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starsfic2009-08-28 09:09 pm
starandrea) wrote in starsfic2009-08-28 09:09 pm
Entry tags:
"now you are back, shiny and new" (under the song tree)
♥ This is a marker to celebrate! The top 5 Power Rangers communities at fanfiction.net are all slash-tolerant or slash-friendly!
♥ Another marker: two of the RPM Rangers journal! This is so fabulous that I made some icons in their honor! (Feel free to use!)
♥ Finally, I'm not current on my RPM storytelling, so this takes place around "Prisoners"/"Belly of the Beast" and is the fifth part of steering you home :)
for our wall
"I actually don't care whether they cleaned them or not," Ziggy was telling Flynn. "It makes no difference to me. Because, strangely, I find neutronium detonating power incompatible with, I don't know, my internal organs."
Dillon smiled down at the bowl in front of him. He didn't know what it might have been used for before it was filled with tomatoes, and he wasn't asking. He figured Ziggy's tirade was as much for the humor value as anything else.
"You're being a bit of a baby, don't you think?" Flynn asked. "They're going to be eating off them too."
"Oh, that makes me feel so much better!" Ziggy retorted. "The destructo twins are perfectly willing to make their own dinner with utensils that have recently been in contact with vast quantities of explosives! What a surprise!"
"What does--" Gemma began.
"Destructo mean?" her brother added. "I like--"
"The sound of it!" she finished for him.
"It's a made up word," Summer told them, coming around the counter. "Please ignore Ziggy; he's just being rude."
"I hardly think expressing a concern for all of our health and well-being is rude!" Ziggy exclaimed. "Excuse me if I don't want to wake up in pieces plastered all over the wall!"
"Oh, detonating power is--"
"Much more effective than that," Gemma said.
"You wouldn't wake up," Gem concluded, and Dillon lifted his head in surprise.
Turning to stare at them, he couldn't help but frown a little. They very obviously pretended not to notice, smiling at each other and then down at the vegetables Flynn had told them to chop. The reflective stripes on their matching track suits only added to their earnest air, but he'd seen them smile through their teeth and tell the highest military authority in Corinth to fuck off.
Not that he held that against them. He'd done the same, after all. But it was exactly how familiar they seemed that made him nervous. They hid their intelligence behind determined laughter and wide-eyed inexperience, and every time their behavior changed even slightly it put him on edge.
Gem had just spoken a full sentence.
"Garlic," Flynn was telling Ziggy. "Two cloves, minced."
"Well, sure," Ziggy replied, "because they didn't use the cutting board, did they!"
"We should have some distinction between kitchen implements and lab tools," Scott said. "That's not unreasonable."
"Thank you." Ziggy pointed a knife in his direction. "In case any of you were wondering? That is the voice of reason talking."
Dillon saw a flash of white out of the corner of his eye and reached out, faster than even she could react. She twisted, automatic, and he knew he'd just triggered her self-defense training. But unlike him, her first reaction wasn't to strike, and he was left holding an empty lab coat.
He ignored her glare, tossing the coat over the chair next to him and going back to peeling tomatoes. She stood very still for a moment, then shook her head and kept walking. Dillon smiled at the table.
"Sign, please." An official looking piece of paper landed on the counter beside him, and he looked up at Summer's expectant expression.
He frowned back at the paper. "What's this?"
"Paperwork," she said succinctly.
Dillon rolled his eyes. "Yes, work in the form of paper. Thank you. That was so helpful."
She smiled sweetly, but she did relent. "Citizenship petitions for Gem and Gemma. We're sponsoring them."
He tilted his head at her. "We are?"
"Pay it forward, Dillon." She produced a pen and slapped it down on top of the paper. "There's more forms where that came from."
"Great," he grumbled, wiping his hands off before he reached for the pen.
"Hey, maybe we should copy these," Scott said, bringing over another official form and taking the chair next to Dillon without asking. "I mean, just the top sheet or whatever. For our wall."
"Our wall?" a sharp voice repeated archly.
Dillon glanced over his shoulder to find green eyes glaring up at Scott, who shrugged. "The wall?" he offered, waving at the screen in the briefing area. Or the area around it, which had been filled with decoder rings and thank-you cards and the butterfly picture Gem and Gemma had left for K to explain their earlier absence.
