(Untitled)

[reckless_rebel]

Characters: Dash/Tommy (reckless_rebel ), Ran/Gert (nobodysheroine ), Dino/Chase (fistyguns ) and Chase/Old Lace (velociraptornot )
Date/Time: After this.
Location: The wilderness is a shoe store
Rating: TBA
Summary: Dash goes looking for the "dino thief" who "stole" Chase. The culprit turns out to be... Dino.

Ran, Dash and Dino, together with Chase make one strange set of dysfunction.

Comments

[fistyguns]

He had been staring at his wheelie shoes for most of her speech, acting like he wasn't listening, when in reality every word and every sound she spoke resounded in his head.

He looked from his shoes, just barely bring his head up and straight at Ran as she said the words "...I can't take her from you." His eyes flicked to Dash's forearm where Ran's hand was resting. If one looked close enough they could have seen a fire flash across Dino's eyes. Dino said nothing, instead he looked up at Dinorap. Silent words passing between them, eventually he nodded and sighed conceding his defeat.

Dino's slumped shoulders straightened themselves out, he raised himself to his full height and looked both Ran and Dash straight in the eye. "Don't worry, it's fine," he said, his tightened to a straight line. He nodded to Dinorap signaling her to come over to him. Her long legs had looming over Dino in mere seconds.

Dino reached one hand up along her shoulder, petting her gently. Dinorap nuzzled her snout into his shoulder, purring as non-menacingly as, well, a velociraptor could. Dino's eye sparkled the way 5 years old might visiting a dinosaur museum for the first time. And like the way a 5 year old playing with his new puppy might, Dino gently laid his own cheek against her scaly one, then gave her the lightest, little kiss he could.

His hands dropped from where they were patting Dinorap, and he turned back to Dash and Ran, "Chase is all your now."

[reckless_rebel]

Dash subsided as Ran touched his arm. He stepped back with the pressure, a sort of symbolic, silent all yours, I concede. He rolled his shoulders in another shrug, stared at Dino over the top of Ran's head and then just... Let it go. The anger had been there, now it was gone, and Dash moved on.

Dash still wasn't sure what the hell was going on, but it seemed to be resolved. Sort of. He got the feeling Dino didn't like him, even though the guy was focusing mainly on Ran and Chase. That didn't really bug Dash, he didn't feel animosity towards Dino, but he didn't exactly need the guy's approval either.

It was sort of interesting to watch Dino treat Chase with similar affection to how Ran treated her. Weird, a little unnerving when put on top of the fact they both shared some connection to the same dinosaur, and especially considering what that scene had been just now. There was definitely something going on there, but now was not the time to ask about it. Especially considering that Dash got the feeling neither of them really knew what it was anyway.

To sum up the situation, Dash would definitely use the word complicated. He expected Ran would probably have another word for it, one he might not even be able to pronounce, because she would of course have a word for everything.

Dash managed to hold his tongue and not comment when Dino turned to them and sort of, relinquished ownership. Anything he might say couldn't really help the situation, and at the moment trying to lighten the mood would probably just be taken as trying to incite something. So he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away, pretending to be really interested in a pair or ugly rubber boots.

[nobodysheroine]

Ran could feel her mouth frown, small at first, and then deeper as she watched Dino turn away from them. Another strange painful flutter of something rustled inside her, like a skipped heartbeat, as he nodded -- just the smallest of gestures -- and was able to call Chase to him without hesitation. She recognized it, she knew what that was like, because Ran did it all the time herself, almost without having to think about it. It was strange, seeing Dino interact with Chase in a way so familiar and so much like what she saw in herself if she merely too a minute to replay some of their moments together, that Ran couldn't help but shake her head no the minute Dino said the words, "Chase is all yours now."

It felt wrong and terribly unfair and there was something else also, that whisper that followed her everywhere seemed to say something that felt like sadness immediately followed by the sentiment, don't let him. So Ran quickly closed the distance between her and Dino, moving away from Dash's side, still shaking her head -- her expression somewhere between confusion and irritation and disbelief.

