Rodolfo Parra Cod - Tumblr Posts

Please Papi

Summary: Alejandro always thought Rudy was a bit of a prude. Good lord was he wrong about that.

Wordcount: 1.491

Rudy was like a brother to him. He knew him better than anyone else.

Which is why he couldn't help but grin now and again at the soldiers' jokes.

Rudy was calm and even-tempered. Many people thought he was shy because of this.  He was pragmatic in his job and had so far proved to everyone that he was a serious sergent major.

He only became shy when it came to women. He used to blush like a schoolboy every time a pretty girl approached him. A habit he had thankfully broken.

Despite Rudy's improvements in dealing with the wiser sex, if it hadn't been for Alejandro, he would never have gotten together with his current fiancée.

The girl was just as much of a lost cause as Rudy, but they were cute together. They were right for each other.

But even Alejandro, who was protective of his friend when it came to the teasing, couldn't imagine the two of them being particularly... creative in bed.

The guys thought he was a prude and, if he was honest, he agreed with them a little.

Nevertheless, Rudy was part of his family. They had been through good times and bad. Bad times like the ones he was going through right now.

A pipe had burst in Alejandro's apartment. During the repairs, he now had to find somewhere else to stay and

Rudy had immediately offered him his sofa bed. Alejandro had accepted.

The whole thing had been going on for two weeks now, but fortunately there was an end in sight.

He was very reluctant to press them, but they assured him each time that it would be no problem. But they already had very little time to themselves. He and Rudy were proud of their job, but it was also time-consuming. On top of that, they were planning a wedding and Rudy was looking for a house of his own for the two of them. Alejandro could only assume that family planning was already in the starting, if the hurry Rudy was in to find his own home spoke for something.

Tonight he wanted to leave the couple to themselves. He'd snagged a date and assured Rudy with a wink that he'd be gone for a while. If all went well, they would be alone for the night.

However, Alejandro hadn't expected his date to turn him down so fast. Annoyed, he went back to Rudy's apartment.

He had expected to see the two of them in the living room. Cuddling on the sofa and watching a movie, but he didn't see anyone. The apartment was completely dark.

"Fuck! Just like that."

Alejandro stopped at his friend's voice. It sounded muffled from their bedroom.

Oh fuck.

"My good girl. My - oh hmm - my good, good girl."

"Please papi."

Oh FUCK!

Alejandro's eyes fell open in surprise.He heard a surprised cry and then, as clear as glass, the bed frame being hammered against the wall. What followed sounded as if animals had taken possession of the two of them.

Alejandro snapped out of his stupor and left the apartment in a flash.

He went into a bar, hoping to burn the memory of the incident out of his brain. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful. Rudy isn't the only one who liked that nickname, but damn it, it was Rudy. When he'd finally slept with a girl for the first time as a late bloomer and Alejandro had prodded him to tell him what it was like, his friend had blushed so hard he thought he was going to keel over. Alejandro had assumed that Rudy was simply embarrassed at having come too soon, but he was probably wrong. That would also explain why the little girl kept throwing herself at him.

After a good three hours, he decided that the coast was clear and went back to the apartment. He would simply lie down on the sofa, sleep and forget about this incident.

How on earth could the two of them still be going at it?

Alejandro stood stunned in the doorway and involuntarily listened to the two of them.

He understood that Rudy was a few years younger, but damn it, he wouldn't have been able to deliver a marathon lasting over three hours when he was twenty. Let alone one that sounded so brutal.

He sighed. All he wanted to do was sleep. He sneaked into the bathroom to get some oropax, stuffed them into his ears and pulled the pillow over his head as he lay down on the sofa bed.

It's always the quiet ones after all.

The next morning he sat at the breakfast table and didn't quite know where to look.

Now he was the prude who couldn't look at Rudy without blushing. Let alone (y/n), who was solving a crossword puzzle in the newspaper.

"Can I have the papi - PAPER - the paper? The... the sports section."

