December 10, 2013

“Come on, you lost. Take your punishment like a man.”

If Kris could look any more offended he probably would've looked like an angry cat pouting. As it were, he could only huff and slouch in the chair while the audience and his team members looked on.

I did not lose, he affirmed. They just decided not to allow it, the cheating...

Fans and hosts alike grinned with girlish glee as the pen was lifted to his face. Kai was about to burst, he was vibrating in his seat with the pen hovering around Kris's fringe.

“What to draw,” he mused to himself.

Naturally if they were alone it would have been all manners of things. Text, slang, a – not in that order; knowing Kai the would be the first thing to appear. Kai thought for a moment longer, as if taking in the cheered suggestions from the crowd, before he settled on something simple.

The pen pushed at his skin. Kris could feel the ink drying against his forehead as he read the touch of his fellow housemate.

“Free … advertising … space.”

Amazing how much three simple words could set off a hoard of banshees.

Kris's half-mast eyes followed Kai back to his seat, sending him a very clear message: you'll pay for this. As soon as they were alone and he'd scrubbed what he hoped was not permanent ink from his head, Kai was going to know what hit him.

Kai's smirk grew as he capped the lid on the pen. Earlier that morning he'd been making fun of his hair being gelled back, out of his face, set atop his head like a chocolate swirl. Now he was making it public.

As he looked around, Kris took note of the other message currently announcing itself on Chen's face, courtesy of Lay, and how Kyungsoo's eyes had fallen shut as Tao drew wide circles over his flinching eyelids.

“Next round,” said the announcer once everyone was back in their seats.

It was a game of Charades; of acting out what they saw described on the board behind the player. Every skipped word was a loss, and earned their partner the right to draw on them.

Luhan stood with his back to it, facing Junmyeon, who paused and bent over in silent laughter as he attempted to act out the word Puppy. A collective of giggles came from every direction as he dropped onto his hands and knees and scampered over to Luhan, blinking up at him with a not-wolfish grin.

Luhan pressed his lips into a thin line as he watched the EXO leader roll over, loll his tongue and bark up at him. Of course he knew what was being acted out, but he still gave himself and everyone else a few seconds to drink in the sight and to pet Suho's dark hair before he put him out of his misery.

Kris laughed at the bright red flush on Suho's cheeks as he ran back to the starting point and turned back to the board.

What could be use to get back against Kai? Kris's lip twitched as he reeled through all the possibilities, but some of them were too rude to use, especially considering they were in the middle of recording a show.

An idea came to him just as Suho and Xiumin switched places, and Baekhyun padded up with Chanyeol.

Chanyeol buried his face in his hands when it was revealed.

Then he started to stagger, one hand raised as if gripping a pole, stumbling and tripping over his own feet. Chanyeol seemed rightly concerned, bristling like a cat with a human standing in front of it holding an angry badger by the scruff. He lurched dangerously to the point they were convinced he would just flop into a miserable, groaning heap on the ground and melt through the cracks in the floor.

“Uh, er … er, Kyungsoo first thing in the morning!”

Kyungsoo shot Chanyeol a you look, his bottom lip quivering into a pout.

“Well I don't know what else it could be,” Chanyeol huffed. “Except maybe a drunk person?”

Eventually Kris and Kai were called up again. This time Kai was the one staring towards him, and Kris blinked coolly as he waited for the first task.

Whatever Kai had to act out, it wouldn't be too difficult, right?

Kai stared.

Kris blinked, waiting for him to start moving, but Kai was completely still. He dared a questioning glance at the host who lurked on the sidelines, but he simply beckoned to Kai.

Uhhh … “Statue?” he asked hesitantly. But he knew he hadn't got it right when Kai just continued to stand there.

Suddenly a flicker of confusion passed over his features, and Kai shook his head, as if to clear some buzzing thought. He lifted both hands and held them palm-out, straightening his back. He looked as though he were pressing his hands against frostbitten glass, but Kris knew that couldn't be right when he turned and repeated the action, patting at some invisible wall conjured by his mind.

It was odd to watch, really. Kai looked expressionless the entire time he did it, not speaking or laughing like the others had, not barking like Junmyeon had.

“Mannequin?”

No, that wasn't right either. Kris continued to watch, biting his lip as he flicked rapidly through thoughts like channels on a television. Words and names flitted through his eidetic memory but he couldn't match any to the message he was trying to convey.

Kai huffed, waved his hands and called out, “Pass.”

“The answer was Mime.”

Oh, well, yeah. That might explain it.

The next one was Chicken, which Kris caught onto quite quickly. He made a show of rolling his eyes well-naturedly, combing a hand through his hair.

They were not going to let him live that down, were they?

He returned to the sidelines with Kai jigging, flapping his elbows and clucking after him. Naturally this sparked Chen and Tao to join in, and he sat with three of eleven young dancers circling around him and laughing. He pulled Chen into a brief headlock and, despite the harassment, found himself chuckling, just like he did when he wrote Kai Likes Men on Kai's cheeks and forehead.