And without thinking, once she was close enough, Ran reached out and touched Dino on the arm, almost in a perfect echo of how she'd touched Dash, her fingers reaching for his forearm, sliding against the curve of it inwards until she had a solid grasp on him. And instead of pushing, she tugged -- a firm motion to pull him back towards her as she looked up him with an almost annoyed distress in her eyes. "Why are you being so difficult?" she asked pointedly. "You're not going to fight for her, you're just going to roll over now? She doesn't want that." With one arm she gestured back towards Chase who was no standing a small distance behind them, her head bowed and the ridge of her brow low against the bright red rounds of her eyes.

[fistyguns]

Heat rushed through his body, spreading from the point of contact where Ran and he connected. Dino spun back on his heel as she pulled him. Dino peered down at Ran, who was glowering up at him over her glasses. His eyebrows squeezed together partly in confusion over her sudden gesture and partly over why she was suddenly telling not to back down.

Dino hopped to god he wasn't turning red. He looked at Dash, Dinorap and then back down at Ran, "I thought this was what you wanted?" He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand without pulling away. Her touch made him feel serene but insane, he felt relaxed and agitated, everything all at the same time. But more and more he became antsy, like he would jump out of his skin at any moment.

"I did fight for her, I fought hard." Dino shrugged still confused, he spoke defensively. "But you and your posse didn't listen to what I was saying, you all hounded on me."

"But that's not the point," he said pausing, looking at his shoes "She knows I'm not abandoning her, she knows I'll see her again. And besides, if you're unhappy, she'd be unhappy." He briefly looked at Dash and Dinorap again then back to Ran once again and smirked, "and we wouldn't want that now?"

Awkwardly Dino attempt to slide his arm out of her hands, his elbow hit her cheek.

[reckless_rebel]

Yep. Ugly rubber boots sure were miiiiighty interesting. Dash eavesdropped shamelessly even as he kept himself turned away from the whole scene, arms still crossed in a 'don't mind me' sort of stance.

Still not a point he could interrupt on. Ran was confusing, one minute coming to Dash's side, the next going to Dino's. It was, Dash decided, something he'd ask about later, because obviously there was something going on there, but he sort of felt like a third wheel at the moment. And he'd tacitly, if not explicitly, given Ran a sort of I will not go alpha male here promise by backing off earlier.

Chase made a disgruntled sort of "rrr" that caused Dash to glance over at the two, frowning a little when he noted the proximity and the way they both moved; he'd obviously missed something.

He wanted to comment, but instead he just caught Dino's eye over the top of Ran's head, raised an eyebrow as if to ask Okay, what did I miss buddy?

[nobodysheroine]

"Ow."

Ran clutched at her cheek with a small wince, the soft round above her cheekbone throbbing lightly beneath her fingertips. Her skin felt hot from where Dino's elbow had made blunt and awkward contact, but Ran could tell that her hand did too, as if her brain was suddenly playing catch up with her body again and she was only just starting to realize that she had touched Dino with that hand and, for some reason, her fingers were tingling. Like her hand had inexplicably fallen asleep, only warmer, more concentrated, and not nearly as unpleasant.

"No," she eventually said, her voice disgruntled, pressing her glasses up the bridge of her nose with her free hand and looking at Dino again. "We wouldn't want that." Her bottom lip slid out from under her top in a pouting scowl. "But I don't you wandering off into the sunset thinking you can be a martyr about all this either." Ran paused and dropping her hand away from her face now, exposing the red mark that had blossomed on her cheek. "And I'm sorry if I gave you such a hard time, but thinking that she's running around with somebody else in her head is not the easiest thing to be 'oh okay' over. I mean, it's not like you believed me either, but," and Ran shook her head, "whatever, it's done and I've said I'm sorry and so..."

Ran looked at Dino, somewhat helplessly, as if she wasn't quite sure how to finish her sentence and thought maybe he'd know what came next. There was a nagging feeling she was experiencing now, a strange sense of is that all? that she couldn't quite put to rest. As if their meeting was proving itself to be unsatisfying, but the details -- the hows and the whys and the whos -- were still lost to her.

[fistyguns]

Dino's eyes winced as he say the red mark he had left on her face, "So-sorry." He said, reaching his hand out to her cheek and then quickly bring it back to himself.

"Yeah, I was being a moron. But I didn't know it was you...uh, I mean. I thought, I mean, I thought she was suppose to be with me," he stuttered.

