�We should have thought about this months ago!� lahoffy said as she sank back into the couch cushions with a sigh. She was balancing the tray of hors d�oeuvres precariously on her forearm while she carried a drink in each hand. �Quick! Take this, Wildcat!� and she foisted one of the drinks off on the woman leaning over the side of the couch.

�You can see better like this,� announced Wildcat with a giggle. �Makes one quite dizzy, though.�

�What? The hanging upside down or the better view that you get?� returned lahoffy, who had no intention of performing that feat while snacking.

�No, I think the place to be is down here.� Sharz� voice sounded muffled from her place on the floor, as if she was choking on laughter or food or an uncertain combination of both. �Ahh! Ahhhhh � o my!� she chortled. �I can�t watch anymore!� She buried her head against the pillows staggered on the floor around her and hid.

MacNair, also on the floor, prodded her in the ribs. �What�chu talkin� �bout, woman! You can�t NOT watch! Ooooo, missed a good one!�

~Thump!~

�Who was it?� Sharz asked, not even raising her head from where she was buried.

�That was Duncan.� lynnann�s voice was perfectly neutral and she smiled mysteriously over the rim of her drink. �Did you know he could twist like that in midair? My � the fascinating things we learn.�

~Thump!~

Sharz looked up just in time to see Connor land, his shirt billowing from the capture of air in the descent. He bent at the knees and waist, legs wide for balance, and had to place one hand out to keep from falling over. His fingers sank into the thick carpet clear to the first joint. When he stood, he put his hands on his hips in exasperation. The motion made the rich blue shirt he wore ride up on either side, exposing the long length of his thighs. Sharz murmured something garbled from the floor.

�What?� asked Wildcat as she rubbed her dizzy head.

�I said �time for a new color�.�

�Wait, I�m not done with this one yet,� objected lahoffy.

~Thump!~

Duncan came down, hard, his greater weight shaking the floor. He landed just as coiled as Connor did earlier, but did not rise immediately. He kneeled in place to catch his breath. His blue shirt seemed a bit shorter than his kinsman�s although every woman present knew it was not true. Their shirts were exactly the same size. But Duncan, deeper through the chest compared to his slenderer clansman, took up more of the cloth through his shoulders and it always appeared shorter on him.

Not that anyone seemed to mind. The tawny color of his skin against the blue was a rich feast and his thighs bunched with the coil of his musculature. The bottom of his feet and the pads of his toes were a shade lighter, just like his palms. When he leaned forward, shifting his weight to rise, the round of his buttocks peeked for an instant below the edge of the garment � and then he was on his feet, crouching, watching overhead, readying himself for another leap.

Wildcat smiled from her place on the couch and nudged lahoffy. �Catch that one?�

�Ummm, yummm!� was the response.

�And not a single �oh dear� out of lynnann yet?� inquired Sharz. �We must have corrupted her too much.�

�I�m innocent of corrupting lynnann.�

�SURE you are, MacNair. We looked in your suitcase and there�s a magic lamp in there.� lahoffy sounded amused.

�Could be worse,� Sharz said, attempting to defend her source of fiction and wondering how on earth she even could. �Her bag could have been filled with string.�

�You didn�t look inside the lamp,� sighed MacNair. She knew she was beyond redemption. �I didn�t want the string to get tangled up.�

Guffaws greeted this last � accompanied by another resounding thump.

�Oh dear!�

All four women looked quickly about for the cause of that two-word pronouncement. Connor had landed off balance that time and had to roll to keep from hurting himself. The loose shirt fluttered and tangled around him, leaving nothing to the imagination of his five watchers. When he got on his feet, the sweat was beginning to make the cotton cling to his shoulders and chest.

�Now it�s time to switch,� announced lahoffy. A clamor rose, each color of the entire spectrum being called out in suggestion, and they bounced the choices around until they had corporately settled to white.

White?

Duncan and Connor went around the corner and down the hall to change. An assortment of oversized shirts of every color imaginable was laid out on the king bed, all in sets of two. The older Highlander searched through the medley until he located the white ones and he tossed one at Duncan. �Tell me again what this is all about, Duncan?� he asked, rotating his stiff shoulders.

�We�re suppose to be helping lynnann�s �little problem� and the gals decided we should play �peek� at the same time.�

�Well, it would seem only fair that they were in something �peek-a-boo� for us too,� he protested.

�One of us wouldn�t be much help, now would he,� declared Duncan.

Connor smiled. It took all the hardness out of his face and made the crinkles appear around his eyes. For just an instant, he looked every bit an imp. �Ah, well, I am just a kid.�

�Um, humm. And five girls in �peek-a-boo� outfits would be too much distraction,� Duncan laughed. �I�d be working all by myself!�

The two Scots dutifully came back to the living room and were met by a chorus of loud sighs. Connor knew they weren�t for him � well, a few maybe. But Duncan was a striking man in any color he wore and the ivory shirt against his bronze complexion truly was a grand sight. The older man grinned and nodded at his younger counterpart. Jealousy had no place in his heart when it came to Duncan. He was a handsome man and Connor was proud to call him his friend.

He did whistle between his teeth at him though � a low wolf call that wafted out so softly that Duncan glanced around looking for the source and Connor laughed, delighted to harass him without being found out. The last time he had teased him like that, the stronger man had wrestled him to a standstill and put him in a headlock until he said �Uncle�!

�lynnann?� Connor asked, diverting his kinsman�s wary search. �What did you do to her so we can�t get her down?�

�Me? Why is it automatically my fault that you can�t get her down?� protested the woman in question. �I didn�t do a thing!�

Duncan leveled a steady gaze at her. �Did you have the child latch fastened on the refrigerator this morning?�

Silence.

Duncan looked at Connor, Connor looked back. �The butter,� announced the younger.

�You sure it�s not the Crisco?� replied the elder. Two beats. They both looked up.

�She�s a bit yellow,� observed the younger.

�Butter flavored Crisco,� dutifully reminded the elder. �MacNair was baking pies.�

Both men sighed almost in unison. They were going to be at this most of the day. It was a good thing they were immortal and didn�t mind unusual exercise. Duncan jumped first, uncoiling like a spring from the floor with the creamy shirt whipping taut across his body.

The watching women �ooo�d� and �ahhh�d� their appreciation.

k�lynn, dizzy Spectre, watched him grasp for her as she made another circuit on the fan blade. Just for kicks, she reached her hand for his, feeling the warmth and strength in his fingers as they touched � and then slid right off of her.

~Thump!~ He hit the floor.

�Con-nies turn?� she pealed gaily from her merry-go-round.

MacNair
May 4, 2001

** A salute to lynnann for a couple of Highlander tapes that arrived today in the mail! **

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