There's Always Room For...

For one long moment, there was silence. A kind of emerald peace that greeted Daniel's eyes once he got them open again. All he could see was green reflecting the sun he could vaguely see above him in a shower of sparkling sunbeams. It surrounded him completely and, like he had earlier surmissed, it was quite pleasent and refreshing to the skin.

Then Daniel realized he was running out of air. He squirmed and twisted sideways to get himself more straightened out, the jello giving way only to slide back into place after he moved away. The guitarist scrambled upwards and broke the surface of the jello in no time at all. And the first thing that greeted him was that of Darren *still* giggling; Daniel shook some green out of his eyes and glared at the singer bent over with laughter, clutching his sides.

"You," Daniel said with a quiet yet deadly tone "are *such* a bastard." Darren merely looked at him, with Daniel's face shiny and his hair greenly slick, and howled. Daniel grimaced and rolled his eyes, slowly making his way to the pool's edge through limey jello, half treading water to get through the resistant muck.

He reached the edge and quickly scrambled over it, hampered by the fact that he was now terribly slippery from his plunge. He pulled a glop of jello from his hair and flicked it at Darren, catching him square in the cheek.

Darren squawked and spun around to glare hotly at Daniel. The tall blond man merely chuckled and flung another peice, this time hitting Darren's shoulder. Darren wiped it off quickly and backed away, trying to put some distance between himself and Daniel.

"Oh no! It's a horrible swamp beast trying to poison me with its slime!" Darren cried out in a falscetto tone, pretending fear at Daniel's appearance. Daniel cracked up and advanced menacingly, arms raised and a growl on his lips. Darren gasped and bolted, running to the side of the pool and scooping up some jello into his palm. He stood back up in one fluid gesture, pulled his arm back and tossed the blob straight at Daniel, managing a lucky (for Darren) shot that hit him square in the chest.

Daniel roared like a wounded monster and lunged towards Darren, surpising the singer enough that he froze for a moment and Daniel actually got close enough to envelop him in a slimy bearhug. Darren uttered a tiny, undignified squeak as his eyes went as wide as saucers, regarding Daniel with startlement.

"The swamp beast has got you in it's clutches Darren." Daniel said in a low, husky murmur, like that of a rumbling leopard, his eyes gleaming with wicked humour. Darren blinked at him, his eyes still wide and his face somewhat pale.

"And what is the beast going to do now that he's got me?" he managed to get out in a whisper. Daniel chuckled again, a throaty, evil chuckle, as he edged his way closer to the pool's edge.

"Well, the beast is quite hungry, " He said in a conversational tone "and now that it's caught some prey, it's going to return to it's lair to feast." Darren's eyes managed to widen even more as he belatedly realized what Daniel meant, and Daniel's grin widened in turn.

"No, Daniel! Not yet! I don't want to-ahhhhhhhhh!!!!" Darren screamed as Daniel let himself fall backward, arms tightly holding the struggling singer as both plummeted towards the jello, which enveloped them whole with another loud *plop!*

Once under the strange emerald sea, Daniel found it difficult to keep as tight a grip on Darren as the singer squirmed something fierce. The jello invaded everywhere, destroying friction and any grip Daniel might have had left.

Darren shot himself free, yet did not immediatly go to the surface. He turned and looked around at the peculiarly lit world within the dessert, seeing Daniel's lean form somewhat distorted through the layers of green. He realized that the only areas of distortion were where they had fallen in and struggled; everywhere else in the pool was remarkable clear, if a bit wavery. Daniel was watching Darren in turn, not truly able to see his expression but willing to bet a pound of chocolate that it was an expression of wonder. He tried to call out, only to have jello try to fill the empty space, leaving him with only a muffled exclamation. Darren's head turned slightly at the sound, which carried well enough through jello, and seemed to smile. He pointed towards the surface in a manner that somehow conveyed his inquisitiveness towards Daniel's opinion. Daniel nodded broadly, then began to slide and crawl his way back to the surface. Darren followed suit and soon both men poked their heads out into the sunlight.

"Nice in here, eh mate?" Daniel said cheerfully, grinning at Darren's beslimed appearance. Jello bits glistened like pale jade in his hair, making him look like some sort of water sprite. Darren rolled his eyes at Daniel's comment and made another face.

"Yeah, real nice. I would have liked a more controlled entry, though."

Daniel uttered that low chuckle of his, idly patting the jiggly surface of the jello. Darren's eyes followed what he was doing, then his hands started to mimick what Daniel did. The singer started to gently push the surface, gradually going faster and faster until the whole pool started to vibrate.

"Whoa there, Darren!" Daniel exclaimed, watching with alarm as weird, rounded waves surrounded him like tiny, angry hills. When one just about smacked him in the face, Daniel snaked out his hands and grabbed Darren's, stilling them. The waves slowly died away as Darren looked at him and Daniel looked back, neither of them looking at their clasped hands. Darren's eyes crinkled with amusement as he smiled and pulled his hands away.

"Follow my suit and be my mirror. Let's play Simon Does." he said lightly.

"Don't you mean Simon Says?"

Darren merely smiled again, pushing his hands just under the surface of the jello. Curious, Daniel echoed his gestures, placing his hands into the slick desert and just in front of him. Darren started to move his hands foward and Daniel quickly immitated, until their fingertips were bareouchouching.

Daniel looked at Darren with faint puzzlement, wondering what the trickster was up to. Darren merely smiled a Chesire smile and wiggled his fingers a little, the vibrations hitting Daniel's hands with a little tickle. Daniel blinked, then joined in, watching little rippled dance around their hands. It had to be the funniest sensation he'd ever felt; light yet stubborn, rapid and very, very ticklish.

*How is Darren standing this, he's ten times more ticklish than i am!*

But Darren just increased the force of his wiggling; getting his hand and then his arms into it. Daniel
dutifully followed him, and once again the whole pool was vibrating, but not with the worrying mini-hills. It was actually rather nice, like having a full body massage.

*Full body. That means....uh oh.*

Daniel realized that he was starting to feel a little flushed and tried to look away from Darren, to the side of the pool, anywhere else basically. But Darren's gaze, which had been drifting, snapped back into focus at the movement. Daniel's eyes flicked to meet his for a moment, then looked away and the guitarist could feel his cheeks burning. Darren just cracked up.

"Shall we stop playing Simon Does?" he teased, grinning big at Daniel. The blond musician swallowed and tried to get his body under control.

*Yeah we better before i Do something to you Darren,* a voice in his head muttered.

"I think so." Daniel replied after a moment, his voice relatively calm.