By: Aja-Gold

For summary, disclaimer and mild warnings, see chapters one and two.

Author's Notes: Thanks to Edna who helped point out the mistakes regarding Quatre's name in the last chapter. I fixed them! Special note of thanks to all the reviewers. I never expected to get over ten reviews. I literally squeal when I log on now. Thanks for brightening my day! "Darn those random snake attacks" from reviewer The Metronome Maven. Laughed my butt off when I read that!

Soundtrack for this chapter: "I Got a Feeling" by The Black Eyed Peas

Chapter 7

Day 2 4:15 PM

"Watson – don't move!"

Quatre looked down to see the brown scales twist around in his backpack, the end of a tail lashing back and forth.

"Back away slowly," Trowa ordered.

Quatre lifted his hands carefully from the edges of his backpack, the snake quivering in his bag. He then took several steps back, stopping only when he felt Trowa's hand on his shoulder.

"Holy shit that's some snake," Duo said, fully awake now, scrambling away when the snake began to move again.

"We have to catch it," Trowa said, as the people around them began to pay attention to what was going on.

"We?" Duo choked.

"Keep everyone calm," Trowa turned to Duo, "you have a loud mouth, use it to keep people from panicking."

"Um, no offence Trowa, but people are already kind of doing that."

Trowa just glared at him. Duo gulped.

"Shouldn't we call someone?" Quatre asked.

"Probably," Trowa smirked, "but word will get to the attraction operators and managers anyway. I'm sure someone will be along shortly."

And with that Trowa approached the bag, picking up a stick lying on the ground. He poked the snake with the stick causing it to stir angrily.

"Come on," Trowa talked to it, "come on out, just a little more."

He poked it again and this time the snake's head appeared as it lashed out to bite the stick. People around them gasped and several scrambled away.

"Hey," Duo stood several feet behind Trowa and addressed the crowd, "any of you guys want a closer and more personal look at the animals Animal Kingdom offers? Well here we have a wild snake, folks, and it's a tad bit angry because Trowa's poking it with a stick, so if we can give him a little more room – yeah, you with beard, that means back up. If Trowa catches this thing maybe he can let you all pet it."

There were some horrified groans.

"Just kidding," Duo quickly reassured, "Trowa here has got it all under control. He works here."

"The snake is not poisonous," Trowa said, keeping his eyes on the snake, "it's a mole King snake."

"See? Trowa knows what he's doing."

While Duo kept the crowd at bay, Trowa was trying to loop the snake around the stick. He frowned when it responded to his prods. Then, Trowa abruptly laughed and knelt by the reptile.

"I'm so stupid," Trowa muttered to himself, and then he slowly made a reach for the snake which was hanging off the stick. He transferred it to his hands, careful to keep the fangs away.

Then Trowa turned to Quatre, "This is the snake they use in the Pocahontas and her Forest Friends show. I've gotten to hold him several times before."

"You mean it's not – dangerous?" Quatre asked faintly.

Trowa laughed, "Not unless you're a rodent or another snake. King snakes are generally very docile and like being held; they don't have any venom and are used frequently in shows because they're easy to care for. In fact, many people keep them as pets. Would you like to hold him?"

Quatre blinked, and realized that Trowa didn't just like animals, he was crazy for them. In fact, Quatre had the inkling that Trowa wanted to catch the snake, all by himself, simply because he liked the danger and challenge.

"Sure," Quatre said, not wanting to look like a wimp. If Trowa could catch one, Quatre could at least hold it.

Trowa showed him how to hold the snake, while Quatre exclaimed, "He's a bit big."

"Powerful too. Since they don't have any venom, King snakes use constriction to kill their prey."

"Good to know."

Duo looked back and gave them a faint look of disgust, "Oh God, Watson, you're holding it! Now you're going to get sick. After we take care of the snake, I am so going to give you a bath."

"A simple hand-washing will do," Trowa said, petting the snake while it writhed in Quatre's grip, its tail idly swinging in the air.

"How did you escape, hmm?" Trowa addressed the snake, "Someone wasn't paying enough attention to you, you clever snake."

"But why were you in my backpack?" Quatre asked the snake and immediately cringed. Now he was sounding like Trowa.

