Evening at Chip'n'Dan's (some days pre-Halloween)

[Cres]

Chip smiled and though he would have greatly preferred cuddling with Ace, his eyes irresistibly turned to the clock when he realised that, indeed, it was still morning and the blond was supposed to go to school that day. He grimaced when he realised what time the clock was showing.

"Oh... I guess I ought to let you go," he said, his voice sounding every bit of his reluctance. "It's getting late."

Colorado glanced at the clock as well and instantly a pout came over his face.

"Nooo no, you can't go!" he wailed and grabbed Ace by the other arm tightly, putting his head on the blond's shoulder. "I won't let you. Skip school! We can show you how." He grinned up at Ace, assuming that he knew about the numerous times he and Chip and Dan had skipped school in their time - well, especially Chip and Dan.

[Kat]

Ace was about to reply to Chip when Colorado intervened, and he couldn't help but grin. "Oh I don't need anyone showing me how to skip. Well, I've never actually skipped, to be honest, mom just always takes it upon herself to decide every now and then that I'm feeling ill and need a day off. Apparently on these days the best medicine is going shopping with her and having lunch at a fancy restaurant. But sadly, as much as I want to take the day off, too many people will be disappointed if I don't show up. I'm a popular boy, I have my people to attend to." He winked at Collie before turning back to Chip. "I should be going soon, but I need to call Sparky first, since we have to meet up so she can do my make-up and hair." He kissed Chip on the lips before going back to his room to find his cell phone. Sitting on Chip's bed and pulling out the phone, he dialled Sparky's number.

"Hi..." Sparky's greeting was cut off by a yawn, making it obvious she had only just woken up.

"Sparkly, are you just getting out of bed now?" Ace laughed as he asked the question, wondering what her excuse would be.

"Yeah, my bad." Sparky was sitting up in her bed, stretching her arms out in front of her.

"So, how long are you going to be? Oh and you can feel free to take a few minutes. I sort of slept over at Chip's last night, so I'm in no great rush to leave." Ace knew she'd be able to tell how great of a night he had from the tone in his voice.

As if on cue, Sparky squealed at the mention of the sleepover. "Oh you have to tell me all about it, Ace! I say give me half an hour, then come over. I too have a story for you this morning, one of which you will be very proud of me for." Sparky's grin was visible through the tone of her voice, the redhead was obviously excited over whatever what transpired the night before.

"Excellent, now make sure you get a good breakfast so your hands will be steady for my eye makeup."

"Yeah yeah, go make out with your boyfriend, loser. I'll see you in a bit."

Ace smiled and ended the call, slipping his phone back into his bag and getting up off the bed to return to the kitchen. He came up behind Chip and slipped his arms around his waist, pressing his head to Chip's back. "I have about twenty minutes, Sparks had an issue with waking up on time this morning." Ace was quite glad she had, since he really didn't want to leave just yet.

[Cres]

[[Wooo, I just realised we're making a Chip+Ace thread length record here! ;D]]

Collie had had to grin, despite himself, at Ace's mention about "his people". He and Chip had never been the popular crowd - at least, Collie hadn't - but he could just picture the blond stalking the halls at his school with a prince-like air. Chip smiled and nodded as Ace left to his room to make his call. While the blond was gone, Collie strapped himself onto Chip instead, putting his head on his best friend's shoulder and looking up from underneath his brows.

"Aww you two're the cutest couple I've ever seen," he said with a smile. Then his expression turned wicked and he picked his head up. "So, tell, me is he as gorgeous in the bed as he is to look at?"

Chip gave Colorado a "get off that topic" expression, which had the effect of making Dan frown a little. He hadn't seen Chip avoid the topic of sex before.

"None of your business," Chip said bluntly. "This one's not for sharing, Col."

Collie pouted and put his hands on his hips.

"Well I wasn't asking to tag along," he said, "I just wanted to..."

