Title: Let's Play a Game
Author: GraycefulChaos

Pairing: Cain/Glitch
Rating: I'll say R, but it's probably way closer to PG-13. A small bit of profanity and some not quite-

sex touching. I'd rather round too far up than a tad down when it comes to ratings.
Warnings: This is unbeta-ed. I checked it as best I could, but I haven't written anything in two years

and even back then I was known for being a bit jumbled. It shouldn't be a horror to read, though.

However, I wrote it and people tend to like what they write better than others do. (I also kept

working on it at two in the morning for a few nights, so uh... yeah). Also... Slash. Don't like it?

Don't read it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Summary: Glitch wants to play a game. (Aren't I wonderful at summaries?)

A/N: This was posted on both LJ communities tinandstraw as well as glitchcain. So if you read

over there and this looks familiar... well there you go. Also, it was mentioned that there are typos in

here. I haven't quite found them yet so I'm leaving it as is. Also, I have a headache and it became a

pointless task. Probably shouldn't have admitted that. Okay, here you go...

-------------Let's Play a Game-------------

It all started out as one small innocent thought. Well, relatively innocent at any rate. The problem being that when it came to thoughts, Glitch wasn't exactly the best person to relay them in a fluid verbal pattern.

"Cain, do you find me attractive? I mean, I know that as Ambrose, I wasn't the most handsome man at the dance, but I don't see why I was constantly ignored. I'll admit, being the queen's advisor was time consuming and... well it was hard work. Look at this picture! It's a horrible picture. I look so... so.. stuffy." Glitch continued to glare at the "Wanted" poster with what could be considered as a decent amount of disdain.

Cain glared at Glitch and with a bit of effort managed to snatch the paper away from the zipper head without ripping it to shreds.

"It's fine." Cain hoped that would be enough to end the ridiculous conversation.

"No! It's not fine! I've thought about it a lot and it is not fine." Glitch appeared to brood for a moment before tugging on a tuft of hair and looking blankly at Cain. "What was I talking about?"

"Nothing. You were talking about nothing." The once Tin man mentally sighed at his luck at avoiding any conversation that involved Glitch wanting to know what Cain thought about him. It was hard enough trying to figure out why he enjoyed the head case's company more that he should. He didn't need any crackpot theories forming in his friend's head.

"Hey! Let's play a game!" Glitch managed with an amazing amount of momentum to pass Cain and with a surprising amount of force, grabbed the blond's arm and dragged him out of the sitting room they had been resting in and pulled him down a few flights of stairs and out the front entrance of the palace.

"Woah, hey. Where are we going?" Cain's patience was wearing thin as they wandered away from the palace into a cluster of trees and other foliage. It's not like he was forced to spend time with the half brained man, as a matter of fact he knew he could trust the other man with his life. Glitch had in fact saved him from hypothermia after all. There were times that he wondered exactly how the head case had managed to thaw him out so quickly, but those thoughts were often pushed away when became more than problematic. It's not as if he would mind if the other man had used his own body heat to warm up the blond, but that in itself was were the problem was rooted.

Honestly, he had enough trouble not responding to the constant "Do you think I'm attractive" and "Am I not good enough for anyone?" questions. Glitch was attractive. Pretty even. It was more than upsetting. Glitch also lacked self esteem. That's all these questions were. A need for assurance. While Wyatt would be more than happy to give him that reassurance, he wasn't sure if he could pretend that was all it was.

"I know I was going to do something. I know it. What was it? It doesn't involve food. I know that because I'm not hungry. Hey! We should play a game! I know a great one! At least, I think I do. No, yes! It will be fun!" Glitch stopped dead from his fast pace of pulling Cain along, causing the confused follower to slam directly into him. This ended in both men toppling to the ground, Glitch pinned head down under Cain's weight.

"Glitch!" Wyatt growled, more at gravity than at Glitch.

"Oh. Oops. We're here." Glitch craned his neck in a failing effort to look at Wyatt. Cain winced as he realized exactly how they were positioned and bolted up, grabbed the neck of Glitch's coat on the way up in a fluid movement that landed both of them safely on their feet.

"Glitch, why are we here?" Wyatt looked around with the hopes that he would be able to figure out why they were in what appeared to be a clearing within the group of trees.

"That was a wonderful move! Have I ever told you about how well I dance? I have great rhythm. You would be a great dancer. We should dance!" Glitch clapped in excitement and attempted to grab Wyatt's hand. Cain managed to pull away just in time. "Aw, come on. It'll be fun."

"No. You wanted to play a game, remember? You thought the game would be fun too. No dancing." In all honesty, while it did sound appealing, dancing was not one of the ex-Tin Man's strong points. There was no need to go out of his way to embarrass himself. Besides, wouldn't touching Glitch be counter productive? For a man that was stuck in one spot for fifteen annuals, the constant contact Glitch insisted on was trying to destroy Cain's well being. It isn't like he had a life before his entrapment, he had a wife, a kid. Even before that he had lovers, both female and occasionally male. He just couldn't understand why he felt the need to like this particular person. Any time he though about it too much, he was only able to reach the conclusion that there was no good reason not to like Glitch.

