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rivulet027 Jan. 26th, 2018 04:19 am)
rivulet027 Jan. 26th, 2018 04:19 am)Title: Just Waiting For This Storm to Pass
Fandom: Power Rangers Dino Thunder
Pairing: Trent/Kira/Ethan/Conner
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Power Rangers. It's not my toy box and I'm merely playing. The title is a line from the song The Sound of Sunshine by Michael Franti and Spearhead. I also own nothing to do with the Cleveland Institute of Art, but it's only mentioned briefly.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The summer is ending. Trent, Kira, Ethan, and Conner are about to start their lives after high school. Trent isn't sure how the four of them started dating, but he's not ready to lose them.
A/N: Written for kathillards for the Alpha's fic exchange. Thank you to Mara and TheSecondBatgirl for helping me figure out what everyone is doing after high school.
Just Waiting For This Storm to Pass:
Trent lets his sketchbook rest against his chest at the feel of Conner’s fingers carding through his hair. His head is resting on Conner’s stomach and the two of them are watching Ethan and Kira make out. Trent blinks lazily, wishing he could hold onto this moment, the four of them together like this, because he doesn’t know how long it will last. Kira shifts closer to Ethan, crawls into his lap and cups his face, never once breaking their kiss. One of Ethan’s hands tangle into her already messy curls as the other squeezes her hip. Conner sighs, his fingers still. Trent glances at him. Conner quirks his lips into a smile.
“If you don’t stop…” Conner interrupts.
Ethan and Kira part, breathing heavily, eyes still locked, still wrapped around each other. Ethan wets his lips. “You mean if we don’t stop, you’ll start doing that thing where you tell us exactly what you want us to do to each other?”
“Probably?” Conner admits grudgingly.
“It’s actually kinda hot,” Kira teases as she turns and wrinkles her nose at him.
Trent laughs. “Don’t, she’s just baiting you.”
“It’s no fun if you tell him,” Kira gripes before she presses one more firm kiss to Ethan’s lips and stands. She walks over and drops down near them, resting her head on Trent’s stomach and throwing one of her legs over Conner’s leg. Conner’s fingers start drifting through his hair again and Trent makes an encouraging noise at him. Conner laughs. Ethan rests his head against the wall and breathes out a heavy sigh.
“You’re the one that wanted us to have a plan,” Conner reminds.
Ethan drops his head and meets Conner’s eyes and Trent can’t see Conner’s face, but judging by the heated look Ethan is sending across the room, they’re having one of those moments that led to all of them getting together.
Trent curls a strand of Kira’s hair around his finger and admits. “I’m going to miss this.”
“Which is why having a plan is your idea,” Ethan says. “You think you’re going to lose us.”
Kira’s hand comes up to tangle with his and she squeezes his fingers. “You’re not going to lose us.”
Trent closes his eyes. He focuses on the feel of her fingers wrapped around his as he also tries to concentrate on Conner’s fingers in his hair. He takes a breath in and lets it out. He doesn’t speak. He’s not sure he can put into words the depth of his fear that he’ll lose all of them. He’s afraid that if he tries he’ll just start crying and then he’ll just lose them faster.
“Hey,” Ethan’s voice is soft, understanding.
Trent opens his eyes to find that Ethan’s crossed the room, he’s kneeling in front of Kira and has one hand resting on Conner’s leg. Ethan gives him a brief smile, which Trent tries to reciprocate. Ethan leans in, resting his other hand on Trent’s thigh. Trent angles himself upwards towards Ethan and into the kiss. It’s gentle, a reassurance. Ethan pulls back slowly and sits down. “Okay, let’s plan.”
“Really?” Conner says and somehow his tone conveys that he’s upset that Ethan isn’t joining their cuddle pile.
Ethan lets out a faux exasperated sigh while giving Conner a bright smile. “You touch starved menace.”
“I’m not touch starved,” Conner protests.
