WHO: Lindsey and Will WHAT: Talking about entertainment and guy stuff WHERE: Outside of the apartment complex WHEN: Aug 27th, mid-afternoon
The sound of Will's ratchet is the only sound heard at first, as he kneels next to his motorcycle, slowly trying to remove the plug that had been giving him trouble. There's sweat on his brow, and his hands are a little greasy, but at least there's someone there with him. "....and all I'm saying is that the evidence is all there. It doesn't matter how you look at it, you have the original record at your disposal, the creator's account in his own words. I'm think about the guy we're talking about. He was borderline villian before we ever even met him, of course he's going to do it, there's no question. And your crazy for arguing it any other way. No matter how you slice it, Han shot first, not Greedo."
"Oh man, whatever..." Lindsey rolled his eyes and huffed, sitting down on the cement near the bike and Will. He had a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other, hair tied back in a ponytail to keep it out of his face. "That's just stupid, man. And Will, no one cares about all the original crap. It's all just wash... it's a movie. The new ones are better anyway." He grinned sharp, taking a swig of his beer while flashing him a sarcastic face. He loved getting William all worked up. It was all good in Lindsey's book. At least he wasn't Desmond, and willing to hit him over nothing.
"It's important dude," Will shot back, taking his ratchet away from the bolt he was loosening as he went into hand motions. "It's about history, and good versus evil, and the reformation of a badish guy into a good guy. They're the classics, there what everything came from. And besides a lot of that stuff comes into play with our whole Ranger thing too." Pausing he looked at the next bolt, than his the socket on his ratchet, and said, "Hey, could you hand me that 10?"
Lindsey rolled his eyes, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand as William went on and on about boring movie stuff. He smirked though, amused despite himself. The other Ranger was cute when he was worked up. "Important," he repeated, teasing him. "How the hell does that come into play with us, man? How does that have anything to do with Rangers? I ain't no bad guy... and man, what the hell is a ten?" He looked around, arms raised up a little. Most of what was on the ground around him looked like blurs on the ground, not that he was good with tools anyway.
"Dude?! Its the socket that says 10mm on it." Pointing at it, he continued unabated by Lindsey's remarks, "It's about the path of good and evil, and it shows that even evil can be offered a chance at redemption, and that very possibly there's even good in evil. Not all bad guys are bad in the end. That's all I'm saying."
Lindsey huffed and put his cigarette between his lips to reach for the object William had pointed to, grasping at it, bringing it close to see it and then handing it over to him. Rolling his eyes, he took the cigarette back out again and shook his head. "Yeah yeah... you're just saying a lot of shit is all you're saying," he taunted. "That ain't got nothing to do with US though. I mean sure, the bad guys or whatever... but shit, Will... when have you come across any of those guys that you've been like, 'hell yeah, he's not that bad'? Man, that's just all about a guy that shot some dude in a bar."
Will shook his head in response as he pulled off the old socket, and replaced it with the new. As he took out the last bolt the plug finally came loose, and he brought it up to his eye to examine ti closely. "Yeah, she's running rich, that's why she's spitting." Grabbing a new plug from the box next to him, he threaded it, and then paused for a moment. Going back to ratcheting, he's only at it for a few seconds before he stops, and turns back to Lindsey. "So who's your favorite superhero then?"
Lindsey perked an eyebrow at the comment, watching his friend work on the bike. He took another drink of beer and swallowed it quietly, considering the conversation they'd sorta just had. He snorted softly, ducking his head to hide it until he was asked another direct conversation. "My favorite superhero...? Now we're really getting geeky, man." Lindsey slapped a hand to his face in mock humiliation. "Man, I always liked Mighty Mouse... he was the shit." Lindsey grinned harder and laughed out loud, tickled to death. "What about you?"
Without missing a beat, Will responded almost on cue, while he continued to replace the bolts holding the plug in. "Batman. No special powers, he was just some dude, who was a great detective, and had some wicked martial art moves. And how come our belts don't have as much cool stuff in it as he did. I don't get that, but we do have the Grid, and Zords so I guess that kinda makes up for it." Removing the socket head he had been using he went back to the old one to tighten the next bolt. "So how's everything been going, you feelin all better?"
