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Title: Checking In
Fandom: Power Rangers Ninja Storm
Pairing: Dustin/Justin
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Power Rangers. It's not my toy box and I'm merely playing.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Dustin and Justin aren't sure when to let Dustin's teammates know that Justin was once a ranger.
A/N: Written for SchizoCherri for Alpha's Magical Fic Exchange. This fic covers the first three episodes of Ninja Storm.
Checking In:
When Justin gets home from work he finds his boyfriend asleep in his bed. He takes in the shoes beside the bed, the long lines of Dustin’s jeans and the wrinkled over-shirt. He takes in the way one of Dustin’s hands is clenched at his side and the way the other is resting on his stomach, pushing his shirt up, a thin line of skin exposed. He takes in the morpher on Dustin’s wrist. Justin takes off his shoes, debating covering Dustin up and joining him or waking him and asking what happened.
Justin wets his lips, unsure as he joins Dustin in bed. He runs a hand into Dustin’s curls, then brushes it down his cheek. He smiles when Dustin blinks sleepily at him. “You must have been exhausted, to not have gotten under the covers.”
Dustin’s hand comes up to squeeze his wrist.
“Long day?”
Dustin nods. “Yeah, Dude.”
His quiet tone, his subdue manner, has Justin worried. He wraps an arm around his boyfriend, then tugs at his over-shirt lightly, “Yellow?”
“Yeah. Shane’s Red and Tori’s Blue.”
“Guess we can tell them then?” Justin suggests tapping his own morpher.
Dustin snuggles in, ducks his head against Justin’s chest and squeezes his hand.
“I would’ve thought you’d be more excited,” Justin frowns.
Dustin tilts his head and manages a weak smile, “I was. Then I realized we’re fighting an evil space ninja and I’m barely a ninja.”
“You wouldn’t have been chosen if you weren’t…” Justin trails off when Dustin pulls back, sits up and starts shaking his head.
“We were the only ones left,” Dustin says voice harsh, “There wasn’t a choice. We were late because we stopped to help fix someone’s car and then when we got to school everything…everyone was gone. We saw the whole school get sucked into the sky. There wasn’t anything left. We were the only ones left.”
Justin leans up, cups his boyfriend’s face and brushes away the tears he finds there with his thumbs.
“Sensei didn’t get to choose. It was just us, him and Cam,” Dustin manages, voice breaking.
Justin pulls Dustin into a hug. Dustin’s fingers clench Justin’s shirt tightly as he cries.
*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****
Dustin picks at the sandwich, taking slow bites. Justin places a glass of juice in front of him, before setting a plate of celery with peanut butter between them. Dustin looks at his plate, already full with a sandwich, chips and an apple.
“Dude,” he protests.
“Trust me, I’ve been there. You’ll need to eat more.” Justin reassures before he picks up a celery slice, biting into it.
“It’s nice, you making me food,” Dustin smiles before taking another bite of his sandwich.
“This,” Justin says gesturing to their plates, “wasn’t cooking. What you do is cooking.”
Dustin shakes his head and finished his bite. “It still tastes good.”
Justin smiles. “Do you want to tell your friends?”
“About needing to eat more? Tori probably already figured it out.”
“About me being a ranger,” Justin clarifies as he picks up his own plate and settles in next to Dustin at a stool by the counter.
“Can I tell them now or do we have to defeat Lothor first?”
“The evil space ninja?”
“Yeah, Dude.”
Justin shakes his head. “What is it with evil aliens?”
Dustin shrugs.
“You’ve already been to a ranger get together, all three of you,” Justin points out.
Dustin laughs and shakes his head. “We weren’t there. I just asked you out while you were at one.”
Justin smiles at the memory. “First time anyone told me Storm Blaster told them to ask me out.”
“He did.”
Justin leans over to give Dustin a kiss on the cheek. “I know.”
“Tor and Shane still can’t believe that worked.”
“Well, they think that you made up some story about my jeep telling you to ask me out, but I was intrigued.” Justin points out.
Dustin grins. “Me too. It’s not every day a jeep interferes with your love life.”
Justin laughs, before leaning over and giving him a kiss.