They both looked at him skeptically. (Y/n) handed him the pages and looked at her crossword again.

"You good?" asked Rudy.

"Yes, of course. Why not?" smiled Alejandro.

Rudy shrugged his shoulders. "You're so... quiet."

The corner of Alejandro's mouth twitched slightly.

There was a banging on the front door.

"Parra!" someone shouted.

Rudy immediately jumped up and ran to the door. (Y/n) turned red as if on cue.

"Good-"

"Parra. I'm complaining. That-that- Fuck your woman quieter!" shouted the one at the door.

"I'm sorry-"

"You're sorry. Of course you are. You're always sorry. If you can't keep it down, keep it in your pants!"

"Pablo be a little-

"Quieter? Is that really what you're asking me to do?"

Alejandro saw (y/n) burying his face behind one hand in surrender.

Rudy came into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of tequila... a good bottle and disappeared from the picture again.

"Next time, warn me!"

Footsteps went down the stairs and Rudy came back into the kitchen, his face bright red, and dropped into his chair.

Alejandro cleared his throat. "How- How's the house hunting going?"

"Ale.", Rudy warned him.

(Y/n) released her hand from her face and stood up. "I'm going to take a shower."

They both looked after her. Rudy still said nothing.

Alejandro decided he could talk more openly without his fiancées present.

"I have a confession to make.", he began.

Rudy looked at him skeptically.

"I may have been here earlier than I thought yesterday."

Rudy turned bright red.

"No shame my friend." He punched him in the shoulder. "I understand the girls all hanging on you after that. My goodness. Honestly, I've been here twice. Three hours Rudy! I can understand your neighbor. I'd be jealous too."

Alejandro's grin widened at the sight of his embarrassed friend, who was getting smaller and smaller.

Alejandro laughed. "And you let everyone make jokes about you, while you're fooling everyone."

Rudy glared at him venomously.

"What else besides papi?" Alejandro continued to laugh. "Is she calling you sergent major? Was she bad and has to make amends? Bondage games? Floggers?"

Alejandro watched in amazement at his friend's face, as he hit the mark with every guess.

Rudy, however, looked increasingly annoyed despite his blush. "Why did your date end so early?"

Alejandro's laughter faltered. "She left?"

Rudy crossed his arms in front of his chest and nodded. "Why is that? Alejandro Vargas has the women running away?"

Alejandro pursed his lips in annoyance.

Rudy looked at him like he was a newcomer, who was about to be shown, how quickly he could kick the ground from under his feet.

Alejandro didn't move.

"Something must have bothered her.", Rudy thought aloud.

Alejandro was sulking now and grumbled a reply.

"What?" asked Rudy.

"I was too old for her.", he bit out.

Rudy nodded and you could really only tell how amused he was, by the slightly deepening wrinkles around his eyes.

"Even?" Alejandro asked, annoyed.

"Even." Rudy nodded. "But shut up in front of (y/n)."

Alejandro nodded.

The two drank their coffee, until Alejandro turned back to his friend.

"My brother-in-law probably wants to sell his house."

Rudy looked up. "Oh yeah? Which one?"

"Matias. Four bedrooms. Two bathrooms. Large kitchen. Garden. Party cellar... With soundproofing."

Rudy rolled his eyes.

"Should I ask?"

Rudy nodded.

"I'm happy for you both.", Alejandro said, and he meant it. He was glad that Rudy had someone, he trusted with this side of him.

Rudy looked happily at his coffee.

"Thanks Ale." He patted Alejandro on the shoulders. "You'll settle down one day, too."

"When the first gray hair comes, I'll start looking." Alejandro grinned.

Rudy blows into his coffee. "We both know you've been dyeing these for two years."

Alejandro looked at him in shock. "I don't understand how everyone thinks you're so innocent."

"Me neither. After all, I heard you both times yesterday."

Alejandro choked so hard on his coffee that it shot through his nose.

