How to get a pet and a pet (2/3)
Title: How to get a pet and a pet
Pairing: Richard Gasquet/Andy Roddick
Rating: G
Word count: 4,503
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and this is a fiction.
Summary: Richard crosses the ocean to meet Andy’s crocodiles.
Author’s note: The first part of the story can be found here.
From the previous part:
Richard had told Gilles that he wanted a crocodile for his birthday and got to talk to a crocodile owner on tour, Andy Roddick. Andy had told Richard that he could have two baby crocodiles for free and had invited him to his place in Texas.
[Part II]
“Whoa…”
Richard’s eyes and mouth widened in awe. Andy was living in a place like heaven. The area was encircled by a beautiful lake and leafy trees and bushes made the houses look relaxed in the bosom of Mother Nature.
“The inside is much crappier than you imagine. Don’t get your hopes up.”
Andy carried two of the bags while Richard followed him with the other two. He had no idea how a guy could carry this much on a short trip but the French seemed to have softer skin than him and was wearing eye-popping jeans so he figured that his guest needed a considerable amount of lotion and clothes. He had enough space in his house for whatever was inside the bags anyway so it wasn’t a big deal.
Besides, he was happy to have somebody over after a disappointing Wimbledon experience. His mind had been occupied with other thoughts than tennis - such as getting a steady boyfriend and what he should do with all those baby crocodiles, and figuring out why his mind kept replaying some images of a certain French - and it was difficult to play in a two week’s Grand Slam with that kind of mind-set.
“Oh, you have two houses?” Richard asked, noticing that there was another house in view.
“Yeah, that one is for guests but you’re only one person so I hope you don’t mind staying in the main one with me. But let me know if I’m too much and you want to move to the other one, alright?”
“Haha, okay. But I’m not that picky.”
“I hope so. Living with crocodiles can be pretty messy.”
Andy finally opened the door to the house and let Richard go in first. He was a gentleman.
“Wow, nice place!”
“Thanks. Feel free to make yourself at home.”
The house owner closed the door and left the bags in the entrance to fetch two glasses of water from the kitchen. It was hot outside and it was only polite to get a drink right away for his honored guest.
“Thanks. I was thirsty. And, it’s Evian!”
“You’re welcome. I figured you’d like something from your own country.”
“Oh, how thoughtful. This is my favorite brand of water! Thank you, Andy.”
Andy liked how his colleague’s smile fitted right into the air, into the house that he lived in.
“Would you like to see the house? Not that there’s anything special… except for my trophies.”
“Hahaha… Sure! I’d love to see the house and your trophies.”
Richard held his glass and followed the American.
“Okay. So we’re standing in the living room and you can see the kitchen over there and that room is my awesome trophy room and…”
The owner of the house showed the first floor around and led him to the second floor to the guest room.
“I’ll be downstairs making lunch while you unpack your stuff. Just call me if you need anything. I’ll be able to hear you.”
“Thanks, Andy.”
“No problem.”
Richard smiled and saw Andy turn around and leave the room. The American looked like he took hospitality very seriously and to be honest, he loved it. It was incredibly comforting to have someone treat him with care and respect after all the awkward glances and bullshit he had to live through in his country.
Bleep.
Richard recognized the sound of his cell phone and pulled it out of his jeans pocket.
You arrived? Where’s the message you said you were going to leave me? - Gilles
A bright smile found its place on the cute boy’s face as he texted back to his friend that he had arrived safely and that the house owner was nothing but kind.
Good to know things are fine there. Have fun and don’t cry when you see a real crocodile!
“Cry? Ha…”
He knew that his friend was only joking but he still mourned the fact that he couldn’t say something smart in his face. He would have to content himself with the wonderful smell that was tickling his nostrils.
“Richie!! Lunch is almost ready!”
Wondering when the American had started to call him by his nickname, Richard shouted ‘Ok! I’ll be downstairs in a few minutes!’ and started to unpack. He was hungry and couldn’t wait to meet the crocodiles.
“Oh my god, they’re huge!”
“Haha, I feed them well. But they’re not overweight.”
“Yeah, I can tell! They look great!”
Andy put on a proud smile as his guest took a few steps closer to the pool. He had lured his pets with food from the artificial swamp to the pool so that they would look clean enough for the cute visitor. They were clean now but a little angry at Andy and a little sleepy.
“She must be Richer.”
