treasure_geeks | I've a lovely bunch of coconuts...

Yay for fluffy oneshots!!!

Title: Hide and Seek
Rating: PG
Pairing: Ben/Riley
Warnings: Slash, cross-posted to ff.net
Summary: Riley was bored. And interesting things happen when Riley gets bored.
Disclaimer: I don't own it. You know that.

Riley Poole was bored. So bored, in fact, that it ought to be illegal.

He had been lured away from his computer, to Ben and Abigail’s house by the promise of a picnic. (Abigail’s idea, of course; Ben and Riley were just innocent bystanders.) So he had expected to spend a few uncharacteristic hours outdoors with his best friend and…uhg, Abigail.

He had not expected to be trapped inside, staring out at a sheeting rain without Internet access.

So Riley was bored. And he continued to sit there, bored, until, suddenly, a brilliant thought crossed his mind. He jumped up from his seat by the window and crossed the kitchen, nearly tripping over the wastebasket in the process.

Riley found Ben in the study, hunched over some really really old piece of paper. As usual. The older man didn’t look up when he slipped in, too engrossed in whatever was written on the crumbling mess that Riley would be willing to bet a million dollars (which he had) that he would never in his life be able to figure out. He cleared his throat.

“Hey, Ben?” the treasure hunter glanced up, a distracted look in his eyes.

“What’s up, Riley?”

“I’m bored. It’s raining.”

“Yeah…?” Ben raised an eyebrow, uncertain where the techie was going with this.

“I think we should do something.” Riley declared.

“Like what?” Ben asked, nonplussed.

“Let’s play hide-and-seek!”

There was a moment of silence as the older man stared incredulously at his friend. Finally, he replied. “You can’t play hide-and-seek with only two people.”

“Abigail can play too.” Riley answered, with an impatient wave of the hand. “Come on, Ben! It’s so boring to sit in here and look at old documents all day!”

Ben looked mildly offended. “For your information, Riley, this ‘old document’ was written by--”

“Some Mason or treasure hunter or Benjamin Franklin or something.” Riley cut him off. “And I’m sure, to you, that’s very cool. But we have to do something fun, or I might drop dead right here.”

A ghost of a smile flitted across Ben’s face. “You’ll die, you say?”

“I’ll be deader than all those historical people you go on about.” His friend answered straight-faced.

“Well, we can’t have that.” Ben finally relented, standing up from his desk and stretching. Riley flashed him his trademark adorable grin, his blue eyes sparkling.

“You’re a pal, Ben!” he bolted to the door, intent on finding Abigail and Ben followed good-naturedly.

“Abigail!” Riley’s shout startled her and she jumped, almost spilling her tea in the process. She had been in her study, examining some old, rusty coins. “Hey Abigail?”

“Yes Riley?” she looked up, expecting to see the just computer geek standing in the doorway. Instead, she was surprised to see both Riley and Ben standing before her, the first wearing a troublemaking grin and the second looking mildly amused. “Where is the party, boys?”

“Riley wants to play hide-and-seek.” Ben informed her, his expression becoming more amused, probably at the change in her expression.

“But, I have lots of work to do…” she hesitated. Riley gave her his most imploring puppy-dog look, his bright blue eyes huge.

“Abi-gail.” He begged. “Please?”

“Did you say ‘please’?” she teased, raising an eyebrow. “I must say I’m shocked. But, since you asked so nicely, I suppose I’ll play.”

“Not it!” Riley called instantly. For a moment, Ben looked startled and then he hurriedly repeated his young friend’s claim. Abigail resisted the sudden urge to stamp her foot like a child.

“I guess that means I’m it.” She said. “How high are we counting?”

“To one-hundred.” Riley instructed; a mock-serious look on his face. “And no peeking.”

She gave an impressive sigh and closed her eyes. “One…Two…Three…”

Ben and Riley both hurried out of the room, searching for places to hide in the large, historic house. Riley took the stairs, two at a time, and Ben slipped into the kitchen.

“Nineteen…Twenty…Twenty-One…”

Finally, Riley found the perfect spot. It was in a little closet, at the very back of the attic, the door blocked by several boxes. He moved the boxes just enough to squeeze into the closet and closed the door.

“Thirty-Five…Thirty-Six…Thirty-Seven…Thirty-Eight…”

Ben still couldn’t find a good hiding place. Vaguely, he wondered why he had let Riley talk him into this. He had always been terrible at this game. And if he didn’t hurry, Abigail would catch him without any hiding spot at all!

“Fifty-Nine…Sixty…”

Ben bolted up the stairs, looking for a spot, almost panicked. It’s just a game. He reminded himself. He was a full-grown adult. But, still. Ben hated to lose.

“Seventy-Three…Seventy-Four…Seventy-Five…”

Finally, he noticed the closet at the back of the attic. That would have to be good enough. Unfortunately, there was a problem.

“Ouch, Ben!” Riley snapped, just above a whisper. “You can’t hide here! I’m here!”

“Ninety…Ninety-One…Ninety-Two…”

“Where else am I supposed to go?” Ben demanded.

“I don’t know! There are about a zillion places to hide in this house, go to one of them.”

“There’s not time!” Ben gave Riley his most pleading look. “Please, Ri.”

“Ready or not, here I come!” Abigail’s voice floated up the stairs. Riley sighed.

“Fine, but you better be quiet.”

Abigail decided she would search systematically. She checked the entire first floor first and found no one. How odd that they would both hide on the second floor. Or maybe she had missed one of them?

“Ben?” Riley’s voice came through the darkness.

“Yes?”

“You’re stepping on my hand.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

Abigail had rechecked the first floor and come to the conclusion that they both were on the second. She made her way to the stairs, as quietly as possible, hoping to surprise them.

“Riley?”

“Yeah, Ben?”

“She’s going to know we’re in here.”

“Shh! Not if you quit talking, she won’t.”

She checked hers and Ben’s bedroom, the bathroom and the upstairs living room. Still nothing. This was very puzzling. If they weren’t on the first floor and they weren’t on the second, where could they be? Ah, the attic!

“This is stupid.” Ben said just above a whisper. Riley elbowed him. He had just heard footsteps on the stairs.

“Shush!”

“But, really--”

“Ben, seriously, stop talking!”

Abigail opened the attic door as quietly as she could. At first glance, the large room seemed empty, but she was certain they were up here.

“This is a dumb hiding spot.” Ben murmured.

“Then why are you here?” the younger man barely remembered to keep his voice low. He felt Ben shrug.

“I don’t know…I just--” There was the sound of a door creaking open.

“Shh, Ben!”

“Why?”

“Uhg, just, shh!” Riley was obviously exasperated. It was a rare thing when Ben was the one being annoying. “If you don’t be quiet, I’ll make you be quiet!”

“How exactly do you plan to do that?” Ben said, enjoying himself.

Abigail heard a snatch of a whisper and followed it. She spotted the closet and tiptoed towards it. Feeling slightly foolish, she grabbed the handle and pulled open the door.

Ben and Riley were sitting on the floor of the closet. Kissing passionately. They broke apart and stared up at her, Ben wearing a rather dazed expression and Riley looking proud of himself and she stared back blankly. No one said anything for a moment, but, of course, Riley couldn’t stay silent for long.

“Well…this is awkward.”

“Only mildly.” Answered Abigail, surprising them both. “I’m not all that shocked.” With that, she turned and walked out, leaving the two in a stunned silence.

“I think that made her mad.” Ben said thoughtfully. “I would make sense for it to make her mad. But personally, I thought it was rather nice…”

“Ben?” Riley said, leaning in to kiss him again. “Stop talking.”

I've a lovely bunch of coconuts...

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