Chapter 8
Simple Joys
I don't own Pippen
Takes place after "Boxing Bopp a Roo"
-:-:-:-:-:-
"This is terrible."
Leave it to Hunter to find just the right words to describe what they were watching. Tori couldn't argue though; it was terrible.
"It could be worse," Shane offered, popping another piece of popcorn into his mouth.
The aqua ranger took her eyes off the program in time to see Hunter scrunch his nose in distaste.
"No, I don't think it could," he argued before shoving a handful of popcorn into his mouth. Tori elected not to comment on their never-ending stomachs; they would simply swear that they needed it because they were growing boys. It was the same argument they used when they eliminated the pizza.
Dustin waved for no particular reason.
"It could be in like, Dutch dude," he said, pulling his eyes away from the screen long enough to make a serious face at Hunter. "Then you wouldn't be able to understand them."
Tori cringed. That would be worse.
"Cam might," Blake suggested, shifting his arm again. He'd been doing this for the past half hour in an attempt to sneak it over Tori's shoulder. He thought she hadn't noticed. Apparently the words "secret ninja training" meant nothing to him.
Still, she wished he would just hurry up.
Cam sighed. "I don't know Dutch."
"But you could build something to translate Dutch," Hunter pointed out around another mouthful of popcorn.
Blake crept his arm closer. "Ten bucks says he already has something built."
Tori couldn't see it, but she bet Cam was rolling his eyes.
"I haven't," the tech professed stoically. Hunter took another glance at Blake's arm progress and made an exasperated face. Tori allowed herself a small smile.
This had been a good idea.
"Ohh!" Dustin suddenly exclaimed, raising his hand and looking back at them. "Can I take that bet?"
Blake looked at him quizzically. "He already answered."
And therefore the bet couldn't be applied, but that wasn't always how things worked out in Dustin's head.
The yellow ranger set his arm down dejectedly. "So…I don't get ten bucks?" He looked at Shane and Cam for confirmation.
"No Dustin," Shane answered, looking distinctly amused.
"Shoot," Dustin murmured sadly, before slumping against Cam with a dramatic sigh. To his credit Cam didn't push the brunette off; he simply readjusted his shoulders to accommodate the yellow ranger.
It was cute to see them get along so well. That had been happening more and more lately. At first Tori had chalked it up to Dustin just being himself but Cam kept shooting the earth ninja these looks. She couldn't describe them, but it looked like there was something Cam was trying to figure out. She would keep an eye on that, maybe talk to him about it later.
"I have," Cam continued. "However, written a program to translate foreign languages."
Hunter popped another piece of popcorn into the air, catching it in his mouth.
"How is that not the same thing as building?" he asked, chewing away his victory.
Shane smirked and mimicked his actions with two pieces.
Tori groaned, they better not start that nonsense again.
The look on Cam's face must have said the same thing because both red rangers stopped and gave abashed looks while holding their hands up in surrender.
The tech sighed. "It's different."
Dustin perked back up. "Can I get ten bucks now?"
He looked hopefully between Blake and Hunter.
"You never took the bet!" Blake exclaimed. Dustin opened his mouth and the thunder brother clarified, "Before."
"That's a no," Shane replied, reaching over Cam to ruffle Dustin's hair. The other teen sighed in fake despair and went back to leaning against Cam, reaching over to grab a handful of popcorn out of his bowl. Cam tensed for a second before finally relaxing. Shane, despite his casual look, caught this action, and narrowed his eyes suspiciously before turning back to the screen. He brought his right elbow up and rested it on Cam's shoulder, leaning against him lightly. Cam tensed again, but eventually relaxed. Dustin didn't notice the transaction; he was too busy toying with the hem of his sleeve.
Yes, there was definitely something there.
Tori decided to worry about it later; right now they were celebrating their many successes. Not only had Hunter and Shane managed to win Total Trek (which was a blessing because, if they hadn't worked together, they would both be gravely injured right now) but they were celebrating the fact that they were finally a team.
Cam had yet to explain where he sprained his ankle. Tori was still waiting for the opportune moment to ask him.
In order to celebrate fully, Dustin had suggested they get together and watch the brand new Power Rangers TV show, "Power Rangers Alpha Squadron", that happened to be premiering Monday night. Sure it was a kid's show, but they had all decided they needed a good laugh and went along with it. As soon as the guys' shifts ended at Storm Chargers they all met up at Ninja Ops, where Cam introduced them (with great prodding) to a "living room" that none of them had known existed. Cam had explained that he had withheld the knowledge out of the fear that, if they had known about it, they would never leave which was…fair enough.
