Summary: When Dustin discovers he has a crush on Shane, he seeks advice from the other ninjas on how to win the red ranger over.
Special thanks to Rebel Paisley for all her help on this! Now everybody get out the candy and enjoy!
~ Like Chocolate and Peanut Butter ~
Dustin leaned forward on the edge of the couch, a fistful of popcorn slowly being crushed by one hand while his other squeezed one of the couch's many pillows. It was Friday night and, as was quickly becoming a regular tradition, Dustin, Shane, Tori, Cam, Hunter and Blake were all gathered around a large television in what used to serve as a storage garage for Dustin's dad's bike whenever Mr. Brooks was actually in town, which was next to never anymore. It was a little cramped, but they made it work with magic of furniture arrangement. Tori called it "Fun Sway," which actually sounded kinda silly, but, having seen her room, he knew not to question her furniture organizing skills.
The pillows had been the easiest to get in, even though his mom frequently complained about how all the pillows in the house seemed to keep disappearing. But she just bought more, so it all worked out. The couch was the trickiest to move, but Shane had helped him and his mom just bought another one of that too. Though, for some reason, she never replaced the tv, saying something about a "last straw" or other hay related thing.
The snack bar was pure genius. What was once a wall full of shelves and pegs for various tools that his dad took with him the last time Mr. and Mrs. Brooks fought over something silly like being "smothered" or "needing air" became a wall of various snack dispensers that poured out different kinds of candies into bowls that sat on a shelf. There was even a popcorn maker that Blake had managed to salvage from a junk heap and Cam had fixed up and also a brand new mini-fridge that Hunter said "fell off a truck." Whatever, so long as they had snacks to go with the movies. Dustin had dubbed the wall "Wanka Wall" after the yellow ranger's favorite movie. Sadly, there was no chocolate river…yet.
Movie night was pretty much ruled by Shane, who not only seemed to know everything about old movies, but seemed to somehow manage to find movies that none of the other rangers had even heard of. Sometimes it'd be action (which led to mock fights), sometimes horror (which lead to mock screams), sometimes comedy (which lead to very un-mock laughter and lots of flying popcorn). None of the others knew what to expect, which added to the anticipation. It was Dustin's favorite day of the week not just for the movies, but for the time he got to spend with his friends.
"Don't go in there!" Dustin shouted at the television just as the woman onscreen decided to enter a dimly lit room.
There would be doom in there.
"Dustin, she can't hear you," Cam pointed out from his position atop the folding chair, where he was busy analyzing the cinematic elements of the film. He even had a little notebook on his lap. Then again, he could have been working on something ranger related, since he was quite the multitasker.
"It's his thing," Tori shrugged while making a point of pretending not to notice how Blake kept trying to sneak his arm behind her.
But there were more important things to focus on, namely things involving doom.
Dustin tensed as a shadow passed by the helpless heroine in the scene. He had a tendency of getting really into movies and losing himself in the events unfolding onscreen. Which is why he was so unprepared when suddenly Shane jumped out from behind the couch and screamed "Boo!" right in the wavy-haired brunette's ear.
Popcorn and pillows went flying, as did the yellow ranger.
But, rather than be mad at the laughing red ranger over him, Dustin laughed right along with his friend. It had been funny, but it was still only fair to seek revenge via a pillow fight with Shane. And, with how many pillows there were to work with, their pillow fights tended to go on for a while.
"I thought they picked out this movie," Blake complained while Dustin jumped onto Shane's back in an attempt to tackle the red ranger to the ground. All that really happened was more of a piggyback ride. But he was okay with that.
"Yeah," Hunter called over his shoulder, "some of us haven't already seen this flick yet."
Being the considerate guy he was, Shane immediately jerked to a halt. Of course this meant he and Dustin were both sent crashing to the ground, momentum just being stupid like that. The earth ninja couldn't see Hunter, but he was pretty sure his patented frowny face would be engaged. And here he was missing it. Dustin began scrambling over the couch, trying to get a better view when he caught sight of the bowl full of Reece's peanut butter cups that he had dispensed from the Wanka Wall earlier, but Shane caught sight of it too and was faster than him, running around the couch and snatching up the bowl, holding it above the yellow ranger's head.
"Hey!" Dustin yelled, jumping for the bowl. Naturally, Reece's went everywhere and the two were quick to crawl around on the floor for their goodies.
Dustin snatched up a few in victory, pulling them open with glee so he could partake in there sugary sweetness.
"Dude, it's candy, not a popsicle," Shane teased as Dustin licked and sucked at the chocolate coating over the peanut butter cup.
"I happen to like chocolate," the wavy haired brunette explained. "Dude, at least I don't suck the peanut butter out like you."
Because that was just weird.
"Hey, I like peanut butter," the darker teen defended.
"Chocolate's better," Dustin declared.
"Peanut Butter's the best," Shane argued.
It looked like Dustin would have to pull out the big guns.
"Chocolate is bester," the yellow ranger countered.
"Peanut Butter's even bester," the red ranger offered, adding, "not that bester's a word."
"Is so," Dustin insisted. "Right Cam?"
