Straightening up from his labours, Hercules stretched and glanced over at young Tyce. The demi-god and Iolaus were fixing the wall for their friend Mycron. Mycron had a broken leg and his wife had taken him off to the village with her for a few hours off while Hercules and Iolaus were around to baby sit for their little girl. Tyce currently appeared quite happy playing with her toy chariot in the sunshine.

"Herc…?" Iolaus growled.

"Hmmh?"

"This damn stone is heavy you know, muscles…"

"What? Oh sorry, Iolaus!" Hercules hastily swung back and grabbed the stone Iolaus was supporting for him on the other side of the wall as the hunter started to sag at the knees. He dragged it into place, tamping it down solidly. With a sigh of relief Iolaus stepped back, brushing off his hands. Walking a little further along, he then hopped up onto the wall and swung his legs over, picking up the waterskin.

"Time for a break," he announced when Hercules glanced at him in exasperation.

"Another one?"

"Hey, I didn't expect to end up building a wall when we dropped by to say hello! Look, do you want a carrot? They’re good for you."

"You’re going to look like a carrot sooner or later," Hercules snorted and leaned back against the wall, enjoying the warm sunshine and the cooling breeze. It felt good to be doing something useful with his strength for once and it was nice to build something instead of break it down. It brought back good memories.

"Herc?"

"Hmmh?"

"Aren't you supposed to be watching Tyce?"

Hercules cracked open one eye and peered towards the dark haired little girl. Tyce was peering off towards the goat pens in fascination. "I am watching her. She's right there, Iolaus."

"Uh huh. And have you seen what she's watching?"

Hercules gazed up at him in puzzlement and straightened up to see what Iolaus could see from his perch on the wall. "Oh…. Harpy droppings!" he yelped in dismay as he realised the girl was watching the goats mating.

"Mycron warned you she was inquisitive…"

"Tyce! Come here!" Hercules screamed.

The girl dragged her eyes reluctantly away from the goats and trotted towards him. "What are they doing, Uncle Hercules?" she asked as she reached them.

Hercules floundered and looked up at Iolaus helplessly. "Don't look at me," Iolaus snorted, chewing happily on his carrot. "I'm not the one who volunteered to baby-sit."

Tyce gave him a pout of protest. "And I don't need a babysitter," she retorted.

Iolaus grinned at her, approving of her independent attitude. "Course not…"

She nodded smugly then turned back to Hercules. "What are the goats doing?" she repeated as he dared to hope she might have forgotten her question.

Hercules turned back to her with a weak smile. "They’re, uh, being friendly and playing piggyback. …"

"Friendly?" Tyce asked, gazing up at him wide eyed.

"Uh huh…"

"Like you and Uncle Iolaus?"

Hercules went bright red and Iolaus choked on his carrot. "If he gets that friendly with me I'll knife him in the balls…." The hunter growled.

Tyce looked at him in interested speculation and then turned back to a spluttering Hercules. "Do you let Uncle Iolaus play with your balls, Uncle Hercules?" she asked innocently. The demi-god's blush expanded to his ear tips.

"No," he muttered. "I don't let anyone do that."

"You let Daeanara play with them," Iolaus gurgled and suddenly exploded into helpless laughter, sucking in great whoops for breath.

"Shut up!" Hercules snarled at him.

Iolaus only laughed even harder and fell off the wall.

"I hope you hurt yourself!" Hercules bellowed at him over the hunter's giggling.

"That's not very friendly," Tyce observed, frowning and not understanding what was so funny. "Wouldn't you like him playing with your balls?"

"Will you be quiet about balls," Hercules told her. "Iolaus! Shut up before I hurt you!"

Iolaus gurgled and snuffled into silence, held it and then exploded again. Hercules glared at him in exasperation then realised Tyce was gazing up at him in tearful awe, her bottom limp trembling.

"Uh I don't really mean that," he assured her hastily. "I would never hurt Iolaus. He's my best friend." He shot a glare t the blond warrior. "Most of the time anyway…"

"But you wouldn't let him play with…?"

"No," Hercules said firmly.

Tyce sniffed, but her outburst of tears seemed to have been fended off. She was probably finding it difficult to use her favourite weapon while Iolaus was giggling in the background anyway. "I've never seen a goat playing with a ball," she commented thoughtfully. "Do goats have balls?"

"Some do," Hercules managed weakly, kicking Iolaus.

Sprawled on his back, Iolaus gulped into silence and took a bite of carrot to stop himself laughing any more.

"Carrots are very phallic, you know," Hercules pointed out maliciously. Iolaus choked again, spitting bits of carrot in shock and struggling into a sitting position. Smirking, Hercules patted him on the back.

