~If we go down,
We all go down together!
If we go down, down, down,
We all go down together!
We are wrong 'til it's right,
Falling all as one tonight!
If we go down, down down,
We all go down together!~
Walking into Storm Chargers the second in command checked in with her boss, asking her what she needed to do before the day officially started. At seeing everything normal the redhead shrugged her shoulders. "Same thing as always? You can stock the shelves, check the inventory in back, tune up bikes. We seem to be getting more orders in for your special tune ups than normal." Kelly replied, looking down at all the names of the customers wanting bike tune ups.
Tara laughed and shook her head. "I guess word's getting out the head mechanic can do good work here." She said with a shrug, moving toward the back room where all their inventory was.
She came back out with a stack of a couple boxes, setting them down in front of the counter. It was only 6 in the morning and Kelly liked to open the store at 7, giving the two an hour's time to fix up the store and start their work day without the hectic rush of people coming in for their products. Tara blew some fringe out of her face and started looking around all the objects on shelves, mentally noting what needed to be restocked. Thanks to her, all their organizing and stock build was at a good high so they always had extras in the back; and the best part being no one had to sift through boxes just to find a smaller pair of gloves.
She blew more fringe away from her face and looked up at the taller shelves, giving a sigh when she realized she just barely couldn't reach it. "Remind me to get Dustin to restock the taller shelves….I'm still too short." She grumbled with a pout, looking over at Kelly who started laughing at her face.
Tara rolled her eyes and gave another pout at the woman. "It's not funny! We need more tall people here." She huffed and crossed her arms, momentarily forgetting to restock the rest of the store.
Kelly smirked in the brunette's direction. "There're two new guys who just came into town that might be looking for a job. Think you'd want to ask them?" She suggested, watching the heated look completely disappear from the young woman's face til it was a sheet of white.
Tara's eyes widened as she looked over at Kelly. "Wh-why..what-uh….OH more shelves need to be stocked!" She squeaked, running away from her boss to get back to work on fixing the store up.
She heard laughing in the back room and grumbled under her breath, making faces as she mocked what her boss had said. "Why do they always tease me? I'm the innocent one." She pouted while setting a pair of swimming shorts on a rack by the door, just a slight bit harder than necessary.
xXx
She sighed for the hundredth time in half an hour. She'd only been working a good 4 hours when Dustin managed to run through the store finally, starting up on his own job he was supposed to be doing. The brunet was put to work restocking the tall shelves, with a small look of suspicion thrown at him from his sister. He simply gave a sheepish look in response and continued working as if nothing was wrong. Tara ignored the nagging in the back of her mind and threw a list at him. He caught it and looked at it in confusion.
She smirked as she leaned against the counter, people walking around the two giving each other stares. "Oh, that's your new bike list. All those bikes on there YOU have to fix. Figured I'd give you more to do." She said with an innocent shrug, watching his face light up.
He jumped around like a child on Christmas. "OH! OOOOHHH!" He shouted happily, running straight to the back room without a second thought.
She chuckled and shook her head at his outburst, earning jumps and squeaks from some customers. She turned with a smile to a customer who walked up to her, asking for some help. "Oh! Skateboards are over on the other wall, along with anything skateboard related." She replied with another easy smile, pointing towards where she was indicating.
They gave a grin in thanks and ran off to the section, looking for what they were wanting to buy. She scooted herself behind the counter to stand next to the register, wondering how she got caught up in customer service duty when she had so many bikes to be fixing in back. "Kelly…..I think you might've been on the right track about hiring some new guys…." She sighed under her breath, resting arms on the counter before propping her head up with a hand.
Tori and Shane stepped through the door at that moment, earning a grin from the brunette. "My favorite troublesome duo!" She called happily as they stopped in front of her.
Tori grinned and hugged the girl over the counter while Shane smirked and ruffled the woman's hair. "If it isn't my favorite fire ninja." He responded with a wink.
The brunette gave him a blank stare and flicked his forehead, gaining a yelp. "I'm the only fire ninja you know….and don't forget I can whoop your butt into next week without so much as a flick of my wrist." She replied as Tori clung to her.
Dustin ran out calling about a malfunction with one of the tools. Tara groaned with a small pout. "Can't catch a break with this brother…" She grumbled, stalking off to deal with the problem while he dealt with the customers.
He winced sheepishly and looked at the two in front of him. "Does she seem a little impatient or is it just me today?" He asked the two who both shrugged their shoulders.
Dustin ran back into the room a moment at hearing a yelp and curse from the brunette. "DUSTIN I'LL MURDER YOU IN YOUR SLEEP." She hissed, but only loud enough for the two friends to hear.
