The rest of the party were just finishing up as Adam and Kira returned.
"Kira tells me you have interesting news." Adam stated, getting his jacket. Tommy stared at him confused for a second. After a pause, he continued. "She told me the school wants to make you head of the science department."
"Oh, right. Thanks." Tommy replied. "Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. It'll be an interesting new challenge."
"Yeah." Adam answered him, throwing an arm round his shoulders. "Sounds engaging. I'm happy for you."
Tommy groaned as he instantly saw through what Adam had just said. As the party left, he made sure Adam rode with them in Kira's Mustang.
"So you know then." Tommy put down flatly.
"I figured it out." Adam replied. "Between the tan line on Kira's finger and the fact she keeps reaching into her back pocket, which I guess is where she's keeping the ring, It wasn't hard to figure out."
"Adam isn't going to say anything." Kira interjected as she turned onto the throughway. "He also says he's happy for us."
Adam nodded his head, confirming what Kira had said. "Thanks man." Tommy breathed a sigh of relief. "We didn't know how everyone would react. We just wanted to wait another couple of months for everyone to get used to the idea."
"Well, like I said, I won't say anything." Adam responded. "But I think the guys will be more understanding than you give them credit for."
Arriving back at the apartment, The assembled guests made their way into the living room to continue their evening of catching up. Kira, however, found herself unwilling to wait any longer, rushing immediately into the bathroom, she whipped out the ring, and immediately jammed it onto her finger. No matter how many times she looked at it, it still always made her smile. As she stood, admiring it, she suddenly jumped as the door opened behind her.
Quickly turning to face the door, she pulled her hands behind her back. Tori had come in behind her.
"Are you ok?" She asked, looking at Kira with a look of confusion on her face. Kira stood there, pullng the ring off behind her back, looking clearly startled.
"Fine." Kira managed to croak out unconvincingly.
"You're acting a little weird." Tori continued. "Are you done?"
"Excuse me?" Kira asked, trying desperately to shove the ring into her back pocket, though inadvertently fumbling it. Without noticing, the ring fell down the back of her trousers, coming to rest by the sink pedestal.
"We're…in…the bathroom?" Tori reminded her. "I'd…like to go?"
"Oh..right..sorry." Kira stammered, quickly washing her hands and leaving without another word.
"That girl is even stranger than normal." Tori sighed to herself.
Back in the living room, the rest of the party continued the evening with a few refreshments. Kira returned to the room just as Jason was finishing another anecdote.
"…So the cop says, 'yeah, but that doesn't explain why you're all naked.'" The whole room laughed as Tommy tried to calm the situation down.
"Alright guys, enough about the crazy college days." He protested weakly, picking up a beer. "Try to lay off the old stories while I still have SOME dignity left."
"Come on Dr. O." Conner complained. "We love hearing about…"
"Monte Carlo." Tommy interrupted, silencing Conner instantly as Ethan and Trent began laughing.
"Sounds like there's a story there." Jason interrupted, inspecting the bowl of guacamole dip, finding it empty.
"For the sake of my former student's dignity I'll stay quiet." Tommy stated. "Shall we change the subject?"
"Hey, Half-pint." Jason beckoned Kira as she was about to sit down. "Can I get some more dip and another beer?"
Kira shot him an icy stare as her temper rose. "Fine." She snapped aggressively, snatching up the bowl and leaving the room. All four of the former Dino Rangers chorused a sucking of teeth.
"Dude, so not smart!" Conner remarked.
"What?" Jason asked innocently. "I always give people nick-names."
"Well some people don't like the nicknames you give them." Trini reprimanded him with a slap across the chest. "She obviously took offence."
"Kira hates it when people make jokes about her height." Tommy confirmed. "If I were you, I'd apologise before she gets her own back."
"Yeah, she's already drop-kicked you once tonight." Rocky sniggered. "You really want to go for round 2?"
"Okay, I'll apologise when she gets back." Jason replied.