It wasn't a big room, but it was clean, had a large TV with cable hookup and a big comfy couch that she, Blake, and Hunter currently occupied. Dustin, Cam, and Shane had opted to take the floor, leaning their backs against the foot of the couch. It was their first time to hang out as a real team.
And it was pretty amazing.
Terrible programming not included.
"I think it would be better if it was in Dutch," Hunter suddenly announced, waving his arm with a flourish, spilling some popcorn onto Shane. The red ranger glared at the blond for a second before Dustin reached over and grabbed the stray morsels, happily popping them into his mouth. With that, Shane relaxed and went back to staring at the TV, where brightly colored heroes were running around fighting…green things. Tori wasn't sure what they were; she hadn't really been paying attention.
"You're right bro," Blake replied, missing the popcorn event. "It's not like they're saying anything useful."
Hunter nodded gravely. "I think understanding the dialogue has made me dumber."
Ain't that the truth.
"It's the writer's fault," Cam said, frowning as Dustin reached over him again for the popcorn. The tech sighed and lifted his arm, draping it over the other teen's shoulders, allowing the Dustin to scoot closer and have easier popcorn access.
Tori couldn't help but glare at his head. He could do it in less than thirty minutes, so what was taking Blake so long? She looked at Hunter desperately, mentally begging him to help. He responded with a roll of his eyes and unceremoniously shoved his brother into her. Before the navy ranger could react Tori resituated herself into his side. She wished she could see his face; she bet it read something along the lines of "Wha…?"
Boys.
"I wasn't blaming the actors," Blake admitted, once he caught up to what had happened.
"They could all be backwards," Dustin suggested suddenly and stopped, not bothering to explain any further. Tori, Cam, and Shane were unaffected (being used to similar outbursts) but the looks on Hunter and Blake's faces were priceless. Tori would have to ask Cam to get a screen shot of it from the security footage.
Hunter blinked in confusion before finally asking, "What?"
Dustin took his cue to continue.
"Like, they could always have their backs to the camera. That would totally be worse," he explained, making a turning motion with his hands. "Who wants to talk to someone's back?" he asked, looking back up at Hunter until a flash of movement on the screen caught his eye and he went back to being glued to it. At least one person liked this show.
It was Cam who broke the odd moment of silence.
"I always appreciate a forward-speaking companion."
Dustin nodded in satisfaction.
"Cam agrees with me," he cheered, pumping his fist into the air. "I win."
"In what way-?" Hunter started to ask but was cut off with a wave of Dustin's hand.
"Those are the rules," the yellow ranger reported in all seriousness. Shane muffled a snicker into his fist and Tori pressed the heel of her hand into her mouth. She wanted to hear how this played out.
"What rules?" Hunter asked, legitimately wondering what he had missed out on.
"The rules," Dustin declared, gesturing broadly with his free hand.
Blake looked on in amusement.
"The rules you just made up," Hunter replied, unimpressed after having finally caught on.
Tori allowed a giggle to escape.
Dustin wilted. "Maybe…kind of…"
He trailed off before pressing his head against Cam's shoulder, mumbling, "…yes."
Before Hunter could make any kind of witty remark, Shane cut in, "I agree with Dustin."
The yellow ranger instantly brightened up, reaching over to high five his best friend.
"See, majority of the team agrees with me. I win," he gushed happily before pointing to himself proudly. Tentatively, Cam offered up his hand and Dustin high fived him too.
Shane tensed briefly.
It was some of the weirdest causes and effects Tori had ever witnessed. However Cam had noticed this one, and offered his hand out to Shane as well, who accepted the action easily. The tan teen hesitated for a moment before he carefully put his arm around Cam as well, his hand trailing off behind the back of Dustin's head. Tori wondered if anyone else was seeing this. If the Thunder rangers noticed, they didn't care.
"There's nothing to win," Hunter insisted before reaching for another handful of popcorn, only to discover his bowl was empty. He shrugged and reached over to grab some from Blake who promptly smacked his hand away. Hunter responded by smacking the back of his brother's head and grabbing some popcorn anyway.
"Majority is more than half," Cam pointed out calmly, shaking his head at the antics of the characters on the screen.
