(no subject)
I return! With gifts for shippers,of various colors, a somewhat general piece, and a crack!crossover that was inspired by a goodnight message. (“Have wonderful Ryu and white boys in yukata dreams!”) Eventually I’ll write something for more non-trio-combo ships, but I figured six story postings in one go was enough.
Title: Colorful Revelations
Author: nightswhisper / Nalana
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Samurai Sentai Shinkenger/ UnNatural History
Characters/Pairing: Henry, Jasper, Maggie, Ryunosuke, Takeru
Length: 1598 words
Summary: The latest school project reveals the story behind an old gift --which turns out to be a little more complicated and a little less complete then anticipated.
A/N: While this is a crossover, there is no knowledge of Shinkenger needed to understand.
Chapter 1 Begins Again Here
Title: Taunt
Rating: PG-13 for safety
Characters/Pairing: Gen (ish), Henry, Jasper, Maggie
Length: 785 words
Summary: In which a use of slang confuses Henry, sexuality is discussed, and Maggie’s revealed to have a fangirlish streak.
They traveled as a trio, nothing out of the normal. Henry, also as usual, was relating one of Maggie’s problems with museum patrons who couldn’t seen to keep their hands to themselves to the behavior of an animal and how natives around them controlled the habits. Passing one student in the courtyard that had been following with a stink eye since they exited the doors they heard him sneer under his breath as they passed.
“Fag.”
“Oh, uh, sorry!” Henry stopped dead in his tracks. “I don’t have one, don’t smoke. Besides, isn’t it against school policy to do that on school grounds?” He asked with innocent curiosity as Jasper and Maggie gripped his arms and dragged him away before the student could retort.
“H-Hey!” He yelped as he was pulled. “ I’m surprised you didn’t tell him the facts about tobacco use.” He turned his head to Maggie.
“He didn’t mean THAT kind of…” Jasper’s voice dropped. “Fag.” His roommate tilled his head at him.
“It’s slang, Henry.” Maggie sighed. “He was calling you gay.”
“And…I take it that’s supposed to be an insult?” Henry guessed from their pace and death grip on him.
“Um, to any self-respecting boy with a scrap of masculinity...yea.” Jasper caught Maggie’s glare. “At least, that’s the way most people see it.”
“Well that’s just silly.” Henry shook free of his friends. “I mean, what’s supposed to be so disgusting about the way someone is?” the two conflict-diversions both stared at the back of his head.
“Um…Henry.” He turned around, walking backwards as he waited for her to continue. “You’re...um…are you?”
“Gay?” He asked, with a blink. Jasper looked like he was terrified of the conversation in general. Henry simply shrugged. He spun on heel and headed towards a coffee shop.
The dean’s son and the star pupil looked at each other and followed. Henry had taken the liberty of ordering their drinks, and picking up a pastry for himself, as he offered to buy. Still hanging on the two picked their own before following him once more to an outdoor table.
“What? That’s…That’s it? A shrug?” Jasper finally broke down and asked.
“Does it…really matter?” the world-traveler seemed perplexed by their curiosity. Neither looked like they wanted to field that question, the answers were way too complicated. “I guess I just think that connection and love is more important then what body someone was born to.”
“So...you’re bi?” Maggie asked attentively over her cup. She received another shrug.
“Honestly? It’s never been a priority.” Henry swung his feet up onto the table despite the protests of the other two. “I’ve never really considered it.”
“Oh. You should SO consider it.” Maggie said, her tone lowering. Jasper’s head snapped in her direction. For all his causality, even Henry seemed intrigued by her response. “I mean…it’s…always important for someone to know who they are. And it wouldn’t be very fair for you to lead someone on or not look at someone you might be a good match with or…”
“…Oh that has nothing to do with this, does it?” Jasper leaned over, his elbows on the table as he sipped his drink with a smirk. “Yooou like seeing--“
“Oh no! I forgot!” She said, looking at her watch with sudden urgency. “I promised Terri I’d help her catch up since she was out sick last week. Catch you later guys.” She said, and bolted.
