A/N: This one wasn't supposed to take this long. Blame lies solely with Teela, she was being difficult.;-) I'm not entirely satisfied with the way it turned out but at least it's out and I can work on finishing off this first act.
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FRIENDS
The heels of Teela's boots leave a hollow echo in the Palace corridors. She has no particular destination in mind having just finished writing up her observations from this morning's flood emergency. It's now in the hands of those better trained for such situations and Teela is now left with an unusually free evening. The main guard station reported business as usual, the tedious but necessary task of weapons inventory had already concluded, and now all other signs point to a quiet, uneventful night. Not even Orko is around to liven things up. Teela's meandering stroll leads her to the vicinity of the hangers, where she hears a rhythmic metallic clanging coming from behind the closed entrance. Once inside she sees the main hanger gates are open, providing a spectacular view of the gleaming state buildings below and the Fertile Plains behind them. The noise has momentarily stopped and Teela looks around perplexed at the stationary Wind Raider fleet. Finally the clanging makes sense when to her great surprise she sees Adam's head popping up from inside a Wind Raider's engine.
"You know if word gets out that the Prince is handy with a set of tools you might find yourself in another line of work. In case the whole King thing doesn't work out."
"I think you're on to something," remarks Adam with an easy smile. "But you know, it doesn't say anywhere that I can do both. Rule Eternia by day and make repairs under the cover of darkness. No one will ever be the wiser," As Teela comes closer he signals with his chin to a piece of equipment just out of his reach. "Hey can you hand me that gauge."
Spread out before her in her father's tool kit Teela correctly picks out the proper gauge used to run scans on the Wind Raiders.
"Lt. Krislin was the last person to take out this Wind Raider. I was with Duncan when he brought it back complaining of some faulty sensors. Given as how your father's been preoccupied lately I figured I'd give him a hand here with some repairs. Kinda take some things off his 'To Do List'".
"Between the Porras delegation and his new project I really haven't seen much of him lately," Teela confesses.
"Well you know how your father gets when he starts tinkering with a new invention. Everyone and everything becomes a distant second. I bet when he gets done we'll all be wondering how we got by without it. So any idea what the big secret is?"
"Something to do with mining, I think. He's got samples of every kind of rock and soil found on Eternia in his lab. Ram Man's been helping out as well."
A non-committal grunt is all Teela gets in response.
A companionable silence falls between the two as Adam continues to use the gauge Teela had handed him earlier. It was obvious to Teela that whatever the problem was Adam had fixed it and was now just double checking his work. Still, the very fact that Adam is in here working rather than elsewhere is very odd to Teela. It quickly dawns on her why exactly that is.
"So where is her ladyship? During dinner I was under the impression that you were going to escort her to the observatory tonight."
"Since my father had generously offered me up as official escort so did I but apparently Velora has become quite the study on Eternian architecture. She's with her mother and Melathka going over old building plans."
"Oh really," she says in a voice that poorly veils her incredulity. "Architecture, huh, I would have never guessed she had her eye on some old buildings given as how pushy she was earlier."
At this Adam laughed. "Velora is looking for a husband Teela. I just happen to be in the way...this week."
"No, Adam...really? Do tell," Teela deadpanned.
"I wouldn't write her off completely though. She's got a good head on her shoulders."
"And you came to this conclusion when? After she batted her eyes at you or during the time the two of you 'caught up'."
Teela notes that Adam at least has the decency to blush at her comment but he recovers from his embarrassment quite quickly before he makes an observation.
"You never used to have a problem with her before. What's changed?"
"I don't know. I guess she hit a nerve earlier today when she insinuated that the Guard had to fight dirty to keep up with Skeletor and his goons. Too many good men have died to have someone who's ill-informed tarnish their memory and what they stood for."
"She could have phrased things a little more tactfully," Adam says diplomatically as he looks up from his work.
"Is there a tactful way to tell someone that their way of life is 'corrupt' and 'evil' because if there is I'd sure like to hear it."
