I don't own Disney and I don't own Power Rangers…yet :
Chapter 5: Subserviently Hostile
"You know…you really don't have to take me dinner," Nick said shyly.
"I know I don't have to, but I bet you're hungry and I know I am," Xander replied.
Just as he was about to deny his hunger, Nick's stomach rumbled in dismay.
"Okay…so maybe I am a little hungry," Nick admitted.
With a laugh, Xander continued to walk down the darkened sidewalk. The city was empty around this time of night, the woods usually scared people off. There were a few stragglers finishing up their evening shopping or their nightly jog, but mainly it was the two males and the streetlights.
"So what are you in the mood for, eh?" Xander questioned politely.
"Uh…whatever really," Nick shrugged.
"Well…I don't think there're any restaurants with that on the menu…maybe if you were a bit more specific?"
Nick grinned, "I don't wanna be a pain. I'm not a picky eater, just whatever you want."
"Whatever you want is what I want. I'm paying, the least you could do is choose," accused Xander.
Nick swayed as he walked, hinting to his light mood and his sudden carelessness about how the two looked. To any bystander (which there weren't many anyway) would have seen two friends strolling at night, which was only weird on the level that no one liked to be out after dark for fear of something coming from the woods.
"Okay, okay, how about we just go get a burger?"
"I'm treating you to dinner and all you want is a burger?" Xander asked incredulously.
"Well…okay…how bout something more…breakfast-y?"
"Perfect!" Xander enthused.
A few blocks down the road was an upbeat diner that most travelers stopped at to eat and run. Unlike many diners around the world, this one was a bit more…expensive because it was the only one of its kind. To the people of Briarwood…it was like a rich Denny's.
"This place?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, why? Did you change your mind?"
"Well…no…it's just that…it looks expensive," Nick stated.
"Don't worry about it," Xander replied with a smile.
After a moment of consideration, Nick obliged and opened the diner door.
Once inside, the two males were blown back by the smell of waffles or pancakes, frying bacon, and wonderful smelling eggs.
"That smells great," Nick said, getting ahead of himself.
A young brunette girl stepped in his way with a polite smile, "Good evening sir. Welcome to Briar Diner where we serve authentic breakfast foods, will you two be together?" She said in one big sentence.
Nick blinked a few times, "Yes Katie, we will," Xander said from behind the put-off red ranger.
"Okay Xander, right this way," she smiled.
Nick furrowed his eyebrows "Who's that?" he mouthed in curiosity.
"I'll explain later," Xander said in his accent.
Following the girl, the two wound up at a booth near the far end of the room, away from the crowds of people that were talking and munching, obviously not from around here.
"Can I get you guys anything to drink?" Katie asked.
"Uh…orange juice for me," Nick said quietly.
"And I'll have a coffee," Xander added.
Nick gave him a look, "Coffee at 9:30?"
"He's a strange one," Katie said with another genuine smile as she trotted off to the back to fetch their drinks.
"So does she go to our school?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, she was in a few of my classes last semester, we know each other but we don't ever make a huge effort to see each other. I come up here sometimes with Vida just to grab some coffee."
"Is it that good?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, it's killer," Xander laughed.
Katie returned with the cup of coffee and Nick's glass of orange juice, "I'm sorry, I forgot to ask if you wanted pulp or not so I just left it out, most people don't like it, is that okay?"
"Oh yeah, that's fine," Nick replied…still a little off-handedly.
"Does she make you nervous?" Xander asked in amusement.
"Hardly."
"Funny," Xander laughed, "Seems to me she makes you a little shifty."
"Well…she's one of the first people I've met here in Briarwood that's been nice to me, other than you guys and Toby."
"What about 'Leelee'" Xander mocked with air quotes.
"Oh don't even go there…that girl was a major pain," Nick sighed.
That blond girl had no idea what she wanted and seemed to only appear just to annoy him.
After a five minutes or so, and scouring over the menu for the best choice, Katie returned to take orders. Being hesitant at first, Nick chose the cheapest meal on the menu, but Xander quickly substituted it for something more filling. Katie waltzed off and assured them she'd return with their food shortly.
"So yeah, back to this whole…family thing. What's up with that?" Xander asked.
Nick almost choked on his orange juice. It wasn't that he was shocked…it was just that mentioning his family brought up things he'd rather not discuss at that point. He trust Xander, but it had nothing to do with trust; it had to do with preparedness.
"Um…well…we just don't really see eye to eye. My sister and my grandparents are the only ones that haven't disowned me completely and my parents are overseas. I have no idea if they know or not…my guess is not."
"But you've got family nonetheless?" Xander assured.
"Yeah…whether or not it's good family has yet to be determined. I haven't talked to my sister since the arrangements, and even then I only got one word out and that was 'bye'. As far as my grandparents go, I only know they don't hate me because my cousins didn't come after me like they wanted to."
"Why would they come after you?" Xander asked.
Nick gave him another look, this one a look of dubiousness.
"Oh…right…" he said.
Nick nodded and played with the edges of his glass for a few minutes before Katie returned.
"Need refills?" she asked.
"Ah…yeah, that'd be great Katie," Xander smiled.
She flashed a playful frown and collected the glass and cup and disappeared, only to return with two new ones, filled to the brim.
"Here ya go," she said cheerfully, "Your food will be out in about 2 minutes."
Xander and Nick thanked her and she returned to her other four tables.
"She's working a lot tonight," Xander observed.
"Four tables?" Nick asked.
"Well normally she only does one or two. Sue usually covers the majority, but I guess she's not in tonight."
"Oh…I see," Nick said.
"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable with my prying…I didn't really mean anything by it."
"It's fine. I understand. But I'm just not really…ready to talk about all that right now. Someday I will be, just not now," Nick responded.
"I completely understand," Xander said.
Katie returned with two large trays, consisting of the meals Xander had ordered for them. When his eyes set upon the food, Nick's jaw dropped. Why Xander insisted on buying him something so expensive was just a mystery to him.
"Here ya go, enjoy!" Katie stated, swishing away to the back.
"Well, dig in mate."
And that's just what Nick did.
There wasn't much room for conversation during the meal, and by the time each of them were finished, it was well past 10. In agreement, the two rose from their seats, bid Katie farewell, and started off toward Nick's sister's house.
The two didn't talk much during the walk, but like the silence while in the awkward position at the shop, this one was a comfortable silence. The only words were spoken near the front of Nick's sisters'.
"Thanks for…everything really…I don't really know how I can repay you but—"
"Nick, you don't have to repay me. It's fine, really, I enjoyed tonight."
Both rangers cracked a smile. They knew what Xander was hinting at. The question was weather or not they were going to go for it in public. And they did.
Like the one before, it wasn't the most thunderous of occasions, but it was a bit more passionate than the first. It still lasted somewhere between 5 and 10 seconds, but it was completing.
"Um…goodnight," Nick said awkwardly afterward.
"Night," Xander replied with a chipper tone.
Each boy walked their own way, Xander heading home, and Nick to his front door. Briarwood could definitely pass as a permanent home.
Okay…so I don't really know why I needed "Code Busters" for that one because it had nothing to do with it. Maybe next chapter will. I guess I felt I couldn't skip over the important dinner, and I had to squeeze in something more emotional than a brush across the lips :. Next chapter will be hinting around the team :…only a select member though, they can't tell everyone, that just would be too easy. Anyway, thank you for all the reviews, you have no idea how much they mean to me. Anyway, later.