UPON REFLECTION
Title: Upon Reflection
Fandom: Power Rangers RPM and Kamen Rider Dragon Knight
Genre: Slash/Romance/Drama
Characters: Flynn, Dillon, Kit
Rating: T
Warnings: Kissing, nothing more.
Summary: A relationship from two different perspectives. If a mirror is shattered, how many different ways do we see the same reflection?
Author's Note: This story is loosely inspired by the events of this fan-made trailer. Though the story takes an entirely different tone, and uses fewer of the key characters. Hope you enjoy!
UPON REFLECTION
"Terrible."
Kit looked at himself in the mirror with absolute disgust at what he was wearing. A black fedora atop his head, with a green and white striped sweater.
"Absolutely terrible."
In seconds, the hat and sweater were on the ground, along with the five other sets of clothing that laid strewn about the room. Kit turned up toward the mirror and stared at his own shirtless body, convinced that there was no way to make himself look the slightest bit appealing.
He lifted an arm to flex his biceps.
Nope. Not anywhere close to the kind of massive guns that belonged to his boyfriend. Not that he would even try to compete with Flynn. But the fact that he was dating someone with those looks made him feel inadequate. Like there was nothing he could do to match that kind of beauty.
Kit let out a sigh. What was he doing? Had he been away from Flynn so long that he completely forgot? Kit's thoughts drifted incoherently from one memory to another. Memories of the way Flynn's arms would wrap around him from behind as he kissed his neck just to say hello. Memories of the times they spent alone together, when Flynn made him feel like he was the most important thing in the world, and there was no one that could ever steal that place in his heart reserved just for Kit.
Kit shook his head as he realized he was thinking too much. Despite his age. Despite his naive, insecure, scatterbrained ways. He knew that Flynn cared deeply for him. And there was nothing left to question.
"Oh wow," Kit said aloud. It had not occurred to him until that moment that Flynn had already given him the perfect thing to wear for their date. He made a mad dash for the dresser and prayed that the shirt he was looking for would be there waiting for him, instead of lying at the bottom of a hamper, all sweaty and wrinkled.
What luck! Kit unfolded the shirt from the dresser and smiled gleefully.
Just then, Kit heard the sound of the mirror at his side beginning to ripple. A portal was opening between his world and the world beyond the glass reflection. In a moment, Len had emerged from the portal and walked into the room, only to find the young Kit Taylor standing shirtless in the middle of the room, ironing a shirt.
"Uhhhh."
Len took a look around the room. It looked as though a tornado had hit.
"Sup," Kit said.
"Hey," Len began, slightly confused. "Is everything okay here?"
"Oh, yeah, I just couldn't find what I was looking for."
"Are you going out? I thought we could squeeze in some extra training before dinner time. Unless... you have plans?"
"Didn't I tell you? I'm meeting Flynn today. Haven't seen him in, like, years."
Kit continued ironing his shirt long after all the creases had been smoothed out. He recognized the look on Len's face. It was the face he reserved for moments like this, when he was worried about him. As though he expected something terrible to happen. But Kit had allowed that worried face to change his plans on far too many occasions, and he simply refused to let it happen this time.
"Listen," Len started, hesitantly. It was clear to Kit that he was trying to say this carefully. "I think it's great that you've found a new friend and all, but I'm concerned about what might happen to you over there. I mean, we still don't know what caused the portal to open up between this world and Flynn's."
Kit tried to contain his annoyance at having heard Len refer to Flynn as "a new friend."
"Look," Kit said. "We jump through portals all the time to get to Ventara. We've all gone to the other Earth a few times. I've gone myself a few dozen times by now, and nothing's ever gone wrong. So I really don't think you have to be worried about that."
"I just... I don't want you to get hurt. The world needs you. This world."
"It's not like I'm going to stay. Radioactive deserts aren't really my thing. And if the bad guys show up, just reach out and touch somebody."
Kit demonstrated by lifting his arm and reaching directly through the reflection in his mirror. Len huffed disapprovingly as Kit retrieved his arm and threw the shirt on.
"Could you hand me that box?"
Len reluctantly grabbed the black box sitting on the table next to him and handed it to his teammate.
"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into."
"Thanks, mom," Kit joked.
Kit looked up at the clock on the wall and realized that it was almost time. The appointment they had selected over four weeks ago as the time when both parties would drop whatever they were doing in their lives and spend a night alone together.
It was 5:58. Saturday night. Date Night.
Suddenly, Kit began to grow anxious. As he stepped over to the mirror, he could feel his heart race in his chest. It had been a month since he had seen Flynn. So much time had passed that he might have even forgotten about their date.
And even if he did remember, he was a Power Ranger. Who could guess what might be going on the moment Kit arrived? Flynn may not even be there when Kit stepped through the mirror and into his bedroom. Oh god, Kit thought. What if he's not even there waiting for me? What if I walk right into a dark, empty room and it's nothing but silence?
But as he stood there, staring into the pair of blue eyes that looked right back at him from the mirror, he could almost feel the vibrations of the clock's hands as they locked into place.
5:59.
"Wish me luck," Kit said, nervously.
He didn't wait for Len to say "good luck." He was so anxious that he practically dove into the mirror as he opened the gateway that stood before him.
Kit closed his eyes as a chilling wave of energy flushed through his body, transporting him from one universe to the next in a matter of moments. And as the thousands of reflections from thousands of mirrors all across the multiverse passed him by, one after another, he prepared himself for whatever might await him on the other end of his journey.
Kit stepped out of the mirror with a delighted smile. The first thing he saw before passing through the portal was the face of his boyfriend, Flynn McAllister, waiting on the other side of the mirror.
"Hey," Kit said. His voice was slightly cracked.
And with good reason. As he inched his way closer to Flynn, he could hardly believe how perfect he looked. A black t-shirt clung tightly to his body, gripping his wide arms. There was a hint of cologne that lingered in the air as Kit stepped into Flynn's personal space.
The smell was intoxicating. Like the bottomless, dark eyes that stared back at him. Before Flynn could speak another word, Kit's lips were upon him. And for a moment, the room seemed to shrink.
It was as though no time had passed between them. And all the nights when Kit sat alone in the dark wondering about where Flynn might be, or what he was doing, or if he was even still alive after so many terrible battles. Those memories were tossed aside just as quickly as the clothes he had thrown about his own floor in an attempt to find the perfect shirt. The one he knew Flynn would want to see. The one that Flynn gave to him.
Kit was determined to pour every ounce of his emotion into this kiss. Before their lips were parted, Kit would have taken all of the passion of their time together, and all of the pain he felt from the separation, and hurl it all at Flynn in one great, undeniable burst. Even as Kit felt the near frantic exhale of his boyfriend, he would not let go until he had blasted him with every drop of his affection.
At long last, as he could feel the grip of Flynn's hand tightening against his back, Kit finally, mercifully released him. And he smiled. As the look on Flynn's face was so unbelievably nervous. It had to have worked.
"You have no idea how much I missed you," Kit said, shrugging away his nerves.
"I missed you too," Flynn replied.
His accent. No matter how often he heard it, Kit was still paralyzed by the elegance of the Scottish accent. Every time he spoke, it only served to make Kit feel like an idiot for butchering the English language so thoroughly, instead of melting the hearts of everyone he talked to the way Flynn must do on a daily basis.
Flynn gently placed a hand on Kit's cheek and all his prior anxiousness was washed away by the touch of him.
"How have you been?" Flynn asked, confidently.
Without warning, Kit practically flipped his way onto Flynn's bed, just as he had the last time he visited. At this point, he was growing just as comfortable there as in his own home.
"Pretty good," Kit answered. "Of course, it would have been a lot easier on me if I had you around more."
"I'm sorry," Flynn said lovingly. "I was gonna try and visit last week, but Dr. K wanted me to test out some sonic blaster upgrade thing. By the time we finished, it was already too late."
Kit could hear the remorse in his voice as he apologized, listing off all of the foolish reasons why things between them weren't always as great as they both wanted them to be. Kit looked into Flynn's eyes and knew that he was just as tortured by the distance between them as Kit was.
"Well, important thing is, you're here now just like we agreed."
"Yeah..."
Kit watched as Flynn's attention seemed to waver. As much as he hoped that their time apart would not dampen the mood, Kit knew that the distance was hurting their relationship.
But then he remembered.
"Here."
Flynn looked down to find that a black box was sitting atop Kit's hand. Kit wore a ridiculous grin on his face when he realized how surprised Flynn was at the sight of his present.
"What's this?" Flynn asked quietly.
"I hope you don't think this is too gay or something, but I got you a gift. It's been four months, so it's sort of like an anniversary... right?"
