Chapter 21
It's Delovely
I don't own Anything Goes
EVERY THANK YOU to The Real Vampire for beta-ing this chapter. She polished off the rough edges of this old story, and honestly, I couldn't have done this without her. You should check out her story 'My Brother's Keeper' for more Ninja Storm romance-times if you already haven't. It is a very good and thoughtful read :)
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Hunter was not rated very high on Dustin's list-of-awesome at the moment. Which wasn't fair because on a normal day Hunter would be like, number three…or tied for number three, because Dustin really sucked at ranking things and just had a tendency to tie the people/things/places he liked the most because he hated the idea of playing favorites. Okay, forget the whole rating thing. All that mattered was that right now, Dustin was not a happy camper as far as certain blond-haired, tall, gangly guys were concerned.
See, Hunter had gone and...okay, he'd helped Dustin out, and Dustin was cool with that, he appreciated that, but then he had gone and made Cam so mad that they waged an epic battle down in the lab, resulting in the destruction of most, if not all, of Cam's equipment. So now instead of being able to spend happy-make-out-bonding time with Dustin, the green ranger had to spend a majority of his spare time fixing up that mess.
And Dustin got that, he really did. He understood its importance (it was Cam's Bat Lair and it needed to be in top running condition or their zords were likely to crash into each other and that would be all kinds of awful), he just…was it so wrong to want to spend time with his awesomesauce boyfriend? Was it a crime to want some snuggle time? Would it so wound the fabric of reality if they got to…you know, do what normal couples do, saving the world from Evil Space Ninja's aside?
It wasn't like it had been that big a problem at first, because Dustin was pretty much a pro at cleaning Cam's lab by this point, but unlike all those other times there were actually sparking/fizzing/flaming things that weren't always so…visible, and after he had gotten Cam to reluctantly agree to his help on the condition Dustin would be especially careful it was kind of embarrassing to burn his hand about five seconds later on a octagon shaped thing that wasn't even smoking. Yeah, after Cam had mothered over him and Dustin got him to "kiss it better", he was banned from the lab.
Banned, completely.
Like, no standing to the side, or hovering behind Cam, or standing in the doorway or even the hallway and shouting out encouraging things to him…Dustin was banned, super banned, completely banned, and the yellow ranger was surprised Cam hadn't thrown him out of Ninja Ops altogether. All Dustin could do was hover around Leonard and drag Cam away at mealtimes (because Cam wouldn't remember stupid things like eating when there was work to be done, and Dustin preferred his boyfriend be able to function and, you know, survive) and even that had taken strenuous negotiation.
Fortunately, Dustin took this as an opportunity to learn how to properly manage his time, making those meal breaks count, and Cam (who Dustin knew was facing the same aggravations in regards to the whole no-time thing) was onboard for this. This was how they came to snuggly-food time. It wasn't much different from any other time they had ever eaten together, seeing as Dustin had snuggled up to Cam whenever he wanted, wherever he wanted, in whatever location he wanted, without any complaints from the tech pre-relationship (which was probably another sign that Dustin should have picked up awhile ago). It was just now he could do it closer, or sit on his lap, and touch him whenever he wanted, and Cam always returned the favor, until they sometimes forgot about the food and things escalated into happy make-out time, which Dustin was always game for. The only downside was that he'd feel bad if Cam didn't get enough to eat, so he usually tried to avoid things getting that far. Not that he was always successful.
Hey, was it his fault Cam was like, so delicious?
No, no it was not.
Hunter-related grumbles aside, things with Cam were going along smoothly. Like, Cam still had these moments where he looked at Dustin like he couldn't believe it was happening (even thought it'd been happening for like, two weeks now), but Dustin just kept with it, staying with him every step of the way, doing all the things they normally did except with the added bonus of getting to feel each other up occasionally. It was like there was this wall there that Cam had built up, because he was so alone and he didn't want anyone to hurt him, like he was afraid that if they got inside they would destroy him. Dustin had just been slowly pulling that wall apart, brick by brick, getting an even closer look at the Cam he thought he already knew, and Dustin didn't even know why he was hiding himself because he was so awesome.
Like, the way he ate stuff, and the way he studied everything, and the weird way he had to keep every towel hanging on a rack in perfect alignment (which was an obsessive kind of endearing), and this little smile he would get that was better than his smirk because it communicated so much more happiness than Dustin's biggest smile ever could, and he was just…awesome.
Dustin still couldn't decide how he felt about the walls, because he was sad that it took this to get to see the real Cam but he was so…ridiculously pleased that nobody else got to peak in. Like this Cam was especially reserved for Dustin and he got a little choked up just thinking about it, and he liked the tech all the more. Heck, if anyone should be doubtful in this relationship, it should be Dustin, because Cam was too amazing a person to settle on him. Sometimes he couldn't believe what was going on, though Cam's sixth sense seemed to kick in any time he was anywhere near doubtful, even when they weren't in the same room and he just waltzes in and fixes everything, like he always did; like he probably always would (though Dustin would never do him the disservice of telling him that because he shouldn't have to feel the weight of that responsibility when he was already running himself into the ground with the stuff that he was doing now).
