(Untitled)

[first_sixth]

If questioned, Tommy Oliver would be the first to admit that he doesn't visit Angel Grove as often as he should, or as often as he wants to. He'd also be the first to protest that it's really not his fault, at least to those cleared to know what goes on in his everyday life. Having a full-time civilian job and pulling full-time Ranger duty as well

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[first_sixth]

Tommy hugs David just as tightly; he's used to being bear-hugged people people who are bigger than he is, at this point. He grins when his brother lets him go and walks into the Trueheart house; not much has changed since he was last here, when he'd paid a visit to let Sam and David know that he was going to be teaching at Reefside High.

"'Playing around with creeps'?" he parrots back, arching an eyebrow. "Well, things are pretty quiet right now, hence why I was able to get this much time away from town. No promises about not having to suddenly get up and go tango with triptoids or something, though." Tango with triptoids, mambo with monsters... Ethan's Rumba Monkey had been interesting, to say the least.

Tommy'll get around to the business part of his visit soon enough, but that's not the only reason he's here. Mostly it's to see family he only gets to visit far too infrequently. There's something about David's initial reaction when he first opened the door, however, that makes Tommy wonder whether or not the guy was expecting him to show up. He gives his brother a suspicious look; he doesn't doubt that Sam would have reminded David, particularly considering that Tommy called when he left Reefside a few hours ago to let them know he was on his way.

"David. Bro. Don't tell me that you forgot I was going to be getting here this afternoon..." He shakes his head. "Aww, man! You're worse than I am. Even I wouldn't forget if you were coming to Reefside!"

Clearly, it's genetic.

[mways_pr_npc]

David pauses, his brow furrowing as he realizes that he -did-, in fact, forget that Tommy was coming to Angel Grove. "Oh," he says, sounding sheepish. "Well. It just makes it more of a surprise for me, this way."

He rather likes surprises, so he's fine with that.

[first_sixth]

"You're wearing pants and you remember that I exist, so I guess I can be content with that," Tommy replies with a grin. "It's been a few months, Bro. How have you been? Sam's truck isn't in the driveway, so I guess he trusts you not to burn the house down or anything."

Tommy's mother bought him an unnaturally loud tea kettle as a housewarming present, when he moved to Reefside. She, clearly, is still worried about her nearing-30 son's ability to not inadvertently kill himself. Oh, if only she knew...

[mways_pr_npc]

"I'm a grown adult," David says, sniffing a little in a way as if he's been insulted. "I'm not going to burn anything down anytime soon."

Well, there had been that time last week, when he'd forgotten about food on the oven. But there's no need to mention that, is there?

"It's just been the usual routine. Work, sleep, with the occasional break inbetween. Far less exciting than yours." He doesn't look unhappy with this, though. Not everyone needs to be fighting off rumba monkeys.

[first_sixth]

No need to mention it at all, David. Though Tommy will probably find out anyway, through some means. Devious or otherwise.

"Hey, there's not as much to excitement as you'd think, sometimes. The end of the semester's a bit of a pain, actually, what with administering the kids' finals. One of my co-workers had to take off suddenly because of family emergency, so I got to proctor her final as well. As for the rest of the it..."

Tommy grins and plops down on the sofa. "I'm not gonna pretend that I don't enjoy being back in uniform, though it's starting to feel like I'm some sort of magnet for trouble. It's a bit weird sometimes, given that the rest of my team is younger than me, but... once a Ranger, always a Ranger. I don't think I'm gonna be getting away from it anytime soon. And, speaking of kids, how are your students? Lettin' 'em kick your butt every once in a while?"

[mways_pr_npc]

"Only once in awhile," David says, taking a seat as well. "I can't let them win too often, after all, or they'll never learn."

It was a part of the learning process, after all, to adjust to the fact that you may not necessarily always win. To learn how to push against it. He'd learned that himself, the hard way.

"I'm not sure you came to talk about my classes, though," he observes. "I can tell when you have something on your mind, Tommy."

And his brother is rambling, just a little. That's a clue, too.

[first_sixth]

"Mine are still trying to bend their minds around that. Occasionally they'll land a lucky kick or two, but..."

Tommy trails off and sighs. "Know me too well, huh?" He leans back on the sofa a bit. "Well, I guess I'll stop beating around the bush, then. First and foremost I came to see you and Sam, but like I mentioned a couple weeks ago..."

How to phrase this. It's not exactly a conversation that Tommy's really sure how to proceed with. Telling his parents that he was dating Kim had been easy. He suspects they figured out on their own that he and Kat were doing a bit more than dating. The ease of those situations just makes this more difficult.

"Well, I've got a bit of a problem. Or at least, there's a situation that I'm trying to deal with, and I'm afraid that if I start trying to discuss it with the other involved party, they're going to get all weird on me and refuse to talk about things unless I can go in already having used someone as a sounding board. And you're really the only one I trust to listen, right now."