Rudy grinned.

Spooky Girl

Summary: Ghost, Soap, Rudy and König have a girlfriend who just likes things, that are a bit spooky. (Just a few little scenes that my brain spit out.)

Wordcount: 2.497

Ghost

"Are you growing your hair out, L.T.?" Johnny laughed and flicked Simon's wrist.

Simon reacted as expected. Not at all. He stared at Johnny motionlessly.

"Fits the look, after all.", the sergeant winked at him.

Simon rolled his eyes and pulled his sleeve over the hairband on his wrist.

Johnny continued to grin. "My sisters say these scrunchies are best for the hair. There's less friction. So no split ends."

 Simon continued to stare at him.

"Are you going to tell me why you've got that thing on?", he grumbled.

"No.", was Simon's simple answer before he turned back to his food. It was nobody's business. (Y/n) was nobody's business, or what was between them.  It was still too fresh anyway. This was his first mission since they had met. He wasn't sure what to make of this relationship yet. He liked her. It wasn't because of that. He was just too used to being alone. It scared him. His therapist would probably have found a bigger, more important-sounding word for his emotions, but fear seemed appropriate enough to Simon.

She was weird. He was weird too. He had started to like the weirdness. He was probably too old for her. Maybe he wasn't. He'd never been in a relationship. He'd never had to discuss the fact that his hoodies were actually HIS hoodies until a few months ago. She had only told him that they were hers now, as if that was the most normal thing in the world. But she looked really cute in them. She'd beamed at him when he'd unceremoniously thrown three of his hoodies on her bed. 

"Until I get back.", he'd mumbled.

She had then pulled her hairband off her head and put it around his wrist. The black satin with the little skulls on it was soft and had immediately clung to his skin.

"So that you'll really come back.", she had said and kissed him on the forehead.

"Always.", he had mumbled.

 "Who is she?" Johnny asked him directly. He looked at him with gentle playfulness.

Simon snapped out of his memory. He looked into his friend's blue eyes.  "You don't trust me with a 'he'?", he grinned under his mask.

"Well then HE definitely has long hair."

Simon shook his head in amusement. "A little one from home. It's still fresh."

"Photo?", Johnny continued to grin.

Simon shook his head.

"Oh come on!"

"No Johnny."

Johnny looked at him like a petulant puppy. "At least describe her.", he sulked.

Simon sighed and rummaged for a small photo in his pocket. The boy wouldn't stop anyway. He plonked it in front of the sergent and stared at it.

Johnny stared at the photo. "A goth chick?" Johnny reached for the photo, but Simon immediately pulled it back to him and put it away. Johnny looked at him in surprise. "Hot.", he grinned.

Simon just grumbled.

"Yes, I get it. I can see it. You fit together."

Another grumble.

 Johnny grinned like an idiot.

"What?", Simon snapped at him.

"Does she have a friend?"

Simon just rolled his eyes. His cell phone buzzed.

A message from (Y/n). When he opened the message history, he saw a picture of a rabbit skull.

'For your collection?' it said underneath.

Simon looked at the picture. He had been glad, that she didn't see his little hobby as disgusting. But that she was now also participating in it. It was a beautiful bone. Completely intact.

'Beautiful. Where did you get it?‘

'Judas picked it up on our walk.‘

Judas was her dog. A stubborn but tough creature. It was probably her type. 

'Put it on the ant farm. I'll bleach him when I come back next week.‘

'The three of us are waiting for you. ;)'

When he looked up again, Johnny was still grinning at him.

"The little one really has you wrapped around her finger."

Simon just raised an eyebrow.

"Good for you L.T."

Simon grumbled in agreement.

Soap

"What magazine did you cut that out of?" Kyle laughed.

Soap pulled off his boots. "Huh?" he groaned and looked at his friend.

Kyle pointed to Johnny's locker page and the photo hanging in it.

Johnny followed Kyle's suggestion with his gaze and immediately furrowed his eyebrows. "That's my girlfriend you douche!"