Kira fumed as she entered the kitchen. Throwing open the fridge door, she put the bowl down on the counter, and picked up a beer. As she stood shaking it violently, she reached in for more guacamole, when something else caught her eye.
"I've got a better idea." She thought to herself.
A little while later, Kira re-entered the room, carrying the beer and dip, which she put down directly in front of Jason.
"Listen, Kira, Sorry about before." Jason apologised, holding out a hand. "I have a habit of giving people stupid nicknames. I didn't mean to cause offence."
"Fine. Apology accepted." She shot back, accepting the handshake. She returned across the room where she sat beside Tommy, who put his arm around her. "Anyway, enjoy."
Tommy suddenly got a suspicious look on his face. He thought this had gone a little too smoothly.
Jason however, picked up the can. Inspecting it for a second, he gestured over to Trent. "Could you pass me a teaspoon?" He asked.
Accepting the teaspoon, he overturned the can, tapping it three times on the underside, before turning it back and doing the same to the top. As he cracked the ringpull, the beer frothed anti-climatically only a little over the top.
"Nice try Kira." He began, taking a sip. "But Tommy obviously didn't tell you who I am." He threw his arms out in a gesture of mock majesty. "I am the undisputed King of Pranks. It'll take more than shaking a beer can to catch me out."
With that, he loaded up a tortilla with dip, shoving it into his mouth. Suddenly a pained expression crossed his face.
"Out the way!" He yelled, barrelling towards the bathroom amid a chorus of laughs.
"By the way Tommy, we're out of Wasabi." Kira chimed in innocently.
"Looks like the King's been de-throned." Tommy laughed.
Jason barrelled into the bathroom, spitting the spicy, fiery paste into the toilet and quickly running the cold tap, gulping cold water enthusiastically.
"Trini, we are NEVER having Sushi again!" Jason yelled through to the living room as he swept the tears from his face. Quickly rinsing his face to regain composure, he suddenly noticed Kira's engagement ring on the floor.
"You okay in there Jason?" Tori's voice came through as he stooped to pick it up.
"Who's there?" He asked, inspecting the ring as he stood up.
"It's Tori." She giggled from outside the bathroom. "Kira felt bad about poisoning you. Are you okay?"
"I'll manage." Jason replied, unlocking the door. "By the way, I found this." He handed the ring to Tori. "You might want to get it re-sized. I doubt Blake would be happy about you losing it."
"This isn't mine." Tori shot back, flashing her own ring. "Where did you get this?"
"Bathroom floor." Jason answered her. "So if it isn't yours…"
"I'm so going to kill her!" Tori snapped, her eyes wide with amazement as the realisation dawned on her. "Jason. Apart from the two of us, Kira's the only one who's been to the bathroom since we got back! I can't believe she'd keep something this huge from us!"
Jason took back the ring, inspecting it between his fingers. "So Kira and Tommy?" He sat on the toilet looking at the ring in disbelief. "Why'd they not tell us?"
"Well I for one intend to find out!" Tori fumed, turning to leave. Jason leapt forward, seizing her shoulders.
"We COULD do that." He began as Tori turned to face him. A mischievous smile crossed his face. "OR we could have some fun with this ourselves."
"Aren't you mad?" Tori snapped. "They're meant to be our friends."
"I'm not happy about it. Tommy's been my best friend since high school." Jason replied. "But they've been messing with us all night. I say it's time for some payback."
Tori's look of anger slipped into a sly grin. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the Wasabi sauce would it?" She asked.
"Payback for that little stunt is a nice little added bonus." Jason replied. "So, feel like messing with them a little?"
"Oh yeah." Tori replied. "What do you have in mind?"
Tori and Jason returned to the party after a while, many of the guests still having a little giggle at Jason's expense. Tori immediately crossed to where Blake was sitting and began whispering with him.
"Sorry Jason." Kira immediately yelled as Jason entered the room. "Even?"
"I'd say we're about even." He replied, beckoning her over for a hug. As the two shared a peace-making hug, Kira suddenly jumped with a start.