“If you could cuddle all of us every hour of every day it still wouldn’t be enough,” Ethan continues to tease as he moves to wrap himself around Conner’s bare side.
“I’m too happy right now to contradict you.” Conner tells him.
“Trent’s right,” Kira interrupts before Ethan and Conner can continue to bicker.
“I’m the only one that’s leaving next week,” Conner reminds.
“Soccer scholarship, it’s going to be a lot of work,” Ethan says slowly as if the ramification of their group being reduced to three is just starting to hit him.
“I’m going to be busy, but I’m still going to be all over you when I don’t understand my school work,” Conner attempts to reassure.
“All over me?” Ethan counters.
“All over…” Conner starts. Trent smiles. Conner’s fingers are still moving through his hair in a soothing motion and he keeps doing that even when he stops kissing Ethan long enough to say. “Okay. Okay. No more getting distracted, we need a plan.”
“You’re the only one staying on the west coast,” Kira points out.
“Trent’s more midwest,” Conner adds.
“Yeah, but we’re all going enjoy confusing people by saying we have a friend at the CIA,” Ethan grins.
“You enjoy that way too much,” Trent teases.
Ethan laughs as he agrees, then they start to plan. Trent knows it’s not going to work, it can’t work. Right? He was certain when he and Kira got together at prom he’d be lucky if it lasted through the summer. Then Ethan and Conner got together just before graduation, then after graduation the four of them started sleeping together, dating each other, and generally doing everything as a group. Trent’s not ready to give this up, but he’s not sure how it can last. He contributes and agrees. He’s going to stick with their plan as long as they’ll have him, he’s just not sure how long that will be and if he’ll have any of them in his life when it’s over, when they’re over.
Conner is the one that comes to his room that night, pulls back the covers and wraps an arm around him. Trent closes his eyes and tries to believe the reassurances Conner kiss against his skin.
Kira and Ethan tell his dad they’re having a slumber party the night Conner leaves. They both wrap him in their arms and hold him tight and he tries to believe in the strength of both their convictions that this will work.
The weekend before Ethan is set to leave the three of them drive up to Conner’s school. They spend every moment together, but don’t talk about how this is the last weekend the four of them may all be together in a while. Conner gives all of them a lingering kiss goodbye.
When it’s time to say goodbye to Ethan, Trent can’t find the words. Ethan kisses him firmly and tells him. “We have this. We do. There’s a reason we planned.”
Kira locks her fingers around Trent’s and doesn’t let go as Ethan leaves. She doesn’t leave his side, worry on her face and he’s not sure what brought it on. Conner calls to check in, but the distraction is brief. Conner’s already so busy. They stay up until Ethan tells them he’s gotten to school safely, but he tired after being on planes all day and doesn’t stay on the phone long. Kira pulls him into bed and Trent tries not to feel like it’s already all coming apart, tries to concentrate on the feel of her lips on his instead of the sadness that’s starting to seep through him.
She pulls back and catches his face. “Hey. Take a deep breath for me okay?”
Trent nods and does what she says, breathing in several slow deep breathes.
Kira leans in and kisses his forehead, then his nose. She gives him a wiry grin. “You’re thinking about this too much. Yes, this is going to suck, but we all love you.”
“I just don’t know how it can be enough,” Trent manages to confess. “We’re all just…we’re eighteen. Conner’s going to be so far away and he’s busy all the time now. Ethan’s going to be busy too. You’re going to be trying to start your career and you’ll be busy. I’m…”
“Going to Art School. You want this,” Kira tells him firmly. She shakes her head. Trent sucks in another slow deep breath. “Did you talk to Hayley?”
Trent nods. “There’s actually a therapist in the area who worked at Lightspeed Rescue. She agreed to meet with me. And several of the former villains get together once a month on the moon as a support group. That’s not what I’m worried about. I just don’t want to lose you, any of you. I don’t know how we’ll manage to make this work. A long distance relationship between two people is difficult enough, but between four? It’s going to be impossible and I can’t stand the thought of us hating each other when it doesn’t work.”