"Ah, Cain. The great thing about games is that when one person isn't familiar with the rules, the person leading the game can easily alter the game to fit their needs. Luckily in this game, if it is played correctly, both sides win." Glitch's grin was boarder line maniacal. Wyatt felt a strong sense of impending doom. What was this nutcase's plan? Was it possible that Glitch had finally lost it? It had been two weeks since the witch had been destroyed and in that time it was found that there was no way scientific or magical to restore Ambrose to his former self. After fifteen annuals, the brain in the vat was nothing more than a piece of the machine it was hooked up to. While it was possible for Raw to connect Glitch to the other half of his brain, it was impossible to successfully reattach something that was deteriorating and in its own right, malfunctioning due to lack of human contact. After a few sessions with the two connected, the only thing that resulted was a few missed memories and a near death experience for Glitch. This didn't stop Glitch from hoping, but it was apparent that a real connection would never take place when the last session was over and the part they called Ambrose started to liquify in the same manor that the witch had. It would be less than a few weeks before all that would be left is a pile of sludge.

"Well, what is this game. You're speaking in riddles. Just get to the point." Wyatt briefly wondered if this was going to turn into a sparring match. That's a game he could enjoy. His thoughts quickly shifted back to the odd yet strangely elegant man that he was with in preparation for some type of shenanigans.

"Oh. Yes, well... I'm not really sure yet. I was supposed to think about it while we walked here, but I forgot to think about it. At least, I think that I forgot to think about it. If I did think about it, I forgot that I thought about it. Now that I think about it, I think I may have thought about it. Hmm, but I'm not quite sure. I suppose I should try to remember." Glitch had managed to pick up a stick at some point and was poking various things as he spoke. He had even attempted to poke Cain, but thought better of it when the blue eyed man had almost been able to grab the stick in an effort to snap it.

"Okay. Great. Let's go back." Wyatt turned to leave and almost didn't hear the sneaky man that was about to tackle him. Almost. He managed to step aside just in time to avoid being taken down. He was however, fully able to hear the sickening popping, almost crunching sound as Glitch tried to break his fall with his own shoulder. Cain stared in shock for a moment before running over to assess the damage.

"Glitch, are you okay?" The former adviser to the queen happened to have his eyes tightly shut, so chances are that he was conscious.

"Owwie. Very much owwie. I've dislocated my shoulder. Sorry." Glitch avoided looking directly at Wyatt while attempting an apologetic grin that failed miserably. Glitch accepted Cain's help in standing up and as soon as he had is footing he motioned for Cain to take hold of the hand on his injured arm. "Hold tight now."

"Wait, wha..." and before Cain was able to finish, Glitch pulled hard and maneuvered his shoulder back into its rightful home. This was accompanied by a yelp and the final view of Cain grabbing his waste before everything went black.

-------------------

"... And I said that I'll watch him. He's under stress, he needs rest, he... he recently found out that he would never be the person he used to be." Glitch woke to Cain arguing with someone. If only that someone would argue back so that he might be able to figure out who.

"Yes, well while that is true, he is becoming a danger to himself. I do not want to do this, but I can not let him become self destructive. He was, is, one of my closest friends. I can not stand to see him fall apart like this. If we could just find a way to fix..."

"There is nothing wrong with him! Uh... with all due respect, that is." So Wyatt Cain, the Tin Man, was arguing with the Queen of the Outer Zone. Yelling at her, even.

"Alright. If you feel so passionately about it, you can keep an eye on him, but if you even feel the slightest bit of a problem arising, you report it to me." The queen was as fiery as ever.

"Thank you. You know... he's never going to be the Ambrose you once knew. If he sees that you are alright with it, that everyone is just as happy with Glitch, he might be able to work past this. He has these expectations for himself that he can't fulfill. It isn't helping that everyone that knew him as Ambrose are expecting him to stop being Glitch. In all honesty, I like him just the way he is." The queen nodded in sad agreement. She turned to look across the room at the man sleeping in what appeared to be a serine manor.

"Ah, Cain, we have an eavesdropper." The queen quickly hurried over to Glitch's side, while somehow managing to appear graceful. "How are you? Are you in pain? Do you need anything?"

"Could be worse, or better. Yes, I am. Water, please." His mouth was parched after his rest. After taking a few gulps of water, he stretched and tested his limbs.

"I have to go now, but let me know if you need anything." Glitch new that she meant that more towards Cain than towards himself. She leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Glitch's forehead and then left the room.

"Listen, Glitch, you can't go throwing yourself around like a rag doll. It confuses the sane people. Also, how did you manage to go through the entire time we were with DG trying to save the OZ without getting any major injuries and then in an attempt at getting me to play some unknown game, you manage to almost permanently damage yourself? You're lucky you know, you almost lost most of the function of that arm. You ripped muscles and... tendons apparently. If Raw hadn't stayed around to help for a while, who knows what would have happened." Cain had started his speech across the room where he had been with the queen, but was now cross armed at the foot of the bed.