"Bester is a proper name, but not an adjective," the samurai replied without looking away from his mini notebook.
That was not the answer he was hoping for.
The chocolate-loving earth ninja proceeded to pout, so Shane patted his friend's shoulder and said, "But chocolate and peanut butter is awesome."
"So true!" the wavy haired brunette declared, his mood immediately improving.
Shane just chuckled and the two continued to pig out on candy, leaving wrappers strewn all around the couch and floor.
Dustin wasn't sure when it had happened. Maybe it was the first time he'd met Shane, back when they, along with Tori, first became ninjas at the Wind Ninja Academy and the dark-skinned teen had such a confidence about him that Dustin felt his own insecurities melt away, just a little. Maybe it was when they had become Power Rangers and he and the new red ranger laughed together over how awesome the whole thing was. Or, maybe it was when the thunder brothers had shown up and, after he and Shane fought, he realized he couldn't stay mad at the loveable skater. As he sat there on that particular Friday night eating chocolate covered peanut butter cups with the air ninja, all he knew was that he had a crush on his best friend, Shane.
The red ranger was everything Dustin could want in a best friend. He was a born leader, cool but not so cool that he couldn't be friends with a goofball like Dustin. He was super talented, both as a ninja and as a skater. And, most of all, beyond just having a great body, Shane had adorable pouty lips that Dustin wanted to kiss…
But, the yellow ranger was worried that, if he suddenly leaned over and kissed his best friend, Shane might think he was weird or gross and somehow their perfect friendship would be ruined. It would be just like second grade, when he kissed a boy in his class and that boy never wanted to be his friend again because boys were supposed to kiss girls, not other boys. It's just…why would Dustin want to kiss a girl? They had cooties and…Well, except for Tori, but he was so not going to kiss her. It'd be like kissing his sister. Whereas, Shane… Cue dreamy far off look.
"Dude, you're not scared, are you?" the red ranger teased as he noticed his friend's vacant expression.
"Nah, dude, 'course not!" the yellow ranger quickly defended.
As the skater turned back to the screen and Blake went off to fetch a diet soda for Tori, Dustin decided to tell his best friend how he felt. But, he couldn't just come out and say it. He'd have to be subtle…not that he knew how to do anything subtle. It was either all or nothing in Dustin's world. What he needed was advice. And, as he saw Tori roll her eyes as the navy ranger ended up breaking the tab off during his attempt to open the diet soda for the water ninja, Dustin knew just who to turn to.
The next day, Dustin was at Storm Chargers when he finally managed to catch Tori alone, though he had to quickly look around to make sure Blake wasn't following her like a lost puppy. The two were rarely far apart from each other. It was kind of like him and Shane.
"Tor?" he asked, trying to sound casual as he leaned into Storm Chargers' lounge, where Tori was studying. "Can I like talk to you for a sec?"
She looked up from her history book and smiled, patting a spot beside her. "Sure."
The yellow ranger sat down and fidgeted, nervously biting his bottom lip. "Um…I don't want to like freak you out or anything, but…"
"If this is about me and Blake," she interrupted, "we're just friends. Sure, he's cute, but…"
Dustin had to try not to roll his eyes. Everything was about Blake with her these days.
"No, it's about me and Shane," he quickly clarified.
"Oh," she replied, obviously relieved.
"I think…" Dustin began. "I mean, like, I know I have a crush on him and I…I don't know how to tell him so he won't freak out."
She raised her eyebrows before grinning. "You two make such a cute couple. Do you want me to ask him how he feels about—"
"No!" Dustin immediately shouted.
"Alright, then," she relented, shifting slightly in her seat. "How about you break the ice by showing him how to ride? I was thinking about teaching Blake how to surf so that—"
"He already tried and he never even made it to the track," he explained, "remember?"
"Right," she replied, thinking. "Then how about you let him teach you how to skateboard and, if he can put up with you as his trainee, maybe he'll be able to handle you having a crush on him."
"Perfect!" he agreed, hoping up and giving her a quick hug before running off.
"You're welcome," she called after him.
"Kelly, can I borrow a skateboard and pads and all that stuff?" he said hastily as he ran over to his boss.
"There are some supplies that didn't sell in the back, labeled 'surplus,'" she easily agreed.
"Awesome!" Dustin called, running into the back.
Kelly just smiled and shook her head. She was awesome like that.
Shane finished a really difficult skateboarding move before noticing his best friend standing off to the side of the skate ramp. He chuckled as he walked over to the wavy haired brunette. "Don't tell me you're gonna try boarding again," he laughed.
"You're gonna teach me!" Dustin declared happily.
"Well, at least you've got enough padding," Shane joked, hitting the two pads that the yellow ranger had attached to his backside.
"Like, I kept falling on my butt just trying to stand on the board," Dustin explained, secretly enjoying the butt slap.
Maybe he'd wear the pads more often, just for the butt slaps.
"Then I guess we should start with standing," Shane agreed.
So, for the next fifteen minutes, the air ninja proceeding to very patiently try to teach his friend how to stand on a skateboard. Though, somehow the board kept rolling off, leaving the wavy haired brunette behind. So, Shane leaned down close to the ground and held the board while Dustin stepped on.
