Author's Note: This is my first attempt at a 5+1, so here's hoping I don't screw it up.
Can't Live With Him, Can't Live Without Him
1
"Oh enough! Both of you, out of here! And don't come back until you sort this out!"
Kendall's words echoed continuously in his mind, and Riley gritted his teeth as he stalked out of the Dino Bite café and into the base. When their mentor had told them to leave, there had been this indescribable look on Chase's face, not quite smug, not quite regretful either, but it made Riley want to punch him all the same.
It was one thing to goof off and not take training seriously, but throwing away valuable samples and criticizing him for wanting to analyze things? While it was glaringly obvious that eating the poisoned cake would lead to a massive toothache, the issue wasn't as simple as Chase made it out to be. They still had to figure out a way to reverse the effects, and if Kendall was going to work on developing an antidote for Cavity's victims, then she was going to need all the data she could get.
No thanks to Chase, there wasn't any way for him to help out now, not when he had been banished from the café. The only thing left for him to do was to train and make sure that Cavity wouldn't get the chance to escape again.
With that in mind, Riley pulled out his Dino Saber and made his way towards the tennis ball machine, unaware of Keeper watching him thoughtfully from the shadows.
2
The moment those two words left Chase's mouth, everyone in the Dinolair went deathly still. Only the mechanical hums of the tennis ball machine could be heard, and the tension in the air was so thick that Riley's sword could have cut through it.
"Say that again. I dare you," the brunet growled, his voice low and threatening.
Chase smirked and leaned forward where he was seated on the couch, not intimidated in the slightest. "I said," he began slowly, purposefully, "you need to chill out, baby raptor."
And the green ranger exploded.
"I am two years younger than you!" Riley exclaimed indignantly, brandishing the sword in his hand. He spun around to glare at Tyler and Koda, who were snickering helplessly in a corner. "Stop laughing at me, I'm serious!"
"And I'm Dumbledore," Chase quipped, grinning widely as the brunet turned the smoldering look on him instead. "But really mate, you gotta learn how to take a joke!"
"Not when it's at my expense. And technically, we're all babies compared to Koda."
"Ha! So you admit it!"
Refusing to even dignify the taunt with a comeback, Riley turned up the dial on the tennis ball machine and resumed his stance, trying to focus on his training which Chase had so rudely interrupted. He intercepted the first few projectiles with relative ease as he warmed up, and it took every ounce of his concentration not to react to the New Zealander's trash talk.
Tyler finally took pity on him and approached Chase. "Give it up bro," he told the black ranger. "Riley knows better than to sink to your level."
"Yeah yeah…" came the somewhat resigned reply. There was a deliberate pause, and then one last jab: "Clever girl."
That did it.
Riley's eye twitched, and Koda cocked his head in confusion when Tyler quickly stepped away from the couch.
There was the sound of a particularly vicious whack and the next thing anyone knew, a tennis ball was embedded in the cushions right next to Chase. If it had been half a foot closer, it would have socked him directly in the gut.
"Oops," Riley smirked at the dark haired male, not sounding apologetic at all. The way Chase's face seemed to drain of color was refreshingly satisfying, and he took aim again as the machine fired another round. This time, Chase actually jumped as a tennis ball smashed into the ground where his right foot had been a split second before. The click of a camera in action told him that Tyler had already whipped out his phone to record the show.
"You know what, mate? I take that back. Feel free to go back to serious training, yeah?"
"Oh trust me, hitting moving targets IS serious training."
And that was Chase's cue to high-tail it out of there.
3
"Dino Charger, ready!"
A stream of raging fire erupted from the twin barrels of Tyler's morpher, blasting Koda's Stego Shield as the caveman blocked the flames with his weapon. Shelby was taking notes a safe distance away, while Chase and Riley hung back around Tyler's jeep to watch the display.
As part of a training and team bonding exercise, Kendall had instructed them to experiment with the new Dino Chargers she had created. Even though they were mainly supposed to provide their zords with an extra edge, she wanted to see if they could also be used effectively on the ground. Once Tyler had driven the team to a secluded dig site, everyone had morphed eagerly and started taking turns to test them out with their Dino Morphers.
Chase reached into the briefcase containing the new chargers and picked one up at random, examining it curiously. It was amazing how something so small could contain so much power, and he couldn't wait to find out what this one did. He squinted at the unfamiliar dinosaur on it before reading the label, wondering just what the heck was a Tupandactylus anyway? Shelby would probably know, but there was only one way to figure out the effects of its charger. Smirking to himself, Chase activated it with quick press of a button and loaded his morpher.
"Hey Riley, think fast!"
The brunet spun around and brought up his sword just in time to deflect the shot sent his way, but before he could berate Chase for the unexpected attack, the blade of his weapon suddenly wobbled and flopped over comically.
