Riley Griffin was just finishing up the dishes when his roommate, Chase Randall, walked out into the kitchen in his robe. "Morning, mate." Chase said, half asleep. He made his way over to the cupboard to pull out a glass, then to the refrigerator to pour himself a glass of orange juice.
"Morning? Chase, you do realize it's four in the afternoon, right?" Riley responded. Chase looked over at the clock on the wall and paled. He completely missed his shift at the Dino Bite Cafe, not to mention, it was his turn to muck out the Pachy pen. Riley saw his panicked expression and spoke up. "Don't worry, I called Tyler and he filled in for you at the cafe and Shelby took care of the Pachy pen. They said you owe them one. I also made dinner, did the dishes, and folded your laundry."
"Thanks, mate. You know, you'd make the perfect housewife." Chase teased. "Should I start giving you a kiss each time I leave the apartment?" Riley turned red. It was no secret that he was in love with the Black Para Ranger. Well, no secret to anyone except Chase himself. How he didn't see it baffled everyone but out of respect for Riley, no one ever said anything.
"Shut up," Riley muttered, embarrassed but also slightly amused at Chase's teasing. "Your dinner is in the microwave. I'm going to meet with Matt and my mom."
"Oh, are you going to have the talk?" Chase asked, leaning against the counter. He had the talk with his mom and his sister already and he thought he was going to break. He envied the other rangers who didn't have to worry about this.
"Yeah. I'm nervous." Riley replied. The talk they were referring to was the Power Ranger talk and how they wouldn't age as long as they were bonded to their energems. They could potentially live for hundreds of years, like Ivan, or for thousands of years like Koda. Keeper thought it was time for the rangers with families to be told, otherwise they'd grow suspicious as to why their child wasn't aging.
Chase came up and put his hands on either side of Riley's shoulders. "You'll be fine, mate. At least your brother won't ask you to take care of his lineage like my sister did." Riley chuckled. When Chase had gotten back from New Zealand and informed the team of what his family said, everyone got a kick out of Chloe telling Chase that she wanted him to take care of her great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandchildren.
"You're right, Everything is going to be fine." Riley let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
As he grabbed his bag to head out the door, Chase called after him, a hint of amusement in his voice "Have a good time with the family, dear."
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It had been five years and yet, it was like nothing had changed. The world around them had grown with time, while they stayed the same. Chase and Kaylee had broken up but were still really great friends. They both accepted that life was taking them in different directions. Kaylee had moved across the country to start training to be an astronaut. Riley had become an uncle to baby Stephanie while Chloe grew into a beautiful teenager. Tyler and his father had a chance to make up the time they lost, sort of anyway. Prince Phillip was now the king of Zandar, though he would only have a few more years before he would have to disappear from the public eye. And, of course, Riley was still in love with Chase. Five years did nothing to dampen those feelings, instead just made them ignite even more. Five years of Chase being utterly clueless to his feelings.
On this particular day, Chase was tearing everything out of his closet. "Where is it?" He muttered to himself. That evening, he and the rest of the Zoo employees, a.k.a. The rangers and a few security guards were being honored for the humanitarian of the year award. Chase had to give a speech regarding his work with various herbivore and carnivore cohabitation experiments. He didn't dress up very often, as he preferred the comfortability that jeans and a hoodie gave him, and if it wasn't for Kendall, he probably wouldn't even have it at all but right now, he could not find the suit he kept at the back of his closet for such occasions. At least he still had his speech.
Suddenly Chase stopped rummaging in his closet. He forgot to write his speech. "Shit. I am so screwed!" He yelled to the void. He scrambled out of the closet and ran to the living room, trying to find a pen and paper. After looking for several minutes, he ran to the kitchen and grabbed the magnetic note pad that Riley insisted on keeping on the refrigerator. Right now though, Chase could hug Riley for it. He leaned against the counter and started to throw something together.
He was about 2 pages in when the door to their apartment opened and Riley walked in, carrying a bag over his shoulder. He saw Chase at the counter looking frantic. "Whoa, Are you okay?" Riley asked, concerned.
"I dunno, mate. I can't find my suit, I forgot to write my speech. I'm going to look like an absolute wanker tonight." Chase set the pen down. No sense having a nervous breakdown. What he really needed was to get some time at the skate park before the festivities. That would really help him focus.
"Well you are in luck." Riley said, placing the bag he was holding down on the couch and gestured to it "I took your suit to have it dry cleaned." He then pulled a stack of index cards out of his backpack. "I also wrote your speech for you. I figured you would either wait until the last minute or forget all together."