For a brief moment, time seemed to stop as Kit realized that he might have put too much thought into his gift. As strong as his desire was to show his new boyfriend how much he loved and missed him, he truly had no idea what he was doing. It was bad enough when he dated young ladies, but now that he was in a relationship with another man, he was positively lost. He silently wished that someone had invented a manual on same-sex dating so he could be spared the potential embarrassment of getting his lover a wildly inappropriate gift.
But instead of one of the dozens of terrible things Flynn could have said, he responded with "Y-You shouldn't have..."
Kit chose to ignore the slight hesitation in Flynn's voice. It was enough that he didn't give him a strange look, or ask him why he bought it, or what kind of a naive little kid would even think to buy something like this after only three pathetic months.
"Of course I should have," Kit laughed. "Who else am I gonna buy this stuff for? My OTHER boyfriend?"
Kit's eyes widened in horror as he realized what he had just said. Flynn looked as though he was about to drop the box in his hand. Though he tried to hide the discomfort from his face, Kit was far too familiar with it. Because it was a face that he had seen that night when they had first found each other alone in Kit's home, when everyone else had left or fallen asleep. The mix of surprise, elation, and fear upon realizing that the person sitting next to him shared the same confusing thoughts as he.
But just as Kit did on that cold, quiet night, he wanted to alleviate whatever fears Flynn could possibly have about them.
"Hey," Kit said, with a gentle whisper. "Are you okay?"
Flynn slunk into the backboard of his bed.
"Oh, I'm fine."
"Rough day?"
"You have no idea how rough."
"Aw, well maybe there's something I can do to make you feel better."
With a predatory look in his eye, Kit moved in for the kill. And as he clutched tightly to the front of Flynn's shirt, he smothered him with a passionate kiss. One powerful enough to relax the aching tension that Kit could feel in his muscles. Another victory. Kit almost wanted to laugh. This was a much easier battle than the one he faced as a Kamen Rider. A battle he was sure he could win. Especially when he unleashed his "Final Vent."
Kit slowly began to inch his hand down the length of Flynn's shirt, surfing the length of his torso toward his final destination. He needed only to move a bit closer and there would be no stopping them...
And then something stopped them.
The sound was amazingly loud. Much louder than any ringtone Kit had ever heard in his life. And it caused Flynn to break away almost immediately.
"Is that your phone?" Kit asked, slightly confused.
"Yeah, sort of," Flynn replied, quickly jumping up to grab it. "It's an emergency signal. I have to go. Ranger business... I'm really sorry."
It was easy for Flynn to detect Kit's disappointment through the false acceptance he placed over his face.
"It's okay," Kit said. "I understand..."
Kit hardly moved when he saw Flynn suddenly launch into his closet to grab his Ranger jacket and communicator. He moved so quickly. And as much as he tried to tell himself that this is what Flynn had to do- that his sense of duty to his job was so important that there was no way that he could waste any time when someone could need his help- it did not soften the sting of watching his boyfriend practically run away from the bed they both occupied.
Finally, Kit built up the courage to pull himself away from the bed. Before he could fully stand, Flynn was already kneeling over him to kiss him goodnight. Kit tried his best to make their last moment of contact count, but he hardly had time before Flynn turned around and headed for the door.
"I'll see you soon, I promise," Flynn insisted. He seemed genuinely upset that he was forced to leave. Kit knew that he could not hold it against him. Because he knew that, if Len had stepped through the mirror and told him about an enemy attack, he would jump up just as quickly to ensure that his people were safe.
Kit threw a smile upon his face as wide as he could stretch it, and said "... Go save the world."
Kit barely had time to turn around before his eyes filled up with tears. Flynn shuffled with the lock on the door as Kit walked over to the mirror and glanced at his own sorrowful reflection. Finally, he stepped into the cold portal wall and vanished behind it...
-------------------------
Flynn sighed contently as he sat upon Dillon's bed, nestled within the comforting warmth of the arm that was draped over him. He glanced over at his boyfriend, watching silently as he flipped through the pages of the old book. A ray of golden sunlight poured in through the window, casting a glow over the two of them as they laid there together.
The Blue Ranger took his time studying the features of Dillon's face under the majestic sunlight. He never would have expected that Dillon would be such an avid reader if he hadn't grown so much closer to him in this past month. Not that he took him for a fool before then, but he would never have thought of him as so contemplative and intelligent.
It was a side of himself that was reserved only for those that Dillon found worthy of seeing. Which meant, considering Dillon's only friends that he could even remember all happened to live in the same building, that Flynn's name was at the top of his short list.
Had it not been for their encounter several weeks earlier, when the Garage was empty except for just the two of them, Flynn would never have known. Never known the loving tenderness of Dillon's heart. Or the touch of Dillon's lips against his own. Or the way he would reach over in the middle of the night and bury his face into the back of his neck because he knows how much it drives him insane.
How Flynn's relationship with Dillon ever made it to this point was a mystery even to himself. If anyone had asked him, he would insist that he never meant for it to happen. But when the two collided accidentally in the hall that quiet night, it was like an electrical storm had come thundering through his heart. Emotions he thought he had suppressed came flooding back to him, and Dillon's eyes were so unbearably open and wanting, just like the hand that reached out to grab the back of his head and pull him closer before he could speak a word of protest.
Within the span of a month, they lived what felt like years together. And if Flynn thought fighting Venjix Attack-Bots was hard, then fighting Dillon's own unruly attitude was an absolute nightmare. It had taken over a week for the stubborn Black Ranger to even admit that what he felt for Flynn was more than just a passing physical curiosity. And another week for Dillon to admit to himself that he had always held feelings that he was too frightened to accept. But in the darkness, where there was no one but Dillon and Flynn, there was no doubting the sincerity in his affection.
No one would have fought this hard to "make it work" without having a desperate need for it. Flynn recognized this feeling because he was experiencing it too. And it was this very thought that kept him awake at night, hiding the tears before Dillon had a chance to roll him over and find them.
Suddenly, Dillon clapped his book closed and set it aside, pulling Flynn even closer. Flynn looked up with a nervous smile as a pair of serious eyes stared back at him.
"What?" Flynn asked, curiously. He was not accustomed to being stared at.
"Nothing," Dillon answered.
Flynn kept waiting for him to elaborate on his reply but it wasn't happening. Dillon just kept looking at him, a quiet smirk slowly creeping over his mouth.
"You just like staring at people now?" Flynn joked.
"Just one person," Dillon said.
How could Flynn not blush at such a comment? Dillon didn't often say much, even to his boyfriend. But Dillon could take two words and make them sound like two-hundred. Like the most achingly romantic poem Flynn would ever read. And then he would seal it with a kiss.
Kissing Dillon. If someone had asked him a month earlier what he would expect it to feel like, he would have been painfully wrong. Dillon's kisses were just as potent as his words when they were alone together. It took him weeks to stop from shivering from the fear that he would pull away too quickly, before Flynn had had enough. But he never did. He gave everything he had with every soft movement. Who would have suspected, Flynn thought, that Dillon's lips would be so soft?
At last Dillon released him from the haze of his kiss, and looked deeply into his eyes. And without warning, Dillon breathed a few more words, which Flynn was not expecting.
"I love you right now."
Outwardly, Flynn granted Dillon a loving smile. Inwardly, Flynn was almost in a state of panic. With all of his poetic language, Dillon had never said such a thing before. There were so many different emotions a person could be trying to convey when they use the word "love" the way Dillon just did. Flynn "loved" many things. His car, for instance. Or his smoothie machine. Or his father. Or his good friends. But none of these things would receive the kind of love that Flynn kept for Dillon. And Flynn found himself amazed at the thought that Dillon might be expressing the same kind of love for him in that moment.
And then Flynn remembered. His eyes darted for the old watch on his wrist. Though he tried not to show it, he was clearly flustered by what he saw.
It was 5:58. Saturday night. Date Night!
"Oh boy, look at the time! I have to go."
The words stumbled out like a bag of stones turned upside down. Flynn wouldn't expect a three-year-old to believe what he was saying, but he was in such a panic, he did not know what else to do.
The look in Dillon's eyes suggested that he might know that something was wrong. But to Flynn's surprise, he did not react negatively. He put on a warm smile and nodded.
"Sorry, man," Flynn stammered. "I completely forgot I was supposed to call my dad today. Plus, I've got a ton of zord research I still have to look over. I'll probably be busy for the rest of the night. You don't mind, do you?"
"It's fine."
There was just the tiniest hint of disappointment in the tone of Dillon's voice. He masked it well, but it was clear that whatever Flynn was planning to do that night, his boyfriend was not happy about it. And it made Flynn want to bury himself under the largest rock he could find and never leave.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Dillon said.
Dillon's goodbye kiss lasted just slightly longer than normal. As if to keep the memory alive in Flynn's mind while he was away.
Flynn pulled away just in time. Another moment of contact and he would never get out of there. And even though he wouldn't dare to check his watch a second time while he was standing right in front of his man, he could almost feel the bump of the clock hands as they shifted from 5:58 to 5:59.