"That's never your girlfriend! She's far too pretty... Apart from the fetish make-up."

Johnny threw his boot at Gaz. "Don't talk about my girl like that!", he growled.

Gaz raised his hands defensively. A grin stretched across his face. "Oh come on."

Johnny continued to scowl at him. Simon came into the changing room and looked at them both wordlessly. Without another comment, he went to his locker.

"How can you always train with that thing on your head?", Johnny asked him.

"Habit.", came the curt reply.

Johnny rolled his eyes as Gaz clapped his hands with a laugh. "So you've got a type!"

Johnny looked at him in confusion. Simon paid him no attention at all. 

"Dark and intimidating," Garrick winked at him and nodded towards Simon.

Johnny followed his gaze and a blush immediately appeared on his cheeks.

"I don't have a type!", he barked.

Gaz chuckled in amusement. "Sure."

Simon slammed his locker shut conspicuously loudly and disappeared just as wordlessly as he had come.

The two of them looked after him.

"She's very different from him.", Johnny grumbled immediately.

"Is she?"

"Yes, she's very reserved, but when you get to know her better, she's really funny. She likes to tell jokes, you know? Even if she's more into dark humor. And she likes her order, but accepts my chaos and she's not immediately put off by my job. Well, she goes to therapy, but she's actually really tough."

"Where did you two meet?"

"At a shooting range for my brother-in-law's stag party. She's really amazing. She could almost be a sniper and..." Johnny eyes widened.

Gaz grinned knowingly.

"Oh God! I'm dating L.T.!" Johnny exclaimed, overwhelmed.

"Really, how did you notice?"

Johnny threw his second boot at him. "What if I'm just trying to replace something with her?", he asked anxiously.

Now Gaz looked at him, confused. "What now?"

"Well... What if I subconsciously just saw her as a replacement. God I'm such an asshole."

"How many times did you try to enroll before you were finally eighteen?", Gaz asked him firmly.

"I stopped counting. What's that got to do with it?"

Gaz shrugged his shoulders. "You're nuts, but you know what you want. You've never accepted an alternative before."

Johnny looked at the photo in the locker. "No I never have."

Gaz nodded. "You clearly have a thing for mentally unstable Halloween decorations, but that doesn't mean you only want the girl as a substitute."

Johnny nodded. "Yeah, you're right. She's really great, you know?"

Gaz grinned. "I'll take your word for it."

"She always makes chocolate muffins, that look like the little coal men from Chihiro.", Johnny smiled at the photo. "And she can cook! I really put some weight on the last time, I was with her. It's almost like the good old times at grandmas.", he grinned to himself. "Even if it scares me a little, how relaxed she is with the house ghost."

"Please what??" Gaz blinked at him in surprise.

"The house ghost. She calls him Edgar. After the guy who built the house. She bought this old victorian house and at night you can always hear the back door banging open and shut and someone running up and down the stairs. But never up to the top floor. That was  built on later. I nearly wet my pants the first night, when I went to see what was going on and this gigantic mirror fell on me. The thing was secured with six sturdy wall anchors! SIX! Well, I didn't set foot in the house for two weeks after that, but she says she's negotiating a deal."

Gaz looked at him with horror in his eyes.

Johnny shrugged his shoulders. "I'm used to it by now. But the noise is a bit annoying."

Gaz gave him a forced smile. "You see. You don't have anything like that with Ghost... No ghosts with Ghost."

Rudy

He was sitting in his small kitchen with Alejandro, listening to everything about Ale's last date, until they were interrupted by a loud noise.

Ale flinched in surprise and looked at the kitchen counter behind him. Rudy immediately ran to the counter and grabbed a cell phone. He wiped the green icon across the display and held it to his ear.

"(Y/n)s phone. Rodolfo on the line. - Yes, you forgot it here. - No, no problem. - Good. See you in a minute."

