Chapter 31

The pair didn't talk about it, but the fact that Lon and Sally thought Rick and Teela might make a couple wasn't a dead subject, by any means. Teela had gotten it from Sally, and Rick from Lon -- and the strange thing was that they hadn't killed one another, yet ... Rick had been having a blast until he realized where it was all heading -- and that left him more than a little freaked! Teela went over the whole incident thus far in her head and came to a couple of weird realizations: First, she hadn't won a single point against him -- never mind the engagement! Second, it was all apparently effortless on his part. Third, when they got down to talking about Lon and Sally, he'd shifted to a mode that was apparently totally honest; his reactions to Sally, for instance -- why would he fake them? If he was REALLY covering Lon, wouldn't he be trying to bullshit her with talk about how she was some kind of jewel in the rough, or something? (Sally was, by the way, in Teela's opinion -- else why would Sally put up with HER?) Teela knew where Rick was -- they'd crossed over into the Twilight Zone at some point and were looking for the road back -- or maybe forward...

Rick took forty-five minutes to put his hand back on Teela's shoulder -- and she made DAMNED sure she didn't flinch! But the whole thing wasn't comfortable when Rick went at it seriously -- he just couldn't bring himself to be more demonstrative. He needed something -- some way to overcome the set of nerves the whole thing had generated when he realized that the whole thing could get serious...

The pair sat through the entire end credits while the theater emptied, the tacit explanation being that sometimes the movie would feature some cute little clip at the end ... Finally, they got up and sidled toward the stairs along the wall.

Teela took advantage of her leading position and the fact that she was facing away from him to reopen a subject that was very much alive for both of them, "Look, just because those two idiots think..."

"Shut up!" Rick pushed her and she stumbled against the wall, "Hey!" She took a swing at him -- and he blocked it, effortlessly, then bored in, "You REALLY think they're idiots? What does this do to you?" And then he was in close again -- too close to kick or hit ... And his lips were on her neck...

Shivers went absolutely everywhere! "Uuuhhh!" was all Teela could get out -- and efforts to strike at him turned into a clutching embrace...

"Hey, get a room!" one of the ushers yelled, and Rick stepped back -- and something snapped in Teela. "You bastard!" She pounded off down the stairs. "You motherfucker! If you think you're gonna jerk me around -- play with me, fuck with my head..." She was at the foot of the stairs, headed for the theater door at a fast stomp...

It wasn't fast enough. A hand caught hers and jerked her around and then he was on her (damn him -- she was NEVER going to get a knee in his balls!), pressing her back against a carpet-covered wall -- and kissing her! Her mouth was open to yell; all that got her was a hot tongue sliding between her lips, "ULP!" And then her defenses collapsed -- AGAIN -- and she stopped trying to hit him. In a moment, he pulled back and grated, "You silly bitch -- do you think I'd play GAMES with you?"

"I..." His lips settled on her neck again, "Oh, fuck!" She couldn't move -- well, she could rub his back ... That first time, he'd teased her about being a vampire -- but maybe HE was, the way his lips on her neck leached the fight out of her...

"Come on..." They were out of the cinema and nearly out of the mall before she realized that she was moving; he had her by the hand, tugging her along toward the doors. She put on the brakes. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere private," he grinned at her, "where you won't get arrested for trying to beat on me! How did you get here?"

"The bus."

Rick nodded. "Fine. My car, then."

"Oh, no!" He knew too much! He'd take her somewhere isolated, shred her controls, and leave her holding her panties... "We're not going anywhere!"

"Just the car, then," he argued. "It's public enough that you're safe..."

"I don't know..."

"Yes you do." His eyes bored into hers. "Get your ass in gear!"

"Hey! You don't have to talk to me like that!"

"Maybe not, but it works!" His smile grew evil. "What are you worried about? That I'll kiss and tell? Hell, I could make it up, you know -- tell everybody you have a heart-shaped birthmark on your left ass cheek..."

