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“Back at it again at Krispy Kreme,” Kim said, moving the Krispy Kreme hat under her chin and looking directly at the camera on Trini’s phone. A second later her eyes flicked to Trini’s and she winked, smirking when she saw a blush creep onto Trini’s cheeks.
Trini rolled her eyes and tapped the screen to end the recording, a small smile pulling at her lips. “There isn't a wink in the original vine.”
“I'm adding my own personal touch,” Kim said, reaching across the table to put the Krispy Kreme hat on Trini’s head.
Trini huffed and moved her hand to flick the bottom of hat, knocking it off her head. Kim jumped up to catch the it before it hit the ground, setting it on the table and offering Trini her hand. “Come on, we still have to do the rest of the vine.”
Trini crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “I still think this is a bad idea.”
“It’ll be fine, Trini,” Kim said, rolling her eyes when Trini gave her a disbelieving look. “Seriously, what’s the worst that could happen?”
“You could break the sign when you kick it.”
Kim let her hand fall to her side and dropped back into her chair. “Well, the guy breaks the sign in the vine, so it'll be more accurate if I do, too.”
“Yes, but you will break it more than a normal person should be able to.”
“I'm getting better at controlling my ranger strength, I won’t break it too much,” Kim said, waving her hand dismissively.
Trini snorted. “Really? And how many phones have you crushed since we got our powers?”
“Four,” Kim said, grinning sheepishly.
“Yeah. Four. Four phones in three months.”
“Ugh, Trini, it’ll be fine,” Kim said as she pushed herself up out of her chair. She offered Trini her hand again, groaning when Trini raised an eyebrow at her. “It's like ten minutes until this place closes and the only other person here is an employee who's been in the back room for the last twenty minutes. So if I do break the sign, no one will see it. But that doesn’t even matter because I'm not going to break it in the first place.”
Trini sighed but reached out to take Kim’s hand. “Fine, just promise you’ll be careful.”
Kim pulled Trini to her feet and took a step forward so they were pressed against each other once Trini was upright. She kept their hands clasped, reaching behind Trini to grab the hat from the table and plopping it on Trini’s head. “Only if you promise you’ll wear the hat the whole time.”
Trini huffed but made no move to take off the hat. Smiling, Kim brought their hands up to her face and pressed a soft kiss to the back of Trini’s hand. She laughed when she saw Trini’s cheeks flush, then released her hand and took a step back. “Make sure you keep that hat on.”
Trini reached out to shove Kim’s shoulder, scowling when Kim easily dodged her hand. “If you’re gonna do this, then hurry up before that worker comes out here again.”
Kim jogged to the back of the store, positioning herself a few feet behind the Krispy Kreme sign hanging on the wall. She glanced at the door of the back room, then at Trini. “Ready?”
Trini held up her phone and nodded, pressing the record button as Kim started her first flip. Kim moved easily into her second backflip and Trini could see a grin on her face as she began spinning into her final move.
There was a loud metallic screech as Kim’s foot hit the sign, ripping it from the wall and sending it flying toward the front of the store. Trini watched in horror as the sign crashed through the front window, clipped the top of a passing pickup truck, and embedded itself in the brick wall of the laundromat across the street.
Trini winced as several sparks flew from the wires hanging off of the sign, then slowly turned back to face the store. She found Kim frozen in place and looking directly at the employee who, based on their shocked expression, had walked out of the back room at the same time Kim had launched the sign out of the store.
Trini only had a second to take all this in before there was a blur of motion and she was suddenly being carried toward the bathroom at the back of the store. Once they were inside, Kim slammed the door shut and locked it, cringing at the sound of splintering wood. There was a beat of silence before Kim turned her head to look at Trini, who she still had hugged against her side.
“Kim, what the fuck did you–”
“I'm sorry!” Kim said, setting Trini down and gesturing helplessly. “I thought I could control it.”
