Calculated Risk

Chapter 6.5: Interlude

A/N: Not a new chapter! Just wanted to give a bit of an explanation on why updates might be slower and to answer a couple of reviewer questions. And if you've read my story Of Scoops, Slices and Sunsets…you know I like to have fun doing just that. So here we go!

A vast, nearly interminable field of color in darker hues speckled with stars stretched across the plane. It was a peaceful realm currently though it was known to be filled with fluff and silliness, the colors becoming lighter, touched by gold as well as filling with the converse of pain and gloom, the atmosphere becoming awash in greys along with the occasional thunderstorm.

From the starry field came two golden eyes, quickly followed by the shape of a small dragon whose scales shimmered with every color conceived by the human mind and beyond. Imagination was their name, a very close companion of the author. Speaking of the author…

A pocket watch poofed into existence within Imagination's little clawed hand. Their eyes went wide with slight alarm. "Ooooh, Dreamer!" Imagination trilled. "You're late!"

A young woman clad in a barista uniform skidded onto the scene. She bent over at the waist, trying to catch her breath. "You would think…" She gasped. "I would be a bit more in shape... within the confines of my own mind."

Dreamer glanced up at Imagination, blinking in surprise as she took in their small size. "You were much larger when we last did this," she murmured. She tilted her head as she recalled their last meeting. "Is your size my fault?"

"Nah," Imagination waved her off lazily. "You know I'm brimming with good ideas!"

"True…"

Imagination puffed themself up. "I just decided to take a page from Mushu's book and made myself travel size is all!"

Dreamer laughed at that. "So I see…now, why are we here?"

"Because it's been nearly a month since you've updated Calculated Risk," Imagination pointed out.

"And I haven't touched Because We Love You since July," Dreamer murmured abashedly as she placed a hand against her neck.

"So I figured it would be for the best if we gave your readers an explanation for the sudden stop in updates!" Imagination poofed up a pair of boxing gloves and gave two jabs to the air. "After all, it wasn't just because of Writer's Block!"

"You're right about that," Dreamer acknowledged. She plucked at her apron. "I did get a new job that keeps me quite busy that I absolutely love. Plus I got a bunch of new friends out of it!" She grew excited, bouncing slightly on her feet as she recalled something else. "And I've been allowed to sell my homemade cake pops there! Woo hoo!"

Dreamer settled down as she admitted. "It's been pretty tiring actually and the only difficult thing is being heard through a face mask over a grinder and steam machine."

Imagination quickly gave themself a flowing cloak and a white half mask mimicking the Phantom of the Opera. "You must project darling!" They intoned dramatically.

"I know, I know," Dreamer looked down at her feet. "I've never been good at that."

Imagination patted her on the shoulder consolingly. "You'll get there. Now," They brought into existence a small mailbox. "Shall we answer some readers' questions?"

Blinking in surprise, Dreamer took the box. "There are only two questions in here," She pointed out dryly.

"Admittedly this isn't a popular ship and the fandom has been quiet for years." Imagination then added. "If you want more attention you can try posting on Tumblr."

The pair looked at each other for a minute before they burst out laughing. "Oh man, thanks for that," Dreamer said as she wiped a tear from her eye. "I needed that. Not that there's anything wrong with Tumblr, I just don't know if Calculated Risk or my other stories will be appreciated on there."

"True true…now go on! Answer the questions."

"Let's see here…" Dreamer scanned over the first letter. She then winced. "Germancardfightfan brings up an excellent point. I was rather neglectful of the timeline. All that's known is that chapter one takes place in early May and chapter three takes place in the beginning of June. I'll have to rectify that in the future. I'm trying to go from Fran's line in 'Friends Don't Fade Away' that she had been coming to Jungle Karma for over a year. However, I don't think it'll be that long in this story…granted I don't know how long she was a customer before becoming an employee when she said that.

If you want specifics right now Readers, RJ and Fran meet in the first week of May in chapter one. They solidify their friendship in the second week. The second chapter it's about the middle of the month when Fran is deep in finals stress. Chapter three takes place about a month later putting them in the middle of June. So far that's about a month of friendship.

"Chapter four is literally the same night that chapter three ends on. Chapter five takes place over several weeks. I would guestimate it's about another month that goes by so we're in July by the point of confession. Probably the end of the month. Which means it's the end of July when RJ and Fran go on their first date. The plan for chapter seven is to start with RJ's birthday. I'm doing what I did for Fran's birthday and using the actor's birthday instead of scrambling around to settle on a date. David De Lautour who portrayed RJ was twenty-five which will be RJ's age in this story and his birthday falls on November 28th which kinda works out since I was hoping to head into their first Christmas! That being said, Sarah Thompson who portrayed Fran was twenty-three and her birthday is June 17th."

