Fic: From Black to Green
Title: From Black to Green
Fandom: Power Rangers, Zeo era
Characters: Adam Park, Rocky DeSantos
Rating: K+, PG, whatever... some mild kissing
Summary: They always wore their ranger colours, always. But now the powers changed, the colours changed, and how in the world was he going to tell his mother?
Written for second_batgirl. She finished her project, finished her pbb, and I promised if she could do it all in one weekend, I'd write fic for her. She did, and so did I. This one's for you, TSB!
Adam stood at the top of the stairs and sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy. His mother was not going to like it at all, but he had no choice. He took a few moments to work up the nerve to actually go downstairs to the living room and talk to her. He hesitated. He didn’t really want to do this, but he knew he had to and the longer he hovered over that first step, the harder it would be to actually get downstairs. He took a deep breath and took the steps two at a time.
“Mom? Hey, Mom?” he called out. She wasn’t in the living room or library. He finally heard the water running in the kitchen and made his way to the back of the house. She was standing at the sink rinsing out her big mixing bowl. He stood in the doorway, his nervousness suddenly coming back in full force. She turned and smiled when she saw him.
“Oh, hello, honey! Done with your homework?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah,” he replied, taking a warm cookie off the cooling rack. She smiled at him and turned to take more out of the oven. “Mom, um, I need to talk to you,” he stammered. She took off her oven mitt and leaned on the counter.
“You have my full attention, baby. What’s up?” She looked so concerned, it made Adam more nervous.
“Um, well it’s just that… you see, I think. Um. Ineednewclothes,” he finally blurted out. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
“You… need new clothes?” she asked. He nodded. “What’s wrong with the clothes you have?”
“They… don’t fit right anymore?” He hadn’t meant it to sound like a question. The corner of her mouth quirked down and she crossed her arms. She looked him up and down.
“They seem to fit you just fine.” He put the half eaten cookie down.
“I just… please?” he asked. She frowned at him.
“We just bought you those a month ago. No, you don’t need new clothes.” She turned her back to him and he knew that was supposed to mean conversation over, but he had to persist. He couldn’t keep wearing black anymore. He wanted to, he really did love his black clothes, but he couldn’t. He wasn’t the Black Ranger anymore. He was Green Ranger now and he needed the clothes to reflect that.
“C’mon Mom, please? Just some new shirts? I can keep the pants.” She turned and glared at him, scraping the cookies off the baking pan with a bit more force than necessary.
“No, and that’s final. Money doesn’t grow on trees, y’know, and you have a closet full of perfectly fine clothes. I can’t afford to replace your wardrobe every time the fashion changes.” She shook the spatula at him and he sheepishly took a bite of his cookie. He knew there was only one way. He’d have to fight dirty.
“Well, the thing is… I was reading this new study. In a magazine. That I found… uh, in the library at school? It said that colour can, uh, affect a child’s mood and that affects their grades.” He looked up at her with big, innocent eyes. She always had a hard time resisting the puppy dog eyes.
“Oh? Affects grades, you say?” she asked. She seemed interested, at least.
“Yeah, yeah it said the calmer a colour makes a child, the easier it is for the child to focus and study. Certain colours can improve a report card by a whole letter grade! And I have the wrong colour. Black is a very sad colour. It can bring down your grades if you wear too much of it.” He was pulling this all out of thin air but she seemed to buy it.
“So what are these grade improving colours?” she asked, wiping her hands on a towel.
“Greens mostly. It’s apparently very relaxing. Raises serotonin in the brain or something like that.”
“I thought you didn’t like green?” she asked. He sighed. He didn’t really, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Zordon had given him Zeo Green and he couldn’t just change now because he didn’t like the colour.
“I like green well enough. And besides, it could help with my grades.” She stared at a spot on the wall past him and he could hear her muttering under her breath. It was a sure sign she was doing math in her head again. She sighed.
“Oh, alright. We can go out and buy you some new shirts.” He beamed at her. He’d actually won!
“Can we go now?” he asked, finishing off the last of his cookie. She smiled at him.
“Go put some shoes on. Best do it before your father gets home anyway.” He kissed her cheek and trotted down the hallway. “But we’re going to try Goodwill first, you hear?” he heard her yell after him. He didn’t mind Goodwill, so long as it was green. It had to be green.
He dragged a bag behind him the entire way to Rocky’s house. His mom had bought him an entire wardrobe full of green clothes. Sure they were a few seasons out of style, but he didn’t care about fashion all that much in the first place. He was just happy he now had green clothes. He hoped Rocky’s family could use the black clothes he’d cleaned out of his closet. If nothing else, they could stash them in the attic with all the others outgrown clothes until one of the kids was big enough to wear them. It was what they usually did. The first place any of them ever went shopping was DeSantos Attic Wholesale. Rocky’s mom had a whole system set up there. It was amazing.