"What the hell did you do?!" Riley shrieked, clutching his precious sword in dismay. The blade had become as flimsy as a piece of rubber, rendering it practically useless. He tuned out the sounds of Tyler, Shelby and Koda coming over to investigate the commotion, scowling at Chase even though the other male wouldn't be able to see it through their helmets. If looks could kill, the New Zealander would have been dead ten times over by then.
"Damn," Tyler muttered, a hint of awe in his voice as he poked at the softened metal. Even Chase winced at the results of his shot, while Koda sniggered quietly before Shelby smacked him on the arm.
As though sensing the heated glare boring into him, the black ranger held up his hands and started to back away from his furious teammate. "I'm sure it'll return to normal soon… Probably…?" he trailed off uncertainly at the end, ducking when Riley suddenly took a swing at his head with his sword.
The tip of the floppy blade narrowly missed his helmet, and Chase yelped as he made a run for it, Riley hot on his heels with Tyler, Shelby and Koda chasing after them to make sure the brunet didn't cut their team down to four members.
4
The party poppers were a nice surprise, even if they had been in his face. The colorful streamers raining down on him was pushing it a little, but still it was okay. Hell, even the childish cone hat they strapped onto his head could be tolerated.
~ Dancing Queen, young and sweet, only seventeeeen! ~
THAT, on the other hand, was absolutely inexcusable.
"Happy birthday, Riley!" the team chorused enthusiastically, temporarily drowning out the ABBA song blasting in the background (since when did they have speakers installed in the Dinolair anyway?), and one look at Chase's shit-eating grin was all it took to figure out who was behind the choice of music for his surprise party. On hindsight, he really should have seen it coming.
The urge to give the New Zealander a good kick in the shins was squashed down when Tyler and Shelby practically dragged him over to sit in front of the table where Koda had placed his birthday cake: made from chocolate chip mint ice cream and beautifully decorated with a realistic sugar replica of a velociraptor on top (Shelby's handiwork no doubt, he'd have to remind himself to compliment her on the attention to detail later).
His family had never made a big fuss about birthdays back home. At most, his mother gave him the day off from chores and cooked his favorite dishes for dinner. Sometimes a few of his relatives would drop by the ranch to visit, and there was that one year when Matt had given him a fencing foil as a present, the best birthday gift he had ever received so far. The concept of throwing a party with the customary cake and songs and the wish making and candle blowing was not unfamiliar to him. It was just a luxury he was not used to having, and he was perfectly fine with it.
Understandably, all the attention made Riley slightly uncomfortable at first. But as his friends sang him the birthday song (with Chase being the loudest of them all), as he closed his eyes to make a wish (and heard a loud smack somewhere to his right, presumably Tyler keeping Koda's eager hands off the whipped cream), as he blew out the candles and helped Shelby to cut and distribute slices of cake, it occurred to him that maybe celebrating with his new family wasn't so bad after all.
"So, Riley!" Chase clapped a hand on his shoulder, sitting down beside him. "How's it feel to be seventeen? I mean, you get to do all sorts of fun stuff now."
Warning bells began to go off in the brunet's mind. "What are you talking about?" he asked warily.
"You can dance, you can jive, have the time of your life…"
~ See that girl, watch that scene, digging the Dancing Queeeen! ~
Or not.
5
If Riley hadn't known any better, he'd say that Chase was doing it on purpose.
"You'll burn a hole in his head if you keep that up."
The brunet yelped in surprise and jumped backwards, whipping around to see Shelby standing right where he had been before, watching Chase discreetly from the kitchen. "Don't do that!" he scolded her, the frown on his face slowly turning into confusion as she continued to stare at him. "What?"
"I know it's none of my business, but you're gonna have to tell him sooner or later," the pink ranger said as her eyes flickered towards Chase, who was waiting on one of the tables in the quiet café. She patted Riley's back in sympathy when he sighed and looked away dejectedly.
Mixed signals were frustrating to deal with. On one hand, he and Chase seemed to be spending a lot more time with each other. If they weren't scheduled to work during the same shifts, they were hanging out in the Dinolair or training together. The New Zealander had taken to following him whenever he went to the running track (even if all he did was muck around on his skateboard), though the 'clever girl' incident had taught him to steer clear of the green ranger when he was practicing with tennis balls lest he found himself an enticing moving target. Riley genuinely enjoyed Chase's company and he knew he was developing a small crush on him. From the way Chase often sought him out in their spare time, he had hope that the other male could reciprocate his feelings.
On the other hand, Chase was still… Chase. He continued to flirt with anything wearing a skirt, and there was no shortage of occasions where Riley had caught him checking other people out when he thought no one was looking. Jealously was rearing its ugly head, and it drove the brunet absolutely nuts. Hearing a tinkle of giggles from the pretty girls at the table Chase was waiting on, evidence of the Randall charm at work, Riley suddenly felt like stabbing the New Zealander with his Dino Saber, wondering what he wouldn't give to have Chase smile at him the way he did with them.
"Wipe that wistful look off your face," Shelby whispered, nudging him on the arm. "He's coming over!"
