A/N: Set between "With a little help from my friends" and "Just a conversation".
At the end of "friends", Cam suggests that Hunter and Blake move into Ninja Ops' guest room. They take him up on his offer, but quickly realize that it's not going to be as easy living with him as they thought.

Cave Rules
By Dany
PG-13

Summary: On the day Blake and Hunter move into Ninja Ops, Cam lays down the law...

Ninja Ops' guest room was small; no doubt about that. And with two cots lined up on opposing sides, a small camping table, two folding chairs and a dresser, there was not much space left at all to maneuver around.

'This is going to feel more like living in a sardine can,' Hunter thought as he dropped his duffle bag and backpack on the floor. 'Good thing neither of us is claustrophobic.'

A quick side glance at Blake's face showed him that his brother was pretty much thinking the same thing. But it was rent-free and they had lived in close quarters together for most of their lives, so they could do this. Hunter was pretty sure about that.

'And, of course, there's the added bonus of having Cam much closer...'

Suddenly, the two Thunder ninjas flinched as thought-of technician stepped in between them from behind, clapping them both on the shoulders.

"Well, guys, welcome home. And after you've unpacked, we'll go over the rules, okay?"

Hunter blinked. "Uh, rules?"

Blake looked even more bewildered. "Since when do caves have rules?"

"Since I moved in," Cam said resolutely, gave them a grin that looked decidedly too self-satisfied and walked back out of their room.

The Bradley brothers shared an ominous look, but then Blake shrugged, dumped his knapsack onto one of the folding chairs and began to pull out clothes. "Okay, so…you can have the upper drawers of the dresser and I'll take the lower ones, all right?"

"Cool." Hunter cast a speculating look at the solid rock walls surrounding them. "Aw man, how am I supposed to hang up my Factory Blue poster anywhere here?"

Cam's voice floated into the room from the command center. "Are you guys coming?"

Arms full of clothes, Blake paused in mid-motion. "Guess that means we're finished unpacking," he said wryly and dumped the pile onto the camping table.

The Ninja Ranger team's technician was waiting for them by the Supercomputer. "Don't worry," he chuckled when he saw the two brothers' expressions. "It's not much, just a couple of things I deem worthy of pointing out, that's all."

He pointed over his shoulder towards the mainframe. "Very important rule: The Supercomputer is the team's surveillance device and combat support, not your personal entertainment center. It's not to be used for video games, playing DVD's or CD's, surfing the net, blogging, chatting, IM'ing..."

Both Blake and Hunter held up their hands. "Okay, okay, we get it."

"I'm just making sure we're all on the same page here," Cam said, fixing them with a firm look.
"All right. Now, kitchen." The technician nodded towards the command center's small kitchenette and headed off towards it, leaving Hunter and Blake to trudge after him. Along the way, Cam spoke over his shoulder. "Very simple rules. If you make a mess, clean it up! Especially with sandwiches. I hate condiment splatters and crumbs on the counter."

"Fine," the Thunder ninjas chorused.

Once they were all lined up behind the kitchenette counter, Cam pointed towards the cabinets. "So...since there's not a whole lot of cupboard space here I did some re-arranging: You guys can have the right part of the overhead cabinet there and the right side of the left cabinet down here..."

Behind Cam's back, the Bradleys exchanged a pointed look. Blake shook his head and rolled his eyes, Hunter giving him a crooked grin and making an exasperated face in reply, but when Cam turned back around, the expression on the Thunder Rangers' faces was pure innocence.

Cam narrowed his eyes. "You guys listening?"

"Yeah!"

" 'course!"

"Okay, then. On to the refrigerator." Cam headed towards said appliance and pulled open the door to reveal all its present contents already moved and neatly arranged on one side, whereas the other side was utterly bare. "You guys can have the left side of the fridge and the door-side of the freezer. If you use something, put it right back where you found it. I hate having to look for stuff. And please no drinking straight out of the milk container. Oh, and you should really put your names on everything you store in here. I've already put my name on everything, just in case."

Hunter looked around Cam into the fridge where indeed, every single bottle, box and container sported a big black Magic Marker "C".

He couldn't help it. "Don't worry, Cam. Your tofu is safe from us," he deadpanned, but Blake grinned wide enough for the two of them.

The crack only earned him a wry look from Cam who kicked the fridge door closed and leaned against it, arms folded across his chest.

"All right, then. Moving on…Since there's only one bathroom here, there's going to be no hot water hoarding. Matter of fact, showering really shouldn't take either of you more than ten minutes anyways." He paused, thought, and added, "And before I forget - no wet towels on the floor, okay? Oh, and I realize we're all guys here, but - there'll be no leaving up the toilet seat. I can't stand that!"

"Yes, we know that," Hunter stated dryly. "You've been telling everyone that for weeks now. Repeatedly."

"And apparently I have to do so many more times," Cam retorted. "Since somebody still keeps forgetting."

The Thunder Rangers exchanged a look and the Crimson Ranger held up his hands. "Don't look at us. Talk to Dustin and Shane."

