Leg It!

[Kallum Romanoch]

He wasn't buying that dren, he wouldn't even humour it. This guy had endangered Tegan's life for kicks. His finger caressed the trigger and he spoke in a whisper.

"Ten... nine... eight..."

[Tegan]

:: Tegan revived with a moan, to the sound of Kallum counting ::

"Kallum ... "

[Denton Jax]

By this time, Denton had snatched up the lid of the bin as a shield, clutching it with both hands and biting his lower lip. His face lit up as Tegan spoke, hoping she'd talk some sense into the crazed lad.

[Kallum Romanoch]

He glanced down at Tegan then returned his gaze to him. He held his weapon fast a moment longer, his eyes burning with violent desire, then lowered his aim and quickly reholstered the blaster at his hip. He dropped to one knee next to her as she roused from unconsciousness then finally tore his glare away from Denton. Her hand was soft in his, he squeezed gently and stoked her cheek.

"Y'alright, kid?"

[Tegan]

:: It took her a moment to focus, and smiled. Then she winced ::

"I think so."

[Denton Jax]

Denton threw his arms up in celebration, tossing the lid backwards in the process, sending it rolling down the alley.

"Well those Bothan's ain't" he beamed, doing a short tap-dance to move closer to the pair. "Good job you! Speeeed demon!"

He clicked his heels together in mid-air, landing behind Kallum and resting a hand on his shoulder, mentioning nothing of the threat. Jax was still in one piece, which was what had really mattered to him for his lifetime.

[Kallum Romanoch]

The weight of the hand on his shoulder made him grow tense but his smile never faltered as he eased Tegan to her feet. He rested his open hand on the small of her back to provide support.

"Yeh gave me a fright der," he confessed.

As he turned her away from the glare of the city lights and towards the long gloom of the alley, his free hand swung back and he planted a snappy backhand to Denton's crotch.

"Yer in fer a treat tonight, kiddo," he said immediately, guiding her forward, "Yer got me teh look after yeh. Yer wish is my command!"

[Denton Jax]

Denton birefly mouthed a silent "oooooooo" before rubbing the assaulted area and hopping up and down, hissing through his teeth.

"Trying to put me out of commission there, laddy?" he winced, shoving his hand down the front of his pants. "1...2...and 3. Okay, we should be fine."

Pulling his hand free, he rubbed it across Kallum's face and retreated along the alley.

"Where to, my friends?" he asked, whirling around, starting to search the jacket he had stolen.

[Tegan]

:: Tegan looked at Jax in disbelief, wondering why he hadn't ditched them already ::

"Anywhere you're not?"

[Kallum Romanoch]

Ignorant of what was being said, Kallum knocked over a trash can while thrashing in the dark; swatting, twitching, retching.

[Denton Jax]

Jax's jaw dropped, and he stopped in his tracks - as a result of both Tegan's cold remark and Kallum's reaction. He lifted his hand to his nose and sniffed.

"Oh...sorry there pal. Wasn't aware quite what I was unleashing on ya" he said with an innocent shrug, flapping the hand around in the air. "But as for you!"

The red-head placed both hands on his waist, jutting his hips slightly to one side, gazing at Tegan.

"What's this all about? I pull you from a wreckage of your creation, and this is what happens?"

He laughed sharply and loudly, wagging his finger at the girl.

"And, my hat got lost. Now, Tegan, darling..."

He moved smoothly back towards them.

"That's not very nice, is it?"

[Tegan]

:: Tegan smiled as sweetly as possible at Jax, just enough to lull him before delivering a good sharp kick in the shin. Her mood began to brighten ::

[Denton Jax]

Jax breathed heavily out of his nose, sucking on his bottom lip. She had a kick like a mule.

"You know what?" he finally replied. "I like to play fair, but you two are something else. Frikkin' nuts."

He rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Starting to wish we hadn't gone tongue to tongue, you know?"

It was once in a blue moon that Denton got even the tiniest bit annoyed. His optimistic approach to things was clear for everyone to see, but being shot at, slapped, grabbed by the collar, extorted, driven into a bunch of food crates, threatened at point blank range by the boy wonder and his blaster, slapped in the groin and kicked in the shin? There were only so many straws in Jax's hand.

[Kallum Romanoch]

Kallum lifted his face from his hands, it was red raw from rubbing and it was obvious his eyes had been running. He snorted, spat at the wall, then approached the couple with a menacing swagger.

"Wha'?"

[Tegan]

:: Tegan blushed fiercely, and ducked out of the way ::

[Denton Jax]

"Would you like me to spell it out?" Jax replied, his grin returning, miming the actions of extending a telescopic pointer and pointing it at an invisible display like a teacher.

"Kissing. Verb. To kiss. To touch or carress with the lips as an expression of affection, greeting, respect or amorousness. Also known as making out, or one of my personal favourites..." he explained, pointing out every syllable, and nudging an imaginary friend with his elbow at this point. "The tongue tango."

[Kallum Romanoch]

While Denton spoke, Kallum had predator eyes locked on him, and his body visibly tensed; jaw locked, nails dug into his palms, and his chest rose and fell steadily, expelling long huffs of air through his nose. His burning gaze flicked to Tegan and pierced her, desperate for the truth.

"Dis true?"

[Tegan]

"He stuck his tongue down my throat!!!" she protested, glaring at Jax hatefully "Then he nearly gets my head blown off by those Frelling Bothans and now he doesn't know how to take a hint if it punched him in the nose!!!!"

[Denton Jax]

"Hey! I know when these things are reciprocal or not!" Jax replied, throwing his arms out and laughing hard. She could shovel the blame on him, but they both knew she didn't protest as much as she could have. :P

Denton could almost taste Kallum's rage, boiling up inside. It if were possible, steam would most definately be hissing from the boy's ears.

"Look, let's not get caught up in who did what here. Like I told you, the here and now. You're both fine, I'm...minus a hat. Let's call it quits, eh?"

[Kallum Romanoch]

Kallum threw himself at Denton with an indecipherable battle cry.