"Do you have food in your pack?"

"Yeah."

"That might be it."

"Shit," Duo smacked a hand over his face, "I can't remember if I closed your backpack after I got the aspirin out. That's probably how the stupid snake got in."

"It's not the snake who's stupid," Trowa pointed out.

"Yeah, well, what are you going to do with a snake in your hands? Now who's stupid? You can't walk around Animal Kingdom with a snake in your arms."

"I won't have to," Trowa jerked his head to the crowd, "here comes the attraction manager."

"What the heck?" a man dashed through the crowd, stopping mere feet from the scene, "Trowa, I know you like animals, but you can't carry them around like pets."

"This one escaped," Trowa took the snake back from Quatre, "he's a mole King snake, used in Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends."

"I'm not even going to ask how you know that," the man shook his head, "I'll call in the show manager; he'll get a cage for it."

"I can do that," Trowa offered, "right before I go back to Rafiki's Planet Watch; my break ends soon. Hold the snake?"

The man didn't blink twice before reaching out to hold it. Quatre supposed that being an attraction manager to a trek full of animals meant that he probably knew how to deal with them.

Trowa then grinned at Quatre, "It was a pleasure to see you again. Will I see you tonight?"

Quatre nodded dumbly, surprised at how happy Trowa was when in the presence of wildlife.

"Until then," Trowa gave him another quicksilver grin before dashing off.

Duo and Quatre stood side by side, and the man holding the snake addressed them, "You know Trowa?"

"The snake was in my backpack," Quatre explained, "he caught it."

"Sorry about that," the man cringed, "I have no idea how this snake came loose. I'll have to tell that Sedici to keep an eye on his god-damn animals. Oops, sorry, not supposed to use that kind of language around guests."

"S'okay," Duo shrugged, "I do it all the fucking time."

The man laughed, "My name's Otto; Sedici is in charge of the Pocahontas show and the animals used during it. He'll probably be mortified when he finds out this happened though, he takes his job pretty seriously."

While Duo chatted to Otto, Quatre checked his backpack. Everything seemed intact, and thankfully the snake had decided that his bottle of painkillers hadn't been appetizing.

"You feeling okay?" Duo asked him, "We've had two rough shocks in one day."

"I just need some painkillers," Quatre said, "maybe we should head back to the hotel now."

"Are you sure you've got enough of the wildlife?" Duo teased.

"I'm sure."

They said goodbye to Otto and to the snake, and occupied themselves with swallowing plenty of painkillers as they left and headed to the buses, hopefully to collapse into soft beds before the big party this evening.

As they stood on the bus, Quatre suddenly chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Duo rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Really, the title of Jaguar Wrestler fits Trowa more accurately than it does Heero."

Duo snorted, "Charming a snake does not make someone a Jaguar Wrestler. It makes Trowa someone with an early death wish."

Day 2 7:15 PM

The sun was hovering low in the sky when Quatre and Duo left their hotel room; they were cleaned, fed and fully dosed up on aspirin.

"We're finally going to a different park," Duo said, "I wonder if Magic Kingdom has 'em like they do at Animal Kingdom?"

"If you're talking about hot employees, keep your dirty thoughts to yourself."

"Oh, you have no idea how dirty my thoughts can get. I saw the way Trowa handled that snake, and I know you were drooling too. Wonder how he handles other things…?"

Quatre glared at him, "I was too scared of the snake to notice how Trowa handled it, except that he stopped it from attacking me."

"Spoilsport."

They exited the bus and immediately the night air settled heavily on their shoulders, warm and embalming. The crowd was thicker at Magic Kingdom than it was at Animal Kingdom. The sounds of strollers snapping open, tickets running through machines, older kids hollering and snickering, younger children screaming for food and the continuous music from the speakers assaulted their ears.

"Wow," Duo shouted close to his ear. His statement was nearly lost in the din of the surrounding people.

They waited in line and it was eight o'clock by the time they got into the park and began walking down Main Street U.S.A., a favorite picture spot. Many families, some Japanese, a few French and others natives to the U.S. were standing with their backs to the large castle in the background.