[mways_pr_npc]

"You're rambling," David observes. "Rambling and letting yourself go around in circles. Just say it straight - I'm already used to you, I'm not going to take off running if you're weird."

[first_sixth]

"I... weird. Thank you, David, that makes me feel so much better about things." Tommy gets up and begins to pace; it doesn't really help him think any better, but it does help to expend a bit of nervous energy. He hadn't expected for things to be this difficult, it was supposed to be a simple talk with his brother, one that would help him figure out how to approach the delicate matter with Jason.

Right now, he finds that he'd rather be kissing Mesogog full on his fangy mouth than standing in the Truehearts' living room. He wonders if David realises just how ironic his phrasing was.

"It's about Jase," he says finally. "Er, Jason Scott, that is. You've met him, he was my best friend in high school. Anyway, we're, uh..." Tommy stops pacing and sighs. "More than friends. And considering that we're both going to be in town, with our families, over the next few days..."

Tommy looks a bit helpless, to say nothing of worried and possibly a bit embarrassed. "We need to talk about that fact. Except I'm not sure how to bring it up without him freaking out, because last I checked, he was really touchy about the whole issue."

[mways_pr_npc]

Poor David. He'd have been more prepared for this if he had remembered that Tommy was arriving, but he's still a little blindsided by what had become a surprise visit. Now, he's blindsided by other news as well - like the fact that his brother is apparently into dating males, and the fact that his brother is dating Jason Scott.

Not that either of these things change anything, but they're still a new status quou to adjust to. Any normal person would have to pause for a moment over it. He's already had his moment, however, and there's more important things to deal with - like the fact Tommy seems to be pacing himself into a possible stress attack.

"Calm down," David says. "You're just making things worse for yourself. What issue is he touchy about?" There were... a lot of issues involved in this sort of thing, really. And depending on what Jason is reacting to, or how he's reacting, David may have to find him tomorrow and punch him in the face.

A fact that he will neglect to make clear to Tommy himself, of course.

[first_sixth]

"I don't know!" Tommy replies, more loudly than he'd intended to. He winces and sits down again. "I don't know. Well, I sort of do. From what I understand, it's mostly that his father kinda thinks that being gay and playing sports don't mix. Jase, needless to say, didn't handle that news well, and... I think it sort of killed some of his self-confidence. He said he was worried that others would say it, too."

Tommy rests his elbows on his knees and buries his face in his hands for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. Were it anyone but David, he wouldn't even be discussing this, and since he's never had to run through the information anywhere but in his own head, things are a bit difficult.

"I'm worried that if I mention our families, that will stir up bad memories and make him clam up. But it's something that we need to talk about, even if it's just to say, 'Hey, let's keep things under wraps for now'. It's not like I hold the discomfort about the subject against him, but it really does make things a bit hard to discuss."

He sighs. "Add onto that my own worry that I'll mess things up by accidentally saying something I shouldn't in front of my parents, or worse, Jason's. I don't want to get his dad all riled up, and I don't even know how my parents would react. I think they still expect me to get back together with Kat, have kids, settle down, and get a real job." The latter is Tommy's own worry, namely that when he first announced that he was going to be a teacher, his parents had seemed a little less enthusiastic than usual. Almost as if it was beneath Tommy's level to teach kids.

[mways_pr_npc]

"Well," David says. "If you don't mention it, and talk it through before the fact - it seems like something's likely to come up, anyway. Don't you think he would handle it worse without preparation?"

He stands up and takes the few steps to cross the distance between him and Tommy, laying a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Isn't it also possible that he's sharing these exact worries, and wondering about how to discuss it with you?"

[first_sixth]

"I guess it's possible." Tommy sighs, relaxing a bit at the hand on his shoulder. "I'm just worried that I'm going to bring the topic up in the wrong way. I'm good at doing that."

He smiles apologetically. "Kinda like I didn't drop this bomb on you in the most polite of ways, either. I should've thought about things more."

[mways_pr_npc]

"I'm mostly reeling," David says, choosing his own words carefully, "At the apparent identity of that 'hot date' he brags about so much at work after some weekends."

It's slipping his own mind that he's never actually mentioned to Tommy that the two work in the same place. They may be a little even now.

[first_sixth]

"I..." Tommy turns a rather interesting shade and buries his face in his hands again. "Oh, my God."

"Please, please tell me he's keeping his tongue holstered instead of going into detail about those weekend visits," he mutters, admittedly without much hope, before suddenly looking up as another, very important piece of information processes.

"You two work together? Why didn't either of you tell me?"

[mways_pr_npc]

David blinks, his expression blank for a long moment as he considers this.

"....we didn't?" he asks, finally, which is enough of an answer in itself.