“Wasn’t it… Ellie that was out last week, not…Terri?” Henry asked, swinging his feet back onto the ground.
“Yuuuup.” Jasper grinned. Oh. He was so saving this for ammo later.
“You...don’t think I offended her do you?” Henry leaned in closer to whisper to him, the worry clear in his voice. “I mean her dad’s kind of important in the air force, right?”
Jasper snorted, reaching behind him to pat his shoulder. “Believe me. I think you did anything BUT offend her. Come on.” He grabbed the part of vegan-friendly danish she had left behind, swallowing it in a gulp. “Dad will be worried if we don’t get back soon.”
As they headed towards Jasper’s car, the teen’s grin widened significantly. “But…Henry… if you ever DO try playing for the same side… you’ll have to let her know. Preferably with photographic proof. That I could give to her.” He smirked. Oh yes, there would be bribing.
“Well… I guess but I guess I’d have to find someone to test that theory with.” Henry added as he slipped into the passenger’s seat of Jasper’s car. “Know anyone who might be willing to help?”
Jasper blinked. And gulped. No, this couldn’t get awkward really fast. Not at all. Right. He wondered exactly how much this bribe was worth.
A lot.
Title: The End is Nigh
Rating: PG-ish
Characters/Pairing: Henry/Maggie/Jasper (Ot3)
Length: 1218 words
Summary: Normal fears for teenagers in their place are normal. These jitters aren’t caused by the same things. Is it even worth the stress?
A/N: In case anyone’s interested, kept listening to “Run” ala Snow Patrol while writing this.
It feels like summer’s coming early. The wind that carries into the room in tinged a bit warmer then spring should allow. None of them are surprised. It’s D.C. after all. And it experiences extremes that rival, and some times surpass, conditions of any tip of the country. It’s the wind that reminds them again how short on time they are. Even the season is coming too fast.
They’re lying on Jasper’s bed. Her head is on his chest, his hand lazily playing with her hair, his steady heartbeat below her. Henry is lying on his side. His chin rests on her shoulder, soft wisps of his breath tickle her neck, and his arm draped casually around her waist as his finger runs leisurely circles on a small patch of exposed skin. She laughed, as she does not ‘giggle’, for a minute when he ‘slips’ and hits one of her ticklish spots.
“Henry! Stop it.” Though her words were clear, her voice wavered.
“Got you to smile.” He whispered in her ear, his chin turning down to press his lips chastely to the crook of her neck. She could feel Jasper trying not to chuckle below her as he leaned over to perform a similar action to the top of her head. She snuggled back into the two.
She was going to miss this, so much. Though she hated to admit it, the very thought of this encompassing warmth dissipating from her made her throat tighten. Two years ago when Henry had gone back to his parents for the summer had felt uncomfortable and incomplete in a way she didn’t quite understand. But when she had gone on a student internship last summer, and her boys in their own direction a loneliness she hadn’t realized had grown crept up and suffocated her. The highlight of her week had become their weekly video chats. At least, when Jasper was allowed tech use at whatever summer program he was at and Henry was in a part of the world that recognized wi-fi.
“Hey, hey.” Jasper sat up, pulling her along with him. It wasn’t until his arms were around her that she realized she had actually started crying and cursed herself for it.
“Look, Columbia’s smack dab in middle of where we are. We’ll visit all the time. In fact, you’ll probably get sick of us.” He reassured her.
College. That had been the highlighted goal of her entire life so far. That would be the last stepping-stone to her career. It was also the thing that weighed on her so heavily right now. Columbia had been her dream school for as long as she could remember. Prestigious rank, big city, varied and well connect programs and expansion opportunities. Yale had been Jasper’s. And after some convincing from his parents and heavy tutoring from Jasper and Maggie, Henry turned out to not be as bad of a student as he initially though. The drastic change had even impressed Brown enough to let him in.
