Tai: Greetings all! I know, I waited more than a week before updating again, shocking isn't it? Nah not really...I just kinda started writing chapters for other things and started another story and sort of...forgot to actually put a new chapter live on the weekend.
Updates on this may be a little slow, but be assured that it is finished! At least I think it is. I also thought that about four days ago and then re-read it and thought 'no that's a lazy way to end it', so I added another hundred or two words. I'm still humming and hawing over the ending; I like it but it seems to be missing something.
Regardless, if you have any requests for me let me know; whether it's just suggestions of random things to put into this story or a request for a full new story. If it's a request for this story just put it in your review :P
Also a big thank you to all my reviewers! I like reviews, they give me that warm fuzzy feeling ^_^
Max squirmed slightly as he started to awaken, receiving a small grunt from somewhere above his head. 'Don't wanna wake up. Head hurts.' He thought, throwing one arm over his eyes and incidentally causing another grunt. It was then he realised that his pillow didn't really feel like a pillow; it wasn't as soft, didn't feel like fabric, it was warmer and breathing. The blonde male froze, trying to put together the pieces of exactly who he was sleeping next to and why, mind racing as he tried to remember the night before.
'Right…Hilary jokingly suggested we have a boy's night in because Tyson and Kenny were both going to be out. Kai agreed after she and Tyson had left, and added vodka to the mix…we gave Tyson's wardrobe a makeover…head still hurts…' the blonde listed, feeling some brief movement above him. An arm he'd failed to notice around his waist tightened slightly, and the blonde managed to avoid jumping at the movement, his mind sent racing again.
'We finished doing a makeover of Tyson's room…had pizza…answered some embarrassing questions.' And it finally dawned on the blonde. 'I asked them if they had a thing for another blader, and then Kai had to carry me to bed because I couldn't stand up…then he put me down and Ray sat down next to me, meaning it's probably Ray…'
Sapphire eyes opening, he held in a gasp as he spotted the black haired male directly opposite him, using the opposite side of their captain's chest as a pillow in a similar manner to himself. It was an odd feeling; he was certain the neko-jin was the one he'd been resting against and that their captain had likely slunk off to his corner of the room to sleep.
Glancing over at the other slumbering male he noticed Kai's other arm, seeming paler than normal, wrapped around the tanned waist of the Chinese blader. The dark haired male looked peaceful, and Max closed his eyes again. 'I wonder when he moved.'
Ray meanwhile was going through a similar thought process, although he already knew who he was utilising as a pillow; he was more concerned about where their young blonde teammate had disappeared to. He'd fallen asleep sitting upright against Kai, and he already knew he was now laying down on the bedrolls. Amber eyes opened slightly as he heard a grunt from the Russian male, and he quickly spotted the young blonde.
Incidentally, he could also see why the oldest of the group had grunted briefly; Max had managed to dig his nails into the centre of the male's chest. Moving slowly, he ran his hand upward to rest it under the blonde's, stopping him from repeating the movement. He felt Kai's grip around his waist tighten briefly, and he closed his eyes once more, hoping to get a few more moments of sleep.
Kai, it seemed, had the same idea. Acting as a pillow to both teammates, he could feel their small movements and was already aware that both were awake, although they both seemed rather content to stay where they were. Glancing over at the watch he'd left near the bedrolls, he checked the time.
'Seven in the morning, why can't they wake up this early when we have training.' He thought with a sigh, closing his eyes again. Pulling both the blonde and dark haired male closer, he decided he'd attempt to get a few more hours sleep. 'It's not likely I'll have both of them this close again.' He mused, enjoying the warmth.
It seemed only a few moments later he opened his eyes; a small but familiar sound catching his attention. A glance at his watch indicated three hours had passed already, and his mind slowly registered the small sound again. 'That sounds like a cat…'
Glancing down, he noticed that Ray had begun purring slightly in his sleep, one hand grasping Max's, which was resting on Kai's chest, while Ray's free hand was grasping his wrist rather tight. He still had an arm firmly around both males, and similar to Ray, Max had gripped it rather tightly to ensure it wouldn't move. He stayed still, waiting for some indication they were once again awake, as they had been earlier.