He placed the device on the kitchen table and looked into Alejandro's shocked face. "What? Was? That?"

"(Y/n) left her cell phone."

Ale looked at him like he was stupid. "What was that sound?"

"Her ringtone?" Rudy replied hesitantly. "Yeah... Her taste in music is a bit...  special," he admitted, looking at the device again.

"A bit? It sounded like a pig had been tormented.", Alejandro said indignantly.

Rudy grinned. "Somehow that relaxes her." He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "I think the band was called... I can't remember. Lorna something."

Ale looked at him skeptically. "Wait. Is she coming over? I can finally see the mystery (y/n) with my own eyes?"

Rudy sighed. "Be nice, please."

"I'm always nice."

"Hmph."

Ale gave him an annoyed look. "I'll pull myself together."

"No subliminal threats.", Rudy stated firmly.

Alejandro started to speak, but didn't get the chance.

"And certainly no direct ones!"

The colonel fell back against the back of his chair, annoyed. It wasn't as if he had no manners. If anything, some even found his temperament attractive.

"Fine," he grumbled.

Rudy nodded in satisfaction as he heard the front door open.

"Hey." (Y/n) called down the small hallway.

Rudy stood up and walked towards her.

Alejandro didn't know what he had expected, but somehow he had always imagined her... pinker.

When Rudy spoke of his girlfriend, it sounded like he was talking about the sweetest creature on earth, who couldn't hurt a soul. Alejandro had envisioned a girl in a summer dress with pink lipgloss kissing Rudy on the cheek.

What he saw was a girl dressed in black. Transparent cut-outs, heavy boots and various buckles adorned her body.

Her lips, which Alejandro had always imagined to be pink, were painted black, just like her eyes.

She gave Rudy a quick kiss on the lips. "Sorry, I'm only here for a moment. Sofia got tickets for a concert today. I'd rather not ask how. Oh hi!"

She waved to Alejandro.

"This is Alejandro." Rudy introduced him.

He waved at (Y/n), overwhelmed.

"I'm (Y/n)." she replied quickly.

"You sure?" asked Ale before he could stop himself.

Rudy immediately gave him a warning look before turning back to (Y/n). "Be careful."

She kissed him again on the tip of his nose. "I'll text you when I get home. Bey Alejandro!" she called out and was already gone again.

Alejandro looked dully into the hallway. Rudy looked back with a raised eyebrow.

"Well I didn't expect THAT.", Alejandro said.

Rudy sighed.

"Oh come on! You described a lamb!" He threw his hands up in the air dramatically. "Not a little vampire. No matter how cute she seems to be."

Rudy sighed devotedly and sat down at the table.

"She's just like I told you."

"So... a black lamb?"

The corners of Rudy's mouth twitched. "Yes. That fits."

"To get back to the, let's call it 'music'."

"I don't get it either.", Rudy smiled with amusement.

König

"Little bat?" König asked his girlfriend cautiously. She was sitting in one of his shirts next to his legs in front of the couch, looking thoughtfully at her puzzle, while the movie of her choice was playing on TV.

"Yes Bear?" she asked without looking up.

His eyes darted to the television at a particularly organic sound, before quickly settling back on her.

"Um... I know I said 'My job is war and I can take more than nornal humans'."

(Y/n) looked up and grinned mockingly.

"But I admit that your warning was probably... justified."

She grinned at him openly. "No (y/n)! I've seen and done things-"

"All right!" he interrupted her. A woman on the television screamed. "Is this girl still alive?" he asked in disgust.

(Y/n) pressed a button on the remote control and the movie stopped.

"There's no way anyone could survive something like that," he huffed.

His little bat just took a sip of his coffee. "The lore is, that Art keeps someone alive ,until he's satisfied. He decides when you die."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"It's horror. It's not supposed to make sense." She patted his gigantic thigh. "You held out very well, but you dropped out of the movie. You lost the bet. You have to order today.", she smiled mischievously.

He grumbled and reached for the tablet.