"I know which wall you're referring to," she informed him. "I take exception to the possessive 'our.' Also, you're in my seat."
"Oh, am I now," Scott said with a grin. "It's not 'our' wall, but it is 'your' chair? How does that work?"
"My coat is there," she snapped.
"Yeah, well, my decoder ring is on the wall," Scott countered.
"Mine was there first," she said primly.
Scott hesitated, and that was why he would lose.
"She's got a point there," Dillon remarked.
To his surprise, she turned and smiled at him. "Thank you," she declared. "Would you like some help with those tomatoes?"
He paused, looking from the bowl to her. "Do you know how to peel tomatoes?"
She frowned back at him. "Of course not," she said, like she couldn't imagine why he would ask. "I was told the act of offering had intrinsic significance."
Dillon looked over her shoulder just in time to catch Ziggy's eye. Ziggy saluted with the knife, amusement bright in his eyes, and Dillon felt his lips quirk. "I guess," he said, looking at her again. "If that's what they tell us."
She turned her frown on Scott, who was watching the exchange with a smirk on his face. "I believe Ranger Blue requires your presence," she told him.
"No, I'm fine," Flynn assured them. Then, "Hey!"
Ziggy, Dillon knew, had just whacked him on the shoulder.
"Oh, aye," Flynn added after a moment. "I could definitely, uh... use your help."
Scott rolled his eyes. He got up, though, just as Gemma chimed in, "We're all--"
"Finished here!" Gem said. "What can we--"
"Do next?" his twin wanted to know. "And what's a--"
"Decoder ring?" Gem's gaze didn't so much as flicker in the direction of the wall. Dillon didn't doubt that the two of them had memorized everything on it and could repeat the contents verbatim if pressed.
"It's a silly exercise in second-guessing other people's communication." This time it wasn't Summer who answered, and Dillon narrowed his eyes as the chair beside him stayed vacant. She peeled one of the lists off of the wall and took it over to the twins.
Her own, he noticed. And she had been unexpectedly careful about removing it.
"Hey, we should make a decoder ring for Gem and Gemma," Ziggy said, like he had just thought of it.
"Aye," Flynn said, "but none of us have the slightest idea what they're saying."
"Small problem," Ziggy admitted.
Dillon followed their exchange while he listened with more than half an ear to the explanation taking place at the table. "Someone writes something you said on the left side," she was saying, "and then they put what they think you meant over here, on the other side."
"What if you--" Gem actually paused here, not just waiting for his sister, but frowning slightly as he thought about it.
Gemma jumped in anyway. "Meant what you said?" she asked.
"Don't try to apply logic to the exercise. It's more of a... creativity challenge."
"Oh, that," Gemma said with a smile.
"We're good at!" Gem finished.
"Also," Ziggy was saying, "we'd probably have to have just one decoder ring for the two of them. Since they say everything together."
"Not true," Scott said.
Dillon looked over at him, and he wasn't the only one. The twins continued asking questions about the list like they weren't paying any attention. He knew better.
Scott shrugged in the face of everyone's silent curiosity. "They still talk when they're not in the same room together. To other people, I mean."
"To you, you mean," Ziggy scoffed. "Can't prove it by me, is all I'm saying."
"So the whole--"
"Team works on this?" The twins--and their "best friend"--were bent over the list with all the studious air of scientists trying to figure out some interesting anthropological quirk. And if Dillon thought the analogy wasn't apt, he might find it more charming.
"Actually, Dillon did all of these." She said it in a funny tone that he didn't recognize until she added, "He started it, so all the ones at the top are his."
She was smiling. That was what made her sound different.
"You mean, his," Gem said.
"But really yours?" Gemma added.
"He wrote down some things I said to Ziggy," she explained. "Then he wrote down what he thought they meant."
"Wow," Gemma said, tilting her head to one side as she narrowed her eyes at the list. Dillon could almost see the words being filed as she reviewed them.
"He knows you," Gem remarked.
"Really well," Gemma said.
They probably didn't mean for that to sound so creepy, Dillon thought.
♥ Another marker: two of the RPM Rangers journal! This is so fabulous that I made some icons in their honor! (Feel free to use!)
