Of Anime, Poetry and Falling in Love: Mack and Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Operation Overdrive, but I have a picture of James Maclurcan in my wallet.

Challenge: Knight

Timeframe: Somewhere after Kick Into Overdrive

Summary: Every princess needs one, and Mack doesn't mind being hers.

Rose Ortiz looked around at her surroundings happily. There was nothing better to her than the peace and quiet offered by a bookstore. She let out a content sigh, breathed in the scent of print and new paper, and headed right to her favorite area of the store: the poetry section.

She browsed among the aisles, relishing in the serene nature of the bookstore. It was nice to just be away from her noisy teammates, even if only for an afternoon. She liked the other rangers well enough, especially Mack, but from time to time she just wanted to be alone.

Absently, Rose selected a book of poetry from one of the shelves. She ran her hand over the glossy cover, trying to take her mind off of her red ranger. Even away from the rest of the team she couldn't stop thinking about them, especially him. That, Rose concluded, was very frightening. She very obviously needed this little break she'd given herself.

"Hello there," said an unfamiliar male voice, deep and pleasant. Rose looked up into the blue eyes of a tall blond man. He was quite attractive, Rose had to admit, but she found herself comparing him to her red ranger, her Mack. There was no comparison, not really. What was wrong with her, anyway? Why did it really matter if this guy's eyes weren't as blue as Mack's?

"Hi," she replied, looking down at the book in her hands.

"I'm Chris," he told her.

"Rose."

"Pretty name for a pretty girl," Chris said, his tone suave and not unlike Will's when he was trying to flirt with Ronny. "I like a girl who reads, a girl who uses her head. It's very appealing."

Rose wasn't quite sure what to say to this, so she just nodded and sent him a half-smile.

Encouraged by this, he went on. "You maybe wanna get a cup of coffee some time? Say…now?"

But Rose was saved from answering the question when a pair of arms slid themselves around her waist and someone rested their head on her shoulder. She glanced from the corner of her eye and saw Mack's unruly mop of light brown curls.

"Here you are, baby," Mack said softly. He kissed her cheek. He pretended to notice Chris for the first time. "Who's your friend, Rosie?"

Chris frowned at his competition. "I'm Chris," he said for the second time. "Who are you?"

Mack straightened himself up. "Mack Hartford. And you already know my girlfriend Rose."

Rose leaned in a little closer to her red ranger and reached for his hand, pretending to be his girlfriend. She smiled. Chris slunk away, defeated.

"Thank you, Mack," she whispered gratefully. "For pretending to be my boyfriend so that creep would leave."

Mack's response was to pull her closer to him and plant a soft kiss on her mouth. "I wasn't pretending."