Richard took another step forward and pointed at the smaller crocodile. He had his head turned towards Andy and that was when he heard a jaw snap.
“Watch out!”
Andy hooked an arm around Richard’s waist and pulled him back. He couldn’t afford to send one of the most talented tennis players back home with a missing finger.
“Eek!” Richard jumped back and held on to the American’s arm.
“You’re okay?”
“Yeah.”
Richard took a deep breath. Perhaps he had gotten too close on his first attempt.
“Sorry, I should’ve told you that she’s been a little sensitive after laying eggs last week. But no need to worry. She usually gets along well with visitors and it will only take a few days for her to lick your cheek.”
“Oh…”
Richard wasn’t sure if he wanted his cheek to be licked by a crocodile but he was going to take two of its babies so he figured he would have to play along and accept whatever she wanted to do with him.
“Um… Andy, I think I’m safe now.”
“Huh? Oh… right.”
The younger player looked down at the arm which was firmly around his waist and saw it leave his body rather reluctantly.
It wasn’t that Andy had always dreamt of having Richard close to him. He was aware that the French player was very cute and that he probably had the firmest butt on tour but he hadn’t really thought about making a move on him.
Both had had their fair share of boyfriends and one night stands and their worlds hadn’t collided in any kind of way; that was until Gilles had asked him if he could talk to Richard. Still, Andy hadn’t thought much of the French until he had seen those beautiful eyes bat at him during that fateful lunch.
“So you told me that she already laid eggs while you were at Wimbly. Where are they?”
Richard asked, hoping that it would get Andy out of his thoughtful state. His host had been staring at the ground for the whole last minute.
“Ah, yeah, they’re over here. All twenty three of them. Nile crocodiles bury their eggs in sand.”
The female crocodile had laid eggs earlier than her due date but thankfully, she and the eggs were in a stable condition. Richard even thought that it was good luck for him, getting to see the babies a little earlier.
“I see.”
Richard followed Andy to the sand and took a good look at the eggs before putting an ear on one of them. He had read that baby crocodiles made a chirping noise before hatching.
“Aww, I don’t think they’ll hatch that quickly, Richie. We’ll need to wait for another week or two.”
“Really? Maybe if I knock, they’ll answer the door and peep out.”
“Ahaha…”
Richard looked up from his crouching position and enjoyed the light laughter fall on his head like little droplets of sunshine. It was peaceful.
“You know what? My crocs can even gallop. I bet you didn’t know that.” Andy bragged.
“Gallop? You mean, like a horse?”
“Well, it didn’t exactly look like a horse but I saw Rich galloping one day when Richer found out that he had stashed secret food for himself.”
“Hahaha…”
“Most of the time, when he’s in trouble, he belly runs or high walks with his body off the ground but I guess he was in deeper trouble that day.”
“Haha, it must’ve been fun to watch!”
“Yeah. I made sure he heard me laugh my lungs out.”
“Ahaha…”
Richard wondered if he could have such a great time with his own crocodiles some day. He had had a cat, a dog, a rabbit and a goldfish before but never a reptile.
“What are you going to do with the other babies?”
“Well, other than the two that I’ll give you and the one that I’ll keep, I’m sending the others to a huge crocodile farm nearby.”
“Oh, good idea. You obviously can’t keep them all.”
“Yeah, I need to save some prize money for my future boyfriend. He might want tons of expensive lotion and nice, tight jeans.”
“Ahaha, whoever that’s going to be, good for him!”
Andy smiled and realized that Richer had fallen asleep. It was a good time to let Richard closer to the crocodiles.
“Come here, Richie. I’ll show you what the real crocodile life is like.”
“Okay!”
For the next hour or so, Andy gave his guest a tour inside Rich’s mouth, a peek on how crocodile birds clean its teeth, and showed him how to feed fish to a whiny crocodile that kept swaying its tail. Of course, he didn’t forget to throw in all sorts of information about crocodiles - including how male crocodiles seduce females by blowing water out of their noses and bellowing - and he could see that his tactic was working.
“Whoa…”
Richard was absolutely mesmerized both at how Rich seemed to understand Andy’s words and at the amount of knowledge that Andy possessed. He had always been attracted to knowledgeable men and it was quite a nice surprise to discover that Andy was one of them. He hadn’t really thought of the American in that kind of way but the smart image suited him better than he had expected.
“Would you like some beer and chips?” Andy suggested, feeling like they could use some beer to cool off the heat.
