"Why are you always out here alone?"
The question startled Andros from his scanning and he barely managed to stop flinching from his surprise. He glanced cautiously over his shoulder and found a curious looking Ashley staring at him. He opened his mouth to reply, but she beat him to it before he could say a word.
"I mean," she continued, "you hardly sleep as it is, and then you come out here, playing on the computers. What do you do out here?"
"Checking out the Top 10 Galactic Rock."
"Huh?" Ashley stared at him, eyes wide.
"On the radio console," he offered in explanation.
"No, I don't mean that," she brushed his answer off with a shake of her hand, "I mean... You told a joke!"
"Is it really that surprising?"
Ashley pressed her lips together, as if she was seriously giving the question thought. At last, she grinned, "Yep. I mean, we've been on the MegaShip for what, a month now? And you haven't really said all that much outside the usual."
"'The Usual?'"
"You know, about stuff. Like training, schoolwork, daily chores, training, schoolwork, more training, more cleaning. Have I mentioned training?"
"We go to the Surf Spot," Andros argued. He fought the urge to make a face at her, like the ones Ashley exchanged with Cassie or Carlos in the midst of handing out cleaning assignments. Instead, he concentrated on the readouts in front of him. The papers marked the latest energy signatures from the Dark Fortress. Astronema was up to something but he didn't know what. It made him worry.
"But you don't talk about normal things there. Or here. Or ever, really." She turned to the nearest window and gave a small sigh of contentment that made him look up. "It's so beautiful out here, you know? Have you ever just taken a moment to look?"
Andros' expression turned confused, "I look outside every day." He glanced out the window, almost as if expecting it was a portal leading them to another planet. On second thought, he better check into that. Who knew what Astronema could have done to the ship while she'd been on it with the Turtles?
"But do you actually see anything? The birds, the sun, the trees..."
"If you haven't noticed lately," Andros gestured to the window, "all we see right now is space."
"Well, at the moment, yeah," Ashley relented, "but... when we're in Angel Grove. Do you ever look then?"
He was silent for a moment before he shook his head. "Not really. I'm usually too busy to pay too much attention to everything."
At his words, Ashley smiled brightly. "Looks like I'm going to change that then. I have school in two hours. I'm going to go an hour early, and you," she patted his arm lightly, "are coming with me."
"What?" Andros moved away from her, his hands falling helplessly to his sides. "I don't have time to go down to Earth. I have too much to do here, more important things than to look at the silly trees and flowers."
"'Silly trees and flowers?'" she repeated. Her words were laced with something he was alien to. He would never understand her, and sometimes, he so desperately wanted to. "Oh, I see now. Well, sorry for caring about you." She turned away from him, leaving as silently as she had first appeared.
Andros
watched the empty entrance, and almost wished she would come back and
they could start over. Knowing she wouldn't, he went back to his
findings and pretended the whole encounter never happened.
-
An hour and a half later, when she returned, with the other Rangers in tow, her smile was just as bright as it always was. But the blank look in her eyes told him she couldn't forget it as easily as he could.