Title: Morning Glory
Fandom: Power Rangers
Pairing: Jason/Billy
Rating: PG for some kissing
Word Count: 1231
Warnings: Mild Angst. Yaoi/slash warning, though nothing graphic. Nothing blatantly spoilery, but I make no promises.

Summary: Set within the context of "A Rose By Any Other Name," but could function mostly as a standalone. I suppose it contains spoilers for ARBAON, if you don't know who Billy hooks up with by the end of the fic. ^_~ Just a fluffy little one-shot for fun, because I had the sudden desire to let Billy have some cuddling. I felt he deserved it. ^_^ Sort of inspired by two 15 minute fic words: #167 and #168.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Saban, I'm just playing with them for the time being. I promise I'll put them back (mostly) intact when I'm done. ^_~

Morning Glory
by Renee-chan

The California sunshine was persistent, far more than he would have been in its place. In its way were several heavy-leafed shade trees in the yard, yards of thick, insulated black-out curtains and his own closed eyelids. Even so, one single stream of sunlight managed to penetrate past every one of those obstacles. That one single stream was enough. With a soft moan, Jason allowed the offended eyelid to flutter open, then winced appropriately as his dilated pupil met the full-on force of that sunbeam.

At that wince, the sandy-haired man at his side twitched, then grumbled and buried his face further into Jason's neck. And with that one action, Jason was catapulted from the shallows of half-dreaming into the depths of full alertness. It took his previously sleep-fogged brain too many minutes for his own comfort to figure out why Billy was in his bed and not on the pull-out couch where he usually slept when he spent the night.

After a tense period of brain-wracking, Jason was finally able to wrestle the memories forward and put them together in a sensible fashion: his talk with Trini, Ashley's birthday party, the argument with Andros... and Billy's unexpectedly firm decision. By the Power, had all of that happened just yesterday? And now... what had they done? Unaccountably, Jason blushed. He couldn't remember. And hell, they hadn't even been drinking!

At Jason's continued tense discomfiture, Billy twitched again. Jason tried to force himself to relax. He knew that Billy was a light sleeper. He also knew that a Billy awakened before what he considered to be a reasonable hour... well, he wasn't a happy or a cooperative Billy, to put it mildly. And judging by the angle of that beam of sunlight, this was nowhere even approaching what Billy would consider a reasonable hour to rise.

After another few minutes of Jason's silent fretting, Billy finally grumped into the other man's neck, "You made a far more comfortable pillow before you turned your muscles into solid rock." When Jason had no immediate comeback, Billy raised his head and blinked myopically at him, a frown of concentration swept across his features, "Is something wrong, Jason? It is unlike you to be so tense." At Jason's continued silence, Billy's eyes widened, "I..." Billy's features soon sported a blush to match Jason's, "I had difficulty sleeping last night. I thought..." He sat up, pulled away, finished quietly, "Perhaps it was presumptuous of me, but after yesterday..." He trailed off, his entire posture now uncertain and just as tense as Jason's.

Jason sat up, too, at that, more relieved than he felt was appropriate that he hadn't done... well, what he thought he hadn't remembered doing. He reached out a hand to grip Billy's shoulder, "No... no, it wasn't. I just... I didn't remember you being in bed with me when I went to sleep and to find you here when I woke up..." His blush deepened, "I just wasn't expecting it."

Billy quirked an eyebrow at him at that. Jason was nearly as light a sleeper as Billy - a side effect from having been Rangers for so long - so for him to admit that Billy had managed to get that close to him without his knowledge... The trust implied there was immense. And that implication was clearly not lost on Billy, because suddenly... Billy smiled. It was a brighter, warmer, more open expression than Jason had ever seen on his face. His green eyes practically twinkled with that sudden, intense happiness.

In the face of that smile, Jason forgot how to breathe. He'd loved Billy for a long time. That wasn't news. He'd even been willing to stretch the idea of what that love meant in order to keep his friend by his side. But... well... as willing as he'd said he was to allow an exploration of the physical side of this new relationship, he couldn't escape the fact that he'd never been attracted to a man before. And if he were being utterly truthful, he hadn't even been sure he was attracted to Billy. He loved him. He was willing to try. That wasn't the same thing, though, and he knew it. But, this... by the Power... how had he never noticed how beautiful Billy's smile was? Maybe it was because he'd never seen such unreserved joy on his friend's face. Maybe it was something in the way that single beam of sunlight - now joined by three of its buddies - shot golden highlights through his friend's hair. Maybe... maybe he was just disoriented and looking for answers where there were none. Whatever the case, for this one moment, in this one place... Jason knew he was as attracted to Billy as Billy was to him. So, when Billy leaned towards him, head slightly tilted to the right, Jason was the one to reach his hand up to cup the back of Billy's neck and use it to help close the distance.

This kiss was nothing like yesterday's had been. Yesterday's kiss had been about fire, about lust, about need. This kiss... it was different. It was gentle, soft... and warm as the sunlight fighting so hard to illuminate the moment for him. He'd barely settled into the rhythm of it when Billy pulled away. Jason followed after him, almost needy for that warmth to return. Already, he felt colder than he had a moment ago. Billy just laughed, rested a hand on Jason's chest and shook his head, "This isn't the time or the place for more than this, Jason. You know that as well as I."

Jason let out a low growl of displeasure, "Then why the hell did you start it in the first place?"

Billy shrugged, eyes still twinkling, "I'm male and I'm young. No matter how I may fight to deny them, my body has the same impulses every morning as yours." His smile widened, "Does it surprise you that faced with the object of most of my fantasies sharing my bedspace that I should fall prey to those impulses?"

Jason stared at him for a moment before letting out a soft snicker and pulling at Billy's neck until their foreheads touched, "In plainer words... you're just as horny as I am even if you're going to be stubborn about it."

Billy's cheeks flushed again, "In plainer words... yes." Sniffing disdainfully, he added, "My words were better."

Eyes shining just as brightly as Billy's had a moment ago, Jason leaned in again and placed soft kisses on either side of the other man's mouth, "Indubitably. It's part of why I love you."

Now it was Billy's turn for his breath to hitch. And even though he was no longer willing to meet Jason's eyes, his body relaxed in pleasure at those words. When Jason pulled him back down onto the mattress with him, there was no resistance. In fact, he settled back in quite happily against Jason's side, made a sound of sleepy contentment, "Much better..."

Lightly kissing Billy's forehead, Jason pulled the covers up over them both, wrapped both arms around him and resolutely told that little sunbeam what it could go do with itself.

Billy just smiled softly up at him and murmured, "Oh... I don't know. With this as incentive... I think I just might be willing to become a morning person."

A/N:

Yeah... really nothing much to say. Just felt like popping up a short piece of fluff to prove that I could. ^_^ Trying to get the fandom ADD under control with a few one-shots so I can focus on something bigger. Here's to more productivity!

Questions, comments, strawberries?