[PRP] once a ranger, always a ranger (cid & ro)

[GhouIs]

"Today's been <********> rough." Ro walked through the shop's entrance with a grimace on his face and shadows beneath his eyes. His hair, usually half-hidden by a beanie, was free today. The teal strands stuck up and out in seemingly every which way, as though he'd just gotten out of bed.

"Yo, man," He reached into the plastic bag he'd carried in with him and tossed a sub in the Cid's direction. "Got a few minutes to break for lunch or ya busy?"

azur3dre4ms

 

[azuredreams]

Cid was, at the moment, blonde. Well, mostly blonde with a streak of blue-black toward the curls of the front. It was easier to deal with at the moment given most of his cosplays of late (and he was taking a break from hair color dying). He was in the process of rearranging his precious Bishouji Senshi display when he heard victory fanfare play and looked up.

"Dude," he said to Roman. "Seriously. How the ******** do you look worse than when I saw you this morning?" His hands caught the sub and he tilted his head towards the door to the employee basement. "Yeah, I got time. I was about to close up for lunch anyway." There was no one else in the store today so it wouldn't stay open during lunch like it sometimes did.

A gesture was made for Roman to follow him, Cid hitting the button that locked the front door up and changed the sign to show they were closed for lunch. "Come on, you can tell me what unholy terrors descended upon you to cause ..." His free hand, once no longer on the button, gestured towards Roman's appearance.

GhouIs

 

[GhouIs]

Roman huffed and made a gesture that clearly meant I don't ********' know dude. He ran a hand through his hair and tugged. It was this unconscious tick that had caused the mess atop his head. It was also a hint at the amount of irritation and/or stress Ro was under, had Cid ever bothered to take note of the quirk.

"This ********' dude brought in two hundred and ******** vinyls." He explained, as they descended. "Two hundred. And sixty. ********'. Three." Each word dripped with venom. "I went through every single one of those ******** and they were all trash. A good bit of them were scratched to hell so I seperated those out, told him I'd give him one fifty for the rest... and that's bein' nice dude. It was a s**t show of a collection. ********' elevator music, for the most part." He pulled his own sub from the plastic and unwrapped it in a rage. "Anyway he immediately goes off. Starts yellin' to me about how his grandpa gave him the records in his will and how goddamn ********' valuable they were like I haven't been in this business for twenty ******** years now... like I'm some sort of idiot tryin' to rip him off or somethin'."

"He gets all red in the face and s**t, starts hyperventilating. Knocks a stack I had on the counter over, practically foamin' at the mouth. I had to threaten to call the cops on him to get him out. The damn cops!" He ripped a bite out of his sub, and continued to talk as he chewed. "He was ********' crazy, man, and I wasted a lot of ******** time going through that collection. Didn't make a penny 'cause he thinks some idiot out there is gonna offer him more."

azuredr3ams

mobile tag sorry if typos

 

[azuredreams]

Cid gestured for Roman to go down the stairs first, the lights already on. The couch was there - familiar and old, Ro had helped him get it in of course - and the other chairs that were around the low to the ground coffee table. There was a Cthulhu bean bag chair that was Cid's favorite spot ('Our Lord and Condemner,' he'd say; it went with the giant statue of Cthulhu upstairs). There was the television of course, decent size, and the entertainment system it was sitting on (so many consoles, so little time).

He totally caught that movement of irritation, moving towards the small kitchenette and opening up the fridge. "So what you're telling me," he said slowly, "is that you definitely want one of these ales I have stocked away with lunch." It was from the local bar and restaurant, Darlene's, and they were always amazingly tasty.

"... because, honestly, what the ********. You know I can't stand that s**t. Are we going to offer someone less than what we sell them for? OF ******** COURSE. How else do we make money on it? Not going to rob them blind though ... It isn't like you're Half-Price Books or whatever, because you know they're definitely undercutting what something is worth for one helluva mark-up ..." He was lingering by the fridge, waiting for confirmation about the beer. "Sounds like a shitty morning since I know that probably took you forever to deal with." That many vinyls and individual look ups? Ro was fast, the dude was even lucky he had bothered to consent to processing the collection.

"You didn't give him a print out or anything about value, right? I had this a*****e the other week who never meant to sell a damn thing but was totally using the store to price his s**t for him for him to sale online."

GhouIs

looks good to me <3 LOL THIS LATE NIGHT TAG ON THE OTHER HAND. (behold, the night words. enemy of the day words.)