“Sure! And, um… Andy, can crocodiles blink?”
“I guess they can. Why are you asking?”
“Because I think I just saw Rich blink at me.”
Richard hoped that he didn’t sound like a princess who thought that the world revolved around her.
“Haha, I take it he likes you already. He has good taste in men just like his owner.”
Andy offered a seat under the roof where they could get a good view of the crocodiles and put a gentle hand on Richard’s shoulder before going inside the house for beers. He was going to have a great time with his cute, little guest.
The next morning, Andy found an empty bed in the guest room when he came back home after his jogging session. He would have panicked if he hadn’t spotted a small note on the bedside table that read ‘I’m with the crockies!’. So without further delay, he flew to the backyard and enjoyed the view of a crouched Richard until he found out that his guest was talking to his pets while feeding them.
“Oh, no need to worry about the music. I already ordered the whole Mozart CD collection last night so your baby boys will get to listen to some great classics. Can you believe they were on a 20% discount? It must be a fate for me to raise your babies!”
Listening to the rather one-sided conversation, Andy felt that he had chosen the right person to give the crocodiles to. Richard had done his homework and was talking about baby crocodiles with so much warmth in his eyes.
“Ahem…”
The French turned around as he heard Andy clear his throat.
“Good morning, Andy! You weren’t in the house.”
“Good morning, Richie. I was jogging outside.”
“Oh, you jog?”
“Yeah, before breakfast. I’m sure you jog too.”
“Well, during the tennis season, yeah.”
“What if you join me from tomorrow then? The morning air is pretty fresh around here and I could use some company.”
“Um… but I like to sleep in. This is like my summer vacation, Andy.”
“Yeah, a healthy summer vacation. Don’t forget that you’ll be coming back stronger.”
Andy winked before going inside for a shower and Richard had a bad feeling about the wink.
A few days passed by and Richard had definitely been right about that particular wink.
Knockknock-knock.
“Rise and shine, Sunshine!”
Every morning, Andy would knock on his room in that unique rhythm and drag Richard out of bed and push him in the bathroom only to pull him out of the house to jog.
“Anndy…”
Richard whined in vain as he tried his best to catch up with the American’s pace. Much to his surprise, the world number six was an early riser.
“I know you consider this visit as a short vacation but I don’t want to take the blame for when you come back on tour.”
“Thanks for worrying about my fitness but it wouldn’t have hurt even if you had let me sleep for ten more minutes!”
Andy did care about having a future number one player in custody but he was also having so much fun listening to all the sweet whines. They were being less polite to each other and spending most of the day together - in fact, the entire day except for taking a shower and going to bed, which were sadly the very activities that Andy wanted to do together the most - which meant that they were getting comfortable sharing space and time.
“It’s July, Richie. It’s going to get hot in like… twenty minutes.”
“So what? Then we could always run ten minutes less!”
“Just close your pretty mouth and save your energy, okay?”
“Why?” Richard shot back.
“Because we’re going to run faster.”
Andy grabbed one of Richard’s wrists and picked up the pace. Trees fell behind them and the sleepyhead almost felt like flying.
“Annndyyy!”
Unfortunately, whining still didn’t help and Richard had to run as hard as he could not to end up with one wrist.
“Andyyy!”
The whining continued during breakfast when the twenty three year old spotted green onions in his salad.
“Richie, your nasal sound is unbelievably adorable but it’s not going to eat your veggies for you.”
“Don’t talk to me like that as if I’m a six year old.”
Richard pouted with his lips sticking out and Andy had to drink down half a glass of water to resist kissing him.
“It’s just part of a very healthy salad, Richie, and you won’t even taste it if you eat it with other stuff.”
Andy finished lecturing and picked up his fork when he felt a strong glare aimed towards his face.
“What?” He looked up and met with his guest’s suspicious eyes.
“Tell me something, Andy.” Richard crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.
“Tell you what?”
The American kept eating. He didn’t feel comfortable about what might be asked.
“Why are you giving me those baby crocodiles for free?”
Gulp.
Andy’s hand hastily grabbed the glass again. Perhaps he needed to lower the temperature on the air conditioner.
“I searched on the Internet and even asked the vet and you could earn a lot of money if you sell them.”
“Well, I’m not donating the hatchlings to the crocodile farm. I get paid.” Andy emphasized.
“Yeah. Then you should charge me too. It’s not fair that I get them for free.”
