"I don't understand why the mosquitoes are only after me!" Jasper exclaimed, swatting his arms and wildly dousing himself with his chemically conditioned bug spray.

"Well, maybe they wouldn't be if you weren't spraying yourself with lactic acid…" Henry smirked.

"Lactic acid, but that's a mosquito magnet…" Maggie stopped and turned to Jasper, smiling. Jasper looked at Henry, who made a kissy face at him and chuckled.

"Lac…lactic acid Henry I'll KILL you!" Jasper yelled, running at him.

Henry turned and ran, laughing as he jumped over a barrel and around a tent, Jasper close on his heels. Maggie laughed as they ran off into the woods, shaking her head like she always did.

"Henry! Get back here so I can pulverize you!" Jasper called after his cousin and friend, who was still laughing at him and AGH was that annoying! "Stand still, not funny, you have so much advantage with your warrior-monkey training!"

"Why would I stop? I'm clearly ahead of the game!"

"Come on!"

Henry looked over his shoulder and laughed, which caused him to miss the root sticking out of the warm brown Virginia earth. He tumbled and rolled over, parkour training obviously a benefit, but not entirely helpful, as he landed on his back and groaned. Jasper slowed and jogged to Henry's side.

"Whoa, buddy, you okay? What was that? Not your best moment."

"Ugh, my back…"

Now concerned, Jasper knelt next to Henry and touched him gently on his shoulder. "Henry?"

"I'm alright, can you help me up?"

"Sure." Jasper grabbed his right hand and pulled him to standing, where the shorter boy leaned heavily against him for a moment. "You gonna be okay?"

Henry hooked one arm around Jasper's neck and the other around his waist and pulled him into a hot and unexpected kiss.

Jasper pulled back, pushing half-heartedly at Henry's chest. "Wha…"

Henry kissed him again and held him tightly for only a moment before he was gone again, running through the woods, not showing any signs of having had fallen at all.

Jasper groaned. "Henry!"

And Henry just laughed and kept running.