Behind the shack, a repeated thumping sound interrupted the peaceful sound of the light, cold rain. Viktor knew what he would see, of course, before he stepped out from the sliding door from the kitchen into the back yard - Kain stood at the corner of the house under the overhang, wearing nothing but loose black pants despite the weather as he worked out on a punching bag hung from the roof.

He'd been out there for some time already, but his kicks and punches continued without slowing, until Viktor spoke. "Hey... having fun?"

Kain spared a moment to glare at him before returning to his punching with renewed force. "No."

"Heh, me either," Viktor confessed with a grin. "Bored. Mind if I give it a shot?"

Kain didn't pause. "Yes."

Viktor wasn't particularly surprised, as Kain had never been the friendliest guy around the house, but he hesitated a little before going on. "...You ever gonna give me an answer with more than one word?"

"Why should I?" Kain asked, not skipping a beat.

Viktor chuckled. "Cute, kid. Real cute."

"Thanks. Now go." Kain gave the bag an extra hard kick.

"Nah..." Viktor said casually. "I was wondering if you wanted to do anything."

This time Kain stopped, and looked at him with mild suspicion from behind the punching bag. "Why?"

"Cause you're tired of this?" Viktor suggested. "I never see you do anything but work out, you know. And insult Sydney and James, I guess," he added.

"What else is there to do?"

"I dunno, I was hoping you knew. Cause I'm bored."

Kain shrugged and went back to his punching bag. "Go play with Flik."

"He's not around. Probably won't be for awhile." Which, of course, was why Viktor was bothering to talk to Kain, but he'd never have said it openly.

"Awww, did your little boyfriend run off without you?"

Viktor dismissed the mocking comment. "Nah... he's got a life outside of me, you know."

"Heh. Imagine that." Kain muttered "...And do it somewhere else." His words were punctuated with several firm punches to the punching bag, which made it swing dangerously.

"Whoa, watch it..." Viktor cautioned him. "Don't want to break the chain."

"Oh, no, of course not." Kain smirked as he punched the bag again, this time harder and at an angle, causing it to swing over and almost hit Viktor.

Catching it just in time, Viktor peered at Kain in disbelief. "...What's your problem, anyway?"

"You."

"Me?" Viktor repeated. "That's all?"

"At the moment, yes," Kain replied matter-of-factly, gesturing at the punching bag. "Want to let go of that?"

Viktor not only let go of the punching bag, but punched it back in Kain's direction. "You need to loosen up."

"What do you think I'm doing out here?" Kain asked, narrowing his eyes as he caught the bag just before it hit him.

"Sulking, brooding, and winding yourself up tighter than ever." Viktor shook his head, chuckling. "Man, if you loosened up a little, maybe you would have stood a chance with that Rosa girl."

Kain sighed irritably. "Shut up."

"Flik used to be like that, y'know," Viktor continued. "He still has his moments, sometimes... It's frustrating."

"Listen, Viktor," Kain told him, fixing him with a serious look. "Take your faggy self and your faggy talk about your faggy boyfriend, and fuck off. Oh wait, you need Flik to do that," he added with mock innocence. "My mistake."

"Hmmmm, sounds like someone needs some love!" Viktor said brightly, but his smirk was erased as he suddenly was forced to jump aside, dodging the punching bag that Kain threw towards him. "...Or a whupping."

"Go away. Now."

Viktor ordinarily would have just given up, but this time he shrugged; he was not in the best of moods, after all. "...Make me. This is my back yard too, you know."

Kain considered for a moment, looking at the larger man, and decided to take him up on the offer.

Catching the fist that was launched at him, Viktor smiled. "Awww, how cute."

"...You are so dead," Kain growled, his eyes narrowing as he aimed another punch at Viktor with his free hand.

Viktor caught that one easily as well. "Nope, not yet - just bored," he said with a grin. "Apparently Hardin's masochism is contagious."

"Will... you... SHUT... UP?!" Kain wrenched his left hand free and punched Viktor square in the nose.

"Whoa..." Genuinely surprised that the boy had that much strength, Viktor smiled darkly as he dropped into a fighting stance, fists clenched. "That's more like it, kid. And here I was thinking all your training was pointless, if that was the best you could do."

Kain answered the dark smile with a smirk of his own. "I haven't even gotten started," he muttered. "You want to see more?"

"Sure, why not?"

Viktor managed to block the punch to the face and the kick to the knee, but not the punch to the gut, and winced painfully before straightening again. "...Ow. Okay, okay, you're not so bad," he conceded.

"Hmmph." Kain regarded him with distaste as he stood back, dropping his guard a little. "You're so much of a pansy you're not even going to hit me back?"

"Maybe I am." Viktor said with a shrug. Suddenly his hand struck out in a surprise left hook across Kain's jaw. "Nah, maybe not," he said casually.

Taken off guard, Kain fingered his jaw for a moment, then aimed another wild punch at Viktor, who simply caught his arm and flung him into the side of the house. "Keep trying, kid."

Bracing himself against the wall, Kain landed a strong kick to Viktor's ribs, driving him out into the yard and into the rain. "Don't mock me," he growled dangerously as he lunged at Viktor again, and Viktor raised his hands to meet his attack head-on.

Several minutes later, both were exhausted and sore. Though their bodies glistened with rainwater, several bruises were already beginning to show, and traces of blood were apparent where the rain had not entirely washed it away.

Kain, however, was panting and shivering a little, and decided there was no point to it. "...Fine... whatever... stay," he told Viktor, dropping his fists but keeping a wary eye on him regardless. "I'm going inside."

Viktor was nearly in the same shape as Kain, but smiling as he lowered his fists as well. "Heh... I don't need to stay. Feeling better?"

Hesitating at the sliding door, Kain looked back at him in surprise. "...Now that you mention it..."

"See?" Viktor panted, grinning. "I didn't think that punching bag really was working for you. Better when you can see the blood, isn't it?"

"...That's why you came out here to annoy me?" Kain asked dubiously.

Viktor paused for a moment to wipe the blood from his upper lip. "That, and like I said, I was bored."

"Hmmph." Kain thought about that for a second. "Well... thanks. I guess."

"Eh, don't mention it," Viktor told him with an exhausted wave of one hand. "Was refreshing. Flik and I never do that anymore."

"Mm." Something else occurred to Kain, and he eyed Viktor with suspicion. "You know, I really couldn't care less about who you sleep with, male or female, but..." Stepping up to Viktor, Kain managed to look him straight in the eye. "This had better not have been some attempt to get into my pants."

"You're no fun." Leaning forward, Viktor gave him a quick, mocking kiss on the nose, ala Bugs Bunny to Yosemite Sam.

Kain's expression didn't change for an instant. "...If you ever do that again, I really will kill you."

Smirking, Viktor followed him into the house. "I'll be looking forward to it."