Cam, apparently deciding that this wasn't worth pursuing any further, only snorted before he picked up his former thread again. "Oh, and another thing..."

Blake sighed. "I'm developing a natural aversion to the letter O," he mumbled under his breath.

"Say what?"

"Nothing."

"O...kay. So as I was saying - one more thing. Just thought you should know that I'm putting a cleaning schedule together for you."

"What?" came two perfectly synchronized appalled exclamations.

"Every cohabitation arrangement requires a degree of cleanliness," Cam explained. "Come on, guys; even the Winds pitch in with cleaning around here every now and then, and they don't even live here."

"I've never seen Dustin scrub the toilet," Hunter remarked dourly.

"Tori mops the floors," Cam pointed out and immediately found himself on the receiving end of Blake's exasperated look at that.

"Don't even try it, Cam. That was because Sensei made her for using her powers in public!"

"Be as it may – you live here, you clean here," Cam decreed; to him, this topic was a done deal and not open to discussions.

"And one last thing before I forget…Dad meditates at least once a day and there can be no distractions such as loud music or training matches in the command center or anything else that might throw off his concentration, okay?
"Not that you should be playing any music or do any sparring in here to begin with," he added almost as an afterthought while he strolled from the kitchenette back out into the control room.

"Cam?" Hunter addressed the technician's retreating back.

"Yes?"

"I'm just curious - did you have any roommates in college?"

Cam turned at that, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Actually, no. I always ended up in a single room for some reason."

Hunter cast Blake an amused glance. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Ha, ha, very funny," Cam said in a tone that clearly indicated he was anything but amused. He plopped into his computer chair and hit a few keys that brought up the Zord schematics of the Dragonforce Vehicle.

It was not until about a minute later that he realized Hunter and Blake were still hovering behind him. He turned back around and fixed them with his best impersonation of his father's Dismissed expression.

"That's it for now, guys," he said, trying only half-heartedly to keep the humor out of his voice. "But if I can think of anything else, I'll let you know."

"I'm sure you will," he heard Blake mumbling under his breath as he turned back to the oversized computer screen. He resisted the temptation of looking back over his shoulder to watch the mighty Crimson and Navy Thunder Rangers slink back towards their room. He didn't need to; it was satisfying enough to hear them making a quick, strategic retreat before Cam could follow up on his threat of more rules.

---

As soon as the door fell closed behind them, Blake turned to face his brother. "I don't know if I can do this, bro, I just don't know…"

Hunter leaned against the stone wall next to the door. "Rent-free. That's all I have to say, man. Rent-free."

"Yeah, I know, but…"

Hunter put his hands up and made a shrugging motion at the same time. "Look, I know the guy has a quirk or two…"

The younger Bradley gave his older brother a look of such wryness that Hunter had to laugh. "Okay, okay, maybe a few more."

"Hunter, have you looked up anal retentive in the dictionary lately? 'cause I bet you all the money I'm carrying on me right now that there's a picture of Cam next to just that word."

Hunter threw him a bemused look. "That's all right, you can keep your thirty-seven cents, bro."

Blake just made a face at him, then let his eyes travel between the two narrow beds shoved up against opposing walls from each other. "Man, I need a morale boost. Just remind me again why we moved in here, will ya?"

"'cause we couldn't afford the rent in that ghetto-apartment anymore," Hunter reiterated in an exaggeratedly patient voice one would use with a dangerous mental patient. Blake pointedly ignored the tone.

"Then why does going back to that overpriced old rat hole suddenly sound so alluring again?" he mumbled as he kicked off his shoes and promptly let himself drop face-first onto the left cot, effectively staking his claim.

"Probably because, even though we're living for free down here, we'll be paying for this room by other means than money."

"Yeah, with nerves." The reply was muffled, since Blake's face was still buried into his pillow. A moment later, however, he rolled over onto his back. "Man, I can't believe he laid down the cave law on us. At least at the apartment we only had our own rules."

There was no reply and when Blake turned his head he saw Hunter still standing by the door, looking thoughtful now.

"Bro?"

"Our own rules, huh?" Hunter echoed and a tiny smirk suddenly appeared at the corners of his mouth.

"Yeah…hey, where you going?"

"Be right back," Hunter called over his shoulder as he pulled open the door. "You just reminded me of something I have to talk to Cam about."

---

He found the object of his quest in the Zord bay, the upper half of his body bent into the engine compartment of the Dragonforce Vehicle.

Hunter grinned; one thing he had to give Cam credit for was that the sensei's son was focused – and fast. Especially since he had been checking the Dragonforce's schematics on the computer only a few minutes ago…

"Hey," he said by way of greeting.

"Hey," Cam echoed and spared him only a fleeting glance before he turned back to whatever he was doing to the zord's engine. He didn't seem at all surprised by Hunter's sudden appearance. "So you guys have finished unpacking now, I take it?"

