching was the dog from earlier. He grinned to see it was still following him around after having been stuck a few tidbits under the lunch table. It continued to trot after them as they made their way back to the field as well. Thankfully, being a farm dog, he knew better than to get in their way while working.
Instead of firing up the tractor when they got back, Gohan and Mirai decided to take this opportunity to work on their ki control some more. Cutting long, careful lines into the soil, they sent the burst of ki at each other so slowly it could hardly even be called a blast. Mirai caught the glowing sphere and sent it back to Gohan, ripping up layer after layer of soil as they walked along. It wasn't a particularly draining exercise, but did require a good amount of concentration to have the ki ball only tear up a specific amount of earth in its wake. By the time all 20 acres were 'plowed' in this way, Mirai was sporting a visible sheen of sweat. The afternoon was a fairly warm one on top of it too.
Knowing how Gohan was usually effected by seeing him in this state, he prepared himself to fend off a few advances, knowing Roane was just down the field from them. Technically, from this distance, he couldn't see either of them, but felt them instead, and knew Gohan was heading his way. Mirai was marking off the section of dirt that would be dug up to form an irrigation canal in a moment, when his lover arrived.
Glancing over, he only intended on giving him a friendly smile and nod so they would stay on track, then suggesting they start the ditch. That was until he saw the bastard was walking around covered in just as much glistening sweat as he was, but had somehow thought it appropriate to remove his shirt. It was physically impossible for Mirai to break his gaze away from the chiseled perfection before him. He watched a bead of sweat reach it's tension point and break away from the hollow of Gohan's neck, tracing a quick line between broad pecs, slipping down over toned and muscular abs, only to disappear into the cloth of his pants below that.
Gohan grinned as Mirai's finger reached out and traced a line down his chest, his lover not even having met his eyes yet in his transfixed state. He felt the single finger hook itself into his waistband and grinned even wider, waiting for Mirai to eventually look up on his own. While the finger continued to rest in between Gohan and his pants, Mirai's other hand made the opposite motion, starting at his waist and running up over his chest.
"What the hell do you two think you're doing?" Roane's voice was a lot closer than his ki had seemed a moment ago. Mirai jumped back from Gohan's chest, at first going straight into a salute (as did Gohan), but then remembering they weren't supposed to do that right now, he lowered his hand, not really sure what to do.
"Uh, sorry, I, uh... sorry" Mirai sputtered, unsure what to call him either, since he wasn't 'sir' right now, and Roane might think addressing him by his first name while in trouble was disrespectful.
"Can you two not keep it in your pants for 5 minutes when no one else is around?" he asked sort of mildly angry and disbelievingly. At least he wasn't yelling it at the top of his lungs like usual.
"I told you to 'act' normal" Roane informed them, using his hands to make little quotation marks in the air, "not actually 'be' normal" he frowned. Mirai and Gohan weren't really sure what to say to that, though the pinkish tinge to Mirai's cheeks seemed to arise almost as if in response.
"It won't happen again" Mirai vocalized, watching Roane's reactions carefully. Their commander sighed, seeming to rub his temple, but then he turned it into a motion that wiped his forehead of sweat.
"Alright boys, I'll make you a deal. Since I know we're in kind of a gray area here, I'm going to make a gesture of goodwill. If you can manage to keep from molesting each other for the rest of the afternoon, then when we get into town later, I'll buy you both a drink and then let you molest each other as much as you want for the rest of the night, no interruptions. I know we won't officially be on 'down' time until sunrise, but you've done a good job here today, and you deserve a bit of a reward. Does that sound like a bet you're willing to make?" Roane smirked at them, knowing full well what their answer would be.
"Yes, we'll take it" Mirai accepted for both of them, rather eagerly.
"Oh, I don't know babe, you have been rather touchy-feely today" Gohan teased him, "What happens if we lose?" he asked Roane. Crossing his arms over his chest, Roane had his drill instructor voice back on when he answered.
"Well then your asses are still mine until sunrise" he said almost condescendingly, as if they should have known better. Gohan swallowed hard, side-stepping another foot or so away from Mirai, just to be on the safe side. Roane rolled his eyes.
"Get started on that irrigation canal, you've still got a mountain of firewood to chop after this" he chided, though the sting in his voice had lessened somewhat.
