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It seemed that Mother Nature had finally gotten the memo that it was suppose to be Spring in Destiny City, and there were few people in the world that could be happier about this truth than Richard Moreau. Four long months he waited for the snow to clear, for the sun to beam down in all of its amazing glory before it became unforgiving, and the first thing that Richard did on his glorious day off was grab his swimming shorts (if one could even call it that), sandals, and oversized, fuzzy towel and throw them into his sports bag and zoom out the door.

There was only one way to celebrate the coming of the long awaited Spring, and that was to swim! Swim all of his worries away (not that he'd spend too much time troubling himself with such worries, though things with the Negaverse hadn't exactly gone his way as of late). No, that life remained separate from his everyday life as Richard, and today, Richard wanted nothing more than to swim.

He seldom went to the community pool and for all the reasons people would have assumed if they knew Richard. He was a bit of a germaphobe and had known the statistics and risks that came with swimming in a pool shared by others, but the call to swim was too great. He couldn't be worried with such things- after all, why worry about getting sick from swimming in someone else's filth when a Senshi could have ended his life in a single attack? (Though, death by Senshi attack might have been quicker and more merciful than death from the runs).

'Not here to think of that! Here to swim!' Richard thought, hitting the showers real quick before making his way to the pool, wearing nothing more than a tight but perfectly form fitting red swimming briefs. 'And maybe treat myself to a little eye candy, if I'm lucky...'

Richard should have been in the guilty party, and if he was, few could blame him. One look at Xander and any woman, or man, in their right mind would have been struck green with envy, with his luscious locks and the beautiful tint as well. It was already great to see another red-head in the world that wasn't a ginger, but Richard's hair was a more cherry red, whereas this man's was a more auburn red, therefor likely more desirable for the ladies. Even his form was pretty damn good, and Richard lingered in the shallow end for a bit just to admire him from a distance.

The thing was, Richard wanted to feel envious, just like the ladies that were sitting on the benches behind him, but the truth of the matter was that he more interested in getting to know the other man, than bearing any ill will.

When Xander looked his way, he fought the urge to look away, and he couldn't help but wonder what had caught the other man's attention and why he was looking towards him with a sour look. That was when he noticed the ball in his hand, and the giggles that came from behind him, as one of the ladies shouted. "It was him! That guy, right there!"

Richard didn't turn around to see who she was pointing at, as he was too busy looking around for the culprit himself. If he had, he would have noticed that she was pointed at him, and he gave an indignant sigh as he muttered aloud. "Really, throwing balls. How childish!"

Moments before Xander approached him, Richard was thinking about how envious he was of the man and how much he wanted to talk to him. Now that he was heading his way, he was trying to think of all the many ways he could get a conversation going with him, without it coming off as being too painfully obvious that he wanted to take him home (after all, he may not have been that way, and Richard, as much of a horn dog as he was, respected that).

Now that he was literally standing in front of him, ball in hand and questioning him, Richard found himself surprisingly speechless. It wasn't often that his mind went blank, but weeks of working hard at both his day job and Negaverse duties gave him the horrible jitters, though that didn't stop him from trying to recover as best as he could. "Wh-whaaaaaa? No! I don't own any balls you see- hm, that came off poorly. What I meant to say is that is not my ball, and I didn't throw it. Yes... that's what I meant!"

This caused the girls behind him to erupt with laughter, and only then did Richard get an idea of what happened and how their laughs were directed at him. He was thankful that Xander's gaze had moved to the culprits, as it gave him the chance to try and bring that natural color to his face. Red was only good for his hair and eyes, not his entire face! He muttered, before turning to face the jealous women. "Seems I've been bamboozled..."

This only caused the ladies to laugh even more, and only one of them seemed to have enough wit about her to speak up. "That's my ball. I'm sorry! I was... trying to throw it to the other side of the pool, that's all! I didn't mean to hit you. Are you okay?"

If Xander had laughed at him, Richard wouldn't have blamed him. After all, had the tables not been turned on him, he might have been enjoying a good laugh right now along with them. But given that the laughs were directed at him, it was nice to see that Xander was at least kind enough not to openly laugh at his plight, as well as handle the situation in a far better manner than he would have. He looked back at the laughing women and made sure to remember their faces- a certain Negaverse lieutenant might have to pay them a little visit and give them a little scare for their slight against him, but that was a matter he'd deal with later.

Richard decided it was best to leave the clucking chickens to their own devices and followed Xander, as he was obviously the more interesting of the bunch. When Xander extended a hand and introduced himself, Richard didn't hesitate, taking in that hand and giving it a firm shake. "Richard Moreau, candy store owner and chocolatier. A pleasure to meet you, Xander... despite the circumstances."

