“I thought you were meant to be good at this.”
“I am,” Jax replied with a groan, rubbing at his lower back. “But I’m not a young man anymore Johnny, I can’t just move about like I used to.”
“Firstly you’re 37, that’s hardly geriatric,” Johnny teased, “Secondly you’re telling me you can do all that farm work but you can’t play an hour of soccer?” As Johnny bent over to pick up the ball, the girls ran over to join them.
“It’s a completely different set of muscles,” Jax tried to argue, but he knew he had no chance of winning. Instead of attempting, he instead reached over to ruffle Jacqui’s hair. “Sorry to cut it short girls, is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”
“Could… We get ice cream?” Jacqui asked in a hopeful tone, giving her father the best puppy dog expression she could muster. Jax glanced over at Cassie who was mirroring the look.
He chuckled, “I think I can do that.” He bent at the knees, hooking his hands under Jacqui’s arms and lifting her up.
“You sure you should be doing that, old man?” Johnny taunted, crouching on the floor and letting Cassie jump on his back.
“Old man? Excuse me Cage, I am 1 year older than you.” Jax hauled Jacqui over his shoulders, letting her wrap her arms around his neck while he held her up with his legs. “Also, I’m pretty sure that in a 1 on 1 fight I could still kick you a-… Butt.”
“Oh yeah? You think so?” Johnny stood back up, Cassie peering around his head from his shoulder.
“I don’t just think so, I know so,” he declared confidently. He however very quickly remembered his surroundings, feeling himself back down. “Although maybe a public park is not the place to prove it.”
“True that,” Johnny agreed, also taking a step back.
“You could always have a race,” Cassie chimed up instead.
“Yeah a piggy back race,” Jacqui added, resting her head on Jax’s shoulder. “First one to the park entrance wins!”
“And the looser buys the ice cream!”
Jax and Johnny gave each other a look for a second. He could see the fire reignited in Johnny’s eyes, and he could tell he was absolutely down to fight. Not that Jax was opposed either. He reckoned he could take Johnny on in a race, even with the extra weight of Jacqui on his back.
Nodding in silent agreement, they stepped up, making sure they were roughly in line. Sure, this was maybe a childish way of settling a dispute but they were still going to be fair about it. No cheating.
“3…” Cassie slowly began counting. “2… 1…”
“Go!”
Upon Jacqui’s announcement Jax launched himself forward, seeing from the corner of his eye that Johnny did the same. As he ran as fast as his legs could go, all he could hear was the wind in his ears and the excited cries of Jacqui and Cassie as they called for their respective fathers to go. Jax paid it no mind, fully focused on the task at hand: beat Johnny Cage at all costs.
A short disapproving cry of “nooo” from Cassie told him he was almost complete at that task.
He pushed his body for the final stretch. Maybe a little too hard, he could feel his breathing getting laboured and his legs aching but he decided that was a problem for later. As he reached the entrance archway to the part, he slid to a stop just beyond. Looking behind he watched as Johnny finally caught up, panting for breath.
“Oh. Man, I need a sit down,” Johnny moaned, rubbing his chest.
“Who’s the old man now?” Jax gloated, even though he himself was still trying to catch his own breath. Jacqui was giggling from the overwhelming excitement of victory.
“Alright, alright,” Johnny whined, standing up straight and jostling Cassie to sit more comfortably. “I can admit when I’m defeated.”
“You know what this means right?” Jax asked, making eye contact with Cassie who, despite clearly being disappointed at loosing, still gave him a grin.
“You’re buying the ice cream!” Cassie exclaimed, causing Johnny to chuckle.
“I guess I am.”
⊰ Last Fic ≛ Tumblr Prompts ≛ Next Fic ⊱
⏎Return To Tumblr Prompts Masterlist⏎