Just the thought of getting to have this night to themselves was enough to keep even Gohan focused as they put in the series of ditches that would allow water to flow to the eventual crop. Earlier, Roane had only indicated they would get tomorrow off in the city. Both of them had fully expected to be doing push ups or hand stands or something well into the night, or at varying times of the night, as Roane seemed to love that element of surprise. This was certainly a welcome development, and worth a little extra self control for the next few hours.
Stopping only to hydrate once the field was done and ready, they all headed over to the pile of logs they'd stacked up previously. Sawing them into wood stove sized lengths would have been much easier using their ki, but this close to the house, they didn't want to risk it. Besides, this was years worth of wood, and even if they didn't get it all cut right now, Roane figured at the rate they were going there would definitely be enough done for the upcoming cold season. Mirai and Gohan's strength made short work of the logs, even with a conventional two man saw. Soon all the tree trunks had been reduced to stumps under the push and pull of them at the blade.
Roane started splitting the stumps into actual firewood while they were still sawing, making an impressive on it. Since the farmer only had two axes though, he handed his over to Gohan once they had finished with the trees, knowing it would do far more damage in his hands.
"Have you ever split wood before?" Gohan grinned at Mirai, knowing this was definitely outside his job description. Gohan had grown up with the chore all his life, especially when his dad was gone. He'd developed a slightly different method than just using an ax though, once he'd learned about ki as a child. Since that was not really an option here, as they were within the sight of the farmhouse, it put him and Mirai on almost even terms.
"What's that? You sound like you want to owe me another bottle of wine, with that tone in your voice" Mirai joked, issuing the challenge.
"I don't know, you may end up owing me a pie instead, city boy" Gohan's eyes flashed with playfulness as he teased his lover.
"Oh, is that how you want to play? Fine then, you're on" Mirai gave him a purposefully exaggerated frown. "Whoever can split the most wood in a half hour wins" he set forth.
"Hold on though, some pieces are going to be bigger than others, how are you going to measure who chopped 'more'?" Gohan questioned him scientifically, wondering if he knew the answer. Mirai rolled his eyes at Gohan's never ending attention to detail, and Roane spoke up when he saw it.
"Chopped wood is measured in cords. You each do as much as you can, and at the end of the half hour, stack it up and then I'll measure who has the most" he volunteered to referee their little bet.
"Sounds go to me" Gohan nodded, noting Roane's knowledge extended beyond the battlefield a fair way, considering all he'd demonstrated today. It was his guess the man had worked on this farm or some other quite a few times over the years, though they'd never really spoken of their personal lives in detail. Roane readied his watch to time them, and they both positioned their first logs for his signal.
"All right boys... On the count of three-" Roane was cut off by Mirai bursting into a laughter he clearly couldn't control. He dropped his ax and was covering his mouth with his hand, bent in half as a fit of hysterics consumed him. Gohan was still holding his ax in mid swing, but was blushing furiously, starting to chuckle himself as Mirai's contagious laughter spread to him. Obviously he knew what it was that had Mirai in such a state all of a sudden, but when Roane raised an eyebrow at him questioningly, he shook his head and waved him off as if he didn't want to know. After an internal count of ten, Roane turned to him with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Are we going to be continuing your little competition or not?" he looked down at him like Mirai had lost his mind.
"Bet's off" Mirai shook his head after a series of deep, calming breaths. "I know we're still doing the firewood," a stray giggle escaped him, "but I can't, can't race like this" he said, looking to Gohan imploringly. Gohan nodded, letting him off the hook for their wager, only because Mirai's current condition was mostly his fault.
"How about we'll just see how much we can get done in the first half hour, then try and top it in the next one?" Gohan offered, knowing Roane still expected them to be giving it their all. Mirai agreed to that readily, though he shot Gohan a look behind Roane's back that said he would both be thanked and paid back properly for this later. It was the kind of look that to a saiyan promised some amazing sex would follow said paying back. Gohan chuckled quietly to himself over that, not wanting to set Mirai off again as they finally got down to work.
Though an occasional giggle plagued him here and there during the first session, Mirai had himself pretty much back under control for the second one. It turned out he was even mildly grateful their bet had been called off, because Gohan would have beat him hands down. The man was fast, swinging the ax with precision and confidence, not pausing at all in between logs. Mirai would have looked to be keeping up with him by human standards, but personally, he could tell Gohan was about 2 or 3 logs ahead of him. When their final round before dinner was said and done, Mirai's guess was proven right. Gohan's stack ended up evening out his last cord, while Mirai's was just a bit short.