Trent realizes he said the words, the ones he’s been keeping to himself. Kira’s fingers flex against his cheeks.
“Took you long enough.”
Trent’s eyes widen. Is she breaking up with him? Are they all…
“You really don’t understand how this happened?” she asks, then clarifies, “The four of us.”
Trent manages to shake his head as his hands come up to curl around her wrists.
“You couldn’t sleep. You were having those screaming nightmares. You’d have to call us in the middle of the night to make sure we were all still alive,” she reminds him.
Trent flinches, starts to apologize, but Kira shakes her head. When he stops, raising his eyebrows in question she leans in and kisses him.
As she pulls back she continues, “You were scaring your dad. You were scaring us. You were barely getting any sleep. So we had a sleep over and you crashed out hard. Then I started staying over and that helped. I couldn’t the one night.”
“You had that gig. Conner and Ethan came over.”
“Yeah, and they never really left,” she concludes with a smirk.
Trent isn’t sure how to respond. Kira kisses his briefly.
“This started because we love you, all of us, and we love each other. I never thought I’d say that or that I’d love three guys at the same time, but here we are. We have a plan and sometimes this is going to suck and sometimes this is going to be amazing, but we are all going to do our best and try. It’s also going to make ridiculous song fodder.”
Trent nods, then smiles. “Conner or Ethan would say they’ve figured you out, that you’re only dating them to further your music career.”
“And they’d say it in that tone that they both do, so I’d know they weren’t serious. Believe me yet? Believe in us yet?”
“Getting there,” Trent tells her, hanging on tightly as she pushes him back onto his bed. His hands tangle in her hair, his lips part. He closes his eyes and smiles into the next kiss.
In the morning he takes her to his favorite craft store. He buys card-stock and envelops that will fit the pictures he’s going to draw and send them. While he’s deciding on pencils Kira wraps an arm around his waist. Trent wraps a hand around her shoulder and leans in to press a kiss to the side of her forehead as he feels himself relax in a way he hasn’t in weeks.
Sequel: A Weekend Date
Finding Home
Fandom: Power Rangers Dino Thunder
Pairing: Trent/Kira/Ethan/Conner
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Power Rangers. It's not my toy box and I'm merely playing. The title is a line from the song The Sound of Sunshine by Michael Franti and Spearhead. I also own nothing to do with the Cleveland Institute of Art, but it's only mentioned briefly.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The summer is ending. Trent, Kira, Ethan, and Conner are about to start their lives after high school. Trent isn't sure how the four of them started dating, but he's not ready to lose them.
A/N: Written for kathillards for the Alpha's fic exchange. Thank you to Mara and TheSecondBatgirl for helping me figure out what everyone is doing after high school.
Just Waiting For This Storm to Pass:
Trent lets his sketchbook rest against his chest at the feel of Conner’s fingers carding through his hair. His head is resting on Conner’s stomach and the two of them are watching Ethan and Kira make out. Trent blinks lazily, wishing he could hold onto this moment, the four of them together like this, because he doesn’t know how long it will last. Kira shifts closer to Ethan, crawls into his lap and cups his face, never once breaking their kiss. One of Ethan’s hands tangle into her already messy curls as the other squeezes her hip. Conner sighs, his fingers still. Trent glances at him. Conner quirks his lips into a smile.
“If you don’t stop…” Conner interrupts.
Ethan and Kira part, breathing heavily, eyes still locked, still wrapped around each other. Ethan wets his lips. “You mean if we don’t stop, you’ll start doing that thing where you tell us exactly what you want us to do to each other?”
“Probably?” Conner admits grudgingly.
“It’s actually kinda hot,” Kira teases as she turns and wrinkles her nose at him.
Trent laughs. “Don’t, she’s just baiting you.”