When he pulls away Dustin tells him. “Dude, I’m like not sure we should tell them yet. Sensei stressed the importance of secret identities and somehow I think his disappointed face is still going to be there, even if he’s a guinea pig.”
“Sensei is a guinea pig? How does that happen?”
“Don’t ask me dude, the explanation seems totally bogus.”
~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~
Justin leans in the entryway to his kitchen and smiles. “I had the worst day and here you are. That smells amazing.”
Dustin pauses in getting plates out to smile at him. Justin moves in to take the plates and give him a brief kiss.
“I can set the table or would you rather watch TV?”
“TV.”
“I’ll set the coffee table then you can tell me about your awful day.”
“Dude,” Dustin protests. “I didn’t say it was awful. Yours was awful.”
Justin tapes Dustin on the nose. “I know that look. Your day was as bad as mine.”
“Shane’s being a jerk, but there is good food and I have you and tomorrow is another day.”
Justin shakes his head with a smile as he gets the silverware out. “Let me guess, he needs to learn there is no I in team?”
“Dude, he so does. It’s like he thinks Tori and I are worthless. Tori is like the most awesome ninja ever. I can’t tell you how much trouble she’s kept us out of.” Dustin says as he moves back towards the stove.
“Maybe he’s worried about you two getting hurt?”
“He’s worried about losing and that we’ll slow him down or not take this seriously. Dude, the whole training exercise he kept tugging on Tori’s arm and complaining he could finish faster without us.”
Justin sets the silverware next to the plates and moves to the stove. “Are you at a good stopping place?”
Dustin checks everything over once then turns. “Yeah?”
Justin pulls him into a hug, holds onto him tightly as he reminds. “Shane knows he needs you two. Give him time. He’ll remember. You’re going to win against Lothor, but it’ll take the three of you.”
Dustin mummers a thank you before pulling Justin into a kiss.
~~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~
“I have a lion zord! I love lions! It’s amazing! We have to go celebrate!”
~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~~
Justin finds Dustin napping on his couch and a pizza in the oven. The timer has another ten minutes on it so he drops into a chair in the living room and picks up a book. Dustin doesn’t even open his eyes. “No, I need cuddles. Tori wasn’t Tori.”
“Is that what your text meant?” Justin asks as he joins his boyfriend on the couch, wrapping a firm arm around him.
“She was dressed all weird and being screechy about us taking her to base. So we drove to the nearest construction site. Real Tori would’ve insisted on driving her own van and avoided the construction.”
“That was smart.”
Dustin shrugs. “Shane and I know our Tori and that wasn’t our Tori, even if Shane has pissed her off recently.”
“You get her back?” Justin asks.
“Dude, Tori totally made her doppelgänger regret messing with her.”
“Good.” Justin smiles. “I saw a new Megazord mode?”
“We got a lightening mode, but it only lasts sixty seconds. It’s so awesome!”
~~~~~~*****~~~~~~*****~~~~~~
Dustin collapses into the nearest chair at Ninja Ops. He’s so tired.
“You’ve got to come up with better excuses man,” Shane advises as he collapses into a chair next to him.
Confused Dustin glances over.
“Yeah, Dustin,” Tori agrees. “You can’t just keep only texting your boyfriend that you have to reschedule. You have to give him some sort of explantation.”
“Dude, I’m like not going to lie to Justin.”
Cam starts laughing. Dustin turns his head to take Cam in. They share a smile.
“It’s not funny Cam,” Tori stresses. “He could lose his boyfriend.”
“You know.” Dustin calls shaking his head. Of course Cam already knows. He turns to his friends. “Justin can see there’s a monster, it’s probably all over the news. We’re both glad he lives two towns over.”
Tori stares. Shane starts to protest.
“I know he’s blue, but I’m not sure which team.” Cam cuts in before Tori or Shane can get upset.
“Blue?” Shane asks.
“Turbo.” Dustin answers.
“He…wait.” Tori shakes her head. “He’d have had to be only…I’m never going to think we’re too young for this again.”
“Your boyfriend is the blue Turbo ranger?” Shane attempts to clarify. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
Dustin shrugs. “Waiting for the right time?”
