like a kitten¹ P.H.

Chapter 6

Xena turned from the retreating forms of the young boys, beginning to walk to her polar opposite friends. Henry was holding Victor, while Belch burped in Victor's face. The burp could have wiped a small village out, making Victor cringe and scramble in disgust. Henry and Belch high fived, laughing as Victor ran to hide behind Patrick. Patrick looked down at Victor in an almost amused way, turning to make a grab at him. Victor shouted in alarm, deciding to hide behind Xena instead. He held her in place as Henry tried to grab him, laughing.

"No. Take her. Take her!" Victor shouted, pushing the girl towards the taller boys and running away.

Xena spun as Henry and Belch lightly bumped by her to chase after the smaller boy. Patrick walked up behind Xena, who was watching Victor, Belch, and Henry run around like headless chickens. Xena laughed lightly when Belch tripped and fell into Henry's back, making Henry fall. Patrick smiled, hearing Xena's laugh. Xena jumped when Patrick wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her head.

"You'll have to excuse them, Kitten. They don't know how to act like normal people." Patrick made his words annoyed, but Xena felt he truly enjoyed his friends' behavior. Xena shook her head, making her hair frizz into Patrick's face.

Henry managed to tackle Victor, pinning him down while Belch burped in his face for the second time of the day. Victor yelped in disgust and tried to get Henry off of him, while Henry and Belch laughed at his futile attempts of escape. Henry finally got off of Victor, helping Victor stand back up. Victor angrily brushed himself off before shoving Henry away and hitting Belch in the shoulder. Belch and Henry walked to where Patrick and Xena stood, shoving each other and laughing in a loud fashion. Victor rolled his eyes at the two taller boys, coming to stand beside Patrick and Xena.

"Alright. To the quarry. It's dive time." Henry's loud statement received a cringe from Patrick.

"Dive time? Nothing better?" Patrick snorted at Henry's awful way with words. Xena lightly hit Patrick on the arm, signaling him to be nicer.

"Yeah, be nice. Henry's trying his best. He's mentally deficient. Don't bully him." Victor grabbed Henry's face, smushing it between his hands as if to show how baby Henry was. Henry batted Victor's hands away.

"Guys, Let's go." Belch called out, dragging out the 'o' and walking to his Trans-Am with Victor in tow.

Patrick laughed as Henry grumbled in protest, having not won the petty argument. Xena laughed with Patrick, feeling her heart swell as she took in how soft the scene was. Patrick grabbed Xena around the shoulders, pulling her with him to the car. When they arrived at the car, Xena, with help from Patrick, jumped into the middle seat. Patrick jumped in after her, draping his right arm around her shoulders.

"Everybody got thair seatbelts on?" Belch asked from the driver's seat, looking into the rearview mirror.

"We don't need seatbelts, Belch. It's not that far aw-" Patrick was cut off as Xena reached around him and pulled the seatbelt to buckle over him.

Patrick reached to unbuckle his seat belt, but found his hand to be slapped away. Xena glared at him with all the seriousness she could muster, but it wasn't enough to deal with Patrick's reciprocated glare.

"Did you just hit me?" Patrick brought his head down to be eye level with Xena and made his voice low and quiet.

   Xena tried her best to keep her glare strong but found it fading as his eyes bored holes into her head. Xena started looking down and around, trying to avoid Patrick's gaze. Patrick chuckled in an almost menacing manner and undid his seatbelt, reaching over to put Xena's on for her instead.

"Okay. Seat belts on?" Belch once again asked for confirmation of the passengers' safety.

"Yeah. All except Patty here." Victor rubbed his hand through Patrick's hair, receiving a slap on the hand and a harsh glare.

   While Patrick was occupied with arguing with Victor, Xena once again pulled the seat belt over him, clicking it into place. Patrick looked down at her upon hearing the click, but she quickly looked to the windshield, crossing her arms in front of her as if to prove her innocence.

"Did you seriously buckle me back up?" Patrick let out a chuckle of disbelief before reaching to undo his seatbelt again.

   Xena quickly grabbed his hand, pulling it away from the buckle and holding it in her lap. Patrick sighed heavily, running his free hand over his face before slouching back in defeat. Xena smiled leaned back as well.

   Belch, who had started driving before Xena buckled Patrick in, looked in the rearview mirror at Xena. Belch let out a choked gasp of air when Xena winked at him to display how she had swindled Patrick.

"What's wrong, man?" Henry asked from his seat, looking at Belch, who was coughing a little bit.

"She's a little sneak. She is guilty of treason." Belch stated his problem out loud.

"Do you even know what treason is?" Victor asked Belch, leaning forward to look at him as he drove.

"No." Belch sighed as he looked back at the road.

   The ride went on in comfortable silence filled occasionally with Victor thumping Henry in the back of the head. This, of course, would be greeted with yells from Henry, who would turn in his seat to hit Victor. Victor found himself hiding his face in Xena's shoulder several times, which led to Patrick hitting him in the back of the head and shoving him away.

"And we are here!" Belch announced loudly, much like a father would to his family on a long roadtrip.

   Patrick hopped out, helping the small girl out after him. It wasn't a long walk to get to the cliff the boys planned to jump off of. They started arguing over who should jump first. Xena looked over at the distracted boys, slipping off her socks, shoes, and jacket, before walking to a starting point.

"Sissies!" It was the first word she had said to people in a long time, and she said it as she ran and jumped off the edge of the cliff.

"No f**king way." Henry let out as a quiet statement when they all rushed to look down at the girl who was swimming merrily in the water.

   Xena's gym clothes, which were originally light grey, were now dark and clung to her skin if she didn't pull them out to make them baggy again. Xena looked up, shielding the sun from her eyes with her hand, looking up at the boys and waving enthusiastically. She saw Patrick run his hand through his hair in what seemed like frustration, before he began to take off his clothes.

   He was followed by Henry and the other two, each of them shedding their clothes as to jump into the murky quarry water. Patrick was the first to jump, his hair whipping back as he plummeted into the water. He swam over to Xena who was watching as Henry and Belch picked up Victor, preparing to throw him in the water.

"No. No. No. Guys. Stop! Guys stop!" Victor shouted as they swung him between each other, launching him off the cliff. Victor's back hit the water with a loud slap, everyone immediately 'oo'ing in empathetic pain.

   Victor swam slowly over to Patrick and Xena, cursing and muttering about his now tomato red back. Henry, who was standing at the edge with Belch, shouted when Belch suddenly shoved him off the ledge.

   Henry hit the water feet first, experiencing no major pain like Victor. Belch, who had taken a running start, tripped just before the ledge. This led to him having a horrible belly flop that resulted in more empathetic 'oo'ing and Victor's loud laughter.

"KARMA!!" Victor shouted in triumph, pumping his fists in the air. They swam until the sun began to set and fingers began to prune, before they returned to the shore at the bottom of the cliff.

"So, we're sissies then?" Patrick brought up Xena's earlier statement, making her cheeks become flushed as she shrugged.

"She did jump first, and therefore, she's the least scared." Victor pointed out.

"Oh, yeah. Sure." Patrick chuckled, dragging out the words for sarcastic effect. Xena just smiled big, showing she was in fact the least scared.