The truth of the matter was they had all applied to Yale, for Maggie and Henry as one of their backups. Even if wasn’t a perfect match the majors offered were similar enough to what the other two had planned. Likewise, the boys had sent in an application for the New York based school. But she was sensible. She knew that if she gave up Columbia she’d always wonder ‘what-if’ regardless of how her life, professional or personal, ended up. If she wouldn’t do it herself she wasn’t about to ask either of them to give up what they wanted.
In the end, there was no choice. Her dreams were coming true. So why did it hurt so much? Teenage relationships were notoriously temporary. She knew that. But theirs wasn’t your typical situation.
“I don’t want to loose you two.” She admitted, feeling Henry wrap himself around her back, his head on the other side of hers that Jasper wasn’t occupying.
“And this is only the beginning! Four years, grad school, and then what? Who knows where the heck we’ll be. For all we know, Henry could be the one state side while you and I are off somewhere in the world.” She spilled, pulling back from them slightly.
“Well that would be interesting.” Henry chuckled.
“It’s not funny, Henry!” She turned to him, her expression grim. “How many long distance relationships ACTUALLY work out? And that’s with two people!” The boys dropped their masks, exchanging busted looks. They hadn’t wanted her to worry about this.
“I…I don’t want to spend any more time fooling myself and pretending things are just going to work out.” She admitted, scooting back and drawing her knees up. “It hurts enough as it is.” She couldn’t look at them.
“Do…”Jasper gulped, his entire frame tensing. “Are…you breaking up with us?”
Her head snapped up immediately. “No!” She looked back down. “I don’t know. I just…hate knowing that some day we might have to. It’s not fair to ask anyone to wait around when they could find a normal love. I don’t want you to do that for me… And I might not want to do it either. I don’t know.”
“We’d never ask you to do that.” Jasper protested. It had been an agreement from early on. If anything grew awkward, if there was any jealousy or someone was feeling excluded or lonely, they’d end it. Simple. Well, not so simple. Emotions aren’t simple. But it had little debate.
“Maggie.” Henry grabbed her attention, placing a hand on her cheek. “Maybe life will take us apart. If you don’t want to do this anymore, that’s it, we won’t.” But we’ll deal with that step when we get there. We’re not normal. We never will be. But that’s what’s so great about this.”
A soft smile crept up to his eyes. “Chances are, at least two of us will be able to be close enough to one another at any given time. And maybe, someday, if we get the chance we can be like we are now. If that means I have to keep my adventures on this side of the soil… I think I’m willing to do that.” He was never the type of person to do things half-fast. “Maybe not right after college. Probably not, I miss it out there. But that is a really long ways from now. And college will be a great testing period for that.”
Maggie nodded at his words. It made some sense. Sure, there were too many ‘what ifs’ remaining for her comfort level. And there was still a leap of faith required. But when she looked at things logically it didn’t seem quite as daunting. Or maybe it was the feeling of Jasper rubbing her back and Henry drawing her back into his arms.
Either way, she wasn’t going to just give up. That wasn’t who she was. It wasn’t who they were. It was scary, but fear rarely stopped them. Not after all they’d seen together. So she’d go down fighting if she ever went down.
But for right now, the only resting she would do would be between these two bodies. For now, she’s stay in this warmth, no matter how high the temperature grew outside. Here, it was perfect.
Title: Net
Rating: PG-ish
Characters/Pairing: Haggie
Length: 501 words
Summary: Her fears aren’t completely unfounded…but he doesn’t want her to have them.
He found her sitting on the roof. He was proud of her for that, going someplace they wouldn’t expect her to. No, that was much more of his m.o. She had learned well.
“So this is where you ran off to. It’s nice up here.” He commented, walking out onto the ledge. She didn’t respond. “Maggie?” he asked, sitting down beside her. Her profile was taut. She didn’t even acknowledge him.
“What’s wrong?” He put a hand on her shoulder, shaking her from her trance. His reward was cold, her eyes void.
“You are.” Her words were as steely as her first snarky remarks she ever spoke to him. “You’re wrong, Henry. You’re always going off. You’re like a bomb, and I can’t stop you!”
