So far the trip had been uneventful. The drive from Blue Bay Harbor to Reefside had been pleasant. There was no traffic and the weather was gorgeous. They had no problems checking in at the hotel even though the place was full of people who were in town for the surfing exhibition. Everyone had a good night's sleep, and they were ready to spend some time in town window shopping before heading down to the beach. Everything was great. It was making Shane very nervous.
If this had been a year ago, it would be about this time that his communicator would go off. He just kept waiting for it to happen. I guess old habits are hard to break, Shane thought to himself. He tried to make himself relax as he looked around the hotel lobby and waited for his teammates. Tori had promised to buy Dustin whatever he wanted for breakfast to make up for the way they woke him up earlier.
Shane and Tori had made a secret pact the night before to steamroll Dustin if he tried to sleep in. Dustin had promised he'd be ready to go when Tori wanted to leave, but his teammates knew enough about his sleeping habits to know that would never happen. Tori had come quietly knocking at their door at 7:00am. Shane roused instantly and peeked over to see if Dustin had been awakened. The Yellow Wind Ranger hadn't even moved a muscle at Tori's knock. Shane crept over and opened the door. Tori was still in her powder blue pajamas.
"He's not up, is he?" she whispered. Shane shook his head negatively. He cautioned her to stay quiet as they crept up on Dustin.
Tori paused speculatively, as she looked their sleeping friend. Dustin was a messy sleeper. The blankets had been tossed haphazardly off the bed. The sheet that he'd managed to keep on the bed was wrapped around his torso and legs, leaving his feet free. He was sprawled on his stomach, with his head under one of the pillows, and one hands curled up near his face.
"He looks so sweet. I almost feel bad waking him." Tori said softly.
Shane gave her a look. She snorted. "I said almost."
As one, Tori and Shane launched themselves at Dustin's sleeping form. Tori crashed across his back and Shane landed on his legs. "WAKE UP, DUSTIN!" Tori yelled in his ear, as Shane began to violently roll him back and forth. Dustin struggled beneath the other two ninjas, yelling something indecipherable into the pillows covering his face.
Laughing, Tori grabbed the pillows one by one and tossed them in the direction of Shane's bed. Shane managed to grab a good hunk of the sheet Dustin was wrapped in and gave it a mighty yank. The momentum landed Dustin in a heap on the floor between the two beds. "I'm up!" he grumbled. "Dude, that was harsh."
Dustin attempted to curl up on one of the blankets that had landed on the floor in the mêlée. "No way, man!" Shane intervened by snatching the blanket, but he wasn't quick enough. Dustin wrapped himself around the blanket and refused to let go. Tori, standing on Shane's bed began pelting him with the pillows she's grabbed away from him, and when those ran out she used Shane's.
Shane was laughing so hard at the look on Dustin's face that he let go of the blanket and stumbled backward into the TV. Seeing that he was off guard, Dustin hurled one of the pillows Tori had tossed, and hit him square in the face. Taking advantage of being surrounded by all of the handy weapons, Dustin began to fire pillows at Tori and Shane who had nowhere to hide. Tori, totally exposed on the bed, jumped off and ran for cover behind Shane. She was caught between shrieking and laughing as the boys continued to toss the pillows back and forth.
Shane, having the height advantage, pelted Dustin mercilessly. When Dustin was buried in pillows he raised his hands weakly from under the pile and called out "truce". Laughing, Shane reached in to give him a hand up. Dustin stood and shook the pillows off. He wasn't happy to be awake, but he took his "wakeup call" with good humor. It had been a long time since he'd heard Tori laugh so hard, or seen Shane doubled over laughing. He couldn't remember when he himself had felt so good (especially this early in the morning.) The "rude awakening" was definitely worth it.
In order to forestall any attempt on Dustin's part at sneaking back into bed, Shane gave him the bathroom first, to shower and whatnot. He spent that time putting the room back in some kind of order. By the time Dustin was finished, Tori was ready to take him down to get breakfast. They would meet Shane in the lobby with something portable when he was done.
Shane grinned as he saw Tori and Dustin approaching. Dustin handed him one of the biggest egg and cheese sandwiches he'd ever seen. Tori handed him some coffee. "So what's the plan?" he asked around a mouthful of sandwich.
"Well, once we eat, we'll go exploring. Look around and maybe find a nice place to eat dinner later." Tori explained. Dustin simply nodded, having heard the plan already, and being more interested in attending to his own sandwich. "Today's exhibitions are for the junior surfers. Tomorrow is the serious stuff. I got some information at the desk earlier."
There was silence for a moment as the three sat together eating. "Guys... I just want to thank you..."
"Don't even go there, Tor." Dustin interrupted around a mouthful of egg. "When's the last time we all hung out like this? It's for all of us. I mean, I sort of miss you guys." Shane looked slightly surprised, but Tori nodded in understanding.
Dustin shook his head and tried to get off the melancholy track he'd unwillingly jumped on Jeez, I'm supposed to be cheering her up!
Shane saved the moment by gathering up his garbage and slapping Dustin on the leg. "Well, if we're going to get going, we should go. Before Dustin goes back to sleep...it is still kind of early for him." Dustin stuck out his tongue in response and Tori giggled. The three of them rose, tossed out their trash, and headed out to explore Reefside.