Fic: 'What's It All About?' (Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Conner/Kira, G, 1/1) Title: What's It All About? Fandom: Power Rangers Dino Thunder Characters: Conner/Kira, ensemble Rating: G Disclaimer: No one mentioned belongs to me. Summary: Conner gives Kira her Christmas present.
What's It All About?
"Christmas is all about the mistletoe."
"Christmas, my foolish friend, is all about the presents."
Kira rolled her eyes as she watched her two best friends argue on the couch. "I seem to recall Christmas being something about a baby—"
"Don't start, Kira," Ethan interjected. He was the latter of the two speakers. Not to say that the both of them weren't materialistic in their own ways, but Ethan's version of selfishness was bordering on greed, whereas Conner's sin of choice was lust. Shopping for them this holiday season had been nothing short of hell, since Ethan wanted a state-of-the-art computer, and Conner wanted a harem of women. Neither of which was happening; at least, not from Kira's pocket.
"Speaking of presents—" said Conner.
"Were we?" asked Ethan.
"You were," said Conner. "—I think it's time we opened them."
"Conner, we said we'd wait until Trent got here," said Kira patiently.
"Yeah, and he's a half hour late. I want presents."
"I thought it was all about the mistletoe, dude?" said Ethan with a smirk.
Conner looked away, and before anyone could comment further, Trent burst through the doors. "Sorry, sorry," he panted. "Bertha broke down."
"Again, dude? You gotta get that thing fixed."
"I just did get her fixed. What mechanic do you go to? I think it's time I switched, and the Mustang runs like a dream."
Conner jumped up, running over to the bar. "I'll write down their number for you," he said excitedly. "They're over on Beach Street..." Kira rolled her eyes. She'd been trying for ages to get Trent and Conner to bond, and it took cars. Boys.
She sat down next to Ethan on the couch, as they watched the others crowd together at the bar and babble about engines. She nudged Ethan's shoulder. "Thanks for being normal," she said.
But Ethan wasn't listening. "You know, guys, you should totally get Dr. O. to do it. He used to race, remember? He knows all about engines. Or Hayley. She did the Hovercraft all by herself, after all. I mean, you guys are failing to see what's in front of your own eyes—" He got up and joined them at the bar to discuss.
Kira groaned and fell back on the couch. "Spoke too soon," she mumbled. Still... she couldn't help smiling as she watched them. Ethan had said something that had both Conner and Trent cracking up, and Conner patted Trent's shoulder as emphasis to whatever point he was making.
The centerpiece on the table, a fluffy white snowman, began to dance to a tinny version of 'Jingle Bell Rock'. Kira screamed. The boys looked over. "You okay there, Kira?" asked Trent, concern on his face while a smirk played at Ethan's lips.
"That thing's freaky..." she said, wrenching her gaze away from it.
"Presents!" said Conner excitedly, bounding over Kira's legs to plop down on the couch next to her. Ethan took the other side, in his original seat, and Trent squeezed in at the end next to him. "Guys, move over. I'm falling off."
They obligingly squished over, and a too-abrupt motion from Ethan caused Kira to knock into Conner. She mouthed 'I'm sorry' at him, and he smiled easily, reaching into the bag on the floor next to him. "Here you go, guys," he said, passing the row of packages in bright red paper down to his friends. Trent's presents were wrapped in cheery snowmen and Santas, while Ethan's favored white snowflakes on a navy background, and Kira had gold and green shining stripes.
The room was alive with the sound of ripping paper for the next few moments, occasionally punctuated with exclamations. But as Kira got through Ethan's present —a cool yellow scarf— and Trent's —a drawing of the five Rangers and Hayley— and finished oohing and ahhing through them, she realized that she only had the two gifts. Perplexed, she glanced at Conner, who had just finished opening her present. In absence of a harem, she'd gotten him a hefty book on the Tyrannosaurus. "Since you're always bragging about how the T-rex is the greatest dinosaur of all time," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Kira, this is awesome," he proclaimed excitedly. He gave her a swift half-hug, something he hadn't done for the boys, but maybe that was because they were beyond his reach, and also because they were boys, and he would never hug them.
"Where's my present," she said teasingly, flushing slightly from his enthusiasm over her dorky gift. Conner was not a book guy, and yet she'd given him a book.
"Oh, that." His eyes widened slightly, and he glanced over her shoulder at Ethan and Trent, who were busy comparing something. "That's...it's in the car. C'mon, let's go get it." He stood up, and tugged at her sleeve until she followed suit.
"Shouldn't we say something?" she asked, as she followed him through the double doors.
"Nah, I got Ethe the PC version of Splatter Buster 3. He'll be occupied for awhile." He went outside, turned left, and headed towards the parking lot. Only the Mustang and Trent's station wagon were sitting there. Conner unlocked the door, pulled something out of the glove compartment, and kept the object behind his back as he turned to her. "There's sort of a condition with this present..." he hedged.
Kira frowned. "Huh?"
And suddenly he was leaning forward, cupping her face tentatively, and pressing his lips to hers in a sweet kiss. Kira didn't protest. The spontaneity had caught her off guard, but the delivery was excellent. He tasted like peppermint of the many, many candy canes he had consumed that afternoon.
When he pulled away, Kira blinked up at him. He looked... well, nervous. A little scared —he probably thought she was going to kill him— but it was more nerves than fear. He presented from behind his back her present: an envelope with a plant taped to the top. "Is that mistletoe?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said. "I wasn't exactly sure how I wanted to give this to you. Just... just open it."
She turned it over and slid open the envelope. Sitting inside were two Ani DiFranco tickets. "Conner, oh wow," she breathed. "This is incredible. Thank you."
"The condition," he said, and suddenly she remembered him mentioning it, "is that I get to go with you."
Kira met his brown eyes. "Conner, you hate 'chick music,'" she pointed out. "Minus mine."
"Yours isn't chick music," he assured her hastily. "And yeah, maybe I kinda do, but this is important to you, because I know you really love her, and I was hoping... well, I was kind of hoping this could be, like, you know, a date."
Kira had never in their friendship seen Conner stumbling over his words so badly, and while it was sort of funny, it was also oddly endearing. "Conner..." she began.
"I really like you," he said in a rush. "As more than friends. I mean, obviously, the kiss—" he mumbled, more to himself than to her, "—but I mean, I was hoping that we could give it... give us... a try. If you're okay with that." He was staring at her almost pleadingly.
She hadn't been so off base about the harem thing. Except she'd just overestimated with the numbers. He only wanted one girl, and it happened to be her. How could she have not seen this coming? Then she remembered the flirty smiles he always shot her, something she'd written off as natural Conner behavior, and the occasional touches, something she'd written off as extensive time spent together.
Had he asked her out a few months ago, she'd've said no, flat out. But she'd seen how much he'd grown, hence the reason for giving a book to a non-book-guy, and maybe this was an idea worth pursuing. If nothing else, she had great seats to Ani. "I think that's a great idea, Con," she said honestly. She tucked the tickets back in the envelope, plucked the sprig of mistletoe off, and waved it in his direction with a smile. "Christmas is all about the mistletoe, right?" she teased, and he grinned with obvious relief and joy, stepping closer and pausing just before he met her lips. "Merry Christmas, Kira."
"Merry Christmas, Conner," she answered, punctuating the statement with a holiday kiss.