In honor of the upcoming Valentines Day holiday, I'd like submit not one, but two challenges. Any participants can do one, or both. Challenge #1: "The "Pucker up, Valentine!" Challenge Jun (or Princess, etc) is planning a special Valentines Event at the Snack (or Jill's,etc) in order to raise money/drum up business. She wants the all the guys to lend a hand. One of them has to man the kissing booth. Which one is it? How does it all pan out? Inquiring minds want to know! Challenge #2: The "Romantically Challenged" Challenge This could be almost anything, but I think the title speaks for itself. LOL. Hope to see some fun responses!

Haha! I just did the "Romantically Challenged" one- need to post it here! I'll have to think something up for the other prompt...

Yeah you beat me to it Springie! LOL

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It's always the quiet ones, right EW? LOL.

Yay Ryu!!!!!!!!

Ok, I can't believe I'm writing this. LOL. This is for challenge # 1 Nothing explicit, but if you don't like M/M, don't read further. *********************************************** After spending all day puckering up in the kissing booth for Jun's "Special Marathon Valentine's Day Fundraiser", Joe's lips were pretty tuckered out. Not only that, but he was buzzed. Very buzzed. He rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. It was Jinpei's fault really, the kid kept bringing him bottles of beer. He'd spy the empties and within a few minutes, another bottle would magically take its place. At the time Joe hadn't thought about it, being occupied and all, so... well, it was like magic anyway. He casually wiped a hand over his mouth and grimaced. He was definitely going to need to buy stock in Chapstick or something. Next year, it was Ken's turn. Jun originally wanted him for the kissing booth, but Ken begged off feigning a cold and had stayed away from the Snack for the last few days. Bastard! At $5 a pop he didn't know how many lips he'd kissed, but Jun's eyes had lit up with dollar signs as she saw all the chicks lined up for a smooch. She had even made Jinpei run out to buy extra of his favorite cologne, and practically made him bathe in it before they opened the booth. But now the Snack was quiet, the crowds gone for the night. The front door was locked, the floors mopped, the lights turned down low. Jun was currently upstairs counting all the money she made and Jinpei had walked some blonde girl with braces home. He wanted to chuckle when he saw pink lip-gloss smeared across his cheek and the squirt's brown eyes had taken upon a dreamy look. Ryu cleared out for the night having left for the movies with a girl he met at the marina, whistling a happy tune. Resting his head in his hands, Joe heard the back door open, and looked up to see Ken quietly walking through the kitchen. He bit back a snicker as he saw Joe still sitting at the white kissing booth plastered with red and pink painted hearts accented with glitter and flowers. "Survived the evening?" Ken laughed taking in Joe's haggard expression and sitting down opposite him "My lips are killing me." Joe groaned. "And it's all YOUR fault." A brow shot up. "MY fault?" "Yeah, flyboy. This was supposed to be your job, not mine." Ken shook his head, glint of amusement in his eyes. "Nope. I was sick." Joe snorted. "Yeah right!" Ken glanced around the Snack. "Where's Jun?" "Counting her millions. I swear Ken, I never thought kissing so many chicks could hurt so much." His friend rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure you managed to suffer through it." Joe briefly ran his tongue over his sore bottom lip, grimacing. "I never want to taste flavored lip-gloss again. I must've eaten 10 pounds of it today." He made a gesture with his hand, and knocked over his beer, sending it clattering to the floor. "Jeez, have you had enough to drink?" Ken chuckled, shaking his head. They each leaned over to the side to retrieve the rogue bottle. "I got it." "Nah s'ok..." Joe's fingers closed over the bottle at one end, Ken's on the other. They each laughed and simultaneously drew slightly back to glance up at the other through their tousled hair. Their eyes met...and locked. Joe frowned at him. Ken just stared back, his eyes incredibly blue. It was then they both noticed they were each staring at the others lips. Unconsciously they drew closer, until their lips met in the barest of brushes, then they suddenly jerked away from each other, as if goosed by a cattle prod. Neither could look at the other, only the floor or the ceiling, anything but each other. "Whoa!" Joe exclaimed looking around for his keys. "It's getting really late. I've gotta get going!" "Yeah me too!..." "So....see you in the morning?" Joe stammered. "Oh...hell....." "It's ok...." "Ok, I'm leaving!" Joe grabbed his jacket and knocked over his chair, sending it toppling to the tile floor with a crash. "It's ok, I'll go!" Ken shot up from his chair and collided with Joe, who was trying to put on his jacket, failing his arm about. They danced around each other for a minute, bumping into one another again, then stepped clear of each other, Ken scrambling for the back door, Joe for the front. The sound of footsteps came thudding down the steps from the apartment upstairs. "Hello? Is anybody there?" Jun called out, hand on one hip and peering towards the front of the eatery. "Huh," she shrugged. "Everyone must've gone home." Flicking off the light, she turned and went back upstairs to finish counting the days' proceeds.