He stepped over the tricycle in the yard and hopped down the chalk hopscotch on the walk before knocking on the door. He could hear squealing inside and then Rocky opened the door with Rosa, his little sister, attached to his leg. Adam held up the bag.
“I thought you guys might want some of my clothes,” he said. Rocky shooed Rosa away and opened the door all the way to let him in. He loved being at Rocky’s house. It was crowded, it was cluttered, and it was always chaotic. The DeSantos residence was never quiet. It was the complete opposite to Adam’s own home.
“Let’s get them filed away in DeSantos Attic Wholesale,” Rocky said. Adam followed him upstairs to the attic pulldown.
“I don’t suppose you guys have any green clothes I could have?” he asked.
“You can look through. Take what you want. I’d say you’re more than replacing anything we might have for you.” Adam admired Rocky’s blue shirt. It was a long sleeved button down polo and it clung to him in ways the red clothes never had. He fingered the sleeve.
“I like this. It’s… tight. Where’d you get it?” he asked. Rocky bent down to stuff Adam’s old clothes into a box labeled ‘Teenage Boys- Medium’.
“Billy let me have some of his old stuff. It’s all kind of small on me. Mama refuses to take me shopping though. Pedro had some blue stuff I’ve raided, but that’s all too big still. Nothing fits me quite right.” He stood up and sighed. Adam smirked and looked at the blue shirt again. When Rocky was standing, it stretched across his chest and shoulders, showing off the curve of every muscle. It didn’t look uncomfortably tight, and it wasn’t glaringly obvious it didn’t fit if you didn’t already know Rocky’s preference for baggier clothes.
“It looks really good on you, actually,” Adam said absently. Rocky smiled lecherously.
“Want to see how good it looks off me?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows. Adam leaned in dangerously close. He hovered over Rocky’s lips for a moment, just breathing, until Rocky closed the distance. Adam let him play for a minute, probing his best friend’s mouth with his tongue, before he pulled back abruptly. Rocky actually pouted.
“Love to, but Tommy and Billy are waiting for us at the Youth Center. We should get moving.” Rocky cursed under his breath, but headed down the attic stairs anyway. Adam followed, admiring the fit of the new shirt. Blue really was Rocky’s colour. This colour change wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
Fandom: Power Rangers, Zeo era
Characters: Adam Park, Rocky DeSantos
Rating: K+, PG, whatever... some mild kissing
Summary: They always wore their ranger colours, always. But now the powers changed, the colours changed, and how in the world was he going to tell his mother?
Written for second_batgirl. She finished her project, finished her pbb, and I promised if she could do it all in one weekend, I'd write fic for her. She did, and so did I. This one's for you, TSB!
Adam stood at the top of the stairs and sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy. His mother was not going to like it at all, but he had no choice. He took a few moments to work up the nerve to actually go downstairs to the living room and talk to her. He hesitated. He didn’t really want to do this, but he knew he had to and the longer he hovered over that first step, the harder it would be to actually get downstairs. He took a deep breath and took the steps two at a time.
“Mom? Hey, Mom?” he called out. She wasn’t in the living room or library. He finally heard the water running in the kitchen and made his way to the back of the house. She was standing at the sink rinsing out her big mixing bowl. He stood in the doorway, his nervousness suddenly coming back in full force. She turned and smiled when she saw him.
“Oh, hello, honey! Done with your homework?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah,” he replied, taking a warm cookie off the cooling rack. She smiled at him and turned to take more out of the oven. “Mom, um, I need to talk to you,” he stammered. She took off her oven mitt and leaned on the counter.
“You have my full attention, baby. What’s up?” She looked so concerned, it made Adam more nervous.
“Um, well it’s just that… you see, I think. Um. Ineednewclothes,” he finally blurted out. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
“You… need new clothes?” she asked. He nodded. “What’s wrong with the clothes you have?”
“They… don’t fit right anymore?” He hadn’t meant it to sound like a question. The corner of her mouth quirked down and she crossed her arms. She looked him up and down.
“They seem to fit you just fine.” He put the half eaten cookie down.
“I just… please?” he asked. She frowned at him.
“We just bought you those a month ago. No, you don’t need new clothes.” She turned her back to him and he knew that was supposed to mean conversation over, but he had to persist. He couldn’t keep wearing black anymore. He wanted to, he really did love his black clothes, but he couldn’t. He wasn’t the Black Ranger anymore. He was Green Ranger now and he needed the clothes to reflect that.
“C’mon Mom, please? Just some new shirts? I can keep the pants.” She turned and glared at him, scraping the cookies off the baking pan with a bit more force than necessary.