His work now forgotten Adam turns to Teela and gives her his full attention.
"She was a little overzealous in her approach but at the same time put yourself in her position. Right now she's probably seen more of Eternia than either one of us. Meaning that from a young age she's also seen the effects of war on Eternia. In her mind war causes nothing but death and destruction. Given the impact warfare has had on her personally, diplomatic discourse is far more favorable to her then combat. Besides, we all can't make our mark in the world with a sword in our hand. We work with what we were given."
And with that Adam turns his attention back to the unexciting job of shining up the Wind Raider. Teela plays with one of Adam's removed brown gloves, mulling over what her friend has just said. It's annoying to her when he makes sense like that. Leave it to Adam to put a stop to her little tirade. He's no soldier but he'll make one hell of a diplomat. Velora will be pleased she thinks begrudgingly. Teela knows she's acting like a petulant child but she can't help it. The five year old in her doesn't want to let the matter go. Last time she checked the Captain of the Royal Guard shouldn't be acting like a child she thinks mirthlessly.
"It still doesn't give her the right ...broad sweeping statements ...it's arrogant."
Adam smiles and nods at her.
"Just try not to be guilty of the same thing you're accusing Velora of...Captain," finishes off Adam to punctuate his point.
Not liking the sour note that their conversation has headed towards, Teela decides to change gears and blurts out the first thing that pops into her head.
"Well just be careful because those stars in her eyes will have you married so fast you won't know what hit you...unless of course if that's what you want then..." Teela trailed off with a slight cough. She never said the first thing in her head was a sane thought. Today's just not her day.
"You don't have to worry about losing your whipping boy. I'm not getting married anytime soon despite what everyone says."
It happened only for a second and if she hadn't been paying attention she's sure she would have missed it but in that moment an indescribable something crossed Adam's eyes.
"When I do decide to marry, the woman I'll have by my side will be more than someone who can only by physically pleasing in private and politically," says Adam choosing his words carefully.
In recent years Adam's attraction towards Teela has grown from a mere curiosity of his late teenage years to the realization that Teela could potentially be more than the childhood playmate and best friend she's always been, Captain of the Royal Guard and personal body guard notwithstanding.
"I have a feeling she'll more than likely be a little unorthodox and probably ruffle a few feathers with her opinions," he finishes as he locks eyes with Teela and holds her gaze.
To her credit she doesn't back down at his blatant display of interest.
It's in instances like these that Teela does the unexpected and leaves him taken aback for days. Her attraction to He-Man is no secret. It's not overt by any means but at times there's an undercurrent of sensuality when they converse. She's confident in her abilities and that confidence gives off a heady concoction that leaves him transfixed. He-Man is viewed by Teela as an equal. He's someone who can watch her back and she his. As He-Man, Adam keeps his interactions with Teela, the Guard, and the rest of the Defenders on a professional level but it isn't lost to Adam that he, as himself, can't stand by Teela's side in combat. He sees his attraction to her as unrequited and something that he hopes will one day will loose its potency when another woman capture's his heart. So far that hasn't happened so instead he bids his social time trying to hurry the process along. Velora is lovely, interesting to talk to, and fun. He's certain his father would love for him to find a bride among the cultured ladies of Eternia and Velora certainly fits that mold. Then why does he set himself up for potential disappointment by trying to gauge Teela's interest in her childhood best friend? Because sometimes it provides interesting results, like right now. And in other times, circumstances can provide him with enough fodder to try his luck.
He-Man may be gifted with unparalleled strength and weapons prowess but Adam needs to work at it. It's while working with Man-at-Arms that he pushes himself to improve. After she returned from a session with some new Guard recruits an early morning staff practice with the seasoned soldier was recently stumbled upon by Teela. However it wasn't her unannounced arrival that had Adam pleasantly surprised. It was the odd look in Teela's eyes as she watched him maneuver the staff against her father. But perhaps most telling, in the early morning sunshine, was when she raked her eyes in a blatant and uncharacteristic way over his sweaty and naked upper torso. Adam found himself unabashedly amused when a concerned Man-at-Arms approached his flustered daughter. Apparently Teela was quite embarrassed to have been caught staring by her own father. It's completely superficial and later on he did feel a little guilty but at the time his male pride enjoyed the scene.
