Summary – No one's sleeping tonight.

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Late Night Larks

Tommy

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(Saturday 8:11 p.m.)

Leaning back against Jason and letting him run his fingers up and down my arm soothingly, I sigh in content.

"You're being a pyromaniac with your marshmallow again." Pointing to my indeed on fire marshmallow, he takes the stick from my hand and blows the flames out quickly. "Chard on the outside, burnt on the inside, yum." Smart-ass.

"Well I happen to like um that way." Retrieving a gram cracker from the box, I go to grab the blackened mess with it only to have him roll his eyes and hold his perfectly toasted one out to me instead.

"Have mine, I'll make another." Leaning my stick against the pile of extra wood, he quickly takes the gram cracker from me and expertly mashes the marshmallow along with half a Hershey bar together in it. "There, praise my smore making skills."

"Wonder if your this good where popcorn is concerned." Smirking as this raises a nice red color in his face, I guess I'm going to have to take him to the movies to make up for telling that story about Allie.

"Okay, that is it, what is with you two?" Looking across the fire at us both, Alan makes an irritated face. What? "You've been acting weird ever since dinner started and making bizarre little comments that make no sense. Not to mention this touching thing."

"What touching thing?" Feeling my heart skip a beat, I try to remind myself he couldn't possibly be referring to what happened in the tent.

Exchanging looks with each other Jen and John both seem to be debating on whether to say something or not. Finally it seems Jen decides she's got nothing to loss. "Well I have to say you two certainly seem, closer. In the car it was almost like you were afraid to bump knees and now you're, well you're sitting on the ground in between Jason's legs while he sits on the log rubbing your arm." What's your point?

"Well, um…" Looking at me, unsure if it's okay to tell them or not, worries way too much.

"We're sorta messing around." Haha! Look at his expression! Okay, geez Jase don't have a stroke, please, I really am not that good at CPR. Rubbing his knee soothingly, I shake my head.

"You're what?" Raising a questioning eyebrow, Jen looks between the two of us curiously.

"We're messing around with the idea of dating. I mean I can't say we're dating cuz after all someone hasn't officially asked me out yet, but we're sorta playing around and stuff." Poor Jason, he's probably wondering how I can be so casual about this. Remember bro you're not the only one living with a doctor, Jen's a psychiatrist after all, she has the same concerns about sex as your mom it sounds like, mainly do it safely.

Giving me a look, the Red Ranger huffs in annoyance. "Well in all fairness you didn't ask me out either."

"So you're messing around and you've yet to even ask my nephew out?" That's right you tell him Uncle John. Giving Jase a mock scowl, he tsks at him. "I'm not certain I approve of that, if you think I'm just going to let him get pregnant and have you run off, you've got another thing coming."

Relaxing dramatically and seeing that my aunt and uncle are pretty much like his parents, Jason offers them a small smile. "Well I hate to tell you, but if he gets pregnant I'm on the first flight to Florida." Cute.

"So you don't wanna have a baby with me? I knew this would happen once we kissed, you were just after one thing, just like all the rest. And to think I actually let you put your dirty mouth on mine."

"Oh my god." Putting his head in his hand, Alan makes a noise somewhere between angered and sickened. Did I ask for your opinion? "I always knew you were messed up, but Jason, dude come on."

"What, I like him. And he's not messed up, don't say things like that about him." Putting an arm around my chest, he apparently isn't pleased with my cousin's distaste in me.

Holding up a hand when Alan leans forward to snap back, John ends it quickly. "Alright, that's enough. Now, Alan go take the flashlight and get some more wood, Jason you and Tommy stay here so we can talk for a minute."

Grumbling and snatching the flashlight off the ground, he heads off muttering. Great, he'll be so much fun for the rest of the trip.

Sighing and giving Jen a look, John apparently isn't as cool with this as they acted before. "Alright, now when exactly did this little relationship matter begin?" When he felt me up?

Before I can answer, Jase spares me as he seems to find his calm, leader-like, persona again. "Well, see after we set up the tent we were playing around and let a few things slip. One thing sorta led to another and we ended up confessing we might have liked each other for a while. I really don't know, it sort of happened fairly quickly." Boy I can't wait until we tell his parents.

"I see. So you do like him in that way?"

"Yes."

"Now please don't think we're prying, you don't have to answer, but are you bisexual? I mean we knew Tommy was. There's been no real secret about that, but the way Alan described you in the past, what with football, and fighting, and being rather popular with the cheerleaders, we just assumed…" Popular with the cheerleaders are you now?

"It's alright, I don't mind. And with all due respect, you can't believe everything you hear. For instance, I'm popular with the cheerleaders simply because I won't date them. I'm not bisexual, I'm gay. No one really knows is all. I mean I haven't kept it a huge secret, my friends, Kimberly, Zack, Trini, and Billy know, they're like family and so I didn't see any real threat in telling them, and my parents know of course. It's just I don't advertise it around school or town. Angel Grove may be a nice place to live, but like I mentioned to Tommy, it's not LA." Yeah, no kidding.

Nodding in agreement, they both seem satisfied with that and apparently let it drop for the most part. "Well be careful, the both of you. You're right it isn't LA and I'd hate to see either of you get your feelings hurt by some close minded person. Now that aside, Jason you be the gentleman your mother says you are and ask my nephew out properly before any of this 'messing around' goes any further than kissing." Little too late for that Jen.

Turning red, I can see him start to blush even in the dim light. "Um, Tommy will you go out with me?" That'd be really funny if he didn't look so embarrassed. Okay so it's still funny.