"It's my fault," his voice changed, suddenly more steady and sure. He let his hand fall, purposefully brushing his the back of his fingers across her hand.

He moved away and brought his hand to his face, running his fingers through his hair. "She's yours, she's here to keep you safe." He knew what he was saying and how crazy he probably sounded. But Dinorap should be with her and Dinorap knew that too. Right now seemed, like Ran needed her more than Dino did and it wasn't like Dino and Dinorap were separating forever.

"Uh, well...I'm not sure what to say, clearly just messing stuff up in this place. So, I think it's about time I go." He said, point his thumb behind him. Dino smiled awkwardly and waved to the three he was leaving behind.

[reckless_rebel]

Ow was not a good noise, but Ran didn't look in distress. On the other hand, whatever it was Dash had missed had Ran rubbing her cheek and Dino apologizing. So, probably accident? But still, not cool.

Dash gave up the idea of staying out of their business, moved with his emotions that told him hey man, even if it was an accident he hurt Ran. Not cool. He stepped up to Ran's side, watching Dino without hostility, but without much warmth either. He wasn't going to get all up on the alpha male thing again, but he couldn't approve of anyone that made Ran say ow. Not to mention, when Dash sort of glanced down and to the side there was a slightly painful looking red mark on Ran's cheek. Probably not bad enough to bruise, but still, not cool.

"You okay?" He asked, hunching his shoulders a little as he looked away from Ran to eye Dino some more. "Yeah, uh, see you around man." Personally he was happy enough to let Dino make good his escape. Things were resolved weren't they? What was the point in making them more complicated than they had to be? But then, he supposed, girls were like that. Not that he minded exactly, that was what made Ran interesting. But it was sort of frustrating.

[nobodysheroine]

Ran looked Dash sideways, her glasses sliding down her nose as she raised her eyebrows at him and said quietly, "Yeah, I'm okay. It was an accident." She was afraid that Dash would perhaps try to start something, knowing that, based on their conversation the day before, he didn't take kindly to people messing with her or with Chase. So when Dash didn't, just called out to Dino with that unapologetically disingenuous flatness that teenage boys seemed to be stellar at delivering, Ran sighed the tiniest sigh of relief, even though the feeling didn't last very long.

In all honestly, she was mildly irritated with herself that things suddenly felt as complicated as they did between herself and Dash and Dino and Chase. It felt like drama -- which was something Ran liked to consider herself inherently allergic too -- and yet, here it was and with her in the center of it. Push, pull, back, forth -- she felt tugged in several directions at once, though the prominent ones at the moment seemed simple enough. Go after him, part of her said. No, stay here.

"You're going to have to come visit her later," she eventually blurted out, raising her voice slightly to call after him. She gave Dash the quickest sideways look before adding,"you know how moody she'll get if you don't."

Unsure if that was enough to get her point across, Ran turned her head to look at Chase who trotted up slowly to be beside her, bending down so that she stood only at half height, head low. The dinosaur didn't look at Ran, but rather watched Dino go, her eyes somewhat sat but also wet with some kind of defiant determination as Chase made a low rolling growl noise deep within her throat. Reaching up to pet her, rubbing a hand along the thick, hard muscles of her neck, Ran thought very hard at Chase, much harder than she knew was necessary, in the hopes that some of it -- some tiny trace of what she was feeling and thinking and wanting in that moment would somehow make its way across the divide that was slowly opening up between her and Dino.

[fistyguns]

Dino's hands were tucked tightly in his pockets, trying his best to hold on to the warmth, the something, that was already gone. His shoulders slumped a little as he heard Ran call after him, he didn't know how else he should have left it.

Everything was too confusing, and he had no clue what she had wanted him to say, when she was clearly expecting him to say something. The only thing he knew how to do right now was to runaway. He had hoped Dinorap would understand what he was doing, she probably understood more than he did.

His footsteps echoed in the silence. It wasn't the right time to be wheeling away. A rush of emotion suddenly hit him from the back of his head. Dino stopped. Probably looked like an idiot to the people he was walking away from. Hope, confusion, guilt, want, need, explinations, regrets, all of it spilled and over flowed in his mind.

He lifted his hand and without turning around Dino gave her short wave, goodbye.