"Ah, but I am permanently damaged," Glitch grinned, "but from what I hear, you like me that way."

"Oh. You heard that did you?" Cain gave up. The man with a zipper on the top of his head and tendrils of hair sticking out in all directions knew that he was liked. The man that jumped from having the innocent smile of a child to the deadly reflexes of a snake, Cain wanted him to be happy.

"I hear a lot of things. I haven't heard what I want to hear yet. So... try not to dodge me this time." From child to snake faster than the last time, Cain couldn't have dodged if he tried. Not that he would, not after what happened in that clearing. All he could do was attempt to yell at Glitch to stop. Glitch went flying over the end of the bed and had Cain flat on his back in no time. Glitch pinned Wyatt's legs down by straddling his thighs and managed to maneuver his legs under and around Cain's locking their ankles together, effectively keeping him from being thrown off. Both of Glitch's hand rested on either side of Wyatt's head, more weight leaning on the right side, the left shoulder was still too tender to fully use.

"Get off." Cain made no attempt to move, the man on top of him was still injured and it wouldn't do to struggle just yet. Besides, it wasn't half bad being pinned underneath Glitch. He just didn't want to move enough to test how much he did enjoy it.

"Cain, we didn't finish the game yet." Then Glitch did something he should have thought twice about. He started to tickle Cain's side. That was the breaking point and Wyatt easily rolled the two of them so that he was now on top, one hand pinning down both Glitch's good and bad arm, the other resting on Glitch's waist.

"You may be faster than me, you little monkey, but you're also lighter than you think." Cain needed to stop this before it was out of his control.

"Hey, who are you calling a monkey! I'd try to think of a witty response to that but I can't really seem to remember many animals right now." Glitch wiggled in what Wyatt assumed was a lackluster attempt to escape Cain's clutches.

"Alright. Seriously. What is this game you keep going on about?" Wyatt's face was hovering dangerously close to Glitch's.

"You really don't know? I thought I was being rather obvious. It's a well known game too. Hmm, well maybe if I had clarified some of the rules... but that would have taken the fun out of it, really." The head case once again showed his mastery of avoiding the subject in exchange for buying time.

"Don't make me hurt you." Wyatt tightened his hold on Glitch's hands and pushed the darker haired man's legs further apart to keep Glitch from trying to unlock the hold on his lower half. While these desired results where reached, so was another result, which Cain questioned as to how undesirable it exactly was and if he should be worried that his having to push his hips farther into Glitch's to maintain the hold was one of the most enjoyable parts of the past fifteen annuals.

"Please do." That was not the response Cain expected. Neither was the next attempt at what he had originally mistaken as Glitch trying to escape. Instead of a slight wriggling, he was surprised as Glitch arched his back, grinding their groins together. No, Cain was not the only one finding this just a bit more than desirable.

"Fuck, what are you doing?" Wyatt wasn't angry and he sure as hell knew exactly what Glitch was doing, but he wasn't expecting for this to go where he had be wanting it to go from the beginning.

"Ah, name of the game is foreplay. Game is over, both sides win. Time to collect." Glitch lifted his head as far as he could and was able to reach Cain's mouth with the flick of his tongue. Cain stared down at him for a moment before loosening his hold on Glitch's wrists and moving his free hand in a manor that would make any other person assume that he was carrying out espionage in order to slip under Glitch's shirt.

"You are a sneaky man, Glitch. Next time just say so. Was this your plan the entire time?" He wasn't sure if this was the time to be asking questions, but Cain needed to know.

"Yes, sir. Well not the entire time. Just since the whole Winter Palace incident." The head case grinned.

"That's... that's not what I meant." Before Wyatt was able to continue to babble out his confused thoughts, Glitch freed his good arm and pulled Cain down for a relatively violent, yet absolutely wonderful first kiss.

Cain paused for a moment to catch his breath and to put one arm under Glitch's head to give some cushioning. Glitch took that moment to ask, "Does it matter? It worked just fine either way, didn't it? So please refrain from speaking for the time being unless it involves additional physical contact."

"Anything you say, Glitch." Both men grinned at each other and resumed their activities.

-----------------------

It was less than a month before Glitch managed to proclaim his love for Wyatt. Glitch had felt the need to express his feelings while watching Cain eat dinner. His reasoning, which he shared with the entire dinner table (Oh yes, he did in fact decide to make his announcement in front of the queen, king, and both princesses, as well as the younger Cain) was that he wanted to make sure he was able to spend the rest of his life having moments like that dinner with Wyatt.

Cain took longer to verbally return the admission of love.

That is, he made it half way through desert before dropping the stoic act and pounced at Glitch (which he would later deny and insist it was manly sauntering), knocking him on the floor for a barely hidden kiss and while speaking solely to Glitch yet just loud enough for the rest of the room to hear, he stated what everyone already knew.

"Glitch, I love you too."

--------End----------