Chase ran over, picked Riley up and spun him around. "You're the best, mate. Did I ever tell you that you'd make the perfect housewife?"
"Only when you're trying to be annoying." Riley replied, turning red every time Chase made the reference. "Now put me down and get dressed. We have an awards ceremony to get to."
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Twenty years later, Chloe had invited them all to her wedding but due to work schedules, only Chase and Riley were able to make it. Since their dad was no longer with them, Chloe had wanted her big brother, Chase, to walk her down the aisle and give her away. A request that he was both happy and reluctant to fulfill. He knew when he rebonded with his energem that this was inevitable. He was going to stay at the ripe young age of nineteen while his baby sister grew up, got married, had a family, and had grandchildren.
Chase and Riley stood in the bride's room, helping Chloe with the last minute touches before she walked out to marry the love of her life. Even though it was her big day, it wasn't herself she was looking at in the floor length mirror in front of her. It was the two bickering boys behind her.
"Chase, I am telling you, I packed everything. Your cologne is in the zipper part of your suitcase. You're not looking in the right spot." Riley nudged Chase aside and opened the compartment he was referencing. "See?" He said, pulling out the bottle.
"Well what about…" Chase started but before he could finish, Riley reached in and pulled out his deodorant. "Okay and what about…" Once again, Riley reached in and pulled out some breath strips.
"I also made sure to put your after wedding clothes right here." Riley signaled to a different compartment. Since Chloe was leaving for her honeymoon right after the wedding reception, Riley and Chase were heading back to the states, which is why they had their suitcases with them. "Before you ask, I packed your skinny jeans, gray t-shirt and your black hoodie."
Chase grinned. "Have I ever told you that you'd be the perfect housewife?"
Riley had gotten better at concealing his emotions over the last twenty five years. Instead of his whole face turning red, only the tops of his ears did. "You only say that because you'd be lost without me."
"Oh no doubt, mate." Chase agreed. "But seriously, some day you're going to make some guy very happy."
This time, Riley couldn't help it, his whole face turned red. He wanted to say, "I want you to be that man" But he didn't want to potentially ruin a twenty-seven year long friendship. When he told his team that he was gay, most of them already knew. It wasn't like he was keeping it a secret. If they would have asked, he would have told them. Koda didn't know what Riley meant when he said he was gay so Kendall sat down and explained it to him. Ivan, surprisingly for his original time, was okay with it and even admitted to Riley in private that he had occasional wonderings about male on male intimacy. Chase was the one he was worried about the most, after all, they were best friends and they shared an apartment together but Chase was laid back and carefree about the whole thing. "So you like blokes, no big deal." Although for a little while after that, every time a cute boy would walk into the cafe, Chase would nudge Riley and wiggle his eyebrows or make a suggestive comment.
Riley wasn't delusional, as much as he wanted Chase, and it seemed no amount of time could change that, Chase was all about the ladies. He had a few flings after he and Kaylee had broken up. Often flirted with beautiful women, sometimes managed to even get a few of them to come back to the apartment. Chase could definitely be described as girl crazy when he was single. "I'm going to see you guys out there, and Chloe, you look absolutely stunning."
After the door closed behind him, Chloe turned around and faced her brother. "You know I love you but I have to ask. Are you blind? Because there are two types of people who don't realize what they have in front of them. One of them is blind and the other is plain stupid and you, Chase, are not stupid." Chase looked at her, completely bewildered. "Come on, Chase, don't tell me you don't see it. You and Riley."
"Me and…" Suddenly Chase started laughing.
"Chase Michael Randall, I promise this is not the time to be laughing. That poor man has been in love with you since I met him, possibly even longer. I haven't said anything because it wasn't my place but I can't sit around and watch you torture him, even if you don't know you're doing it."
"Look, Chloe, I know that Riley is gay but that doesn't mean he's into me like that. We're mates." Chase defended.
"When you get home, ask the others. They'll tell you. And think about this, would your other mates have done everything Riley has done for you? Just now even, you two bicker like a married couple but it's evident that he takes care of you."
"Okay but even if he is into me, I'm not…" Chase started
"Oh don't even get me started on that shite. I understand not wanting to say anything while mum was alive but I know you fancy blokes too. I saw you with a few guys from school when I was little, before you moved to the states. I never said anything because to me, it's not a big deal. You love who you love. You saw how your team treated Riley when he came out. He was accepted with open arms. I thought for sure you would come out then too but you didn't."
