A Little Laughter, by shoujokakumei, Shane/Dustin
Title: A Little Laughter (Or Happy Ever After)
Author: shoujokakumei
Relationship: Shane/Dustin
Rating: PG
Warnings (and notes): Uh, takes place during the series as opposed to the Dustin-birthday in "Girl Colors" which was a few years post-series. :o (This is me covering up for the fact that I forgot I already sort of used that plot.) Title is from "You Are The Music In Me" from HSM2. This got a little more cracky than I wanted it to as a result of it being unusually hard to write. xD; Slash, not mine.
A Little Laughter (Or Happy Ever After)
--
It was Dustin's birthday, and Shane was wondering absently why it was always his job to get birthday cakes while he stood in the unnaturally long line at the supermarket. Blake and Hunter had been roped into helping Tori and Kelly decorate Storm Chargers, though, and the way Tori ordered him to go get the cake had sent him running as fast as possible. Girls were scary when they were planning things.
"God help Blake if he and Tori ever get married," he muttered under his breath.
Shane got back to the store shortly after 3:00, glad that at least Dustin was consistent in being late for work - he probably wouldn't show up for another fifteen minutes. Kelly had purposely scheduled him to work so the others could throw him a surprise party - Shane had to listen to him complain about having to work on his birthday for the past week, and he'd been tempted more than once to tell his boyfriend the truth just to shut him up.
Blake and Hunter had done a decent job, Shane noted - in making a complete mess of Kelly's store. Balloons and streamers were tossed pretty much everywhere, and if he wasn't mistaken, they had thrown yellow glitter all over the floor. That could not have been Tori's idea.
"Uh, why is there glitter on the floor?" He asked, setting the cake box down on the short table in the little alcove by the register.
Tori rolled her eyes. "Because Hunter is a five-year-old."
"And he's staying late to clean it up!" Kelly shouted from the back room. She was taking inventory, and now that the decorating - if it could be called that - was done, Blake was hanging out behind the counter, in case any customers showed up. For the most part, the store's regular clientele was a pretty laid-back crowd, which was how they could get away with this to begin with.
"It'll come up when you vacuum!" Hunter shouted back.
"No, it'll come up when YOU vacuum." Kelly walked out carrying a crate of things to be put on display. "Last time I checked, I was paying you for something."
Hunter batted his eyelashes. "I thought that's just because I'm so pretty."
Tori groaned. Blake threw a prepackaged air filter at his brother's head. Shane laughed. Before Kelly could respond, the door flew open, and Dustin came running in, backpack thrown over one shoulder, already apologizing for being late - before he slipped on all the glitter and fell over a display of wakeboards.
Kelly shook her head. "It's a good thing I didn't actually intend for you to work today."
Shane helped Dustin scramble up off the floor. "Well, happy birthday, at any rate."
"Dude, there's glitter all over the floor... why?"
"Tori let Hunter decorate," Blake said, snickering. "We did the normal stuff like the balloons."
Dustin blinked. "So, wait, I'm not actually late?"
"Well, you are. But for your birthday party instead of work," Shane explained.
"Way to go, dude," Hunter added.
After they got the wakeboard display that Dustin had fallen over put back together, Kelly took over the register so Blake could join them. Cam finally showed up during the display-fixing fun, claiming he'd lost track of time while doing computer upgrades.
"So, presents or cake first?" Hunter wanted to know.
"I vote presents," Kelly volunteered. "You guys will need the energy from the sugar rush to clean up after closing." She shot a pointed glance at Hunter, prompting Cam to look at him accusingly as well.
"Hey, no ganging up on me," he protested.
Dustin grinned. "I'm gonna go with Kelly on this one."
"Awesome." Hunter grabbed a box off the floor by the side of the couch and tossed it at Dustin. "This is from Blake and me."
"For the record, I had very little say in that," Blake added. "I just happened to be on the same shopping trip."
Dustin grinned, tore the paper off the haphazardly-wrapped box, and opened it. "Uh..."
