Chapter 21
Doing what comes Natur'lly
I don't own Annie Get Your Gun.
Nor do I particularly want to.
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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 (the only kind he would want was for buried treasure, but he'd come to terms with his ninja status a long time ago, because you could either be a ninja or a pirate, but you could be both), 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 when 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 glaringly obvious that he had no idea what he was doing. He had already suppressed any and all aggravated noises he usually made when he attempted homework and all nervous habits he was aware of (he had mentally glued his hands to his work so he wouldn't run them through his hair or mess with his clothes) and he wasn't about to let his inabilities show so easily.
He glared at the almost illegible scribbles in his spiral notebook, he had copied what the teacher had written exactly (when he had been paying attention, it's not 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'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 he had 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.
He sighed (quietly, to avoid notice) and flipped through the pages of his textbook, desperately searching to see if it had any of the answers he desired. The worst part was that it was in English and he still had absolutely no idea what it was saying. He couldn't figure out how the example in the book managed to get its answers, and it had step-by-step instructions.
It was official, he was a nincompoop. How he 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 and then misplacing it, then he would take out another one and misplace that one, and this process would repeat itself at least four to 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?
He found one by his shoe, another one was behind his ear (so much for keeping his hands away from his head), another had jammed itself in the straps of his backpack, and then he found one that was in the rings of his spiral notebook. Tapping his head, he paused and looked at his utensils closely. One from when he started, one he lost from when he was twirling during a five minute break, one lost from filling out his vocab book, one lost from random doodling…he was 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 soon faded away into concern, and he settled down next to him, 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.
But 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 with the site of Hunter reading through his homework, eyebrows scrunched in deep thought.
By now he should have figured out that acting on his gut reactions weren'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 (a move the crimson ranger most certainly did not expect) and 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, 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 that he really didn't want to, he slowly made himself look at its source. He had forgotten, in the rush of it all, that his main goal of all his hard work had been to not bother Cam, a goal, it seemed, that he had fallen incredibly short of.
The tech had stopped his work and was staring at him, searching expression on his face, and Dustin couldn't see it but 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 it is he usually did when he was 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.
It seemed that 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 completely explain himself.
There was a small cough from Cam's direction before he replied, "Me either."
Because his back had been turned, but if he really wanted to know he'd just go back over the security footage later.
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 in the few times he had resulted in success.
When all else failed, play dumb.
Game plan in mind (and mind much more calm) 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, like they almost believed 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 pressed onward, "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 now doing a terrible job of covering it up. He dumped the waste into a trashcan, watching it flutter to the bottom. He smiled brightly and then tempered it down some so it was still 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 up in its closet.
Hunter was done with sweeping anyway.
He could hear the blonde scoff behind him before he murmured, "It is now," followed by sounds of him picking himself off the ground.
It was also followed by the sounds of something being picked up, and it dawned on him 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 he sped back to his corner, only to be greeted by the sight of Hunter and Cam flipping through his notes.
He 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.
No, no he was still good; he just needed to remind himself to breath.
Several ideas flashed through his mind to fix this.
…No, knocking them out might sound like a good decision now but in the long run it might seem like a bit of an overreaction.
Finally, after was 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 he wasn't going crazy or was 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 techs 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 (for real) 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's never confused by anything! To even think he might even have the slightest problem with something as easy as pre-cal is not only foolish but just plain…delusional!
What had he been thinking?
He hadn't, that's why he shot off his mouth.
There was no way he could escape this while appearing smart.
He 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."
Forever
Please ignore me forever.
"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 miphed 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' he 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 then asking for help?"
Dustin paused and thought for a moment before answering, "Factoring."
Factoring was the devil, for all he cared it could die in a pit of despair and then that pit of despair could find another pit of even worse proportions to hurl itself into because that's how much agony factoring had brought him. And FOIL? You use it on food and on presents when you run out of wrapping paper, it has no place in math. Even if it's only an anagram.
"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 wan 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 he recouped.
Dustin scratched his head and thought about it, "Well, I haven't really timed it…"
Cam specified, "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."
Faster than Cam? He's the one who built the Tsunami cycles.
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."
…he 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 look at him, and was met with a look of reassurance. He squeezed his arm again before letting go and slowly retreating back to his desk. He called 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 then 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, team mate 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?" He echoed, thinking about it.