Tori noted that Shane was doing the exact same thing.
"I also side with Dustin," Blake replied jokingly, tossing a kernel at Hunter's head.
His brother swatted at him, annoyed.
"Now you're just trying to make me mad," the blond mock-growled, flicking the kernel back at Blake.
If they started a kernel fight, Tori was ducking behind the couch. She didn't care how comfortable she was, she was not taking another shower today.
Blake caught her silent communication and flicked the kernel over the edge of the couch.
"Go with the flow bro, just go with the flow." He emphasized this by patting Hunter's arm in a consoling fashion. The crimson ranger frowned and knocked his hand away.
"Face it," Shane began. "Our Kool Aid's tasty."
Yeah Hunter, you know you love us.
He acted tough, but Tori could tell he really appreciated having a team to count on.
"We have Kool Aid?" Dustin asked curiously, turning his head back and forth to look for the missing beverage.
"Whatever," Hunter mumbled, blowing it off. "Uhh…this show is awful."
And here they were, back at the beginning.
Blake nodded in agreement, talking around a mouthful of popcorn. "Even for a kid's show this is pretty bad. Shouldn't they be trying harder?"
Cam shook his head and went back to watching Dustin's search along with Shane. "They're not trying to educate; they only want the ratings, which means they have to cater to outlandishly small attention spans."
Tori nodded, it made sense.
"Seriously, where is the Kool Aid?" Dustin asked, sounding a little aggravated. He ran a hand through his curls absently, tapping Shane's hand. He looked around, startled to see what he had touched and poked it.
Shane wiggled his fingers in response.
"Same thing," the red ranger replied, completely ignoring Dustin's actions. Tori wiggled her fingers at the air ninja despite the fact he couldn't see it, earning a snort from Blake.
"They're probably both awful," Blake concluded, wiggling his fingers at her. Hunter took the opportunity to steal some more of their popcorn. When Blake turned to frown at him the older Braldey simply wiggled his fingers in return.
To think last week he wouldn't even joke with them.
This was better.
"There isn't any Kool Aid," Cam informed Dustin quietly, pulling the brunette's attention away from Shane's hand.
The yellow ranger pouted (for lack of better word) and slumped against him.
"Aw man, that stuff is so good," he complained, but not wholeheartedly, eyes on the screen but still messing with Shane's hand.
Cam tilted his head at the comment. "Its glorified sugar water."
Dustin spared the tech a glance, replying, "Glorified sugar water with color."
"Pardon my offense," Cam replied, shaking his head.
Dustin nodded seriously. "You are pardoned," he declared solemnly, patting the tech's chest before grabbing some more popcorn.
"You are weird," Blake decreed, and was immediately assaulted from all sides. Tori and Hunter smacked him on the head while Shane and Cam took the chance to hurl popcorn kernels at him. The navy ranger pulled his free hand up in an attempt to block the attacks and sputtered, "Hey-ey, don't waste the popcorn!"
Dustin, having missed his defense, looked back at that call in time to see no popcorn in action, so he grabbed a piece from Cam's bowl and hurled it at Blake for good measure, smiling when it made contact with the other teen's face. Blake frowned and Tori rubbed the side of his head comfortingly, but didn't make any attempt to hide her smirk. He had asked for it.
"Keep going," Hunter urged. "It's more entertaining than this nonsense."
"It's not that bad!" Dustin insisted, making a face at the blond before returning to being glued to the show.
"What part about it is good?" Blake asked, scrunching his nose before going back to nursing his popcorn, playfully pulling the bowl away from Hunter when he moved to grab for more.
He offered the bowl back after receiving a hearty glare.
"…their swords are nice," Dustin admitted after thinking about it. He then proceeded to swing his right hand about as though he were wielding an invisible sword, occasionally making shing sounds. Hunter, having completely given up on the show by now, followed his movements with intense fascination.
"Ours are better," Shane grumbled, sparing the TV a brief glance before joining Dustin's growing audience.
"Thank you," Cam murmured, mostly to himself, but the quick look Shane gave him said he heard it.
"And I like his pants," Dustin announced, ending his fight by gesturing repeatedly at the character on the screen. Tori was grateful no one bothered pointing out that all the character's pants were the same (being that they were uniforms); the only difference was that the particular set he was pointing to belonged to the red ranger. The smug look on Shane's face announced that he had noticed that as well.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Hunter shared his feeling.