She stood to her feet, towering over him. Her hair whipped in the evening wind. The lights of D.C. reflecting against her skin in low light. Her words became punctuated with her actions.
“And sure, you’ve done a LOT of good. You’re almost always right, you’re frickin’ PERFECT in so many ways… and... And I never know if it will stay that way! Do you have ANY idea how many times you’ve scared us? I never know if the next time you walk away will be the last time I see you, Henry!”
“Well that’s a little-“
“NO, it’s NOT. You’re a TEENAGER, Henry, not Indiana Jones!” She said, desperately. The strain in her voice was increasingly apparent. “But you don’t care. And I can’t take it! I won’t loose you to your own thick head!”
“Hey…Hey…” He stood up, anchoring her shoulders with his hands. His palms slid up her neck to cup her face. “I’m not going to disappear. I swear.”
“You can’t-“
“Yes. I can.” He swept his thumb against her cheek. “Because I have Jasper and you there right next to me. There’s no one else I could trust more to have my back. And I know that if anything were to ever happen, you’d be there. You’d save me.”
“Heck, you already have. Countless times.” He snickered a bit remembering all his really stupid stunts. But she still looked unsure. Leaning down he rested his forehead against hers. “I promise. I won’t go anywhere unless you’re there by me.
Her breath hitched as she searched his eyes, finding his answer to be the truth. Before her courage failed, or his perky smile came back she took a chance. In one swift motion she leaned up and kissed him. Her hands came up to hold his where they were. To her surprise he didn’t need the encouragement.
When at last they separated he held her close not allowing her to go further away then what was necessary. Allowing herself, for once, to be venerable she stayed in his space. Henry was here. He was safe. And while she knew he probably wouldn’t be able to keep his word exactly, it was enough. That, at the least, she would hang on to.
Title: Explosion
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairing: Jaggie
Length: 567 words
Summary: Jasper’s done with being the one left our of the song. But maybe he’s just not listening to the right station.
Jasper tapped his pen on his paper rhythmically. To his left Maggie was reading from their textbook while stopping to take notes. Which is when it started happening. She stopped to check her phone, text back, and resume. The action would repeat every five minutes or so. As the texts became more frequent, his pen tapping sped up. Glancing around the library he caught sight of his cousin tapping awkwardly on his phone. The knot of frustration boiled over on him. He slammed his book shut and stood up quickly, startling his study partner.
“Okay. That is IT!” He proclaimed, gaining the attention of the librarian. Jasper held his hand up to her and stormed out of the building.
“JASPER!” He heard her voice following him. “Wait up!”
“Hey!” She exclaimed when she caught up to him, grabbing his shoulder. “What’s your problem?”
“My problem.” He deadpanned. “MY problem? My PROBLEM is that I am sick and tired of being the third wheel to the Henry and Maggie show. Why don’t you two just ride off into the sunset already and move on.”
He had been watching his cousin and friend buddy up before his eyes. At first he had written things off as Henry’s natural cheerfulness and clueless ways combining into one super monster. But this was ridiculous. He could deal with Maggie never liking him. He could put up with them being together. But he wasn’t playing this in between game. He thought it was above them. If not above Henry, it was certainly above her.
“Wait. What are you TALKING about?”
“You and Henry!” He snapped, not believing he wasn’t clear enough.
“HENRY? Jasper… there IS no me and Henry!” She looked honestly exasperated. He had seen her truth and lies, and he almost believed this one.
“Right. And you haven’t been texting with him for the past hour instead of working. And we know that social standing is SO important to you.” He shot back.
“ARG! Boys!” She looked around frustrated. “We were talking about YOU.”
“Oh and that’s supposed to make it so much better?” He turned to walk away. “ I’m sorry if I don’t want to be your little joke.”
“Jasper.” She inhaled, trying to calm herself down. “Henry has been badgering me to ask you out!” She yelled after him.
He paused. Blinked. And turned around. “What?”
“Do you want to go out Saturday night?” She said, plainly. “I’ve wanted to ask you that. Henry was trying to get me to.”