Hunter simply couldn't ignore this. "No. Actually, we were in our room jotting down a couple of pages worth of notes about your rules to make sure we have them all straight…"

Cam made an exasperated noise while he kept on fumbling with something on the zord's engine block and even though the technician did not look up, Hunter could imagine him rolling his eyes. The Crimson Ranger leaned casually against the zord, taking out a precious moment longer to study Cam's profile before he continued. "…when I suddenly remembered that with listening to all of your rules, I totally forgot to tell you mine."

Cam's hands stilled inside the engine compartment and Hunter could see the technician blink before he straightened up and those almond eyes fixed on him. "Your…what?"

"My rules," Hunter reiterated. "Well, actually, there's really only one."

Now Cam's face turned from blank to wry. "Your rule."

"That's right."

For a moment Cam looked like he was trying to make up his mind whether to be amused or annoyed but then seemed to settle for something in between. "And what, pray tell, would that rule be?"

Hunter pushed away from the green vehicle and took a step closer, blue gaze unwavering. "That I get to kiss you – at least once a day."

Cam didn't back away from him, but couldn't quite hide the blush that crept up his cheeks. "Uhm…"

Hunter bit back a smirk; flustered Cam was a cute picture. "Very articulate. Don't worry, Cam. It won't be when the others are around. I can be subtle, believe it or not," he drawled, the smirk now breaking through after all.

Quicker than Hunter would have liked, Cam got some of his composure back. Hands on his hips, he eyed the taller boy. "Uh-huh. And just where would you be doing that?" he inquired, and only the faintest of smiles marked his amusement.

"Oh, I was thinking right…there," Hunter said as he leaned forward and kissed Cam squarely on the lips.

Surprisingly enough, Cam not only held his position, but moved his head up until the angle between them was just right. Hunter knew better than to take this concession too far, however, so he settled for a swift and searing, yet close-mouthed kiss. His fingertips ghosted along Cam's cheek in a subtle touch and he thought he could hear Cam make a tiny noise in the back of his throat, but before he could assemble enough brain cells for some active listening and a more in-depth analysis, it had already passed.

Way too soon, Cam moved his head back the slightest bit, just enough to whisper Hunter's name against the taller ninja's lips.

With his eyelids only just beginning to flutter open again, Hunter couldn't think of a better response other than, "Mmmm."

Dark almond eyes twinkling with amusement regarded him. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I actually meant where in Ninja Ops would we be doing this? 'cause, you know, even when the others have left, there's still Blake and Dad…"

Neither one of them had moved, so they were still only inches apart and Hunter had to restrain himself not to reach out, wrap his arms around Cam's waist and close the distance between them. "Ah, well, there's lots of places," he said instead. "Here in the Zord bay, the practice room, outside in the forest..." He suddenly paused, swallowed and gave Cam a look from under lowered eyelashes. "…and maybe, sometime down the road, in your bed."

The dark red blush crept back into Cam's cheeks. "I…ah…"

At the sight of that, Hunter suddenly felt an urgent need to elaborate. "Look, don't get me wrong, this is not about…I mean, we've got time," he fumbled. "I don't want to, you know, scare you off or anything, okay? Whatever could be here…between us…is too good to hurry." He broke off, studying Cam warily.

Hunter was obviously waiting for a response of some kind, but his words combined with the way-too-close but still welcome proximity of the Thunder ninja's body were too distracting for Cam to formulate a snappy, let alone grammatically correct, reply. So he simply voiced the first thing that came into his mind, accentuating it with a direct gaze and what he hoped was a convincingly steady tone.

"I'm not that easily scared off, Hunter," he said and then watched as the blond man's wary expression was replaced by a very Hunter-like grin.

"You're not, huh? Good," the Crimson Ranger said as he leaned in again, but this time, Cam backed off. One kiss a day he could handle for now, but more than that while in the Zord bay all by themselves…and it wasn't Hunter he didn't trust at that moment.

"I believe you've already exhausted your quota for the day," he said dryly, then chuckled as Hunter hung his head with a mock groan.

"All right, all right, I get it – I'm pushing it." Hunter held up his hands and made a show of slowly backing off towards the entrance of the Zord bay, flashing Cam his patented lopsided grin all the while.

"But the one a day – I'm holding you to that," he said, winked at Cam, then turned around and stepped over the threshold and into the tunnel back towards the command center.

Cam watched him go with the echo of his potential boyfriend's last sentence ringing in his head. He did not doubt for one moment that Hunter would make good on that promise.

'What have I gotten myself into?' he thought, but even as his mind tried to conjure up an answer to the question, he couldn't ignore the grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. The same mouth he could still feel Hunter's lips pressing against.

Cam scrubbed a hand through his hair and his voice was wholly swallowed by the high ceiling of the Zord bay as he mumbled, "The times of peace and quiet down here are definitely over."

But for some reason he couldn't quite bring himself to mind that so much.

THE END

A/N: Yes, I know that technically the Dragonforce Vehicle is not a zord. I just didn't want to keep calling it a vehicle.