"Hooray pants," Blake mumbled sarcastically, squeezing Tori's arm.
Feeling bold, she rested her head against his shoulder.
Hunter waved his arm again, preempting the next flaw he discovered. "What's with this ten minutes to morph thing? Why doesn't the bad guy just shoot them while they're doing that?"
"Why don't Lothor's goons ever do that to us?" Tori responded, secretly wondering the same thing herself.
"We're too fast," Blake answered. "We take like, five seconds max."
"Maybe they're stunned by our awesomeness," Dustin suggested, flourishing his napkin. "And our good looks."
Cam, to her surprise, nodded in agreement. "Which is a completely separate thing from our awesomeness."
"Completely," the yellow ranger confirmed, shaking his head in an attempt to flip his hair. After a few tries he grabbed the side of his head, steadying it. Tori reached forward and patted him comfortingly.
"How did this show get so many seasons?" Shane asked, changing the subject. "They don't know the first thing about real rangering."
"That would be why it's fiction," Cam marveled dryly, reaching up to jostle Dustin's hair. The yellow ranger hummed in appreciation.
"I thought it was funny," the brunette announced, blinking at Cam innocently when he stopped. With a sigh, the tech resumed his petting.
Tori smiled at the exchange. "I think that part's supposed to be dramatic."
"No way dude," Dustin replied, practically purring.
"His friends just got shot," Blake offered, pointing to the screen where the civilians were whimpering on the ground. In the ranger's defense, they really shouldn't have been there in the first place.
"But… they're all flaily." Dustin emphasized this by waving his outside arm drunkenly. He stopped quickly when he noticed Cam had halted his ministrations and rested his head back against the tech's shoulder so they could be resumed.
Forget pictures; Tori would have to steal the security footage.
Hunter's arm was brought up once more.
"No one acts like this!" he exclaimed, glaring at the people on the screen. "A piece of cardboard would be more relatable than these characters."
"A piece of cardboard would probably fight better too," Blake added, cringing as the good guys were thrown around yet again. It was almost pathetic how terrible they were. At least she, Shane, and Dustin had been able to fight. Not well, but they were miles ahead of these guys.
The navy ranger exhaled loudly. "Worst. Show. Ever."
Dustin tensed at Blake's words and slowly drew his legs up to his chest, pushing his head harder against Cam. He wouldn't say it (because that wasn't his way) but all the insulting of the show felt like a personal attack on him because it had been his idea in the first place.
Unfortunately, Blake and Hunter didn't know that yet.
Before Toir could assure Dustin this was not the case, Shane broke in loudly, proclaiming, "I like it."
He smiled brightly at Dustin when the yellow ranger looked at him in question, but the action was missed as Shane was too busy staring down the navy ranger.
For the most part, Blake just looked baffled until Tori poked him in the side, hard. Sufficiently motivated, he replied, "…me too."
Dustin looked back at Blake, completely bewildered. "You just said-"
"I'm a liar," Blake declared, sounding sincere.
After a pause Hunter added, "…it could be worse."
Dustin cheered up immediately. "Everyone agrees with me!"
Blake frowned. "Tori hasn't-"
"I agree."
Dustin pumped his fist into the air. "I win!"
"There's nothing to win!" Blake said, exasperated.
A mischievous smile lit Shane's face. "You could always fix that," he said, wagging his eyebrows suggestively.
"…What did I just get roped into?" the navy ranger asked after some hesitation.
"Ice cream run," Shane explained, earning a whoop from Dustin.
Blake tried to figure out how those two things connected. "What?"
"I support this decision," Cam said, watching, amused, as Dustin did a happy dance.
Hunter pumped his fist as well. "Seconded."
Blake glared at his brother. "Traitor."
Hunter smirked at him happily. "Just make sure you get chocolate."
"And strawberry!" Dustin added, halting his dance.
Blake made a face. "Ech, strawberry."
This did not sit well with Dustin.
"Don't rag on the berry man!" he urged, jumping up so he could look the navy ranger in the eye. "The berry'll take you down," he finished, squinting his eyes at the thunder ranger ridiculously in an attempt convey his point.
"…sure," Blake said when it became apparent Dustin wasn't going to move until he replied.
Satisfied with his response, the other ranger smiled brightly and moved to sit back down, ducking back under Cam's arm.
Blake turned to look at Tori. "You want anything special?"
