He stared up at the ceiling, wondering if he would ever look at the training rooms the same way again. With the plastic floor mat against his back and one arm pillowed under his head, it was certainly not a view he had very often. Or at least, not for very long, since typically anyone who knocked him on his back in a training session had retribution coming--and fast.

This was not a typical training session. It had started out as one, maybe... although looking back, he wasn't so sure of that. Cam had gotten steadily weirder throughout, and finally he had just lost it. Kissing one's opponent senseless was not a standard sparring defense in any discipline, but Cam had suddenly seemed to feel it was appropriate.

He wasn't the only one. Hunter didn't think about Cam, as a general rule. He had tried it once, and his mind had run off to places he was sure Cam's didn't go. Places that would land him on the training mats face down, and probably with a concussion to boot. So his solution was to not think around Cam: not about Cam, not about things Cam did, not about things Cam said or made fun of or questioned or wondered about.

Until today. Today he found himself thinking about Cam nonstop. From the moment he'd set their morphers aside to spar until the moment he'd found himself pinned to the mat with Cam on top of him. After that there had been less of the thinking and more of being completely overwhelmed.

"So, the obvious question," he said at last, a little surprised to hear his voice cooperating. "What exactly was that?"

At first he thought Cam wasn't going to answer. Then he thought that Cam not answering was actually pretty optimistic, since there had to be a hundred snarky answers to that question and most of them wouldn't be funny right now. Or ever. Answers ranging from the birds and the bees to "if you don't know I'm certainly not going to tell you." And he had no doubt that Cam could deliver any of them impeccably and at a moment's notice.

"Obvious," Cam agreed at last, the words strangely muffled. Hunter couldn't quite work up the nerve to look over at him and find out why. "But a little late."

Late? That was all he had to say?

"Until now," Hunter informed the ceiling, "I was kind of distracted. So pretend I asked before and you're just now getting around to answering."

There was another long pause. Then, in what was apparently a complete non sequitur, Cam inquired, "Did I mention that my amulet talks to me?"

There was nothing to say to that.

"It's really quite vocal," Cam continued, ignoring his silence. "It's had a lot to say about my life lately... most of it not very complimentary," he added dryly. "Sometimes I wonder why I ended up with the only talking morpher."

"Does this have anything to do with the question?" Hunter demanded. Even as he asked, though, he realized with sudden dismay that the answer might be "yes."

"Yes," Cam confirmed. He didn't elaborate, but Hunter could pretty well fill in the blanks on his own.

"You saying you tore my clothes off because your amulet told you to?" he asked bluntly.

Cam actually considered that. "Yes," he said at last.

"Even on a list of weird excuses," Hunter told him, "one that includes being chased by girls with 'I love Lothor' signs, and being threatened by an army of people with humus, that one would still stand out."

"When were you threatened by people with humus?" Cam wanted to know.

"It was a TV show," Hunter muttered. "Not really my point."

"Your point being?"

"You have a lousy excuse and I want to know why. You have great excuses for everything else you do, with words we need a dictionary to understand and fancy computer graphics to illustrate whatever you're saying."

"Sorry I didn't have time to prepare a PowerPoint presentation on 'Why I Slept With Hunter Bradley,'" Cam said dryly. "Maybe some other time."

"I don't want a presentation." The words were clipped and he didn't make any effort to moderate his tone. "I just want to know why. What's so hard about it?"

"Why back," Cam responded, sounding defensive for the first time. "You didn't have to go along with it."

"No backsies," Hunter snapped. "Geez, what kind of games did you play as a child? I asked you first!"

"And I told you!" Cam retorted. "My amulet thinks it's a life coach, okay? I couldn't take it anymore."

He was torn between annoyance and skepticism. And the nagging feeling that it didn't really matter whether Cam was joking or not--either possibility might be equally bad. "Are you serious about this amulet thing?"

"Can you talk to him, too?" Cam asked. "Or is it just me?"

Hunter frowned up at the ceiling. "What?"

"I'm not talking to you," Cam told him.

"I'm the only other person here," Hunter said warily. Except for...

"It says you have to be in physical contact with it," Cam muttered. "It can talk to me across the room because I'm its owner. But not you. I'll trade," he added, sounding vaguely amused.

"You saying I have to touch it?" Hunter repeated. He was still more than half waiting for the punch line.

"If there's one thing I've learned over the last three months," Cam said with a sigh, "it's that you don't argue with the amulet." With that, he lifted his hand, the movement flickering in Hunter's peripheral vision. There was a whooshing sound, and the hint of a breeze tugged at his hair.