Lindsey's mouth fell open and he leaned back a bit. "Ahhhhh... yeah, man. He was fucking awesome, too. Kicking ass and scaring the crap outta all the baddies. I wish we were as bad-ass as that. But I mean, yeah... you're right. The Grid and Zords...? We could beat Batman up, no doubt." At the next question Lindsey sobered a little. "My head?" he asked, playing dumb. "Yeah, I think I'm all good. They let me go back into battle, so... I gotta be good, right?"
"Or good enough," Will joked, "maybe they figure you can at least pilot your zord in a straight line." As he finished the bolt, he reached for one of the shop rags he had brought out, and slowly cleaned his hands with it. "Us flyers gotta stick together man, the air is our domain and whatnot. But your right Batman was the shit. Plus, his alter ego, Bruce Wayne had a crap-ton of money. I'm pretty sure there aren't any former Rangers who are that rich."
"Yeah..." Lindsey nodded, remembering the Zord fight with the lizard monster a few days ago. That had been scary as shit, but intense and he'd loved every moment of it... aside from having to work with another team, and... well, Desmond had been there. Ugh. "Dude, I wish we got that kind of money. I'd buy myself a fucking Megazord and be done with all my teammates." He shook his head and waved a hand dismissively. "Just playing. I love my team, man. But still... what I wouldn't give to have that money. I'd buy Vegas. Screw Batmobiles and Batplanes and Bat... shark... repellent."
Will laughed hard at the mention of the repellent. Standing up, he tossed the rag aside, and moved over to the bike. Straddling it, he put his foot down on the clutch, and pressed in the starter. The bike, an older racing bike with red covers, gave a higher pitch roar as it came to life and Will reved the throttle. Shutting it off, he let it sputter til the engine stopped, and then leaned it back down on its stand. "That'll hold it for now I guess. One day I'll have this thing going good, I swear." Thinking about what Lindsey said, he announced, "I'd buy a yacht, and staff it with only hot female sailors. And maybe a plane too, same thing. But I'd still have a Bat-Mobile. Why the hell not?"
"Allllriiiight," Lindsey cheered, getting up to watch Will mess with the bike. The sound of it brought a satisfied look to his eyes and he nodded approvingly. Bikes were cool shit, and he'd never had the opportunity to really get too close to too many of them. He couldn't drive, after all. "No man, that thing sounds fucking awesome already. How could it go any better?" He laughed at the stuff about money, clapping his hands together, the beer bottle sitting on the ground next to him. "Yeah man... hot sailors," he agreed, though he meant something very different in his mind's eye. "And then after the yacht, you gotta take the Batmobile out for a spin. It'd beat the wheels offa your bike."
"The thing has a jet booster on it dude," said Will. "If that doesn't get you from zero to sixity quickly, I have no idea what will." Looking back his bike, he brought his hand up to scratch the back of his head, and announced, "I've been working on this thing since I got here, but I just can't get it quite right. The throttle like to cut in half at five thousand R-P-Ms, and every two hundred miles she starts spitting again. I should probably have a shop look at her, but I don't got the spare cash right now."
"You don't got the spare cash?" Lindsey raised an eyebrow at Will, bending over to fetch his beer so he could take another drink. He dropped his cigarette and stepped on it, trading one vice for another. "What the hell you spending it all on, Will? Prostitutes? Shit, if you're that lonely I'm sure there are plenty of girls willing to spread 'em for you all over the campus. You're a Power Ranger, for christ's sake."
Raising an eyebrow, Will deadpanned his next statement when he said, "Why is buying prostitutes frowned upon here?" rezzystone: "Hey, hey. Whoa man. I didn't say they were bad. But why bother spending the money when he can get it for free?" Lindsey laughed openly and took a good drink. "You can't honestly tell me you don't got girls banging down your damn door all night long. I mean, hell... the hormone spikes alone..."
"I'm just fucking with you dude," he replied as a smile broke out across his face. "Nah man, I'm paying off some old student loans from before mostly. The interest had really been stacking up, so I'm trying to knock them out before I do anything crazy, y'know?"
