Chapter Text
"Here he comes," Ashley said, butterflies in her stomach as she watched the hover pull in. She reached for Zhane's hand nervously, and he gave her a reassuring squeeze in answer.
"It'll be okay," he said, as they watched from the window as Andros stepped out of the hovercar and into the knee-deep snow. Ashley had no idea why he didn't pull around to park inside—Karovan winters were nothing like the mild seasons of southern California that she was used to, and this cold was no joke. Andros parked in front of their house, though, and trudged up the front walk with his head bowed against the wind.
Zhane opened the door just before he reached it, admitting Andros amid a flurry of cold air that made Ashley shiver.
There was something endlessly endearing about the sight of her serious Red Ranger in a fuzzy hat, though, and, unable to resist, she stepped forward to kiss him until his lips were warm again.
"Hi," she murmured, gently tugging his hat free of his head. Beneath it, his hair was a mess. Her other hand found his. "Welcome home."
"Hi," he said, smiling crookedly at her.
Still holding his hand, she shifted out of the way so that Zhane could kiss him too, and she felt Andros's fingers tighten on hers in surprise. Maybe they were ambushing him a little—a lot, she admitted—but he didn't seem to mind, even if the looks he gave them afterwards were suspicious. "What's going on?"
"What?" Zhane said, kissing him again. "Can't two people welcome their boyfriend home without something being wrong?"
"I feel very welcomed," Andros said dryly, and Ashley giggled. He hadn't yet let go of her hand. "What's going on?" he asked again.
"We just want to talk to you," she said, squeezing back. "Everything's okay. I promise."
He didn't look wholly convinced, but he allowed them to help him out of his coat and scarf and gloves, and Zhane attemped to flatten his frizzy hair with his hands. He was only partway successful, and Andros made a face before pulling it back into a ponytail, securing it with an elastic dug out of his pocket. He left his boots to dry on the mat near the door, and then they all moved to the living room. Ashley sat in one of the armchairs; Zhane took the other, and that left Andros sitting alone on the couch opposite of them.
Andros looked from one to the other, tentatively asking, "Is everything okay?" in a tone that clearly meant "are you mad at me?" Ashley caught Zhane's eye and he grinned, shaking his head. If only he knew.
Zhane's smile seemed to have the intended effect on Andros, though; he relaxed, albeit slightly.
"We were thinking." Zhane hesitated, which was unusual enough that it made Andros frown. "Ashley and I, we were wondering how you'd feel about all three of us being together. For sex."
"I—" Startled, Andros opened his mouth, then slowly closed it. Whatever he'd been expecting, it hadn't been that. He looked from Zhane to her again, then back to Zhane, and finally he said, "I've... never thought about it."
"Well." Zhane stared back at him, nonplussed. "Think about it."
Had he really never thought about it, Ashley wondered, but she had her answer when he suddenly blushed fiercely and looked away, staring fixedly at his hands as the color crept all the way down his neck. Ashley took pity on him then. She laughed gently, and stepped around the coffee table to sit beside him, her hand on his arm.
"Whose idea was this?" he asked.
"Mine," she said, surprising him into looking directly at her.
"Really?"
"I'm not sure which one of us should be offended by that," Zhane said, arms crossed, but he was smiling.
"I didn't mean…" Andros shifted, looking away. "I mean, I just didn't expect that. From either of you, really."
"You can say no, you know," Ashley said. "If you're not interested. I just thought..."
She'd just thought that it was the natural progression of their relationship. She wasn't sure, exactly, when things had shifted from Andros being with both of them to all of them being together, but Zhane had said from the beginning that he'd happily have sex with both of them. She was the one who hadn't been ready, but his charm, good-naturedness, and unfailing loyalty had slowly won her over.
"I'm not saying no." He blushed again when she giggled at him. "I just—how does that… work?"
"I don't know, really," Ashley admitted. "I thought we'd just… figure it out."
They both looked at Zhane, who stared back, amused. "How many threesomes do you think I've had?" he demanded, shrugging. "I think Ash is right. Just go with the flow."
"Because I'm so great at that?" Andros asked wryly.
She didn't mean to keep laughing at him. Ashley covered her mouth with the back of her hand when he looked at her, biting her lip in an effort to compose herself. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm not trying to embarrass you."
"It's all right," he said, giving her a rueful look. "I'm just trying to decide if this whole idea is thrilling or terrifying."
Ashley shook her head, and leaned forward to cover his mouth softly with hers. She felt the sofa dip as Zhane came to sit on Andros's other side, and he made a quiet sound in surprise as Zhane kissed his neck. Ashley released him and he turned his head to kiss Zhane, and then Zhane leaned forward to kiss her too.
Andros stared at them, wide-eyed, like he'd never seen them kiss before.
"See," Zhane said. "Not so weird, right?"
"Not so weird," Andros agreed, his voice hoarse. He looked at each one of them in turn. "How much have you talked about this?"
"Enough to be sure it's something we both want to do," Zhane said. "If that's what you're worried about."
"It's not," Andros said, fidgeting between them. "It's just—you like… different things."
