There's Still Fireworks: Part XIII
Put one hand out, grab a hold, pull! Move a foot, get a toehold, put the other hand out!
Kim kept repeating that in her mind, over and over, fighting the fatigue in her muscles, hoping they would hold out long enough. Two lives depended on it.
Glancing over her shoulder, she checked on that second life, her face a mixture of concern and agitation. She had climbed with gear before, but never supporting both her gear and a small but full-grown man at the same time. The thought did occur to her that perhaps her current approach wasn't the wisest, but then again, she thought she would have some degree of help with the ascent. Almost longingly, she looked at the gentle, though winding road that led to the summit, clearly visible from the sheer rock wall they were on.
No, the road might have been easier, but she was trying to be sneaky.
At least Ron was quiet. If he was conscious he would likely have been talking constantly, as if he never quite got that it was a key ingredient to being sneaky. Kim might have had very strong feelings for him, perhaps even loved him, but that didn't mean he was without his bad points.
After over twenty-four hours of being attached to him, some of those bad points were starting to show through.
Kim tried putting such negative thoughts out of her mind as she concentrated on her climb. It was no use. They kept bubbling to the surface with every tug on her strained muscles.
It started with them getting dressed.
Being, at heart, a slacker, Ron should have been able to just take it easy while Kim got into her black jeans and teal top. Kim selected the outfit simply because it was easy to get into under normal circumstances and the spring morning had turned a little more chilly than it had been the last week. A crop top and capris were out of the question.
She didn't know whether her Mom giving them a free ride that morning or just her boyfriend wanting to test the boundaries of their new relationship was the problem, but he seemed…bolder as she changed out of her pajamas.
"What are you doing now? He asked as she pondered exactly how she was going to put her bra on.
"Getting dressed, doy." She snapped, realizing he no longer had his hands clamped over his eyes, though he was looking the other direction.
"What's taking so long? You're usually dressed so fast I don't even have time to cover my eyes."
Kim made a slightly rude noise and pulled the top over her head. "I don't usually have somebody glued to my back either. Now hold still for a moment. I'm trying to get my pants on."
She almost jumped with enough force to free herself from him when his large fingers gently brushed the temporarily exposed curve of her backside.
"Ron!" She hissed.
"Sorry. Just thought we had a little privacy."
Kim shook her head, despite the knowledge he probably couldn't see her do it. "So not. Daddy could pop his head through that hatch at any moment, and if he sees your hand there…"
"Aw, come on, KP. Your Mom is probably running interference for us right now."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He shrugged his shoulders, a move that almost had the two of them lose their balance as Kim tried stepping into her jeans. "She didn't seem to upset about last night."
"More like we learned out lesson…like you learned your lesson, or at least she probably thinks so. What if your hand got stuck to me again?"
"Uhhhhh."
"Okay, I've got most of my clothes on. Your turn."
"Kim, I, uh, I'm sorry I did that. I don't know what got into me."
Kim wanted to touch his face, but she couldn't since he was facing the other way. "Ronnie, don't be sorry. To be perfectly honest…I kinda liked it. Up to the point we realized we were stuck that way, at least."
She could feel him shake his head. "No, it wasn't right. I should have asked about it first. You know, communicate, make sure you're okay with…wait…you liked it?"
"A little. I don't know what shocked me more, that you did it, or that I enjoyed it. I…hadn't really thought about things like that before. I mean, I've thought about, you know."
"Uh."
"Don't get freaked because I've thought about us, the two of us…"
"The two of us, yeah, I got it KP."
"It's just something you have to consider. It doesn't mean I've made any plans for it or anything, but I just can't ignore the fact that we might eventually…"
Ron zipped up his pants and let his jersey fall down over the waist, though it remained bunched up where their backs were stuck together. It remained there until they started twisting, laboriously moving their connection back to their hips so the could sit on the end of the bed and put their shoes on.
"Look, Ron, about Mom. I don't think she's letting us off the hook as easily as you think. She just knows that Dad would overreact to something like that. I get the sneaking suspicion that the moment the two of us are alone…"
"We're alone right now." He said as he pulled on his shabby, no longer white sport socks.
"I mean when it's just Mom and me. She's going to want to have a talk with me about it."
Ron pulled a face. "You mean she hasn't given you 'the Talk?'"
Kim popped him very lightly on the forehead. "Of course she has, silly. It's just…now it has a practical application."
"A practi-what?"
"It means something now. Before the biggest thing I ever had to worry about was whether I was going to kiss a guy or not."
Ron got a slightly devilish grin. "You made up your mind pretty quick with Walter."