 

[GhouIs]

"An ale would be ********' fantastic right about now, man, thank you." Roman moved straight across the basement to the couch. He slouched into the worn cushions and took another bite of his sub. The taste of sweet onion chicken teriyaki burst across his taste buds in that familiar and gratifying way he liked. Now that he'd gotten his rant out, he felt more tired than frustrated. There were still hours to go, though, before he could close up the shop. He sighed.

"Hell no I didn't give him a print-out. I'll do that every now again if they ask 'cause what's it to me ya know, I'm a nice guy, but nah. Usually I just put the prices on the receipt if they're smart enough to take my ********' offer." He picked off a bit of chicken attempting to escape the confines of the bread and popped it into his mouth.

"What about you, though? How's your day been goin'? Better than mine, I hope."

azuredre4ms

 

[azuredreams]

The ale was tossed towards Roman, fingers flicking towards the bottle opener that was on the table. Cid came over and slumped into his favored chair, sandwich set out in front of him as he stretched out with a sigh. "Mm. Yeah. You know people don't really understand that even if you've got some super crunchy special edition, if it's wrecked to hell? It's ******** worse than worthless. Not literally but you've docked the value to hell and back."

Shaking his head, he took a bite of his own (also a sweet onion chicken teriyaki; hello, those were the bomb). The bite was washed down with a drink of his own ale. "Normal day, aside from no one else is working the store. Some s**t going on that's got some of my employees a bit busy." Some s**t was usually code for it's magic, totally something amazingly ******** magical. "Haven't have that ******** come in lately - you know, the one that demands I order something from some convention from another country that's a one off."

GhouIs

 

[GhouIs]

Roman took the booze gratefully and reached for the bottle opener without pause.

"Nah, man, it's definitely worse than worthless- can you imagine letting s**t happen to something that ********' valuable?" Ro shook his head, very obviously displeased by just the thought, and took a swig of the dark liquid Cid had tossed at him. As soon as the bitter taste washed down the remainder of his last bite, Roman raised a brow at the label while Cid complained about the convention ********. Yeah, he had plenty of those types come into his shop too. And every time they asked him for some shitty just released record that cost more than any piece of new age vinyl had the right to, he had to physically grip something in order to keep himself from shoving them right the ******** back out. Order it your ********' self.

"s**t, though," he said, as he twisted the bottle to read the alcohol percentage. "This is a good lager. Darlene's is no ********' joke man. I haven't stopped in for... what... a few months? I oughta go for a brew or two some time soon." He tilted the bottle in Cid's direction. "You 'n' Wendy, too. How's she been? And Trill? I don't think I've seen little man all too recently, either. You should bring him through the Ranger some time."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Because it's neurotic to protect your collectibles," Cid deadpanned, giving Roman a dead-eye stare. Not that he believed that because <******** that nonsense, protect your s**t.

He chuckled at the reaction before tilting his head back towards the fridge. "You can snag another if you want to take it with you. I got a six pack. You know how Borr and Killian," the owners, also the widowers of Darlene (the place's namesake); yes OT3 forever, "really getting into the summer months of brewing. So they've been whipping some really good s**t up this summer. I'm looking forward to what they're going to be serving for Fourth of July."

Cid was working through his sandwich, pulling his phone from his pocket at the mention of his wife and his son. Obviously pictures were brought up and, sure enough, Trill was dressed in power ranger garb. "Wendy's doing good, Trill's starting to talk." His lips twitched. "So we're having to watch our language at home, if only because I don't want my parents bitching about what he's saying when they're watching him."

GhouIs

 

[GhouIs]

"Nah, thanks but no thanks. I'm not gonna take your booze. I got some of my own in the fridge. Just wanted to try this 'un out." Ro crumpled the teriyaki-stained sheet that his sub had been wrapped in and tossed the balled up material easily into the trash bin. Swoosh.

He took another sip of his gifted beverage and sighed. Content with a belly full of teriyaki goodness and a beer in his hand, Roman relaxed further into the couch. He was about to pull out his phone, to set an alarm to go off on the 4th that would remind him to check out Darlene's, but Cid's next words had him reeling.

"What?" He whipped his head sideways to look at the blue-streaked nerd. His phone was now forgotten in his hand. He hadn't even managed to open up the app.

"Little man's ********' talking now?" He leaned forward as soon as the pictures were presented, brows raised as he took note of just how much the kid had grown since he'd last seen him. "They're not kiddin' about how quick it goes, huh? He's a good bit taller... thinner, too.. since I last got a good look at him." And he was in a ranger costume. Ro nodded his approval.

