So, an upcoming evening with Roy, Marth and Ike all together. What a happy family. Thanks to ADashOfInsanity, ShabalbaIggy, IlikeYuki and Nayunari 'Ayu' Tsuki for reviewing :)

The evening quickly resumed as though nothing had happened. Marth, ignorant of the conversation that had gone on was oblivious to the newfound tension and went about trying to cook something for dinner. As he mixed ingredients he talked casually to Roy of work and other trivialities. He'd decided to make stuffed roast pork with mash and vegetables, and once the pork was in the over Marth left it to go into the lounge to sit, chat, and pass the time. Roy followed him and after a brief hesitation, so did Ike.

"I don't think there's anything on TV," Marth sighed, after a few minutes of flicking through the channels.

"Doesn't matter. Film or something? We could watch, I dunno… 'The Matrix', if you have it."

Marth smiled, remembering how Ike had suggested the same film only last night.

"No, I don't have it, I'm sorry." Marth looked to Ike who met his eye briefly, sharing the irony. He fancies me. I can't believe he fancies me.

"Ah. Well what film do you have?"

Marth shrugged and pointed at the neat stack of DVDs arranged below the television. "Have a look."

Roy got up to inspect the collection and after a while selected Hot Fuzz and put it in the DVD player before sitting down beside Marth, who pressed play before turning to Ike.

"Are you joining us?"

Ike, who seemed to be seizing up one of the walls, turned to face them in surprise. "Ok," he agreed.

All three of them sat side by side on the sofa, Marth in the middle. Feeling awkward with one attractive man either side of him, Marth realised this was something else he hadn't thought through. They watched the first 15 minutes of the film in silence, until Roy decided to make things even more awkward.

"Boiling in here, isn't it?" he announced, and with that, he removed his shirt.

The wait from this point until the point where the pork was ready was, for Marth, excruciating. He had never seen Roy's bare chest before and trying to resist looking at it was just as hard as trying to ogle it discretely. Out of the corner of his eye his judged it to be slightly less muscled than Ike's, though by no means deficient. But trying to look at Roy's chest was only part of Marth's problem. Sitting between two attractive bare-chested men who wouldn't mind kissing him and being unable to kiss either of them due to the presence of the other was sheer agony. What's more, the size of the sofa meant that Marth could not help but brush arms with the two men, and the slight heated touch was the final straw in ensuring he paid absolutely no attention to the film.

Finally the pork was ready and Marth left the sofa to go into the kitchen and serve it. He made three dishes, assuming Ike was staying, but when he returned to the lounge Ike was nowhere to be seen. Roy informed him Ike had left to go home.

"Oh."

"He didn't give a reason. You didn't cook dinner for him did you?"

Marth nodded.

"God, he should have at least have stayed to eat it then. Shame to waste it. Still, never mind."

Marth sat down and they both tucked into the food.

Once they had both finished and the plates had been cleared away Roy took the opportunity to say,

"Can I have that kiss now?"

The sudden question took Marth totally unprepared. "Um…"

"Come on, it's the end of the evening. A kiss before I say goodbye?"

"I…"

Roy leant towards Marth but Marth held him back.

"What do you want?" Roy protested.

"Romance," Marth whispered. It wasn't meant to be this way, with Roy just asking for a kiss and being granted one. He'd waited two years and this was meant to be the start of a lovely relationship, not just a passionate fling.

"A kiss is romantic," Roy argued.

"Well…"

"Ssshhh." Roy closed his mouth over Marth's, silencing any further objections. Marth allowed himself to be kissed, but soon realised that when he gave even a little bit Roy took the encouragement rather too strongly, and Marth knew that if he didn't put a stop to it the night would not end up as Marth had wanted it to.

Prising himself free of Roy's arms Marth stepped away, forcing a small smile onto his face.

"Goodbye then."

"Goodbye." Obviously unsatisfied, Roy turned and left. Marth, unwilling to think about it, headed to bed.

Saturday arrived at last. It didn't have the same thrill as it had had in Marth's school days, as some Saturdays he had to work, but this particular Saturday he was free and he rejoiced in it. However, having the day to himself was an impossibility. At the very least Ike would be coming over to continue the painting, and to complicate things further it was also Roy's Saturday off, which naturally resulted in a phone call from him, asking if Marth wanted to hang out in town. Marth declined, worried that Roy would only want to continue what he'd started the previous night.

He spent the morning in his room reading, enjoying the peace and quiet until Ike arrived. The thought of Ike distracted him from his book. The point over Ike fancying him hadn't been resolved, but hopefully the passage of time made his reply less necessary. A more pressing matter was how he was going to cope financially until his next pay day. The idea of asking Ike for his £260 back still seemed too rude, but how else could he cope? Was there something he could sell? He thought for a moment. And then it occurred to him – he could sell Ike's painting. He didn't know how much it was worth but it could surely help. He thought about it – he couldn't just sell it on eBay, no artist fanatics would spot it there. Could he somehow put it in a modern art auction?

After half an hour online searching the deed was done. All he had to do was turn up at the auction house and collect the money afterwards. The best part of it was that the auction would be taking place that very afternoon. However it was quite a way away and they wanted all the stock in there as soon as possible, meaning that Marth had to leave preferably as soon as possible, accounting for traffic and potential train delays. He felt a little bit guilty about selling Ike's gift to him, but he needed the money.