It didn't take long before Max began to stir slightly, burrowing his head against the arm on Kai's chest to cover his eyes against the incoming light. The movement pulled Ray's arm from its comfortable position on the centre of Kai's chest to a new position closer to the blonde, who had settled back in to sleep.
The dark haired male gently tugged their joined hands back toward himself, mumbling slightly in his sleep. The slate haired male held back a laugh as Max repeated his own movement, followed by another attempt by Ray. "How much longer are you two going to lie there and pretend to be asleep?" Kai finally asked, making both males jump. The ruby eyed male laughed as both the amber and blue eyed males glanced at each other across his chest.
"How long have you been awake?" the neko-jin finally asked, mentally debating if he really wanted to let either of his teammates go.
"'Bout five minutes; I was waiting for you two to wake up before I said anything." The slate haired male stated, his gaze returning to the roof. "Were you two having fun playing tug-of-war with your hands?"
The comment made both males blush furiously, and each released their grips on both the slate haired male and each other. All three sat up, still shirtless from the night before, with a dark blush covering both Max and Ray's cheeks, the pair refusing to look toward the Russian or each other.
"How's the heads?" he pondered, unsurprised when both of the pair buried their faces into their hands. 'Well at least they're not completely grumpy and refusing to move, unlike Bryan after he's been drinking heavily.' He mused, stretching slightly.
"Well I'm going to have a shower; the leftover Pizza is probably still in the lounge if you two are hungry." Kai stated, standing so he could head off toward the bathroom. The blonde male reached up and snagged the male's pants gently, although his gaze hadn't shifted from the floor. Ray had done similarly, managing to snag one of the belt loops on his pants.
The slate haired male glanced down at the two; Max on his left, Ray on his right, each looking down and away from the team captain. His gaze shifted between the two, unsure of how to react to the sudden movement. 'I wonder if they're both still a little tipsy…' he wondered, watching the pair quietly. None of the trio moved until Kai sat back down with a sigh of defeat, running a hand through his hair.
Both male's relinquished their grasps on the ruby eyed teen's pants, though their stares didn't move from the wooden floor. "I'm not explaining to Tyson why we're all shirtless and there's only one bed set up." The Russian stated finally, earning a small giggle from Max, prompting a laugh from Ray. All three were soon laughing, the younger two finally looking up.
Ruby locked on to sapphire and amber for several moments, the slate haired teen cocking an eyebrow hoping one of the pair would explain their sudden urge to stop him from leaving to have a shower. It was quickly obvious that neither intended to explain, although the blonde was happy to come up with a new topic instead.
"So who's telling Tyson that we attacked his wardrobe?" Max asked curiously, looking at the pair.
"I don't think we should tell him; he can find out when he goes into his wardrobe." Kai stated, earning a smile from the blonde.
"We should probably donate that bag of clothes before he gets back then." Ray agreed, all three already picturing what the male would likely do if he found out the clothes they were trying to get rid of were still in the house.
"We can do that after we've eaten; we can have a day off training." Kai stated, earning nods from the pair. "Now, I actually do need to have a shower, if I'm allowed to." He smirked, the blush returning to the faces of both males. Before they could react, he stood and headed off toward the bathroom once more, disappearing down the hallway.
Both Max and Ray let out a sigh, somewhat startling each other. "I'll pack up the blankets and everything if you want to go and eat." The dark haired male stated, receiving a sharp nod from the blonde as he stood and left the room. With the younger male out of sight, the neko-jin dropped his head into his hands.
"What the hell was I thinking? Grabbing Kai's pants to stop him from leaving, I'm an idiot." He groaned. "I know Max and I were comfortable sleeping with him…next to him…but hell I couldn't even look at them after I stopped Kai from leaving." Shaking his head, Ray stood and started folding the blankets, still silently cursing himself.