Chase was stunned into silence. Yeah, there had been a few guys in his youth. He thought he was always being discreet because he wasn't sure if he was just curious or if he actually fancied blokes. He saw how most people who were different were treated in the states, he had even gotten some shite because of his accent. Maybe subconsciously he had convinced himself that he was only into women so he didn't face any additional discrimination.
"Look, you're going to live forever, right?" Chloe asked.
"As long as I'm not killed, yeah." Chase tried to tease to lighten the mood.
"Eternity is a long time to spend alone. Even if you may not want to admit it right now, I know deep down you have feelings for Riley. Just something to think about." Chloe patted her brother on the lap. "Let's go marry me off."
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Another eighty years and time hasn't touched them. Everything around them, absolutely, but not them. The dinosaur zoo has grown four times its size, Interdimensional travel is a reality when before, it was just used by the rangers to assist other ranger teams in need. Space exploration has become extinct as there were regular shuttles to the colony on the moon, although Kendall would argue that her plesio zord was faster than any shuttle built.
There was one other thing Riley had noticed in the last eighty years, since Chloe's wedding to be exact. Chase no longer was his flirtatious self. The team no longer had to worry about an accidental grill fire or a duty being neglected because Chase was busy trying to get into a woman's pants. No more awkward mornings where Riley had to stay in his room until Chase's latest conquest left. At first, Riley thought something was wrong. Was Chase sick somehow? Being bonded to the energem, the rangers were immune to illnesses as well as aging. If they sustained a wound, their bond with the gems would speed their recovery. But then when more time passed and Chase showed no other signs of being sick, Riley chalked it up to maturation. Even if they didn't physically age, mentally, they were old men by now. Riley had two different degrees under his belt. Chase had won a few skateboarding awards.
"Come on, Chase, we're going to be late." Riley called from the kitchen. They still lived in the same apartment they moved into together one hundred and seven years ago. Thankfully the building was owned by the zoo so they never had to explain why their lease was so long.
"Coming, just give me a sec. Need to grab a bite to eat before we go." Chase said, running into the kitchen, shirtless. Even after a century, Riley was still amazed every time he saw Chase's bare flesh. It happened a lot over the last eighty years, more than it had before, but Riley wasn't complaining. Their friendship had evolved over that time too. Riley could be reading a book stretched out on the couch and Chase would come out and stretch out on the other end of the couch, legs overlapping each other and read a magazine, usually a skate magazine. The first few times it happened, Riley wasn't sure how to react but the more it started happening, the more it became comfortable.
"I already made you something to eat." Riley replied, handing the shirtless man his normal breakfast bagel with cream cheese.
"Well I still have to pack my lunch…" Chase started.
"Already did." Riley announced, holding up Chase's black lunch box.
Chase grinned. "Have I told you lately…"
"That I'd make the perfect housewife? Yep, twice just last week. Now throw a shirt on and let's go. We're going to be late."
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"To two hundred years going strong and to two hundred more." Kendall announced, raising her glass. The others raised their glass and chorused, "To two hundred more." After clinking their glasses together, Kendall took a moment to look at her family. True, they weren't blood related but after two hundred years, they were all she had left. Everyone they had known had perished by that point. For Chase and Riley, it was harder on them. Chase kept his promise to Chloe about looking after her so many greats grandchildren. She had passed down the secret of her ranger brother, Chase, who didn't age and who would be there to guide and look after each generation. He had to experience the loss each time one of them passed.
Riley's family farm was still in the family. Technically, it was his but Riley found it hard to be there without missing his mother and brother so he found passing the farm along each generation to be easier. Pictures of him with his family still adorned the walls of the farmhouse and each generation added to them. "Uncle" Riley was in every picture.
Kendall took comfort in the fact that Chase and Riley were always there to console one another. While the whole team was there for them, they had already grieved their families and moved on. Chase and Riley had a better understanding for each other than the other rangers could in that department. Of course, that wasn't the only thing that Kendall had noticed. It had been almost two centuries now but Kendall, as well as the rest of the team, noticed the change in dynamic ever since Riley and Chase got back from Chloe's wedding. She didn't know what happened on that trip but it was like Chase was a new man. He suddenly became more reliable and dependable. There was this unspoken connection between the Para and the Raptor Rangers. Sure they were best friends and roommates, they would naturally have a tighter bond than to the rest of the rangers but it was more than that. It seemed like Chase no longer had eyes for anyone but Riley, which was ironic if you thought about it,
Kendall chuckled at the frustration. She and the rest of the team had spent decades watching Riley pine after Chase and having his feeling unreciprocated to suddenly having the scenario flipped. It seemed that Chase was pining after Riley and this time it was Riley who was blind to the advances. There were times over the past two centuries that she wanted to lock them both in a room and tell them to sort their shit out. The funny thing about the whole situation was that even in the mess that was their romance department, she didn't see a pair of rangers that were more attuned to each other. Seeing the two of them in battle, it was like they were one mega ranger in one. They instinctively had each other's backs and were like an extension of each other, Riley was the blade of the team and Chase had always been the sharp shooter. Together they made a formidable opponent. Hell, Tyler and Shelby, who had been married for a century now, didn't have the fluidity and connection in battle that Riley and Chase did.