"I never realized how completely uneventful the evenings can be. It's so quiet," says Teela knocking Adam out of his little daydream.
At some point Teela had decided to give him a hand in shining up the Wind Raider because when Adam looked her way she stood there, rag in hand working on a smudge underneath the wing.
"So what you're telling me is that you're bored?"
Adam knows the answer to his question long before he asks it but he enjoys watching Teela squirm as she tries to find a less condemning way to confirm his suspicions. She fails. Any manner of time off is a novel concept for Teela and Adam knows this.
"Well yeah, but can you blame me. All the little details that normally keep me busy have been taken care of. The uploading of the guard rotations for next month, done. The orders to replace lost weapons, also done. Oh, and the background information on the new guests for the summit with Liatia..."
"But that's still a year away."
"Exactly."
"So where are you finding the time to do all those things?"
"That's just it, I'm not. It's that new assistant, Olan. He's a little overeager."
"Olan? Lt. Avi's cousin? I'm sure he's just trying to make a good impression with you being Avi's superior officer. I'm sure he'll ease off, eventually."
"To be honest I'm sure there's something I can dig up that needs doing to keep me occupied. There's never really a shortage of tasks. They're just low priorities."
For all her abilities to remain cool under pressure over the years Adam has noticed that Teela, like everyone else, has her share of quirks. She likes her to wipe down all the training weapons before she puts them away. Messy weapons lead to messy soldiers she says. And when something is brewing in her head she has the habit of strumming her fingers at frantic speeds just like she's been doing for several minutes now. She's up to something and Adam knows it.
"Well that's enough of this. I've got something to do."
"You're not going to hunt poor Olan down and make him see the error of his ways are you?"
"Adam you make it sound like I'm going to dunk his head into a water trough until he does what I say. We're merely going to have a little chat before his extreme efficiency drives me crazy with boredom. But after that's settled, and you'll appreciate this, I'm going to pick out a short book and relax," she states with a self-satisfied smile.
Adam couldn't help but stare at her dumbfounded after such a bold statement from the notoriously workaholic Captain.
"I'm sorry but I thought I heard the word 'relax' in there somewhere."
"You mock me now but I'll have you know that I am fully capable of taking some time off. Granted it'll be at least another ten years before I do this again, but it can be done."
Teela leaves her rag on the wing and turns to leave. The hair gathered at the crown of Teela's head in a half pony tail swings around as she makes an abrupt stop half way to the door and turns around to leave Adam with some parting remarks.
"Oh, and don't think the presence of our esteemed guests are going to excuse you from your early morning conditioning. 'Royal duties' are no longer a convenient excuse. Just so you know. Good night!" She finishes off with a light laugh.
A look of mock annoyance crosses Adam's face, "Hey Teela! Has anyone ever told you that you're bossy?"
"All the time," she responds with a grin. "It's one of my better qualities."
And with that Teela exits the hanger for good, leaving Adam alone in the vast room. The rag Teela had been using to help him wipe the Wind Raider lies discarded on one of the wings next to his own. He picks one of them as he stifles a yawn. A quick final run through with the rag and this Wind Raider should be ready to join the rest of the fleet stored in this hanger.
"Adam," So faint and weak is the Sorceress' call that he almost doesn't hear it.
"Grayskull."
Prior experience dictates that when the Sorceress calls Adam doesn't hesitate. There's no time to collect Cringer. Battle Cat will no doubt have to make a late appearance. Adam clears the tools and rags he'd been using, recovers his gloves, and jumps into the now repaired Wind Raider.
No one but the night guardsmen witnesses the Prince's hasty departure from the palace and into the horizon.