It didn't take long to restack the bedding in the corner, as neatly folded as they had been the previous evening. Tugging his hair free from its binding, he ran a hand through it briefly. 'Definitely need to have a shower; I should probably have breakfast first though…'
Wandering out into the kitchen, he found Max pushing a piece of reheated pizza around a plate, clearly deep in thought. "All right there Max?" he questioned, glad when the blonde didn't jump as soon as he spoke.
"Mm, just debating whether or not I need to have a shower." Max stated, although the neko-jin was almost certain it was a lie. "Pizza's in the oven warming up."
Ray headed into the kitchen and collected some pizza for himself, almost dropping the plate as he returned to the dining room to spy a towel clad slate haired male. Kai had clearly finished his shower and was standing in the hallway door, glancing between the pair. It was the first time he and Max had seen the male's hair flattened against his head; "Bathroom's free if either of you need a shower."
He didn't wait for a response, leaving as soon as he'd said his piece while Ray and Max stared after him briefly. The dark haired male moved to join the blonde at the table, glad to see the younger male had finally stopped pushing his food around the plate and was finally eating it instead.
"You'll be finished before me Max; go have a shower once you're done." Ray stated, taking a bite of his own meal. "I'd probably take longer in the shower than you; I need to wash my hair."
A snort from the door made Ray and Max jump, turning to see a fully dressed Kai walking in, his towel draped around his neck. "I suppose at least you've stopped washing it at night. Do you want us to wait for you so we can take Tyson's old clothes down to be donated?"
"Why is it a good thing he stopped washing it at night?" the blonde asked curiously, finishing his piece of pizza. A groan from Ray made Kai laugh, and Max felt he was missing out on something.
"Remember back in our first world championship attempt, you, Tyson and Kenny all got a single bed each, while most of the time Ray and I were sharing a bed." The slate haired male stated, earning another complaint from the neko-jin. "The three of you were already asleep; Ray went and had a shower just before bed. Of course he left his hair out, and it was soaking went when he climbed into bed."
"Kai got into bed after me, and unfortunately my hair saw fit to soak both sides of the bed." Ray finished, Max giggling happily at the mental image which completed itself.
"So that's why you only have showers in the morning now?"
Ray nodded as he continued to devour his pizza, Kai returning with his own plate. "After I ended up with a wet ass most of the nights we were in America, I told him he could sleep on the floor if he was having a shower before bed." He stated, cutting up his own make-shift breakfast.
Both of his teammates found themselves staring at the slate haired male, or more specifically his face and the lack of blue shark fins on the pale skin. Max jumped slightly as he realised the ruby eyed male was staring curiously back at him, one eyebrow raised. "I'm going to go have a shower." He stated quickly, holding himself back from running out of the room.
Kai's attention turned to Ray, who in turn returned his attention to his food before speaking. "It's just a bit weird seeing you without the paint and scarf." He admitted; the Russian smirking at the comment.
"Maybe I should listen to Tala one day; last time I left Russia he suggested I take off the paint, leave my scarf behind, get a haircut and change my wardrobe to something other than dark purple." He stated, taking another bite of pizza. "He was convinced no one outside the Russian team would recognise me."
Laughing at the idea, the neko-jin shook his head. "You'd have to do more than that for me to be unable to recognise you. Probably for Max as well." The darker haired male admitted, somewhat surprising the slightly older teen. "I doubt Tyson would recognise you right now."
The comment earned a small chuckle from the Russian. "You're probably right about that." Despite the fact he was wearing the same belt, shirt and pants he always did and should've been plenty recognisable for their largely dense teammate, the world champion was sometimes not the most observant.
The pair finished eating in silence, Ray disappearing off to the shower as soon as Max reappeared to sort the dishes, while Kai sat silently at the table. It was becoming increasingly obvious to the American that their team captain was pondering something, although what he wasn't sure.
"Kai?"
The ruby eyed male looked up at the blonde, still clearly distracted. "Hm?"
"What are you thinking about?"
"Ray and I were talking while you were in the shower; Tala's said before a wardrobe change, haircut and getting rid of signature items of my wardrobe is all it would take for people other than the Blitzkrieg Boys to be unable to recognise me." He stated with a small shrug.