"No! You have to call! That was the bet."

He looked murderously at the phone. He hated ordering food. Which made no sense, considering his job and his career in it. He was a grown man. He made most people afraid, but still. These everyday situations weren't exactly easy for him. It wasn't like it used to be, but it would never be normal either. Nobody had to like him in his job. No one expected him to be polite. In the real world, there were all these rules and unspoken regulations.

"Like always?" he asked her. She just nodded and went back to looking at her puzzle.

Sometimes it was funny. They both weren't the most confident when it came to social interaction, even though the world always thought they should be. Him because of his body. Her because of her look.

They had started making bets. The loser had to make phone calls or tell the waiter in the restaurant that the food was going back.

He ordered the pizza and felt (Y/n) put a hand on his knee. He had started wiggling his legs again. A habit that had always upset his mother. She stroked his knee with her thumb and he brought his limbs back to rest. With a sigh, he tossed the cell phone towards the pillow. It was nice that he didn't feel any anxiety with her. It was nice to have someone who gave him the space to find peace.

"What kind of picture is this going to be?", he asked her, stroking her hair and looking at the dark puzzle.

"Blackness."

"Blackness?"

"Yes. It's just black." She grinned.

"Why?"

"Because we as humans like to play God. The nice thing is... There's a reference picture."

He grinned. He loved how she was amused by little things like that. He loved his little bat. Her and her bloody pointless puzzle.

Yogi's Choice

Summary: The CoD guys with a girl who is into yoga.

Characters: Soap, Ghost, Alejandro, König, Rudy

Wordcount: 1.995

Soap

"What are you doing?"

Johnny's voice snapped me out of my concentration. I put my feet on the floor and sat down on the mat beneath me. Slightly annoyed, I looked up at him. "Yoga."

He was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed, one eyebrow raised. "And you always look like a pretzel? Apart from that. Why didn't you ever tell me that you can put your feet behind your head? As your boyfriend, I should know that!"

I just rolled my eyes and tried to get into my next pose.

"What's that called now? Warrior something?"

"Super Soldier." I mumbled, concentrating on keeping my balance.

Johnny laughed. "Looks pretty wobbly, soldier.", he teased me.

I didn't let myself be put off. "Then why don't you try it yourself?" I mumbled and changed sides.

I heard him clap his hands. "All right."

I slowly stood up again and watched Johnny trying to sort out his limbs, which only resulted in him standing very stiffly on my mat with his legs a little wide and looking down at himself in confusion.

I smirked. "What's wrong Sergeant?"

He looked at me stubbornly. "Hey I've only seen the pose once. Let me think!"

I grinned. "Legs hip-width apart. Good. Upper body down. Put your weight on one leg and slowly lift the other. Now grab your foot with your hand and-" BOOM. Johnny fell over like a sack of rice. I stifled my laughter with all my might.

"Fuck.", he grumbled, but immediately stood back up and tried again... and again and again.

I watched him sit cross-legged until he looked down at his legs angrily and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Looks pretty wobbly.", I grinned.

He grumbled to himself, his accent becoming so strong again, that I could hardly understand anything. "I'll figure that out!", he promised and quickly left the room.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm getting a stupid yoga mat!", he shouted and I heard the door slam.

Knowing him, he wasn't going to let that down until he managed to hold this not-so-easy pose.

I could have just told him, that he has to bend his knee, but what would be the fun in that?

Ghost

"What are you doing here?" I mumbled, still slightly sleepy.

Simon was sitting on the stairs of the terrace, looking out over the moonlit farm. "Can't sleep.", he mumbled. He tapped his temple lightly. "Too loud."

I sat down next to him. I put half of the blanket I had wrapped around me around his shoulders and leaned against him. "Sorry."

He just mumbled.

We sat there quietly and listened to the nocturnal animals. "Don't you want to go for a walk?" I mumbled into the silence. That was usually his way of dealing with insomnia.