"That was…. mean…" Iolaus managed to sputter.

"What's phallic mean?" Tyce shaped the new word carefully.

"Uh…." Hercules said weakly, aware that she had set Iolaus off again and he was giggling again. He knew he shouldn't have let revenge get the better of him. He took a deep breath. "Look, Tyce, the goats are making a new baby goat," he said carefully. Sitting on the ground, he beckoned the girl closer. Tyce knelt next to him, gazing up at him curiously. "The male goat give the female goat a seed and she looks after it until it grows into a little baby goat."

"Oh…" Tyce looked back towards the pens where the goats had separated and were now munching lunch. "Does it take very long?"

"Longer for some than for others," Iolaus giggled, his eyes sparkling with mischievous glee at the demi-god's obvious discomfort.

"So where does she keep the seed?"

"Inside her to keep it warm."

"Oh…" Tyce considered this. "So why does the male goat have to play piggyback to give her the seed?"

"Because it's fun," Iolaus chuckled.

"Shut up," Hercules told him grimly.

"But it is…"

"I'm warning you…"

Tyce looked from one to the other of them. "So if you and Uncle Hercules played piggyback…."

"No!" Hercules and Iolaus both chorused at the same time.

"With balls then?"

"Only a female can grow a seed," Hercules told her, feeling his ears scorching.

"But I've seen the male goats playing piggyback…" Tyce frowned. "And mommy says baby goats come from sex…."

Hercules stared at her. "Sex?" he said weakly.

Tyce nodded seriously. "I think you should talk to mommy, Uncle Hercules. She'll explain it to you properly. But she told me…" Taking a deep breath, she explained carefully while Hercules gaped at her in growing embarrassment and Iolaus giggled hysterically in the background. When she had finished she gave the hunter a stern look. "It isn't funny," she told him primly.

"Oh no, I don't think it's funny. It's all about love," Iolaus assured her. "But the look on Hercules' face is funny. I think you scared him"

Tyce smiled back at the warrior's impish grin, then turned back to Hercules. "It'll be all right. You'll understand when it's the right time." She assured him. Patting him on the knee, she then retrieved her chariot and went off to attack the mud castle Iolaus had helped her build earlier.

Totally confounded and hideously embarrassed, Hercules leaned back against the wall and gaped after her. Tyce knew far more than he had at her age, although he had his doubts about how innocent Iolaus might have been. The last thing he had expected was for her to explain things to him.

"So," Iolaus murmured dryly, daring to come within grabbing range at last. "That's how it's done. I've always wondered. All this time I thought it was the bees diving into clay and getting baked…"

"You!" Hercules rolled over and grabbed him, dumping the hunter into the dirt. Iolaus yelped and squirmed, giggling energetically and struggling to escape as the demi-god relentlessly tickled him.

"Enough, enough! I give in!" Iolaus surrendered at long last, gulping for air so hard he was starting to get hiccups. "Uncle, Uncle!"

With a final swat, Hercules let him up and sat back, his own grin fading as he realised Tyce was watching them in awe. "Uh we weren't fighting," he said weakly.

"We weren't playing either," Iolaus gasped breathlessly, giving him a warning look. "Ball or otherwise."

Hercules hesitated then grinned at him and scrambled to his feet. "We fell over each other," he assured her solemnly.

Tyce sniffed in disapproval and held up her chariot to him. "The wheel came off," she informed him pointedly.

Very carefully, Hercules put the wheel back on and handed it back to her. Tyce nodded solemnly trotted back to her game without so much as a backward look. "I dread to think what's she's going to tell Mycron," he groaned.

"He'll probably think you've been teaching her about gardening," Iolaus laughed. "You should have told her they found her under a grapevine."

Hercules glared and took a quick swipe at him which Iolaus easily ducked. "Get back round the other side," he ordered grimly, turning to lift another rock from the pile onto the wall. Iolaus took a flying leap at the wall and scrambled over, taking his place to support the rock as Hercules eased it into place.

"But piggyback, Herc?" he said lightly, his eyes sparkling with mischief as he gazed up at the taller man.

Hercules frowned at him sternly, managed to hold in his laughter for a whole second until Iolaus' sparkling eyes got the better of him, then he dropped the rock and broke into a howl of laughter.

Gazing at them solemnly, Tyce shook her head and turned back to decorating her mud castle with pebbles. Grown ups were strange in general, particularly men, she decided. After all, what was so funny about piggyback? It was a perfectly good game.

As Iolaus slithered over the wall again to join, giggling breathlessly. Hercules wrapped an arm around his shoulders and they leaned against the wall for support until they were both hiccuping with breathless laughter and full of the simple, familiar pleasure of being friends in harmony with each other...