"Bye," Flynn said, before rushing out of there as quickly as he could without being rude.
As Flynn walked across the corridor, it felt as though the length from Dillon's room to his own was stretching. Like some cosmic force was trying to keep him from moving any further away from Dillon than he already had, and prevent him from being in his own room when he knew he had to.
But finally, after the longest fifty-two seconds of his life, Flynn twisted the doorknob and entered his room.
Closing the door behind him, Flynn quickly wiped a hand over his lips and fixed what little hair was on his head. He had never changed into his black t-shirt faster than in that moment, let alone applied a fresh coat of cologne to his neck.
Flynn turned around to make certain he had locked the door behind him when the full-sized mirror on the opposite wall caught his eye. He stared at himself in the reflection. He had just removed all trace of the afternoon he spent with Dillon. It was like he had become someone else. Someone he could barely recognize...
Suddenly, Flynn's reflection was warped in the mirror. A slight ripple flowed through the glass, and Flynn's face was replaced by the face of the young man that walked right through it.
Kit Taylor stepped out of the portal with a delighted smile.
Flynn took a deep breath as he watched his boyfriend slip out of the parallel dimension from which he had come and into his room. The mirror on the wall reverted back to normal as Kit greeted him.
Of course, Kit had to be wearing the tight red shirt that Flynn had purchased for him on his last trip to Kit's world. And Flynn could see why he liked it so much. It clung to his thinly muscular torso, perfectly accentuating every curve and shape that covered his youthful form. Not to mention the simple fact that it had come from Flynn himself.
"Hey," Kit said as he approached his boyfriend.
Flynn swallowed a lump in his throat. After a month of being apart, Kit looked so happy to see him. With a glance into his eyes, Flynn could almost feel every painful sunset Kit had stared into without anyone to watch it with him, while the two of them were parted. Fighting in their own separate wars on two very different versions of the same planet. Each praying after every hard-fought battle that the other is safe in their own dimension, unharmed by their respective enemies. And hoping beyond hope that they would find a way to be together again as soon as the enemy would give them a moment's peace.
That moment had taken four months to arrive. And Flynn could feel every minute of it in the touch of Kit's lips as he took him into his arms. Flynn could not help but flinch, but so slightly that Kit did not even notice. But the moment their lips connected, Flynn was reminded of all that he shared with Kit.
Three months worth of experiences were transmitted from Kit's touch, flooding the Ranger's mind with a thousand scattered memories. His thoughts drifted to their first encounter on the battlefield, before they grew close enough to realize they were not enemies, but friends. Good enough friends to later share some of their deepest thoughts when they found themselves alone in Kit's apartment, long after the others had all gone home, or fallen asleep in the next room. Good enough friends to allow their hands and lips to wander in places that no man had ever ventured before. Good enough friends for Kit to tell Flynn, without reservation, that he was in love with him.
But another memory came into his head. Like a bolt of lightning cutting across a cloudless sky. It was the memory that someone had worked so hard to burn into his mind. The memory of kissing his teammate, and lover, Dillon.
Flynn tried to make it look like he was simply surfacing for air as he broke away from the kiss. In the span of two seconds, Flynn had asked himself so many questions and came up with very few answers.
What am I doing? Is this really who I am? I love Kit, don't I? But what if I also love Dillon? Does that make me a horrible person? Is it better if Dillon loves me back, or is it worse?
"You have no idea how much I missed you," Kit said.
"I missed you too," Flynn replied.
It wasn't a lie. The day before he met Kit, he was almost at his breaking point. Though he did his best to hide it from the others, the constant battles with Venjix were becoming too much for even his heroic heart to bare alone. Meeting Kit, and watching this young superhero approach life in such an enthusiastic manner. It reinvigorated Flynn's spirit. Nourished his desire for justice and peace when there was no one else to satisfy his hunger for it.
Flynn placed a hand against Kit's cheek and the young man nearly melted into it. Flynn could not believe it. Kit had actually become even more beautiful since the last time he had seen him. And those bright blue eyes hypnotized him. The nervous rhythm of his heart became relaxed.
With a calm, loving voice he asked "How have you been?"
Without warning, Kit practically flipped his way onto Flynn's bed, just as he had the last time he visited. At this point, he was just as comfortable there as in his own home. And he had just as much energy.
"Pretty good," Kit answered. "Of course, it would have been a lot easier on me if I had you around more."
"I'm sorry," Flynn said sincerely. "I was gonna try and visit last week, but Dr. K wanted me to test out some sonic blaster upgrade thing. By the time we finished, it was already too late."
"Well, important thing is, you're here now just like we agreed."
"Yeah..."
Flynn couldn't help but be distracted. He kept staring off into space, having a conversation with himself on the inside, while struggling to keep up with the conversation Kit was having with him on the outside. He still had no idea what he was doing.
"Here."
By the time Kit said the word, the black box was already in front of Flynn's face.
"What's this?" Flynn asked, looking at the box Kit held in his hand with a cheesy smile across his face.
"I hope you don't think this is too gay or something, but I got you a gift. It's been four months, so it's sort of like an anniversary... right?"
Two emotions filled the Ranger's heart as he took the box into his own hands. A feeling of flattery, for having been offered a gift from his boyfriend for an anniversary of a mere four months. And an even stronger sense of guilt, for the fact that he was celebrating more than one anniversary that day.
His emotions did not change as he opened the box and revealed the shimmering wristwatch inside. It had clearly cost the young man a fair amount of money.
"Y-You shouldn't have..."
"Of course I should have. Who else am I gonna buy this stuff for? My OTHER boyfriend?"
Flynn suddenly felt as though he could hardly breathe. He knew that Kit was only joking, but the implications were so horrible that he couldn't find it in himself to even pretend to laugh with him about it.
"Hey," Kit said, almost in a whisper. "Are you okay?"
Flynn slunk into the backboard of his bed.
"Oh, I'm fine."
"Rough day?"
"You have no idea how rough."
"Aw, well maybe there's something I can do to make you feel better."
Flynn immediately recognized the look in Kit's eyes. That predatory look that he reserved only for his lover, just before the attack. Kit reached in before Flynn could take another breath and smothered him with a kiss. And Flynn was powerless against it.
Though he would never forgive himself for it, Flynn allowed his sense of guilt to be overrode by the strengthening desire that Kit brought out of him whenever they were this close. The Rider's infectious energy surged throughout his entire body. It was as if Kit Taylor had switched on Flynn's time freeze, and the entire world was still, and silent, and nothing existed but Flynn and Kit and the hot air that escaped their lips between kisses. A perfect, endless moment...
Until he heard it. The beep never sounded as loud as it did in this instance. The beep of Flynn's communicator. And in half a second, their two bodies were separated.
"Is that your phone?" Kit asked, slightly confused.
"Yeah, sort of," Flynn replied, quickly jumping up to grab it. "It's an emergency signal. I have to go. Ranger business... I'm really sorry."
It was easy for Flynn to detect Kit's disappointment through the false acceptance he placed over his face.
"It's okay," Kit said. "I understand..."
Flynn threw on his Ranger jacket and began to head for the door, even placing a hand on the doorknob before finally realizing what he had forgotten. Flynn turned and knelt back down to the bed where Kit was still lying. He kissed him goodbye and desperately hoped that he wouldn't detect any hesitation in his touch.
"I'll see you soon, I promise," Flynn insisted. The words sounded so much more honest in his head than they did when he actually spoke them.
"Go save the world," Kit said. Flynn tried to ignore the fact that Kit's eyes had grown wet at the thought of separating, yet again.
As Kit stood up and disappeared into the rippling mirror, Flynn at last unlocked his door and stepped outside. The moment his face was touched by the outside air, he found that Dillon was right in front of him.
"Hey," Dillon said, slightly surprised by his emergence. "Apparently, we're on emergency patrol. They chased away some Grinders in Sector 12 a minute ago."
"Right then," Flynn said. "Let's go."
"Did you change your shirt?"
Flynn's eyes widened. He didn't even think that something like that would be significant. He was still wearing the black shirt. The one he had put on in an attempt to erase any evidence of his time with Dillon less than an hour earlier.
"Oh yeah," Flynn said. "It-It's wash day."
Dillon inched his face closer and sniffed.
"Is that the cologne I bought you the other day?"
Flynn wanted to turn back around and shut the door behind him. In his panicked state, he hadn't even realized that the cologne he was applying had been given to him by his boyfriend. His other boyfriend.
"Uh, yeah." It was all Flynn could think to say.
He stood there for a moment, trying to read the look on Dillon's face, not sure how he might react to the answers he was receiving.
"... Smells good on you," Dillon said at last. "Let's go kill something."
"S-Sure!"