Now that the situation seemed to pass, Richard was finding it easier to fall into old habits, and the best way to be sure that he was back into his groove was how he observed Xander's behavior and his appearance. Yes, he was certainly an attractive one, a good reason for the ladies to feel envious, though their romance pitch was nowhere near as good as their throwing pitch. Perhaps Richard could show them how it was done... "I saw you swimming earlier before that completely random tennis ball attack. Are you a professional, or are you just that good?"

Richard didn't want to admit that while he loved swimming, he couldn't do anything more than a doggy paddle. A very sexy looking doggie paddle, but nothing too impressive.

Richard gave a half-hearted shrug at the mention of children, but he did his best to keep his personal disgust with the little monsters to himself. After all, a candy store owner that hated children? It seemed like such a put off! "Yes, children love my wares and the sight of them beaming helps me through the day. I can think of nothing sweeter than a child's glee."

'Bourbon, among a million other things, including the one before me,' Richard thought to himself, before turning his full attention back to Xander. His crimson eyes gleamed at the mention of him working at the ER, and he figured that this information would be very useful to him, should he ever need a medical assist from his many failed endeavors to persuade Senshi and Pages over to his side. "So, you're smart and athletic? No wonder those women over there want to eat you up! I certainly don't blame them."

Yes, he knew what those women were doing now, and where they had failed, he would simply pick himself up and go at it a different way. Now that seemed to break the ice between them, it was time to test the waters and see what his chances were with this young man. He'd show those women how it was done, one way or another, and he gave a stretch, as he addressed Xander. "Say, care to race? Seeing that you're not a professional, I figured I'd stand a chance after all. What do you say?"

"You'll be surprised how compliant most children are when you shove a piece of candy in their mouth and tell them to move along. I can imagine how difficult it'd be to handle the little ones when they're sick or in pain. You must have the patience of a saint!"

Richard wasn't foreign to the idea of someone being modest or shy- he met many different types of people in his day, many that seemed to be his exact opposite. And Richard didn't mind that so much, after all, variety was the spice of life, and no one enjoyed life more than Richard Moreau. He found him to be absolutely adorable, which in turn only made him all the more desirable, but he tried to refrain. What he desired more was getting back at those ladies at the pool side, and he knew the perfect way to do so.

He bobbed his head at Xander's suggestion. The lap lane wasn't too far away from the clucking chickens, which worked perfectly for his plan. He gave a stretch, before wading over to his lane. "Sounds like a plan, Xander. Do try and take it easy on me, won't you?"

Not that he expected he was going to be able to beat someone like him. Even though Xander admitted to not being a professional, all Richard could manage was a doggie paddle. Xander could swim circles around him... but Richard was certain that he could beat him in a splashing contest.

"Yes, but you know the old saying. What goes up much eventually go down," Richard said, finally finishing his stretches, though it was more like showing off his topless body to whoever was looking than actually stretching. Like hell he knew what kind of stretches were proper for a swimmer... he guessed the arms and shoulders, and maybe the legs too. "I fill them up with so much sugar that they give their parents an hour of craziness, then when the rush ends, they put them to bed. Either way, nothing I have to deal with, thankfully."

Which was why Richard would never have kids. He shouldn't be ALLOWED to have kids. And he was content with that. Heaven help the world if this man ever helped produce a child and then had to RAISE it. It was the cause to many, many breakups in the past, but he felt it made him a better person to at least be well enough aware of that and do his part in preventing overpopulation.

Who was Richard to decline such a kind offer? He accepted it with gusto, and he decided to try and be fair with the small advantage he was given by assuring Xander with a generous smile. "How about a two second head start? Does that seem fair?"

He was already moving into position, and all he was waiting for was the okay from his opponent before he'd get started.

Perhaps Xander was being entirely too kind to him but giving him such a huge head start, or at least one would think. Those people didn't know Richard very well, or they simply underestimated just how pathetic of a swimmer Richard was. He was the type that, if they made them big enough, he would totally wear arm floaties, and the moment that Xander gave him the go ahead, he was off, splashing up a storm and moving at a snail's pace. Though, perhaps even a snail would have left him in the dust.

Maybe that wasn't fair on Richard, and honestly, his swimming wasn't normally that bad. But today, he was swimming horribly for a reason, and it became painfully clear when he drew close enough to the group of ladies that had thrown the ball at Xander and had the nerve to pit the blame on him. When he got close to them, his splashing became even more frantic, even bigger and bigger until they were hit by his waves, and he pretended not to notice how they screeched and tried to flee from his self-made tsunami.

They were mad. It was like he had taken a piss at a hornet's nest and the queen ordered all of the units out for his blood. They were screaming at him, but Richard was too busy splashing to 'hear' them. He was also so busy laughing at their expense that he swallowed some pool water, so how, he was splashing AND sputtering.

But totally worth it.