Chapter 14
Will I?
I don't own Rent.
Much love to Rogue Ranger for being a grammar Nazi and to the real vampire for being a human thesaurus. Any remaining errors are strictly my fault.
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X, it would seem, marked the spot.
Not the good spot, or any kind of spot Dustin had ever thought he might have wanted to find, but his high school pre-cal class seemed to have a different opinion on that and demanded that he be able to locate and determine any x-related questions that they happened to throw his way. He had managed to figure it out in algebra where there was only one x, but now there were like, five, and then there were x's raised to powers and natural logs and critical points and derivative rules and he was completely lost in a sea of gibberish and no matter where he swam, or what he did, he could not locate the mythical x they were asking for.
After breakfast Dustin had made a quick stop at his house to pick up his homework, because it didn't matter if he was one of the guys in charge of saving the world; he was still responsible for memorizing vocab lists, and he was currently working through his boatloads of paperwork on the floor in a far corner of the lab while Cam typed away at his computer. Hunter, the lucky devil, had no homework and had been roped into the easy job of cleaning duty. Dustin was tempted to ask if he was up for trading, but he didn't want to make it so obvious that he had no idea what he was doing.
He glared at the almost illegible scribbles in his spiral notebook; he had copied what the teacher had written exactly (when he'd been paying attention; it wasn't his fault that math was really boring) but somehow he couldn't imitate her way of solving the questions.
It was infuriating.
Normally he would have asked Cam for help, but he couldn't do that today. He felt bad enough doing it when Cam was completely 100%, because he knew this stuff was so far beneath the other teen's level of intelligence that it must be laughable, and while he might work through it patiently with him, Dustin knew that it must feel like he's teaching like…a preschooler or something. So no, he wouldn't bother Cam today; he had more important things to do. In fact he was so busy that he hadn't said much of anything as soon as they had gotten down to the lab, so focused was he on whatever project or doohickey he happened to be working on.
Well, that was just fine. Cam had enough super important things to do; he shouldn't have to waste his time teaching Dustin how to solve for x or whatever he was supposed to be doing.
It was official: he was a nincompoop. How he'd ever made it this far in school he would never know.
Frustrated, he started packing up, shuffling his papers into a semblance of order (a habit enforced on him by "the man") and shutting his book harshly, shoving it into his backpack. He began to gather his multitude of pencils; he had a nasty habit of using one for a while until misplacing it, then he would take out another one and misplace that one, and this process would repeat itself at least four or five times before he was finished with his work which meant he had to find them all when it was over or be forced to buy dozens more pencils than he actually needed.
Now, where were they?
After checking all his usual places he found that he was still missing a pencil. He searched through all his pockets (back, front, hoodie, inside the shoe just in case) but came up with nothing, and quickly went to rifling through his backpack. He was just about to dump its entire contents on the ground when a pencil slid into his vision, held up by a tan hand.
He followed up the arm of the offered pencil and found a smirking Hunter crouching next to him, discarded broom leaning against a table behind him.
"It was rolling away," he explained as Dustin took it.
Of course it was. It was going for freedom, probably trying to make its way over to Cam so it could be used by someone with at least moderate intelligence.
His thoughts must have somehow read on his face because Hunter's smirk faded away into concern and he settled down next to Dustin, gently turning over the discarded text book and reading the title.
Instead of asking immediately what was wrong, Hunter went with a more delicate approach. "Pre-Cal bites doesn't it?"
If by 'bites' he meant it sucked out your soul and any hidden nuggets of self worth you might have left, then yes, Pre-Cal bites.
Dustin was pretty sure that answer wasn't going to help him any in the "try and look smart" department, so he settled for replying, "Yeah," and offering no further explanation.
He took the rogue pencil out of Hunter's hand and slid it into his case along with his other prizes, taking great care to close it as delicately and as normally as possible. It was much harder to do now that he was thinking about it, but he managed to slide it into the front pocket of his backpack with only minor jerking. He threw another glare at his notes while he pawed for his stack of papers to put them away too, but, instead of landing on his homework, his hand met more floor. He tore his eyes away from his spiral notebook and forced himself to slowly glance over to where his notes should be and was met by the sight of Hunter reading through his homework, eyebrows scrunched in deep thought.