"We are so getting our picture," Duo grinned.

They asked a man with a little girl on his shoulders if he would do the honors, and so Quatre and Duo posed even while other people were running into them, slipping into their picture and asking them to move; but they were smiling, and then the man asked them to take a picture of his family. With the little girl still on his shoulders his pregnant wife stood beside him and they smiled.

They parted and Quatre and Duo struggled to get to the statue of Walt and Mickey, the two figurines looking off into the distance as if they could see the future, their backs to Cinderella's castle. The castle was majestically turreted, with tall spires and a moat. The entrance into the castle was filled with an inviting warm orange glow, drawing them closer to the childlike fantasies that lay on the other side of the tunnel. But before the entrance, on the stage that led up to the castle, was a band; the drums, speakers and microphones were all set up. Quatre and Duo could barely move, the crowd was dense, watching the stage with expectation.

The electric hiss of a guitar filled the air, and people began to cheer for no other reason than the simple enjoyment of being in Disneyworld. The guitar player laughed into the microphone, and then gave another strum on his guitar. The crowd cheered again, even though he hadn't finished a song yet. The sun was riding the horizon when the first sounds from the drums blasted the air, and the accompanying electric piano wrapped notes around the melody coming from the guitar.

"Welcome to Disneyworld!" The guitarist yelled into the microphone after the musical introduction; he played several complicated notes on his guitar, each tumbling over the other until he finished off with a sweeping stroke to the strings, "May all your dreams come true!"

The crowd cheered a sound louder than anything that had yet to come out of the speakers. Quatre and Duo, trying to avoid elbows, were getting closer to the statue. As they were walking the band started up a song and the sun was barely visible, peeking out from behind the rides and attractions of Magic Kingdom.

As the crowd began to clap and groove to the beat Quatre spotted Heero leaning against the stone rim surrounding the statue. He had changed out of his work clothes and was dressed in a dark blue tank top, a jean jacket and blue jeans. Quatre wondered how he wasn't suffocating. Beside him stood the lean Trowa, his hair falling over his face like usual, arms folded as he regarded the crowd with a steady eye. He wore black jeans and a dark red T-shirt.

"Heero!" Duo called, waving at them, shoving a person out of his way who wouldn't move fast enough.

"Sorry," Quatre quickly apologized to the man.

The four boys gathered around each other, close enough to feel each other's breath as they attempted conversation.

"Took you a while," Heero grunted.

"I still didn't get your stuffed animal," Duo said, hands on hips. Trowa chuckled at Duo's directness and Heero's blank face.

"It will come," he reassured.

"Well it hasn't. You have to make it up to me."

Heero rolled his eyes.

"Dance with me."

Trowa, Duo and Quatre watched Heero, who was trying to work sound out of his mouth. Various emotions flashed across his face, and Quatre could barely identify them before he leveled a glare at Duo.

Duo raised an eyebrow.

"No," Heero said finally, "you're not well."

Duo waved a hand dismissively, "Never been better."

Heero quirked an eyebrow, "Swing your head around in a circle."

Duo paused.

"That's what I thought."

Trowa looked between Duo and Heero, clearly the only one not in on the conversation.

"We got roughed up on a ride," Quatre said to Trowa.

"You said that's why you needed the painkillers earlier today…" Trowa trailed off, remembering.

"Roughed up doesn't describe it," Heero said, "how about involved in a ride accident requiring the presence of Reedy Creek?"

"Reedy Creek?" Trowa asked, his eyes widening.

"Is there an echo in here?" Duo cupped a hand to his ear.

"Apparently the arm holding their dino on the TriceraTop Spin failed, sending them crashing into the ground," Heero folded his arms.

"Just like in the 1990 incident involving the Dumbo ride in Fantasyland. On April first one of the arms collapsed and a thirteen year old girl from Canada was injured. She had some minor bruising, but was checked into Garden Grove Hospital. That incident shut down the Dumbo ride until they installed a new one being made for Euro Disney," Trowa said in a rush, staring at Quatre and Duo.

They gaped at Trowa for a few seconds before he blushed faintly and muttered, "Sorry."

"How do you know these things?" Duo asked.

