Notes: In loving memory of Rangers_Romance, whose effervescing presence in my life continues to resonate somewhere in my soul.

It's one of those mornings where, no matter what anyone does, Mika is going to find a way to make it ridiculous and funny.

She's just stuck an apple onto the tip of Karen's samurai sword, and Emmitt looks over at Miles with raised eyebrows. Miles looks back at him with a look that says 'here we go'.

"That doesn't count!" Karen says, her voice going a bit shrill, like it usually does when she's upset with Mika.

"Don't be a sour-puss," Mika teases, whipping her dark brown hair up onto her head in a fresh pony tail.

Karen's dark face goes pink, which on most people means embarrassment, but they've all learned that on Karen it means fury.

Mika sees it. "Okay, we can call it a tie?" She offers with a helpful grin.

Miles jabs Emmitt with his elbow, makes him look over. "Ten bucks on Karen," he says quietly, and Emmitt grins. He always bets on Mika.

"Karen, Mika," a powerful voice calls from the porch, making them both look. "There a problem?"

"She's always a problem," Karen fires hotly, and Mika sticks her tongue out. Sometimes, Emmitt thinks she does this specifically to rile Karen.

Jayd looks between them, her short cropped hair falling into her narrow eyes. "Mika," she says reproachfully, which gets her maybe a bit of a chin dip on Mika's part, "While that was creative, it wasn't the purpose of the exercise." Jayd says carefully, and Karen looks over at Mika with a winning smile. "Karen, it still counts," Jayd lets herself grin a little, and Karen whips her head back to her with an indignant look.

Mika reaches over, takes the apple off of Karen's sword, and takes a loud, crunching bite of it. Karen turns her head slowly to see Mika grinning triumphantly.

"Why, you!" She shouts, swings her sword for Mika's legs. Ready for it, Mika jumps, and dives behind Jayd. They chase each other around their leader once, before Mika runs off into the house giggling with Karen shouting after her.

Jayd blows her bangs off her forehead exasperatedly.

Miles looks over at him. "So, should we just add that to my tab?"

Emmitt grins, pushes Miles lightly on the shoulder, and they all head inside to watch the show.

By the time Mika and Karen tired each other out, Jayd's ready for a lunch break. Luckily, Antonetta is pulling into the front of the house with her tackle box at about that time.

She's got her fishing lures sticking out of her wild hair again, her shiny gold scarf hanging around her neck and dragging close to the floor.

Jayd catches it, picks it up, uses it to tug at Antonetta playfully. "What'd you bring me?"

Antonetta gives her a happy smile, tugs back on the scarf so that Jayd has to step closer. "You mean what did I bring the person who only eats two types of salt water fish?"

Jayd grins, nods. She tugs at the scarf again.

Antonetta dips her head, gives Jayd that look from under her eyelashes that means she knows what Jayd's up to and isn't playing along right now. She tugs her scarf off her neck and then tosses the pretty tassels over Jayd's shoulder and around her own neck. "What are we working on today?" She asks instead as she goes into the kitchen.

Jayd follows, glancing back at Emmitt and Mika sparing playfully in the living room, the other four rangers all blissfully distracted. "I thought we might do some new symbols," Jayd says, leaning her hip on the counter and watching Antonetta gut the fish she's caught.

She doesn't usually join them for morning practices, instead taking that time to go fishing. She usually shows up around lunch, cooks them all fresh fish, and then participates in the afternoon exercises. Ji disapproves, as she does with a lot of things these days, but Jayd doesn't mind. Antonetta's only really there for her, anyway.

"You could show the others that rope trick you learned," Jayd says, smirking.

Antonetta raises an eyebrow, but doesn't look away from the fish. "Exhibitionist," she accuses.

Jayd smiles. "Prude," she teases back, and then she goes to the refrigerator to grab some fresh veggies for sides.

The smell of frying fish draws the other rangers into the room faster than a summoning symbol.

"You," Miles is telling Antonetta happily, sniffing in the smell of the fish, "you are my favorite person right now."

"I thought I was your favorite person?" Karen pouts, crossing her arms.

Miles gives her a large, dashing smile. "You're always my favorite person."

Karen smiles back happily, goes over to stand next to Miles, and the two of them playfully bump companionable shoulders. Jayd doesn't miss the frown Mika shoots in their direction, or the eye roll she tosses to Emmitt a few moments later. Emmitt looks like he's trying to bite back a laugh.

Jayd pushes herself up onto the counter to wait while the fish finishes cooking. Ji picks that moment to enter the kitchen.

The eyebrow raise and disapproving look is enough to make Jayd feel sheepish and duck her head as she slides down off the counter. "Sorry?"

Ji bristles. "I suppose we're having fish for lunch," she says bracingly, holding onto her walking stick in her regal way, "Again."

Antonetta takes no offense. "I know how much you like it," she says, shooting their mentor a sweet smile over her shoulder as she dumps the fish onto a large serving plate. "I made you extra."

Ji makes a face, purses her lips, and only Jayd knows her well enough to know she's actually amused.