The aqua ranger tried not to glow under the attention.
"Naw, I'm okay," she ensured, squeezing his hand for added effect.
Shane made a sound of distaste. "Less with the couple stuff, more with the ice cream stuff."
"Off with you!" Hunter added, waving his brother away.
Blake gave Tori one last smile before grumbling, "I'm going, I'm going," and quickly exiting the room.
With a pleased smile, Shane leaned back against the couch, content. "Team bonding, there's nothing like it."
"He's gonna miss the end," Dustin murmured, voice downtrodden. He was actually sad about this.
Hunter stiffened and sent questioning looks between his watch and the TV. "It isn't over yet?"
"Hour long premier," Cam replied, plopping his now empty popcorn bowl onto the coffee table.
Shane grinned at the blond unapologetically.
Defeated, Hunter slumped against the couch. "Oh joy."
"It could get better," Dustin offered, leaning over Cam to look the blond ranger in the eye. Cam tensed again, turning his head to the left to get more distance. Shane, seeing his "dilemma", if it could be called that, reached over and gently pushed Dustin back into his spot. The yellow ranger gave Shane an odd look but complied.
Maybe Cam just wasn't used to Dustin's excessive touching. But, if Shane knew that, why was he adding to the problem?
It didn't make sense.
There was a large arm gesture from Hunter.
"And what's with the super modes on the first episode?" he groused, pointing to the zord combat. "It's the first episode; you've got to earn that stuff."
"They should have made them slay a dragon or something," Dustin mused, an almost dreamy hint to his tone.
He would be the only one excited by that.
"Don't say that," Tori frowned. "It'll jinx us."
She did not want to deal with a dragon anytime soon.
"Why?" Dustin asked innocently. "It would be awesome to fight a dragon."
The brunette concluded this by throwing several jabs, ducking around left and right.
Of course he would box the dragon.
Cam shook his head fondly. "You say that now."
You know what, this dragon thing was probably going to happen just because of this conversation.
"Cam downloaded our sword upgrades," Shane reminded, pointing at Tori knowingly.
The water ninja frowned and resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him. "Not during our first fight."
The other teen shrugged. "It was close."
During the run of their conversation Dustin had nudged Cam's wrapped foot, leaning in close to his ear to whispered, "Do you need more ice?"
Cam shook his head without looking at him before replying, "It's fine Dustin."
But being that this was Ninja Ops and it was filled with, you know, ninjas, everyone else in the room had heard the exchange. Tori wasn't sure how everyone else felt about it, but she saw this as an opportunity to get some answers.
Hunter, being a great mind that thought alike, beat her to it.
"How'd you get that anyway?" he asked, motioning to Cam's injured foot.
Cam shrugged. "I fell."
Way to be vague Cam.
Hunter didn't let up. "Where?"
"In a place of falling," Cam replied nonchalantly, trying his best to sound uninterested.
Dustin, Tori noted, had stilled almost as soon as the conversation had began and was currently willing himself into a stone-like state. Either he wanted to disappear, or he was trying to listen better.
Or it was both.
Tori pressed the matter anyway.
"You're not team bonding," she joked, wagging her finger at Cam.
"Lay off guys; if he doesn't want to talk about it, he doesn't have to talk about it," Shane defended, choosing to break his silence.
So that's why he hasn't said anything.
"Says the guy who knows," Tori said, hiding her frustration at being left out. She was the third musketeer; she should know these things.
"He knows?" Hunter asked, pointing at the ranger in question.
Tori smiled but continued, cutting to the chase. "Your skateboarding thing failed didn't it?"
"What skateboarding thing?" Hunter asked, searching for anybody who was willing to answer.
"Yes," Cam replied in monotone. "It failed; let's move on."
During the course of his reply, the tech ruffled Dustin's hair again but received no reaction.
Hunter decided to try Tori once more. "Did he try to skateboard?"
Tori nodded. "So the rumors say."
"Dude-" Hunter started, leaning forward so he could see Cam's face.
"What's done is done," Cam interrupted, pulling his arm away from Dustin. "Who wants more popcorn?"
"Me!" Dustin eagerly took the distraction and jumped to his feet, helping the tech up before collecting all of the empty bowls. In record time they had vacated the room.
"Cam tried to skateboard?" Hunter asked again, looking at Shane.
The red ranger shrugged. "He wasn't that bad, actually. He just took it too fast."