The yellow ranger looked around, shocked that the earth wasn't moving beneath his feet. He had to look down to make sure he was indeed standing on the skateboard and, yes, he was. "I did it!" he declared happily. He became so excited over his success that he began hopping up and down on the board.
"Dude, don't—" the red ranger began to warn, but he was cut off by the excruciating pain caused by Dustin jumping on one of his hands that was holding the skateboard. Shane pulled his hands back as the pain set in, but his hopping friend was in mid-air at the time and, when he landed, one foot partially clipped the edge of the board as it rolled away and the rest of Dustin's body flew sideways, crashing to the ground.
"Oww!" Dustin whined from the ground.
"You stomped on my hand," Shane complained as he looked down his friend.
"Aw, dude I'm ow! I mean sorry!" Dustin quickly apologized, trying to look at the injured hand while wobbling on one leg.
"It's fine," Shane defended. "It just stings."
Dustin decided to inspect for himself, knowing all too well his friend's tough-guy act. "So, did I get the standing part down?" he asked hopefully while taking the skater's hand in his. His friend's fingers were slightly calloused and strong, but also very warm.
He did a mental happy dance at the excuse to hold the red ranger's hand.
"I'm thinking it still needs work," Shane admitted, looking down at their intertwined hands.
Dustin suddenly felt very self-conscious and removed his hand, offering instead a sympathetic smile. "Can you still skate?"
"Um, I think I'll be okay skating with one hand," Shane suggested.
He was such a trouper. It's no wonder Dustin fell so hard for him.
"So, you ready to try again?" Shane offered.
Dustin pondered this and realized that, even if their little teaching session did make Shane more comfortable with him having a crush on the red ranger, he'd be a cripple before the skater even knew about the crush. "Nah, I think I've had enough for one day," he replied.
Shane just shrugged. "I guess you can just watch a pro," he said smugly.
"Sure, dude!" Dustin agreed enthusiastically. "Where can I sit?"
"You can't stand?" Shane asked. "What, do you need me to carry you?"
"That'd be awesome!" Dustin cheered. "Thanks!"
"Um…" Shane began before just shrugging. "I guess it's sorta my fault you fell," he agreed, hefting up his friend and carrying him over to a bench, where he could clap and cheer the skater on.
"Thanks!" the yellow ranger offered happily before his friend began flying through the air like a madman, obviously showing off. And, as Dustin watched the skater, he knew he'd have to find a way to tell Shane how he felt.
After returning the pads and skateboard to Storm Chargers the next day and receiving a strange look from Kelly, Dustin headed to Ninja Ops. Even though Tori meant well, her advice didn't really work out. Since she couldn't even convince Blake to ask her out, maybe he should have seen that coming. Instead, he decided to talk to the smartest person he knew.
Cam was a genius. Dustin knew he should have went to the green ranger first.
The super smart tech was hard at work on something that looked like a weapon or some other important thing on his computer, so the earth ninja decided to be quiet and not distract him.
He would use his ninja stealth to become invisible.
"Is there something you want, Dustin?" the samurai asked without even turning in his chair.
Or not.
"Dude, how'd you know I was here?" the yellow ranger asked. "I was like super quiet."
Cam chose to ignore the brunette's question and ask one of his own, "What do you need this time?"
"Oh, well…" Dustin mumbled, nervously playing with his ninja training suit. "I need advice."
The tech turned in his chair to face the earth ninja, a single eyebrow raised above his glasses. "On what?" he asked, intrigued.
"Um…" Dustin began. "Like, I have this…problem."
"Every problem has a solution," Cam prompted. "Have you tried looking in the back of the book?"
"Not that kind of problem," the yellow ranger disagreed. "See, like I have a crush on Shane and I want to tell him but I'm afraid he'll freak and not be my friend anymore."
"You do realize that Shane is a male, not a female?" Cam asked deadpan.
"Duh," Dustin replied.
"Just checking," the tech continued, thinking. "I make no judgments about your orientation. I just…should have seen it." He looked genuinely disturbed by his oversight.
"Dude, it's not your fault you don't know everything," the earth ninja reassured him.
Cam frowned, obviously not consoled. "Why don't you create a list of why the two of you are compatible?"
"A list?" Dustin repeated.
"There are several different ways to go about it," the samurai explained, "but I've noticed that you and Shane have rather short attention spans, so something more visual might work best. Here, I'll show you how to create a PowerPoint presentation."
"Um…okay," the earth ninja agreed, scratching his head.
"See," Cam began to explain, "this first slide will be more of an introduction, whereas the following will be the list. Remember to have only one item per page. An example would be…You both enjoy sports and you two are both high strung, emotional, impulsive…" Cam, paused, thinking. "I suspect you'll need pictures. Let me show you how to insert a picture."
And, so, Dustin watched closely as the samurai ranger explained how to make an effective presentation to win Shane over.
