Author's Note: Short chapter is short.

Chapter 11

Things had never been 'tense' between Stephanie and Sportacus. The two of them just wouldn't have known how. But now that they were together it was as if there was a tension there that had lifted. After that first kiss nothing between them seemed difficult. Well...

The border between Sportacus' physicality and Stephanie's inexperience was being tread very carefully. Sportacus never pushed physical affection on Stephanie, but he wasn't very good at hiding his desire. He... looked at her, all the time, in ways that made her blush.

Stephanie would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy it, she just didn't really know what to expect. She jumped every time Sportacus' hands wandered to someplace new. Which made Sportacus feel guilty for letting his hands stray, which, in turn, made Stephanie feel bad because she really had been enjoying herself.

Sportacus, on the other hand, wouldn't have minded if Stephanie's hands wandered a little more. Part of him had been really surprised at how timid she was. She was so physically bold with him before, and even still when it came to sports. That she lost her nerve in this one thing just seemed odd to him. He wanted to encourage her touch without scaring or forcing her, but he wasn't sure how to go about it.

And between the two of them they were terribly shy. Sportacus still jumped and blushed whenever they were caught sitting a little too close together, made worse by the fact that if it was Trixie who spotted them she'd send catcalls their way. Stephanie was starting to get flustered by the smallest suggestions of anything sexual, more so if Sportacus was within earshot. She didn't really understand that this was pretty telling, or that it made Sportacus smile more often than not.

So they were still working out the bugs in that area. But other than that there relationship was a little piece of paradise.

Sportacus rather boldly leaned in her window every morning while she was in the middle of her daily dance practice and was greeted by a kiss. After which they'd chase each other around town and end up at the Sports Field for the rest of the morning. Sometimes they'd find a game to play, but more often than not they'd take this time to enjoy each others company in a more physical way before they could be interrupted by anyone else. Then they would stop for lunch, by which time everyone else would have crawled out of bed and would be interested in being outside for the day.

So an activity would be thought up for the group. If it was a team sport then there would be fighting over the teams. Usually someone complained that Stephanie and Sportacus weren't allowed to be on the same team because they were the two best and so it would be uneven. So the teams generally divided up into Stephanie, Ziggy, and Trixie on one team, and Sportacus, Stingy, and Pixel on the other. Everyone could agree that that division was fair.

Sportacus' team usually won even though he was only their half the time, having to go off and rescue someone or something mid game.

Then the group would start to disperse. Pixel had work to do, and Ziggy went to basketball practice since the team kept it up through the summer, and sometimes Stingy and Trixie would go off together. Other times Stingy had some family thing to do so Stephanie and Trixie would spend the early evening together.

On the days Trixie and Stephanie spent time together Sportacus usually went off to discuss city business with the Mayor. Trixie said this was a euphemism for his relationship with Stephanie. And on the days that Trixie went of with Stingy, Sportacus and Stephanie milled around and spent their time acting very much like a couple in love, elongating their good byes with passionate kisses and general mushiness.

Such was day to day life in Lazytown. So good that it clearly trouble had to start brewing eventually...

It was on such a day that Robbie Rotten was particularly agitated. He was attempting to sleep in with all his might, but two certain someones... were preventing him. His speakers descended, a lovesick giggling coming out of them. Sportakook and his little pink cheerleader were running about the town chasing each other in a lovey-dovey haze.

"They are driving me... CRAZY!" Robbie howled in his raspy voice as he wrapped a pillow around his ears. He stood up with determination and stalked over to his periscope.

The view through the periscope was predictable. Stephanie ran around to one side of a wall and Sportacus stopped on the other. They went one way, then the other, then finally Sportacus vaulted over the wall and 'caught' Stephanie from behind. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck. Stephanie cocked her head to the side and leaned back into him with a happy sigh.

Robbie jumped away from the periscope with a gag and a shudder.

"Love!" Robbie made a face. "That's not love! That's an excess of hormones!" He pushed the periscope up and out of the way.

"What, with her being a teenager and him being... him! It's a wonder they haven't driven the entire TOWN crazy. There must be a way to stop this nonsense!" Robbie stomped down the stairs and flopped down onto his fluffy orange chair.

"Maybe... there's some way to make Sportakook completely repulsive to the little pink brat." Robbie mused. "Some way that would leave him so heartbroken and disgraced that he'd have no choice but to leave town. FOREVER!"

Robbie grinned at the thought. But what made Sportacus so attractive to that brat anyway? Other than her overzealous hormones that is... He supposed looks had something to do with it... and she was probably actually attracted to those unnatural athletic abilities of his. What would be the quickest way to rid Sportacus of both of those things?

"Age." Robbie reasoned. "If Sportacus were to suddenly turn into an old man... That would take care of everything! NO teenager girl would be attracted to an old GEEZER!" Robbie laughed.

"Plus, even if he DIDN'T leave town, he would never be able to flippity-flop AGAIN!" Robbie said triumphantly. "It's PERFECT!"

Ohhh... but it would take a little time to make a device that would do that. He'd have to get to work right away.

"Where's that box?" Robbie asked, twisting around and looking for the crate with all his gadgets in it.

This would be well worth the effort.

Author's Note: Does anyone ever wonder about Robbie's technical prowess? I wonder about it a lot. I mean... he MAKES most of the gadgets he uses... Methinks he's a genius inventor whose been driven crazy through lack of sleep. I mean, he's got to pay his bills somehow. I wonder who he sells that kind of stuff to.