I don't suffer from insomnia; I get creative.
I've had a four days of insomnia, so of course last night I didn't even go to sleep at all. I made things instead. I now have a bunch of nifty icons to play with, and (most importantly) the banner I promised Challon is finished!
This started with a discussion about not getting sued for copy write infringement, which reminded me of the military's 'Don't ask, Don't tell' philosophy. It quickly degenerated from there, and I ended up promising her a PR Fandom Army Banner. So, here you go.
And even better, I wrote things. I finished my bi - shmexual story, and I am happy. I will possibly even continue it.
The interesting thing about this fic is that it all started with pondering Bridge's sexuality, and the idea of him calling himself bi - shmexual. Which is now my favorite word.
The only true B Squad 'trivia' listed here are Chris Violette's life philosophy, the face that he modeled, and his words to live by - but obviously not 'We each make our own destiny'. Everything else I made up.
Kiss and Tell
It was one of those 'getting to know each other better' conversations that no one was exactly sure how it had started, but were abruptly certain they'd all gotten in over their heads sometime after it began.
"Okay, new question," Z declared. "This time instead of saying something weird about yourself, you have to say something about someone else on the team that you know about, but no one else does."
The rest of B Squad blinked at her.
"Z, are you channeling Bridge today?" Jack asked, looking amused.
"Hey, it's not that complicated," she protested as Bridge frowned, trying to decide if he was being insulted or not. "Like ... okay, I'll say something about Syd that I bet no one else knows." She paused for dramatic effect. "Syd isn't a natural blond."
Syd gasped, glaring furiously. "Z! How could you?!"
Sky snorted. "I thought this was supposed to be something we *don't* know?" He rolled his eyes when Syd's scandalized look shifted to him. "Your roots are starting to show again," he deadpanned.
She squeaked, her hands flying up to vainly try and cover her head.
"And actually," he continued, "She *is* a natural blond. She dyes it lighter because she doesn't like the color."
Syd sulked. "I want to be beach blond instead of honey blond. Is that so wrong?"
"What's the difference?" Jack demanded.
"About twenty - five bucks," Z quipped.
The game did not run as well as Z had hoped. While some of them had learned things, like the original trio learning about Jack's soccer skills or she and Jack finding out that Syd's father was a demonic researcher, whatever that meant. But then there was other problems, like having to inform Sky that not only did she know that Jack liked to go commando, she'd seen everything there was to see *long* before Sky'd ever been attracted to him. Neither boy had been all that thrilled with her - although Syd seemed entertained.
But then Jack had told them that Sky was a cuddler, and it was all down hill from there.
"Sorry, but I already knew that one," Bridge informed Jack absently.
Jack frowned. "How'd you ... nevermind." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "His life's philosophy is - "
"Mind over matter," Bridge interrupted. He smiled sheepishly when Jack gave him a suspicious look.
"His modeling career?"
"I have some of his pictures. Oh, and you should see the ones he did with Syd; those are neat."
"Words to live by."
"'Every morning we wake up, and every night we go to sleep, what we do in between is up to us'," Bridge recited dutifully. "He also uses 'We each make our own destiny', which he learned from his dad." He offered a guilty smile as Jack glowered. "Sorry, Jack. But I don't think there's anything left that I don't know about Sky after the whole kissing issue."
Z's eyes widened.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Syd grimace, while Jack had shot upright, leaning forward to stare at Bridge incredulously. "Excuse me?" he demanded.
Sky let out a loud sigh, his head dropping back on the couch as he made a soft growling sound at the ceiling. "'Don't worry, Sky, I can keep a secret'," he mimicked. "'Of course it's not a big deal or anything, but I won't say anything, I promise'." He lifted his head just enough to scowl at his roommate. "It wasn't exactly an interrogation, Bridge."
Bridge looked guilty. "Sorry, Sky. I didn't mean to bring it up."
"Bring what up?" Jack demanded, glaring between the two of them.
"Sky and Bridge used to date," Syd informed him. She looked straight into Sky's annoyed stare. "What? There's no point in dancing around it. You two were dating, you broke up, and now you're not. Big deal."
"Bridge is gay?" Z blurted without thinking.
"Nope," Bridge told her, sounding strangely cheerful for the situation.
Syd snickered. "He's bi - shmexual."
Jack's incredulous stare turn to her. "He's *what*?"