"You what? You sonofa..." Rick dashed for the door, with Teela in hot pursuit.

It took her until he turned back to face her, his back against the fender of his car, before she realized that she'd played right into his hands again. "Get in the car."

"No." But he grabbed her arm -- and silly twit that she was, she turned into a hammerlock. The 'silly twit' appellation was her own; it went through her head as soon as she realized she'd screwed up. Rick held her while he opened the passenger door and backed her in, then closed it. She locked the door, grinning in triumph -- and reached for the driver's side to do the same, but he merely pushed the button on his key fob. She tried to get back out, but only the driver's door unlocked! He slid into the seat beside her. "This is kidnapping!"

"We're not going anywhere."

"You got THAT right!" She crossed her arms over her chest.

"So, are you scared to death I'm NOT serious -- or scared to death I AM?" he asked.

"Both!"

"Okay," he murmured. "If I'm not, that makes sense. But if I am?"

"Well, I guess it's all about what you're serious about!" she declared hotly. "Thus far, you've just mashed me flat, every time we've crossed each other..."

"You keep fighting..."

"Do you have to make it look so easy?" Teela whined. "A girl's got to have some self-respect..."

"Really?" Rick's eyes narrowed. "Is that what it's all about? I don't think so! I think it's about breaking out of a cycle of one Pyrrhic victory after another and not knowing what to do..."

"Pyrrhic?"

"Winning so expensively that you actually lose..."

"Oh. So you're saying..."

"You run people off -- and end up lonely, but safe -- right?"

"Well..." It wasn't how she'd have put it, but...

"Then you're fucked."

"What?"

"When's the last time you won? You step in it left and right! Has it occurred to you that it's so easy because you don't WANT to win?" Rick eyed her sidelong.

"What are you saying?" Teela demanded hotly.

"I'm saying you're fucking up on purpose!"

"You bastard!" She took a swing at him -- and it connected, sort of -- he took it on the shoulder. But then he had her arm, and she tried to draw back and got him pressed against her chest. She brought her other hand up to push him away, but those lips were on her neck again ... She tried to squeeze him away by pressing her head against his, but it just didn't work; she couldn't bring enough pressure to bear. The hand pushing at his chest couldn't make any headway, either, so she shifted tactics -- yeah, this was working! She'd pull him toward her ... What? Awww fuck... "Can't we just kiss?" she whined. "If I go home with muffler burns..."

"Sure." His lips shifted to hers. Why had she said that? Where was her head? Ummmm ... This was fucking GREAT! It was wrong, all wrong, and she was gonna pay for it big time, but, DAMN!

Things drifted for a while -- and they got hot. Not sex hot -- temperature hot! Rick pulled back from the kiss and fired up the car, turning on the air conditioning. Teela eyed him, waiting; he was going to grow fangs any minute and justify her low opinion of boys in general, and him in particular ... When he came back, she held him off -- and he allowed it. "How's my neck?"

"Tasty."

"I mean marks."

"Nothing that shows. I could fix that..."

"No! That's okay! Poppa would FREAK!"

"Better kiss me, then."

She held him off. "What the fuck are we doing?"

He cocked his head. "You're losing -- and enjoying it. I'm winning -- but not conducting pillage and rapine..."

"Are we gonna fuck?"

"Sometime. No hurry."

"Why not?"

"You're not ready."

"I'm not?"

"Nope. You're waiting for me to fuck up and try to roll over you -- then you can say to yourself, 'See, he's just like all the others -- only wants in my panties... ' Then I'm a bad guy, and you can work up some defenses -- maybe -- or a fine case of guilt, anyway. And Lon's a bad guy for inexplicably wanting to date your girlfriend, and all's right with the world. Well fuck that..." Rick's look dared her to take issue with his analysis.

"If you're so fucking smart, why aren't you rich?" Teela demanded.

"Maybe I am..." This time, her hands didn't help her. She ducked his lips, but exposed her neck. Ultimately, she had to kiss him again...