"Is that a stuffed lion riding a Harley?" Shane asked, scratching his head.
"Dude, there's this awful place in the mall in Reefside that sells all kinds of stuff like that," Hunter said, as though that was an explanation.
"Okay, dude... Uh, thanks?" Dustin set what had to be the weirdest toy he'd ever owned on the table.
Cam pulled a thin package out of his backpack and handed it to Dustin. "Moving on," he deadpanned. "Don't think this means I condone you playing video games on my computer, though."
Dustin grinned and ripped the paper off. "MX Unleashed for Playstation! Dude, awesome!" He flipped the game box over to look at the back. "Oh, man, this looks so sweet. I read on the 'net that they made some of the freestyle tricks mad realistic."
"Wonderful, now we're never going to see him again," Tori said, shaking her head. "You do know you can do that stuff for real if you go outside, right?"
"Nobody ever broke their neck playing a video game," Shane countered. "Besides, video games are good for your hand-eye coordination, or whatever."
"Or whatever," Tori mimicked. "Here, this is from Kelly." She slid a decorative gift bag across the floor. Dustin dug around in the tissue paper and pulled out a black and yellow motocross jersey with his name and number screenprinted on the back.
"Hey, Kel, this is awesome!"
"Well, I sponsor you, right? You have to look good." She leaned on the counter, a smile on her face. "It's not completely altruistic."
Dustin scratched his head. "Uh, what's 'altruistic' mean?"
"It means that next year, I'm getting you a dictionary," Cam said.
"Dude... What?"
"Never mind, Dustin." Tori tossed another gift bag at him, this one smaller. "This is from me, and has nothing to do with motorcycles."
Dustin eyed the bag warily. "It's not gonna, like, explode or bite me or something, is it?"
"How do you get THAT from 'has nothing to do with motorcycles'?" Shane asked.
Tori sighed. "Oh, just open it. At least it's not that "I'm not gay but my boyfriend is" t-shirt that we had to talk Hunter out of getting for you."
"That was funny," Hunter pouted. Cam gave him a glare that very openly read, 'Don't even think about it,' and he pouted some more.
Dustin eyed the stuffed lion again, wondered how many other weird ideas of Hunter's that Tori and the others had vetoed, and looked in the bag. "Uh, Tor, thanks, but I already have a watch."
Tori raised an eyebrow. "You broke it at the track," she reminded him.
Dustin blinked. "No I didn't." He glanced at his left wrist. Where the hell was his watch, anyway?
"Yeah, you did, dude.. It was like, a year ago." Shane punched him in the shoulder. "It was, like, the one time you ever remembered to wear it."
"Uh, why don't I remember this?" Dustin scratched his head absently.
"Dustin, we all ask ourselves that about you on a regular basis," Cam remarked, prompting more snickering from Blake and Hunter.
Meanwhile, Kelly was watching from behind the counter, trying to keep a straight face as she listened to the exchange. She supposed she was unreasonably attached to this ragtag group of kids, but they were a good bunch - even Blake and Hunter, once they'd worked out whatever issues they had going on.
Once they were all done making fun of Dustin for the long-forgotten broken watch, Shane took a small box out of his jacket pocket and handed it over. He'd drawn a total blank on the 'things to get your boyfriend for his birthday' brainstorming. Dustin opened it and lifted out a black leather cord with a pendant made of a lightweight yellow-tinted metal in the shape of a downward-pointed triangle with a horizontal line through the middle. He blinked, recognizing it as the alchemical symbol for his ninja element, and grinned widely.
"Man, where'd you even find this?"
"You like it?" Shane looked relieved. "Tori pointed me to this new age shop downtown."
"No doubt." Dustin pulled it over his head, and looked up to catch Shane's gaze briefly. "Thanks, dude." Shane smiled.
Hunter cleared his throat. "So, are we gonna eat now, or are we gonna wait until after you guys make out?"
Kelly made a mental note to have a talk with Hunter about discretion later. Shane took the more direct route of kicking him in the shin.