By now he should have figured out that acting on his gut reactions wasn't always the best move or that maybe it wouldn't hurt to take a breath to calm down and think before he did anything (even if Hunter was reading the evidence that was shrieking his lack of smarts) but the panic rising inside him overrode any thoughts he might have had and, before he knew it, he was wildly snatching for his math work.
Without missing a beat, Hunter pulled them out of his reach, standing quickly before going back to giving his work a go-over.
No, no, no, no, no-
Dustin didn't bother completely rising, instead throwing caution to the wind and tackling the other teen's legs, forcing Hunter to the ground. This time it was Dustin who reacted faster, crawling off of the tall blond and snatching back his paper work before leaping to his feet. Confetti rained down to the freshly swept floor as Dustin shredded the papers, completely destroying them. He wasn't going to turn them in anyway, he might as well take out some of his anger on them.
The sound of a throat clearing tore his focus away from his newly created decoration and, despite the fact he really didn't want to, he slowly made himself look at its source. He had forgotten, in the rush of it all, that the main goal of all his hard work had been to not bother Cam. A goal, it seemed, he had fallen incredibly short of.
The tech had stopped his work and was staring at him, a searching expression on his face, and though Dustin couldn't see it he could feel Hunter copying the same look.
"I'll clean it up," he offered before he could shift his weight or kick his feet or do whatever he usually did when embarrassed and grabbed the broom. He began sweeping frantically, then halted, took a breath, and began to sweep at a normal pace, keeping his eyes firmly focused on the ground, wishing for all the world it was dirt so he could melt into it and never come back up.
He was desperately hoping for Cam to simply shrug it off and go back to work or for Hunter to make a joke about his spazzyness and start dusting, but none of the sounds associated with those actions ever met his ears.
No one was going to play along with him this time.
It was Hunter who decided to break the silence. "I have no idea what just happened."
Dustin continued sweeping, desperately trying to think of an excuse that would explain his actions.
There was a small cough from Cam's direction before he replied, "Me either."
Dustin's mind was drawing a blank for answers, so he went to his next best option when it came to self preservation. It wasn't something he did too terribly often on purpose, because he usually just did it naturally, but the few times he had, it resulted in success.
When all else failed, play dumb.
Game plan in mind, he finally took his eyes off the floor, blinking at them innocently before pointing to his broom in confusion. "I started sweeping."
They weren't prepared for the sudden change in tone and, by the looks of it, they weren't buying his story. They didn't even look like they were on the edge of buying his story, not even close to believing it, but he stayed strong, keeping his face perfectly confused. He even added in a quizzical head scratch to bring it home.
By the uneasy pause that followed, he could guess his efforts were ignored.
Cam rose from his chair and took a few steps towards him, eying the mess on the floor.
"Before that," he said tersely before shifting his attention to Hunter and asking, "The scuffling?"
Hunter shook his head, choosing to ask the real question, "What was wrong with your homework?"
Dustin turned his back to them, crouching down to sweep his pile of trash into the dustpan, hesitating a moment before cheerfully answering, "Nothing."
Nothing, it was nothing. His hours of work and frustration and hassle over trying to find out what a stupid x was, was…nothing.
Not even worth the paper it was written on.
Hunter frowned. "You just tore it up."
Yes, I think we all know that now.
"No I-" Dustin frowned, struggling to find the right words to express himself as he picked up some stray pieces of paper.
He took a breath and tried again, "It's not…" but he couldn't think of the words to finish it, because he had just freaked out and tore up his homework and was doing a terrible job of covering it up. He dumped the waste into a trashcan, watching it flutter to the bottom. He smiled brightly, then tempered it down some, making it more believable before turning.
"This," he explained, pointing inside the trashcan, "is confetti."
He didn't wait to see their reactions (because that was one clear way of showing you were lying) and instead settled for crossing the room to put the broom back in its closet. Hunter was done with sweeping anyway.
He heard the blond scoff behind him before murmuring, "It is now," followed by sounds of Hunter picking himself off the ground.