"Bi - shmexual," Bridge repeated helpfully. "As in my preferences. As in equal opportunity. As in I like guys and girls. Sometimes together. Though not usually at the same time." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'm not opposed to the idea, though."
Z shook her head, trying to process all this. "*Shmexual*?"
Bridge nodded. "Well, you know that the Power doesn't let us swear. Actually, I don't swear anyway, 'cause it's a bad habit and my dad gets mad at me if I do it, and then Dad gets jealous since he can't do it. So I started saying shmexual instead of the word I'd like to use, for my parents' sake. And then it just sort of stuck. They were really great about me being bi - shmexual, though. I wasn't sure if they would be."
"When haven't your parents been understanding about something?" Syd pointed out, rolling her eyes at him. "I wish Daddy was *half* that nice."
"And neither of you have ever spent more than a day with my step - father, which means you can both shut up now," Sky interrupted.
"Wait a minute!" Jack shouted, startling everyone. "Since when was Sky dating Bridge? And why didn't I know about it, since he's supposed to be dating me?!"
"I *am* dating you," Sky informed him with a scowl. "Bridge and I haven’t dated in over a year."
"Actually, it's been eleven months, fourteen days," Bridge checked his watch, "twenty - three minutes, and forty - two seconds since we broke up."
"Bridge," Sky cut in, rolling his eyes at the ceiling. "Not helping."
"Sorry."
"Why did you guys break up?" Z asked curiously.
"We're a bad match," Sky answered her, looking annoyed.
"Because I was driving Sky crazy," Bridge said cheerfully.
She raised an eyebrow, glancing back and forth between them.
Sky sighed. "The reasons I asked him out weren't strong enough to keep us as more than friends," he said carefully.
"So why did you ask him out in the first place?" she persisted.
"'Cause Syd talked him into it," Bridge told her.
"Oh, I did not!" Syd protested hotly.
"Did too," he countered, holding up a hand and wiggling his fingers in a sort of wave.
Z looked at Sky, who was now glaring at them all. "It was right after Dru left," he ground out. "I was lonely, Bridge was having trouble with his powers. Syd came up with the idea that since I'm the only one Bridge can touch, that must mean something. So we dated for about a year and a half, and then we broke up."
She jerked in surprise. "Bridge can touch you?"
"It's something to do with our powers," Bridge explained. "Sky's shields protect him from me being able to read anything more than his aura." He paused, frowning at Syd. "And he's not the only person I can touch."
Syd rolled her eyes. "Parents don't count. And you *do* read them, they just don't bother you anymore."
Z stared at her. "How long have you guys all known each other?"
"As a group?" Bridge asked. "Or individually?"
"Forget that!" Jack burst out suddenly. He glared at Bridge, then suddenly shifted his gaze to Syd suspiciously. "Did you date Sky?"
Syd wrinkled her nose. "Ew."
"Thanks, Syd," Sky said sarcastically.
Syd rolled her eyes at him. "You're practically my brother; that's gross," she insisted. Then she paused. "Although I did get his first kiss."
Jack had been starting to relax. Now he shot up again, eyes narrowed furiously. "*What*?"
Syd nodded. "We were playing doctor. We were ... ten I think? I was trying to convince Sky that playing doctor really didn't mean actually playing doctor." She frowned. "He came out a few months after that."
Z burst out laughing. "Way to go, Syd!"
"Who in this room has not kissed my boyfriend?" Jack demanded suddenly. "Raise your hand."
They all blinked at him.
No hands went up.
Z shrugged somewhat guiltily as Jack stared at her. "It was right after we joined S.P.D. I thought he was cute. I didn't know you were interested in him yet."
Jack shook his head slowly, then suddenly glared at Sky again. "Is there anyone on B Squad you *haven't kissed?"
Sky's eyes widened in indignation. "You think I kissed Cruger?" he demanded.
"How would I know?" Jack shouted back. "What about Sam for that matter?!"
Z caught Syd's eye, tilting her head towards the door. Syd nodded empathically and made a break for it. Z reached out to snag Bridge's arm, ignoring his start of surprise, and hauled him out with her, leaving the other two to their lover's quarrel before someone got caught in the crossfire.
She was tempted to warn them to at least get to one of their rooms before they started making out again, but she wasn't going back to suggest it.