"Leave it, Col," sounded Dan's voice suddenly from behind Collie's back. The man moved to lean onto the table with his elbows and reach over to the basket of apples he'd put on the table earlier. "He doesn't wanna talk about it so he doesn't wanna talk about it. Some things are private." He met eyes with Chip as he said that, and there was a silent hint in that look. Chip locked eyes with Dan for a moment, quietly taking note of the hint even as his gaze thanked the older man for the intervention. The two best friends looked at each other for a long moment. Chip realised that something had happened to Dan very lately, something different, something that changed things... but he also understood that what had happened on Saturday night would have to remain secret between the two of them. Dan wasn't ready to talk about it, and as his best friend, Chip needed to accept that.

He smiled a little. The night with Collie and Ace had helped a great deal in getting over the upset over that issue. It also had helped him to remember what really was important between the two of them, him and Dan. He needed to give Dan his space, just as he needed his own space. There were too many hurtful questions right there, and answers to those questions might ruin everything between them forever.

Somehow, it felt to him as though Dan sensed this also as the two best friends exchanged smiles.

Colorado suddenly made an indignant snorting noise.

"I wish you'd stop doing that," he said sourly. "It's like you're talking behind my back - except that you're doing it right at my face, only I can't understand anything."

Chip turned his eyes from Dan and grinned at Colorado, putting his arm round the artist's shoulders.

"Collie, Collie, don't you know the only real way to talk with the Old Grump is telepathy. I've worked hard to master that skill. But then, you and I work more with body language." He wrapped his other arm around the artist's waist quite suddenly and pulled Colorado against himself, back to chest, so that his hip pushed against the smaller male in quite a suggestive way. Collie squealed and struggled to get off.

"Chip! Grow up! Let me go!" The artist wiggled and Chip laughed as he did let go - but not before giving Colorado a good pat on the buttocks, which sent the artist gasping in outrage.

Dan was, surprisingly enough, chuckling at this physical display.

Chip turned his head a little when Ace then reappeared. The older male put his hands back, wrapping them round Ace without turning, leaning his head backward against Ace's.

"Mm, that's nice," he said, quite happy also that they'd have a few more minutes. "Just plenty for a further short cuddle." He then smirked and dove down and backward a little, to get his hands down to slip them under Ace's feet to hoist him up as though for a piggy-back ride, easily carrying the blond's weight on his back and arms.


[]

[Kat]

Ace smiled as Chip put his arms back around him, then let out a little surprised squeal when Chip picked him up. He wrapped his legs around Chip's waist, and his arms lightly around his neck. He kissed Chip's neck and smiled happily. "You really need to start carrying me around more, you know, give my legs a rest. It's so thoughtful of you." He playfully kissed Chip's neck again, though this time he let his tongue dart out just a little here and there. He knew Chase was very sensitive around the neck and he now wondered if Chip was as well. There was only one way to find out after all, so he kept on playing.

[Cres]

Chip had been about to answer something, but he forgot what it was when Ace became affectionate with his neck. There were some spots where he was especially sensitive, and the neck happened to be one of them - the other was the ears, but as far as Chip was aware, neither of these no one alive but Colorado knew. Chip had to get a little suspicious of whether his old friend had tipped Ace off during one of the moments they had been together without Chip around, but it got a little difficult to concentrate on that thought when Ace concentrated on his neck.

Colorado giggled as Chip closed his eyes with a rather enjoying expression on his face. Dan, too, was smiling a little.

"He probably will," Dan noted with an amused tone, "if you keep doing that."

"Try the ears too," Colorado chimed in. "That'll get him to his knees."

Chip's eyes flashed open in shock.

"Col!" he said with an accusing tone. "You snitch!"

Collie grinned.

"That's for all the times you've told my boyfriends I've got very sensitive feet."

[Kat]

Ace continued to lick at Chip's neck while Dan and Colorado chimed in, grinning around the appendage. He moved up to Chip's ear as suggested, wondering how crazy it really would make him. Luckily for him Chip had yet to realize how ticklish he was and he hoped he wouldn't try to find out, at least not for a while. He wanted to have something to hold over Chip, something he could do that his boyfriend wouldn't be able to fight back against. Hopefully the neck and ears would prove to be that thing.