As Dillon lead his teammate down the stairs, fully energized by the possibility of battle that awaited them elsewhere in Corinth City, Flynn could only follow with his head hung low. He was relieved that he hadn't been caught. But silently wishing that he had. Because it wasn't even half of what he felt he deserved.
There was no other choice. He had to stop this before it accelerated any further. The next time he spoke to Kit, he would tell him everything. And in whatever time he had between now and then, he was going to have to make a decision. And pray that his decision didn't crush him in the process...
----------------
Kit breathed deeply of the cologne-filled air of Flynn's room as he stepped out of the vortex of the mirror. It had been over a week since his last visit to Flynn's world, and in that time, a thousand scenarios ran through his mind about what might happen this time. He contemplated bringing a gift. Perhaps a rose, or some other flower. But he cursed himself for even thinking of bringing such a cliche, and feminine gift to Flynn. He didn't even know if he liked flowers, whether they came from his boyfriend or not.
But all his mental ramblings fell silent as he turned up to find that Flynn's door was hanging half-open, and there was another man standing in the doorway, staring intently at him.
Dillon was the only member of the RPM team that didn't accompany the others when they visited Kit's world for a few hours three months earlier. In fact, after their first meeting as Rangers and Riders, Kit hardly saw his face at all, despite his many visits to Corinth since then.
Kit was nervous enough already. The look on Dillon's face almost had him running through the mirror back to his own world.
"H-Hey," Kit let out. He never knew his voice could crack so much through a single-syllable word.
And what he received in response to his greeting was another angry, narrow-eyed scowl. It was only then that Kit glanced down and noticed that Dillon was curling his hand into a fist, which trembled angrily at his side. As though Dillon was holding back the urge to rip across the room and ram that fist down his throat in two seconds flat.
"Is-Is Flynn here?" Kit stammered. "He was supposed to meet me."
Kit wanted to lean back when he realized Dillon was about to take a step forward. But just as he was about to move, he noticed the shadow of another man sliding across Dillon's face, and a hand against the Black Ranger's chest stopped his movement.
"Hey," Flynn said, sternly, as he stepped into view. "Leave him be, okay?"
Kit tilted his head in confusion. The tone in Flynn's voice. The way he was so comfortable standing right inside Dillon's personal space. Like he belonged there. He had not seen the two of them together long enough to know whether this was normal for them. They were, after all, teammates, who lived several months in the same building fighting evil together.
"Flynn," Dillon said, struggling to hold back his anger.
"I know," Flynn breathed. "Just give us some time for now."
"You know the rules," Dillon reminded him.
Without words, Flynn gave him a silent nod of understanding. Dillon held back the obvious inclination to kiss him goodbye, as he finally backed away and walked off.
"Sorry bout that," Flynn said, shutting the door behind him.
And before Flynn could even completely turn around, Kit had already marched across the room and thrown a kiss at him. Flynn wanted to pull away, but the touch of his skin was so soft, yet so forceful, and Kit grasped the back of his head with such strength to hold him there. As if he knew what was happening and refused to accept it. That, if he just made sure to let him know how much he loved him that whatever happened in the week that they were apart would no longer matter.
Flynn held his breath as Kit kissed him. In less than a minute, he had already broken Dillon's first rule. Whether by accident or by intent, or some terrible mixture of both, he had broken it.
But as much as he could feel the rest of the world slipping away through the tenderness of Kit's embrace, one thought remained a constant in his mind. That his body did not belong to Kit alone. And it was this thought that ultimately caused Flynn to stop the kiss before it was too late to turn back.
"What's wrong?" Kit asked. But he already knew. And he was fighting the subconscious desire to run down the hall and tear Dillon's face apart.
"Nothing, just-- No, not nothing. It-It's something, actually. Something important."
Flynn stumbled through his words as he tried his best to gently squirm his way out of Kit's personal space. He awkwardly walked over and sat at the edge of the bed. Nowhere near the spot they would normally take, stretched out comfortably. Instead he sat upright, with a painfully abnormal posture.
"Flynn..."
It was all Kit needed to say to cause Flynn to start forcing back the oncoming tears. The sight of Kit in such a state was like a dagger to the heart. And as he sat next to him on the bed, not knowing what to do or say, the dagger twisted inside him.
"I have to tell you something," Flynn began.
"How long has it been going on?"
Flynn was startled by his words. Kit didn't even bother to wait for a complete explanation. He jumped directly to the heart of the matter. It was as though Kit had known all along, but was holding out hope that Flynn would make the right decision in the end and put a stop to whatever was happening while Kit was away.
"I never meant to hurt either of you," Flynn said, so quietly that Kit could barely hear it.
"Well, you failed magnificently," Kit joked, morbidly.
"I don't want you to think that I was just playing you. Like what we had didn't matter or that--"
"You're joking, right?"
Flynn paused. He had no idea how to respond to the sudden loudness of Kit's voice.
"Seriously?! You're seriously gonna tell me that you weren't playing me? What would you call it, Flynn? Is there a special Scottish word that I don't know about that makes it okay for you to cheat on someone?"
"No, I know what I did was wrong. I accept responsibility for all of it. I just don't want you to think that it wasn't real between us--"
"Yeah, I'm sure you got something 'real' between your legs last night though, didn't you?"
If anyone else had said that, Flynn would have knocked them all the way back to the other dimension. But it was Kit. And as angry as he was to hear him say such things, he could not deny the horrible feeling that he deserved so much more than that.
"Hey!" Flynn said. "I screwed up! It's my fault! But that doesn't mean that I don't love you. You have... no idea."
Kit was about to blast him with another angry comment.
He was silenced by the sight of the tears in Flynn's eyes. He hated him in that moment. He wanted him to feel every bit of his anger. But there was nothing more painful than the despair Flynn wore over his face. The deafening, gut-punching kind of despair that could only have come from someone who was genuinely beside themselves with guilt.
"Come here," Kit said, wrapping one arm around him for a hug. A friendly hug. "God, I hate you..."
"So do I..."
Kit tried not to grow too comfortable as Flynn attached himself to his body, overcome with sorrow over what he had done. He took a silent, deep breath, taking in the smell of him. He wanted nothing more than to find his way back into a full embrace. To toss all his morals aside and dive backward into the bed they both sat at the edge of, and switch on Flynn's time freeze for the rest of their lives. But that wasn't going to happen.
"If he hurts you, I'll kill him," Kit said.
"He won't..."
With that, it was time for Kit to leave. And every inch he took that pulled him further off of Flynn's body, the pain of knowing he would never find his way back there hammered at his heart. He felt as though he had to pool all of his concentration onto standing up without collapsing into a fit of grief. And Flynn's muscles reacted tensely to the sudden absence of Kit's touch. Kit was walking away from him, and he was horrified that he would not return.
Flynn stood up, feeling like there was still so much left to say. So many things still lingered in his heart that he felt he should be expressing. He owed him so much. He wanted him to know how much he truly meant to him. How his presence brought him back to the path when he had been lost for so long, uncertain about where all those battles were taking him. Kit was his savior. And it seemed criminal to let him leave without at least letting him know.
"Kit, I--"
"I know... I love you."
There was no part of Kit's body that did not want to run back toward him. To tell him that it was his sense of justice- the pride he held for his duty as a defender of the innocent- that encouraged him to do what must be done in his own life. But he feared that, if he opened the floodgates now, that he may never get them closed again.
Before Flynn could speak another word, Kit stepped backward into the mirror, leaving Flynn to stand alone in his empty room. Staring at his own reflection. Suddenly, he saw it again. That part of him that he had lost during this entire ordeal with Dillon and Kit. As terrible as he felt for having done this to the both of them, there was a tiny hint of joy buried deep beneath it. He had stopped telling lies and sneaking from one bedroom to another. He was back.
A knock at the door lead Flynn to greet Dillon a few minutes later.
"How we doing?" Dillon asked. Whatever anger he might still have felt, he did his best to push it aside to make way for genuine concern. And love.
"Good," Flynn answered, almost fearfully. "He just left a minute ago. It's... completely over."
"How bout a movie?" Dillon asked suddenly.
Flynn was slightly surprised. After all that had just happened, Dillon's mind had already accelerated past the emotional phase of the night and into a completely spontaneous date scenario.
"'Fists of Fire 8' just came out this week," Dillon said. "Nice, plotless action. Whatta you think?"
Flynn smiled. He knew that it wasn't that simple- or at least it shouldn't be- to get over what had happened between them. But Dillon was still willing to fight for what they shared. It was going to be all right.
"I think that sounds great."
Dillon pulled Flynn close and kissed him.
"Ready to go?"
"Yeah, just lemme get my watch."
Flynn jumped back into his room, searching his desk for the watch he had left there. Suddenly he stopped, as he realized there were two watches lying there. The first was the old black one he had worn for the past year. The other was the new silver one Kit had given him just a week earlier.
"You coming?" Dillon asked.
"Yeah," Flynn replied, grabbing the silver watch. "Let's go."