♥ Finally, I'm not current on my RPM storytelling, so this takes place around "Prisoners"/"Belly of the Beast" and is the fifth part of steering you home :)
"I actually don't care whether they cleaned them or not," Ziggy was telling Flynn. "It makes no difference to me. Because, strangely, I find neutronium detonating power incompatible with, I don't know, my internal organs."
Dillon smiled down at the bowl in front of him. He didn't know what it might have been used for before it was filled with tomatoes, and he wasn't asking. He figured Ziggy's tirade was as much for the humor value as anything else.
"You're being a bit of a baby, don't you think?" Flynn asked. "They're going to be eating off them too."
"Oh, that makes me feel so much better!" Ziggy retorted. "The destructo twins are perfectly willing to make their own dinner with utensils that have recently been in contact with vast quantities of explosives! What a surprise!"
"What does--" Gemma began.
"Destructo mean?" her brother added. "I like--"
"The sound of it!" she finished for him.
"It's a made up word," Summer told them, coming around the counter. "Please ignore Ziggy; he's just being rude."
"I hardly think expressing a concern for all of our health and well-being is rude!" Ziggy exclaimed. "Excuse me if I don't want to wake up in pieces plastered all over the wall!"
"Oh, detonating power is--"
"Much more effective than that," Gemma said.
"You wouldn't wake up," Gem concluded, and Dillon lifted his head in surprise.
Turning to stare at them, he couldn't help but frown a little. They very obviously pretended not to notice, smiling at each other and then down at the vegetables Flynn had told them to chop. The reflective stripes on their matching track suits only added to their earnest air, but he'd seen them smile through their teeth and tell the highest military authority in Corinth to fuck off.
Not that he held that against them. He'd done the same, after all. But it was exactly how familiar they seemed that made him nervous. They hid their intelligence behind determined laughter and wide-eyed inexperience, and every time their behavior changed even slightly it put him on edge.
Gem had just spoken a full sentence.
"Garlic," Flynn was telling Ziggy. "Two cloves, minced."
"Well, sure," Ziggy replied, "because they didn't use the cutting board, did they!"
"We should have some distinction between kitchen implements and lab tools," Scott said. "That's not unreasonable."
"Thank you." Ziggy pointed a knife in his direction. "In case any of you were wondering? That is the voice of reason talking."
Dillon saw a flash of white out of the corner of his eye and reached out, faster than even she could react. She twisted, automatic, and he knew he'd just triggered her self-defense training. But unlike him, her first reaction wasn't to strike, and he was left holding an empty lab coat.
He ignored her glare, tossing the coat over the chair next to him and going back to peeling tomatoes. She stood very still for a moment, then shook her head and kept walking. Dillon smiled at the table.
"Sign, please." An official looking piece of paper landed on the counter beside him, and he looked up at Summer's expectant expression.
He frowned back at the paper. "What's this?"
"Paperwork," she said succinctly.
Dillon rolled his eyes. "Yes, work in the form of paper. Thank you. That was so helpful."
She smiled sweetly, but she did relent. "Citizenship petitions for Gem and Gemma. We're sponsoring them."
He tilted his head at her. "We are?"
"Pay it forward, Dillon." She produced a pen and slapped it down on top of the paper. "There's more forms where that came from."
"Great," he grumbled, wiping his hands off before he reached for the pen.
"Hey, maybe we should copy these," Scott said, bringing over another official form and taking the chair next to Dillon without asking. "I mean, just the top sheet or whatever. For our wall."
"Our wall?" a sharp voice repeated archly.
Dillon glanced over his shoulder to find green eyes glaring up at Scott, who shrugged. "The wall?" he offered, waving at the screen in the briefing area. Or the area around it, which had been filled with decoder rings and thank-you cards and the butterfly picture Gem and Gemma had left for K to explain their earlier absence.
"I know which wall you're referring to," she informed him. "I take exception to the possessive 'our.' Also, you're in my seat."
"Oh, am I now," Scott said with a grin. "It's not 'our' wall, but it is 'your' chair? How does that work?"
"My coat is there," she snapped.
"Yeah, well, my decoder ring is on the wall," Scott countered.
"Mine was there first," she said primly.
Scott hesitated, and that was why he would lose.
"She's got a point there," Dillon remarked.
