Tethers: Valentine's Day

Tethers: Valentine's Day

To say that Tide was unimpressed would be an understatement.

Flare was trying very hard to bench press one hundred and sixty pounds, and Tide was spotting him with a look of such boredom that she could have been in cell biology class. She counted for him until he reached twelve and had to cease, and she helped him put the dumbbell back onto its rack and watched him sit up.

Flare grinned triumphantly. "Increased the weight by ten pounds and did the same amount of sets as last time!"

"Woohoo," Tide said without any inflection whatsoever. She wasn't glaring, though, which Flare didn't notice--but Tide knew subconsciously that it was because she was intrigued by the brightness of his grin. It seemed silly to take interest in one of Flare's default expressions, but there was something boyish and oddly innocent by this tiny victory that Tide just couldn't glower at him.

Flare got up from the bench with a flourish and made exaggerated stretching motions while Tide took his place on her back. Flare began removing weights from the dumbbell. "You're at, what, one hundred now?"

"One hundred and five," Tide corrected him coldly. It didn't settle well with her that she had the lowest bench press weight, but she couldn't help it that her bone structure made her look as though she could blow away in the wind.

"One-oh-five," Flare repeated without a humorous quip about her skinny arms. Tide was surprised. Having finished adjusting the weights, Flare stood behind Tide and assumed the spotting position. His face was neutral, very calm, and natural-looking, no hint of a smile or a funny face to break her concentration. It would not have been such a strange occurrence if Storm had been with them as he usually was--but he had a meeting with Sarge. And Flare acting serious without the presence of Storm was something worth noticing.

Tide finished her set and put the dumbbell back with the help of Flare, who then proceeded to gently place his hand on her back between her shoulder blades as she sat up. Tide checked the impulse to direct her attention toward him, instead keeping her surprise to herself. She stood and walked without looking at Flare to the free weights by the mirror, taking a ten-pound weight in each hand.

Flare paused at the rack of weights and pursed his lips at Tide. "Don't you want to take a little rest first?"

"No," Tide grumbled, disagreeing only on the principle that Flare was trying to parent her. She lifted the weights so that her arms were parallel to the ground, really feeling her muscles strain. Flare's eyes were on her from the mirror, but she maintained her routine of ignoring his odd behavior for fear of discovering something she didn't want to know.

Tide was in mid-lift when Flare walked behind her and placed his hands on her shoulder blades. "You're bending your spine with you lift," he pointed out, still watching her through the mirror. He was just under a head taller than her, and it was very obvious by the way he was standing. Tide didn't like feeling dwarfed, but she didn't move. In fact, she lowered her arms and froze.

Her heart was pounding. Flare was so sincere, so serious, and so not like him. And yet Tide couldn't help but like this sudden change. Flare grinned a little at her, his hands still gently placed on her back. "I'm surprised you haven't kicked me in the balls yet," he said.

"Me, too," Tide replied. Her voice didn't sound like her own, it was just above a whisper. Her senses were filling with an odor she knew should have repulsed her, but somehow, it was gripping--every time she breathed out, she was desperate to breathe in again to pick up the scent.

Who the hell am I kidding?

Tide set the weights down on the floor and turned toward Flare, who now looked at her directly. There was a moment when her eyes searched his before she pressed herself against him and kissed him on the mouth.

---

Puck enjoyed Tuesday afternoons. There was an extended break from training and classes, and Storm, Tide, and Flare often went to the gym to get some sets in before dinner. Puck, however, took advantage of the empty room to blast music from his console and search the Net.

People still tried to bother him, though. He could at least take solace in knowing he didn't have to get up to let them in the door; all he had to do was push the button at his bedside to let unwanted visitors enter the room.

Here came one now.

Puck didn't look away from his console as he hit the button, causing the door to slide open. Whoever it was, they sure were quick to enter.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Puck!" said a cheerful voice. Puck turned off the music and pushed away his console, smiling as Ari sat next to him on his bed and gave him a small, homemade card.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he replied, opening the card. It had red and pink cutout hearts pasted inside, and in florid calligraphy, it read: "You're a great catch!" and it was signed in the same, neat handwriting: "Love, Ari."

Puck looked up to see Ari looking expectantly at him, and over the past few weeks, he had picked up on the fact that she craved affirmation from others. He was sort of speechless for a moment, unsure of what it all meant--he was a catch? She signed it with love? Did she do that for everyone she had given a Valentine? Did she even give away others?

"Do you like it?" Ari asked tentatively.

"Oh," Puck said, snapping out of his thoughts. "Yes, thank you." He grinned sheepishly.

Ari giggled and threw her arms around Puck, who awkwardly returned the hug, his mind racing and reminding him that his bed was messy, he hadn't showered yet, and his hair looked the same as it did when he woke up this morning. He was fully unprepared, and he didn't even realize it was Valentine's Day until Ari had come in--he hadn't anything to give her in return!

She was busy resting her cheek against his shoulder as his thoughts spiraled, and he figured he better say something. "Hey, uhm, sorry I don't have anything for you."

"Don't be silly," Ari said, looking up at Puck. "I didn't expect anyone else to care that it was Valentine's Day."

Puck wasn't used to hugging someone for as long as he was, but Ari didn't seem intent on letting go any time soon. "Sorry my bed is a mess," Puck said.

"What? Oh, geez, Puck, I don't care."

"Okay. Uh, sorry," Puck said limply.

Ari pulled away and looked intensely at Puck. "Are you uncomfortable?"

"No. No, of course not," Puck said, scoffing.

Ari grinned. "So you're always this awkward."