Fandom: Power Rangers RPM and Kamen Rider Dragon Knight
Genre: Slash/Romance/Drama
Characters: Flynn, Dillon, Kit
Rating: T
Warnings: Kissing, nothing more.
Summary: A relationship from two different perspectives. If a mirror is shattered, how many different ways do we see the same reflection?
Author's Note: This story is loosely inspired by the events of this fan-made trailer. Though the story takes an entirely different tone, and uses fewer of the key characters. Hope you enjoy!
Click to viewUPON REFLECTION
"Terrible."
Kit looked at himself in the mirror with absolute disgust at what he was wearing. A black fedora atop his head, with a green and white striped sweater.
"Absolutely terrible."
In seconds, the hat and sweater were on the ground, along with the five other sets of clothing that laid strewn about the room. Kit turned up toward the mirror and stared at his own shirtless body, convinced that there was no way to make himself look the slightest bit appealing.
He lifted an arm to flex his biceps.
Nope. Not anywhere close to the kind of massive guns that belonged to his boyfriend. Not that he would even try to compete with Flynn. But the fact that he was dating someone with those looks made him feel inadequate. Like there was nothing he could do to match that kind of beauty.
Kit let out a sigh. What was he doing? Had he been away from Flynn so long that he completely forgot? Kit's thoughts drifted incoherently from one memory to another. Memories of the way Flynn's arms would wrap around him from behind as he kissed his neck just to say hello. Memories of the times they spent alone together, when Flynn made him feel like he was the most important thing in the world, and there was no one that could ever steal that place in his heart reserved just for Kit.
Kit shook his head as he realized he was thinking too much. Despite his age. Despite his naive, insecure, scatterbrained ways. He knew that Flynn cared deeply for him. And there was nothing left to question.
"Oh wow," Kit said aloud. It had not occurred to him until that moment that Flynn had already given him the perfect thing to wear for their date. He made a mad dash for the dresser and prayed that the shirt he was looking for would be there waiting for him, instead of lying at the bottom of a hamper, all sweaty and wrinkled.
What luck! Kit unfolded the shirt from the dresser and smiled gleefully.
Just then, Kit heard the sound of the mirror at his side beginning to ripple. A portal was opening between his world and the world beyond the glass reflection. In a moment, Len had emerged from the portal and walked into the room, only to find the young Kit Taylor standing shirtless in the middle of the room, ironing a shirt.
"Uhhhh."
Len took a look around the room. It looked as though a tornado had hit.
"Sup," Kit said.
"Hey," Len began, slightly confused. "Is everything okay here?"
"Oh, yeah, I just couldn't find what I was looking for."
"Are you going out? I thought we could squeeze in some extra training before dinner time. Unless... you have plans?"
"Didn't I tell you? I'm meeting Flynn today. Haven't seen him in, like, years."
Kit continued ironing his shirt long after all the creases had been smoothed out. He recognized the look on Len's face. It was the face he reserved for moments like this, when he was worried about him. As though he expected something terrible to happen. But Kit had allowed that worried face to change his plans on far too many occasions, and he simply refused to let it happen this time.
"Listen," Len started, hesitantly. It was clear to Kit that he was trying to say this carefully. "I think it's great that you've found a new friend and all, but I'm concerned about what might happen to you over there. I mean, we still don't know what caused the portal to open up between this world and Flynn's."
Kit tried to contain his annoyance at having heard Len refer to Flynn as "a new friend."
"Look," Kit said. "We jump through portals all the time to get to Ventara. We've all gone to the other Earth a few times. I've gone myself a few dozen times by now, and nothing's ever gone wrong. So I really don't think you have to be worried about that."
"I just... I don't want you to get hurt. The world needs you. This world."
"It's not like I'm going to stay. Radioactive deserts aren't really my thing. And if the bad guys show up, just reach out and touch somebody."
Kit demonstrated by lifting his arm and reaching directly through the reflection in his mirror. Len huffed disapprovingly as Kit retrieved his arm and threw the shirt on.
"Could you hand me that box?"
Len reluctantly grabbed the black box sitting on the table next to him and handed it to his teammate.
"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into."
"Thanks, mom," Kit joked.
Kit looked up at the clock on the wall and realized that it was almost time. The appointment they had selected over four weeks ago as the time when both parties would drop whatever they were doing in their lives and spend a night alone together.
It was 5:58. Saturday night. Date Night.
Suddenly, Kit began to grow anxious. As he stepped over to the mirror, he could feel his heart race in his chest. It had been a month since he had seen Flynn. So much time had passed that he might have even forgotten about their date.
And even if he did remember, he was a Power Ranger. Who could guess what might be going on the moment Kit arrived? Flynn may not even be there when Kit stepped through the mirror and into his bedroom. Oh god, Kit thought. What if he's not even there waiting for me? What if I walk right into a dark, empty room and it's nothing but silence?
But as he stood there, staring into the pair of blue eyes that looked right back at him from the mirror, he could almost feel the vibrations of the clock's hands as they locked into place.
5:59.
"Wish me luck," Kit said, nervously.
He didn't wait for Len to say "good luck." He was so anxious that he practically dove into the mirror as he opened the gateway that stood before him.
Kit closed his eyes as a chilling wave of energy flushed through his body, transporting him from one universe to the next in a matter of moments. And as the thousands of reflections from thousands of mirrors all across the multiverse passed him by, one after another, he prepared himself for whatever might await him on the other end of his journey.
Kit stepped out of the mirror with a delighted smile. The first thing he saw before passing through the portal was the face of his boyfriend, Flynn McAllister, waiting on the other side of the mirror.
"Hey," Kit said. His voice was slightly cracked.
And with good reason. As he inched his way closer to Flynn, he could hardly believe how perfect he looked. A black t-shirt clung tightly to his body, gripping his wide arms. There was a hint of cologne that lingered in the air as Kit stepped into Flynn's personal space.
The smell was intoxicating. Like the bottomless, dark eyes that stared back at him. Before Flynn could speak another word, Kit's lips were upon him. And for a moment, the room seemed to shrink.
It was as though no time had passed between them. And all the nights when Kit sat alone in the dark wondering about where Flynn might be, or what he was doing, or if he was even still alive after so many terrible battles. Those memories were tossed aside just as quickly as the clothes he had thrown about his own floor in an attempt to find the perfect shirt. The one he knew Flynn would want to see. The one that Flynn gave to him.
Kit was determined to pour every ounce of his emotion into this kiss. Before their lips were parted, Kit would have taken all of the passion of their time together, and all of the pain he felt from the separation, and hurl it all at Flynn in one great, undeniable burst. Even as Kit felt the near frantic exhale of his boyfriend, he would not let go until he had blasted him with every drop of his affection.
At long last, as he could feel the grip of Flynn's hand tightening against his back, Kit finally, mercifully released him. And he smiled. As the look on Flynn's face was so unbelievably nervous. It had to have worked.
"You have no idea how much I missed you," Kit said, shrugging away his nerves.
"I missed you too," Flynn replied.
His accent. No matter how often he heard it, Kit was still paralyzed by the elegance of the Scottish accent. Every time he spoke, it only served to make Kit feel like an idiot for butchering the English language so thoroughly, instead of melting the hearts of everyone he talked to the way Flynn must do on a daily basis.
Flynn gently placed a hand on Kit's cheek and all his prior anxiousness was washed away by the touch of him.
"How have you been?" Flynn asked, confidently.
Without warning, Kit practically flipped his way onto Flynn's bed, just as he had the last time he visited. At this point, he was growing just as comfortable there as in his own home.
"Pretty good," Kit answered. "Of course, it would have been a lot easier on me if I had you around more."
"I'm sorry," Flynn said lovingly. "I was gonna try and visit last week, but Dr. K wanted me to test out some sonic blaster upgrade thing. By the time we finished, it was already too late."
Kit could hear the remorse in his voice as he apologized, listing off all of the foolish reasons why things between them weren't always as great as they both wanted them to be. Kit looked into Flynn's eyes and knew that he was just as tortured by the distance between them as Kit was.
"Well, important thing is, you're here now just like we agreed."
"Yeah..."
Kit watched as Flynn's attention seemed to waver. As much as he hoped that their time apart would not dampen the mood, Kit knew that the distance was hurting their relationship.
But then he remembered.
"Here."
Flynn looked down to find that a black box was sitting atop Kit's hand. Kit wore a ridiculous grin on his face when he realized how surprised Flynn was at the sight of his present.
"What's this?" Flynn asked quietly.
"I hope you don't think this is too gay or something, but I got you a gift. It's been four months, so it's sort of like an anniversary... right?"
For a brief moment, time seemed to stop as Kit realized that he might have put too much thought into his gift. As strong as his desire was to show his new boyfriend how much he loved and missed him, he truly had no idea what he was doing. It was bad enough when he dated young ladies, but now that he was in a relationship with another man, he was positively lost. He silently wished that someone had invented a manual on same-sex dating so he could be spared the potential embarrassment of getting his lover a wildly inappropriate gift.