He sighed. "I'm already done."

I looked at him in surprise. "How long have you been awake?"

He shook his head. "Since we went to bed."

"Si." I sighed.

He rubbed his tired eyes. "I'm open to suggestions.", he mumbled devotedly.

"How many nights has it been?"

He looked at his hands. "The third."

"You haven't slept for three nights?", I asked, shocked. "Why didn't you say anything?"

He sighed. "I slept. Just very little."

I rubbed his back. "I'd say do yoga, but-"

He dropped his head onto my shoulder. "I do everything now.", he mumbled devotedly.

I laughed in surprise. "Really?"

He nodded.

He let me gently maneuver him into the house until I sat him down on the soft carpet in the living room.

He followed my little lesson without hesitation. Copied the gentle stretches. Followed the breathing I instructed him to do. We both lay on the floor in shavasana. "Concentrate on your breathing. I like to imagine a circle that gets bigger, when I breathe in and smaller, when I breathe out.", I explained. "This gives your head somthing to do."

He nodded almost imperceptibly and found his rhythm. "Let your limbs consciously become heavy. Push the tension out of them in a controlled manner. Relax your face."

I listened to his breathing and the soft noises that came through the open window. Simon was lying next to me. His eyes closed. His face relaxed.

He seemed calm. I was just hoping, that he would at least get some rest, even if he couldn't fall asleep, when his all-too-familiar loud snoring made me look up.

I grinned. There you go.

As carefully as possible, I laid the blanket over his tall form and trudged to the sofa to lie down again. We could always deal with any back pain later.

Alejandro

I felt a couple of big hands on my bottom.

"Hot." Alejandro grinned down at me.

I stood up again. I rolled my eyes, smirking slightly. "You really use every cliché.", I said and poked him on the forehead. "Weirdo."

Alejandeo wasn't impressed at all and simply pulled me towards him, until there wasn't a hair's breadth between us. "I am a man. We're simple creatures.", he beamed and tampered with my neck while he kneaded my bottom extensively.

"Ale!" I protested with a laugh and pushed him away from me. "I'm not finished yet.", I complained.

He looked at me closely. "I want to watch.", he said.

I just rolled my eyes again. "But shut up.", I admonished, poking him in the chest.

"Whatever my angel wants.", he just grinned and sat down next to my mat.

I ignored the presence of the born macho next to me and resumed my exercises. I let my breathing and movements carry me and felt myself becoming more relaxed with every stretch and every pose, until I almost forgot that Alejandro was watching me.

When I opened my eyes again and got ready for the real world, I saw Alejandro watching me intently. He was smiling gently. Almost like a schoolboy he was beaming.

"What?" I asked, confused.

He crawled up to me and kissed my forehead. "You're beautiful.", he smiled.

I felt the heat in my cheeks. "Shut up." I smiled sheepishly.

Alejandro just grinned. "You'll have to teach me a few things.", he said.

I laughed. "You want to learn yoga?"

"Hm. Some of it would be the perfect punishment for a couple of rookies... And some of it could be very helpful in private, of course." He waggled his eyebrows playfully.

I laughed. "An absolute cliché. You macho."

"You're into it."

"Admittedly." I confessed and kissed him.

It didn't take long for Alejandro to misappropriate my yoga mat.

König (Klaus)

"I'll kill you.", Klaus bit out quietly between his teeth.

Horangi laughed in amusement. "What's wrong, big guy? You said we need to relax more."

"What's relaxing about this, please?", he hissed. Klaus found himself in a very tense version of downward-facing dog, trying to remember what his back should feel like.

"Dig your left heel into the ground and lift your right leg. Keep your hips parallel to the floor.", instructed the yoga teacher of the class, walking through the rows in a relaxed manner.

Klaus knew her. Unfortunately. She lived in his apartment complex. He'd had a crush on her for a while. He had never spoken to her before. He wasn't sure if Horangi had planned this somehow, although he couldn't know anything about it. Klaus just concentrated on not making an absolute idiot of himself and lifted his right leg up with perhaps a little too much momentum. His foot banged against something.