"Hey princess," Chase greeted her with a smirk as he approached the counter, though his expression softened as his gaze shifted to the other teen. "Riley. I was only gone a few minutes, you know. Did you guys miss me that much?"
Shelby narrowed her eyes at him. "Keep telling yourself that," she said flatly, ignoring the mock gasp of hurt as she relieved him of the piece of paper with the table's orders.
"Ouch! Is it that time of the m–"
"Finish that sentence and die."
Chase wisely snapped his mouth shut, but not before shooting Riley a quick wink in jest.
Yup, definitely on purpose. But something told the brunet that it wasn't, and believing that somehow hurt a lot more than it should.
+1
"Chase, shut up and sit still or I'm going to wrap up more than just your injuries."
A low whistle. "I'm impressed, Riley! Who knew you were such a kinky little b – OW!"
"Serves you right," the brunet muttered, his words losing their heat as he loosened the knot of bandages around Chase's torso.
The battle with Sledge's latest monster, some kind of Chimera, had been particularly brutal. It could split itself up into its different parts – a wolf, a bull, and an eel – and fighting it was like taking on three different monsters at the same time. While each separate creature was much weaker than the combined hybrid, it still hadn't been easy trying to beat all of them.
During the fight, Riley had been engaging the bull on his own when the eel suddenly broke away from Shelby and Koda to gang up on him. Chase had seen it approaching the green ranger from behind to deliver a deadly strike and he had jumped in the way at the last second, taking the hit instead. The blow had caused him to demorph, but despite being one member down, the other rangers were only spurred on to fight harder and protect their fallen teammate. It had taken some quick thinking on Tyler's part to trick the monsters into attacking one another before the rest of the team was able to destroy them. After returning to the Dinolair, Riley had insisted on tending to Chase's wounds in return for saving him.
"Alright, that should do it." The younger teen nodded to himself, seemingly satisfied with his work. Seated next to Chase on the couch, he began to pack up the first aid kit. "Just make sure to take it easy for a while, okay?"
"Yes Dr. Griffin," Chase replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he picked up his shirt which had been stuffed between some cushions. "I do know how to take care of myself, you know."
"Clearly you don't." Harsh and unbidden, the words came out before Riley could stop them. He turned away as Chase shot him a surprised look. "What you did today was stupid. You could have gotten yourself killed!"
To say that Riley had been worried was the understatement of the century. Seeing Chase go down and demorph had nearly given him a heart attack, and it was something he never wanted to experience again. What was worse was the fact that the black ranger had been hurt taking the blow meant for him, and while the guilt was eating Riley up inside, Chase didn't seem to understand just how bad things could have gotten if Tyler and the others hadn't managed to reach them in time.
A little unsettled by the brunet's unusual loss of composure, Chase twisted around to face Riley fully, biting back a wince as his chest throbbed in pain. "I'm fine, I promise. I just got a couple of bruised ribs, that's all. Nothing a few days of downtime won't fix." He even smirked at the younger teen for good measure, hoping that it would reassure him.
But Riley's hands twitched, itching to throttle Chase because he was completely missing the point. "That's not what I meant, you idiot!" he hissed angrily, reaching forward instead to grab the New Zealander by the shoulders.
"Whoa, mate! What –?"
Furious lips descended upon his in a frantic kiss, but there was no time for Chase to react or even respond as Riley pulled back just as quickly and drew him in for a tight hug, hiding his reddening face in the crook of Chase's neck. The dark haired male was left frozen in shock, too stunned to move until he realized that Riley was shaking like a leaf. Slowly, tentatively, he wrapped his arms around the younger teen to return the embrace.
Chase would be lying if he'd said he hadn't noticed the way he and Riley had been dancing around each other for the past few weeks. He admitted that he harbored certain feelings towards the brunet, but unsure of how Riley would react if he told him, he had decided to keep them to himself instead. Despite being a serial flirt and having been shot down so many times he'd lost count, at least he understood when to take a hint and back off. But if Riley had said 'no', he didn't think he would be able to recover as he usually did. Now that he knew, however…
"It's not stupid, you know. Saving your life," Chase whispered, squeezing back lightly.
"I don't care," Riley mumbled into his shoulder. "Don't ever do it again."
"S'worth it though. No promises, baby raptor, but I'll tell you what: we'll protect each other, yeah?"
He received a non-committal hum in response, but at least he wasn't getting pelted by tennis balls for the nickname. Riley didn't seem too keen on letting go anytime soon, and so they remained there in each other's arms for a long time after that.
Author's Note: Credit where it's due –
[3] Kyoryuger episode 5
[4] Tumblr (can't remember who made the post about this one)
I just wanna say the only reason [1] is so short is because it physically hurt me to have to rewatch and write about baby raptor and kiwi boy's fight (T^T). That aside, I'd love to hear what you guys think of this. Thanks for reading!
EDIT 5-5-15
The Dancing Queen post was made by luckyuro on tumblr :D