Carpe Diem

By: Dayse

<rachel> pineapple

<jawamonkey> Now. Dayse. YOUR word...

<jawamonkey> calendar.

<NSyncGrrl> me: "carpe diem"

<Dayse> Ok...whew, I can work with that :)

<NSyncGrrl> why? what did you think I'd say?

<NSyncGrrl> oh wait -- i was going to say anathema, wasn't i?

<Dayse> No!

<CJ> oh! word: sterile

<jawamonkey> CJ! Use anathema!

<Dayse> NO!

<Dayse> Too late!

<jawamonkey> LMAO

* NSyncGrrl grumbles under her breath ... i'll get you next time, dayse, and your little dog too

"Carpe diem."

Joey frowned. "What'd you call me?"

His laugh was light, a little teasing, and Lance settled in next to Joey on the tour bus seat. "It means 'seize the day', Joe. It's your birthday in about an hour so I thought I'd beat the others to it and wish a good one."

Rolling his eyes, Joey stared back down at his rumpled back issue of Superman #110, the one where Clark Kent got kidnapped by Lex Luther to be held as bait for Superman. "You can't just say 'Happy Birthday' like a normal guy?"

"Normal's boring," Lance said and he shook his head in exaggerated disapproval at Joey's comic. "23 and you're still reading comic books. In BAD light, no less. Don't you know that'll make your eyes bad?"

Joey grunted and shifted a little away from Lance, turned a page and glared at the colourful square boxes.

Sitting silently for a moment and watching through tinted windows the shadowy scenery that sped by Lance bit his lip briefly before nudging Joey with his shoulder. "I know something that'll interest you more than comics," he said. "I got your birthday gift."

"Gift?" Joey brightened and smiled at Lance. "Really?"

"Well, it's more of a birthday treat, you'll get your actual gift at the party." Lance stood and reached for his bag which he had stored in his overhead compartment. He rummaged around briefly before coming back down with a brightly coloured plastic bag. He threw it in Joey's lap. "Here."

Looking at it skeptically, Joey picked it up and turned it over in his hand. "Candy? You got me candy?"

"Pineapple hard candy," Lance said. He frowned at Joey's frown. "It's from Mississippi. It's huge down there, like M&Ms are up here."

Joey smirked. "Nothing good ever came out of Mississippi."

Fighting the urge to stick out his tongue, Lance stole the bag from Joey's hands and ripped open the top. Inside he pulled out a bright yellow sphere of sugar and popped one in his mouth. "Fine, then I retract my present."

"Hey! You can't retract gifts!"

This time Lance did stick out his tongue, complete with candy stuck on the end and Joey pouted. "Then you shouldn'ta insulted me." He paused. "I'll give you ONE if you ask NICELY."

"I heard a lot of sugar makes you sterile," Joey said.

Lance swallowed. "WHAT?"

"It's true. Something about your blood-sugar level and your semen production and...glands...and stuff," Joey said.

Snickering, Lance stuck another candy in his mouth. "Right, this from the guy who didn't know what 'carpe diem' meant."

"I STILL say you're insulting me." Joey waited for a minute, watching as Lance munched on his pineapple candy seemingly content without sharing. He wondered how fast Lance was, if he made a lunge for it he was fairly sure he could get the bag away.

"Don't even think about it," Lance warned, holding the bag closer. "You had your chance, insulting Mississippi..."

"But it's my birthday." Joey gave his best puppy-dog eyes and he stuck out his lower lip. "Can't I have just ONE? I'm sure Mississippi is a great place with like fields and cows and...and Mississippians."

Digging around in the bag Lance put another candy in his mouth and sucked at the solid sweetness in his mouth, licked his lips with a sugary tongue. "Your birthday isn't until tomorrow and it ain't tomorrow for another..." he looked at his watch, "...45 minutes."

"But you'll be done the whole bag by then!" Joey protested. He reached for the bag and Lance slapped his hand away, snickering softly at Joey's hurt expression. "This is no way to treat a man on the night before his birthday. Carpet dime and all that."

Laughing, Lance reached out and pinched Joey's slightly bearded cheek. "Carpe diem," he corrected and took out a candy. Holding Joey's chin in his hand he squeezed his cheeks so that his mouth opened into a small 'o' which Lance popped the candy into. "Enjoy."

Joey's eyes widened and he licked thoughtfully at the insides of his mouth. Hey, it wasn't so bad after-all, and he didn't even like pineapple all that much. He swallowed and looked at Lance with hopeful eyes. "How 'bout sharing some more?"

"I don't know," Lance said, peering down into the bag. "I don't have that many left, what do I get if I give you another one?"

Joey thought for a moment, running his tongue over his bottom lip in consideration. "I'll give you my Girls of Florida calendar."

"I don't want your Girls of Florida calendar," Lance said. "If I give you something sweet and tasty you should AT least give me something the same in return."

Joey raised an eyebrow at that and sat back a little in his seat. Was Lance baiting him or was it just his imagination? "What if I don't have anything like that to give?"

Reaching into the bag, Lance pulled out a candy with the tips of his fingers and seemed to take great interest in studying it from every possible angle, green eyes flicking over the not-quite edges. "You know what I like about hard-candy, Joey? As opposed to your toffees and your gum and your pixie stix?"

"Uh," Joey shifted a little in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable for a reason he couldn't quite grasp. "I - "

"It gives you something to suck. Something to put in your mouth and just keep there to taste and enjoy. It doesn't go away just like that, you don't chew...You lick and you and swallow and it's there 'till it just melts." Lance looked away from the candy to meet Joey's somewhat round eyes and blushing face. He grinned. "Don't you think?"

"I think that everything outta Mississippi ain't quite as sweet as I thought it was." He looked at Lance with slightly furrowed brows. "Just to make absolutely sure...You aren't just talking about candy right?"

Laughing again, a deep rumbling sound, Lance pushed the candy past Joey's lips where his fingers lingered inside his mouth. "No, Joe, I'm talking about carpet dime. And happy birthday." He looked at his watch again. "Twenty minutes early."

"Can I get my candy now?" Joey asked hopefully, leaning in just a little.

"Yeah." Lance smiled and they kissed as the sweet lingering taste of sugar passed through their lips.

The End

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