“No, and that’s final. Money doesn’t grow on trees, y’know, and you have a closet full of perfectly fine clothes. I can’t afford to replace your wardrobe every time the fashion changes.” She shook the spatula at him and he sheepishly took a bite of his cookie. He knew there was only one way. He’d have to fight dirty.
“Well, the thing is… I was reading this new study. In a magazine. That I found… uh, in the library at school? It said that colour can, uh, affect a child’s mood and that affects their grades.” He looked up at her with big, innocent eyes. She always had a hard time resisting the puppy dog eyes.
“Oh? Affects grades, you say?” she asked. She seemed interested, at least.
“Yeah, yeah it said the calmer a colour makes a child, the easier it is for the child to focus and study. Certain colours can improve a report card by a whole letter grade! And I have the wrong colour. Black is a very sad colour. It can bring down your grades if you wear too much of it.” He was pulling this all out of thin air but she seemed to buy it.
“So what are these grade improving colours?” she asked, wiping her hands on a towel.
“Greens mostly. It’s apparently very relaxing. Raises serotonin in the brain or something like that.”
“I thought you didn’t like green?” she asked. He sighed. He didn’t really, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Zordon had given him Zeo Green and he couldn’t just change now because he didn’t like the colour.
“I like green well enough. And besides, it could help with my grades.” She stared at a spot on the wall past him and he could hear her muttering under her breath. It was a sure sign she was doing math in her head again. She sighed.
“Oh, alright. We can go out and buy you some new shirts.” He beamed at her. He’d actually won!
“Can we go now?” he asked, finishing off the last of his cookie. She smiled at him.
“Go put some shoes on. Best do it before your father gets home anyway.” He kissed her cheek and trotted down the hallway. “But we’re going to try Goodwill first, you hear?” he heard her yell after him. He didn’t mind Goodwill, so long as it was green. It had to be green.
He dragged a bag behind him the entire way to Rocky’s house. His mom had bought him an entire wardrobe full of green clothes. Sure they were a few seasons out of style, but he didn’t care about fashion all that much in the first place. He was just happy he now had green clothes. He hoped Rocky’s family could use the black clothes he’d cleaned out of his closet. If nothing else, they could stash them in the attic with all the others outgrown clothes until one of the kids was big enough to wear them. It was what they usually did. The first place any of them ever went shopping was DeSantos Attic Wholesale. Rocky’s mom had a whole system set up there. It was amazing.
He stepped over the tricycle in the yard and hopped down the chalk hopscotch on the walk before knocking on the door. He could hear squealing inside and then Rocky opened the door with Rosa, his little sister, attached to his leg. Adam held up the bag.
“I thought you guys might want some of my clothes,” he said. Rocky shooed Rosa away and opened the door all the way to let him in. He loved being at Rocky’s house. It was crowded, it was cluttered, and it was always chaotic. The DeSantos residence was never quiet. It was the complete opposite to Adam’s own home.
“Let’s get them filed away in DeSantos Attic Wholesale,” Rocky said. Adam followed him upstairs to the attic pulldown.
“I don’t suppose you guys have any green clothes I could have?” he asked.
“You can look through. Take what you want. I’d say you’re more than replacing anything we might have for you.” Adam admired Rocky’s blue shirt. It was a long sleeved button down polo and it clung to him in ways the red clothes never had. He fingered the sleeve.
“I like this. It’s… tight. Where’d you get it?” he asked. Rocky bent down to stuff Adam’s old clothes into a box labeled ‘Teenage Boys- Medium’.
“Billy let me have some of his old stuff. It’s all kind of small on me. Mama refuses to take me shopping though. Pedro had some blue stuff I’ve raided, but that’s all too big still. Nothing fits me quite right.” He stood up and sighed. Adam smirked and looked at the blue shirt again. When Rocky was standing, it stretched across his chest and shoulders, showing off the curve of every muscle. It didn’t look uncomfortably tight, and it wasn’t glaringly obvious it didn’t fit if you didn’t already know Rocky’s preference for baggier clothes.
“It looks really good on you, actually,” Adam said absently. Rocky smiled lecherously.
“Want to see how good it looks off me?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows. Adam leaned in dangerously close. He hovered over Rocky’s lips for a moment, just breathing, until Rocky closed the distance. Adam let him play for a minute, probing his best friend’s mouth with his tongue, before he pulled back abruptly. Rocky actually pouted.
“Love to, but Tommy and Billy are waiting for us at the Youth Center. We should get moving.” Rocky cursed under his breath, but headed down the attic stairs anyway. Adam followed, admiring the fit of the new shirt. Blue really was Rocky’s colour. This colour change wasn’t such a bad thing after all.