"What's in it for me?"

Cocking an eyebrow, he gives me a look. "Well maybe someone who can put up with your smart mouth, your grungy sense of fashion, your whining when you don't get your way, your caffeine addiction, yo-"

Clamping a hand over his mouth, I scowl. "Shut up." Leaning into his ear so only he can hear me, I smirk. "I can think of something else you could be doing with that big mouth of yourself and it doesn't involve talking."

-ooooooo-

(Saturday 10:09 p.m.)

Laying beside me and running a hand over my torso, he seems a lot more at ease with exploring me in the dark. I think I am to. We're not all worried about seeing each other's expressions or embarrassing ourselves by doing something lame. Not to mention we haven't really done any touching this time below the waist.

"This is nice." Trailing my own fingers down his back, I can see enough of his features in the dark to see the contentness written all over his face.

"Yeah, I never thought I'd get to just lye next to someone and relax like this." Especially not in your underwear either, huh?

Moving closer to take some of his body heat as I'm a bit chilled in only my boxers, I place my head over his heart, smiling at the lazy rhythm of its beats. "You're nice and warm."

Kissing the top of my head, he sighs calmly and we both begin to drift off a bit. If only this could-

"Cawaaaak!"

Jerking up quickly and looking around for the danger, I can feel Jason's pulse quicken and jump as his own adrenaline no doubt kicks in. "What the hell was that?" Sounded like, like, I have no clue what it sounded like, but it wasn't good.

"I don't know, maybe it was an animal." Holding onto me, to perhaps calm us both down, he begins rubbing his hands up and down my arms soothingly. "It was probably just some animal that got its tail stepped on or something, it's probably gone now." Yeah, maybe. "Come on, lay back down."

Smiling like an idiot I forget all about the animal and noise and lye back on the blankets as we were before being so rudely interrupted.

"See, it's okay, it's gone. We should try and get some sl-"

Cawaaaaak! Cawwak! Caaaaaawwwwaak!"

Bolting up again, I grab the flashlight in the corner of the tent and flip it on. "What is that?!"

"Here, gimmie the light." Pulling on his jeans, he takes the flashlight from me and opens the tent flap letting himself out as I poke my head out to watch. Hey if it tries to kill him I have to save him right. So, thus, need to at least watch.

"You heard it too then." As John steps out of his tent, they both shine their lights into the trees trying to see what's out there. "I think it's some sort of bird, but Jen said it sounded like a dying moose." A dying moose?

"Cawaaaaak! Cawwak! Caaaaaawwwwaak!"

Whipping their lights every which way, they finally end up spotting the damn thing at the same time. There perched on one of the lower braches of a tree is none of then the most obese, butt ugly, mutated bird, I've ever seen in my life.

"What the heck is it?" Making a disgusted face, Jason apparently doesn't think the thing's got anything to live for either.

"I'm not sure but I'd guess a bird of some sort that escaped the fryer at KFC." No kidding.

As if displeased by their criticism, the bird flaps its wings and bobs its head at them aggressively. "Cawaaaaakkkk! Cawwaaaaaak! Caaaaaawwak!"

Giving the thing a look, Jason moves to the woodpile, and retrieving a short, thick stick, heaves it at the cussing at them animal. When it flies off the branch and then lands right back on it, seemingly unfazed and simply more pissed off at the humans he looks to John for help. "Well that didn't work."

"Maybe it'll just go away if we ignore it." Sounds reasonable I guess.

"I suppose so, I really don't want to go killing something that apparently is suffering enough as is. He'll probably keel over by morning anyways." Yeah I don't think birds are supposed to melt like that.

"Yeah, he'll be gone soon enough."

-ooooooo-

(3 hours later)

"Cawaaaaakkkk! Cawwaaaaaak! Caaaaaawwak! Cawaaaaak! Cawwak! Caaaaaawwwwaak!"

"Kill it!" Head buried under one of the pillows, I can't breath, and I don't care. I'd suffocate myself if it'd stop the awful never-ending noise of that freak of a bird out there.

"I can't. I tried, remember? I threw the wood, I went back out and threw more wood and then rocks at your aunt's request. John resorted to throwing his flashlight, I even cursed at the thing for twenty minutes, it won't die."

"I'm gonna cry."

Pulling me into his arms and tossing the pillow away, he smoothes my messy hair down. "It's go away eventually, it can't stay out there all night."

"Well it's doing a pretty good job of it so far, s'been what, four hours now? I know, maybe we should morph and shoot it, it can't be any harder to beat than a putty."

Tilting my chin up, Jase looks me in the eyes and gives me that 'I'm going to launch into a leader responsibility speech' look. "Tommy there are two major flaws with your plan." Only two? "Number one, we can't morph because your aunt and uncle will suspect something, if they see the Red and Green Rangers frying the stupid bird. And number two, Zordon said we can't use the powers for personal gain, and well this is personal gain." When I give him a look, he gives me one right back. "Tommy it's personal gain trust me."

And why can't we go into personal gains. I can seriously think of several that would be quite fun right now. No, can't think those thoughts now, too tired. But Jase is right here, and he's so soft, and warm, and he's asked me out. No! Tired, too tired, but-

"Cawk! Caaaaaawkkkkkkkk! Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!...Cawk." God damn bird.

"It'll stop soon, trust me." Sure it will. Rubbing my back soothingly, he places a few kisses on my neck. "Just relax and try and sleep. Try not to think about it, think about something else, okay."

"Fine."

To be continued...