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.
The other was quiet for a second, watching him with enough attention to notice if he went astray in his work, but not enough to make him nervous.
They had had issues with that earlier.
"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 really work thinking about. Hunter was inviting him over. Hunter, crimson ranger, who was currently helping him learn math, was inviting him into his secret sanctum (his most private of places) 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's 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.
But…what would he tell Shane?
The thought forced him to stop bouncing.
He always watched movies with Shane, especially that one. How would he feel if he went and watched it with Hunter and not him?
It would be like…cheating on him or something.
Hmm…
He'd talk to Shane about it later, get him to understand the team bonding process, or maybe he would ask Hunter if he could come too…or maybe not, they had only just gotten their alpha male issues settled.
And…
...Cam!
That was the answer, no one could say no to Cam.
With that settled he went back to bouncing, grabbing his calculator with renewed enthusiasm to start his problem over.
"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 quick 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 pizzaz 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 you head in shame!" he finished it with a dramatic arm sweep across his body finishing at his head before he bowed it gracefully.
How was that for razamataz?
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 going back 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.
BLT's? Totally gross.
BCT's? Totally awesome.
He would even add in extra bacon.
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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, running a hand through his blond tresses shook his head and confirmed the tech's suspicions before he dropped 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 factored 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's when everything went downhill.
"It was supposed to be a date," the blond moaned behind him, clearly 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 precedents 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, but 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 clearly 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 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's total inaccuracy may have temporarily halted his breathing. He took a step back, for 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; he shook his head and forced 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."
Again with Shane.
Their need for conversation slowly increased to be more pressing.
Cam refused to let himself be thrown, "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 of agreeance 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."
Logic, sort of, 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 his new strategy, and opened his mouth to reply before shutting it suddenly, and a searching look assumed his eye. It dawned on Cam that one of them was finally thinking before they moved into action.
This strategy would turn the conversation in a direction the tech had rather hoped to avoid.
"Are you gay Cam?" Hunter asked, leaning back while keeping up his examination, locked on Cam's eyes.
Luckily his mouth reacted faster than his brain had, and luckily his mouth was also quite intelligent. "That's none of your business," he attempted to say calmly, but the look of victory on Hunter's face indicated that he wasn't buying it.
"So that's a yes?" he murmured, and shifted a hand onto Cam's hip. Before the tech could throw it off or demand that he throw it off Hunter's face was dangerously close to his and he froze, uncertain on how to advance. Nothing like this had ever happened before, he had never studied what to do in these kinds of situations, he had absolutely no knowledge on how to react.
"Maybe I've been going after the wrong guy," Hunter whispered, and his hand was on Cam's face and something was going to happen now and he didn't know how he was supposed to feel about it and…
What about Dustin?
What about Shane?
What about the others?
Mostly Dustin, he had just been defending Dustin, Hunter had just been after Dustin, did he mean so little? Was this a game; was it all just a joke to him?
Was this his way of winning the argument?
Before whatever happened happened, (Cam would later come to address the action but never have the strength to form it into cognizance) 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, an only mildly dirty Dustin entering the room, pausing to laugh at Hunter laying 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 bare the knowing looks he threw him for the rest of the day.
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Endnotes:
Spring break everybody! Also, happy St. Patrick's day!
Wear your green or be pinched.
To MidnightMoonWarrior (who was also the first person to story subscribe!) and Rogue Ranger (times 2!) my biggest thanks, I'm glad to know that my attempts at humor are hitting the mark, and I hope the change to drama still provides good entertainment.
I know, big delay, but like I said, spring break, so I decided to take a vacation.
It also took me a while to figure out where I was going with this, I knew there would be some kind of confrontation at the end but Dustin's freakout thing took much longer to write then I thought it would and I wanted to make sure the ending conversation with Cam and Hunter was given the credit it's due.
So Dustin freaks out, Cam freaks out, and Hunter tries to be a smoozer.
I argued with myself for a while about the ending, because what, Hunter's all the sudden a huge Cam fan? But then I realized he was more or less going after Dustin originally because he was the only one without issues, and was then encouraged by Shane's resistance and his desire to prove Shane wrong, so I figured there wasn't a gigantic commitment there.
Opinions? I'd love to hear them.
Until next time.