“Yes, well, we can see how that worked out.” Trini let out a frustrated groan, running her fingers through her hair several times before letting out a deep breath. “But we can talk about that later, right now we need to figure out how we’re going to explain this to that worker.”
Kim glanced around the bathroom, her eyes landing on the wall that was against the back of the store. “Do you think we could punch our way out and just not talk to them at all?”
“Kim, we’re trying to seem like normal humans who can't punch through walls.”
“Oh, right, um…” Kim looked around the room again and saw the phone still in Trini’s hand. “We could call Jason? He's studying with Billy and Zack tonight, maybe they could help us.”
“Good idea,” Trini said, tapping through her contacts to find Jason’s number. She brought the phone up to her ear, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as it rang.
“Trini, h–”
“Jason, we’re at Krispy Kreme and Kim accidentally kicked their sign so hard that it flew across the street and a worker saw it happen so we’re hiding in the bathroom and we don't know what to do,” Trini said, all in one breath.
“You…what?” There was the noise of someone else talking on Jason’s end and he let out a heavy sigh. “Hang on, I'm going to put you on speaker.”
Trini lowered her phone and put hers on speaker as well, holding it out between her and Kim.
“Trini, what did you guys do?” Zack’s voice echoed through the small bathroom. “Jason’s making his ‘exasperated parent’ face.”
Kim snorted, biting back a smile when Trini glared at her.
“Kim kicked the Krispy Kreme sign through the front window of the store and someone saw her do it.”
“Why...Kim, why would you do that?” Billy’s voice came through next.
“I didn't mean to!” Kim protested, throwing up her arms when Zack burst out laughing.
“Where are you two now?” Jason asked, his voice muffled in a way that made Trini pretty sure he was holding his face in his hands.
“We’re in the Krispy Kreme bathroom. Kim grabbed me and ran in here after she kicked the sign.”
“Why didn't you just run out of the store?” Billy asked.
Kim opened and closed her mouth several times, scowling when Zack began to laugh even harder. “I panicked, okay? Stop laughing and help us figure out how to get out of this.”
“Could you just run past the person and leave without explaining?” Jason suggested.
“That would get us out of here but that worker probably isn't going to just let this be,” Trini said. “We need a way to explain this so they don't figure out Kim’s a ranger.”
“Tell them there was, uh...a small localized earthquake!” Zack yelled. His next words sounded distant, making Trini think Jason had shoved him away from the phone. “And it loosened the screws of the sign and the shifting from the earthquake gave Kim an extra boost that let her kick it way harder than normal.”
“Zack, that's not how earthquakes work.”
“He knows that, Billy, he's just being an ass,” Jason said, sighing as Zack started laughing again. “Trini, I think you’re just going to have to make a run for it.”
“No, Trini, you should tell them–”
“Bye, Zack,” Trini said as she ended the call. She tucked her phone into her pocket and looked up at Kim with a grimace. “Jason's right, I think we just have to book it and hope for the best.”
Trini unlocked the door and grabbed the door handle, pausing to look up at Kim “Ready?”
Kim nodded and Trini flung open the door. She sprinted toward the front of the store but only made it a few steps before she felt Kim grab her arm and pull her to a stop.
“Kim, what the hell are you doing?” Trini demanded as she squirmed against Kim's hold.
“They're...not even looking at us,” Kim said, tilting her head toward the front of the store.
Trini glanced toward the front of the store and saw the employee who had seen Kim kick the sign earlier. They were sweeping up the glass from the shattered front window, humming softly and paying them no mind.
“Good, then we can just leave without–”
“Don't you want to know what happened?” Kim asked, earning an incredulous look from Trini.
The worker looked up at them, then set their broom aside and leaned back against a nearby table. “Okay, let's hear it.”
Trini managed to worm out of Kim’s grip and attempted to pull her toward the door, but Kim brushed her away. “There was...a localized earthquake that loosened the screws of the sign and gave me a boost when I jumped.”