"Ugh. Yeah, and look what happened to me for being so impulsive. The point is, kissing isn't an issue for us. Other stuff…is." She leaned back on her arms slightly, or as much as their connection would allow. "The first time we talked, it was mostly about the mechanics of it, you know, how women get pregnant, stuff like that. Now she's probably going to come at me with stuff like I'm a responsible young woman and I can make my own decisions, but I'm still just sixteen." She reached up and brushed back a bit of his hair. "You know, I don't think I've ever asked what you think."
"What I think? KP, I'm a guy."
She shook her head. "I'm serious, Ron. Just turn off being a guy for a moment and tell me what you want."
"Turn off being a guy? I have no idea what that means. I just want what you want, Kim."
"Ron, that's sweet, but what I want and what you want can't always be the exact same thing. If that were true I wouldn't have to drag you to some of those movies you don't want to see."
He shot her another sly grin. "I don't think I mind those movies so much any more."
Sitting up straight, she gave him a very light kiss on the lips. "You just want to make out. Come on, Ron. Do you think we should wait?"
He considered that for a very long moment, his 'serious' face slowly forming, all traces of his normal humor sloughing off as he gave it some real thought. "I really don't know what to think. I've kinda always gotten the idea it was up to the girl to say when, and a guy just went along with it when she was ready, cause that's what we're supposed to do."
"Is that what you really think, or just what other guys have told you to? Deep inside, what is it you really want?"
"I dunno. Well, I do know. I mean, it's not like I don't want to. I do. I really, really do, so bad sometimes it hurts, for real. But that's the guy talking. I think…" He stopped and rubbed his forehead. "KP, I don't know what to think. I've got people telling me it's a normal, natural thing to do and I've got people telling me it's horrible and wrong. It's just so confusing. How can something so good be so bad?"
Kim sighed, sitting back again. "Maybe that's the answer."
"What is? I don't have one."
"Just that. Maybe this is one of those sitches that if you have to ask…"
"…you can't afford it?" They finished together.
"Jinx, you owe me a soda." Kim got in quickly, giving his waist a light pinch. "That's precisely it. If we're so confused about it being right or not, that means it's not."
Ron finally finished tying his dilapidated sneakers. "I understand…I think. But what about the other stuff?"
"Other stuff?"
He answered by holding up his left hand, wriggling the fingers. Kim immediately flashed back to having those fingers stuck to her flesh. "Second base. Third base, whatever that is."
"You mean you don't know?" She grinned slightly, not quite ready to admit she wasn't sure herself.
"I kinda sorta have the general idea. Like, everybody knows what home plate is."
"Doy. Better leave off third base then. For now."
"Uh, Kim, what if we get to third and don't know it?"
She grinned softly at him. "I kinda think we'd know. For the moment, just consider yourself safe at second."
He leaned toward her, making as if he were reaching for her once more.
"Not that safe, buster."
By the time the two of them finally made it to Middleton Mall, Kim was finally starting to feel the lack of sleep she had experienced the night before. It started with the walk there, a normally leisurely stroll that quickly turned into a much more daunting task. At first they tried walking like any other 'new' couple, their arms wrapped around each other's waist, holding each other close as if that was the only contact they would have in the near future.
Kim wasn't sure if it was because she was just irritable, or if walking that way wasn't her thing, but after maybe a half mile, she was sick of it. It seemed like every eye was on them, and it didn't matter if they knew the person or not, for some reason such public intimacy didn't sit well with her.
That made her think about the two of them once again. Just a day earlier she had dared fate (and got slapped down by it) by kissing him there for all the world to see, but there, the next day, she was just a bit too self-conscious to be completely comfortable. It wasn't that she didn't like his touch. On the contrary, she craved it, but for some reason she didn't like showing it off so completely out in public.
If she had felt silly walking arm in arm, it only got worse when they tried walking with their hands at their sides.
Heads were still turning as they made their way around the mall. Her tweak seemed to multiply as she forced them toward the makeup counter at one of the main anchor stores. She barely got a bit of eyeliner on from the samples before she noticed the face her boyfriend was making.
"What?" He asked perfunctorily.
Ron shrugged. "I dunno. Just, what's the point? You've already got huge eyes."
"What's wrong with my eyes?"
"That's what I'm saying, Kim. There's nothing wrong with them. You don't need all that stuff."
She grunted at him slightly, going back to her work. It occurred to her that maybe she should have acknowledged the comment as a compliment, but her growing frustration simply pushed that line of thinking aside.
"Got to do something, since I don't have the most beautilicious eyes in the whole school." She griped as she tried on some eye shadow.
"Kim, are you going to keep bringing that up?"
She turned her glare on him. "Why not. It's the truth. You can't tell me it isn't, because you had to tell the truth when you said it."
"Kim, we've talked about this."
"Yeah? So, what am I, a close second? Distant third? Maybe Bonnie's freaky teal eyes are prettier to you?"
