New fic, weird plotbunny.
Sleeping in the Hall
It was a very silent Ziggy who left Doctor K's lab that evening. Dillon remembered the battery of tests that he'd gone through and winced. Ziggy was great, if weird, moral support, but he'd never really struck DIllon as either greatly in shape or someone who wanted to be a Ranger.
"You okay, Zig?" he asked.
"I will be," ZIggy smiled up at him in a way that made his heart break. "Just looks like there'll be a few changes in my diet and some other things. Don't worry about it. It's not like I'll be on it for long."
"You okay, lad?" Flynn asked, joining them.
"Just tired from all the tests," Ziggy said, his smile not changing one bit. For all that Flynn had been incredulous at Ziggy's bonding - as the others had been - he seemed rapidly getting used to the unexpected Ranger.
"You sure? I'm sure Doctor K said something about your weight -"
Ziggy grinned even more. "Eh. It just needs to be fixed. Like everything about me, apparently. Can't be perfect, you know? I try, but…."
Flynn gave him a troubled look.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Dillon asked. If Flynn was a bit worried, that was probably a really bad sign.
"I'm just fine, don't worry." Ziggy gave him a smile. "Everything will work out. You'll find a good-as-new Ranger Green in the morning."
Dillon sighed. "Go to bed."
Ziggy flashed him a blinding smile and headed upstairs.
/8 /8 /8 /8
While Dillon didn't sleep much, he did sleep some. Of course, in the middle of said sleep, he was woken up by yelling - not an alarm, but yelling. He was instantly out of his room, only to be greeted by the sight of Ziggy holding onto the railing and trying not to fall over onto some shapes that hadn't been there when either he or Ziggy had gone to bed that evening. "What's going on?" he asked.
"I don't know! I get up and everybody decided to have a slumber party outside my bedroom!" Ziggy exclaimed.
One of the shapes moved. "Well, then you shouldn't worry us, man." Dillon recognized the voice as Flynn's, and then he realized the other shapes belonged to Scott and Summer.
"Or at least not worry Flynn," Scott said, yawning.
"We saw Flynn had camped out in front of your door and he explained, so we joined him."
Ziggy rolled his eyes. "I was going to raid the fridge!"
"You're forbidden from 'raiding the fridge'," Doctor K said, apparently deciding to come in on the conversation. "You are on a restricted diet until you gain weight and muscle mass."
Dillon took a moment to parse that. "You're underweight?" he translated.
"Well, I never could gain much weight, period," Ziggy said. "And then I got out into the wastes, and it wasn't like I brought much food and had to scavenge until I met you and I guess I lost some weight."
"So, this whole slumber party was because Ziggy shouldn't be raiding the fridge at midnight?" Dillon asked, feeling far more amused than he should.
"Actually," Flynn said, "It's because… well, I had a bad feeling about some of the things Ziggy was saying before he went off to bed. Thought it would be better to be safe than sorry."
"As you can see," Ziggy said, "I'm fine. I won't raid the fridge, I promise. Could you get up before I fall on you?"
"More worried about you killing yourself out there," Flynn rumbled. But at least he moved.
"I'm a Power Ranger! I'm running into danger! I have a very good sense of self-preservation, if you must know." Ziggy inched forward in the space that Flynn had vacated.
"That's the friend that….?" Summer asked, apparently continuing a conversation Dillon had missed.
"Aye," Flynn was still watching Ziggy.
"Seriously, I'm not planning to die or break my diet anytime soon, can everybody stop camping at my doorstep?" Ziggy complained.
"Guy's got a point."
"I am sure that Ranger Operator Series Green is being his usual self." Doctor K seemed to sigh.
"See? See?" Ziggy said, motioning towards the nearest monitor.
"However, I will be more than satisfied to monitor him if it means that all of you return to your bedrooms."
Ziggy's face dropped. "Seriously?"
"I take the health of my Operators very seriously, Ranger Green. Also, you are all awake when you have training tomorrow. I would suggest you consider that."
Summer sighed. "I guess Doctor K has a point."
"Yeah," Scott agreed, as the two of them got up and moved off.
"I get the picture," Ziggy said, heading back into his own bedroom. Flynn, giving him a searching look, did the same.
Dillon watched his teammates' closed doors for a moment before yawning and doing the same. He, too, had training the next day.