"I figured you would have picked up on that by now," Puck said with a wry smile.

"I have," Ari said, kissing him on the cheek.

Simultaneously, the door slid open and Storm appeared. Ari immediately withdrew from Puck and stood up as if she had been sitting on hot coals, and Puck did the same--only he didn't quite get to his feet, his head having hit the top of the bunk.

Storm looked annoyed but otherwise uninterested, to no one's surprise. "Where are Tide and Flare?" he asked Puck.

Puck was rubbing the sore spot on his head. "I dunno, Storm. The weight room? Weren't you with them?"

"No, I was with Sarge. I'm going to go find them," Storm said tersely. He gave a nod of acknowledgment to Ari, not making eye contact with her, perhaps out of sheer awkwardness. He left in a hurry.

Puck looked at Ari warily, and she had her mouth covered with her hands. For a moment, he feared she was upset, but she was actually laughing.

"I think he's more awkward than you," she said.

---

Tide shoved Flare away and stared at him, both of them breathing heavier than normal. That idiosyncratic grin of his crept onto his flushed face, and Tide felt like she could have hit him. The only thing he had done wrong, though, was smile.

"Can I just say--"

"No," Tide cut him off, lifting the weights that had been discarded and placing them back on their stand.

"So I can't--"

"Nope," Tide said again. Without telling Flare where she was going, she shouldered past him and headed for the door of the weight room.

"It was hot, Tide!" Flare said after her. Her only acknowledgment was an obscene hand gesture.

Have I gone nutters? Kissing Flare practically in public like that?

Anyone monitoring the security feed in the weight room was probably very entertained, having just watched two hormonal teenagers lock lips for a good ten minutes. Tide was flustered and confused as she strode toward the locker rooms to be alone. Did she really want that? Did he really want it? In all honesty, Tide had never been kissed before, but there was something so genuine and so needy about the whole thing that she couldn't quite ascertain that the exchange was random.

So what did that mean? That her incessant repulsions of everything that was Flare had actually been some sort of subconscious cover over an insatiable lust for him? Yes, lust had to be the word. Love was too strong of a sentiment toward her squad mate, someone she had seen wet his pants when he was six years old, someone who snored loudly and talked in his sleep every other night. No, Tide didn't love Flare. Flare couldn't love. He was a notorious womanizer (as much as a busy soldier could be, anyway), and when he wasn't kissing random girls in abandoned hallways, at least five girls were pining after him. No, Flare wasn't one for emotional attachment. And that was all right because neither was Tide.

But it would be absolutely unacceptable if Tide discovered she had become one of Flare's "squeezes" that he could summon at his every whim. Tide refused to be at his beck and call, and she may have just blown her chances of avoiding that by this random display of affection--a word seemingly too mild to describe what had just happened between them.

Tide saw Storm approaching her and she stopped dead as if she had forgotten where she was going. His expression moved from dogged determination to bewilderment. "Tide? You okay?"

Tide stiffened. So she looked visibly shaken. Wonderful. "Yeah, Storm. I'm fine. Just had an argument with Flare, that's all." Not a total lie. Whatever that kiss was, it didn't exactly flow like a well-mannered conversation. Storm had had his suspicions about Flare and Tide, one of those hunches that they argued too much to not be feigning dislike. But he'd believe her if only to avoid a conversation.

Storm stared at her a moment before he nodded. "Well, I had some things to discuss, but they're not that important. Go clean up."

Tide never felt like her brother was ordering her around; he simply told her to do things she intended to do to begin with. "See you." She brushed passed him and resumed her course for the locker room showers, not worried that he would be suspicious that she wasn't going to the room. Sometimes when she fought with Flare, they wouldn't speak to each other outside of training for days. Of course she would avoid him.

This was completely, totally normal. Except for the image of Flare standing inches away from her, smiling down at her in a way she'd never seen before. It was burned into her mind as if she'd been staring at the sun too long. It was unsettling, and very far from normal.

---

Puck and Ari had settled down on his bed, their backs facing the door. Ari seemed to like resting her head on his shoulder, and Puck had gotten used to the feeling of someone other than one of his squad being that close to him. He even found the guts to put his arm loosely around her shoulders, and his stomach settled into the silence when he realized he didn't always have to talk to someone to avoid having an awkward encounter. Yes, he finally felt comfortable sitting with a girl like this.

But were all couples' Valentine's Days so...mild?

Ari gave Puck a small squeeze right above his knee. He hadn't even noticed that her hand had been resting there. "I need to go," she said quietly, straightening. She looked expectantly at Puck, who looked back at her and smiled gently. There was a moment where Puck simply admired her face and the way her strawberry blonde curls flopped effortlessly into her face.

"Well," she said as she stood, looking suddenly sullen, "I'll see you at dinner."

"All right." Puck got up and hesitated, a sort of awkward pause when he moved but stopped himself, then he went in and hugged her. When they parted, Ari gave him a small smile that she didn't seem to mean, then left the dorm. With a sigh, Puck sat down on his bed again and went back to his console. He had this nagging feeling that he had done something wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Puck ran his hand through his hair and stared blankly at the console's screen, having no real interest in the article he had been reading before Ari came in. The door to the dorm slid open and Flare came in without greeting him, and he climbed onto his bunk above Puck.

"Hey, man, aren't you going to shower? You stink to high heaven," said Puck.

"I'm going to sleep. Don't wake me up for dinner."

Puck shrugged to himself. "Okay."

The two boys sat in silence on their beds, Flare above Puck, and became lost in their own respective thoughts.