Dustin wasn't much for words, so he had decided after his first hour of trying to make a list using PowerPoint that he'd only have pictures. This seemed to work out pretty well and he eventually had a presentation that showed things like candy and movie tickets to represent their movie night or a picture of the sky with a mountain below it, since Shane was an air ninja and Dustin and earth ninja. But, when he got to pictures of motocross bikes for that time that the red ranger tried to learn how to ride, he became a little distracted and the whole rest of the presentation became about motocross and freestyle bikes and stunts. Still, all in all, it was a pretty awesome presentation and he was so proud of his accomplishment that he had to call Shane over to see it.
After all, awesomeness is always best shared.
"Dude, isn't this awesome?" Dustin asked rhetorically.
Shane peered over the brunette's shoulder as he sat in front of the table in the center of Ninja Ops. "It's definitely awesome, but it's missing something."
"What?" the earth ninja asked. He did feel like he was forgetting something important.
"Skateboarding," Shane replied.
Dustin smacked his forehead with one hand. He'd become so distracted that he'd completely forgotten to include the air ninja teaching him how to stand on a skateboard and all the other things that he and the skater had in common. It stopped being a presentation about why they were meant to be together and became just about motocross. "Dude, you're right."
"And, does Cam know you're borrowing his laptop?" the air ninja continued.
"Yeah, he's cool with it," Dustin replied absent-mindedly while looking for more pictures. Unfortunately, he became distracted by a picture of a big chocolate bar because somehow it reminded him of Shane. He wasn't positive, but he was pretty sure the skater's lips always tasted like chocolate.
Maybe he should include the picture anyway.
"Oh, hey, check out this movie I picked out for Friday night," Shane interrupted, turning the laptop to him and typing in the search box.
"Lemme see!" Dustin said, immediately turning the laptop toward himself.
"It's mostly action, but there's like some mushy stuff too," Shane explained with a shrug while turning the laptop back to him.
"Dude, how 'bout this one?" Dustin asked, grabbing the laptop with both hands.
"I pick out the movies, remember?" Shane declared while also grabbing a hold of the laptop with two hands.
Suddenly the laptop was snatched away from both rangers and they turned to see Cam closing it and giving them the "playtime's over" look.
The two ninjas seemed to get this look a lot from the green ranger.
"Hey, Cam, we were just looking up info on this sick movie I picked out for Friday," Shane defended.
"Yeah, bet you can't wait," Dustin added.
Cam eyed the wavy haired brunette before turning to Shane. "Did Dustin show you what he wanted to on here?"
"The presentation?" Shane asked. "Yeah. It was pretty cool."
"Then I happen to be busy Friday," The samurai replied, cuddling the laptop to his chest as he turned around.
"With what?" Shane called.
"Work," Cam replied simply. "You two have fun."
The earth and air ninjas exchanged confused looks. And that was another thing that the two had in common.
Dustin stood behind the counter at Storm Chargers, staring off into space and thinking about ways to tell Shane he was into the skater, but every time it ended with their friendship being ruined and his best friend hating him or avoiding him.
Just then, Kelly entered the store, coming back from her lunch break. "Did you get a lot of customers while I was gone?" she asked, setting down her coat at the counter next to him.
"Huh?" the brunette replied, blinking. "Oh, nah."
"Good," she said before studying her employee's face. "You look worried."
"I am," Dustin admitted just as Hunter entered the store.
"Where's your brother?" Kelly asked.
"Oh, he's at the beach trying to learn how to surf," the blond replied with a chuckle as he made his way toward the back.
"Polishing your bike can wait," she called after him. "We just received a new shipment that needs to be stocked."
Hunter just grunted in response.
That was when Dustin realized exactly who he needed to ask advice from. He needed someone who didn't worry about freaking Shane out the way he did. He needed someone who didn't care what other people thought. "Hunter, dude!" the brunette called, running to the back after the blond.
The crimson ranger already had a rag in hand, ready to polish his bike as Dustin entered the back room.
"Dude, I need some advice, bad," the yellow ranger pleaded.
Hunter looked up from his bike, his head cocked to one side. "And you came to me?" he asked.
"I'm worried about freaking someone out by saying I like him—them, the person," Dustin quickly corrected.
"Him?" Hunter repeated. "It figures." He then began polishing his bike.
"What figures?" Dustin asked, confused.
"The waving arms, the weird way you act," the blond listed off without looking up. "It figures you'd be gay. Not that it's any of my business, but who's the guy?"
"Shane," Dustin admitted.
Hunter thought for a moment. "Yeah, I can see it."
"So…will you help me come up with a way to tell him I like him without freaking him out?" Dustin asked.
"Just tell him, if he wants this," the blond replied, gesturing toward the brunette, "this being you, that he better come get it before it's gone."
"Huh?" the earth ninja replied, confused.
The thunder ranger set down his rag and propped himself up against his bike. "Look, if he likes you back, he'll be all over you. You just gotta let him know you're available. But not for long. You have to give him a timetable, you know, to pressure the dude. It's Shane after all and he's a little dense."
"But…if he doesn't like me back, I don't wanna like lose him as a friend forever and ever," Dustin complained.
Hunter crossed his arms, thinking. "How about this: I pretend to flirt with you and make him jealous. Then he'll have no choice but to grow a pair and ask you out."
"You'd do that for me?" Dustin asked.