--
List of 22 - laughter
Author: shoujokakumei
Relationship: Shane/Dustin
Rating: PG
Warnings (and notes): Uh, takes place during the series as opposed to the Dustin-birthday in "Girl Colors" which was a few years post-series. :o (This is me covering up for the fact that I forgot I already sort of used that plot.) Title is from "You Are The Music In Me" from HSM2. This got a little more cracky than I wanted it to as a result of it being unusually hard to write. xD; Slash, not mine.
A Little Laughter (Or Happy Ever After)
--
It was Dustin's birthday, and Shane was wondering absently why it was always his job to get birthday cakes while he stood in the unnaturally long line at the supermarket. Blake and Hunter had been roped into helping Tori and Kelly decorate Storm Chargers, though, and the way Tori ordered him to go get the cake had sent him running as fast as possible. Girls were scary when they were planning things.
"God help Blake if he and Tori ever get married," he muttered under his breath.
Shane got back to the store shortly after 3:00, glad that at least Dustin was consistent in being late for work - he probably wouldn't show up for another fifteen minutes. Kelly had purposely scheduled him to work so the others could throw him a surprise party - Shane had to listen to him complain about having to work on his birthday for the past week, and he'd been tempted more than once to tell his boyfriend the truth just to shut him up.
Blake and Hunter had done a decent job, Shane noted - in making a complete mess of Kelly's store. Balloons and streamers were tossed pretty much everywhere, and if he wasn't mistaken, they had thrown yellow glitter all over the floor. That could not have been Tori's idea.
"Uh, why is there glitter on the floor?" He asked, setting the cake box down on the short table in the little alcove by the register.
Tori rolled her eyes. "Because Hunter is a five-year-old."
"And he's staying late to clean it up!" Kelly shouted from the back room. She was taking inventory, and now that the decorating - if it could be called that - was done, Blake was hanging out behind the counter, in case any customers showed up. For the most part, the store's regular clientele was a pretty laid-back crowd, which was how they could get away with this to begin with.
"It'll come up when you vacuum!" Hunter shouted back.
"No, it'll come up when YOU vacuum." Kelly walked out carrying a crate of things to be put on display. "Last time I checked, I was paying you for something."
Hunter batted his eyelashes. "I thought that's just because I'm so pretty."
Tori groaned. Blake threw a prepackaged air filter at his brother's head. Shane laughed. Before Kelly could respond, the door flew open, and Dustin came running in, backpack thrown over one shoulder, already apologizing for being late - before he slipped on all the glitter and fell over a display of wakeboards.
Kelly shook her head. "It's a good thing I didn't actually intend for you to work today."
Shane helped Dustin scramble up off the floor. "Well, happy birthday, at any rate."
"Dude, there's glitter all over the floor... why?"
"Tori let Hunter decorate," Blake said, snickering. "We did the normal stuff like the balloons."
Dustin blinked. "So, wait, I'm not actually late?"
"Well, you are. But for your birthday party instead of work," Shane explained.
"Way to go, dude," Hunter added.
After they got the wakeboard display that Dustin had fallen over put back together, Kelly took over the register so Blake could join them. Cam finally showed up during the display-fixing fun, claiming he'd lost track of time while doing computer upgrades.
"So, presents or cake first?" Hunter wanted to know.
"I vote presents," Kelly volunteered. "You guys will need the energy from the sugar rush to clean up after closing." She shot a pointed glance at Hunter, prompting Cam to look at him accusingly as well.
"Hey, no ganging up on me," he protested.
Dustin grinned. "I'm gonna go with Kelly on this one."
"Awesome." Hunter grabbed a box off the floor by the side of the couch and tossed it at Dustin. "This is from Blake and me."
"For the record, I had very little say in that," Blake added. "I just happened to be on the same shopping trip."
Dustin grinned, tore the paper off the haphazardly-wrapped box, and opened it. "Uh..."
"Is that a stuffed lion riding a Harley?" Shane asked, scratching his head.