Aw, poor babies. They're usually so in sync and now they're bumbling all over! Verra nice.

Ew - how refreshing to see Ryu get some of the action, great work RB - I wonder if Ken could taste the lip gloss too?

EW- I was thinking that Ryu would love manning the kissing booth too! RB- I prefer to think that they were reaaaallly drunk...and won't remember a thing in the morning!

EW - just goes to show, you never know where someone's talents lie RB - ROFL - so Joe can blame this one being trashed. What's Ken's excuse? And I am working on my answer to this, but it's turning out a bit longer than I originally thought it would...

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Sounds like Ryu is finally getting a chance to show what he's made ofQ! Springie, I love the date!

EW: That was really cute! (and YAY you did both challenges!)

Originally posted by KT1972 RB - I wonder if Ken could taste the lip gloss too?

Good question!

Originally posted by mylari RB - ROFL - so Joe can blame this one being trashed. What's Ken's excuse?

Another good question!

Originally posted by Springie RB- I prefer to think that they were reaaaallly drunk...and won't remember a thing in the morning!

Hehehe. I totally understand that line of thinking!

Originally posted by mylari And I am working on my answer to this, but it's turning out a bit longer than I originally thought it would...

No worries. Take your time!

EW: Yay Victoria gets a Valentine! Now maybe he can stop picking on Kat. *cries*

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Never.

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LOL I love it! So adorable.

So, did Ken make any money, or was Joe the successful one? I hope Jun paid her fee; she certainly got her money's worth

EW: cute fennec story! Mylari: loved it! Now I really want to draw angel Ken and Devil Joe... Or you should! We need visuals 😉

ROTFL. Love it! Glad the muses decided to cooperate, Mylari! So...I'm guessing Jun isn't going to get to kiss Joe too, huh? Or is this going to turn into something that's.....

Originally posted by Springie Mylari: loved it! Now I really want to draw angel Ken and Devil Joe... Or you should! We need visuals 😉

Everyone should draw them! (Okay, I have a bit of a fetish for Angel Ken )

Originally posted by ChrisW

Originally posted by Springie Mylari: loved it! Now I really want to draw angel Ken and Devil Joe... Or you should! We need visuals 😉

Everyone should draw them! (Okay, I have a bit of a fetish for Angel Ken )

I really don't think anyone would want to see my efforts!

Originally posted by ChrisW (Okay, I have a bit of a fetish for Angel Ken )

Ohhhh, I remember Club Aphrodite with Angel Ken and Devil Joe! LOL.

Thanks everyone - glad you enjoyed!

Originally posted by Springie Mylari: loved it! Now I really want to draw angel Ken and Devil Joe... Or you should! We need visuals 😉

Go for it! I'll ask the muses if anyone wants to sit for this, but not sure if they'll take me up on it.

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Aww, I was feeling quite sorry for Keyop here, but then, with all those foxes to play with, it didn't turn out so bad for him in the end.

Aw, I'm glad the Fennec Squad was there to save the day.

EW -- I always knew Ryu had it in him! And awww... poor Tesla can't help it if people accidentally get shocked -- totally an accident! And Keyop got to play with fennecs! He's a totally happy boy right now! Redbird -- LOL! I wonder if either of them walked out there singing under his breath, "I kissed a boy and I liked it ...." Mylari -- Ooo .. so sweet, but it might not be wise to leave such a devil unsupervised! LOL

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I was wondering what Jun would think when other girls started lining up for Ken... I hope she has a lot of savings to monopolize him all afternoon!

LOL, RIgirl The old bucket of bolts has his uses after all!

Originally posted by RIgirl Redbird -- LOL! I wonder if either of them walked out there singing under his breath, "I kissed a boy and I liked it ...."

LOLOLOLOL

RIgirl: ROTFL ... OMG!

Just started reading now, going through all the tribs: EW (1) : I knew, I just knew it would be Ryu! It's the big silent ones which are the best kissers, no? EW (2): Hee hee, I hope Victoria's hair is not flying all over the place now, after stroking little Tesla! Redbird: Let's hope that they are so loaded, they won't remember it the following day But it was cute -- plus, to be honest, I hadn't thought that lips can hurt! Mylari: That's sweet, Jun wanting to be first in line! And Joe got the message quickly, that the kissing booth was now firmly in his lips...

