In the Company of Spirits

by Starhawk

Chapter 11: Waiting on You

RJ gave up when the children started appearing. "Why don't we all go... downstairs?" he suggested, catching one of the small pointy-eared children just as she tried to pounce on his wolf. Or the wolf tried to pounce on her. It was hard to tell who was antagonizing who at this point, but the animal spirit seemed to be in a better mood and RJ trusted it with young people. Mostly.

"We'll get some dinner going," Dom said, putting an arm around Fran and one hand on the little boy who was trying to hit T. Dom was exactly as strong as he looked, and he only needed one hand to turn the boy toward the stairs and propel him across the landing--all while making it look pleasant and friendly and completely a matter of choice.

"I'm starving," the red-haired naturalist agreed. She scooped up the girl RJ was trying to redirect without asking anyone if it was all right, and the girl shrieked. Ignoring her, the woman asked Kat, "Any allergies we should know about? Food restrictions?"

"They need meat," Kat said. "And don't give them anything that stains, or your wardrobe will regret it until you replace it."

"We can do that," RJ declared. "White ch--" He saw one of the chickens roosting on the back of his chair and abruptly changed his mind. "White meatball pizza it is. Anyone else?"

"Vegetarian," the ninja said, and the naturalist seconded it.

"You've come to the right place," RJ told them, waving them all toward the stairs. "Although how you've come here is still something of a mystery to me, I assure you that we are set up to please every palate. After you," he added, stepping out of Kat's way.

She flashed a smile at him, taking her boy from Dom when he tried to cling to the railing--she had fingernails and she wasn't afraid to use them, RJ noted--and T followed with a theatrical sigh. "You probably don't have donuts at a pizza place," he said, like it made his whole day terribly gloomy.

RJ frowned, not because they didn't have any, but because he wasn't excited about the similarities between Kat's Red Ranger and his own. "No," he told T's back. "I'm afraid we don't."

Dom shook his head as he stepped out of Fran's way. "You're going to regret saying that," he said under his breath, and RJ sighed.

"Yes," he admitted. "I know."

They could hear Lily's happy greeting from the kitchen as the first of their visitors wound their way down the stairs. "I'll get the tables ready," Fran called back, but RJ went after her and managed to stop her from pushing through everyone else on the stairs.

"Fran, I think you should take the evening off," he told her. "Sit down. Eat. Be a guest. These are your teammates--in a manner of speaking--and there's plenty of us to wait on you. All right?"

"Um..." She looked from him to Dom. "Well. I guess I could do that?"

"You can," Dom said firmly, putting hands on people's shoulders to warn them as he eased around the group toward the kitchen door. "Come on, we'll go move tables and then everyone can sit down. Follow me!"

It was a necessary shepherding moment, since the kitchen wasn't designed for this many people to begin with and it definitely wasn't childproof. Apparently Kat's children were native time travelers, and the moment she had left her own time they had innocently decided to follow her. Immediately. Her husband, she said, wasn't a time traveler at all, and so wouldn't be appearing to collect them any time soon. She was hoping to convince them to go home on their own as soon as they saw that she was perfectly fine.

Fran brought up the rear of their little group, which helped tremendously, and Theo came in the kitchen door as soon as they had cleared it. He looked incredulous. "Okay, where did they all come from?" he demanded. "Do you have a clown car upstairs?"

"It's a fairly involved story," RJ said, "involving time travel and teleportation and morphers that were apparently quasi-active until the last one came online. Why are there still chickens in the kitchen?"

"We've been busy," Lily told him. "Also, Casey is convinced you're mad at him."

RJ stopped where he was, giving her a curious look. "Why would he think that?"

"Whoa, could we focus for a second?" Theo demanded. "You just sent a group of teleporting time travelers out into a restaurant that's still cleaning up from the Little League lease of doom, the 5:37 rush has barely gotten served, and I'm not even sure all those people were human! What are we doing with them, anyway?"

RJ shrugged. "Feeding them, I imagine. Is... Casey around?"

"He's out on the floor with Alicia," Lily said.

"What?" he heard her add, as he headed for the kitchen door. "Like he was going to be so helpful until he talked to Casey anyway."