[Cres]

Chip purred and closed his eyes, enjoying the touch. When Ace turned his attention also on his ears, he moaned a little as though to object and walked to the couch.

"Okay, that's just not fair," he said and lowered himself so that he could sit at the couch edge, planting Ace on the couch. He moved his hands on the blond's thighs toward the knee, stopping at the knee. But he wasn't moving away, which Colorado gladly pointed out to him; "You've got nothing to object to, you're not even trying to escape."

Dan concentrated on his apple, shaking his head with amusement. He wondered if he ought to have blurted out what had happened between him and Bp at that moment, or waited. He wasn't sure if she had told Ace yet, and he had got the idea that Bp was fairly close to Ace, or at least good friends with him.

[Kat]

Ace remained exactly the way he was when Chip sat down on the couch, licking at his ear. After a moment he finally stopped, leaning his head on Chip's shoulder. "Well, that was nice. I do believe I now know how to get anything out of you I want. And it also appears that you won't be able to fight it." Ace grinned and kissed Chip's neck again, his hands running down over Chip's arms. He definitely had something to hold over Chip now.

[Cres]

Chip made a short noise at Ace's words, though it didn't sound especially displeased. However, when he glanced over his shoulder to Ace, his brown eyes were sparkling with a mischievous expression.

"Ah-ha, but maybe I'll have to see and find out about any such weaknesses you might have, my blond tempter," he said and turned suddenly, agilely like a cat, to face Ace and started running his hands up on the boy's thighs toward his sides. "Of course, to that end, some explorations will be necessary."

At that stage, Dan discreetly turned his eyes elsewhere and again pretended to be vastly interested in the morning paper. Collie was fidgeting on the stool he had sat on; he wasn't doing very well being so completely out of the spotlight.



[[do you want Chip not to find out about the ticklish thing now? I can have Collie stop Chip before he finds out if you like, either way. ]]

[Kat]

(Ooooh, no have him find out now! But he better be ready for a struggle from Ace, hehe, not to mention Ace is going to try and get out of it by mentioning Collie;)


The moment Chip turned around and Ace sensed what he was doing, the blond immediately started struggling. "No that's a really bad idea!" His expression and tone of voice clearly indicated it wasn't a real problem, or at least not one that Chip ought to be worried about. As his boyfriend's hands rose higher, Ace immediately started pushing them back down, shaking his head. "Really Chip, absolutely no exploration is required, none! And look, shouldn't we be paying more attention to our guest?? I'm sure Collie didn't travel all the way here to watch you grope me all day!"

From his struggling and quick attempts to get Chip distracted, it had to be obvious to anyone witnessing the scene that he was trying madly to make sure that Chip wouln't keep pressing on. In reality though he was quite happy things were progressing this way, as even though he fought it hard everytime it was about to occur, he quite enjoyed being tickled.

[Cres]

Chip grinned and the mischievous sparkle in his eyes became even more apparent. His hands kept moving mercilessly upward, fairly easily pushing against Ace's struggling.

"Oh, but Collie likes watching," he said. "He should be used to it, anyway."

It was by now very obvious to Chip that there was something Ace seemingly didn't want him to find out - though it was also obvious to him that this wasn't real kind of struggling, since he couldn't see any true fear in Ace's eyes. His hands crept up on Ace's sides now, touching the more sensitive spots just above the loins. He had a hunch on what exactly it was that Ace was trying to delay him from finding out.

Collie had to start smirking a little when he saw how the situation was progressing. He himself was highly ticklish, but unlike Ace, he hated tickling above all. Once, as kids, he had nearly broken off his friendship with Chip because the other boy just wouldn't quit tickling him. It seemed that this time that wouldn't be a problem, though.

[Kat]

As Chip's hands kept rising higher, Ace kept pushing on them. Though he kept pushing them away, he wasn't trying to hold them away, it was just more fun to struggle against it. He was quite good at the struggling routine by now, after all his cousins would always attack him when he went home to visit. Finally Chip's hands reached the right spot and Ace squirmed nack, pressing himself against the couch. He was definitely stuck now, so he could struggle as much as he wanted and he wouldn't accidentally be able to slip away.