"Not true; I'm sure I'd still recognise you." The blonde argued, earning something between a smile and a smirk from the older male.
"Ray said the same. It did remind me that I was thinking of getting a haircut."
The giggly blonde returned to the mood the rest of the team was used to, laughing and bounding over to the formerly stoic captain, who was seated at the table. He happily draped his arms around the older male's neck, grinning widely. "Is that all? You had me worried it was something serious!" he laughed, Kai grinning back at him.
"And who says me getting a haircut isn't serious?" he replied, turning his head slightly to look at the blonde.
The blue eyed male considered the idea before laughing, his gaze moving to focus on the older male. "Haircuts aren't serious." He grinned, blushing faintly when he realised how close his lips were to the older teen's.
Ray reappeared silently, his hair still loose and dripping on the floor slightly on the floor as he walked, blinking at the pair who seemed rather comfortable together, and incredibly close. "Not wearing your scarf or paint today, Kai?" he questioned, running his brush through his hair.
"Not tying your hair up today, Ray?" the slate haired male fired back, the blonde laughing at the exchange. All three of the males were largely wearing their usual clothes, minus jackets other overly warm items of clothing.
Max finally detached himself from their team captain, his blush still faintly present on the pale cheeks as he finished clearing the table. Ray had stood watching the pair for several moments before speaking, and he still wasn't sure what, if anything was going on. 'Kai didn't hesitate to carry Max to bed last night, and Max was hugging him for almost no reason…is there something going on between them?' he wondered, settling himself at the table.
'But then Kai didn't even know Max was gay, so there can't have been something going on before last night, and we all woke up around the same time this morning. I wasn't even in in the shower that long….' He pondered, still slowly brushing his long hair. 'Maybe they just have a thing for each other and-'
He jumped as his thoughts were interrupted by a cool hand removing his brush from his hand, the amber eyed male looking up to see Kai had moved to stand behind him. "At the rate you're brushing, Tyson will be home before we get rid of that bag of clothes." He stated, starting to run it through the neko-jin's hair.
Several moments of silence passed before either of them spoke again. "What were you thinking about?" Kai asked softly, the tone somewhat foreign to hear from the Russian.
"Nothing." Ray lied, gaze dropping to the table. The slate haired Russian continued to run both his hands and the brush through his hair, with the black haired male resisting the urge to lean back into the touch.
"It wasn't nothing, I've known you long enough to be able to tell when there's something bothering you." The Russian stated, gently working a knot free from the long black hair. "What is it?"
Ray sighed; Kai had used his 'captain voice', which meant he wasn't going to get out of answering the question. "I was just….wondering if there was something going on between you and Max…" he trailed off, gaze dropping back to the table.
"Because he was hugging me when you got out of the shower?" Kai finished, earning a small nod from the Chinese blader. He let out a sigh of his own. 'I wish, but that would mean I could choose between the two of you, and I've been trying to make that choice for the last year under the assumption you were both straight.' He thought, somewhat wishing he could say it.
"There's nothing going on between us Ray." he stated, although he was certain he hadn't managed as neutral a tone as he'd hoped. Finished running the brush through the long hair, he set it on the table and moved to return to his seat, barely spotting Max leaning against the wall next to the kitchen door.
Sighing, he changed objectives and headed into the kitchen, placing a hand gently on the blonde's shoulder. "And you're wondering if there's something between me and Ray now, right?" he asked gently, unsurprised when the younger male nodded. Shaking his head, he steered the male into the dining room. "Honestly if I didn't know better I'd think you two were jealous."
The comment made both males blush, Kai smirking at the reaction. "Come on, grab your shoes, I'll grab the bag of clothes and we'll head off." Both males took the opportunity to make themselves scarce, their captain chuckling as he collected the bag and headed out the front to wait for the pair.
It didn't take long for the pair to reappear and meet up with Kai, the trio heading down toward the shops. Max and Ray made conversation as they walked, their captain chipping in when he could though he largely remained silent. As they stopped to cross a road, the blonde turned to the oldest of the group, grinning happily.
"Can we get ice cream on the way home?"