It was also followed by the sounds of something else being picked up, and it dawned on Dustin that while he may have destroyed his homework, he had not destroyed his notebook, which was also a shining example of his incompetence. A fresh wave of panic hit him and he pretty much hurled the broom into the closet before speeding back to his corner, only to be greeted by the sight of Hunter and Cam flipping through his notes. He'd never really understood when someone described their "stomach dropping" in fear or anticipation or something, but right now he was starting to get an idea of what they meant because he was starting to lose all feeling to the stomach area…and maybe the breathing area.
Finally, after what seemed like eighty five years, which was probably only a few minutes, Cam looked up from his scribbles and frowned, turning his spiral towards him and pointing to it before saying, "This doesn't make any sense."
Dustin was dumbfounded.
This doesn't make any sense?
Cam didn't think it made any sense?
Like, he didn't think the material made any sense so Dustin wasn't going crazy or alone in his stupidity?
Dustin exhaled sharply, a huge weight lifted off of his shoulders and suddenly everything he had been holding in came pouring out of him.
"Really?" he asked, walking up beside Cam and looking at him earnestly. "Because I thought it didn't make any sense but I just figured it was normal because it normally doesn't make any sense no matter what I do and I even read the book." He squeezed the tech's arm in emphasis. "I read the book Cam, and I still couldn't figure it out but I didn't want to bother you…" he trailed off and motioned to Hunter, "or you, because everyone else seems to get it and if they can get it there's no excuse that I can't get it," he continued, smacking the side of his head lightly, "But now you say it doesn't make any sense and that's really good because I have no idea what's going on."
He finished just as he ran out of breath, and he smiled at his friends (because the lying was done with and that was good because he hated it) but instead of returning his happiness he was met by another awkward pause where Cam and Hunter gave him confused looks.
Cam, being the professional one, simply accepted his explanation with a nod.
"I meant you're missing a step," he informed while gesturing to a specific spot in his notes, "So it doesn't make any sense."
…oh
Stupid
Stupid
Stupid
Of course Cam wasn't confused; Cam was never confused by anything. To even think he might have the slightest problem with something as easy as pre-cal was not only foolish but just plain…delusional!
What had he been thinking? He hadn't; that was why he shot off his mouth.
Dustin started to walk away, leaving before he could make a bigger fool of himself.
"…I'm gonna go over there now," he said, pointing to the door. "Please ignore me."
"Dustin-" Cam began to call after him, but Hunter interrupted him.
"Pre-Cal sucks," he declared, earning not one, but two baffled looks from his friends. Well, Cam's look was more miffed at being cut off.
He shrugged casually, ignoring the tech. "It does. It took me forever to figure it out."
"…It did?" Dustin asked hesitantly, not really wanting to stay at all but they were still talking to him so he might as well listen.
"Yeah," Hunter continued, maintaining strong eye contact. "What are you having a problem with?"
Before Dustin could say 'everything', the blond added, "Specifically."
And by specifically he meant "at what exact moment did you give up and decide ripping up your homework was a better choice than asking for help?"
Dustin paused and thought for a moment before answering, "Factoring."
"I'll help you," Hunter offered, pulling the notes out of Cam's hands (who did not appear at all happy with the exchange) and walking over to him, placing a hand on Dustin's shoulder.
"No," the brunette started, still embarrassed by his actions, "I can-"
It was Cam's turn to cut someone off, even if his choice of words was unexpected, "How fast can you put together a bike engine?"
The yellow ranger was shocked by the sudden change in subject but caught on long before Hunter did; the blond still throwing Cam confused looks that the tech was now ignoring by the time Hunter recovered.
Dustin scratched his head and thought about it, "Well, I haven't really timed it…"
Cam clarified, "Compared to Blake and Hunter."
"Oh," Dustin said. "Way faster."
The Thunder brothers may be the kings of riding, but when it came to maintenance Dustin was clearly the victor. He never really thought about what he did; he just did it. He could spend hours working on a bike and it would feel like only minutes had gone by.
Cam, as though following his train of thought, continued, "You'd also be faster than me."
Dustin shook his head because that was just crazy talk, "There's no way-"
"My point," Cam interrupted, "is that everyone has different strengths and weaknesses." He walked over and took Dustin's other side. "Math just isn't your strongest suit."