“Bu-But you ignored me. When I asked-“ He stood dumb founded. Her look of confusion returned. “Freshman year. I asked you if you wanted to go to the year-end dance.”
“…The one that happened right after the explosion in the museum?” Someone had been careless about the solution they had used to clean one of the artifacts. That and a few freak incidences, lead to a display imploding. No one was seriously hurt and there was minimal damage. But…” Jasper, I was almost DEAF for a week!”
Jasper took one step closer to her. He didn’t…All this time…was she…
“Let me get this straight. The reason you didn’t say anything…was that you didn’t hear me?” She nodded. He shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Well. I guess, in that case…” He bobbled his head from side-to-side as he weighed his words. “Is Saturday night still an open option?”
Title: Tread Lightly
Rating: PG-13ish
Characters/Pairing: Henry, Tomba. Hesper slight Tomba/Maggie
Summary: Brothers could always read one-another far too well.
“So tell me something, brother?” Tomba leaned back on the bleachers. He and Henry had stuck around after practice and this was as neutral of a setting as they could get. “You’re really not goin’ after Maggie?”
“Why would I go after her?” Henry looked entirely perplexed at the question. His friend laughed at his naivety.
“Dating her, I mean.” He clarified.
“OH! No.” He said tossing a pebble off of the steal he was sitting on. “Why?”
“No reason.” Tomba let the question slide. His old friend smiled at him, the twinkle in his eye showing that he wasn’t buying it. “Just… wanted to know I wasn’t stepping on any toes if ya’ know… I spent some time around her.” Henry laughed, nudging his friend with his shoulder.
“Don’t worry. No toes stepped on. Well, at least not mine.” Henry turned his attention to the skyline. “Jasper’s maybe.”
It was Tomba’s turn to be surprised by his brother. Henry was always smiling…when he wasn’t panicking before jumping into action. But as he looked out at the field his friend seemed conflicted. That was strange.
“Henry…what’s goin’ on in that head of yours? All this time and I still can’t tell.” He laughed deeply at himself. But it didn't seem to lighten his mood. “Hey…what’s wrong?” he frowned, his hand locking on Henry’s shoulder.
“Nothing.” Henry snapped out of it, sending his friend a smile. The presidential candidate’s son wasn’t buying it. “Really. I’m fine. I just... I don’t know.”
Henry stood up, stretching. Rolling his shoulders, his friend eyed him skeptically. “Just something I have to get over.”
“Something?” Tomba stood beside him. “Or someone?”
Henry’s head turned towards his friend. He nodded, his smile growing into a smirk. He should have known better then to try to lie. “Yea. Someone.”
“Jasper?” Tomba asked tentatively. The fact that it was a guy didn’t seem to faze the new student. He had known his friend hadn’t really had a gender allegiance since he had caught the American blushing when they had had an impromptu swimming trip with one of their friends. That, and then the later sight of Henry kissing their friend’s sister. Well, to be fair, she had kissed him. But he hadn’t protested.
Henry nodded again. “He likes Maggie. A lot. Even if he didn’t like her, if there was a chance, it wouldn't matter. He’s my cousin.”
“I thought your grandmother married his grandfather?” Tomba searched his memory.
“People don’t think like that here.” Henry said as he hopped down the bleachers until he hit the ground. “It doesn’t matter.” He cheered himself up again.
Tomba watched his old friend for a minute. For someone who was so observant Henry could be so dumb some times. Obviously he hadn’t seen the lingering looks the other boy had shot him when they were in the locker room. He hadn’t seen how awkward the other boy could be around him.
“Maybe it’s not a lack of chance.” Tomba joined Henry on the ground in a few jumps. “More like a lack of motivation.” He offered.
“Huh?” Henry looked at his friend sideways, baffled. Another barking laugh followed.
“Just keep your eyes open, brother. You never know what you might see.” He patted his friend’s shoulder before dragging him back towards the exit of the school. Leaving his friend puzzling about one more thing.