"Something wrong?" Jason asked innocently.
"M…must have been static." She stammered, before moving through to the kitchen. Her mind suddenly hit a barrage of confusion as she left the room red-faced. Did he just grab my ass?
Kira stood alone in the kitchen trying to get her head around what had just happened. Had Jason, Tommy's best friend of almost 12 years actually groped her in the same room as both Tommy and his own pregnant wife?
"Something wrong?" She heard Jason's voice coming from the door. Kira bit her lip, hoping to find some hidden strength.
Tommy headed into the bathroom, suddenly becoming aware that he was not alone. Turning round, he found Tori and Blake in the doorway.
"Uh…guys…it's the bathroom." He mumbled. "Little privacy?"
"This won't take long." Tori giggled cheekily. "We just wanted to give you a little…invitation."
"You set a date?" Tommy inquired. "Great. You know…"
"Not exactly that type of…invitation." Blake interrupted. "Tori and I have an…arrangement…in our relationship."
"You know sometimes it's fun to try new things." Tori cooed, moving closer to Tommy, stroking his chest. "With new people."
"Uh…not my thing." Tommy gulped, fleeing the apartment as fast as dignity would allow.
"Come on Kira, surely you must have noticed a spark between us?" Jason breathed, moving closer.
"Get your hands OFF me." Kira snapped, slamming her hands into his chest, shoving him away.
"Hey, Tommy's an understanding guy. I'm sure he'll get over it!" Jason laughed. "Besides, it's not like Trini's going anywhere."
"That's your wife. Your PREGNANT wife and your BEST FRIEND you're talking about you disgusting pig!" She spat, trying hard not to start hitting him. "Because your wife is next door, I won't start anything. But if you lay one more hand on me, I'm going to start screaming." She shot a hateful glare into his eyes. "Trust me. You DON'T want that." Kira them stormed quickly from the apartment as Jason started to laugh.
"What's up with Kira? She looked upset about something?" Kat asked as Jason returned to the living room. "Did you insult her again?"
Tori and Blake returned to the room, tears of laughter already streaming down their faces.
Jason held up the engagement ring. "Guys, you will NOT BELIEVE what we found out about Tommy and Kira."
"Oh great, how did you find out?" Adam asked. Suddenly the horror came to him as he reminded himself of Jason's sense of humour. "What did you do?"
Kira slammed the door on her way out of the apartment, finding Tommy slumped in the corner of the corridor.
"What's going on Kira?" He asked, starting to get up.
"I know he's your friend Tommy, but he's a scumbag!" She roared, pacing up and down the corridor to work off her frustration.
"What did Jason do now?" He asked, hugging her in an attempt to calm her down. He knew Jason could be annoying, but Kira looked to be on the verge of killing someone.
"He…he made a pass at me." She began, some tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I can't do that to Trini, but…"
"Wait a minute. He made a pass at you?" Tommy interrupted.
"I know you don't want to think badly of…" Kira began, but she was interrupted by Tommy's unusual reaction. "Why the hell are you laughing?"
"Tori and Blake tried to proposition me in the bathroom." He replied. Kira looked at him open-mouthed. "Don't you think it's a bit of a coincidence?"
Kira immediately began rifling through her pockets. "My ring's gone." She yelled, a look of relief and realisation crossing her face. "He set us up!"
Tommy, hugged her deeply, kissing her for moral support as she swept the tears from her eyes.
"Time to face the music." Tommy sighed.
As Tommy and Kira re-entered the apartment, arm in arm, they walked into the living room where their friends were assembled. Trent, Ethan, Conner, Zack, Rocky, Kat and Trini just stared at them with wide-eyed amazement. Adam sat in the corner with the look of a man just hoping the world was about to swallow him whole, while Tori and Blake sat in a comfortable embrace, trying hard not to burst out laughing. Jason stood in the middle of the room, Tears of laughter streaming down his face, holding Kira's engagement ring in front of him, clearly visible.
"Lose something Kira?" He asked.