Dustin hadn't thought of it like that. Sure, he was barely passable at math but he was slammin' at plenty of other things.
"…It makes sense when you put it that way," he admitted, feeling relieved.
"Great," Cam replied, squeezing his other arm. Dustin finally took the time to peek a glance at him, and was met by a look of reassurance.
Cam squeezed his arm again before letting go and slowly retreating back to his desk, calling over his shoulder, "Now don't rip up any more paper in my lab."
Dustin saluted his back, "Got it."
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He never would have thought it, but Hunter was actually an awesome teacher. He didn't mind going over things multiple times (because Dustin certainly needed it) and he explained everything way better than any of his teachers ever could. It only took about an hour for Dustin to finally understand factoring and everything else in the assigned chapter, and after that it only took a couple of hours to get through his homework. It was awesome and, not only did he not bother Cam; he hadn't bothered Hunter either.
Or, if he had, the guy did a really good job of hiding it. He probably wouldn't stick around for so long if he was about to go postal, teammate or no, so Dustin took it as a good sign.
They were alone for the moment as they worked through the final problems his teacher had assigned. Cam had left about half an hour ago to run some programs on the computers in the main room of Ninja Ops, leaving very strict instructions for them to not touch anything or he would "impose the need to rip you limb from limb".
He was very protective of his experiments.
"What are you doing Wednesday night?"
Dustin almost thought he had imagined it, but one look to Hunter confirmed that yes, the crimson ranger had spoken and was waiting for an answer. It was his first make at small-talk since they had started working.
Wednesday night, Wednesday night, Wednesday night…what did he have then? He had work Wednesday afternoon, but as for Wednesday night, he was free.
"Nothing," he answered, smiling brightly at Hunter before he went back to entering numbers into his calculator.
"I was thinking," Hunter started casually, leaning over so that his shoulder brushed against Dustin's, "Since we both pretty much missed out on Fists of Fire 2 in theaters, I could just rent it for us to watch at my apartment."
Dustin halted mid-calculation, which was really a bad idea because he would lose track of where he was and have to start all over again, but this was something worth thinking about. Hunter was inviting him over. Hunter, the crimson ranger, who was currently helping him learn math, was inviting him into his secret sanctum to spend even more time with him, indicating that he was not at all against the idea of spending time with him.
…awesome
To be honest, Dustin had no idea why Hunter had invited him the first time; he figured it was his attempt at bonding or maybe he mystically knew that he loved that movie, so he had simply gone with the flow. Maybe Hunter just communicated through movies, like, that was how he made friends best. There was always something to keep the conversation going if they had one, but that wasn't even required when you watched a movie.
"Yeah man, that sounds awesome!" he exclaimed, problem forgotten as he bounced excitedly in place.
He was going to see Fists of Fire 2, with Hunter, who wanted to see Fists of Fire 2, with him.
"Great. Wednesday, 7 o'clock, my place," Hunter concluded, ticking off the info on his fingers, and Dustin gave him a thumbs up to show that he had received this information.
The patter of footsteps echoed outside the room right before Cam reentered his lab, looking to be in good spirits. He gave a searching look over all his experiments before sitting back down in his chair. Dustin was about to ask him how everything was when Cam beat him to the punch.
"I was thinking it's about time for lunch, and if you…" he paused, then turned his chair around slowly, pointing at Dustin. "What are you so happy about?"
Aside from learning math?
No, Cam knew there was a new development; he could, like, smell it in the air.
Before Hunter could explain, Dustin decided to do it for him, for he knew only he could give this event the amount of pizazz it deserved.
"Fists of Fire 2!" he proclaimed, bouncing to his feet and sending his pencil flying. "Hunter's house, Wednesday at 7! Be there or forever hang your head in shame!" He ended it with a dramatic arm sweep across his body, finishing at his head before bowing it gracefully.
How was that for razzmatazz?
His attempt at showmanship made him miss the confused look Cam threw Hunter, or Hunter's look of "you're not invited", but that didn't matter, as he kept going, making sure the tech didn't have a chance to argue. He moved back to Cam's initial topic of conversation - the matter of lunch.