“It’s no fun if you tell him,” Kira gripes before she presses one more firm kiss to Ethan’s lips and stands. She walks over and drops down near them, resting her head on Trent’s stomach and throwing one of her legs over Conner’s leg. Conner’s fingers start drifting through his hair again and Trent makes an encouraging noise at him. Conner laughs. Ethan rests his head against the wall and breathes out a heavy sigh.
“You’re the one that wanted us to have a plan,” Conner reminds.
Ethan drops his head and meets Conner’s eyes and Trent can’t see Conner’s face, but judging by the heated look Ethan is sending across the room, they’re having one of those moments that led to all of them getting together.
Trent curls a strand of Kira’s hair around his finger and admits. “I’m going to miss this.”
“Which is why having a plan is your idea,” Ethan says. “You think you’re going to lose us.”
Kira’s hand comes up to tangle with his and she squeezes his fingers. “You’re not going to lose us.”
Trent closes his eyes. He focuses on the feel of her fingers wrapped around his as he also tries to concentrate on Conner’s fingers in his hair. He takes a breath in and lets it out. He doesn’t speak. He’s not sure he can put into words the depth of his fear that he’ll lose all of them. He’s afraid that if he tries he’ll just start crying and then he’ll just lose them faster.
“Hey,” Ethan’s voice is soft, understanding.
Trent opens his eyes to find that Ethan’s crossed the room, he’s kneeling in front of Kira and has one hand resting on Conner’s leg. Ethan gives him a brief smile, which Trent tries to reciprocate. Ethan leans in, resting his other hand on Trent’s thigh. Trent angles himself upwards towards Ethan and into the kiss. It’s gentle, a reassurance. Ethan pulls back slowly and sits down. “Okay, let’s plan.”
“Really?” Conner says and somehow his tone conveys that he’s upset that Ethan isn’t joining their cuddle pile.
Ethan lets out a faux exasperated sigh while giving Conner a bright smile. “You touch starved menace.”
“I’m not touch starved,” Conner protests.
“If you could cuddle all of us every hour of every day it still wouldn’t be enough,” Ethan continues to tease as he moves to wrap himself around Conner’s bare side.
“I’m too happy right now to contradict you.” Conner tells him.
“Trent’s right,” Kira interrupts before Ethan and Conner can continue to bicker.
“I’m the only one that’s leaving next week,” Conner reminds.
“Soccer scholarship, it’s going to be a lot of work,” Ethan says slowly as if the ramification of their group being reduced to three is just starting to hit him.
“I’m going to be busy, but I’m still going to be all over you when I don’t understand my school work,” Conner attempts to reassure.
“All over me?” Ethan counters.
“All over…” Conner starts. Trent smiles. Conner’s fingers are still moving through his hair in a soothing motion and he keeps doing that even when he stops kissing Ethan long enough to say. “Okay. Okay. No more getting distracted, we need a plan.”
“You’re the only one staying on the west coast,” Kira points out.
“Trent’s more midwest,” Conner adds.
“Yeah, but we’re all going enjoy confusing people by saying we have a friend at the CIA,” Ethan grins.
“You enjoy that way too much,” Trent teases.
Ethan laughs as he agrees, then they start to plan. Trent knows it’s not going to work, it can’t work. Right? He was certain when he and Kira got together at prom he’d be lucky if it lasted through the summer. Then Ethan and Conner got together just before graduation, then after graduation the four of them started sleeping together, dating each other, and generally doing everything as a group. Trent’s not ready to give this up, but he’s not sure how it can last. He contributes and agrees. He’s going to stick with their plan as long as they’ll have him, he’s just not sure how long that will be and if he’ll have any of them in his life when it’s over, when they’re over.
Conner is the one that comes to his room that night, pulls back the covers and wraps an arm around him. Trent closes his eyes and tries to believe the reassurances Conner kiss against his skin.
Kira and Ethan tell his dad they’re having a slumber party the night Conner leaves. They both wrap him in their arms and hold him tight and he tries to believe in the strength of both their convictions that this will work.