A succession of ideas flashed through her mind, then, and she shot an alarmed look at Zhane, who was suddenly laughing uncontrollably. He shook his head, arms flailing as he tried to speak and ended up coughing instead.
"You're scaring Ashley," Zhane said, still laughing. "Andros, you can't say things like that. Normal sex, Ash. We have normal sex. I think."
"You think?" she repeated, eyeing the two of them interestedly. All the times she and Zhane had talked about this, he'd never suggested that the two of them did things she might not be into… although now that she thought of it, who knew what counted as normal here on KO-35.
"Well," Zhane said, and shrugged, giving Andros a look. "I guess you're the one to ask, really."
"You're more…" Andros hesitated, then glanced at Zhane. "And with you, I…"
"Right." Zhane nodded. "That really clears things up."
Ashley was giggling again, biting her lips to keep from smilling too much. Andros folded his arms, glaring at them both without any real heat behind it. "I'm trying," he said. "Is this what it's going to be like, you two making fun of me the whole time?"
"Sorry," she murmured.
Even Zhane looked a little guilty, but it didn't stop him from answering, "Probably."
Andros couldn't quite hide the way the corner of his mouth twitched into a reluctant smile.
"You're both… passionate," Andros said, after a long pause. "You both want a lot of attention. You both talk a lot."
"Wow," Ashley told Zhane. "We sound terrible."
"I don't know," he said. "I think we sound awesome."
Andros ignored both of them. "How much do you want me to say?" he asked, looking at her.
"I wanna know what you really think," she promised. "You're not going to hurt my feelings."
He turned to Zhane next.
"Oh," Zhane said, his voice rich with amusement. "Please continue."
"Fine." Andros sighed. He was staring at his lap again. "I just don't want to say something that makes you guys feel like I don't like how you are, okay? Because I don't want either of you to be any different than how you are."
"Okay," Ashley said softly, curling her fingers around his wrist.
"You're beautiful," he told her quietly, sincerely, and her heart melted the way it did every time he looked at her like that. "You're… romantic. You want to feel special."
"Yeah," she said, still smiling. She liked the soft sheets and silk pajamas, candlelight and flowers and music.
"But you're also…" He trailed off, really thinking about it, and she didn't tease him this time. Finally, he shrugged, and said simply, "Happy."
"I am happy." Giggling again, she squeezed his hand. "I'm not laughing at you, I promise. That was sweet."
"And you--" He looked at Zhane, who looked back with his eyes glittering. "You're so…"
"Hot?" Zhane supplied, when Andros floundered. "Intense? Amazing?"
"Unbelievable," Ashley suggested. "Gorgeous."
"You asked," he reminded them. Andros tried to glare at both of them again, but it was tempered by the fact that he was still smiling. He waited for them to make an effort to control themselves before he continued.. "You are intense. But… in a good way. You make me forget everything."
Zhane said nothing, but he leaned forward and kissed him, and in that kiss Ashley saw a flash of the intensity that Andros was talking about—and then Andros closed his eyes and leaned into the kiss, his forehead resting against Zhane's for one brief moment before he pulled away.
"You both make me feel so…" Andros hesitated, speaking to his lap in a quiet voice. "Safe. I wouldn't change anything about either of you."
Ashley said nothing, just squeezed his hand as hard as she could.
"Yeah," Zhane said, after a pause. "Same."
"Me too," she said, scooting closer until she could rest her head on his shoulder.
"I don't want to ruin this," Andros said suddenly. "What if we do this, and you don't like it? Either of you."
"Then… I guess we wouldn't do it again," she said, sliding her arm through his so that he couldn't pull away. "We don't have to."
"I want to," he said, surprising her with his straightforwardness after all his awkwardness. "I didn't know that I did until right now, but I do—but…"
Neither of them pressed him, and at last Andros finished the thought. "But I'm afraid to change things."
"Then we won't," Zhane said.
It was a simple as that, really. Either they all wanted it, or none of them did.
"It's all right," Ashley said, kissing his shoulder reassuringly. "I told you, we don't have to."
"You're… disappointed?" He sounded hesitant, and a little afraid to ask.
"Maybe a little," she said. "But it's okay." She'd told him to just say no, after all, if he wasn't interested—she'd just been so sure that he'd be interested.
"Oh." Andros sounded surprised, then torn. "You guys… really want this?"
"Well, yeah," she said. "We wouldn't have brought it up otherwise."
"How about this?" Zhane said, addressing Andros. "You have a standing offer for the most mindblowing sex of your life, and you just let us know when you're ready to take us up on it."
Andros was quiet for a long time. Ashley longed to see what his expression looked like now, but she thought if she looked at him it would scare away whatever words he was working himself up to say, so she just waited, rubbing the back of his hand soothingly with her thumb.
"Okay," Andros said at last. "I will."
"You promise?" Zhane asked, and though his voice was light, there was something heavy underlying the words, something deeper. She didn't know yet what it was, but she thought that she'd like the chance to find out.
"Yeah," Andros said, and squeezed her hand. "I promise."