To his surprise, she turned and smiled at him. "Thank you," she declared. "Would you like some help with those tomatoes?"
He paused, looking from the bowl to her. "Do you know how to peel tomatoes?"
She frowned back at him. "Of course not," she said, like she couldn't imagine why he would ask. "I was told the act of offering had intrinsic significance."
Dillon looked over her shoulder just in time to catch Ziggy's eye. Ziggy saluted with the knife, amusement bright in his eyes, and Dillon felt his lips quirk. "I guess," he said, looking at her again. "If that's what they tell us."
She turned her frown on Scott, who was watching the exchange with a smirk on his face. "I believe Ranger Blue requires your presence," she told him.
"No, I'm fine," Flynn assured them. Then, "Hey!"
Ziggy, Dillon knew, had just whacked him on the shoulder.
"Oh, aye," Flynn added after a moment. "I could definitely, uh... use your help."
Scott rolled his eyes. He got up, though, just as Gemma chimed in, "We're all--"
"Finished here!" Gem said. "What can we--"
"Do next?" his twin wanted to know. "And what's a--"
"Decoder ring?" Gem's gaze didn't so much as flicker in the direction of the wall. Dillon didn't doubt that the two of them had memorized everything on it and could repeat the contents verbatim if pressed.
"It's a silly exercise in second-guessing other people's communication." This time it wasn't Summer who answered, and Dillon narrowed his eyes as the chair beside him stayed vacant. She peeled one of the lists off of the wall and took it over to the twins.
Her own, he noticed. And she had been unexpectedly careful about removing it.
"Hey, we should make a decoder ring for Gem and Gemma," Ziggy said, like he had just thought of it.
"Aye," Flynn said, "but none of us have the slightest idea what they're saying."
"Small problem," Ziggy admitted.
Dillon followed their exchange while he listened with more than half an ear to the explanation taking place at the table. "Someone writes something you said on the left side," she was saying, "and then they put what they think you meant over here, on the other side."
"What if you--" Gem actually paused here, not just waiting for his sister, but frowning slightly as he thought about it.
Gemma jumped in anyway. "Meant what you said?" she asked.
"Don't try to apply logic to the exercise. It's more of a... creativity challenge."
"Oh, that," Gemma said with a smile.
"We're good at!" Gem finished.
"Also," Ziggy was saying, "we'd probably have to have just one decoder ring for the two of them. Since they say everything together."
"Not true," Scott said.
Dillon looked over at him, and he wasn't the only one. The twins continued asking questions about the list like they weren't paying any attention. He knew better.
Scott shrugged in the face of everyone's silent curiosity. "They still talk when they're not in the same room together. To other people, I mean."
"To you, you mean," Ziggy scoffed. "Can't prove it by me, is all I'm saying."
"So the whole--"
"Team works on this?" The twins--and their "best friend"--were bent over the list with all the studious air of scientists trying to figure out some interesting anthropological quirk. And if Dillon thought the analogy wasn't apt, he might find it more charming.
"Actually, Dillon did all of these." She said it in a funny tone that he didn't recognize until she added, "He started it, so all the ones at the top are his."
She was smiling. That was what made her sound different.
"You mean, his," Gem said.
"But really yours?" Gemma added.
"He wrote down some things I said to Ziggy," she explained. "Then he wrote down what he thought they meant."
"Wow," Gemma said, tilting her head to one side as she narrowed her eyes at the list. Dillon could almost see the words being filed as she reviewed them.
"He knows you," Gem remarked.
"Really well," Gemma said.
They probably didn't mean for that to sound so creepy, Dillon thought.
no subject
I loved all the exchanges, but especially Ziggy being the one telling Dr. K about "offering" and "intrinsic value". That was great! And I loved Ziggy smacking Flynn so that Dr. K could take her seat. :-)
no subject
Other than that, very fantastic story, I love you work, as always.
no subject
Also, I so need to catch up with your RPM stuffs! But I don't know where I left off! This is a problem. I remember reading the one with the crossing over into other dimensions, and I read your OT3 (very hot!) fic with the puppy. But I have no clue what I read up to. *Will have to go looking later* :D
Much love! ♥
no subject
And, yay, Gemma's diary page, with the space-age unicorn! I love their drawings :) Which RPM characters have journals?