EW (3): Poor Keyop, it's not enough he's got to face Spectra, he's being bullied also! A quite hug with the fennecs seemed to do the trick. Good thing he didn't know Zark was watching -- that would be enough to drive everyone's nerves to pieces RIgirl: Aaaaaaand here's Zark taking one for the team! His trigatrons are shaking as we speak. By the way, was it a lapsus, Tiny telling Princess "Man it yourself"? Interesting choice of words

Originally posted by RIgirl LOL! I wonder if either of them walked out there singing under his breath, "I kissed a boy and I liked it ...."

Good question! LOL.

Originally posted by Daniella T Let's hope that they are so loaded, they won't remember it the following day But it was cute -- plus, to be honest, I hadn't thought that lips can hurt!

Heheh. Joe kissed a lot of girls that day--chapped lips can really hurt! EW: I see the Fennec's have found their way into the BOTP universe as well. Glad they could make Keyop feel better. So cute! RIGirl: I think Princess will want to have a word with Mark about this! LOL

RIGirl: Now, I just wonder if they ended up paying customers to kiss Zark!

Originally posted by Springie Mylari: loved it! Now I really want to draw angel Ken and Devil Joe... Or you should! We need visuals 😉

OK, convinced Ken to sit, but for some reason he wanted gargoyle wings instead of angel wings. I'll try to convince him otherwise if I work on it more and/or color it. I've got plans tomorrow night and homework the rest of the week/weekend (but it's my last week of class before I graduate ) I have two days off work next week to celebrate finishing school so I will see if I can get Joe to sit and maybe even try coloring (which I haven't done in ages and am now out of practice at LOL)

He looks so happy. He must have found out he got to kiss Jun.

Fantastic work! Gargoyle- angel works for me!

Great work, Mylari I agree with Chris that he does look happy. Hope Joe will be just as cooperative when his turn comes to pose

Love it Mylari! LOL'ing at the gargoyle wings--it works somehow.

He's definitely thrilled to be in that costume!

finished homework earlier than expected tonight, so worked on Devil Joe. I need to go back and rework his eyes, but it's a start...

Fantastic! Now we'll have the set!

Oh that's great, and he seems to be having a wickedly good time too

Originally posted by KT1972 Oh that's great, and he seems to be having a wickedly good time too

Seriously! What is up with these two? They must be planning something!

It would be funny to do a second set where Ken is the devil and Joe is the angel and they're both sulky.

Originally posted by ChrisW It would be funny to do a second set where Ken is the devil and Joe is the angel and they're both sulky.

LOL - I make no promises, but your request has been communicated to the muse harem. What they will do with it is anybody's guess. Though I do want them to make some corrections to Joe's picture before they go find anything else to amuse themselves with...

Originally posted by ChrisW It would be funny to do a second set where Ken is the devil and Joe is the angel and they're both sulky.

LOL. That would be awesome. I can see the grumpy expressions now. Actually, Ken would make a cute devil but Joe's halo would probably crack

Originally posted by Redbird LOL. That would be awesome. I can see the grumpy expressions now. Actually, Ken would make a cute devil but Joe's halo would probably crack

Or catch on fire!

Originally posted by ChrisW Or catch on fire!

Oooh absolutely! LOL.

So I started coloring "Gargangel Ken" but then school ended and somehow instead of getting more free time, I ended up with less, so it took a while to find time to go back and finish him up. That said, here is the finished product...

Hee hee hee, his wings and halo look sooo fluffy he seems happy to be participating too

Marabou wings and halo! Love it!

So sweet

I was just thinking: instead of Malibu Ken we have MARABOU Ken.

Originally posted by Redbird I was just thinking: instead of Malibu Ken we have MARABOU Ken.

Nice one, RB.

Looks terrific!

Originally posted by ElectricWhite

Originally posted by Redbird I was just thinking: instead of Malibu Ken we have MARABOU Ken.

Nice one, RB.

Heheh. Thanks, EW. The picture also brings to mind lyrics from an AC/DC song: "One hot angel, one cool devil."

Got a little unexpected free time lately, so I worked on coloring Devil Joe.

Oh I love this pic, Mylari! He looks like he's seen a long queue waiting at his side of the kissing booth.

He definitely looks pleased.

Originally posted by ChrisW He definitely looks pleased.

Definitely waaaayyy too happy! LOL

He's happy to have all of the girls (save the Swan) to himself!