"I make a mean grilled sandwich!" he declared, popping his head back up and returning to a more relaxed body position. "I can even add bacon…and tomatoes, if that's your thing. Just point me to the kitchen."
Cam opened his mouth but the look on his face said he was still back on the Fist of Fire train of conversation, so Dustin just steamrolled on. "You know what, I'll find it myself," he finished, jogging out of the room with a wave, leaving two equally befuddled teammates in his wake.
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There was a poignant pause after Dustin's rather vocal and melodramatic exit, leaving Cam and Hunter wordless, minds racing to recover after processing the new development. Eventually, tired of the silence, it was Cam who decided to address the situation first.
"I wasn't invited to that, was I?"
Hunter shook his head and confirmed the tech's suspicions, running a hand through his blond tresses before dropping it forward to rest on his knee, exasperated. Cam frowned, and turned back to his computer, letting the matter slide. He wasn't about to bother confronting the crimson ranger about it; Dustin was friendly and therefore a good choice to do friend-like things with. It was only natural to prefer someone as intensely outgoing as the yellow ranger, and even more natural to avoid a sarcastic "grump" like himself.
Logically, Hunter's decision made sense.
This worked out, Cam was more than pleased to go on with his life, seemingly unaffected by it (so much so that eventually he would be unaffected by it) until Hunter decided this conversation was not over.
That was when everything went downhill.
"It was supposed to be a date," the blond moaned behind him, obviously aggravated by his miscommunication.
Clearly, Dustin had not been aware of this fact.
"This is the second time," he continued, and Cam had to focus real hard on his screen, squeezing his mouse in a death grip to ensure that none of the hundreds of pressing questions he had on the matter came tumbling out of him until he could determine which would be appropriate to ask first.
Focus, he urged himself.
Step one, analyze the first message. The leading six words were inconsequential, of little importance, casual, everyday occurrences that invoked little to no panic generally. However, with the addition of the final word the entire meaning of its predecessors drastically altered, sending Cam into a state of semi-frenzy.
Date.
Date.
Not the date, a date.
"It was supposed to be a date," he had said, distressed by the fact that its current status clearly was not a date.
But he would like it to be one.
He would like to go on a date with Dustin.
He would like to date Dustin.
Somehow, with everything that Cam had endured over the past week, that was what bothered him the most.
Something in the back of his mind was trying to tell him that this also meant he was not alone in his…sexuality and, not only that, Hunter was exhibiting a great deal of trust in him to share such information so easily, unless he was open about it, but Cam could barely spend the time to focus on that when he was beset by a new spectrum of feelings and, despite his frequent meditation and awareness of the undisputed fact that thinking before reacting was key in all situations, he found himself across the room in a heartbeat, hand on Hunter's shoulder, jerking him to attention.
The words flew out of his mouth before he could stop them.
"You stay away from him," he growled, totally unsupported, and against all established facts (Hunter's assistance with Dustin; Dustin's obvious need for friendship), but somehow feeling totally right.
To say he didn't have a handle on his emotional status would be laughably understated.
The surprise should have stayed on Hunter's face longer, should have affected him to a greater degree, but the taller Thunder brother always had a knack for adaption, and he shifted accordingly, throwing Cam's hand off of him.
"I didn't take you for a bigot Cam," he snarled, glaring at the tech.
Cam remained outwardly unaffected, though the other teen's total inaccuracy may have temporarily halted his breathing. He took a step back. While he may feel unreasonably angry he needed to communicate his concerns more effectively, or else further misrepresent himself. He took a deep breath to steady himself and started again, softer, though none of the tension had left his body.
"Dustin," he began through clenched teeth; before shaking his head and forcing himself to relax, "is my friend. And I'm not going to let you hurt him."
Hunter cut him off before he could further explain himself.
"First Shane and now you? What is with you guys? You say you trust me but the first whiff that I might be interested in Dustin and you think I'm going to do things of unspeakable evil to him!" he exclaimed, climbing to his feet, "Tell me, is Tori going to be the same way or is it just you two?"
The excess was nothing; Cam couldn't allow himself to be thrown at the mention of his teammates, though the fact that Hunter had already had this conversation with Shane and was still pursuing the yellow ranger did worry him slightly. Made him wonder what they talked about exactly.
