Seiji sighed softly looking out the window. It was a positively dreary, rainy winter day without a spot of sunlight in sight. He pulled his feet up onto the couch and picked at lint stuck to the toes of his sock. On the floor Shuu and Ryo were watching a daytime movie. Seiji was only half-paying attention. The only reason he had come downstairs in the first place was to look for Touma. He had found the archer reading in the lounge chair wrapped in a blanket. Seiji now divided his attention between watching the movie and watching his mate.
Shin shuffled into the room carrying a plate of cookies. Ryo and Shuu sat up and attacked the plate. Seiji smiled slightly as Touma leaned over in from his spot and grabbed three cookies without his eyes leaving the page. Shin flopped onto the far side of the couch. He put his hand to his forehead like he had been slaving in the kitchen all day.
�Not even a thank you �� he said exasperated.
�Thank you Shin!� Ryo and Shuu chorused together.
��ank �u �in,� Touma mumbled around the cookie in his mouth.
Seiji leaned forward and picked the smallest cookie of the batch. He looked at Shin and bow slightly. �Thank you for the food.�
Shuu snickered from the floor. �Well mannered even about cookies.�
Seiji delicately flicked crumbs from his shirt. Satisfied it was clean he glowered at Shuu. �Better to have manners than have people think you a heathen.�
Shuu made a face at Seiji. Encouraged by Seiji raising an eyebrow in disapproval Shuu made more faces, each one more grotesque than the last.
�I hope your face freezes like that,� Seiji informed him.
Shuu stuck his thumb behind his front teeth and flicked it forward. �I flip my finger at you sir.�
�It�s �I bite my thumb at you�, you moron,� Touma said from his chair. Seiji gave Touma a puzzled look not understanding. Touma sensed Seiji�s confusion. �He gave you the finger,� Touma translated flipping the page of his book. Seiji glared at Shuu and poked him hard in the ribs with his foot.
Seiji and Shuu sized each other up trying to decide the best possible way to attack when Ryo interrupted their battle in the making. �Hey guys � they�re going to reissue all the old Transformers. Man � I loved playing with those things! My grandmother used to buy them for me all the time.�
Shuu looked up at the TV screen as the commercial went off the air. �Kewl! My brothers and I used to collect them. Man � Grimlock was my favorite!�
Ryo nodded enthusiastically. �Starscream was the best. I thought I would drive my grandfather crazy flying him around the room.�
�I dunno,� Shin said. �I was always fond of Hurricane. Mom wouldn�t let me have many but I think I picked him because of Suiko. Raging waters �� Shin laughed.
�I had Soundwave. Well until I broke him with my kendo blade,� Seiji said taking an interest in the conversation.
Shuu�s eyebrows shot up. �You had a Transformer? Aren�t they a little .. um untraditional for you�re parents taste?�
�I got him for my birthday one year. Not like I was going to take him back. Besides my parents aren�t that bad.� Seiji grabbed another cookie. He broke it in half carefully. �I think he lasted about a year before I used him for target practice.� Seiji bit into the cookie and chewed thoughtfully.
Ryo grinned and nodded. Several of his toys had met a similar fate. He looked up at Touma. �What about you? Who was your favorite?�
�I didn�t have any Transformers.� Touma said from behind his book.
�What? You�re kidding me. You love robots. I thought for sure you had some when you were a kid.�
�Nope.� Touma replied. Seiji cleared his throat loudly, sending a message that Touma needed to put the book down when they talked to him. Touma scowled slightly and folded the corner of his book page. He shot Seiji a look. The blonde merely smiled back smugly in reply. �I was never a kid Ryo. I didn�t have any toys.�
�Everyone has toys Touma,� Shuu said. �I mean even blondie did apparently.�
�I was not raised in a convent you big lug!� Seiji tried to kick Shuu again but the larger warrior scooted out of range.
�Well � I had a slinky � and stuffed blob thing �� Touma said slowly. Seiji smiled at the last one. Blob was the perfect way to describe the soft, blue lump that slept in their bed with them. Touma told him once it was a failed attempt at a teddy bear by his mother.
�A slinky?� Ryo said in dismay. �Man � what were your parents thinking?�
Touma shrugged. �They didn�t know any better. I never asked for any toys so they never bought me any. The slinky was more of a fluke.�
�And the blob?� Ryo asked. He had always made fun of Touma�s excuse for a stuffed animal.
�Mom knew she and dad were getting divorced. She made it for me so I�d have something to remember her by when she moved out.�
Ryo cleared his throat uncomfortably. He felt really bad about teasing Touma about the blob now. �I�m sorry Touma �� he started out.
�Don�t be,� Touma cut him off. �It�s not like I never talk to her.� He made a funny face. Touma�s mother had the reputation for calling once a week and talking Touma�s ear off for hours at a time.
�Okay � so you didn�t have any toys �� Shuu said reaching for a cookie. �Man � what the hell did you do for fun?�
�I read a lot � and I did have a computer �� Touma said. He threw his book at Shuu when the bearer of Kongo mouthed the word �boring� to Shin. Shin smirked at the book hit Shuu in the head. �I had an imagination you big lunk.� Touma said. �I used to play with stuff laying around the apartment. Curtain rods as swords, pan lids as shields, stuff like that. My dad came home every few days to put the apartment back together.�
Seiji watched Touma carefully from his perch. The scenes Touma was describing sounded like fun but Seiji knew better. He knew that Touma�s childhood had been very lonely for the archer at times. Touma never had any real playmates. Most of his childhood had been spent cooped up in his father�s apartment or laboratory.
�But hey wait a minute,� Ryo said. �You never had anyone to play games with or stuff?� Even though Ryo was an only child he had a slew cousins to play with when he was younger.
�Nope,� Touma said simply, shrugging.
Seiji sent a silent message to Shin, Ryo and Shuu. Sliding off his spot on the couch he walked to where Touma was seated. Touma looked up at him. �What?� he asked confused. Seiji leaned down putting his hands on the back of the couch. He kissed Touma on the mouth pushing him back further on the chair.
Seiji pulled back and smiled at the blush that stained Touma�s cheeks. He leaned forward again and put his mouth near Touma�s ear. �Tag � you�re it �� he breathed.
Touma sat on his chair bewildered as Seiji and the others ran pell-mell out of the room. Slowly a smiled crept over his face as he ran after them.
The End