Fandom: Power Rangers Ninja Storm
Pairing: Dustin/Justin
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Power Rangers. It's not my toy box and I'm merely playing.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Dustin and Justin aren't sure when to let Dustin's teammates know that Justin was once a ranger.
A/N: Written for SchizoCherri for Alpha's Magical Fic Exchange. This fic covers the first three episodes of Ninja Storm.
Checking In:
When Justin gets home from work he finds his boyfriend asleep in his bed. He takes in the shoes beside the bed, the long lines of Dustin’s jeans and the wrinkled over-shirt. He takes in the way one of Dustin’s hands is clenched at his side and the way the other is resting on his stomach, pushing his shirt up, a thin line of skin exposed. He takes in the morpher on Dustin’s wrist. Justin takes off his shoes, debating covering Dustin up and joining him or waking him and asking what happened.
Justin wets his lips, unsure as he joins Dustin in bed. He runs a hand into Dustin’s curls, then brushes it down his cheek. He smiles when Dustin blinks sleepily at him. “You must have been exhausted, to not have gotten under the covers.”
Dustin’s hand comes up to squeeze his wrist.
“Long day?”
Dustin nods. “Yeah, Dude.”
His quiet tone, his subdue manner, has Justin worried. He wraps an arm around his boyfriend, then tugs at his over-shirt lightly, “Yellow?”
“Yeah. Shane’s Red and Tori’s Blue.”
“Guess we can tell them then?” Justin suggests tapping his own morpher.
Dustin snuggles in, ducks his head against Justin’s chest and squeezes his hand.
“I would’ve thought you’d be more excited,” Justin frowns.
Dustin tilts his head and manages a weak smile, “I was. Then I realized we’re fighting an evil space ninja and I’m barely a ninja.”
“You wouldn’t have been chosen if you weren’t…” Justin trails off when Dustin pulls back, sits up and starts shaking his head.
“We were the only ones left,” Dustin says voice harsh, “There wasn’t a choice. We were late because we stopped to help fix someone’s car and then when we got to school everything…everyone was gone. We saw the whole school get sucked into the sky. There wasn’t anything left. We were the only ones left.”
Justin leans up, cups his boyfriend’s face and brushes away the tears he finds there with his thumbs.
“Sensei didn’t get to choose. It was just us, him and Cam,” Dustin manages, voice breaking.
Justin pulls Dustin into a hug. Dustin’s fingers clench Justin’s shirt tightly as he cries.
*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****
Dustin picks at the sandwich, taking slow bites. Justin places a glass of juice in front of him, before setting a plate of celery with peanut butter between them. Dustin looks at his plate, already full with a sandwich, chips and an apple.
“Dude,” he protests.
“Trust me, I’ve been there. You’ll need to eat more.” Justin reassures before he picks up a celery slice, biting into it.
“It’s nice, you making me food,” Dustin smiles before taking another bite of his sandwich.
“This,” Justin says gesturing to their plates, “wasn’t cooking. What you do is cooking.”
Dustin shakes his head and finished his bite. “It still tastes good.”
Justin smiles. “Do you want to tell your friends?”
“About needing to eat more? Tori probably already figured it out.”
“About me being a ranger,” Justin clarifies as he picks up his own plate and settles in next to Dustin at a stool by the counter.
“Can I tell them now or do we have to defeat Lothor first?”
“The evil space ninja?”
“Yeah, Dude.”
Justin shakes his head. “What is it with evil aliens?”
Dustin shrugs.
“You’ve already been to a ranger get together, all three of you,” Justin points out.
Dustin laughs and shakes his head. “We weren’t there. I just asked you out while you were at one.”
Justin smiles at the memory. “First time anyone told me Storm Blaster told them to ask me out.”
“He did.”
Justin leans over to give Dustin a kiss on the cheek. “I know.”
“Tor and Shane still can’t believe that worked.”
“Well, they think that you made up some story about my jeep telling you to ask me out, but I was intrigued.” Justin points out.
Dustin grins. “Me too. It’s not every day a jeep interferes with your love life.”
Justin laughs, before leaning over and giving him a kiss.