Cam would have to chat about it with Shane later. Right now he needed to put up a better, more sensible defense.
"You saw the way he reacted over his homework right; you were there?" Rhetorical, they both obviously knew how Dustin had felt but he needed to remind Hunter.
It would also aggravate him, which was an added bonus.
"That's how much our opinions matter to him. How important he holds us in his mind."
Hunter remained unchanged by explanation, not bothering to bat an eyelash.
Cam continued, shifting slightly with a fact to support his argument. "You know he's not gay right?"
Clearly he didn't, or they wouldn't be here, having this conversation, but a little belittling with undisputed evidence might be just what the crimson ranger needed to shake him out of his funk.
He was unimpressed, glaring Cam down. "You and Shane seem to think so."
"If you do this," he began, walking slowly towards the crimson ranger, "you will hurt him. You will press him into something he won't really want to do, but because your opinion matters so much to him he will go along with it."
Instead of any look of epiphany in agreement at his sound logic, Hunter laughed in his face, moving towards him with a bold swagger until they were face to face.
"I think you don't have enough faith in him," he murmured. "I think," he started again, coy smile spreading across his face, "that while his strengths might not be here" - he motioned to the side of his head - "he's plenty smart enough to figure out here," he finished, patting the area of his chest over his heart. "To use your words."
It was logical, sort of, at least a solid half-attempt that made sense, but the feelings that had settled over Cam like a dust cloud were not pushed aside; rather they intensified. He had used his knowledge; those cards were already lying across the table for Hunter to clearly see. Now all he had left was the fickle beast of emotions. And Cam was more than ready to ride it.
"Stay. Away. From him," he warned softly and whatever foundations of friendliness and hospitality they had built up in their afternoon together came tumbling down, leaving nothing but crumbled remains in a desolate wasteland. To his credit, Hunter hid the majority of his surprise at Cam's new strategy, and opened his mouth to reply before shutting it suddenly, a searching look assuming his eye.
It dawned on Cam that one of them was finally thinking before they moved into action.
"Are you gay Cam?" Hunter asked, leaning back while keeping up his examination, locked on Cam's eyes.
"That's none of your business," he attempted to say calmly, but Hunter didn't look like he was buying it.
The shift was instantaneous; one second the blond matched him for emotion, overflowing, angry and the next, just, stillness. There wasn't…there was no cruelty or mocking in Hunter's expression, as Cam would have thought there would be, just quiet contemplation. It was odd. Having Hunter so riled one second and the next- this, like it was nothing.
Nonthreatening; not victorious, just existing.
Cam hated it, because the crimson ranger didn't need to ask for confirmation, he already knew, and instead of lauding it above the tech's head he was just - why wasn't Hunter taunting him? He finally had a tool, a weakness he could exploit and Cam had earned it, with unreasonable accusations and fierce overprotection that was never warranted.
Hunter was undoubtedly in the right; Cam wouldn't blame him. Were their positions reversed, were Cam on the other side…he didn't know what he would see. What Hunter was looking at. Maybe he just saw some lost and broken thing, the almighty Cam just as susceptible to the average person's emotional turmoil.
If it was pity, if that was what Hunter had exchanged his anger for…it almost wasn't worth it. The pity was far less desirable. Not from Hunter.
Or perhaps that wasn't fair. Because from someone who had experienced so much of the worst of life-
Actually getting pity from them was an accomplishment.
Did that make it better, or worse?
"Cam," the blond broke him out of his reverie, still studying, but there was an almost softness to his tone, as bizarre as that was.
No, no it wasn't pity; at least that wasn't the dominating feeling represented. It could be lurking in the background but for the most part, if Cam was reading this right (and he could be horribly, horribly wrong because the past ten minutes had unveiled just how warped his perception could be), Hunter was portraying a look of solidarity. Of 'been there, done that' understanding.
So he wouldn't be upset.
"Cam," he said again, when he received no reply. He reached a hand out, resting it on the tech's shoulder. "It's okay."