He wasn't that bad?
When Tori had told Shane about Dustin's plan the skater had been livid, yelling about how terrible and irresponsible the idea had been just before he stormed off and now he was actually defending them?
It looked like someone didn't feel like sharing with the class.
"Where did he get that idea in the first place?" Tori asked for Hunter's sake, attempting to get the other blond in the loop.
"Dustin, probably," Shane replied, sinking into the side of the couch.
Hunter stared at the door thoughtfully.
"What's going on with them?" he asked suddenly, addressing what had been on Tori's mind the entire evening.
Shane furrowed his brows in confusion, jolted by the sudden change in subject. "What?"
"Them," Hunter repeated, indicated where Dustin and Cam had been seated.
The red ranger nodded, finally catching on to who Hunter was addressing. "Nothing."
The crimson ranger stared at him disbelievingly. "Sure."
"Seriously dude," Shane said. "It's nothing."
The blond teen wasn't buying it, and to be honest, neither was Tori. "So you guys are normally this clingy?"
"We're a team," Shane replied, frowning at what Hunter was implying.
"Look, I don't judge-" the crimson ranger began, holding his hands up in surrender, but Shane cut him off.
"What are you saying?" he asked, looking legitimately confused.
Okay, so maybe Shane hadn't caught on.
"We're a team now right?" Hunter explained. "That means you can trust us."
The air ninja tensed but didn't spill. "I know that."
"We've got your back," Tori added, hoping that Shane would share what was on his mind.
"Yeah," he murmured. "I got that too."
Hunter shared a look with Tori before asking one last time, "So…nothing?"
"Nope," came the solid answer.
The crimson ranger stared at Shane blankly, no emotions on his face before he finally shrugged and said, "Okay."
…What?
That was it? They weren't going to try to dig for more? Okay, Hunter had done most of the digging, but Tori wanted to be on the in for this one and-
"Trade," Hunter declared, hopping up from the couch.
Shane looked at him dumbly. "What?"
"Couch," Hunter continued like it was the plainest thing in the world. "You can take it."
Shane began to shake his head. "I don't want-"
"I insist," the other ranger interrupted, making a sweeping gesture with his arm to offer his spot.
Shane, at a loss for what to do, gave in and took his seat. "…Okay."
Hunter smiled triumphantly and took the red ranger's old spot just as Cam and Dustin reentered the room, bowls refilled with popcorn. They both gave confused looks but Cam shrugged it off first, resuming his old position before redistributing the bowls. Dustin, on the other hand, looked torn between sitting by Cam or sitting by Shane. Tori spared the yellow ranger his agony by glaring him into submission (she loved Dustin but Blake was staying by her). He smiled; sent Shane and apologetic look, and took his original seat, leaning against Cam.
Tori had thought the upset was over, but Hunter had other ideas as he mimicked Shane's old position to a T and draped his arm around Cam, casually eating a handful of popcorn. Unlike the first time, Dustin immediately recognized the new hand and poked it, receiving a wiggle of fingers in return.
Shane spent the rest of the even glaring at the back of the crimson ranger's head.
-:-:-:-:-:-
Endnotes:
Note: We did this one really early in the morning. Which is why these endnotes are kind of fail.
On proper wording:
Muse: "…Blake replied, missing the popcorn fiasco"
*thinks* "It's silent right? Then it would be less of a fiasco and more of an event. It would be a fiasco if like…popcorn went down his pants or something."
Muse Misreads:
Muse: Blake: "Ech, strawberry."
*thoughtful* "…for some odd reason I read that as F#ck strawberry. Like, eff that, strawberry can go to hell!"
Endnotes with Rogue:
On sneaky semicolons:
Me: "I'm not sure how that semicolon got there." *thinks* "Must be a ninja."
Rogue: "Given the story content, I half want to allow it just because it earned its place."
Me: "Damn straight it has."
Because you know, ninjas
On "titled" vs "tilted":
Rogue: "I think you meant 'tilted his head', not 'titled'."
Me: "...he could have titled his head. Many great things." *idea* "Like, the think tank."
*excited* "See, see, it totally wasn't a screw up."
Rogue: *pleased* "I believe you, did he use permanent marker?"
Me: "Like a boss."
Because that's what Cam does.
"The other" count (chapter): 3
"The other" count (cumulative): 12
Why is this chapter still here? Because it's one of my favorites.
Until next time.