But instead of one of the dozens of terrible things Flynn could have said, he responded with "Y-You shouldn't have..."
Kit chose to ignore the slight hesitation in Flynn's voice. It was enough that he didn't give him a strange look, or ask him why he bought it, or what kind of a naive little kid would even think to buy something like this after only three pathetic months.
"Of course I should have," Kit laughed. "Who else am I gonna buy this stuff for? My OTHER boyfriend?"
Kit's eyes widened in horror as he realized what he had just said. Flynn looked as though he was about to drop the box in his hand. Though he tried to hide the discomfort from his face, Kit was far too familiar with it. Because it was a face that he had seen that night when they had first found each other alone in Kit's home, when everyone else had left or fallen asleep. The mix of surprise, elation, and fear upon realizing that the person sitting next to him shared the same confusing thoughts as he.
But just as Kit did on that cold, quiet night, he wanted to alleviate whatever fears Flynn could possibly have about them.
"Hey," Kit said, with a gentle whisper. "Are you okay?"
Flynn slunk into the backboard of his bed.
"Oh, I'm fine."
"Rough day?"
"You have no idea how rough."
"Aw, well maybe there's something I can do to make you feel better."
With a predatory look in his eye, Kit moved in for the kill. And as he clutched tightly to the front of Flynn's shirt, he smothered him with a passionate kiss. One powerful enough to relax the aching tension that Kit could feel in his muscles. Another victory. Kit almost wanted to laugh. This was a much easier battle than the one he faced as a Kamen Rider. A battle he was sure he could win. Especially when he unleashed his "Final Vent."
Kit slowly began to inch his hand down the length of Flynn's shirt, surfing the length of his torso toward his final destination. He needed only to move a bit closer and there would be no stopping them...
And then something stopped them.
The sound was amazingly loud. Much louder than any ringtone Kit had ever heard in his life. And it caused Flynn to break away almost immediately.
"Is that your phone?" Kit asked, slightly confused.
"Yeah, sort of," Flynn replied, quickly jumping up to grab it. "It's an emergency signal. I have to go. Ranger business... I'm really sorry."
It was easy for Flynn to detect Kit's disappointment through the false acceptance he placed over his face.
"It's okay," Kit said. "I understand..."
Kit hardly moved when he saw Flynn suddenly launch into his closet to grab his Ranger jacket and communicator. He moved so quickly. And as much as he tried to tell himself that this is what Flynn had to do- that his sense of duty to his job was so important that there was no way that he could waste any time when someone could need his help- it did not soften the sting of watching his boyfriend practically run away from the bed they both occupied.
Finally, Kit built up the courage to pull himself away from the bed. Before he could fully stand, Flynn was already kneeling over him to kiss him goodnight. Kit tried his best to make their last moment of contact count, but he hardly had time before Flynn turned around and headed for the door.
"I'll see you soon, I promise," Flynn insisted. He seemed genuinely upset that he was forced to leave. Kit knew that he could not hold it against him. Because he knew that, if Len had stepped through the mirror and told him about an enemy attack, he would jump up just as quickly to ensure that his people were safe.
Kit threw a smile upon his face as wide as he could stretch it, and said "... Go save the world."
Kit barely had time to turn around before his eyes filled up with tears. Flynn shuffled with the lock on the door as Kit walked over to the mirror and glanced at his own sorrowful reflection. Finally, he stepped into the cold portal wall and vanished behind it...
-------------------------
Flynn sighed contently as he sat upon Dillon's bed, nestled within the comforting warmth of the arm that was draped over him. He glanced over at his boyfriend, watching silently as he flipped through the pages of the old book. A ray of golden sunlight poured in through the window, casting a glow over the two of them as they laid there together.
The Blue Ranger took his time studying the features of Dillon's face under the majestic sunlight. He never would have expected that Dillon would be such an avid reader if he hadn't grown so much closer to him in this past month. Not that he took him for a fool before then, but he would never have thought of him as so contemplative and intelligent.
It was a side of himself that was reserved only for those that Dillon found worthy of seeing. Which meant, considering Dillon's only friends that he could even remember all happened to live in the same building, that Flynn's name was at the top of his short list.
Had it not been for their encounter several weeks earlier, when the Garage was empty except for just the two of them, Flynn would never have known. Never known the loving tenderness of Dillon's heart. Or the touch of Dillon's lips against his own. Or the way he would reach over in the middle of the night and bury his face into the back of his neck because he knows how much it drives him insane.
How Flynn's relationship with Dillon ever made it to this point was a mystery even to himself. If anyone had asked him, he would insist that he never meant for it to happen. But when the two collided accidentally in the hall that quiet night, it was like an electrical storm had come thundering through his heart. Emotions he thought he had suppressed came flooding back to him, and Dillon's eyes were so unbearably open and wanting, just like the hand that reached out to grab the back of his head and pull him closer before he could speak a word of protest.
Within the span of a month, they lived what felt like years together. And if Flynn thought fighting Venjix Attack-Bots was hard, then fighting Dillon's own unruly attitude was an absolute nightmare. It had taken over a week for the stubborn Black Ranger to even admit that what he felt for Flynn was more than just a passing physical curiosity. And another week for Dillon to admit to himself that he had always held feelings that he was too frightened to accept. But in the darkness, where there was no one but Dillon and Flynn, there was no doubting the sincerity in his affection.
No one would have fought this hard to "make it work" without having a desperate need for it. Flynn recognized this feeling because he was experiencing it too. And it was this very thought that kept him awake at night, hiding the tears before Dillon had a chance to roll him over and find them.
Suddenly, Dillon clapped his book closed and set it aside, pulling Flynn even closer. Flynn looked up with a nervous smile as a pair of serious eyes stared back at him.
"What?" Flynn asked, curiously. He was not accustomed to being stared at.
"Nothing," Dillon answered.
Flynn kept waiting for him to elaborate on his reply but it wasn't happening. Dillon just kept looking at him, a quiet smirk slowly creeping over his mouth.
"You just like staring at people now?" Flynn joked.
"Just one person," Dillon said.
How could Flynn not blush at such a comment? Dillon didn't often say much, even to his boyfriend. But Dillon could take two words and make them sound like two-hundred. Like the most achingly romantic poem Flynn would ever read. And then he would seal it with a kiss.
Kissing Dillon. If someone had asked him a month earlier what he would expect it to feel like, he would have been painfully wrong. Dillon's kisses were just as potent as his words when they were alone together. It took him weeks to stop from shivering from the fear that he would pull away too quickly, before Flynn had had enough. But he never did. He gave everything he had with every soft movement. Who would have suspected, Flynn thought, that Dillon's lips would be so soft?
At last Dillon released him from the haze of his kiss, and looked deeply into his eyes. And without warning, Dillon breathed a few more words, which Flynn was not expecting.
"I love you right now."
Outwardly, Flynn granted Dillon a loving smile. Inwardly, Flynn was almost in a state of panic. With all of his poetic language, Dillon had never said such a thing before. There were so many different emotions a person could be trying to convey when they use the word "love" the way Dillon just did. Flynn "loved" many things. His car, for instance. Or his smoothie machine. Or his father. Or his good friends. But none of these things would receive the kind of love that Flynn kept for Dillon. And Flynn found himself amazed at the thought that Dillon might be expressing the same kind of love for him in that moment.
And then Flynn remembered. His eyes darted for the old watch on his wrist. Though he tried not to show it, he was clearly flustered by what he saw.
It was 5:58. Saturday night. Date Night!
"Oh boy, look at the time! I have to go."
The words stumbled out like a bag of stones turned upside down. Flynn wouldn't expect a three-year-old to believe what he was saying, but he was in such a panic, he did not know what else to do.
The look in Dillon's eyes suggested that he might know that something was wrong. But to Flynn's surprise, he did not react negatively. He put on a warm smile and nodded.
"Sorry, man," Flynn stammered. "I completely forgot I was supposed to call my dad today. Plus, I've got a ton of zord research I still have to look over. I'll probably be busy for the rest of the night. You don't mind, do you?"
"It's fine."
There was just the tiniest hint of disappointment in the tone of Dillon's voice. He masked it well, but it was clear that whatever Flynn was planning to do that night, his boyfriend was not happy about it. And it made Flynn want to bury himself under the largest rock he could find and never leave.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Dillon said.
Dillon's goodbye kiss lasted just slightly longer than normal. As if to keep the memory alive in Flynn's mind while he was away.
Flynn pulled away just in time. Another moment of contact and he would never get out of there. And even though he wouldn't dare to check his watch a second time while he was standing right in front of his man, he could almost feel the bump of the clock hands as they shifted from 5:58 to 5:59.