The flinch was immediate, a primal, instinctive reaction and Cam wanted to laugh with a bitterness he couldn't fully describe because it wasn't, it wasn't okay. He hated this, these feelings he had no control over. He hadn't needed them, he didn't want them, they hadn't been necessary before now so why-
"It's okay," Hunter echoed, trying to ground Cam, maybe; it was strange. Heat rose to Cam's cheeks, shame, embarrassment, he didn't- and his throat was suddenly tight. What was wrong with him? Had he completely lost it?
He would think Hunter was the worst person to break down in front of, but considering how fiercely the crimson ranger guarded himself; he knew the value of silence. And as much as he would have the others think to the contrary, as much as he may think it himself, Hunter was not inherently cruel.
He would not take advantage of these few broken moments.
"Cam."
He snapped his eyes up from the floor - apparently they had taken a sudden fascination in their footwear - and Hunter stared at him, like he was trying to say something with his eyes but Cam had no idea, he couldn't tell what-
This was absurdly difficult.
"Just…" Hunter sighed and his hand shifted against the tech's hip, "Just breathe, okay? You need to keep breathing."
Which sounded like a solid plan, if ever there was one. Probably the best thing Hunter had said all day, and Cam wanted desperately to praise him for it, but then the blond went back to his silent communications that Cam couldn't translate and he was drowning again, stupidly. Or drowning in his stupidity, his ineptness.
Hunter tilted his forehead against Cam's , no care for personal boundaries, or maybe this sort of thing helped when you were falling apart at the seems, what would Cam know, and waited, for something.
"Keep breathing," Cam said, it occurring to him he should say something; it was probably time for that.
Hunter leaned his head forward, closing the distance –why - and-
A warning blared in his mind; there was something, a sound, and he shoved the crimson ranger away, ducking into his chair just as the door to his lab burst open. A mildly dirty Dustin entered the room, pausing to laugh at Hunter lying down on the job before he demanded their grilled cheese preferences. He grabbed Cam and dragged him from the room, insisting a little kitchen time would be good for his rapidly fading, never-existing illness.
Unfortunately Hunter joined them only five minutes later, and Cam was forced to deal with the growing feeling of unease that followed him. The knowing eyes and the weakness, the confusion, the uneasiness.
Cam was unsure whether he had just gained an ally or an enemy, so he did a mental system recovery and operated under his previous settings, open for adaption, but keeping one primary directive in mind, no questions, no qualifiers.
For now Hunter was his friend, but if he strayed towards Dustin…
Enemy.
No question.
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Endnotes:
So…Rogue had this suggestion that we make Hunter less of a dick. And then this happened, and we all agreed the story was much better for it.
Of course, this means there will be more new material in the future, but it's for the greater good and all that, right?
In other news, found out were the idiom "going postal" came from. Also "Ape sh#t crazy", but that's less important.
On "recouped"(Which was totally cut, by the way):
Vampire: "Recouped?"
Rogue: "Do you mean recovered?"
Me: "Recouped: to regain or recover."
*silence*
Me: "This is a real word."
*more silence*
Me: "Fine."
*changes it to "recovered"*
Damn you peer pressure.
On ",and":
Rogue: "Okay, I'll allow this ', and'. Your trickery worked, but I won't be so understanding next time!"
*literally the next sentence*
Rogue: *edits away* "Told you so! Mwahahaha!"
On Rewrites:
Me: "'Dustin,' he began through clenched teeth, 'is…'"
Rogue: "Mine. End of discussion. Now, I really don't want to inflict bodily harm on you, but I feel I'm going to have to. Really, this hurts me more than you."
Me: *evil smile* "Really."
On "his most private of places" (which I'm pretty sure was also cut):
Rogue: "Oooh…sounds tawdry."
Vampire: "This sent me into a fit of giggles. Not sure whether you intended the *ahem* hidden meaning or no, or if my dirty mind is just reading way too much into this but yeah… Hunter is *totally* inviting him in."
Me: *glares* "You guys are finding this far too amusing."
Vampire: *sheepish* "Sorry."
Rogue: *happily* "I'm not."
Vampire: *tries to stifle giggles* "Need to stop laughing now…"
Me: *dismayed* "It was a throwaway line."
"The other" count (chapter): 0
"The other" count (cumulative): 23
Until next time.