“You’re a colleague, Richie. I’ve seen you around for years. Besides, I already told you it was your birthday gift.”
Andy wanted to end the conversation right now.
“But we don’t know each other that well! Even my best friend wouldn’t give me two crocodiles for my birthday!”
The elder player didn’t look up and kept himself busy with his fork. He didn’t know what to say and some stupid force in his mind made him want to spill out the truth.
“And Roger said something about you probably wanting something in return…”
Richard couldn’t remember the exact words but he could still picture Roger’s half amused, half worried face quite clearly.
‘Damn Roger. He knows me too well.’ Andy cursed inside.
“So… do you want something in return?”
The question was tossed in the air and Andy realized that he had no other choice than to grab it. Besides, he was feeling a little better now that he thought it might make things easier for him. He had been flirting lightly for the past few days and even though Richard hadn’t flirted back actively, he hadn’t shown any sign of discomfort and had even blushed a few times. Perhaps he wasn’t the only one with such feelings here.
“So…?”
Richard hoped he would get an honest answer. He had done some thinking last night and the more he thought about it, the more he felt the need to get some answers from the American. He needed to know what was going on inside his host’s mind.
“I don’t want something back, Richie. You can totally have them without any kind of payment unless…”
“Unless…?” Richard felt his throat go dry.
“Unless…”
Andy couldn’t find the right words. He didn’t usually hesitate asking a guy out but it somehow didn’t feel like the right time.
‘Since when do I care about the right time?’
He asked himself but it didn’t help his mouth let out the necessary words.
“Nothing. I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Then, he stuffed his mouth with enough lettuce so that his tongue wouldn’t slip again.
“Oh… okay.”
Richard’s face fell. The air around them had suddenly become so tense.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have pushed him too much.’
He regretted but it was a little too late. Both of their minds were already in a haze.
The rest of the day went by uneventfully. Richard almost finished a short French book that he had brought with him and Andy spent the whole day watching sports on TV and taking care of the crocodiles. The two talked when they were supposed to but Richard felt very uneasy with this new atmosphere.
That was why he couldn’t fall asleep as early as usual and was wandering downstairs. Luckily for him, it looked like the owner of the house had gone to bed.
‘Hmm… maybe I should go outside and check the eggs.’
He knew that the fence around the backyard was high and strong enough to make any animal or person stay away but he didn’t get anything other than het porn on TV and he could already guess the ending to his book so he grabbed a big flashlight and went out.
‘Eh? What is this noise?’
A strange noise was coming from the crocodile’s pool.
‘Oh dear god, is Richer sick? Should I go wake Andy up? Or call the vet first? 911?’
All sorts of thoughts troubled the young player’s mind and he looked up at Andy’s room. The lights were out which probably meant that he was asleep unless he liked to stare into the dark or something.
‘Maybe she just needs more food. Let’s go check. She won’t actually bite me, right? We’ve been talking for days now!’
He turned on the flashlight and went closer to the pool.
“Eek! What are they doing?!”
Richard didn’t have time to lower his voice as the scene in front of him burned into his retina.
‘Are they… making love??’
His jaw dropped as his brain kept telling him yes, it was indeed what it looked like; they were mating.
‘But they just had twenty three eggs together! And… oh my god, am I listening to a crocodile moan?’
“Ahhck!”
Richard dropped the flashlight and covered his ears. This was going to rest in his subconscious for a long, long time and he might need a few therapy sessions to get over it. It was so different from listening to people’s moans and it wasn’t the most pleasant experience in the world.
Meanwhile, Andy had woken up from his light sleep at the sound of a person ahhcking and jumped out of bed when he heard something drop.
‘Richie…?’
He ran out to the balcony and checked the backyard. His ears hadn’t fooled him. He saw one of the flashlights on the ground and the silhouette of his special guest not too far away. By a twist of fate, the light was flashing straight at the crocodiles’ faces and it looked liked Richard had his ears covered.
‘Well, it’s not every day you get to see animals’ night life. It’s normal to be shocked at first.’
Andy smoothed his bed hair and leaned forward on the railing. He was curious to see what the cutie’s next move would be.
Richard watched in the dark, both fascinated and feeling guilty. As far as he knew, he wasn’t into voyeurism, especially not into watching animals mating.
‘Perhaps I should stop watching.’ He thought but his eyes wouldn’t move.
‘This is wrong, very wrong!’ He thought again but nope, he was still staring at the passionate couple.
“Achoo!”