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It took Dustin a full week before he gave into his desire to stay overnight with Cam. Ever since the whole Cam-getting-sick thing, though the tech had finally revealed that he hadn't actually been sick at all; he was just spazzing out, which made everything that followed that event incredibly more hilarious (even if Cam didn't think so). He just glared at Dustin as the brunette spent the following five minutes in a fit of laughter. Well, ever since then Dustin had wanted to…sleep with Cam. Not like, the dirty way or anything, but just, being near him, with him had been nice. But now they were totally dating and it was okay, and it wasn't like his mom would ever notice anyway, and Liv wouldn't be back for Thanksgiving break for awhile, so Dustin wanted to…cuddle. He really, really wanted to cuddle.
He had decided that the best way to approach this would be to leave Cam no room for argument.
Basically, he snuck in while his boyfriend was showering and made himself comfortable, pretending he had been there the entire time while catching up on his reading. Cam's initial reaction had been…different, than what Dustin'd, had expected (and he had expected a lot of opposition on the basis of Cam's hatred towards all things that even remotely resembled surprises). Yes, he had been shocked, but then Dustin thought he would move on to like, slightly annoyed that Dustin didn't run it by him first, or think he couldn't run it by him first, or he would shake his head fondly, or he would tell him to get out, but instead he just…stood there. Just confused for like, half a second but Dustin saw it, and then just frozen, face stony but posture all…like he was getting ready to fight one of Lothor's monsters or some other great problem that needed his entire focus which wasn't even kind've what Dustin had been going for and-
He left, quickly, smiling and waving like he had just been there to say goodnight and was totally not in his pajamas and then he turned tail and ran, streaking out of the room as though he were running out of a fire, heart heavy and berating himself for such a stupid move. Sure, he was dating Cam but the guy was shaky enough as it was, and why did he think he could spring this on him and not have that kind of reaction? Maybe it wasn't that, maybe he wasn't surprised, he just didn't want Dustin there, because he needed some space, he needed some alone time, and Dustin could understand that or-no, he really couldn't, because alone time sucked, but if Cam needed it…
He barely got down the hall before Cam caught up to him, grabbing his arm and pulling him back into a hug, and Dustin totally did not sniffle because there wasn't a problem, they were fine and he shouldn't be upset, and he tried to tell Cam this, he tried to explain that they were fine, and he kept smiling, but the tech just dragged him back into his room, pulling him into bed and holding him, running his hands through Dustin's curls until he was semi-calmed down.
They didn't talk about it, and Dustin was grateful for that because he felt like a first class doofus for being upset and for coming up with this stupid idea in the first place, but part of him desperately begged to know why?
Why that reaction?
Cam wasn't there when he woke up (Dustin risked setting off the floor sensors to peek into the lab, and he was there, dutifully repairing things) and the yellow ranger obediently exiled himself, only showing back up after school and work, food in tow.
He didn't go back that night, because it had been an awful idea that they were just going to have to gloss over for now, because Cam was nice like that, but then the tech sent him these ridiculously mixed signals by showing up at his house, popping in through his window hours after his mom had gone to bed and settling himself in as easy as he pleased. Dustin was grateful, ridiculously so, because somehow Cam in his room made everything seem so incredibly real, and he was beyond happy.
But he just…he wanted some verbal communication, because this communicating telepathically thing wasn't working for him and he preferred it when they were both on the same page. Confusing things were never fun (and he knew he was going to have to suck it up if he was going to keep doing this dating thing because relationships were nothing but that) and Dustin just wanted them to be clear. He lived by honesty, and he didn't want to force Cam into doing something he didn't want to anymore than Cam wanted him to be hurt. It was a vicious cycle, and eventually they were going to have to learn to work their way around it.
They did a lot of talking because of this, and Dustin thought Cam would be mad or at least aggravated that he had to take the time out to explain things to him, but it was kind've just the opposite. It was like Cam relaxed every time he got something off of his chest, like a weight was lifted from his shoulders and Dustin would be that much closer to breaching the walls of his castle.
It turned out he had reacted so badly because Shane had been taking care of him, making him eat and sleep and not break and Cam had thought Dustin was just taking over the job because Shane had told him to, as opposed to wanting to be there.
Which was absolute Bubkis, and Dustin told him as much. And then he told Cam with kisses, because actions were better than words, right?
Of course, in turn Dustin had to explain a few of his quirks. Why being alone bothered him so much (it came as somewhat of a surprise when he found out that Cam didn't know about his parents' divorce), the grizzly details of his social failures in junior high and high school, bullies…stuff he hadn't even really told Shane or Tori. Dustin came to wonder how they could have thought they didn't go together, because with every new thing he learned about Cam made him see how well they just…clicked. They understood the loneliness and one another better than anyone else in the world ever could, it was like-
Dustin was afraid to say love, because he was known to twist definitions around and he would hate to abuse such a huge important thing like love but…this had to be pretty close, at least. This had to be almost there.