Tori stifled a laugh behind her hand as Shane rolled his eyes. "Do they ever not fight?" He wondered to the blonde next to him, "that's like asking if Tara doesn't have a hothead…" She responded, both laughing at the joke.
Tara ran out the back room after Dustin, who seemed to be holding a pole and pushing it back at her. "Back! Back foul thing!" He cried, running towards the front.
Tara chased after him with a glare before Kelly walked by. "Guys! I thought I said no using tools as weapons!" She called after them, her arms lifting in emphasis towards the pole in the brother's hands.
He looked down at it and blinked before tossing it to Tori, who quickly put it away and out of reach of the fuming brunette wanting to reach for it. Shane pushed her back gently and she ended up facing Dustin again. "Uh-oh…" He gulped, running out the front door.
Tara was about to chase after him but stopped in her tracks at the front door, Tori walking up next to her in confusion. "Th-they're early.." She whispered, a flush painting the brunette's face.
She ran to the back room and crouch down behind a bike, looking like she was working on it. Tori blinked and followed after her, leaning against the doorway while staring at her friend. Shane looked between the two different groups and shook his head. "They? Who's she talking about?" He wondered just as Dustin walked back into with a blond and raven haired pair of guys.
He arched an eyebrow and was about to ask Tori when said blonde squealed in delight and jumped up and down, clapping her hands together. "Oh my god no way!" She exclaimed, earning three pairs of eyes to glance in her direction.
Blake smirked and looked at the blonde who was grinning at something behind the counter. The thing she was smiling at popped up a moment later to his surprise and amusement. Hunter flushed the faintest shade of red at spotting the brunette with grease marks along her face, the same as when he last saw her. Dustin unconsciously hid behind the brothers and gulped. "She's trying to kill me." He whispered to the two, sliding around Hunter's shoulder to see if his sister spotted the three yet.
Blake and Hunter looked back at him in confusion as Shane walked up with Tori at his side. "Oh you guys finally get to meet!" He said happily, jumping out from behind the two. The more surrounding him, the better protection against his hotheaded sister.
Tori, who was still smiling at finding out Tara's school-girl crush, smiled wider at spotting the raven haired teen. Tara never mention just how good looking the brothers were, especially the shorter one. Blake smiled in response and crossed his arms a bit, just like his brother who was smirking. "Dustin's told us a lot about you." The blond said, glancing towards the brunette cleaning off her face as she walked towards the group, "but not everything." Blake finished, never taking his eyes off the blonde.
Tara about choked on her spit as she heard Blake flirting with her best friend. Something new and interesting could come of this if she played her cards right. She could definitely play matchmaker. Tori gave a sidelong glance towards the blond standing next to Blake; she wasn't expecting her best friend to like the tall, silent brooding type. She thought about it a moment longer before seeing an easygoing smile spread over his face at spotting the brunette who finally reached the group, standing beside Tori like she normally did.
She looked around at the people as they all stared at her expectantly. "What? Do I still have something on my face?" She asked with a tilted head, rubbing her nose with a finger to clean off something.
Hunter chuckled quietly and pointed at her right cheek. "Close but it's right there." He told her softly, seeing a narrowed eyed look being shot his way from the guy standing on the other side of Dustin, "hey bro, can I talk to you a sec?" He asked pointedly to the earth ninja.
The leader and said motocross rider left to have a little chat as the two girls stayed behind to talk with the brothers some more. "Oh, when do you get off today? I spotted a movie getting ready to play in a couple hours and figured I'd ask if you wanted to watch it with me." Hunter said suddenly, looking at the brunette hopefully.
Tara blinked in surprise and tilted her head in thought. "Well….since I came in early to help Kelly set up the shop, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to leave a little early. I can go ask in a minute." She said with a small smile, a blush creeping along her cheeks for just a moment.
Hunter nodded and glanced down at his feet, hiding his look of relief. Blake at knowing what was up with his brother looked at Tori to try and engage her in conversation, until the two talking came rushing back. Shane grabbed hold of Tori's arm, yanking on it gently to tell her they needed to go immediately. "Tara, think you might be able to catch up in a bit?" Shane asked quickly, looking at the young woman.
She glanced at the brothers before biting her lip. "I'll try Shane, but I have something else I was planning on doing." She responded softly, scratching at her temple.