"You're in my seat," Karen is telling Mika, who looks up at her innocently.

"I don't see your name on it," Mike says back, looking around curiously.

Karen ignores her. "Move," she commands, jostling her head to the seat next to Emmitt where Mika usually sits.

"Um," Mika says, putting a finger to her chin thoughtfully, "Let me see. No."

"Now," Karen repeats, as everyone else comes over to the table.

"Ask me nicely," Mika demands in return, reclining back into the chair.

Karen makes a sweet face, sets the plate of fish she'd carried over down on the table, and leans right into Mika's face. "Never," she says, and she kicks the chair backwards with her foot.

Mika flails in a horribly ungraceful manner as she smatters back to the floor with a squeak. Emmitt laughs joyfully, and Antonetta claps.

Ji lets out a small exasperated sigh as she serves herself before passing the plate to Miles. Karen picks her chair up and sits down, a self-satisfied look on her face.

Mika stands, giving Karen the best stink eye Jayd thinks she's ever seen her give, and moves to her regular seat with a huff. When the plate reaches her, she passes it right past Karen to Jayd. Jayd takes it out of amusement.

Karen picks up her fork, stabs at Mika's hand.

"A moment's peace," Ji says to Antonetta meaningfully, peppering her fish, "Is all I pray for."

Karen's fork goes flying into the wall, very nearly hitting a decades old Kanji scroll.

"My prayers," Ji sighs dramatically, "Have so far gone unanswered."

He hates it when she does this. They'll all be enjoying a pleasant conversation in the evening, or watching a movie, or sometimes playing a game, and Karen's hand will somehow find its way into his hair.

It's perfectly platonic, Miles knows, and Karen has told him how soft and fine his hair is, and how envious she is. Her own hair is impossible, she insists, and the way she styles it is the only way she can manage to look like a girl and not have an afro. It's done in tight curly rings around her face, and Mile's doesn't think it looks bad.

But he still doesn't see why she has to do this all the time. It makes him sleepy, and makes him unable to pay attention to anything going on. Of course, it feels wonderful, and he doesn't really hate it, but dammit, he hadn't seen this movie, and he knows he's been spaced out for at least ten minutes, Karen's hand weaving idle patterns across his scalp.

He pulls out his samurizer, punches in her blue symbol. Karen, he texts with one hand. Stahp.

Behind him on the couch, Karen pulls her hand away from his hair to check her phone. Hush, she texts back, and when he reads it she whaps him lightly across the back of his head before going back to playing with his hair.

Miles resigns himself to leaning his head against her leg and re-watching the movie another time.

He glances over at the loveseat, where Antonetta and Jayd had sandwiched themselves in with a bowl of popcorn. The popcorn is discarded on the floor, and Antonetta is passed out on Jayd's shoulder. They're cuddled together in that really comfortable way they have about them, the one no one questions.

Mika and Emmitt are sprawled on a blanket on the floor, and Mika has been ignoring the movie for the better part of an hour in favor of doodling on Emmitt's arm with gel-pens.

She sits up, to get a better angle probably, and blocks the TV. Miles feels himself holding his breath to see what will happen.

"Down in front," Karen hisses, but there's no malice in her voice now. She's probably too tired, Miles thinks amusedly, and he relaxes.

"Careful," Mika warns from her spot over Emmitt, "Or you'll be getting a sparkly rainbow tattoo of your own."

"Can I have one?" Jayd asks quietly from her spot beneath Antonetta.

Mika smiles. "It'll cost ya," she warns happily.

"Yeah," Karen agrees, "One order of snark with a side of catty."

"She's learning," Emmitt smiles, his eyes still focused on the TV.

Mika turns her head toward Karen. "You want a heart with 'Mom' through it or a barbed wire arm band?"

"What, no options for My Little Pony?" Miles asks, his words a little slurred from sleepiness.

"Pussy," Mika accuses, and Karen turns the volume on the TV up a few notches.

Mika finishes whatever she was drawing on Emmitt's arm, and then shuffles over to Jayd and Antonetta's couch. She picks up Jayd's bare foot and sets it in her lap, and then proceeds to draw a vine with sparkling pink and gold flowers up her ankle.

When Mika starts coming towards them, Miles pushes himself out of reach of Karen's hand and takes Mika's former spot next to Emmitt. He's getting out of the crosshairs for this, and he's just sleepy enough that he might be able to pass out on the floor. He takes a look at Emmitt's arm while he's at it, though, and see's a bright yellow sun and a dark blue moon and a wolf's head in orange. They're pretty good, actually, for being in sparkly rainbow gel pen.

To his surprise, he doesn't hear a struggle behind him. After a few moments, he looks back to see Karen patiently holding her arm out for Mika, who is biting her lip like this is the best gift ever. She's opted for the barbed wire arm band, he notices.

"Tona's gonna be so sad she missed the sparkly tattoos," Jayd whispers.

"Who says she's gonna miss it?" Mika wants to know.

By the time they go to bed, they all have sparkling tattoos of one sort or another.