"Too bad about that pie..." Gohan sighed, staring at the two piles.
"You really wanted me to take my time to make you a pie on our day off?" Mirai said sarcastically to him, wiping his brow.
"I didn't say you had to make it, you could have just bought me one" Gohan corrected him with a grin.
"Oh, whatever, you say that now" Mirai joked.
"Boys! Supper's ready in a half an hour, y'all better come in and get washed up now!" ol' Murphy's wife shouted from the back porch. Roane waved, letting her know they'd heard her.
"Let's go, we can take turns getting cleaned up in the guest bedroom. The Missus won't allow a bunch of filthy, unwashed men at her dining room table" Roane grinned, shaking his head. Since they'd brought everything they'd need for the weekend with them in a couple of capsules, and they were all used to taking 5 minute showers, there was actually plenty of time for them to all be washed and combed and ready to eat at 6 o'clock sharp. Mirai did have to power down to shower though, since the water kept trying to roll away from him. He figured there was a very small chance of being 'discovered' in there anyway. It was really only getting caught in the act of some amazing feat of strength or speed that they watched out for. Mirai was the last to shower, so Roane and Gohan were already waiting for him outside the guest room, sniffing the air hungrily.
"It's about time" Gohan's stomach grumbled, "I'm starving."
"Yeah, well just remember we'll eat again in town, don't go demolishing their whole kitchen" Mirai wagged a finger at him as if he was already guilty. Roane frowned at him. A real frown, not a messing around frown.
"What kind of hair dye was that?" he asked, finding it odd that whatever he'd used this morning had washed out so completely in only a few minutes.
Oh shit... He'd forgot to transform back when he got out of the shower.
"Uh, you know what? I'll have to explain this later" Mirai said, ducking back into the room as he heard steps coming toward them from around the corner of the hall.
"Well boys... Where's your other buddy? There's no being tardy to meals in this house" ol' Murphy got ready to herd them into the dining room. Mirai stepped right back out of the door, now a perfect spiky blonde again. The best explanation he could think of for his instantaneous change in hair color was only possibly going to fly with Roane, but definitely not with these strangers.
"All ready to go, sir" Mirai nodded to the old man respectfully, and to Roane deferentially, really hoping he'd go along without questions until they were alone again. Roane nodded back, following ol' Murphy as he proceeded down the hall, not saying a word on anyone's hair color, thankfully. While their backs were turned, Gohan silently gave Mirai a fake slap upside the head, and Mirai mouthed to him "I forgot" with his hands raised in a mock defensiveness. As he turned the corner at the end of the hall, Roane caught some of their skit out of the corner of his eye.
"You coming boys? Remember what ol' Murphy just said about being late for dinner" he said dryly, not liking that they seemed to be messing around.
"Sorry, right, we're coming" they jogged down the hall to catch up with him. No more was said as they went in and took their seats, both of them eying the surprisingly fancy dining room. Though the tableware was formal, the food piled high on it was everything you could expect from a good down-home meal. Fried chicken and slabs of pork, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob, noodle casserole and stuffing, not to mention fresh baked bread and a three-bean salad, was spread out before them. Gohan was literally drooling, and wiped at the corner of his mouth as discreetly as he could. They waited for everyone else to get their plate's filled first, and then neither he nor Mirai stopped eating until the table was cleaned of food. It was amazingly good, just nowhere near enough. Gohan figured it would at least hold him over for the ride into town though.
Thanking their hosts, who managed to hide their shock at how much they ate fairly well, they climbed back into the Jeep and waited for Roane, who had gotten pulled into a hug by the "Missus". As he was released, ol' Murphy clapped him on the back and was obviously thanking him one more time. For some reason both Gohan and Mirai looked away as Roane turned from the porch and headed to the car, as if they'd been looking at a private moment on accident. The first words out of Roane's mouth once he shut the Jeep's door let them know he hadn't forgotten about Mirai's little stunt earlier though.
"So, is it 'later' enough yet to explain your little instant blonde trick?" he said casually while backing out of the driveway. Mirai had decided the easiest thing at this point would be to explain it away as some sort of ki ability, since it was kind of related to that, and just stress that it was a by-product of the particular reaction his body had to the technique...etc, etc.