"Bye," Flynn said, before rushing out of there as quickly as he could without being rude.
As Flynn walked across the corridor, it felt as though the length from Dillon's room to his own was stretching. Like some cosmic force was trying to keep him from moving any further away from Dillon than he already had, and prevent him from being in his own room when he knew he had to.
But finally, after the longest fifty-two seconds of his life, Flynn twisted the doorknob and entered his room.
Closing the door behind him, Flynn quickly wiped a hand over his lips and fixed what little hair was on his head. He had never changed into his black t-shirt faster than in that moment, let alone applied a fresh coat of cologne to his neck.
Flynn turned around to make certain he had locked the door behind him when the full-sized mirror on the opposite wall caught his eye. He stared at himself in the reflection. He had just removed all trace of the afternoon he spent with Dillon. It was like he had become someone else. Someone he could barely recognize...
Suddenly, Flynn's reflection was warped in the mirror. A slight ripple flowed through the glass, and Flynn's face was replaced by the face of the young man that walked right through it.
Kit Taylor stepped out of the portal with a delighted smile.
Flynn took a deep breath as he watched his boyfriend slip out of the parallel dimension from which he had come and into his room. The mirror on the wall reverted back to normal as Kit greeted him.
Of course, Kit had to be wearing the tight red shirt that Flynn had purchased for him on his last trip to Kit's world. And Flynn could see why he liked it so much. It clung to his thinly muscular torso, perfectly accentuating every curve and shape that covered his youthful form. Not to mention the simple fact that it had come from Flynn himself.
"Hey," Kit said as he approached his boyfriend.
Flynn swallowed a lump in his throat. After a month of being apart, Kit looked so happy to see him. With a glance into his eyes, Flynn could almost feel every painful sunset Kit had stared into without anyone to watch it with him, while the two of them were parted. Fighting in their own separate wars on two very different versions of the same planet. Each praying after every hard-fought battle that the other is safe in their own dimension, unharmed by their respective enemies. And hoping beyond hope that they would find a way to be together again as soon as the enemy would give them a moment's peace.
That moment had taken four months to arrive. And Flynn could feel every minute of it in the touch of Kit's lips as he took him into his arms. Flynn could not help but flinch, but so slightly that Kit did not even notice. But the moment their lips connected, Flynn was reminded of all that he shared with Kit.
Three months worth of experiences were transmitted from Kit's touch, flooding the Ranger's mind with a thousand scattered memories. His thoughts drifted to their first encounter on the battlefield, before they grew close enough to realize they were not enemies, but friends. Good enough friends to later share some of their deepest thoughts when they found themselves alone in Kit's apartment, long after the others had all gone home, or fallen asleep in the next room. Good enough friends to allow their hands and lips to wander in places that no man had ever ventured before. Good enough friends for Kit to tell Flynn, without reservation, that he was in love with him.
But another memory came into his head. Like a bolt of lightning cutting across a cloudless sky. It was the memory that someone had worked so hard to burn into his mind. The memory of kissing his teammate, and lover, Dillon.
Flynn tried to make it look like he was simply surfacing for air as he broke away from the kiss. In the span of two seconds, Flynn had asked himself so many questions and came up with very few answers.
What am I doing? Is this really who I am? I love Kit, don't I? But what if I also love Dillon? Does that make me a horrible person? Is it better if Dillon loves me back, or is it worse?
"You have no idea how much I missed you," Kit said.
"I missed you too," Flynn replied.
It wasn't a lie. The day before he met Kit, he was almost at his breaking point. Though he did his best to hide it from the others, the constant battles with Venjix were becoming too much for even his heroic heart to bare alone. Meeting Kit, and watching this young superhero approach life in such an enthusiastic manner. It reinvigorated Flynn's spirit. Nourished his desire for justice and peace when there was no one else to satisfy his hunger for it.
Flynn placed a hand against Kit's cheek and the young man nearly melted into it. Flynn could not believe it. Kit had actually become even more beautiful since the last time he had seen him. And those bright blue eyes hypnotized him. The nervous rhythm of his heart became relaxed.
With a calm, loving voice he asked "How have you been?"
Without warning, Kit practically flipped his way onto Flynn's bed, just as he had the last time he visited. At this point, he was just as comfortable there as in his own home. And he had just as much energy.
"Pretty good," Kit answered. "Of course, it would have been a lot easier on me if I had you around more."
"I'm sorry," Flynn said sincerely. "I was gonna try and visit last week, but Dr. K wanted me to test out some sonic blaster upgrade thing. By the time we finished, it was already too late."
"Well, important thing is, you're here now just like we agreed."
"Yeah..."
Flynn couldn't help but be distracted. He kept staring off into space, having a conversation with himself on the inside, while struggling to keep up with the conversation Kit was having with him on the outside. He still had no idea what he was doing.
"Here."
By the time Kit said the word, the black box was already in front of Flynn's face.
"What's this?" Flynn asked, looking at the box Kit held in his hand with a cheesy smile across his face.
"I hope you don't think this is too gay or something, but I got you a gift. It's been four months, so it's sort of like an anniversary... right?"
Two emotions filled the Ranger's heart as he took the box into his own hands. A feeling of flattery, for having been offered a gift from his boyfriend for an anniversary of a mere four months. And an even stronger sense of guilt, for the fact that he was celebrating more than one anniversary that day.
His emotions did not change as he opened the box and revealed the shimmering wristwatch inside. It had clearly cost the young man a fair amount of money.
"Y-You shouldn't have..."
"Of course I should have. Who else am I gonna buy this stuff for? My OTHER boyfriend?"
Flynn suddenly felt as though he could hardly breathe. He knew that Kit was only joking, but the implications were so horrible that he couldn't find it in himself to even pretend to laugh with him about it.
"Hey," Kit said, almost in a whisper. "Are you okay?"
Flynn slunk into the backboard of his bed.
"Oh, I'm fine."
"Rough day?"
"You have no idea how rough."
"Aw, well maybe there's something I can do to make you feel better."
Flynn immediately recognized the look in Kit's eyes. That predatory look that he reserved only for his lover, just before the attack. Kit reached in before Flynn could take another breath and smothered him with a kiss. And Flynn was powerless against it.
Though he would never forgive himself for it, Flynn allowed his sense of guilt to be overrode by the strengthening desire that Kit brought out of him whenever they were this close. The Rider's infectious energy surged throughout his entire body. It was as if Kit Taylor had switched on Flynn's time freeze, and the entire world was still, and silent, and nothing existed but Flynn and Kit and the hot air that escaped their lips between kisses. A perfect, endless moment...
Until he heard it. The beep never sounded as loud as it did in this instance. The beep of Flynn's communicator. And in half a second, their two bodies were separated.
"Is that your phone?" Kit asked, slightly confused.
"Yeah, sort of," Flynn replied, quickly jumping up to grab it. "It's an emergency signal. I have to go. Ranger business... I'm really sorry."
It was easy for Flynn to detect Kit's disappointment through the false acceptance he placed over his face.
"It's okay," Kit said. "I understand..."
Flynn threw on his Ranger jacket and began to head for the door, even placing a hand on the doorknob before finally realizing what he had forgotten. Flynn turned and knelt back down to the bed where Kit was still lying. He kissed him goodbye and desperately hoped that he wouldn't detect any hesitation in his touch.
"I'll see you soon, I promise," Flynn insisted. The words sounded so much more honest in his head than they did when he actually spoke them.
"Go save the world," Kit said. Flynn tried to ignore the fact that Kit's eyes had grown wet at the thought of separating, yet again.
As Kit stood up and disappeared into the rippling mirror, Flynn at last unlocked his door and stepped outside. The moment his face was touched by the outside air, he found that Dillon was right in front of him.
"Hey," Dillon said, slightly surprised by his emergence. "Apparently, we're on emergency patrol. They chased away some Grinders in Sector 12 a minute ago."
"Right then," Flynn said. "Let's go."
"Did you change your shirt?"
Flynn's eyes widened. He didn't even think that something like that would be significant. He was still wearing the black shirt. The one he had put on in an attempt to erase any evidence of his time with Dillon less than an hour earlier.
"Oh yeah," Flynn said. "It-It's wash day."
Dillon inched his face closer and sniffed.
"Is that the cologne I bought you the other day?"
Flynn wanted to turn back around and shut the door behind him. In his panicked state, he hadn't even realized that the cologne he was applying had been given to him by his boyfriend. His other boyfriend.
"Uh, yeah." It was all Flynn could think to say.
He stood there for a moment, trying to read the look on Dillon's face, not sure how he might react to the answers he was receiving.
"... Smells good on you," Dillon said at last. "Let's go kill something."
"S-Sure!"
As Dillon lead his teammate down the stairs, fully energized by the possibility of battle that awaited them elsewhere in Corinth City, Flynn could only follow with his head hung low. He was relieved that he hadn't been caught. But silently wishing that he had. Because it wasn't even half of what he felt he deserved.