The leader gave a small sigh but nodded nonetheless. He couldn't boss her around like he could the other two, she wasn't under his command. And she wasn't a student either, so Sensei couldn't necessarily force her to head to ninja ops without her full consent in heading out herself. And as much as he wished he could, he knew he couldn't force her away from the new friends she'd just made; he knew how hard it was for her to make them because of her family and training. Tara waved him away with a scrunch of her face, not wanting him to hang around her for very long.
Hunter and Blake both looked at her in amusement. "God, he acts like my father half the time…" She grumbled with a roll of her eyes.
Blake outright chuckled and shook his head while Hunter looked on in confusion. "And the other half?" He wondered, watching as she rolled her eyes, "like a damn lovesick puppy who can't leave me alone."
His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked back towards the doorway, seeing him standing there. "Right anyway, go ask Kelly for that time off and we can go see that movie yeah?" He suggested with a smile.
Tara nodded eagerly with a grin and turned tail to run towards her boss, handing flipping in the air animatedly as she conveyed the conversation to her boss and asked if she could leave early. Kelly simply blinked for a moment, listening to the young woman's rant and slowly started grinning. "Of course I'll let you off early for that! You deserve to have some fun too. And maybe you can convince them to stay around. They bring in customers." She said wit a laugh, pointing at the doorway where some girls slowly started their way into the store, looking at the two before the products in the store.
Tara's eyes narrowed slightly and she bit her lip. "Wait, what?" She blinked in surprise, wondering where that dark feeling came from; she normally doesn't care about what others do or think, so why should she now?
Kelly smirked and pushed the confused teen towards the back room where her stuff was. "Go, I'll clean up for tomorrow." She said with a reassuring smile, winking at the teen who stared back wide eyed.
xXx
Just as she was about to head out the store with the brothers, Blake looked at Hunter with a nod and headed off. "Sorry to leave you two alone on this date of yours, but I've gotta run. Something came up." He said with a smile at her, waving just before he turned to leave.
Tara blinked in confusion but waved back before shaking her head. It's not like it mattered what happened or who she hung out with. They weren't on a date...or were they? She really downplayed on her dressing for the day if she thought this was a date. And just with this thought alone she gave a small frown and looked at the attire she wore. Hunter at noticing her sudden frown looked at her in confusion. "What's wrong? You still want to see the movie right?" He asked, hiding his worrying tone; what if she didn't want to be with just him?
She shook her head quickly and pursed her lips. "That's not it at all! Just wondering if I wore the right thing today. I may be a tomboy, but I still like to dress up on occasions like going to the movies." She responded, being sure to stay away from the word 'date' in case he didn't think that's what they were doing.
He nodded in understanding and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "You look perfectly fine. Let's go?" He chuckled slightly, shaking his head. Since when was he so casual and carefree with girls? He was normally the one who stayed away from thing like this, but Tara….Tara just seemed different in a way.
He sighed quietly under his breath and glanced at the girl walking beside him, looking at all the things around them happily. It almost looked like she didn't know this place, like she was a tourist taking in the sights. Shouldn't that have been him? He smirked and shook his head. Nah, he had taken time out of a couple days to walk the town and memorize where everything was. He'd even parked hike bike outside the theater before walking to Storm Chargers in hopes of surprising her with a ride.
He walked up to the register and ordered drinks and the tickets at once so they didn't have to wait in the longer lines. "Hey, do you want to find some seats? I'll wait for the food." He suggested, nodding towards the theater the movie would be playing in.
Her eyes widened for just a moment before going back to normal. She nodded her head and gave a tight smile. "Y-yeah sure! See you in there." She said stiffly, completely opposite from how she was before they entered; could she have been scared of walking into a dark place alone?
Hunter grabbed the food quickly and didn't bother with anything else as he held out her drink to her, gently pushing her towards the doors and opening one for her. "After you, Princess." He smirked at her, watching as her stiffened shoulders slumped slightly. He wouldn't force her to go alone if she wasn't comfortable with it, what kind of a guy would?
She sighed in slight relief before gnawing on her lip in anticipation. She never enjoyed walking into public places alone, least of all in the dark. She felt Hunter move a slight step closer to her, immediately relaxing her edgy nerves to the point she leaned toward his arm. He could tell she was a bit freaked out, but at what he had no idea; so instead of letting her deal with her own issues he just stood closer in hopes of letting her know he was right beside her. He hadn't expected on her leaned into him for comfort though, that was something neither expected.
Tara gave a small smile as she glanced at the blond next to her. Maybe her instincts were lying to her when they said something was wrong. They had to be, at least this once.
~We are giants,
We are bigger than the monster.
Every second we are taking back the power
On the run,
'til we get a fucking answer.
Try to hold us down,
BUT WE'RE ONLY GETTING STRONGER~