"To see the look on Shane's face, not to mention Blake's face," the crimson ranger replied, a grin curling up on the side of his lips, "of course."
"What do I have to do?" the brunette begged.
"Nothing," the blond answered with a shrug. "I'll meet you guys at Ops once my shift's over."
"Awesome!" Dustin declared, skipping off.
Hunter then went back to polishing his bike.
While Dustin waited in Ninja Ops for Hunter to arrive, he sparred for a little while against Shane, intentionally letting himself be knocked to the ground on more than one occasion just so that the air ninja would have to help him up.
"Not as fun without pillows," Shane teased the earth ninja, who, as expected, nodded his head in agreement.
"Or without candy," the brunette added.
"Can one of you two spar with me?" Blake interrupted as he approached.
"What about Tori?" Dustin suggested.
"She thinks I go easy on her," the navy ranger explained, adding, "Not that I do." He lowered his voice. "She hits hard."
The two Wind rangers exchanged glances that said they knew the younger Bradley was probably very familiar with how hard she hit.
"I think I'll take a break," Dustin replied first. "Don't kick his butt too bad." He offered his friend a double thumbs up as Shane chuckled before getting into a stance opposite Blake.
As the earth ninja watched the two spar, he let his mind wander. He pictured the air ninja being hungry after sparring and Dustin giving him some delicious chocolate candy. But, somehow the skater would end up with chocolate all over his face and the wavy haired mechanic would have no choice but to lick it off him. Then Shane's sweat would mix with the chocolate and soon there would be a river of chocolate running down the red ranger and he'd have to remove his shirt to get to it, licking all over the darker teen's bare body until… Boy was he hungry. He decided to ask Cam, who was chatting with Tori about something, "Hey, Cam, you have anything to eat around here?"
"That you would want to eat?" the samurai replied. "Probably not."
"Aww," the earth ninja pouted. He was getting so impatient and hungry (not to mention horny) waiting for Hunter to show up. "Hey, what's flirting?" he decided to ask.
"Why?" Tori asked suspiciously. "Has Blake been asking you for advice? Listen, I'm not too much of a 'guy girl' as you guys call me to not appreciate some flowers. Sometimes the classic—"
"Nah, it's not about Blake," Dustin told the water ninja.
"I think I know what this is about," Cam replied with a slight smirk. "It's about a certain red ranger we were just talking about."
"Ooh," Tori drew out, exchanging a knowing glance with the samurai before turning back to Dustin. "You want to know how to flirt with Shane. That's cute, but how did the skateboarding lessons go?"
"Um, not that great actually," the mechanic confessed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"What about the presentation?" Cam asked, sounding hopeful.
"It didn't work," Dustin frowned. "And I included a streetlight and everything."
"A streetlight?" Cam repeated before his massive brain went to work. "Ah, because a green light means just stay the same speed and course, but yellow and red either signify slow down or stop."
"Yellow means speed up," the yellow ranger replied defensively.
"Of course it does," the green ranger mumbled. "The point is, the other two colors require action."
"Yeah, we're all about action, dude," the brunette agreed, enthusiastically making karate movements with his arms.
"I don't know which I find more disturbing," Cam commented to himself, "that I understand how Dustin's mind works or that I'm giving him relationship advice."
"I know how you feel," Tori said, patting the samurai's shoulder. "So, Dustin, do you want me to pull Blake away from Shane so you two can have some alone time?" She wiggled her eyebrows for effect.
"I'm waiting for Hunter," the earth ninja replied.
"Why?" his green and blue clad friends asked in unison.
"Hunter's gonna flirt with me so that Shane'll be jealous and ask me out," Dustin explained.
The double facepalm that followed was not what the wavy haired brunette had been hoping for.
"I suppose it sounds just like something Hunter would come up with," Cam groaned.
"Dustin, does Blake know what Hunter's going to do?" Tori interrupted.
"No," Dustin admitted, confused.
"I can see this will go over wonderfully," Cam commented sarcastically.
"Maybe I should warn Blake before…" Tori began just as the particular blond in question entered the room.
Hunter strode his way down into Ninja Ops with a confident swagger that caused the two sparring ninjas to stop and stare.
"Bro, something up?" Blake asked uneasily. He'd undoubtedly seen this look on his brother before he pounced on a girl, and Tori being the only girl in the room was making him sweat bullets. Or, in ninja terms, he was sweating shurikens.
"Hey, man, what's up?" the crimson ranger asked casually, leaning suspiciously close to sniff the yellow ranger. "You smell good. Whatcha wearing?"
Dustin sniffed his armpits. "Dirt and sweat?"
"It smells good on you," the blond said with a ruffle of the brunette's hair before pulling out a pen from his training uniform and dropping it conspicuously in front of the mechanic. "Aw, man, can you get that for me?"
"Sure!" the earth ninja chirped, happily bending over to retrieve the pen.
Meanwhile, Hunter cocked his head back, making an appreciative "muhum" sound before glancing over his shoulder and nodding at his brother and the red ranger.
"There you go," Dustin said, handing the pen back to the blond.
"Hey, Dustin, whatcha doing Friday night?" the thunder ninja continued, a smirk plastered to his face.