Trowa shrugged.

"The point is that Duo shouldn't even be out of bed, let alone dancing," Heero said.

"What about Watson? If I can't, then he can't either. He has bruised ribs."

"Thanks for spilling the beans," Quatre said sourly.

Duo threw his hands in the air, "I came here to party, I'm on vacation, I want to groove. I did not come here for bed rest. I can get that when I go back home. For now, I just want to dance until I sweat."

"One dance," Heero grunted, "just one."

Duo grinned and snagged Heero's arm, "All right one dance. One really long dance."

"Just one song," Heero corrected.

"If you can remember to concentrate on the music," Duo cooed close to Heero's ear.

"People are watching idiot," Heero took Duo by the shoulders and moved him back several inches.

"Then I guess rule is 'look but don't touch'?" Duo's smile came slowly to his lips and he licked them as if savoring the last flavors after eating his favorite meal.

Heero actually looked disconcerted.

"Can Heero even dance?" Quatre asked Trowa.

"He can try."

With their friends gone Quatre and Trowa stood awkwardly by each other's side. Quatre felt like he was the only who was standing still in a sea of people. Quatre started to get antsy. There were plenty of other people here; would Trowa rather dance with one of them? Did Trowa even dance?

I don't dance, Quatre thought to himself, mentally hitting his head against a wall.

"Do you want to dance?" Trowa asked.

"Um," Quatre said. What if he's only asking me to be polite?

"I don't bite," Trowa purred.

Trowa really is like a giant cat, Quatre mused to himself, and then shook his head.

"No?"

"No!" Quatre said, and then slapped a hand over his eyes, "No, I was clearing my thoughts; I mean I'd love to dance with you, why would I say no? I mean, I'm not very good at dancing, so if you want to ask someone else-"

He paused in his ramble to find Trowa staring at him curiously. Quatre gave him a shaky smile.

"Do I make you uncomfortable?"

"No!" Quatre said quickly. At least, you do, in all the right ways…

"Then come on," Trowa led him away from the statue and then leaned down to whisper in his ear, "I know the rules: look but don't touch. Though I have to admit, you're making it very hard. You're cute when you ramble."

Quatre made a sound in the back of throat but couldn't really think of anything else to say; he could only watch…and feel better. Trowa danced like a normal person. Not some intimidating sexy dance-machine who was a favorite at the clubs. He pumped his fist in the air when the music called for it, copied the dance movements like the rest of the crowd when a well-known song came on, and swung his hips when a dance beat started playing. Trowa always took care to grin at him though, facing him as they danced. Quatre mostly just copied Trowa.

Time slipped by quickly. Sweat flew off his bangs as he swung his head to the music; Trowa and he had gravitated closer and whenever they brushed up against each other Quatre could feel Trowa's sweat slicked arms. Nearby, Heero was nodding his head to the beat, rocking back and forth and occasionally stepping side to side. Next to him, Duo was the complete opposite, pulling out flashy movements, gyrating and incorporating hip-hop movements, interacting with the crowd, drawing in several people to dance with him or compare moves.

A conga line was passing them and as the tail end came along, they heard a familiar voice shout, "Come on, Wufei! Live a little!"

"I am not going to put my hands on your hips! That is inappropriate contact between coworkers."

"It's just a conga line!" Sally left the conga line, spinning as she did so, a drink held high in her hand. She was dressed in a strapless black cocktail dress; lacy dark red roses covered the fabric, and a satin sash was tied around her waist. Wufei followed behind her, watching her as she bobbed to the beat, swinging her drink in wide arcs.

"If you spill that I'm not going to get you another one," Wufei said.

He, by contrast, was dressed in a white shirt with jeans, looking as if he hadn't shed a drop of sweat. He was standing resolutely still, as if his stiff pose could convince all the others around him to do the same.

Sally held her glass threateningly above his head; she let a drop slip out and it landed on Wufei's hair, trickling down into his ear.

Wufei hissed and held up a finger threateningly, "You do that one more time and I'll-"

"You'll what: kick my ass? I thought it was against your policy to hit girls?"

"You're not a girl – you're a nuisance!"

"Temper, temper."

"I do NOT have a temper!"

