AN: Isn't it amazing what you come up with when the muse is avoiding you? Personally, I think I do my best work at 3 in the morning. I think Hunter would agree with me. But this really has nothing to do with the story so... Feed the author, will you? Enjoy.
Phone Calls at Midnight
He tried to close his eyes, but found it was almost more difficult to relax when staring at the inside of his eyelids. He hated staring at the ceiling too, because there was nothing useful to do while staring at the ceiling.
It was a ceiling for god's sake. All he could do was stare vacantly at it while segments of code ran through his head. There was something useful he should be doing. So why wasn't he doing it?
Because his father couldn't mind his own business. Cam knew his father was only looking out for him, but there were things about his life his father didn't understand. Like the fact that Cam stayed up as late as he did because he wanted to, not because he felt he had to. Like the fact that programming was what relaxed him, especially after a long day of fighting monsters. And mostly that Cam would never fall asleep just lying there.
He rolled onto his side to look at his alarm, and was fairly frustrated when it seemed as though no time had passed.
Grumbling he rolled back onto his other side. What did normal people do to fall asleep? He wasn't sure; he'd actually never asked anyone. He assumed some people could just hit the pillow and fall asleep. People like Dustin probably did that. Girls probably had whole routines they had to go through before sleep. He didn't know how they did it.
Hunter had once mentioned watching a movie to fall asleep, or even listening to music. That seemed very Hunter-ish, now that he thought about it. It made sense that Hunter would need to unwind the same way he did, to focus on something else in order to find sleep. Of course, there were some things that Hunter…
Hunter. When had he started thinking about Hunter? And when had he started smiling while thinking about Hunter? Did he do that in public, he wondered? He certainly hoped not. That was just unnerving.
Still, he couldn't help wondering if Hunter was asleep or not. He was playing with his amulet without really thinking about it, and maybe he was just tired but he found he actually wanted to call Hunter.
So he did.
"Hunter." He told the amulet. He heard the immediate click of the morpher responding, and he felt a twinge of guilt when Hunter's groggy voice came on the line.
"What's going on?" Hunter sounded much more alert that he probably should have this early in the morning.
"Hey, it's me, sorry." Cam said gently. He wasn't sure if Hunter had gotten the message, but he heard a rustle and then Hunter sounded farther away.
"Oh." He mumbled, sounding tired. "Problem?"
"No. Everything's fine." Cam assured. Hunter didn't say anything for a moment, but there was a very clear smile in his groggy voice when he did.
"Oh, okay. You realize of course that you just woke me from a very sound sleep with an adrenaline rush that will take quite a while to abate, don't you?" He wondered, and Cam felt slightly guilty.
"I know. Sorry." He answered quietly. He heard Hunter chuckle.
"It's okay." He didn't say anything else. When he was silent, Cam found he didn't really know what to say.
"So, you were sleeping?" He wondered, for lack of anything better.
"Yeah. Most normal people are at…" There was a pause. "3:00 in the morning!"
Cam winced. "Sorry. I shouldn't have called."
"You weren't?" Hunter asked, and Cam frowned.
"What?" Cam replied.
"Sleeping." Hunter said. "You weren't?" He repeated.
"No, I wasn't." Cam echoed. "My dad made me go to bed, and I couldn't sleep."
"I see." Hunter stifled a yawn, and Cam snuggled deeper into the blanket. He wished he could see him. He could just imagine Hunter sprawled across his bed, covers thrown askew and pillow handing off the side of the bed while Hunter tried to stay awake. Still, hearing Hunter's voice was nicer than listening to the silence. And he was glad he hadn't said that aloud, because hadn't there been a time when Hunter's voice had intruded upon his silence? There had, and Cam wasn't entirely sure when things had changed, but he was glad that they had. He was glad Hunter had forced his presence into Cam's life.
Wait, what was he thinking? He had to be more tired than he realized.
Hunter's voice was gone, and Cam hoped he hadn't shut off the comm link.
"Hunter? You still awake?" Cam almost whispered it, then shook his head at himself and spoke in the same voice he had been using.
"Yeah, 'm here." Hunter mumbled. "So, why'd you call me?" Hunter wanted to know.
Cam opened his mouth, and then paused. Hunter probably wouldn't remember anything he said in the morning, so he might as well tell him the truth. "I was lonely." He shrugged, despite the fact Hunter couldn't see him. "I missed you."
"Awe." Hunter drawled. "I hope I remember that tomorrow. It was cute." He teased, and Cam grinned anyways. Mostly because Hunter had unintentionally read his mind, something Cam was getting very fond of for reasons he didn't understand.
"Yeah well…" He didn't really have anything else to say, but luckily Hunter saved him.
"I missed you too." He said quietly, and Cam heard more rustling. Hunter must have shifted positions, because the rustling stopped and he said "It's kind of funny, isn't it?"