"You mean, it's genetic" Roane connected a few more dots than Mirai really wanted him to, but it was too late to re-phrase anything now.
"Yeah, sort of...basically" he admitted "No one really knows that much about it, since it hasn't been studied scientifically or anything." That sounded reasonable for an obscure ki channeling side effect, and would hopefully end the conversation. Roane nodded, mostly satisfied with that explanation and not really questioning it anymore.
It took a good two hours to get to the city, which wasn't a metropolis, but was thankfully large enough to have it's own airport and at least a couple different hotels and bars to choose from. Roane was a man of his word, and since they'd kept their hands off each other, even while showering and changing, he pulled into the parking lot of a rather 'art nouveau' looking bar. It seemed right at home in the up-scale section of town, right across from a few higher end hotels and a mall, but not like the kind of atmosphere they would have pegged Roane with liking.
"This looks like a pretty expensive place, I wouldn't have thought you had that kind of taste, I mean, from what we saw before" Gohan trailed off, not realizing when he started that sentence that Roane might be offended by the assumption.
"I don't" Roane snorted, as if the idea was a little ridiculous, "but this is the only gay bar in town" he said over his shoulder as he gave his ID to the man checking the door.
"Oh" Gohan said mostly to himself as he pulled out his wallet. He and Mirai exchanged a look.
"You didn't have to do that" Gohan informed him once they all got inside. It was still early for the partying scene to be in full swing, so the place wasn't very crowded yet, even though it was Friday.
"Oh really?" Roane said with a chuckle, dismissing Gohan's line of reasoning, "Let's get a seat while there's still some tables open, unless you'd like the bar?" he indicated it to the left.
"A table's fine" Mirai said, elbowing Gohan in the side to tell him to just let it go. While Roane went to go get them their drinks, Mirai leaned over to Gohan, "It's actually a nice gesture, and besides, it's not like he's uncomfortable with it" he pointed out. That was true, Gohan reminded himself as well that the guy caught them making out at least once a week... Not 'on the clock' of course, or they'd have been in trouble, but he'd known up front exactly what kind of 'partners' they were, and still took the job. In fact, as Gohan watched him getting their drinks at the bar, a guy was hitting on him as they spoke, and he was handling it quite well.
When Roane finally returned, carrying the three glasses carefully, Gohan decided to bring up something he'd seen back at the farm, trying to make conversation. After thanking him for the drink, he asked him about a photo that had been hanging in the dining room when they ate. It looked pretty similar to one he'd seen in Roane's apartment when they were first looking into him; enough so that he wondered if it was the same one. Roane leaned back from the table and just looked at Gohan for a moment, as if he was assessing him. The decision he came to must have involved him being deemed trustworthy, because even though he looked away from them, he started to answer the question.
"Allen. Al Murphy, their son, was the 'natural' blonde in the photo with us" Roane looked back to them, glancing to Mirai's hair as he said 'natural'. "It's the same picture" he confirmed. His behavior seemed a tad off, but it was the first time they'd ever really talked about something personal like that, so Gohan thought it would be ok to push just a little bit further, though he wasn't trying to grill the man, just find out a little bit more about him.
"You said 'was', do you mind if I ask what happened to him?"
Roane looked at him as if he was both expecting and not expecting him to say that. Actually, the look on his face was kind of hard to read.
"Uh, he died" Roane said as if Gohan should have known that, like it was common knowledge. Mirai casually kicked Gohan's leg under the table, which of course Roane noticed, actually making him chuckle.
"It's war, people die" he sighed. "We were in basic together, got to be pretty good friends, were lucky enough to get stationed on our first tour with the same company... He never came back from his second tour though, and I did" Roane shrugged. "It's not something either of us had any control over. I spent a lot of leaves on his family's farm, since I didn't really have anywhere to be, I'd go help him out" Roane explained and finished off his drink. "I'm sure you know" he gestured to Mirai, "having been around war, sometimes you just lose people."
Mirai nodded, the resigned tone in Roane's voice striking him as a bit jaded even.