When he pulls away Dustin tells him. “Dude, I’m like not sure we should tell them yet. Sensei stressed the importance of secret identities and somehow I think his disappointed face is still going to be there, even if he’s a guinea pig.”
“Sensei is a guinea pig? How does that happen?”
“Don’t ask me dude, the explanation seems totally bogus.”
~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~
Justin leans in the entryway to his kitchen and smiles. “I had the worst day and here you are. That smells amazing.”
Dustin pauses in getting plates out to smile at him. Justin moves in to take the plates and give him a brief kiss.
“I can set the table or would you rather watch TV?”
“TV.”
“I’ll set the coffee table then you can tell me about your awful day.”
“Dude,” Dustin protests. “I didn’t say it was awful. Yours was awful.”
Justin tapes Dustin on the nose. “I know that look. Your day was as bad as mine.”
“Shane’s being a jerk, but there is good food and I have you and tomorrow is another day.”
Justin shakes his head with a smile as he gets the silverware out. “Let me guess, he needs to learn there is no I in team?”
“Dude, he so does. It’s like he thinks Tori and I are worthless. Tori is like the most awesome ninja ever. I can’t tell you how much trouble she’s kept us out of.” Dustin says as he moves back towards the stove.
“Maybe he’s worried about you two getting hurt?”
“He’s worried about losing and that we’ll slow him down or not take this seriously. Dude, the whole training exercise he kept tugging on Tori’s arm and complaining he could finish faster without us.”
Justin sets the silverware next to the plates and moves to the stove. “Are you at a good stopping place?”
Dustin checks everything over once then turns. “Yeah?”
Justin pulls him into a hug, holds onto him tightly as he reminds. “Shane knows he needs you two. Give him time. He’ll remember. You’re going to win against Lothor, but it’ll take the three of you.”
Dustin mummers a thank you before pulling Justin into a kiss.
~~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~
“I have a lion zord! I love lions! It’s amazing! We have to go celebrate!”
~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~~
Justin finds Dustin napping on his couch and a pizza in the oven. The timer has another ten minutes on it so he drops into a chair in the living room and picks up a book. Dustin doesn’t even open his eyes. “No, I need cuddles. Tori wasn’t Tori.”
“Is that what your text meant?” Justin asks as he joins his boyfriend on the couch, wrapping a firm arm around him.
“She was dressed all weird and being screechy about us taking her to base. So we drove to the nearest construction site. Real Tori would’ve insisted on driving her own van and avoided the construction.”
“That was smart.”
Dustin shrugs. “Shane and I know our Tori and that wasn’t our Tori, even if Shane has pissed her off recently.”
“You get her back?” Justin asks.
“Dude, Tori totally made her doppelgänger regret messing with her.”
“Good.” Justin smiles. “I saw a new Megazord mode?”
“We got a lightening mode, but it only lasts sixty seconds. It’s so awesome!”
~~~~~~*****~~~~~~*****~~~~~~
Dustin collapses into the nearest chair at Ninja Ops. He’s so tired.
“You’ve got to come up with better excuses man,” Shane advises as he collapses into a chair next to him.
Confused Dustin glances over.
“Yeah, Dustin,” Tori agrees. “You can’t just keep only texting your boyfriend that you have to reschedule. You have to give him some sort of explantation.”
“Dude, I’m like not going to lie to Justin.”
Cam starts laughing. Dustin turns his head to take Cam in. They share a smile.
“It’s not funny Cam,” Tori stresses. “He could lose his boyfriend.”
“You know.” Dustin calls shaking his head. Of course Cam already knows. He turns to his friends. “Justin can see there’s a monster, it’s probably all over the news. We’re both glad he lives two towns over.”
Tori stares. Shane starts to protest.
“I know he’s blue, but I’m not sure which team.” Cam cuts in before Tori or Shane can get upset.
“Blue?” Shane asks.
“Turbo.” Dustin answers.
“He…wait.” Tori shakes her head. “He’d have had to be only…I’m never going to think we’re too young for this again.”
“Your boyfriend is the blue Turbo ranger?” Shane attempts to clarify. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
Dustin shrugs. “Waiting for the right time?”