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One, two, three.
“Owww!” Gai howled. He gingerly stretched his hand, knowing there would be a fresh bruise there the next day, and cast a glare at the crew’s second mate. He took his stance again “Take it easy next time!”
It was no contest. With a quick flick of the sword, Joe ended the match before it even began. He knocked Gai’s practice sword away and sent the newbie sprawling backwards without breaking a sweat.
“You said you wanted to spar.” Joe drew back, still holding his own sword at the ready. “If you want to train with me, start taking it seriously.”
Gai could hear the girls laughing from the sidelines. He mentally swore. It was already humiliating enough to come out to the woods and get his ass kicked every day, and having an audience never helped. He was beginning to think being a pirate wasn’t as cool as it sounded anymore.
“I am taking it seriously,” Gai protested. This part, getting scolded, was even worse than being teased. He was desperate to prove himself as a Gokaiger, but fighting Joe always knocked him down a peg. He just didn’t have the same amount of experience or skills. Joe was too cool.
“You seemed a little distracted to me,” Luka called. “Put your eyes back in your head, kid.”
Gai felt his face heat in embarrassment. Pushing sweaty hair out of his eyes, he painfully picked himself off the ground and ignored the comment.
“Alright- one more time!”
--
“I went shopping last time,” Gai complained. “It’s the doc’s turn, isn’t it?”
Marvelous shrugged. “Well, as captain, I say it’s your turn again.”
“You can’t do that!”
“Think of it like this, Gai.” Luka slid an arm around his shoulder. “If the doc goes shopping that means Marvelous cooks dinner tonight. And I don’t think any of us want that to happen, do you?”
“I don’t think any of you value my importance to the team,” Gai complained, shrugging off her arm.
“If you spare us Marvelous’ cooking you’ll be the biggest hero ever in our eyes. Trust me,” Luka said darkly. “We’ve been through things you can’t imagine.”
“It’s true.” Marvelous nodded in agreement. For a moment Gai considered asking, but decided he didn’t actually want to know.
“Well, I still don’t want to go by myself,” Gai grumbled, sensing when he was defeated.
Luka jerked her head towards the stairs. “Take Joe. You’ll probably need another pair of hands, anyways.”
That made the captain laugh out loud. Neither Luka nor Marvelous tried to hide their smirks as Gai crossed the room towards the staircase to the crow’s nest. Once he was out of sight he could hear them cracking up. In that moment Gai officially knew that they were fucking with him.
--
Was he really being that obvious?
Gai loved being a Gokaiger, even if he got put on chore duty more time than was fair. With time and hard work the others would accept him as an equal; he could wait. In the meantime, he would prove himself as invaluable to the team by staying on top of all things Super Sentai and Zangyack. And yeah, so maybe he was a little loud and overly enthusiastic- but who wouldn’t be excited about living this life?
The first few days after joining had been the roughest. He was the outsider, so he’d made a point of getting to know as much about everyone as soon as possible. Don and Ahim had softened the quickest. Luka wasn’t the most open person, but now he could tell when her teasing was friendly. And if there was one thing he knew about Marvelous, it was that the captain put nothing before his team- he could be trusted.
That just left Joe.
It was hard to tell what he was thinking most of the time. Joe was the quietest, the most controlled. And maybe the most dangerous. They all knew how to fight but only Joe made it look easy, graceful. Maybe those differences were what drew Gai to him. He wanted to be the one to make Joe open up, dammit. He couldn’t think of a time he’d seen the second mate act happy in all the weeks since he’d moved in on board. Did the guy ever relax?!
So he had fussed and bugged for Joe to train him in sword-fighting, even though he knew it’d be a painful learning experience. It was a chance for some good old fashioned bonding. And partly to get closer, and also partly to get closer.
The second mate was good-looking, no doubt. Gai thought so even more after a long afternoon of training, when they were both out of breath and drenched in sweat and Joe was unwound a little bit. Joe’s hair would hang in his face- making Gai’s hands itch with the urge to brush it away- and his training clothes would cling wet and tight, hinting at the powerful body underneath. Gai couldn’t keep himself from stealing glances he hoped went unnoticed. He babbled too much and embarrassed himself in front of the other, sure, but not any more than usual, right?
“Are you listening?” Joe waved a hand in front of his face.
“Huh?” Gai blinked, snapping back to attention. No, he hadn’t- he had tuned out and been absently following Joe around the store. He hoped he hadn’t been staring too openly.
Joe handed him a full basket. “I said, that’s everything on the list.” He gave Gai a guiding shove. “Go ahead and check out, I’ll be back in a minute.”
Curious, Gai watched him dart down an aisle. He shrugged and hefted the basket, wondering what exactly an alien would need to buy in secret. Maybe it was some kind of weird alien sex product. Did aliens even need to have sex? He would have to ask the doctor- Don seemed the least likely to laugh at him.
--
Dinner was chicken, again.
“You guys know that there’s more to Earth food than chicken, right?”
“Of course,” Marvelous said indignantly, brandishing a fork. “There’s also curry.”
“I don’t know how to make curry,” Don apologized. “Captain Marvelous tried to learn one time, but-“
“No more curry,” Luka said firmly. “Ever.”
“If you don’t want it, I’ll take it,” Joe said as he reached across the table. Gai watched in disbelief as his dinner was stolen and quickly disappeared.
“Heyyy!” he squawked. “That was mine!”
“You either eat, or you don’t,” Joe shot back. Something about his tone made Gai uneasy- he couldn’t tell if Joe was joking or not. Maybe it was just a military thing.
Gai looked to plead with Ahim instead. “Help me, Ahim. I’m a poor, starving peasant.” Obliging, she slid her half-full plate over so Gai could eat. He threw Joe a triumphant grin before turning back to Ahim. “Thank-you. You know you’re my favorite?
“Don’t say that just yet,” she laughed. “Wait until you see what Mr. Joe made for dessert.”
“Joe cooks?” Gai asked, surprised.
“He bakes!” Don stood. “He made a cake- I'll get it now.”
“You bake?”
“He made it for you,” Luka said. “Since you’re officially part of the team now and everything.”
“And he said you’ve really improved in training!” Ahim added.
“Oh, he did?” Gai said, eagerly turning to Joe. “You really think so?”
Joe was definitely red in the face now. It was… well, it was cute. “Just eat the cake,” he mumbled.
Gai laughed. So the swordsman had soft side after all! “I will. Thank-you!”
“… Tell me if you like it.”
“Of course,” Gai promised.
“Alright, kid.” Luka nudged him in the side. “Leave the rest of us some cake.”
“Yeah right, it’s mine! Joe made it for me!”
“If I don’t get any cake you’re all on kitchen duty for life,” Marvelous threatened as Don reappeared at the table with a tray.
He was really part of the team now, Gai realized as the others scuffled over plates and forks. His crew. His friends. He sprang to his feet when Don set the tray down in the middle of the table. “Let me cut it!”