"Here," Cam continued, holding something out to him. Hunter turned his head, lifted his gaze to Cam's in surprise when he saw what was in his hand.

"What are you, an air ninja?" he blurted out.

Cam gave him an odd look. "Yes," he said simply.

Well, wasn't that interesting. He'd known Cam had ninja training--enough to match his and Blake's, maybe even overpower them in a fair fight--but an elemental affiliation? That was news to him.

"Fine," he said, reaching for Cam's hand. "What do I--"

His fingers brushed against Cam's, but it was the distinctly feminine voice that made him bolt upright. *Showing off, Cameron?* it inquired. *I've taught you well. If you've got it, flaunt it, that's what I always say.*

Hunter's head snapped around, but the room was empty save for them. They were still alone; no question about it. Which meant there was only one place that voice could be coming from. "Fuck," he breathed, staring at the amulet in surprise. The fact that Cam didn't look at all startled should have tipped him off from the start.

*No,* the voice said blithely. *You've already done that. Though I think introductions might be in order... Cameron, that means you.*

"Cameron?" Hunter repeated, looking over at Cam. He had propped himself up on one elbow and was watching Hunter's reaction with interest. Until Hunter used his full name, and he rolled his eyes.

"Hunter, meet the Samurai amulet. If there's any justice, she'll make your life as miserable as she makes mine."

*I resent that remark.* The amulet did, indeed, sound miffed. *You seemed to be enjoying yourself earlier. Thanks to me, I might add.*

Hunter decided to ignore that. "She?" he asked, still staring at Cam.

Cam offered a one-shouldered shrug, hesitating for the first time. "It's... sort of feminine," he muttered.

"Yeah." Hunter glanced at the amulet, frowning. "I noticed."

"Probably because my mom had it last," Cam said uncomfortably. "I don't know. It's not really her voice, but it does bond to people who hold it long enough."

*Sure, blame your mother.* The amulet sounded annoyed. *That's very mature.*

Exasperated, Hunter demanded, "Does it do this all the time? Talk to you, I mean?"

"Oh, she does more than talk," Cam muttered. "Yes, she does it all the time, and no, I don't know why I'm not crazy yet. Maybe I am and I just don't know it," he added.

*I'd know,* the amulet remarked.

"Yes, thank you," Cam responded immediately. "That's very comforting."

Hearing the exchange, comprehension finally dawned. "You're not talking to yourself," he realized. He wasn't wild about the whole talking-amulet scenario, but it did explain a few things. "These last couple weeks, when you've been all distracted and you said you were just talking to yourself. You were talking to the amulet, weren't you."

*Ding ding ding!* the amulet declared. *Give the boy a prize!*

"Would you stop that?" Cam demanded. "Not everyone is used to having their head filled with constant sarcastic commentary!"

"Oh, I don't know," Hunter said, with an attempt at indifference. It was too good an opening to pass up. "Everyone who knows you is."

This time, the amulet sounded decidedly smug. *I knew there was a reason I liked him.*

"Yeah, I knew there was too," Cam retorted. "And it didn't have anything to do with his impressive wit."

It was weird... very weird, sitting here, listening to Cam and his amulet snip at each other like old friends. It was weirder when he was the subject of conversation. And it was beyond weird when the conversation was... complimentary?

*It was his impressive something,* the amulet was saying irreverently, and Cam turned a much-abused gaze on him.

"You see what I put up with?" He was inviting Hunter to share the humor, but there was a wariness in his eyes that said he half-expected Hunter to flip. Any second now. And, okay--he was walking a fine line.

If freaking out was on one side and being amused was on the other, he was close enough to reach out and touch either one. Cam was the deciding factor... how much did he trust Cam, really? Was this--whatever it was, had been, could be--worth it to him? Worth the inherent freakiness, worth the possibility of humiliation, worth the total lack of control that came with it?

"Has she really been doing this for months?" he asked at last, studying Cam's expression.

"What," Cam said dryly, "practicing the peanut gallery act, or pointing out your 'impressive something'?"

He couldn't come up with a right way to answer that question. "Yes?"

Cam just nodded.

Hunter watched him for a moment. "That must have been kind of... distracting."

Cam heaved a heartfelt sigh. "You have no idea."

Hunter's mouth quirked, and he reached out to brush his fingers against Cam's lips. He trusted Cam with his life--as Rangers, that went without saying--but trusting him with his secrets? He watched Cam lean into the caress, just the tiniest bit, enough to say that he wasn't going to just walk out and leave Hunter alone in this... whatever it was.

Yeah, Hunter decided. It was worth it to him.