"He looks good, dude. You 'n' Wendy are doin' real good. Almost makes me want a brat of my own." Almost. He took another drink then let his head fall back. He closed his eyes, wishing he could keep them that way for a couple hours. But, he had work to do as soon as lunch was over. They could stretch it for another fifteen- maybe twenty- minutes. Anything more than that, though, he considered to be irresponsible and Ro hated leaving his shop unattended for long. He needed the business.

azur3dreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Not whole words yet but he'll get there." Cid seemed pleased, content to let Roman cycle through the photos on his phone. His lips twitched a bit as he laughed. "Dude, I don't doubt you'll hook up with someone someday that totally floats your boat in all the right ways," someone was a hopeless romantic underneath all the nerdery and foul words, "but the brat of your own? Maybe. Besides, you get a beau and you know mom will pull the s**t with you that she did with Wendy and me. 'Where's my grandchild? When will I get to hold them in my arms?'"

The blonde laughed and shook his head, mostly because Roman had put up with Cid's bitching about his mother, Cuinn, and the pressure about having a child. Never mind that they had not planned on Trill, it was just a happy accident (one that happened during one of the dry spells of being harassed for a grandbaby). Besides, Ro had enough experience with Cid's parents after all the family trips he had been dragged on (and assumed to be the actual child instead of Cid).

His sandwich was gone, devoured, and he was finishing off his brew. Meanwhile, if Roman flipped far enough through photos on Cid's phone he would come across what was a particularly dreary landscape. It looked, in fact, like it was the same street where fourth wall and Red Ranger Vinyl were except that it was rather grey, dystopian, and the building fronts were not exactly right.

GhouIs

waiting for when i mistag you because i don't use an i :X

 

[GhouIs]

"I dunno, man, I think I may have wrecked that boat beyond repair. I'm in my goddamn thirties. I didn't even expect to make it this far." His own mother had died at twenty-nine. He was older than her. Roman huffed and turned his attention back to Cid's phone. He swiped mindlessly through the photos. "Y'know, sometimes I miss mom and I think maybe I should visit, but he'd just have way too much to pester me about right now."

As he was about to take another drink from his bottle, the teal-haired male paused. He set the beer down and brought the phone's screen closer to his face.

"Is that..." he trailed off and squinted at the blurry grey image, then he tilted the phone so Cid could see too. "The ******** is this, dude?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Dude, you are taking your life into your hands, if you go visit mom." Seriously. "Besides, thirties doesn't mean s**t in this day and age. There was this story the other day about a pair of dudes that didn't meet until their forties or whatever. Married, adopted, blahblahblah ..." Cid made talky motions with his free hand as he set his drink down.

He was scrunching his nose, glasses sliding back up because he did so, and leaned to see what the picture was. "Oh, dude, that's like the place. You know, the one everyone is all hushhush about. other ashdown, the otherworld, the place where the weather is opposite here."

Cid swiped his finger across the screen and what looked like shadows shaped like a marten-ferret-mink creature with white eyes was pushing the door open to what was obviously a derelict fourth wall. An eyebrow rose, his head nodding towards the phone to flip it back around.

A universal check that out.

GhouIs

 

[GhouIs]

Ro raised a single brow in response to Cid's explanation.

"The otherworld?" He repeated the phrase skeptically. It wasn't a place he believed in, despite the rumors that had been circulating. Still, he turned the phone back towards himself and examined the new picture Cid had provided.

"That's definitely just a photoshopped ferret, dude." He said, and pushed the device back into the other man's hand.

azuredreamz

call me lightning mctag vroom vroom

 

[azuredreams]

"Um, dude, next thing is a vid." Cid gestured for him to go ahead and check it out. It was said 'photoshopped ferret' moving around inside the eerie twin of the fourth wall and heading to the same employees only door that lead to their current location.

The audio was sporadic, mostly crackly, but the video was solid. Especially since the creature paused and turned, up on hind legs and seemingly made out of shadow, and stared with white luminous eyes.

Then it cut out.

GhouIs

 

[GhouIs]

Ro frowned at the screen. A chill went up his spine as soon as the marten made eye contact with the camera lens. He tensed up to avoid giving Cid the satisfaction of seeing him shudder.

"Are you trying to make me believe some sort of weird prank video you made is real or something?" He glanced at the spot where the creature would have been when the recording had shut off. "Are ya gonna start tellin' me things have been moving around on their own and you hear tiny mutant ferret claws scuttling around in the basement at night? 'cause I'm not buyin' it."

azuredreams