"Why did you even tell him?" Theo's voice countered. "Casey's going to fire you as his confidant."

Note to self, RJ thought: Lily and Theo may start keeping secrets better. Talk to Casey more.

He almost bumped into Alicia on her way into the kitchen, and as he turned out of her way he noticed her watch. She saw him glance at it even as she lifted a tray high over her head and she grimaced apologetically. "Sorry," she said. "I can't get it to stop beeping. I'll leave it in the kitchen."

"No no," he said, smiling a little. A better disguise than he'd been expecting. "I thought we were missing someone. I guess that explains why that monitor kept showing the kitchen--why don't you take off your apron and join Fran over there by the windows?"

"Because I'm working 'til seven tonight," she called over her shoulder, too used to his non sequiturs to even bother asking him what he was talking about. Apparently he should make more of an effort to lead people through his stream of consciousness.

"Let me rephrase that," RJ said, stepping back into the kitchen and letting the door close behind him. "Alicia, you're wearing a morpher. Your shift ended the moment four similar morphers entered the building, and I'm sure your teammates are anxious to meet you. So. I suggest you set down the tray and go have dinner with Fran."

She did set down the tray, but RJ was relatively sure it was only because that was what she had been planning to do anyway. At least this time she asked, "What?"

Lily, however, was staring at her, so hopefully she would be able to handle it from here. "Ask her where she got the watch," RJ suggested, pushing the door open again. "I'm going to go find Casey."

"That should be easy," Casey's voice replied. He was standing at the register, still wearing his red t-shirt with an orange JKP cap and apron. He handed the couple at the counter change, thanked them and wished them a good night, then grinned over his shoulder at RJ. "You want me to go for a run, make it more of a challenge for you?"

"Please don't," RJ said with a smile. He wouldn't deny that there was something appealing about chasing Casey, but he wasn't going to say so in the middle of the restaurant. "I see my father's left. Or am I being too optimistic?"

"No, he took off," Casey confirmed. "After another long discussion about, you know. Everything."

"It's amazing to me how often he feels the need to cover 'everything,'" RJ said, waving his hands in exasperation. "You'd think the first twenty-three times would be enough, but no. He has to walk us through it again."

"RJ," Casey said, eyes laughing at him. "Breathe."

"Garlic is for vampires, right?" RJ tilted his head, pondering the question. "Do you suppose there's anything like that for sharks? I could hang it around the restaurant. We could call it... shark repellent."

"Subtle," Casey agreed, pulling the menus out of the menu stand and straightening them against the counter. "Maybe you could introduce some Jimmy Buffet while you're at it. 'Fins to the left, fins to the right, and you're the only game in town.'"

RJ brightened. "Do you think that would keep him away?"

"No," Casey told him. "But it would be funny."

"It might be worth it," RJ decided.

Dom pounded on the counter as he walked by, one hand and then the other, and offered, "I'll cover the alien table. Booth. Whatever. You want to keep a tab?"

"On the house," RJ told him.

Dom pointed at him as he swung into the door. "You got it. Hey, sorry--"

Alicia was coming out the door just as he went in, and RJ held up a hand. "Dom, maybe you could... show Alicia to the 'alien table'? She's number five."

"No kidding," Dom said, catching the door to keep it from swinging.

Alicia held up her left wrist, adorned as always by the thin silver watch she'd worn since she'd started working at Jungle Karma Pizza. Dom barely glanced at it, holding up his left hand in return. The bracelet RJ had given him sparkled, and Alicia raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

Dom smiled, and she shook her head. "I should have known. So that's--" She held up her thumb and started counting fingers. When she got to four total she stopped and looked at RJ. "It's you, isn't it. That's why everything here is purple."

"I prefer to think of it as... violet," he said. "The color of the seventh chakra. It's a spiritual reference."

"Yes," Dom told her. "It's him. And now it's you. Ready?" He offered her his arm.

Alicia eyed RJ. "You do realize that someone has to actually run the restaurant."

"Yes," RJ agreed calmly. "I believe that's my job."

She looked far less reassured by this than he would have liked, but she let Dom escort her over to the alien table. It was perhaps an unfair moniker, given that the majority of its occupants appeared to be human, but Kat and her offspring drew more than their share of attention. Not for the ears, interestingly, but for the sheer appeal of their interaction.