"Dude, there's this awful place in the mall in Reefside that sells all kinds of stuff like that," Hunter said, as though that was an explanation.
"Okay, dude... Uh, thanks?" Dustin set what had to be the weirdest toy he'd ever owned on the table.
Cam pulled a thin package out of his backpack and handed it to Dustin. "Moving on," he deadpanned. "Don't think this means I condone you playing video games on my computer, though."
Dustin grinned and ripped the paper off. "MX Unleashed for Playstation! Dude, awesome!" He flipped the game box over to look at the back. "Oh, man, this looks so sweet. I read on the 'net that they made some of the freestyle tricks mad realistic."
"Wonderful, now we're never going to see him again," Tori said, shaking her head. "You do know you can do that stuff for real if you go outside, right?"
"Nobody ever broke their neck playing a video game," Shane countered. "Besides, video games are good for your hand-eye coordination, or whatever."
"Or whatever," Tori mimicked. "Here, this is from Kelly." She slid a decorative gift bag across the floor. Dustin dug around in the tissue paper and pulled out a black and yellow motocross jersey with his name and number screenprinted on the back.
"Hey, Kel, this is awesome!"
"Well, I sponsor you, right? You have to look good." She leaned on the counter, a smile on her face. "It's not completely altruistic."
Dustin scratched his head. "Uh, what's 'altruistic' mean?"
"It means that next year, I'm getting you a dictionary," Cam said.
"Dude... What?"
"Never mind, Dustin." Tori tossed another gift bag at him, this one smaller. "This is from me, and has nothing to do with motorcycles."
Dustin eyed the bag warily. "It's not gonna, like, explode or bite me or something, is it?"
"How do you get THAT from 'has nothing to do with motorcycles'?" Shane asked.
Tori sighed. "Oh, just open it. At least it's not that "I'm not gay but my boyfriend is" t-shirt that we had to talk Hunter out of getting for you."
"That was funny," Hunter pouted. Cam gave him a glare that very openly read, 'Don't even think about it,' and he pouted some more.
Dustin eyed the stuffed lion again, wondered how many other weird ideas of Hunter's that Tori and the others had vetoed, and looked in the bag. "Uh, Tor, thanks, but I already have a watch."
Tori raised an eyebrow. "You broke it at the track," she reminded him.
Dustin blinked. "No I didn't." He glanced at his left wrist. Where the hell was his watch, anyway?
"Yeah, you did, dude.. It was like, a year ago." Shane punched him in the shoulder. "It was, like, the one time you ever remembered to wear it."
"Uh, why don't I remember this?" Dustin scratched his head absently.
"Dustin, we all ask ourselves that about you on a regular basis," Cam remarked, prompting more snickering from Blake and Hunter.
Meanwhile, Kelly was watching from behind the counter, trying to keep a straight face as she listened to the exchange. She supposed she was unreasonably attached to this ragtag group of kids, but they were a good bunch - even Blake and Hunter, once they'd worked out whatever issues they had going on.
Once they were all done making fun of Dustin for the long-forgotten broken watch, Shane took a small box out of his jacket pocket and handed it over. He'd drawn a total blank on the 'things to get your boyfriend for his birthday' brainstorming. Dustin opened it and lifted out a black leather cord with a pendant made of a lightweight yellow-tinted metal in the shape of a downward-pointed triangle with a horizontal line through the middle. He blinked, recognizing it as the alchemical symbol for his ninja element, and grinned widely.
"Man, where'd you even find this?"
"You like it?" Shane looked relieved. "Tori pointed me to this new age shop downtown."
"No doubt." Dustin pulled it over his head, and looked up to catch Shane's gaze briefly. "Thanks, dude." Shane smiled.
Hunter cleared his throat. "So, are we gonna eat now, or are we gonna wait until after you guys make out?"
Kelly made a mental note to have a talk with Hunter about discretion later. Shane took the more direct route of kicking him in the shin.
--
List of 22 - laughter