Disclaimer: Power Rangers does not belong to me.
When You Teach Tyzonn About Valentine's Day…
As usual, Tyzonn was a little confused.
Walking into the Rec Room at the Hartford mansion, the Mercurian alien saw Rose and Ronny sitting on the floor cutting out pink and red paper hearts. Mack meanwhile was up on a ladder hanging up a picture of a winged boy in a white loin cloth who was carrying a bow and arrows fitted with little hearts. Finally, Will was tossing red and white streamers to Dax, who was using his genetically-enhanced jumping powers to string them over the chandelier.
"Why are you guys changing the room around?" asked Tyzonn. "And Mack, why are you hanging a half-naked boy from the ceiling?"
"That's a picture of Cupid, silly!" said Ronny smiling. "We're decorating the mansion for Valentine's Day."
"Rose, what's Valentine's Day?" Tyzonn inquired, turning to the girl who had also explained to him in the past how many of Earth's holidays worked.
"Well originally, Valentine's Day was started to remember the Christian martyrs named Valentine who were killed…" began Rose, immediately switching into professor mode.
"Wow, this sounds like a sad holiday," Tyzonn cut in, looking sorrowful.
"It is," agreed a grimacing Will. "It's the day when all guys are practically required to empty their bank accounts, because their girlfriends will throw a fit if they don't get nice, expensive gifts."
"And it's the holiday where I'm constantly reminded of the fact I don't have a girlfriend," sulked Dax.
"Guys, stop scaring poor Ty!" laughed Ronny as she threw an arm around the Mercurian, who now looked completely bewildered. "Look Ty, Valentine's Day in America is a day when couples, and friends too, exchange cards and candy and other gifts just as way of taking time out to remember to say, 'I love you.' And the presents don't have to be expensive," she added, giving Will a pointed look.
"So, are you guys all going to exchange Valentine's Day gifts?" asked Tyzonn.
"I think we are," replied Mack as everyone else nodded their agreement.
"I want to buy gifts for everyone too then!" announced Tyzonn eagerly. "I'm going shopping. I'll see you guys later."
"Tyzonn going shopping for Valentine's Day gifts," recapped Rose, glancing around at her friends. "Guys, do you think this is a good idea?"
"Hey, how much trouble can one alien cause?" asked Dax cheerfully.
"I guess you're right," concurred Will. "But then again, this is Tyzonn we're talking about."
(VALENTINE'S DAY)
"WAKE UP, WAKE UP!!!!" screamed Tyzonn happily as he ran down the hallway of the Operation Overdrive dormitory at the Hartford mansion. "Happy Valentine's Day! Happy Valentine's Day! Happy Valentine's Day!"
"Ty, what are you doing?!?" asked a sleepy-looking Mack, peaking out of his room in a white undershirt and red, cotton shorts.
"It's only 6 a.m.," yawned Ronny, emerging from her bedroom wearing a yellow tank top and gray sweatpants with a pink-pajama clad Rose close on her heels.
"The sun's barely even up yet," groaned Will, pulling a black tank top over his head and adjusting his black mesh pants.
"WHERE'S THE FIRE???" yelled a blue-boxer clad Dax, running out of his room shirtless in his panic and carrying a fire extinguisher at the ready.
"There's no fire," sang Tyzonn brightly, already fully dressed in his uniform. "It's Valentine's Day! It's time to open presents!!!!"
"Valentine's Day, presents… wha—Ty, this holiday isn't like Christmas morning!" said Will, shaking his head. "We'll do this later. I'm going back to bed."
"Oh you don't! I just can't wait to show you guys what I got you," countered Tyzonn, yanking Will by the collar and dragging him down the steps toward the Rec Room.
"Might as well let Ty do this now," shrugged Mack.
"We're not going to be able to get back to bed until he does," reasoned Rose resignedly as they followed downstairs.
"The first present is for Mack," announced Tyzonn once they were all seated in the Rec Room.
Mack took the small box that was packaged in tissue paper the same hue as his ranger color. Wrapping removed, Mack shook the small tube out of the box. His eyes proceeded to widen in horror.
"Eyeliner?!?" gasped Mack as the rest of the team tried to hold back their laughter. "Ty, why would you think I need make-up?!?"
"Well, I remember you wore a lot of eyeliner and lipstick that time you dressed up as a rock star," explained Ty. "So, I thought you would need some more in case you ever wanted to hold another concert!"
"Ty, I was going through… that was a one-time… Oh never mind. Thank you, Ty," said Mack through gritted teeth.
"Come on, Mack! You can't say he didn't put a lot of thought into your gift," commented Ronny, grinning ear-to-ear in her amusement.
"In that case, you're next, Ronny," declared Tyzonn, producing a gift bag for the yellow ranger.
As soon as the gift bag was out in the open, everyone's hands immediately flew to hold their noses from the awful stench. Even clear across the room from Ronny, Mack and Rose looked like they were ready to gag. Ronny meanwhile forced a grateful smile as she took the bag with pinched fingers from Tyzonn.
"Geez Ty, what died in there?" asked Will, waving a hand furiously in front of his face to try and ward off the smell of Ronny's gift bag.
"Ronny's smelly socks, I mean, lucky socks. That's what!" exclaimed Dax as Ronny pulled the clothing items from the bag.
"Oh, you mean the ones she always wears when she races and doesn't clean 'cause otherwise she thinks her luck will wash away?" asked Rose, rolling her eyes at the superstitious practice.