Trini let go of Kim’s sleeve and held her face in her hands as Kim continued. “Then there was, uh, a really strong draft and...while I was flipping I saw a bug on the sign and I hate bugs so I got an adrenaline rush and I was able to...kick the sign way harder than normal.”
There was a pause as the worker considered this for a few seconds. Trini seized Kim’s arm and again tried unsuccessfully to pull her out of the store.
“Kim, get your butt out of this store right now or I will carry you out of here like a sack of potatoes,” Trini muttered through gritted teeth.
The worker snorted, shaking their head as they bent down to sweep the gathered glass into a dustpan. “Well, when you do manage to get her out of the store, I hope you two have a good night.”
Trini froze and turned to look at the employee. “Wait, her explanation was good enough for you? You’re not going to ask us anything else?”
The worker shrugged but didn't look up from their work. “Three months ago a woman raised a giant gold monster from the ground and used it to dig up an enormous crystal but was stopped by five dinosaur mechs that later turned into a huge robot that killed the big gold thing and then did a dance. So I honestly wasn't even going to ask about the sign.”
Kim blinked at them, then looked at Trini. “Then we’ll just...leave, I guess?”
“Yes, we’re leaving now,” Trini said, letting out a sigh of relief that quickly turned into an exasperated groan when Kim turned back to the worker.
“Do you want us to pay for the window or the sign or anything? And how are you going to explain this to your boss?” Kim asked.
The employee stood and walked to a nearby trash can to dump out their dustpan before looking back at them. “She's about as done with all this weird shit as I am, so I could probably tell her anything and she'd accept it. The part about the localized earthquake was pretty good, I think I'll use that.”
“Yeah, there definitely could've been a small aftershock from that gold monster digging in the ground,” Kim said with a grin.
“Yes, that sounds great,” Trini said, giving the worker a strained smile before turning to glower at Kim. “We’ll be going then.”
“Have a good night!” Kim called over her shoulder as she let Trini push her out the door. “Sorry about the window.”
“You guys have a good night, too,” the employee said with a laugh as Trini all but carried Kim out of the store.
Once they were about a block away from the Krispy Kreme, Trini spun Kim around and fixed her with a glare. “Kimberly Ann Hart, what the hell is wrong with you? We could've just left without saying anything and we could’ve avoided all of this if you'd just listened to me in the first–”
Trini stopped as Kim doubled over laughing. “Kim! This is serious.”
“I know, I know, but I can't take you seriously when you're wearing that hat,” Kim said, barely getting through her sentence out through her laughter.
Trini reached up and found the Krispy Kreme hat still on her head. Scowling, she ripped it off and used it to smack Kim on the arm. “Why do I even put up with you?”
Kim pulled Trini toward her, still laughing softly as she pressed a kiss against Trini's forehead. “Probably because I'm so cute.”
Trini snorted but couldn’t help the smile that played across her lips. “Yeah, you are pretty cute, aren't you?” She leaned back and paused for a moment to take in Kim’s face, then plopped the Krispy Kreme hat on Kim's head. “Even with the dumb hat on.”
Kim raised her hand to Trini’s face, stroking her cheek before gently guiding her up into a kiss. She broke away a few seconds later, her expression soft as she met Trini’s eyes. “I love you, Trini.”
“I lov‒” Trini cut herself off with a laugh and shook her head. “You’re right, it’s really hard to take someone seriously with that hat.” She wrapped her arms around Kim, settling her head on Kim’s chest as she hugged her tightly. “I love you, too.”
Kim brushed her lips against Trini’s temple, letting out a happy sigh as she pulled Trini even closer. “What do you want to do now?”
“I want to stay away from Jason so we don’t get lectured,” Trini said, smiling as Kim hummed in agreement. “Even though you definitely deserve it.”
Kim thought for a moment, one of her hands idly tracing circles on Trini’s back. “How about a late night hike?”
“Only if you wear the hat the whole time.”
“Deal.”