"Oh." Lindsey blinked, and then laughed as well and shook his head. "You bastard." He nodded, listening to him as his own laughter died down. "Yeah, man. I got ya. It's cool. Still, that's totally lame. I would hate that... risking my neck for all kinds of people and then paying off student loans at the end of the night. I ain't never been to college, so... no worries here." He'd barely completed high school.
"Yeah well," began Will, "Pre-Law at nice colleges gets expensive quick. And then when you don't finish, they start hitting you off the bat. But hey, none of us took the job for the money right?"
"That's what you think!" Lindsey joked, and it was an obvious one. None of the Rangers (active or retired) seemed to be loaded, and Lindsey wasn't expecting that out of this job. He'd picked it for other reasons, and the money was comfortable. It was good enough for what they did. They weren't scientists, after all. Except for maybe the Blue Rangers... "You think the Blues get better pay for being smarter?" he teased.
Will began to collect his tools back into his make shift tool box, and threw the rag in there as well, leaving the bike standing where it was. Crossing his arms he looked at Lindsey, and nodded, "Absoutley. They put in more time in the Zord Bay alone, than all of us combined in our tenure here. But they're the ones we go to when all else blows up, so they probably deserve it. That and as a Red I see everyone's pay grade when I'm doing paperwork.....Yellows make the least." Will was of course joking, but he wondered if Lindsey would get that.
"Yeah man, they do..." He nodded, listening to Will very seriously. "You get to see that?" he asked, blinking and staring at the other man. "Hey, what?! We get paid the least? Are you shitting me?" He stared hard at the Red Ranger totally buying into the joke and getting worked up. He was gullible at his best. "You gotta be kidding me, man! That ain't fair!"
Will nodded, "Yup, and at the end of the year, the Greens, are giving a yearly bonus of ten kegs of beer." Shaking his head, he added, "That one I still don't understand."
"Hey!" Lindsey spat, catching on all of a sudden. He feigned like he was going to punch William in the face, stopping just before making contact. Instead he whacked him in the shoulder. "You asshole. Watch it or I'll beat your ass," he joked, shaking his head and scoffing.
Will broke out into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, "Dude you should have seen your face man." Shaking his head, the laughter subsided, but the smile remained, "That was great." Clearing his through, he placed his hands on his hips and said, "So, I've been getting it from everyone ask, and I figured I might as well ask you as well. Got any good advice for me, with this whole Red Ranger thing?"
Lindsey shrugged at the question about being a Red Ranger, moving to sit down nearby again on a chair he'd dragged over with him from earlier. "I dunno... I mean, I never wore the Red or anything. I'm not the leader type. I mean... I've been doing this for quite a while, though. Seven years, give or take a few months. Red's have gotta be always on the ball, man. Always paying attention to your teammates, on or off the clock."
Will nodded, as he crossed his arms in front of him. "So I'm told that much at least. You've probably had a few Reds now. Any particular thing make one better over the other?"
"Uhhh... being compassionate I guess. And like, not ignoring us when something important comes up..." Lindsey had been through a bad experience with his first Red, and hoped to never repeat it again. "I dunno, man. Being a good friend and a fair leader. The rest... it's all intuition, training, history. It's all learning."
"I never thought I'd want this, this much when I came into the academy," said Will. "I thought I'd give being a Ranger a shot, and figured, whatever, y'know. But through the years, it just became more and more about being what I'm supposed to do, like it was intertwined with fate or something like that." Shaking his head, he lowered his arms to his side, and lowered his head. "I'm ready for this, I know I am now."
"I know you are too," Lindsey replied, smiling up into Will's face with confidence and support in his eyes. There were very few times when Lindsey was totally serious, but right now was one of them. "I can see it in your eyes. You care about what you're doing here with us. That's really all that counts when the day is done. You care, Will. That's it."
Will nodded in reply, "Alright, then." Holding out the tool box, "Could you give me a hand getting this stuff back to my place. I gotta carry the bike...since...y'know, it doesn't run." He stared at his pride and joy sheepishly.
"Yeah, no problem." Lindsey set the bottle down and abandoned it, figuring one of the Alpha bots would be by later anyway. They were good at cleaning up left-over junk. He took the tool box and immediately made a noise of complaint. It was heavy. "Let's get her outta here, then."