"Hold up, guys! These aren't my lucky socks," cut in Ronny; horror dawning across her face the same time as recognition. "Wait Ty, did you go digging in trash to find me a pair of smelly socks as a Valentine's Day present?!?!"
"Well, I know how much you love the smelly socks you already have, so I thought I'd get you some more," beamed Tyzonn proudly.
"Thank you, Ty," said Ronny awkwardly as the others groaned at his response. "I'm going to go throw these away… I mean, put them away!"
With one hand over her mouth and nose, Ronny's other held the socks as far from her face as possible as she ran – not in the direction of her bedroom – but of the outside dumpster. Luckily, Tyzonn was too busy pulling out his present for Dax to notice.
"It's a book," commented Rose; the scholar immediately identifying the gift through the ribbon wrapping.
"Phew," said Dax, breathing a sigh of relief. "How bad can this be…YOWWWW!!!" he shouted upon getting a shove in the ribs from the pink ranger. "I mean, thanks Ty!"
"Well, what's the title of the book?" asked Mack before noticing his friend's eyes start to tear over. "Dax buddy, what's wrong?"
"Help! I Don't Have a Girlfriend, and I'm Miserable," read Will outloud from the cover after grabbing the novel from the now-bawling Dax.
"I am miserable!" cried the actor dramatically. "I don't have a girlfriend, and the last one I had hated me so much that she wanted to kill me!"
"See, I knew this would be a perfect book for Dax!" boasted Tyzonn obliviously.
"What's going on?" asked Ronny, having returned from disposing of Tyzonn's gift of smelly socks.
The yellow ranger looked around in confusion at Dax who crying madly, Tyzonn who was grinning madly and the rest of her friends who looked like they were about to go just plain mad.
"Don't ask Ronny," sighed Rose as she handed Dax a box of tissues. "Why don't we just move on to the next gift. Tyzonn?"
"Here you go, Will! Happy Valentine's Day!" said Tyzonn, handing him an envelope.
"These are tickets," noted the black ranger in a pleasantly surprised tone, wondering if the alien ranger had at last got one right.
"I thought this would be a show you'd want to see, knowing how much you love girls and all…" began Tyzonn.
"Wait, what??" asked Will, growing confused and moving to recheck the tickets. "XXX, Girls Girls Girls, Nak--- TYZONN!!! You got me tickets to a strip club?!?"
"What's a strip club?" asked Tyzonn innocently as his friends all immediately turned away, clearly none wanting to volunteer to explain.
Yet at that moment, Tyzonn's friends were all saved by the bell. Or rather, the smoke alarm.
All hands immediately went to ears as a shrieking ring sounded through the mansion. The group then jumped up as they noticed a trail of black smoke starting to come out from behind the kitchen door. The next second, the whole Rec Room filled with the congestive, gray fumes as Spencer emerged from the kitchen. The elderly butler was coughing hard as he held out a charred frying pan.
"Master Tyzonn, I do believe this is the scrambled eggs on toast you were cooking," chocked out Spencer through the smoke as held out the blacked dish. "Or what's left of it."
"What's going on here?" asked Mr. Hartford as he came downstairs, having been woken up by the smoke detectors.
"Sir, Master Tyzonn decided to make breakfast, without my permission I might add," continued Spencer, shooting a merciless glare at the alien. "I put out the fire, but there is still a lot of smoke."
"Come on, everyone. Let's open the windows to let smoke vent and then go outside until this stuff clears," instructed Mr. Hartford.
"Yeah, it's not safe us to stay in here breathing these fumes," agreed Rose.
The coughing and wheezing continued as the group hurried through the smoky mansion to open all the windows. All next proceeded outside onto the driveway, watching as the smoke slowly started to trickle out of the building.
They made funny sight -- the eight members of Operation Overdrive standing huddled in their pajamas at the break of day. Mack rubbed his arms furiously in the brisk, San Angeles morning air as Rose tucked her hands inside of her pajama sleeves. While Ronny jumped about trying to get warm, Will's pissed off mood was only being amplified by the presence of the half-naked Dax curling up into his chest for body heat.
"Thank goodness we live in San Angeles and not someplace like Boston," commented Dax as he stood shirtless and shivering in his boxers.
"Tyzonn, what happened?" asked Mr. Hartford, shaking his head.
"I was trying to cook scrambled eggs on toast for Rose as a Valentine's Day gift. I guess I got so excited about handing out everyone else's gifts, I forgot I had left the frying pan on the stove," Tyzonn explained sheepishly.
"Why would you cook me scrambled eggs on toast?" asked Rose, throwing up her hands defeatedly.
"Isn't it your favorite meal? You said you ate it for breakfast every day while you in college," explained Tyzonn.
"And 'cause I scrambled eggs on toast every day in college, I got sick of it. Ty, didn't you ever stop to think you've never seen me eating it here at the mansion before?" Rose pointed out in exasperation.
"Boy, Valentine's Day is exciting!" declared Tyzonn enthusiastically, appearing to have allowed Rose's last comment to go completely over his head. "Aren't you guys having a great Valentine's Day, so far?"
The pajama-clad group looked around at each other with raise eyebrows and exchanged mutual scowls. Yet as Tyzonn gave a beaming smile and encouraging nods, the seven managed to spit out gruff confirmations with regards to his Valentine's Day question.
"I can't wait to learn about even more, cool Earth celebrations!" Tyzonn continued.
"Mental note, guys," whispered Mack to the group. "Nobody teach Tyzonn about any more holidays…"
The End
Happy Valentine's Day!
Love, Destiny45