"Friday night's movie night," the earth ninja reminded him, "remember?"
"Yeah, whatever," Hunter said dismissively. "Why don't we hit the track and do some riding together, just you and me?"
Dustin pondered this. He did enjoy riding, but Friday night was supposed to be movie night.
"I'm sure Shane wouldn't mind you missing out just this once," the blond said, drawing out the air ninja's name as he threw a look the skater's way. "Or, do you mind?" he asked, reaching up and once again ruffling the earth ninja's hair before throwing an arm around the brunette's shoulder.
Dustin looked from Hunter to Shane and hoped for something like, "Get away from my awesome boyfriend!" Yeah, that sounded a whole lot better than what the skater actually said.
"Um, I guess, if he wants to go riding instead…" Shane reluctantly agreed, his dark eyes focusing on his best friend's.
The earth ninja frowned, wondering what he should say since the red ranger seemed to have forgotten he was supposed to be the leader. Hunter had promised him he wouldn't have to say or do anything…
The seductive blond seemed to sense the mechanic's hesitation and upped the odds, pulling open his crimson training suit before removing the top entirely. "Is it just me or is it hot in here?" he asked, fanning his now shirtless body with the top. He leaned his bare chest closer to Dustin. "Maybe it's just you and your hot bo—"
"Oh for the love of—" Cam began to shout just as the younger Bradley fainted.
"Blake!" Tori shrieked, running to the navy ranger's side.
The smirk still never left the blond's face as Shane walked over and whispered to Dustin, "Dude, what was that all about?"
"It's called flirting," Dustin explained.
"I guess I'm not a big fan of flirting," the air ninja said with a frown.
"Yeah, me neither," the earth ninja replied. Though, if Shane were the one shirtless...
"So, we still on for Friday night?" the skater asked, interrupting the brunette's inner thoughts.
"'Course, dude!" Dustin agreed with a wide, toothy grin. He'd never miss movie night.
The other ninja's hovered over Blake until the shorter Bradley awoke. "Woah, what happened?" he asked, trying to stand.
"You fain—" Hunter began, once again fully clothed.
"Shane knocked you out," Tori interrupted.
"What?" the red ranger asked, confused. "When?"
"When you two were sparring," the water ninja said with her "just go with it" eyes.
"Um, okay," Blake shrugged, regaining his footing. "I had the weirdest dream."
"Dude, what was it about?" Dustin asked curiously.
The others glared at him.
"What?" the earth ninja asked, confused.
"Here's an asprin for the pain," Cam offered. "I think Sensei will let you skip training."
"That's no fair," Hunter complained. "Just because he can't take a little—"
"Cameron is correct," Sensei's voice announced. "Though, I believe you all have had sufficient training for tonight. Since the five of you have school tomorrow, you are free to go."
"Yay!" Dustin cheered, jumping up and down. "Dude, thanks for fainting!" he said, patting the navy ranger's shoulder.
The younger Bradley looked at him confused.
"Oh, hey, dude, you have a sec?" the mechanic suddenly asked.
"I guess so," Blake replied while the yellow ranger ushered him aside.
"Can I…ask you for advice?" the earth ninja asked slowly.
"Sure," the thunder ninja agreed. "What's up?"
"See, I want to tell Shane I like him without it freaking him out," Dustin explained.
"Like as in…" the younger Bradley realized. "And, you came to me?"
"I asked everyone else already and didn't get anywhere," the earth ninja answered.
"Right," Blake said, thinking. "You should have come to me first, bro." He glanced at Tori for a moment. "Well, just…watch her from afar—him, watch him from afar and try to be nice to her—him and let him set the pace in the relationship and don't rush…" He looked at Dustin as the brunette just stared at the shorter teen. "Yeah, okay, so that totally hasn't been working, has it?"
"No, dude," Dustin admitted. "She likes you. Maybe you should just…ask her out."
"You think she'd say yes?" Blake asked hopefully.
"Dude, she'd like totally kill me if she knew I said this, but she's like so into you!" the earth ninja replied. "Go on! Do it!" He pushed the navy ranger toward his friend and watched as the two grinned awkwardly at each other.
"So, um, like would you want to go out sometime?" Blake finally asked.
"I'd love to," Tori replied easily, her smile as wide as the younger Bradley's.
Hunter decided to clap. And, when the others looked at him, he just shrugged. "What? It's about damn time."
"Hunter does have a point…" Cam commented quietly to himself, but apparently not quietly enough.
"My bro asks Tori out and Cam agrees with me," the blond listed. "I never thought I'd see this day come."
The samurai rolled his eyes.
"You can cut the flirting," Hunter said with a dismissive wave. "If I weren't straight, I might let you have a piece of this, but I am, so I won't." He then turned to leave.
"Dad, remind me why I haven't killed him yet," Cam begged the guinea pig.
"Patience is a virtue, son," Sensei replied simply.
"Sooo…" Tori stretched out, "when did you want to go out?"
"How 'bout that kung foo movie that's opening this Friday?" Blake suggested.
"Cool," Tori replied, smiling. "It's a date."