Richard heard a sneeze and looked up, startled.
‘Oh mon dieu! Since when was he out in the balcony?’
“You’re all right down there?”
The younger player squeezed his eyes shut as Andy’s voice rang in his ears. He could only hope that the American wouldn’t find him weird, or even worse, like a pervert.
“Richie?”
“Yes, I’m alright!” He yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Well, your voice says you’re not alright. Want to come up and talk about it?”
Richard hesitated. He had been awkward with Andy all day and now he was suddenly in a position to talk to him about catching two crocodiles in action.
“Richie, you’re coming?”
“Yeah! I’m coming!”
Since a shrink wasn’t available at the moment, Richard decided to talk to Andy who was obviously willing to help him.
‘It’s not like he can do more damage.’
With such a naïve thought in his mind, he went into the house and up the stairs.
Knock-knock.
The guest knocked on the half-opened door and saw that Andy had a lamp lit on the bedside table.
“Come in. How does a glass of Evian sound?”
Knowing that the answer would be yes, Andy started pouring fresh mountain water into a clean glass.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
Richard sat on the edge of the bed while Andy sat on an armchair next to the coffee table.
“So I take it you saw those horny beasts make out.”
The French nodded, taking another sip from his glass. Andy was wearing very thin shorts that revealed a little too much of his hip bones.
“Frankly, I’m surprised you didn’t walk in on them before. I don’t know about other crocs but mine are… let’s say, very energetic.”
“I’m sure they are.”
Richard finished his glass and wondered if he should ask for another one. It was hot even at night because of the humidity and he was one of the players who sweated the most.
“You’re sweating.”
Before Richard could pull back, Andy was out of his chair and produced a Kleenex to wipe the sweat off the pretty forehead.
“Th… thanks.”
The twenty three year old probably wouldn’t have stuttered if the helping hand had left right away. Unfortunately, it had moved on to take care of the sweat on his nape, leaving him to swallow hard.
Gulp.
Usually bedrooms have clocks that make a ticking sound in these kinds of scenes, but alas, Andy only had two digital clocks.
Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.
‘Ah, this is horrible! I should say something.’
The French slowly lifted his eyes, not sure of what he was afraid of. The hand on his neck had disappeared but now he had to deal with Andy’s intense stare.
‘Eek…’
He had completely forgotten about counseling which had been the purpose of his visit to this room. Now he was busy clenching the thin bed covers on his fellow player’s bed, trying to swallow as quietly as possible.
“About this morning…”
Much to Richard’s relief, Andy started talking.
“I wanted to say something more.”
Richard nodded as he had already figured out that much during breakfast. He could also guess that whatever Andy wanted to say wouldn’t be about asking for money or his backhand. It had to be something else that he wanted from him.
“You’re listening?”
Andy leaned forward and patted Richard’s cheek to get his attention.
“Sure!”
He had almost jumped in surprise but he instantly missed the warm hand when it left after only two pats. Then, he felt the bed sink down as the owner sat next to him.
“I thought about it all day and now I’m very sure about what I want in return.”
Trying not to let out another noisy ‘Gulp’, Richard smiled a little.
“You are? I thought all you did today was watching TV.”
He had expected the American to laugh or at least put on a smile to ease the tension but Andy looked deadly serious.
“Richie…”
The warm hand was back on his cheek again; only this time, it stayed.
“Yes…?”
“I want one thing, Richie. Just one little kiss.”
Richard’s brain didn’t have the ability to cope with the new piece of information.
‘He wants what?’
“Just one. That’s all I’m asking.” Andy kindly made it clear for him.
As the hand started to make small circles on his face, Richard finally got a grasp of the situation; he had to trade a kiss for two baby crocodiles.
“It’s worth the trade. Think about it in the long run.”
Andy jumped in, worried that the French might turn him down. He needed to kiss the boy to see if it cleared things in his mind full of chaos.
“It’s… not a bad deal.”
Richard’s tongue spoke for itself while the owner of that tongue felt like having a stroke. He wasn’t a person who gave out kisses in exchange of something but he couldn’t eat his words as he saw Andy wear such an excited smile on his lips.
‘Oh god, did I just accept the trade?’
Before the truth had time to sink in, he felt Andy’s other hand on his waist, pulling him closer to himself.
‘Oh, Andy…’
His body was involuntarily moving towards Andy’s and when his heart got struck by lightning, he realized that their lips had met.
TO BE CONTINUED...