Robbie was sat staring off into space when Kit descended the stairs into the lounge. He smiled at him and nodded at the man that followed quickly behind. It struck him that a great deal of time had elapsed since Sportacus had stayed overnight at the house. There had been a time when it had occurred frequently, especially during the harsh winters that swept over the town. It seemed odd that even weeks before the above average hero had been unwelcome in his home, barely spoken to or of without him feeling angry and resentful. Now all of that had been forgotten and it seemed like old times again. They were united as a family, as they'd always been before.
He was still trapped in his reverie when he felt someone stick a finger up his nose and he jumped violently. He swatted at Kit who had started laughing after recovering from the shock of the sudden movement he'd made and stared daggers at him.
"What the hell possessed you to do that?" He scolded ineffectually.
Kit shrugged and stopped laughing long enough to reply, "I was just trying to convince myself you were still with us. It was either sticking my finger up your nose or my willy in your ear hole. I kinda figured I'd try the finger up your nose first."
"Have you ever thought of simply saying someone's name or patting them on the shoulder to get a response?"
"Oh yeah, I never thought about that." Kit said with a large dollop of sarcasm before pulling a face at Robbie. "I did everything shy of giving you a kiss and saying 'morning sweetheart,' you were long gone."
"You were," Sportacus backed Kit up as he emerged from the kitchen skilfully holding three bowls.
Keeping a bowl for himself, Sportacus handed Robbie and Kit one. Once he sat down he looked at Robbie, "What were you thinking about anyway?"
"A bunch of stuff. I think I started at you being back here and ended up thinking about Robyn. I was trying to work out what life would be like if she didn't come back or what it would be like if she came back and something happened to her. Lily came so close last time."
"That's true but that time Robyn wasn't the target." Kit reminded Robbie, "You know there's something about that I still don't get. I swear that when Lily stabbed Robyn she was almost upset about it. I would have thought she'd have been jumping for joy."
Sportacus nodded as he remembered, he'd heard Lily's whispered words and seen her close her eyes tightly against what she'd done. It seemed so out of character for his sister, so different to what he'd come to expect from her.
Had her feelings towards Robyn changed? Times gone by she would have been happy, triumphant that she had done Robyn harm. She would have celebrated what she considered a victory in bringing Robyn to death's door. Why had she reacted the way she did?
As he gradually sunk deeper and deeper into thought Sportacus didn't see Kit stand up or hear him undo the zip on his jeans.
Langford was relaxing in the fair weather with a book as he sat on a bench near the sports field. It seemed rare for him to be 'off duty' these days, there was always something required his attention or needed a report written on it that he had to send to Headquarters. All was quiet around him when his ears were tweaked by a loud cry coming from one of the houses that was followed by hysterical laughter. Several crashes came after it before the front door of Robbie, Kit and Robyn's house flew open and Kit came sprinting out with Sportacus hot on his heels.
He had to admit that Kit was fast but he was no match for the hero who looked aggrieved by something as he gave chase. Forgetting his book for the moment and finding what was happening much more interesting to look at he silently egged on Sportacus to catch the clown. Though he liked Kit he found his practical jokes a little tiresome and it seemed rare that he would ever get his comeuppance.
Several of his men looked at him to see if they should intervene but before he could give them an order one way or another Sportacus leapt into the air and tackled Kit to the ground. Both tumbled one over the other until Kit landed on top of Sportacus, straddling him.
Kit tipped his head and looked to the side when he thought of something, "This seems oddly familiar but different somehow."
"I think last time I was on top of you." Sportacus reminisced.
"Oh yeah!" Kit grinned wickedly as his face lit up and he let out a very convincing evil genius laugh, "You don't have Ché to rescue you now!"
Sportacus almost couldn't believe his eyes when Kit leant over him and pursed his lips, sticking his tongue through them until a slow trickle of dribble came out and started to descend towards him. He tried to move his head away from the trail of spit getting closer and closer to him until he decided that it was now or never for him to make his move.
With expert ease Sportacus arched his body and pushed himself into a backward roll that threw Kit and his spit trail off of him. He quickly subdued Kit as he sat on the clown's back, pinning him to the ground. He waved at Langford who was slowly making his way over and applauding his victory.
"May I ask what brought this on or do I not want to know?" Langford asked light heartedly.
Kit laughed, "He was away with the fairies so I stuck my knob in his ear."
Langford shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as his shoulders moved and down with a poorly stifled chuckle. Sportacus nodded glumly and absently rubbed his ear before removing his hand from it and looking disdainfully at it, he was going to have to wash his hands and his ear out as soon as possible.
Seeing his chance now that Sportacus was distracted, Kit stretched his hands out in front of him and dug his toes into the ground. With a great deal of effort he pushed himself up as if doing a press up and Sportacus fell off of him. Kit regained his feet quickly and went to run away but not without stopping long enough to taunt Langford with gorilla noises and mooning him.
Now involved in the fray, Langford went from casual observer to full participant as he threw his book down and quickly pursued Kit. Pushing himself forward he relived his sporting days of old as he hunched down and caught Kit in a full on Rugby tackle, lifting him high into the air and flipping him around before they both crashed to the ground.
"Good move!" Sportacus exclaimed as he ran over and helped Langford to his feet.
Langford smiled and helped a slightly dazed Kit to get up, "Thanks, I used to play flanker in a Rugby squad back home. It's been a few years since I've done that."
A familiar look crossed Kit's face as a mischievous thought flashed through his mind, "Flanker? That rhymes with wa-"
Kit was stopped by Sportacus clapping a hand over his mouth as he caught onto what Kit was getting at. He drew his hand away quickly when he felt something warm and slimy brush his palm. A look of pure disgust and a strangled 'eew' left him as he watched a thin line of drool drip from his hand. Wrinkling his face up he looked for somewhere to wipe his hand when Langford winked at him and grabbed Kit by the shoulders, gesturing with his head to wipe his hand on Kit's face.
Kit tried to wriggle out from Langford's grasp as Sportacus wrestled with his conscience. Part of him told him to walk away and wash his hand like any civilised hero would do while another part cried out for revenge and the opportunity to get one up on his tormentor. It was that part he listened to as he moved his open hand towards Kit's squirming face.
"I leave you two alone for five minutes and look what happens. It's a good thing I decided to come back."
Sportacus whirled round at the sound of the familiar voice behind him as Kit opened his eyes and smiled broadly. Robyn was stood before them, hands on her hips with her eyebrow raised.
Langford released Kit and the clown rushed to Robyn, hugging her tightly before letting her go slightly and looking around to see how she'd got there. Robyn smiled and pointed upwards, making Kit and Sportacus both look above her head to what was floating in the sky above them.
As his ice blue eyes took in the sight of his new airship, Sportacus felt himself get a little choked up.