Dustin felt happy for his friends, but he still wasn't any closer to figuring out how to tell Shane he liked the big studmuffin. If only it was as easy as with Tori and Blake. They made things so complicated when they were really easy.
As the others left Ninja Ops, Dustin decided to tell Shane he'd catch up with him later while he instead asked Sensei if he had a moment.
"Of course," the guinea pig replied calmly. "What is on your mind, Dustin?" He beckoned his student to sit cross-legged in front of him.
"I need some advice," Dustin began, sitting.
"Sometimes the answers we seek are right in front of us," Sensei replied cryptically.
"Um, okay," Dustin replied. "But I want to tell someone something without freaking him out."
"One's reactions to another's statements are dictated by many different circumstances," the guinea pig explained. "The best way to convey information without fear of being misunderstood is to know what you are saying."
Dustin blinked at his Sensei.
"Dustin, let us practice finding your inner ninja," Sensei continued. "For, only when one is centered within themselves can they truly understand their own desires and therefore project those desires verbally in an effective manner. First, close your eyes and concentrate on not concentrating."
The brunette was asleep within minutes and immediately began dreaming about kissing Shane on his lips and all over his chocolaty skin, but then the skater became scared and pushed Dustin away, saying how weird the earth ninja was and how they could never be friends ever again.
When he awoke, Sensei was still explaining how to find his inner ninja and, since the guinea pig had his eyes closed, Dustin decided to just sneak out. Obviously his Sensei wasn't as wise as he thought. Or maybe he was just too wise for the brunette to understand. Either way, he was out of people (or guinea pigs) he could turn to for advice and he felt hopelessly defeated.
Dustin sat in the back room of Storm Chargers eating a chocolate peanut butter sandwich and a bag of Reece's Pieces. He had asked every other ninja he knew, even his Sensei, and no one seemed to have any idea how to tell Shane that he liked him.
There was a tap at the open door and the brunette looked up to see Kelly standing in the doorway. "I know it's still your break, but I wanted to check on you. You seem…distant lately."
"Yeah," Dustin mumbled. "Just got a lot on my mind."
"You want to talk about it?" she offered.
"Not really," he replied. "I've already talked to like everybody about it." He took a big bite of his sandwich, savoring the taste. His sandwich never judged him.
"Maybe you'd feel better if you ate a little healthier," she suggested, sounding just a little too motherly.
"I just like chocolate," he defended.
"And peanut butter," she pointed out.
"Yeah, well, like, chocolate and peanut butter go great together," he replied.
"Kind of like you and Shane," she said with a grin.
Dustin's eyes widened as he turned to stare at his boss. "How—how'd you know?"
She just continued to grin. "It's pretty obvious by the way you hang off him how you feel about him. Maybe you should try telling him how you feel."
"But I don't want to lose him as a friend," he whined.
"Trust me on this one, Dustin," she replied. "You won't lose him as a friend. Just tell him you like him in your own way and he'll understand."
"In my own way?" he repeated, confused. What was his own way? He shoved some Reece's Pieces into his sandwich and crunched down on it as he thought. Really, his own way wasn't planned out, so how did he know what that meant?
That Friday night, Dustin took a few more pillows from around the house and headed over to the garage to make popcorn while Shane set up the movie. But, as the brunette filled several bowls with popcorn, he looked at the door and then around the small room. "Dude, where's everyone else?"
The skater also looked around, shrugging. "Tori and Blake are on a 'date'," he explained with a chuckle. "Cam said he was busy and Hunter's always late."
"Ah," the earth ninja replied, setting down the bowls.
"Hey, you want me to poor the candy?" Shane asked.
"Nah, I'll get it," he offered, walking back over to the Wanka Wall and running right into Hunter, who was entering the room.
"Hey, where's everyone else?" the blond asked, looking around. "I'm always the last one."
"Yeah, they couldn't make it," Dustin explained quickly.
"So…it's just you and Shane," Hunter replied, staring at the brunette.
"And you," Dustin reminded him.
"You know, dude, I just remembered I have stuff to do," the blond said, a suspiciously proud grin on his face as he turned and left, mumbling something about annoying Cam.
Dustin set down bowls full of candy, a confused look on his face.
"Why'd Hunter bail?" the skater asked while making sure the audio settings on the DVD were set to surround sound.
"He said he had other stuff to do," the earth ninja replied, still confused.
"I guess it's just the two of us," Shane replied with a shrug as he plopped down on the couch and started the movie.
"Yeah, this'll still be cool!" Dustin agreed, setting down the bowls.
"Except when they get to the kissing scenes we won't be able to throw popcorn at Tori and Blake while they pretend not to keep looking at each other," Shane added.
Dustin laughed. "Yeah, dude, those two are hopeless."
"Yeah, they're all like making kissy faces like this," Shane joked, putting his face near Dustin's. "And then the other looks and they're like…" He pulled away and made a serious face. "'What? We don't like each other!'"
Dustin tried to laugh along with Shane's joke, but he felt his cheeks flush from the thought of kissing Shane that seemed to take over his mind. So, to get back on track, he decided to reach for some candy and handed Shane his own bowl of Reece's Minis. "At least they're finally like dating."