"Kim!" Ron pleaded, sensing he had no good answer for her.
Getting a good look at his eyes, it finally dawned on her what she was doing. "I'm sorry, Ron, I'm just tired."
"It's okay, Kim. I know how cranky you can be when you…"
"When I what?" Anger flared in her eyes once more.
He was about to speak when the Kimmunicator went off. Saved by the Wade, he thought, realizing he would just be digging his own grave by telling her how snippy she was capable of being at certain points of the month.
Wade popped up on the small screen. "I don't have an exact fix, but Dementor's location is somewhere in central Europe."
"We're on our way." Ron leaned toward the pick-up, eager to get away from the mall and all the other places guys weren't supposed to be seen, and to take Kim's mind off their building tiff.
"Whoa! I can't leave for Europe right now. I've had, like, two hours of sleep, and I've got an eyebrow waxing scheduled."
Ron couldn't believe it was actually Kim Possible saying that. Just how much sleep had she lost? "You know, Dementor probably has what we need to get unstuck."
Wade scratched his head, wondering himself why she was acting that way. "I don't have a ride lined up for you yet, but I'm sure you can catch some sleep on the way."
"Fine." She switched off the device and put it back in her pants pocket.
About halfway to the salon, Ron stopped abruptly in his tracks. "Wait, eyebrow waxing? What's that about?"
"Just come on." She started that way again, tugging him along with her.
"This isn't one of those things I'm not supposed to think about…you're uh, not getting some other…"
"No, Ron, I'm not getting a bikini wax…again." She let that sink in, hoping to derail that train of thought.
Ron just gave her a funny look as she settled into the chair, utterly perplexed at what was being done to her. He was still pondering that when the Kimmunicator chirped once more and she pressed it into his hands to answer.
"Oh, hi, Ron. I traced Dementor to the Bavarian Alps."
"Coolio! we could be just in time for Festival!"
"Uh, Ron, that's Brazil. Bavaria is in Europe."
"Um, sure. We'll, uh, leave in an hour."
"An hour?" Wade raised an eyebrow, being accustomed to Kim always being ready to leave at a moment's notice.
Ron started to answer, when a harsh ripping sound came from a room separated from them by a curtain, followed by a short scream. Glancing over at Kim, he realized what was about to happen to her.
"Don't ask." He replied, shutting it off.
Kim grimaced a little as her goggles dug into her freshly waxed skin. Maybe it would have been a better idea to forgo the treatment for the moment, but she had gotten it in her head she was going to do what she planned that Saturday morning, no matter what, and once she set her mind to something…
She spared a glance down the rock face. It looked like there was nothing but soft, fluffy snow beneath them, but she knew better. A fall from that height would be the last thing either one of them would ever do.
Ron stirred slightly, making her hope he was finally coming around. The Air Force jet they had taken from Colorado to the Air Base in Germany wasn't nearly as comfortable as she would have liked, and it seemed like she wasn't going to get to sleep anyway. One of the crew learned about that and offered her something that would help her sleep.
Kim didn't like taking things like sleep aids, so she simply accepted the bottle and put it in her equipment belt, explaining she'd try them later rather than offend the very people helping her get to her target. She'd pretty much forgotten about them when they started their climb.
Actually, she had to admit, the extra weight aside, it was actually easier climbing by herself than trying to coordinate with Ron. They had gone maybe a hundred feet when he lost his grip. They had a safety line in place, but they still fell hard, the line jerking them upwards once they reached its end.
What Kim didn't count on was Ron flailing around, knocking the bottle loose and sending it flying. Once she got herself situated once more, she looked back, seeing him holding his throat.
"I think I swallowed something, KP." He wheezed.
It turned out that he had swallowed at least two of the pills, putting him out like a light inside of ten minutes.
He was groggily coming to just as she reached the top. From there, only a concertina topped chain-link fence barred their way. With Ron waking up, finally, they easily cut their way through, running through the snow."
"Are we even sure this is the right place?" Ron asked, blinking back sleep.
"It's Dementor's lair alright." She motioned toward a small, well-lit building that looked like a miniature of the Tudor-style main complex.
"A gift shop?" Ron said. "Man, that is just sick and wrong!"
"I remember when it used to be about the villainy." She grunted.
"Oh cool, he's got Jelly Jumpies!"
"Jumpies!" Rufus squeaked, popping his head out of Ron's jacket pocket.
"Ron, no!" She tried stopping him, but it was too late. His hand closed around the box of Dementor shaped candies, tripping the sensors, setting off blaring alarm klaxons and worse.
Even against the bright lights of the souvenir stand, the green security beams nearly blinded the two of them.
Kim blinked through tears, realizing the two of them were trapped.
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