"Hmph."

Klaus quickly pulled his leg back and looked into the face of his neighbor, who was rubbing her jaw. He turned bright red. Horangi next to him almost burst, it looked like, because he was trying to suppress his laughter. He was only partially successful.

"I'm so sorry.", Klaus stammered, but she just waved him off with a smile. "More shock than damage. Normally, the legs I walk past are shorter. I should have been more careful."

Klaus remained silent. Once again, he didn't know what to say. However, she only gestured for him to get back into position.

"Now pull your right leg towards your chest. Move your shoulders over your wrists. Breathe out. Breathe in. Bring your leg back up and forward again. Find your rhythm."

Klaus was still trying to suppress his shame, when he felt two delicate hands on his hips. He flinched slightly. "Hold it straight. You're bending to the left.", she explained gently.

Klaus quickly shifted his hips as he should and looked stubbornly at the mat. "Perfect." He heard the smile in her voice.

"And put it down. Very good. Go into plank and then transition to cobra or upward-looking dog."

She went on relaxed and corrected the contestants. Horangi was still laughing his head off.

Klaus just tried to breathe away his erection. For the rest of the lesson, he stubbornly looked at the floor and prayed that the time would pass more quickly.

Horangi put both their mats away as the teacher moved towards Klaus. His heart immediately raced.

"You live above me, don't you?" she asked cheerfully.

Klaus nodded quickly. Too quickly, he realized. "Uh... Yes."

She smiled. "Say, do you fancy going for a coffee or something?"

His heart skipped a beat. "Coffee? Uh? With you? The two of us?"

She laughed again. "Yes, both of us."

Klaus would have liked to slap himself. "Yes. Yes, that sounds... Yes."

"Okay. This afternoon? At three?"

Klaus nodded.

"Will you pick me up?", she winked teasingly.

A smile crept onto his face. "I hope I'm on time... Traffic."

She laughed. "See you later."

Klaus smiled and looked after her.

Horangi joined him. "You're the only guy I know who can kick a woman in the face and then get a date out of it."

Klaus looked down at him, annoyed. "You have to be over 6'3" for that."

Rudy

"Ow! OW!"

I jerked my upper body forward again and turned to Rudy, who was red-faced and pulling his legs to his chest.

"You said push." I tried to explain myself.

He just nodded. "And I made a mistake with that.",he whimpered.

"Are you okay?" I asked carefully and stroked his head.

Rudy put his head in my hand. "I'm just waiting for my adductor muscles to reattach to the bones."

I grinned and continued stroking his hair. "You really don't have to do this with me. You know that."

Rudy shook his head. "It was my idea."

Rudy had offered to get a little more involved in my yoga hobby and maybe practice a few couple yoga poses with me. Rudy was strong. He had proven that more than once. Many people underestimated him, but he simply had working muscles, not gym muscles. Unlike any man I'd ever been with, he just threw me into his arms and made me feel like I weighed as much as a squirrel. So he had fun holding me into the air, while I let myself fall into the poses, knowing he would always catch me.

Only the stretching exercises weren't his thing. We sat down with our backs to each other and our legs spread apart. First he leaned backwards and pushed me forwards. Then it was my turn. "Realy press yourself against my back.", he had said and then immediately yelped in pain.

"Are you sure everything's okay?"

He opened his eyes, which he had closed due to my stroking. "Everything is fine. I'm just stiff.", he winked.

I sighed. "Injuries are no joke, if-"

He reached for my free hand and squeezed it lightly. "Torn muscles and tendons feel different. Trust me." He grinned. "I'm just old."

I grinned. "At least it's good for the joints."

He nodded, still grinning. "Then we know what we can do together in the old people's home." He kissed me gently.

I smiled. "I'll get you stretched by then."

He laughed. "I'm counting on it."