Title: Cold Night in Ocean Bluff
Fandom: Power Rangers Jungle Fury
Summary: After a battle with a polar bear monster, the Rangers deal with the cold and snow he left behind.
Pairing(s): Gen-ish, with RJ/Casey, Casey/Theo, Theo/Lily, Casey/Lily, Theo/Casey/Lily, and OT4 (RJ/Casey/Theo/Lily)-ish threads
Warnings: Un-beta'd. Gratuitous puppy-piling. Because it's CUTE. Sexual/romantic overtones to a teacher/mentor relationship (that is so ridiculously slashy in the source, anyway, so).
The day's battle was long over, but the city was still suffering from the remnants of the attack -- it wasn't often that Ocean Bluff saw heavy snowfall, after all, so it was rather ill-equipped to deal with it. All around the city, people were bundling up, cuddling close, sharing their heat, as they looked out windows and smiled at the pristine, white-covered cityscape.
A polar bear monster may have caused it, but now that he was gone, it was rather pretty.
RJ, in a rare quiet mood, stepped softly into main area of the base, moving quietly to the railing above the main floor, at one end where he was veiled in shadow. He smiled as he saw his young charges playing, wrestling, rolling around in a free-for-all where alliances changed constantly and people turned on one another as the whim struck them. It had been a long time since he'd heard laughter like this, completely innocent; since long before he'd left the Pai Zhua academy, in fact. He was glad to hear it now.
"No fair!" he heard Theo cry, indignation plain on his face as it so often was, when Casey rolled over Lily to grab him and toss him into the nest of blankets that had been put together in one corner of the room. "That-" But he was cut off as Casey, pouncing in a move that was worthy of his animal spirit, bounded on top of him and nuzzled at his neck. RJ was a little surprised -- he'd thought that the boys were both more fond of Lily than either wanted to admit -- but he shrugged that off quickly. It wasn't the first time he'd seen Pai Zhua students taking on the more playful aspects of their animal spirits, after all. He'd been rather known to do it himself, a time or two, in his youth.
Not that he was old now, he reminded himself. Just... his younger youth. Or something. He'd figure out how to define it later.
He chuckled softly as Casey growled; the Red Ranger's eyes were dancing mirthfully as Theo had flipped them over so that he was straddling the Cub; he nipped at Casey's throat, eliciting a very human moan. Lily came over and shoved them aside, making more room for herself in the make-shift nest. "C'mon, guys," she said. "I'm getting cold. Let's bundle up."
Oh, RJ thought. So that's how it is. Good to see they've resolved that conflict. A part of him wanted to go down and join them; a part of him felt that he should walk away and give them privacy. In conflict, he stayed right where he was, watching his students -- his Rangers, his Rangers, and wasn't that still completely unfathomable -- as they curled together, pulling the blankets over themselves, sharing their warmth against the chill in the air. It would be gone by morning, RJ figured, and he had had told them as much earlier; the weather patterns would reassert themselves before long. Still, he was amused by the solution they'd found to ward off the chill.
"Hey, RJ!" Casey called, startling him from his thoughts. He hadn't realised that he was visible where he was. "C'mon down and join us! No sense in you being cold all night."
"Oh, no," he replied, scrambling to come up with some excuse, but Lily and Theo had already bounded out of the blankets, dashed over to where he was standing, and began to pull him to the nest. "Well, if you insist," he added, falling back into his manically mellow attitude. It was definitely time to just go with the flow.
There weren't really any more words as they led him to the blankets; he half-expected -- as much as he expected anything -- to be on the outside, while the threesome cuddled together beside him, but Lily and Theo led him to the center of the nest, curling up on one side as Casey snuggled up behind him, the Cub's head nestling in between RJ's shoulder and neck. RJ shifted a bit, turning, so that he was facing Casey, almost unconsciously bringing one arm up to pull him closer as Theo spooned at his back, Lily's arm going across all three of them after pulling the blankets back up.
Maybe I need to revisit the sleeping arrangements, RJ thought, sleepily, as he drifted off, thankful for the extra warmth provided by the others.
Thankful for the acceptance into their circle, too. A part of him still wanted to keep him separate: he was their master, after all, their teacher, and this was either an abuse of trust or just a really bad idea. He couldn't decide which.
The rest of him, cuddled up to Casey, spooned by Theo, held by Lily, told that part, that small, infinitesimal part, to shut the hell up. He leaned his head down, just slightly, and laid a brief kiss in Casey's hair, prompting Casey to snuggle just that little bit closer.
[EDIT: 19 Oct 2008 / 5:28AM] : Edited to add title to previously untitled work.