After a vague time, they surfaced. "Damn you, you're not rich..."

He shrugged, his shoulders moving under her hands. "There's rich and there's rich. If I possess something worth having..."

The answer rocked her; the implications were obvious. Damn him! It was like fighting nuclear weapons with a stick! Maybe one time in ten million, you got a lick in ... He had a key for every lock, a wedge for every chink in her armor. And he was playing by the rules, such as they were! Never once had he gotten a hand anywhere that he shouldn't -- and she was wet, and her nipples itched and she wanted him -- BAD! "You fucker!" she gasped. "Why do you have to make me feel this way?"

"So you know that for this disease, there is only one treatment -- and only one doctor!" Rick wasn't fooling himself, he was wrecked, too! But it was VERY pleasant destruction. During the movie, he'd gone over their first encounter -- and their second, to date -- and realized that every time he came into contact with the little fool with her dyed black hair with the spot of color (blue today) and the insane wardrobe, he got a buzz and did wild and crazy things -- and got away with them! She was outrageous -- and you had to be MORE outrageous to compete -- and apparently, no one else had ever bothered ... When she opened her mouth on the way out of the theater, he knew she was running -- and suddenly, it was vastly important that she not escape -- so he went on the attack, instinctively. And once he realized just what he had, stopping became unthinkable ... The little spitfire fought like a fury -- and clung like a leech! Only she didn't like being caught doing the latter ... She would hold him at arm's length while she could -- but that wouldn't be for long, now. Still, it had to work THIS time, or she would gain a weapon against him. THIS time, he had to let her go. But NEXT time ... And next time had to come fairly soon, or she would try to build up defenses -- or avoid him, like Candace was trying to do to both Toby and Damian...

Right now, though, forty-five minutes had flown by -- and it was time to do the responsible thing. Sighing, he rearranged himself behind the steering wheel. "Where are we going?" she asked suspiciously.

"I'm taking you home -- you've missed the bus."

"Right."

"Yes, right. The next bus is at six. When are you supposed to be home?"

"Rick, if you mess me over..."

"I'd be a total fucking idiot to do so at this point, now wouldn't I?" He put the car in gear. "Which way?"

"Take a right."

He took her directions all the way home -- didn't miss a turn. When they were there, he didn't try to make a scene in the car, merely saying, "Give me your phone number."

"Why?"

He eyed her. "Why do you ask stupid questions?"

"I go looking for stupid answers." He just waited. "Oh, all right," she relented, and rattled it off.

"I'll call, tomorrow."

"Sure you will."

"Fine, I'll call later."

"Yeah, right. I'll hold my breath." She got out of the car. "Thanks for the ride."

"Which one?"

"Both."

Rick spent the time she took to walk up her front walk to set up a speed dial. Once the door closed behind her, he dialed it. "Hello?" she answered, puzzled.

"Are you blue yet?"

"You're crazy, you know that?"

"Only around you," he replied. "I'll call you in a couple of hours. Better breathe until then." He hung up and put the car in gear.

"Help! I'm going down for the third time!"

"Now what?" Sally asked, rolling her eyes. Teela was being melodramatic -- again. Fortunately, Teela couldn't see her over the phone...

"I'm in big trouble, here!" Teela replied. "I need somebody with sense to tell me to run -- and keep on running!"

"What ARE you talking about?" Sally growled, irritated. She'd been watching TV...

"You know Hunky Boy's friend? The one with the dark, curly hair? Rick, something?"

"Yeah..." Sally started to get interested.

"Well, I ran into him at the cinema..."

"Literally?" Sally giggled.

"Well, okay, I saw him and went over to beat the crap out of him and get him to 'fess up that Hunky Boy is just jerking your chain..."

"How did that go?" Sally asked, mildly amused.

"Well, about like the first time, I guess..."

"He sat you on your butt?"

"No..." Teela sighed. "I was a little too blatant about it I guess, because this mall security guy comes up..."

"Why?"