So as he started laughing he kept pushing on Chip's hands, but just as before, he wasn't trying to hold them away. He looked up at Chip and in between laughs, he tried to pout and look upset. "Chiiiip, you're being so mean!"

[Cres]

Chip was more than delighted at the outcome of this exploration, and mercilessly kept tickling Ace, making sure the boy couldn't escape even if he had really tried. He laughed and didn't take his hands off as he pressed his head to Ace's neck instead when the blond pouted.

"Awww you're really not angry with me," he teased as he added a few kisses all over Ace's neck and ear to go with the tickling, his knees settling over Ace's thighs to further nail him on the couch. "Tell me you're not really angry."

It was the same routine he played with Collie ever so often, and the slightest sigh found its way into Colorado's lungs as he recognised the note in Chip's voice. He caught himself just in time before the sigh found its way out, but the slightest pout was still visible on his lips as he watched the two lovers. Dan noticed this and inched in closer to the younger male, poking him with his elbow. He was speaking with a voice too low for the other two on the couch to hear them; "Jealous?"

Collie wiped off any trace of displeasure and smiled to Dan.

"Well, not really... it's only that..."

"You're afraid you'll get replaced?" Dan provided, then smiled a bit. It was one of those moments when he surprised himself by reaching out for someone. He had to grumpily admit to himself that he liked Collie - in an irritated sort of way. "Don't worry, Chip's heart's big enough for the both of you."

Collie looked at Dan quietly for a while, quite touched by the fact that the bigger man was actually talking to him like that. He had always been a little wary of Dan, but this proved to him - once again - that the man wasn't really all that bad. He finally smiled more widely.

"You know, you've gotten softer since the last we met," he noted with a grin.

Dan's face went back to a frown and he turned back to the newspaper.

"Have not."

"Have too," Collie chirped, delighted to see the old grumpy face again - he'd always found it very adorable.

"Not."

"Too."

Dan snorted and turned his back on Collie, trying to concentrate on his paper. Colorado laughed and started dancing around Dan, chiming "too".

[[*giggle*]]

[Kat]

*Awww!! Look at Dan being so sweet!*


When Chip pressed down on him, Ace squirmed even more, though his squirm was one of delight. He kept the pout on his face as best as he could manage, looking up at Chip. "I am so angry! I'm totally angry, you have no idea!" He continued to beat on Chip's arms as he was tickled, trying his hardest to control it and stop laughing. He was getting nowhere, of course.

[Cres]

[[Yes I know! I had to squeal just a little as I was typing that.]]


Chip was determined not to stop just yet.

"Noo, see, you're laughing, it must mean you like it," he teased as he continued, falling Ace on the couch on his back, his fingers running in elaborate patterns on the ticklish areas, as though he was making an art out of the whole thing. "Come oon, tell me you're not angry..."

He was laughing himself, thoroughly his usual playful self.



A bit farther off, Dan suddenly grabbed Colorado by the neck and pulled him closer just in the middle of a chanted "Too". The younger male squealed a little and struggled, but Dan's hold was too tight. He stared at the artist right in the eyes.

"Stop it," he said with such grave, solemn voice that Colorado knew that the joke was done now - or Dan would be done. The artist sighed and pouted a little.

"Oh all right," he said. "But I think, for this, I'll have to give you one more gift."

Dan loosened his grip on the artist's neck and eyed him from under his brows.

"What gift?"

Suddenly Colorado's face brightened all up, and the artist snatched his hands up, latched them round Dan's neck and pressed his lips quite unexpectedly against the older man's lips, giving him a kiss. Then he pulled back and looked at Dan with sparkling eyes, giggling.

Dan stared at Colorado for a few short moments in utter and total disbelief and shock, then his face went angry.

"You little..." and he jumped forward, but Colorado laughed and dodged, starting to run away. Dan came in hot pursuit, and the two were now running around the room, Colorado skipping ahead like an agile deer and Dan thundering after him like an angry bear.

"Eeeeee!" the artist squealed, knowing full well that Dan would not hurt him even if he caught him.