"What is?" Cam closed his eyes and listened to the sound of Hunter's voice, trying to imagine it closer than it really was.
"That we see each other more than probably any couple should, and I still don't mind you calling me in the middle of the night "just to talk". Man, if I'd have known how much dating you was going to be like dating a girl…" Hunter trailed off, and Cam signed as dramatically as he could.
"Firstly, we don't see each other that often. We work together, where we are completely professional, and that's not the same thing." Hunter cut him off before he could continue.
"Yeah, as far as professional means making out in the practice room when we think no ones around." Hunter sniggered.
"Secondly," Cam ignored Hunter's interruption, trying to keep the smile out of his voice. "If you ever compare me to a girl again, I will give you such a hicky that it will be obvious who the woman in this relationship is." Cam warned, and Hunter practically giggled.
"Now there is a threat!" He chortled. "Can I turn that into a promise?"
"Behave." Cam commanded, but he figured the reprimand was somewhat less affective with the smile in his voice.
"Yes, dear." Hunter answered playfully.
"Are we really dating?" Cam wondered aloud.
"Yes. Why?" Hunter was very sure of himself this early in the morning.
"Because I don't think what we've been doing counts as dating." Cam told him gently, and Hunter scoffed.
"So? Okay, so we aren't dating per say, but your still my boyfriend, so what difference does it make?" Hunter sounded annoyed suddenly, and Cam frowned.
"Does being your boyfriend make you my boyfriend?" Cam wanted to know. It had the desired effect of distracting Hunter for a brief moment.
"And everyone thinks you're the smart one." Hunter retorted. Cam actually smiled.
"I am the smart one." Cam corrected.
"So you keep telling me." He heard Hunter yawn again, and Cam couldn't help yawning himself. "We should go out."
Cam paused. "Now?"
"No, not now. I mean out. Like a date." Hunter explained carefully.
"A date." Cam echoed.
"Yeah. So I can say we're dating." Hunter made it sound like this wasn't negotiable.
"So you can say it to who?" Cam wanted to know.
"You, mostly." Hunter answered without missing a beat. "It just feels good to say."
Cam's smile softened. "I know." He agreed gently.
"Let's go out tonight." Hunter suggested a moment later.
"It is tonight." Cam told him.
"Only to you. It's morning to me, because I was-" he was sure Hunter faked that yawn "-asleep and you weren't."
"I think you need to go back to sleep." Cam advised, and Hunter laughed.
"I'd sleep better if you were here." Hunter told him. Cam rolled his eyes.
"Tell me about it." He agreed.
"So come over." Hunter insisted. Cam shook his head, then realized Hunter still couldn't see him.
"I can't. It's 3:30 in the morning." He opened his eyes to glance at the clock, and found it harder to keep them open then he would have thought. "And you're the one with the car."
"So? You have that teleporter thing." Hunter suggested slyly.
Cam was torn between being amused and being scandalized. "I think that falls under the 'Ninja powers for personal use' category."
"Oh, come on. Don't be such a hard ass." Hunter told him.
"Have you forgotten who you're talking to?" Cam reminded, and he heard the breath of amusement Hunter let out.
"What I've forgotten is that I'm supposed to be sleeping. And you're supposed to be here." Hunter informed him. "Now, I'm going to wait about 5 minutes before falling back asleep, and if you don't get here before then, I'm not going to speak to you today."
And that was it. Hunter had cut off the comm link.
He couldn't really expect Cam to show up… could he? And even if he didn't, the offer was tempting. Hunter had invited him, after all. He wasn't really considering this. He couldn't be.
But damn, Hunter would sure feel nice pressed up against him right about now. Even if all they did was sleep, it would be nice.
Cam was moving before he'd even realized he had made a decision. He headed straight for his laptop. It was only a few short commands away, and all he had to do was lift his amulet.
The world dissolved and reappeared around him, and sure enough there was Hunter, sprawled out face down on his bed. Hunter rolled over at the sound of Cam appearing and when he caught sight of him he smiled.
"Wow." Hunter sat up a bit. "I didn't actually think you would come."
Cam stepped towards the bed. "You're a ranger. You should know to expect the unexpected."
Hunter reached out and pulled him onto the bed. "Oh, clever catch phrase. Do you have a book of those, or something?" Hunter kissed him before he could answer.
It felt better than he thought it would to be in Hunter's arms, and he felt himself relaxing. Hunter kissed him, slowly, gently, lovingly. Cam almost complained when he pulled away.
"This is so much better than over the phone." Hunter voiced Cam's thoughts, and he grinned.
"You don't have to tell me." Cam assured. Hunter kissed his neck, and suddenly Cam had a feeling they weren't going to do much sleeping after all.
"I just have one quick question." Cam mumbled into Hunter's hair.
"What's that?" Hunter pulled away far enough to look at him, and Cam brought him down for another kiss.
When he pulled away Cam smirked. "Just how are you going to explain me to your brother in the morning?"