Sally, ignoring Wufei, caught sight of the four of them, "Oh, look! Friends!"

She made her way over to them, Wufei following behind her, still seething.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Heero said, smirking as he regarded Wufei, "Lose another bet?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Wufei stuck his nose in the air.

"He thought I would get fired," Sally said, "instead, I might get a promotion by the end of the year."

"You mean," Heero said, "that you could get Wufei's job?"

"Nonsense!" Wufei barked.

Sally slung an arm around Wufei's neck, "It's true. And since he lost the bet he has stay here all night long. Want to help me remove the stick from up his ass?"

"Do you have no sense of propriety?" Wufei glared at Sally.

"Stop being so dramatic. It's just a party."

Wufei snorted, "A party? This is a madhouse. Sweaty people are rubbing against each other in the most indecent ways, the band sounds like it came off of a scratchy record, the lead singer's voice hasn't broken yet, the drummer has no rhythm, the drinks are priced too high and-"

Wufei froze, shutting his mouth as his eyes widened comically. Then, quietly, he said, "Someone just slapped my ass."

Sally burst out laughing, handed her drink to some random person behind her, and grabbed Wufei's hand, "Come on Wufei. I believe you owe me a dance."

"That wasn't part of the bet!" Wufei sputtered, but Sally had already wrapped her arms around his shoulders, directing his hands to her waist.

"Make sure you don't catch cooties Wufei," Heero snickered.

Wufei shot him a nasty look.

Just then the guitarist spoke into the microphone, "We're going to change gears here. This is for all you lovers out there, a slow song called 'Kiss Me Just Once'."

Sally ground her hips against Wufei, who could only blush deep red, but she kept him firmly locked in her arms. He couldn't meet her eyes; he only stared at his hands on her hips, as if wondering how they got there. Quatre had to laugh a little; it looked like Wufei had as much experience as Quatre.

Duo tapped Heero on the shoulder, a coy grin on his face, and a cold feeling entered Quatre's chest. Did Duo want to slow dance with Heero in a crowd? What would people say? Quatre cast a fearful glance around them.

Duo just held out his hand to Heero, ambiguous in what he was offering; his cheeks were rosy from dancing, and he was cocking his head as if to say: Well?

Heero looked from Duo's hand to Duo's eyes, and then took his hand. Duo pulled him in close and Quatre had to squeeze his eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable. He felt a strong waft of air pass him and someone brushed up against his arm. He opened his eyes, and Duo and Heero were no longer in his sight. Then he heard Trowa's voice in his ear.

"Come on, let's join them."

Trowa's hand grasped his, and Quatre felt as if he was transported to another world. Nobody had held his hand before. Not as a romantic interest. Yet in the back of his head, there was a voice chanting: don't let people see you, drop the hand, drop the hand. But Trowa tugged on him and uprooted him from his spot. Soon they were racing through the crowd of slowly milling people, tripping over people's feet and passing over a bridge, Duo and Heero ahead of them. Duo was hollering wildly, leading them on their chase through the park, Heero right behind him. The pulsing music of 'Kiss Me Just Once' blared from behind them, as if broadcasting from the castle itself, and when they rolled down a grassy knoll to catch their breath, fireworks started to rip into the air.

The four sweaty boys laid back in the grass as the fireworks erupted above them; Trowa caught Quatre's eye as they breathed harshly in the night air. Their faces were close, so close that Quatre could see Trowa's veins running underneath his skin, and he breathed in what Trowa exhaled, and he could feel the heat radiating off his flushed face. Trowa leaned in closer and as if being guided by an external force, Quatre felt himself incline his head. Their lips eased closer and tingles erupted all over Quatre's body; his eyes felt heavy and his breathing felt far, far away. This was a good place to be.

But then silence filled the area as the song 'Kiss Me Just Once' ended. At the last second, Quatre turned his head away. Trowa's kiss fell on air.

Author's Notes: Who is Sedici some of you ask? He is a GW character; he's the one with the sideburns and large jaw. The only thing I own in this chapter is the guitarist and his song 'Kiss Me Just Once'. Even though there aren't any lyrics to the song…yeah…uh….