In the auction house Marth waited nervously for his painting to come up. He was wearing dark sunglasses and a hat to stop anyone from recognising the painting was a portrait of him, and as no one had approached him so far he assumed the disguise was working. Ok, this was his one. It seemed strange seeing it held up by the presenting guy.

"Ok, next up is a recent portrait by upcoming artist Ike Greil, signed bottom right. We start the bidding at £200," the auctioneer announced. Marth had but £200 as the reserve amount, as ideally he was hoping for his £260 back. But he had no idea how much the painting was actually worth. He'd already been hanging around for a good 2 hours as people had browsed through the items before the auction and was getting tired.

"£200 I have, £250? £250, £300, £350. £350 to the man at the back. Do I see £400?" There was a long pause. "At £350 with the man at the back. Going once…"

Marth was elated. £350!

"£400 to the lady in the green coat," the auctioneer continued. "£450? £450, £500, £750, £1000 to the man at the back. Do I have any advances on £1000?"

Ok, this was more than he'd bargained for.

"£1500 I see. £2000, £2500. Any more offers? Yes – £3000 new bidder here at the front."

Oh god.

"£3500 at the back. £4000, £4500 to the lady in the green coat. Do I see £5000?" There was a long pause. Marth felt ill.

"£5000 to the man at the back. Any advances on £5000? Going once…"

Marth swayed slightly.

"Going twice…" The hammer went down. "Sold to the man at the back for £5000. For our next lot…"

£5000. What had he done? He stumbled his was towards the back of the hall, trying to find the man who had paid so much for the picture. But it looked like the man had slipped out discreetly after his purchase and was nowhere to be seen. Taking deep breaths Marth headed for some fresh air as the figure began to sink in.

£5000.

£5000!

Five thousand pounds.

By the time he returned home he was still no less in shock. It was more money than he could have ever dreamt of getting. The morning seemed a lifetime away – something that had happened in another dimension. Part of him wanted to leap for joy, the other part was gasping for breath under £5000 worth of guilt. And of course as soon as he entered the lounge, who should be there but the artist himself, seizing up his fireplace.

"Oh. Hey Marth."

"Hi." You've given me £6050 worth of painting in total. For free.

"Out enjoying the sunshine were you?"

Marth nodded, unable to speak. Even though Ike had given him the painting in the first place, which surely left Marth to do as he pleased with it, he still felt bad about selling it, as if the money wasn't his to have. But how could he give Ike the money without admitting that he'd sold the painting? And if he did give the money to Ike he'd have the same problem as before of being £260 out of pocket.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine," Marth lied. "Shall I leave you to paint?"

Ike shrugged. "I can multitask. Stay and chat, unless you have something else to do."

"No, not –" At that moment the phone rang.

"You do now," Ike joked as Marth answered.

"Hey Marth. Haven't spoken for a while."

"Elisse! How's the baby?"

"I knew you were going to ask me that. The baby's just fine, thanks. I can't believe you didn't call earlier."

"Why?"

"Marth! It's my due date. You've only been obsessing over it for like, forever."

"Oh my god! I totally forgot!"

"S'alright bro, don't panic. This little one's quite happy as it is. Doctors never get due dates right anyway, it's just a rough guess."

"True."

"Tell you what though – it's kicking like hell, the little blighter. Don't suppose you could get that artist guy who painted my belly last time to come over, could you? I remember that worked."

Was she psychic? "He's over here now actually."

"Oh hello. So that's why you were so distracted that you forgot my due date."

"Elisse, it's not like that." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ike turn towards him in interest.

"Come on, he's fit, right? You can't hide from me, I remember he had a six-pack."

"No, you've got it all wrong – he's been painting my walls."

"Is that what you call it now?" Elisse teased.

"Elisse!"

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry alright? But if you can spare your walls could you possibly persuade him to come and paint my belly?"

"Um, I don't know…" If Ike did any more free painting on his account he didn't think he could take it.

"Ah, well never mind. I don't mind the kicking that much. But is he nice?"

"What?"

"The artist, of course. You must have talked to him a bit."

"Yes, I suppose he's nice," Marth muttered, supremely aware of Ike listening in.

"Nice and fit and gay. I say go get him!"

"Elisse, please."

"What, is he married?"

"No, he isn't."

"Has a boyfriend then?"

"No…"

"So he's fit and nice and gay and single. Marth, it's one in a million. Grab him."

"I'll bear that in mind."

"Anyway I must dash there's a programme I want to catch on telly. Bye!"

"Bye." Marth hung up.

"Were you talking about me?" Ike teased. Marth looked at him. Hearing Elisse's recommendation only made things more awkward.

"Yes," he admitted.

"And what does she say?"

"She wants you to paint her belly again."

"Well I'd be welcome to. When's the baby due?"

"Today."

"Really?" Ike laughed. Marth nodded. They continued to talk whilst Ike painted, lazily killing time until the next tea break.

Elisse, no offense, but I don't think you're helping. :P Keep reviewing! Thanks!