The children were, RJ thought, unseemly adorable.

Casey leaned on the counter beside him. "So who are the kids?" he whispered, breath tickling RJ's ear when he swayed close enough to be heard. "Bring me up to speed. That's definitely more people than I left in the loft earlier."

"The children are Kat's," RJ murmured. "Janecha and Mirlot."

Fran and Dom had pushed a table up to the end of one of the booths, letting Kat, T, and Fran share it until Alicia arrived. Then Kat squeezed into the booth with her children, giving her seat to Alicia. The kids seemed perfectly happy to climb over each other and her whenever they wanted something, so they didn't look squished or uncomfortable.

"The one in green is Nena," he added quietly. "She teaches a different style at another academy. It turns out that the friend who gave her the morpher also has a teleporter. Very convenient. The woman beside her is Krista. Also knows someone with a teleport system. I'm feeling a little left out."

"They both have morphers, I'm guessing?" Casey's voice sounded totally different when he whispered. RJ almost wanted to make him stop, except that the ways he would silence Casey's whisper were not particularly conducive to a work environment.

"Five astromorphers," RJ whispered back. "Dispersed and hidden when the media got hold of the Astro Rangers' identities a few years ago. Apparently now they're... resurfacing."

"Five new Rangers," Casey finished. "Does that give you a bad feeling?"

"That they're appearing now because we need them now?" RJ said softly. "Yes. It does."

He saw Casey's heard turn toward him out of the corner of his eye. "RJ, did you just give me a straight answer?" Casey whispered. The smile didn't come through when his voice was so quiet, but it was there on his face.

"I could try to vague it up for you," RJ offered, trying not to look at him. "Make it more of a challenge."

Casey stifled a laugh. "Please don't," he teased. "I'm struggling to keep up as it is."

"I feel the same way," RJ said thoughtfully.

"See, that worries me," Casey murmured back, "because I was kidding, and I don't think you are."

RJ took a step back so he could turn and look at Casey without being in his face. "Lily says you think I'm mad at you," he said, aware that he had given away his source of information but under no illusion that it could have stayed a secret.

Casey straightened up, but he didn't move any closer or father than he already was. "I'm sorry about the wolf," he blurted out. "I wasn't thinking. I just--I treated it... like a pet. Not like you. And I should have; Lily told me, and Theo, and your dad, that you're supposed to treat animal spirits like you'd treat--anyone else. Like a human."

"Not like anyone else," RJ said slowly. "I think... you should treat them as you would treat the person they totem. And in that sense--you did. More or less."

"I didn't," Casey began. "Obviously I wouldn't--I didn't mean to embarrass you," he finished awkwardly.

RJ had to smile. "You didn't embarrass me."

"Well, I would have," Casey muttered. "If Dominic hadn't said something."

"I wish he hadn't," RJ said. "The wolf would have stopped you if I was... uncomfortable."

Casey was studying him with disconcerting intensity. "You're lying to me right now, aren't you."

He hesitated, because curiosity like that didn't deserve automatic denial. "Possibly?"

"Can I ask you something?" Casey wanted to know. "About Pai Zhua and--" His hand gesture could encompass anything or everything. "This?"

"Can we have this conversation somewhere else?" RJ said hopefully.

Casey's expression didn't look promising. "When?"

RJ frowned. "I was thinking right now."

"Oh." Casey's look lightened considerably. "Yeah. Sure."

"Theo," RJ said as he passed. "Would you ask Dom to watch the counter? Thanks."

"So much for running the restaurant," Casey said, following him into the kitchen.

"Delegate," RJ said over his shoulder. "You're doing a fantastic job, Lily. Build morale," he added, already heading out the back. "The keys to a successful business."

"Give people food for free so they don't mind waiting?" Casey suggested, stepping through the door and closing it behind him. "Gee, I feel like I've been out here for a private conversation once already today."

"If it was with my dad," RJ warned, "we're finding another alley."

Casey gave him an amused look, and RJ shook his head.

"Come on," he said, turning away. "There's a good spot around the corner."