"I was gonna hit him, I guess. I didn't, but it was a threat, so the guy took one look at me and offers to toss me out..."

"Oops! Sounds ugly..."

"Yeah. Well, Rick tells him it's this Goth vampire greeting -- that I was just pretending. I go along with the gag, and we do this little mock fighting thing -- and Rick ends up sucking my neck!"

Sally snorted laughter, "Oh, he's GOOD!"

"Yeah." Teela grunted. "I had to sit still for it, or I was gone. Things went down hill from there..."

"Oh?"

"Well, the guy's like a kung-fu master, or something -- every time I go to attack him, he's not there -- and then when I retreat, he's behind me or something. He pulled some kind of a fast one at the concession stand, and the next thing I know, we're leaving the ticket taker and he's got his hand around my waist! And I'm carrying a soda and popcorn, and don't have any free hands..."

"You could have dumped popcorn on him..."

"Do you KNOW how much that stuff costs? It might as well be made of gold! I'm gonna waste it like that?" Teela ranted.

"Okay, so, it wasn't that serious, then..." Sally prodded, chuckling.

"Well, it's the principle of the thing! He ... takes liberties..." Teela mused a moment, then continued, "So we go into the theater; he says we need to talk about you guys, so I put up with it -- like I had a choice! I tried a couple of things, and he manages to not be there even in a row of seats! Anyway, he plops down next to me and we start talking about you guys -- and suddenly, it's like I'm talking to a different dude!"

"How so?"

"Well, I braced him about Hunky Boy and his nefarious plans to separate you from your cherry, and he's like, 'I'm freaked, too!' So I'm like, 'Yeah, sure', and he goes, 'I can't figure it out... ' It turns out that he's talked to Hunky Boy about you until he's blue in the face, but Hunky Boy sees something in you..."

"Well, he could just have been bull shitting you," Sally offered.

"If he was, it was a totally slick job!" Teela shot back. "I mean, I'd have expected him to say nice things about you -- but according to him, he wouldn't be caught dead with you, and he can't understand for the life of him why Hunky Boy is serious!"

"THAT's not exactly a recommendation..." Sally grunted.

"Well, he was fairly nice about it, but you just do nothing for him -- and he can't figure out why Hunky Boy is all lit up..."

"Lon."

"What?"

"His name is Lon."

"Oh."

"So, did he convince you that Lon wasn't after my cherry?"

"Well, no, he didn't try, actually," Teela replied, thoughtfully. "What he said was like, 'Of course, he's gonna want to fuck her, but that's just part of the deal -- he's got this whole girlfriend deal he's trying her out for... ' I was, like, nonplussed..."

"Really?"

"Really. I said, 'Like dating? Like, off to the Prom?' and he's like, 'Yeah, weird, huh?' And he's OBVIOUSLY not supporting it..."

"Well, you're right, I guess," Sally hazarded, "either he's really slick, or he's telling the truth ... Still, I'm insulted -- what's wrong with me?"

Teela sighed. "The usual thing. He can't get around your size. Apparently, Hu-- I mean Lon -- sees it as an advantage, though."

"Did he say why?"

"No -- he doesn't understand it. Well, he appears to -- like, at one remove -- but he can't get his head into it..."

"Okay, so, you had your little talk, and it went different than you thought. I'm not seeing the excitement you called me about..." Sally sighed.

"Yeah..." Teela paused a moment. "That happened after. The conversation drifted to us -- and the fact that you two seemed to think we might go together..."

"Yeah, like dynamite and matches!" Sally laughed.

"More like a bomb and the bomb squad," Teela replied. "He always seems to know what wire to cut..." She pulled herself together and got back on track, "Anyway, when the topic shifted, he froze up -- just stopped talking altogether. He seemed really bothered. We went through the movie like that. At the end of it, I figured that I'd let him off the hook, so I started to tell him that just because you two made jokes, it didn't mean we had to laugh -- and suddenly, he's like, 'Shut up!' and I find myself up against the wall and he's kissing me..."