"Yeah," the skater nodded, grabbing a fistful of candy. "I hear they went out to see a movie."
"Just like us," the mechanic grinned.
They ate popcorn and candy in silence for a while, until a scene came on showing a ninja running across a roof and along trees.
"I can totally do that," Shane bragged.
"Yeah right," Dustin teased and, with that little prompting, the air ninja jumped up onto the edge of the couch, blown along by a sudden wind in the room.
"How about now?" the earth ninja giggled as a sudden rumble caused the couch to shift and the aloft skater was sent tumbling into both Dustin and the table full of snacks.
The two laughed as they picked popcorn and candy out of each other's hair and clothes. Then, when a scene full of flying daggers came on, the two began throwing Reece's peanut butter cups at each other.
"Aw, you got me!" Dustin teased, falling onto Shane's lap.
"Dude, here, have a Reece's," the red ranger offered, unwrapping a candy. "Peanut butter can heal you."
"Especially chocolate and peanut butter," Dustin played along, opening his mouth so Shane could shove the candy inside. "Mmm, I feel better already." He suddenly jumped up and bounced on the couch cushions.
Shane chuckled. "See, I knew it."
Dustin plopped down next to the skater and picked stray Reece's Minis out of the couch cushions. "You know, you and me are just like chocolate and peanut butter."
Shane smiled. "Yeah, we're perfect together," he agreed, adding, "Peanut Butter."
"Hey, why am I peanut butter?" Dustin complained.
"'Cause your skin's the color of peanut butter," Shane explained simply, adding with a chuckle, "And you're a little nutty."
"And your skin's the color of chocolate," Dustin realized.
"And I'm smooth?" Shane offered, grinning.
"Totally," Dustin breathed, staring at his friend.
Onscreen, two of the ninjas stood under a vast, moonlit sky and kissed. And, before Dustin knew what he was doing, he had leaned forward and his lips met Shane's. Yes, those lips did taste like chocolate.
He pulled away quickly. "Dude, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—" When Kelly had said to tell Shane how he felt in his own way, he doubted she meant this.
But, before panic could completely set in, his words were cut off by Shane's lips pressed hard against his. In an instant, Dustin melted into the skater's embrace as his mouth filled with the taste not only of chocolate, but of peanut butter.
Some time later, they pulled away to catch their breath.
"Dude, why didn't you ever tell me you like like me?" Shane asked, still breathless.
"'Cause I was afraid you'd freak out and not wanna be my friend anymore," Dustin explained, panting.
Shane rubbed Dustin's curly hair affectionately. "I'd never stop being your friend. You shoulda just asked me how I felt."
"I was scared," Dustin wined. "Why didn't you tell me you like like me back?"
"Point taken," the skater conceded before chuckling to himself. "Man, we're as bad as Tori and Blake."
"No we're not!" mechanic defended, grabbing a pillow.
"Are too!" Shane argued, grabbing another pillow as the two began to pillow fight, first with one pillow at a time and then eventually with double fistfuls of pillows.
After they were literally buried in a mountain of multicolored pillows, they both collapsed out of exhaustion and fell into each other's arms.
"Why's there chocolate stains all over the pillows?" the skater asked, noticing the dark handprints on the various colored fabrics.
"Aw, sorry about that," the mechanic apologized. "I guess the Reece's minis melted in my hand. Hey, I thought they were supposed to like only melt in mouths."
"I think that's M&Ms you're thinking of," the air ninja pointed out.
"Oh, right," the earth ninja realized, scratching his cheek.
Shane chuckled. "You got some chocolate right…"
"Here?" Dustin asked, smearing more melted chocolate over his face.
"Yeah, that's better," Shane laughed, leaning forward and ever so slowly extending his tongue before running it along the brunette's chocolate covered cheek, down Dustin's chin and then along his soft lips.
"Mmm…" the yellow ranger moaned into the kiss, grabbing the skater's face in both hands and spreading the last of the chocolate from his palms on his best friend's face.
The two giggled mid kiss, pulling back to see each other's smiling face and joy-filled chocolate colored eyes.
"So, this is kinda like our first date," Dustin realized.
"Yeah," Shane agreed, lazily playing with a stray curl on the brunette's head. "Maybe Friday night can be our date night from now on, but what'll we tell everybody else?"
"Oh, don't worry," Dustin replied, letting out a contented sigh as he collapsed on the skater. "They all know I like you and they're cool with it, so we'll have an awesome time with just us."
"Um, okay then," the red ranger replied with a shrug. "I guess they were never as into movie night as me and you."
"Yeah, it's my favorite day," the yellow ranger mumbled, just enjoying the feeling of finally being open about his feelings with his best friend turned boyfriend. "I'll bring the chocolate and peanut butter for our dates. We can do my famous peanut butter and chocolate sandwiches."
Shane grinned, kissing Dustin's forehead with his oh so chocolaty lips and whispered in that fond way he spoke to the earth ninja, "You just need to bring the peanut butter."
~ The End ~
Author's Note: That's it! Short and sweet, like chocolate and peanut butter! If you liked this story, please review! Dustin and Shane will pop out of the screen and make out in front of you if you do! What? They will!