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The maybe/almost-love thing was why Dustin wasn't afraid to ask Cam about anything, anything at all, which was why on one particular dinner break, about two weeks after the initial bed-sneaking incident, Dustin had finally worked up the nerve to ask Cam about the dirty details of plan "Distract-Hunter-from-Dustin-by-being-a-flirty-McFlirterson". Before this point it had been deemed as too touchy a subject to approach, but Dustin had the feeling they were pretty much unstoppable after the whole bed-fiasco (they alternated nights now, except on weekends when Dustin always stayed at the Ops), and he knew in his heart of hearts there had to be some kind of hysterical story in there. The trick was getting Cam to fess up to it while keeping a smile on his face, which would probably involve Dustin's lips revisiting a particular vacation spot on Cam's neck.
"We didn't actually get that far," the green ranger finally admitted halfway through one of Dustin's more successful rendezvous on his neck. The yellow ranger pulled his head back, pout that was totally not-a-pout because that was unmanly but was-a-pout because it was a super interrogation technique, and Cam sighed and attempted to distract him by returning the favor (which Dustin contemplated allowing because Cam was a Samurai master of all things neck related) but Dustin pulled back, pouting (but not-pouting) further.
"There has to be something," he complained, tracing a finger along the skin just above the other's the waist, provoking a quick inhale (he had actually discovered that turn-on long before they were dating; he'd spilt something on Cam and was trying to help clean up, though he was inevitably shooed away after accidently arousing him, not that he knew it was possible at the time).
Cam frowned and grabbed his hand, pulling it away, but before Dustin could get any bad feelings about it the tech tangled their fingers, letting him know they were still okay. Dustin smiled, resting his head against the other's shoulder while he squeezed Cam's hand, grinning in self-satisfaction at how quickly he was picking this body language stuff up.
Despite the fact he's doing very little sexing, his look of content brought Cam some kind of gratification, so he sighed again and he toyed with a few of Dustin's curls, acting like he wasn't just delaying the inevitable. Which he totally was, but Dustin was nice enough to let him have this one.
"We had a dinner that could easily exemplify the definition of terrible," the tech gradually admitted, and Dustin perked up immediately, leaning in to eagerly lap up every detail. He probably shouldn't be this happy to hear about a disaster date, because while he hadn't been a participant it was still Cam, and he hated the idea of his tech being all socially awkward without being able to do anything about it. He couldn't say this though, because then Cam would have the real frowny face he got whenever he thought someone was coddling him.
Cam continued, rolling his eyes at the yellow ranger's enthusiasm.
"He attempted…" he trailed off, and Dustin leaned forward some more, pressing against the tech's cheek, earning a small laugh and encouraging him enough to continue, "To…I believe in your words to 'feel me up'."
Dustin pulled back immediately, halfway to mad (there was a certain crimson ranger who needed a particular kind of smack down right now) but immediately pulled a 180 when he heard Cam genuinely laugh. He couldn't help but join in too (he was beginning to understand why Cam had gone and trashed his lab now) and he settled back down, cozying back up to the tech.
"Did you let him have it?" he asked, peaking up just as Cam was looking down, and they had to take a small time out from the conversation to address those things that needed to be addressed whenever their faces just happened to be that close to each other. He smiled as he pulled back, Cam rubbing the side of his face (the tech was like, obsessed with his head; he was always messing with his hair and his face and it always led to win).
"No," he explained, and Dustin did a mental happy dance. "I properly defended myself."
"Potato salad?" Dustin asked, mind going back to the time he and Cam had shared an incredibly eventful dinner that just happened to coincide with a few of Cam's experiments deciding to go haywire, and he must stress that his presence had nothing to do with it, at all, and the green ranger had silenced the rioting hardware with his mad potato salad skills. Since that day Dustin has always kept some on standby; he had hidden a container in the back of the fridge…which he should probably check to see if it had expired.
Cam laughed some more and Dustin felt bubbly, snuggling deeper into him, feeling the echoed reverberations under his ear.
"Barbeque sauce," he replied, voice smirked-up, and Dustin doesn't even bother looking when he offers up his hand for a high five, Cam returning the gesture with familiar ease.
It had gotten off to a rocky start, but they were getting the hang of it, slowly, gradually. It wasn't perfect, it would never be perfect; they were both far too socially starved to be able to fit "normal" relationship standards, though perhaps that was what made them work so…awesomely. They were just two guys that happened to save the world from time to time, two guys who were complete opposites that'd discovered the answer to all that was lacking with themselves were each other. They were probably a little too needy, and overactive, and inexperienced, but for the moment, they found a way to make it work.
And for the moment, it was lovely.
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Endnotes:
"Hunter-related grumbles aside," was a transition suggested by the real vampire, so that segue is thanks to her.
Until next time :)