"Shit." Chase exclaimed, bringing Kendall out of her thoughts. Something must have happened because Chase was picking up his tipped over champagne glass and rose to his feet, a wet circle in his lap.
Before anyone could react, Riley had a napkin in hand and was dabbing it onto the spot, trying to soak it up. Chase froze and the rest of the rangers just looked at each other. Did Riley not realize what he was doing? Or rather, what region on Chase he was doing it. The team had gotten accustomed to Riley essentially taking care of Chase. Sure, they teased him about it the first few times he had made Chase lunch or any time he went above and beyond for Chase, but after a while it just became ordinary.
Kendall and Shelby locked eyes. This was showing how far Riley had come since falling for the Kiwi. He was dabbing at Chase's crotch like it was no big deal. No sign of red on his face, not even his ears. Kendall wanted to scream and slap both of the boys.
Finally Riley seemed to realize what he was doing and his arm stopped midair. He looked around the table to see all eyes on him. "What?" He asked innocently. He slowly drew his eyes up to look at Chase. Chase opened his mouth to say something but Riley cut him off. "Yes, I know, I'd make the perfect housewife."
One minute Riley was sitting in his chair, the next minute Chase had pulled him up into his arms and pressed their lips together. For everyone else time seemed to stop. Was this finally happening? After two centuries of waiting, these two dorks were finally getting their shit together? No more having to see them pining after each other. This really was a celebration, Kendall thought to herself.
Riley broke away from the kiss first, not that he wanted to. After all, it was only something he dreamed about every night. But he had questions. How, when, why? "Huh?" was all he managed to say.
"Riley Kenneth Griffin, I have been trying to find a way the past two centuries to tell you that I'm in love with you. I have struggled to find the words and each time I worked up the nerve, I fumbled and fell flat. I was telling the truth when I said that you were the perfect housewife but what I should have said, asked really, was for you to be my perfect housewife. House husband I guess. We have lived together for a long ass time. I know you, you know me and I feel deep down that you care for me the way I care for you. I want to spend the rest of eternity with you."
"You have no idea how long I have wanted to hear you say those words. Well not those words exactly, after all, how could I predict what someone would say…" Riley's ramblings were silenced with another kiss. When the kiss ended, Riley took a deep breath. "What I am trying to say is that I have loved you for a long time, moving in with you and spending the past two hundred years together, I've fallen harder and harder. Of course I want to spend eternity with you, doofus. I thought that was already the plan."
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"I, Chase Michael Randall, take you, Riley Griffin, to be my lawfully wedded husband. I promise to love, honor and cherish you. I promise to provide for you, and to always treat you as my equal. I promise to be there always, even through the roughest storms. I promise to spend the rest of our lives making you laugh, making you feel safe and most importantly, making you feel loved. With this ring, I thee wed." Chase said, sliding the silver band onto Riley's left ring finger.
Riley looked up into Chase's handsome face with a smile. He took Chase's hand in one of his own, the other holding an identical silver band. "I, Riley Kenneth Griffin, take you, Chase Randall, to be my lawfully wedded husband. I promise to love, honor and cherish you. I promise to provide for you, and to always treat you as my equal. I promise to be there always, even through the roughest storms. I promise to spend the rest of our lives making you laugh, making you feel safe and most importantly, making you feel loved. With this ring, I thee wed." Riley placed the ring on Chase's finger.
Keeper raised his staff. "We have all gathered here today to witness the union of Chase and Riley. Now, by the powers granted to me by the Morphing Masters, I now pronounce you, Husband and Husband. You may now kiss." Riley and Chase looked at each other, identical smiles on their faces as they leaned in and pressed their lips together. From the tip of Keeper's staff two golden ribbons of light started to intertwine around the newlyweds, sealing their eternal bond. The other rangers jumped in celebration. This was a long time coming.
