AN: A really short piece the muse struck me with while I was watching tv. No idea why. It's kind of silly. But I like it. Hope you do too.
Some See Better Than Others
"Last one in the water's a little girl!" Hunter exclaimed. The look on Tori's face soured, and she turned to face her obnoxious friend.
"You are so gonna pay for that." She threatened. Hunter looked for a split second like the kicked puppy he was, and then he let out a shout and started running.
Tori laughed and chased after her friend. Hunter was fast, but he was bigger. Tori was smaller and she caught up to him in only a few seconds.
"Sorry!" She yelled as she jumped over a couple picnicking. Hunter narrowly dodged a kid and his sand castle, and he made it to the water.
He skidded to a stop as his feet touched the waves. Tori didn't slow down. He was turning to face her with a triumphant smile as she dove right into him. Hunter let out a started yelp as they hit the water, and Tori smiled. They came up a moment later, and Tori glanced over at Hunter as she wiped the water from her eyes.
"That was uncalled for!" Hunter exclaimed, his face a mixture of mock-horror and anger.
"Oh please!" Tori splashed him across the face as they sat in the waves. "You asked for it!"
Hunter grinned over at her, and he splashed her back. Tori rolled away, and a splash fight ensued. Hunter succeeded in chasing her into deeper water, but it was him who eventually called the mercy.
"Okay, okay." Hunter panted, straggling away from her back to the shore. "You win. All hail the mighty birthday girl!" Hunter turned and fell down on his knees in the waves, and Tori grinned.
"That's right. You know it." She pushed his forehead gently. Hunter grinned and looked down, averting his eyes from the sun, and that's when she saw it.
The purple mark on his shoulder was faint, but it was definitely there. Tori grabbed his shoulder to get a better look.
"Hunter, is that a hicky?" She asked for confirmation, and Hunter's split second look of recognition did it. Yeah, it was definitely a hicky.
He slapped a hand over the purple mark on his shoulder anyway. "No." He denied it too quickly, and he stood to take the site out of her vision.
"It is!" Tori exclaimed, and she smacked his shoulder good-naturedly. "You've got a hicky!"
"You can't prove that." Hunter turned and began walking away from her, but Tori was right on his heals.
"Where did you get it?" She asked, and then felt foolish when he shot her a suggestive look. "Okay, who did you get it from?"
"It's nobody." Hunter shrugged, and Tori wasn't letting this drop that easily.
"Who are you seeing? And why haven't any of us met her? Does Blake know?" She rattled off the questions and Hunter turned and placed his hands on his hips.
"I don't even remember the first question you asked, and I'm not answering any of them." He told her. Tori frown.
"You can't keep this a secret forever. Tell me who it is!" She insisted, and Hunter rolled his eyes.
"No! It's none of your business." Hunter stuck his tongue out at her and she glared at him. The others were coming towards them and Hunter turned to rejoin the rest of their friends.
"I'm gonna find out!" She called. Hunter just waved a dismissive hand at her without looking back.
True to her promise, Tori hadn't forgotten about Hunter's hicky. When he accompanied Cam into the kitchen to do the cake dishes, Tori waited only a few minutes before following. She wasn't sure if Hunter's offer to help Cam had been genuine, but she suspected that maybe if he wouldn't confide in her, he might talk to their green friend.
And talking he was. Cam was standing at the sink washing the dishes. Hunter was sitting on the counter behind him.
"What do you mean she saw it?" Cam asked quietly.
"What do you think I mean?" Hunter shot back. Cam momentarily stopped washing dishes and shot Hunter a look, then returned to his work.
"What did she say?" Cam wanted to know.
"Asked a bunch of questions." Hunter shrugged.
"And?" Cam stopped washing the dishes even though he wasn't done and turned back to Hunter.
"And what? You think I just went 'oh Tori, I'm so glad you asked!'" Hunter made his voice significantly higher when he mimicked what he might have said. Cam raised his eyebrows. "Thanks."
"I can't believe you took off your shirt and didn't even bother to cover it." Cam rubbed his hand over his eyes.
"I'm sorry Mary Kay, but I don't have any make up to cover my love bites." Hunter's voice dripped and sarcasm, and Cam shot him a dark look.
"That's because you don't have any on your neck." Cam told him darkly.
Hunter grinned. "Yeah, you're more careful with that than I am. My practical little Cam."
"And ironically you're the one who got caught." Cam shot back. Hunter hopped off the counter and stepped close to Cam. A lot closer than she'd ever seen them before.
Tori's eyes widened. Hunter placed his hands on Cams hips, and bent his head to suck on Cam's neck.
"Don't you dare." Cam warned, and Hunter chuckled.
It clicked. Hunter's hicky was from Cam. Suddenly it all made sense. The time they spent together. The casual touches. The shared looks. They were lovers.
And they were coming this way. Tori almost panicked, and then realized she wasn't going to be able to keep this to herself anyway, so they might as well know that she knew. She stood there, mouth gaping, waiting for them to see her.
"Just try and be more careful next time, okay?" Cam asked.
"You could stop giving me hickys." Hunter suggested. Cam shook his head.
"Where's the fun in that?" Cam wondered, and then he caught sight of Tori.
The two rangers stopped cold as they saw their female friend. Tori couldn't help it; a smile rose to her lips and she couldn't suppress it.
Cam opened his mouth to speak, but Hunter cut him off. "You know what, you're the one who grew up in the ninja academy, you should have heard her coming." Hunter crossed his arms defensively, and Cam shut his mouth.
"Well this certainly makes things a bit more interesting." Tori opined.
"How much did you hear?" Cam wanted to know.
"Plenty." Tori inspected Cam's neck playfully. "You do a good job of covering those. I never would have noticed before." Tori giggled, and Cam slapped a protective hand over his neck.
"Okay birthday girl, that's enough out of you." Hunter turned Tori around and began pushing her back towards the main room.
"Whoa, whoa!" Tori planted her feet. "Not so fast!"
"You've heard everything you need to hear, and you're not getting anymore." Hunter told her.
"You can't keep this a secret forever you know. I'm not going to tell, but you two should be more careful." Tori gave them meaningful looks, and Cam just rolled his eyes.
"It's not a secret." He insisted. Tori gave him a look. "Nobody's observant enough."
"Except for me." Tori corrected.
"Except for you." Cam agreed.
"Are we done?" Hunter looked pained. As much as they insisted it wasn't a secret, it most definitely was.
"You two are never living that hicky thing down."