The weekend before Ethan is set to leave the three of them drive up to Conner’s school. They spend every moment together, but don’t talk about how this is the last weekend the four of them may all be together in a while. Conner gives all of them a lingering kiss goodbye.
When it’s time to say goodbye to Ethan, Trent can’t find the words. Ethan kisses him firmly and tells him. “We have this. We do. There’s a reason we planned.”
Kira locks her fingers around Trent’s and doesn’t let go as Ethan leaves. She doesn’t leave his side, worry on her face and he’s not sure what brought it on. Conner calls to check in, but the distraction is brief. Conner’s already so busy. They stay up until Ethan tells them he’s gotten to school safely, but he tired after being on planes all day and doesn’t stay on the phone long. Kira pulls him into bed and Trent tries not to feel like it’s already all coming apart, tries to concentrate on the feel of her lips on his instead of the sadness that’s starting to seep through him.
She pulls back and catches his face. “Hey. Take a deep breath for me okay?”
Trent nods and does what she says, breathing in several slow deep breathes.
Kira leans in and kisses his forehead, then his nose. She gives him a wiry grin. “You’re thinking about this too much. Yes, this is going to suck, but we all love you.”
“I just don’t know how it can be enough,” Trent manages to confess. “We’re all just…we’re eighteen. Conner’s going to be so far away and he’s busy all the time now. Ethan’s going to be busy too. You’re going to be trying to start your career and you’ll be busy. I’m…”
“Going to Art School. You want this,” Kira tells him firmly. She shakes her head. Trent sucks in another slow deep breath. “Did you talk to Hayley?”
Trent nods. “There’s actually a therapist in the area who worked at Lightspeed Rescue. She agreed to meet with me. And several of the former villains get together once a month on the moon as a support group. That’s not what I’m worried about. I just don’t want to lose you, any of you. I don’t know how we’ll manage to make this work. A long distance relationship between two people is difficult enough, but between four? It’s going to be impossible and I can’t stand the thought of us hating each other when it doesn’t work.”
Trent realizes he said the words, the ones he’s been keeping to himself. Kira’s fingers flex against his cheeks.
“Took you long enough.”
Trent’s eyes widen. Is she breaking up with him? Are they all…
“You really don’t understand how this happened?” she asks, then clarifies, “The four of us.”
Trent manages to shake his head as his hands come up to curl around her wrists.
“You couldn’t sleep. You were having those screaming nightmares. You’d have to call us in the middle of the night to make sure we were all still alive,” she reminds him.
Trent flinches, starts to apologize, but Kira shakes her head. When he stops, raising his eyebrows in question she leans in and kisses him.
As she pulls back she continues, “You were scaring your dad. You were scaring us. You were barely getting any sleep. So we had a sleep over and you crashed out hard. Then I started staying over and that helped. I couldn’t the one night.”
“You had that gig. Conner and Ethan came over.”
“Yeah, and they never really left,” she concludes with a smirk.
Trent isn’t sure how to respond. Kira kisses his briefly.
“This started because we love you, all of us, and we love each other. I never thought I’d say that or that I’d love three guys at the same time, but here we are. We have a plan and sometimes this is going to suck and sometimes this is going to be amazing, but we are all going to do our best and try. It’s also going to make ridiculous song fodder.”
Trent nods, then smiles. “Conner or Ethan would say they’ve figured you out, that you’re only dating them to further your music career.”
“And they’d say it in that tone that they both do, so I’d know they weren’t serious. Believe me yet? Believe in us yet?”
“Getting there,” Trent tells her, hanging on tightly as she pushes him back onto his bed. His hands tangle in her hair, his lips part. He closes his eyes and smiles into the next kiss.
In the morning he takes her to his favorite craft store. He buys card-stock and envelops that will fit the pictures he’s going to draw and send them. While he’s deciding on pencils Kira wraps an arm around his waist. Trent wraps a hand around her shoulder and leans in to press a kiss to the side of her forehead as he feels himself relax in a way he hasn’t in weeks.
Sequel: A Weekend Date
Finding Home