Unable to help herself, Dreamer paused to let out a fangirlish squee. "It's exactly ten days after my birthday! How cool is that!" She cleared her throat and continued. "Now for the second part of this letter, addressing all of those Mystic Force references. Along with my headcanon that Fran is Chip's cousin, I could totally see Chip spilling the beans in his absolute excitement about being a Power Ranger to Fran. Then freeze in absolute horror because what has he done? Fran hastily swears herself to secrecy and all is well.

The only thing I haven't quite nailed down is the time between Mystic Force and Jungle Fury when Chip decides to properly introduce Fran to his team. Nor have I really figured out their relationships with her. I see it as friendly; I just don't exactly know what their individual dynamics are. Especially when you have to consider characters like Nick who are a bit of a wild card to say the least, though part of me is fond of the idea that Fran assists Clare even though she can't use magic herself, she can still gather potion ingredients and maybe somehow help her with spell work. And you know, be a friend.

"I can totally see her being able to ride Fireheart too," Dreamer winked. "Just because this author says so. Now to the other point! I can guarantee a meet up…but I'm not a hundred percent certain I can guarantee a team up. At least…not in this fic. And yes, meeting Master Fin will be quite an experience for Fran."

"Side note!" Imagination chimed, surprising Dreamer as they shifted into RJ. "When Dreamer spoke of Friends Fade Away, she spoke of the episode where RJ has difficulties with his wolf spirit. But I'm thinking this would also be a good time for a shout out." "RJ" turned to look at Dreamer. "Don't you?"

Dreamer brightened. "Absolutely! There's this amazing and I mean, amazing new fic called 'Friends Don't Fade Away' written my good buddy ChibiDawn23. I actually had the idea wondering what would happen if Fran became fed up with the Rangers and actually quits after the reveal. Chibi was awesome and took on the plot. The writing is fantastic! I cannot stress that enough. Goodness if only the show writers had half of Chibi's care and creativity. If you haven't already read it, I suggest you do immediately! Trust me, you won't be let down. And review please!"

"Nice plug," "RJ" complimented Dreamer. "Don't forget the next letter."

"I didn't," Dreamer assured the shapeshifter. "Ooh, trouble-scorn! I love them! They say—" Dreamer broke off and blushed heavily. She let out an embarrassed whine as she buried her face in her hands. "Y-you can't just say things like that!"

Imagination shifted back into their dragon form. "What did they say?"

It took Dreamer a moment to collect herself. "They…they said the chapter was cute and perfect! Perfect?" She squeaked. "How am I supposed to top that?"

"I dunno," Imagination admitted before poofing in a sparkly paddle with a ten printed on it. "That's like getting a ten early on in Dancing With the Stars. The bar's been set preeeeetty high. We're just going to have to write and hope for the best."

"Yeah," Dreamer agreed before looking back at the letter. "They want to know if RJ will help Fran discover her animal spirit."

Dreamer studied the letter she held thoughtfully before replying. "Fran is going to have an interesting and complex relationship with Pai Zhuq and animal spirits. Unfortunately that's all I can say without giving away a major plot point. Remember, I did say that I was basically taking canon and yanking to the left. Things are going to be very different from here on out and not just because of our main pairing or because of Fran's knowledge of Pai Zhuq in the near future. A good different, I think. However I did toy with the idea of using this plot point if Fran didn't know about Pai Zhuq beforehand and honestly? The story became way more painful and I didn't want to put the characters through that.

"What I can easily tell you is that Fran will have a good ally in RJ's wolf spirit. That will be showcased in future chapters. We're not there yet, but it should be happening within the next five chapters or so. As for chapter seven, we'll get a hint to this mysterious plot point as well as begin to see things head toward show canon. Just remember that it's not going to be so straightforward as Fran dating RJ and having foreknowledge of Pai Zhuq, Dai Shi and the Power Rangers. She's going to be a lot more actively involved very soon."

Imagination floated on their belly, their head propped up in their little hands as they listened to Dreamer's every word, completely fascinated. "I can't wait to read what happens next."

Dreamer shot them a wry look. "You are my partner in all of this, don't forget that."

"True true."

"Ready to start writing chapter seven?"

"Might have to hold that off until Tuesday," Imagination said as they nodded to Dreamer's barista uniform. "You're going to have long shifts the next few days."

"Good point," Dreamer sighed. "We'll get to writing. Soon." She looked at the stars where she knew the reader could see her interaction and winked. "Get ready for A Shift in Balance."

Woo! That was very easy and fun to write! But that was mostly because it was just writing a conversation with myself—and my imagination. Heh. Seriously though, read "Friends Don't Fade Away" by ChibiDawn23. You won't be disappointed, that's a promise!

And have a Happy Halloween!