There was no other choice. He had to stop this before it accelerated any further. The next time he spoke to Kit, he would tell him everything. And in whatever time he had between now and then, he was going to have to make a decision. And pray that his decision didn't crush him in the process...
----------------
Kit breathed deeply of the cologne-filled air of Flynn's room as he stepped out of the vortex of the mirror. It had been over a week since his last visit to Flynn's world, and in that time, a thousand scenarios ran through his mind about what might happen this time. He contemplated bringing a gift. Perhaps a rose, or some other flower. But he cursed himself for even thinking of bringing such a cliche, and feminine gift to Flynn. He didn't even know if he liked flowers, whether they came from his boyfriend or not.
But all his mental ramblings fell silent as he turned up to find that Flynn's door was hanging half-open, and there was another man standing in the doorway, staring intently at him.
Dillon was the only member of the RPM team that didn't accompany the others when they visited Kit's world for a few hours three months earlier. In fact, after their first meeting as Rangers and Riders, Kit hardly saw his face at all, despite his many visits to Corinth since then.
Kit was nervous enough already. The look on Dillon's face almost had him running through the mirror back to his own world.
"H-Hey," Kit let out. He never knew his voice could crack so much through a single-syllable word.
And what he received in response to his greeting was another angry, narrow-eyed scowl. It was only then that Kit glanced down and noticed that Dillon was curling his hand into a fist, which trembled angrily at his side. As though Dillon was holding back the urge to rip across the room and ram that fist down his throat in two seconds flat.
"Is-Is Flynn here?" Kit stammered. "He was supposed to meet me."
Kit wanted to lean back when he realized Dillon was about to take a step forward. But just as he was about to move, he noticed the shadow of another man sliding across Dillon's face, and a hand against the Black Ranger's chest stopped his movement.
"Hey," Flynn said, sternly, as he stepped into view. "Leave him be, okay?"
Kit tilted his head in confusion. The tone in Flynn's voice. The way he was so comfortable standing right inside Dillon's personal space. Like he belonged there. He had not seen the two of them together long enough to know whether this was normal for them. They were, after all, teammates, who lived several months in the same building fighting evil together.
"Flynn," Dillon said, struggling to hold back his anger.
"I know," Flynn breathed. "Just give us some time for now."
"You know the rules," Dillon reminded him.
Without words, Flynn gave him a silent nod of understanding. Dillon held back the obvious inclination to kiss him goodbye, as he finally backed away and walked off.
"Sorry bout that," Flynn said, shutting the door behind him.
And before Flynn could even completely turn around, Kit had already marched across the room and thrown a kiss at him. Flynn wanted to pull away, but the touch of his skin was so soft, yet so forceful, and Kit grasped the back of his head with such strength to hold him there. As if he knew what was happening and refused to accept it. That, if he just made sure to let him know how much he loved him that whatever happened in the week that they were apart would no longer matter.
Flynn held his breath as Kit kissed him. In less than a minute, he had already broken Dillon's first rule. Whether by accident or by intent, or some terrible mixture of both, he had broken it.
But as much as he could feel the rest of the world slipping away through the tenderness of Kit's embrace, one thought remained a constant in his mind. That his body did not belong to Kit alone. And it was this thought that ultimately caused Flynn to stop the kiss before it was too late to turn back.
"What's wrong?" Kit asked. But he already knew. And he was fighting the subconscious desire to run down the hall and tear Dillon's face apart.
"Nothing, just-- No, not nothing. It-It's something, actually. Something important."
Flynn stumbled through his words as he tried his best to gently squirm his way out of Kit's personal space. He awkwardly walked over and sat at the edge of the bed. Nowhere near the spot they would normally take, stretched out comfortably. Instead he sat upright, with a painfully abnormal posture.
"Flynn..."
It was all Kit needed to say to cause Flynn to start forcing back the oncoming tears. The sight of Kit in such a state was like a dagger to the heart. And as he sat next to him on the bed, not knowing what to do or say, the dagger twisted inside him.
"I have to tell you something," Flynn began.
"How long has it been going on?"
Flynn was startled by his words. Kit didn't even bother to wait for a complete explanation. He jumped directly to the heart of the matter. It was as though Kit had known all along, but was holding out hope that Flynn would make the right decision in the end and put a stop to whatever was happening while Kit was away.
"I never meant to hurt either of you," Flynn said, so quietly that Kit could barely hear it.
"Well, you failed magnificently," Kit joked, morbidly.
"I don't want you to think that I was just playing you. Like what we had didn't matter or that--"
"You're joking, right?"
Flynn paused. He had no idea how to respond to the sudden loudness of Kit's voice.
"Seriously?! You're seriously gonna tell me that you weren't playing me? What would you call it, Flynn? Is there a special Scottish word that I don't know about that makes it okay for you to cheat on someone?"
"No, I know what I did was wrong. I accept responsibility for all of it. I just don't want you to think that it wasn't real between us--"
"Yeah, I'm sure you got something 'real' between your legs last night though, didn't you?"
If anyone else had said that, Flynn would have knocked them all the way back to the other dimension. But it was Kit. And as angry as he was to hear him say such things, he could not deny the horrible feeling that he deserved so much more than that.
"Hey!" Flynn said. "I screwed up! It's my fault! But that doesn't mean that I don't love you. You have... no idea."
Kit was about to blast him with another angry comment.
He was silenced by the sight of the tears in Flynn's eyes. He hated him in that moment. He wanted him to feel every bit of his anger. But there was nothing more painful than the despair Flynn wore over his face. The deafening, gut-punching kind of despair that could only have come from someone who was genuinely beside themselves with guilt.
"Come here," Kit said, wrapping one arm around him for a hug. A friendly hug. "God, I hate you..."
"So do I..."
Kit tried not to grow too comfortable as Flynn attached himself to his body, overcome with sorrow over what he had done. He took a silent, deep breath, taking in the smell of him. He wanted nothing more than to find his way back into a full embrace. To toss all his morals aside and dive backward into the bed they both sat at the edge of, and switch on Flynn's time freeze for the rest of their lives. But that wasn't going to happen.
"If he hurts you, I'll kill him," Kit said.
"He won't..."
With that, it was time for Kit to leave. And every inch he took that pulled him further off of Flynn's body, the pain of knowing he would never find his way back there hammered at his heart. He felt as though he had to pool all of his concentration onto standing up without collapsing into a fit of grief. And Flynn's muscles reacted tensely to the sudden absence of Kit's touch. Kit was walking away from him, and he was horrified that he would not return.
Flynn stood up, feeling like there was still so much left to say. So many things still lingered in his heart that he felt he should be expressing. He owed him so much. He wanted him to know how much he truly meant to him. How his presence brought him back to the path when he had been lost for so long, uncertain about where all those battles were taking him. Kit was his savior. And it seemed criminal to let him leave without at least letting him know.
"Kit, I--"
"I know... I love you."
There was no part of Kit's body that did not want to run back toward him. To tell him that it was his sense of justice- the pride he held for his duty as a defender of the innocent- that encouraged him to do what must be done in his own life. But he feared that, if he opened the floodgates now, that he may never get them closed again.
Before Flynn could speak another word, Kit stepped backward into the mirror, leaving Flynn to stand alone in his empty room. Staring at his own reflection. Suddenly, he saw it again. That part of him that he had lost during this entire ordeal with Dillon and Kit. As terrible as he felt for having done this to the both of them, there was a tiny hint of joy buried deep beneath it. He had stopped telling lies and sneaking from one bedroom to another. He was back.
A knock at the door lead Flynn to greet Dillon a few minutes later.
"How we doing?" Dillon asked. Whatever anger he might still have felt, he did his best to push it aside to make way for genuine concern. And love.
"Good," Flynn answered, almost fearfully. "He just left a minute ago. It's... completely over."
"How bout a movie?" Dillon asked suddenly.
Flynn was slightly surprised. After all that had just happened, Dillon's mind had already accelerated past the emotional phase of the night and into a completely spontaneous date scenario.
"'Fists of Fire 8' just came out this week," Dillon said. "Nice, plotless action. Whatta you think?"
Flynn smiled. He knew that it wasn't that simple- or at least it shouldn't be- to get over what had happened between them. But Dillon was still willing to fight for what they shared. It was going to be all right.
"I think that sounds great."
Dillon pulled Flynn close and kissed him.
"Ready to go?"
"Yeah, just lemme get my watch."
Flynn jumped back into his room, searching his desk for the watch he had left there. Suddenly he stopped, as he realized there were two watches lying there. The first was the old black one he had worn for the past year. The other was the new silver one Kit had given him just a week earlier.
"You coming?" Dillon asked.
"Yeah," Flynn replied, grabbing the silver watch. "Let's go."