"A little higher, dude," a strained voice groaned from inside the storeroom. Shuffling feet followed a brief interval of silence before the voice gave another instruction. The surf section of the shop was closest to the door and the blonde haired ranger eyed the barely open door suspiciously.
"I'm trying, you're not exactly light!" another voice snarled from inside the room. Her curiosity peaking, Tori approached the door and glanced inside. A laugh escaped her lips when she saw Dustin perched precariously on Hunter's shoulders, the yellow ranger trying desperately to reach a box on the top shelf. There was another laugh behind her and she turned to see Cam looking amused.
"Dude, why are these shelves so high?" Dustin whined after another unsuccessful grasp at the box.
"Because apparently the human species has evolved far enough to use ladders?" Cam muttered a suggestion that only Tori heard and he was rewarded by her gentle laugh. They continued to watch the earth ninja's attempts until finally he managed to grab the box.
"Watch out!" Tori cried as the lurch forward sent Hunter tumbling to the ground. The thunder ninja rubbed his bruised temple with a low growl and glanced upwards. Even he couldn't help but grin at the sight of Dustin clinging to the top shelf.
"A little help?" the brunette called to his friends but they all rolled their eyes.
"You're a ninja, Dustin," Cam sighed before walking back into the shop, a grinning Tori close behind.
Glancing towards the ground, Dustin eventually let go of the shelf, not noticing the can of motor oil until it was underneath his foot. Hunter cringed when the younger man landed on his rear. He stepped forward and offered Dustin a hand.
"It must be the suit that makes you a ninja," he teased as he pulled his friend from the ground. He noticed the brief flash of hurt in the younger man's eyes before it was replaced with his trademark goofy grin.
"I guess that's just me," the yellow ranger shrugged before moving to leave the room. Hunter didn't know if it was the look of hurt in Dustin's eyes or something else but he immediately wanted to reassure his friend.
"I know you're a great ninja, Dustin, you're just good at hiding it," Hunter told him gently before walking past him back into the shop. After a moment, Dustin smiled at the compliment and watched Hunter browse through the motocross wear. A compliment from Hunter was a rare occurrence and it warmed Dustin's heart in a way he was all too familiar with.
"If you keep staring he'll figure it out," a female voice whispered behind him. Dustin yelped and spun around to see Kelly giving him a wise smile. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly and Kelly shook her head with a small grin.
"You should decide whether you're going to tell him or not," Kelly advised her favourite employee before heading over to the cash till. He sighed after she left; contemplating the dilemma he'd been in for months...
"It's just that I...kinda...you know...like him," he explained with a blush they had never seen on him before. Tori laughed and resisted the urge hug him tightly. She knew it had taken a lot of guts for him to admit it.
"You say like we should be surprised," Kelly pointed out teasingly which managed to lift the tension, "The question is...what are you going to do about it?" she asked from where they were standing in the Storm Chargers workshop. Dustin shrugged his shoulders feebly.
"He's into girls, he's always flirting with them, there's nothing I can do," he replied and the depressed tone made the hearts of his two friends ache.
"You've only flirted with girls before," Tori pointed out.
"I've never felt like this about a guy before," Dustin admitted. Tori gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze but neither of the girls saw the worry in his eyes.
"Maybe he feels something too, you'll never know if you don't talk to him," Kelly suggested but Dustin shook his head, unwilling to even entertain the idea...
Both Tori and Kelly had been prompting him for weeks but the idea of sabotaging a friendship that had become closer than ever over the last couple of months was something Dustin feared more than anything. Having Hunter in his life only as a friend was better than freaking him out and losing him completely. Even if, once again, he had to witness Hunter flirting with the pretty, long haired females that visited the shop.
This time, one brunette in particular showed a keen interest in Hunter and the blonde was more than happy to accept her attention.
"Do you work here a lot, Hunter?" she asked slowly, her eyes never leaving his, a smile curling up at the corner of her mouth. He long, wavy brown locks were thrown back in a flirtatious gesture but they cleared a line of vision to a forlorn looking brunette standing inside the workshop.
As soon as he met the blonde's eyes Dustin turned his attention back to the bike he was working on but the moment had lasted long enough for Hunter to catch the sadness in his friend's face. That expression suddenly seemed more important than whatever new question the girl in front of him had asked him.
"Errm...yeah, I work here a lot, it's very busy...I should get back to it actually," Hunter muttered to the girl and walked away without even a goodbye. She huffed in disappointment until her eyes locked onto another young man in the room wearing a navy motocross shirt and she moved towards him, unaware of the long haired, water ninja watching her every move.
"Dustin?" Hunter called into the workshop from the side entrance. Dustin didn't look up from his work which confused the thunder ninja. Usually he would get a goofy smile whenever he greeted the younger man.
"Are you ok?" he asked as he walked into the room, settling down on the other side of the workbench, leaving the large bike standing between them.
"I'm fine, dude, why?" Dustin replied, meeting Hunter's eyes briefly with a smile the thunder ninja could tell was forced. Hunter just shrugged his shoulders with a smile, unwilling to pursue an issue Dustin obviously didn't want to talk about. He just hoped that the earth ninja would talk to him about it eventually.
"Blake and I are headed out to the track, wanna come?"
"No...sorry, it's just that I've got this thing to fix and another waiting out back...some other time, ok?" Dustin replied with genuine regret in his voice but Hunter was already suspicious. Both of the bikes would be done within the hour, Dustin was a better mechanic than he let on, so the thunder ninja was left to wonder why Dustin was avoiding something he usually enjoyed more than anything.
"Coming, bro?" Blake called over to them, "Dude, fix the bikes later," he told his told his yellow wearing friend but Dustin repeated his excuses. The two thunder brothers exchanged a look of confusion but said nothing more before leaving for the track.
"Dustin, are you ok?" Tori asked after the thunder ninjas had left. The yellow ranger sighed before shaking his head.
"I wish I could switch it off, you know? Like a button or something..." he told her and she nodded with understanding, "I can't deal with watching him and those girls..."
"It looked to me like he was more bothered about you than the girls..." Tori pointed out but Dustin just shook his head.
"I'm his friend, Tor, that's all," he replied before going to collect the bike waiting outside.
...
"What was up with him?" Hunter asked Blake again after they paused for another break.
"I don't know, bro," the navy ranger lied. He had a suspicion that Tori's hints had only added to but he wasn't going to reveal that theory to his brother if Dustin had no intention of telling Hunter himself.
"He's not like this with Shane! I don't get what I've done..." Hunter moaned and Blake had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. His big brother was dense...very dense.
"Just give him a few days, whatever it is he'll have forgotten it by then," Blake suggested but Hunter sighed in frustration, "Why are you getting so mad, you don't act like this if I'm mad at you, or Tori, or any of the others," Blake noted and the crimson ranger seemed to pause and ponder the thought.
"I don't know...I...I just don't like it when he's mad at me that's all, it feels bad," Hunter tried to explain with a confused tone.
"So it doesn't feel bad when I'm mad at you? Thanks, bro..." Blake teased before deciding to ask the question, "Do you like him?" Hunter looked at him with a serious expression, opened his mouth to answer but then closed it.
"I'll take that as a maybe..." Blake replied, "I mean, it's not like you haven't liked guys before," he pointed out.
"They were different," Hunter replied, confirming what Blake suspected. Hunter more than liked Dustin, the crimson ranger just hadn't realised it yet. The navy ranger wanted to help his earth ninja friend but was wary of pushing too far in one try.
"C'mon, it's getting late, let's do one more run," the younger man suggested and Hunter nodded. The two started their bikes and headed towards the starting line.
...