"Have either of you?" he turned the 'sharing' tables back to them, "Ever lost someone?" Now, Gohan had seen plenty of people die in his lifetime, but they were usually brought back again at some point, so he wasn't really sure he should speak up. Mirai on the other hand, was very still beside him while he tried to think of how to answer that question. Gohan didn't know if he should rub his back or just let him be, as his particular touch right now might only make it more difficult for him.
"I'm sorry" Roane got Mirai's attention away from staring at the glass in front of him, "I wasn't trying to get you down by asking that. I mean, Al and I weren't lovers or anything, it doesn't 'haunt' me... I didn't think about what you might have gone through yourself before I said that" he apologized, picking up on the emotion that Mirai was trying to hide.
"It's ok... No, really" Mirai took a deep breath and squeezed Gohan's hand, waving off both his and Roane's concern. "It was a long time ago, and we weren't lovers either" Mirai smiled at Gohan, who already knew all of this. "Maybe we could just talk about something besides war and dying tonight...or training either, since it is our day off" Mirai grinned. When Roane saw Gohan relax again, he figured Mirai really was ok.
"So, you want to talk about something 'happy'?" Roane stroked his chin as if it took a great deal of effort to think those thoughts. "Yeah...I got nothing" he joked, shaking his head as if it couldn't be helped. Both Mirai and Gohan grinned at that. Gohan's grin was wider though.
"Well I'm getting laid tonight, so I could spare you a couple of 'happy thoughts'... But Mirai might be upset with me later" Gohan shrugged as if to add an 'oh well' to the end of that, grinning from ear to ear as he watched Mirai's reaction.
"Oh my god, do not make me come over there" he half joked, half threatened; scowling at him. Then he began laughing as he couldn't help remembering the wood cutting incident. Roane just shook his head at their antics, glad the mood of the evening hadn't been accidentally ruined.
"I'm going to get another drink, you boys ready for another round yet?" he asked them as he stood.
"Sure" Gohan laughed, pretending he needed to keep a watch on Mirai out of the corner of his eye, "I think I'll be safe if left alone with him for a little while." Mirai punched him in the arm without even looking. As Roane walked away, Gohan pulled Mirai in close to him, kissing him tenderly in their instructor's absence. The upcoming prospect of their two nights together, more than the alcohol, was making him a little giddy, and he slipped his tongue into Mirai's mouth for what was supposed to be a quick 'stolen' kiss. As he waited at the bar, Roane happened to glance back at their table and see them basically making out with not a care in the world. He rolled is eyes and sighed, drawing the attention of the guy who'd been hitting on him earlier once again. He grinned and decided to have his drink there at the bar while he waited for them to finish with that...
Twenty minutes later, he could see they were still oblivious to what was going on around them, and decided they all had better things to do. Picking up the drinks he'd ordered them earlier, he walked over set them down on the table a bit more loudly than necessary. And draw their attention it did.
"These were on me too, boys... No, don't worry about it, as you were" he winked and walked back away. Neither of them were exactly sure how long they'd been making out without realizing it, but figured it was enough to be noticeable, especially since he'd used the word 'were'.
"Let's finish these up then and head across the street" Gohan whispered in Mirai's ear.
"That's a good plan" Mirai stroked Gohan's cheek. He did feel a little bad though, that they'd sort of scared Roane off, even though he'd been cool about it.
"We should apologize to him, next time we see him" Mirai said, moving to work on his drink. "He was just trying to be friendly and we almost completely ignored him." It was then that Gohan spotted a red flame of hair, still at the bar.
"Actually, he's still here..." he informed him, a little puzzled, "I thought he'd meant he was leaving too." As they both watched, a rather good looking guy leaned over and whispered something in Roane's ear. When Roane turned to him, he was obviously laughing, though they couldn't hear what was being said from this far away and with all the noise of the bar. They were both about to chalk the whole thing up to 'odd', until Roane and that guy, the same one who had been hitting on him earlier, now that Gohan thought about it, got up together. Got up together, and he put his arm around Roane's waist as they headed for the door. Gohan was fairly certain his mouth was hanging open from the look on Roane's face as he glanced at their table on his way out. With a wink at them, Roane slipped his hand into the guys' back pocket and then walked out the door.
"Did he?"
"Was that?"
"When he said he and Al weren't, I thought..."
"I guess he wasn't just being considerate..."
They both sat in stunned silence for a minute.
"No wonder he wanted to get rid of us early" Gohan smirked.