#and ignore how the game encourages to be stupidly aggressive

[violet-dragongirl]

If anybody were to ask me why I'm a combat medic in a game I like but also hate (total 50/50 love hate for this game there's no compromise to either side) as matchmade players expect me to resurrect them with ease every time knowing that the game's mechanics of how my ult works to it's humanly possible maximum efficiency, still cannot keep up with nearly ANY player being in the area of Only Gonks And Showboats go to die (where enemies spawn, which is opposite/adjacent of wherever the builder is)

¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯

[bluefirewrites]

We Play Pretend Pt. 2

We pick up where we left off on the ImaginaryFriends!AU...

At first, Julie was kind of nervous about continuing contact with Luke, worrying about how the Luke that she has been writing to wouldn’t match up to the Luke in the real world. 

But how wrong she was. 

The more she would learn about Luke, that had nothing to do with their shared games of pretend and make-believe when they were kids, the more her feelings grew. 

She finds out that music is a shared passion of theirs. The silly songs that they would write for each other in their letters should have been an indicator, but one time Luke brings his guitar to their spot and he’s played some of his more serious originals. She finds herself singing along with him, surprising herself. The first time she sang since her mom died. 

But the way Luke’s eyes lit up once he heard her sing certainly encouraged her to join in on the next song. He may have asked her to join his band he and his friends have, but she is still considering it. 

The transition from letters to texting and talking on the phone is better than Julie and Luke could ever expect.

Not having to wait days or even a week for a response is sure a step up. And since they don’t go to the same school and have been only just been able to squeeze their weekly park meetups in the midst of finals, their phone conversations have been a saving grace when it comes to them really exploring their newfound real life relationship.

Julie is practically glued to her phone nowadays, eagerly waiting for Luke to responses to her messages. The boy must also have it as bad as her because she never waits too long to hear from him. 

Flynn catches her grinning stupidly at her screen one time and asks about it.

“Oh, it’s just Luke,” she explains “He just sent me this really funny gif,” 

Her bestie shakes her head at her at the mention of the imaginary friend that Julie would not shut up about these past few months, “Sure he is.” 

Julie frowns, “Flynn, it’s really him-”

“Okay, sweetie,” And she pats Julie’s head, “Whatever you say.” 

Julie, frustrated, tells Luke about this exchange later and she could hear him groaning over the phone.

“Alex and Reggie don’t think you’re real either,” He’s talking about his bandmates.

“Wow, really?”

“Yeah. A cute girl who slays dragons and has the voice of an angel? They think you’re too good to be true,”

Julie tries to ignore the blush creeping onto her cheeks at the compliment, “I technically didn’t do the dragon slaying. That was all-” 

“Make-believe? To be fair, I thought you were make-believe until two weeks ago,” 

“Same. But I’m not holding my breath for Ambassador Slimy to show up out of the blue,” 

“For both our sakes, I hope not,” 

“Well,” Julie brings it back to the subject at hand, “we’ll just show them that I’m real when we go to the dance then.”

“I can’t wait,” She could hear him smiling on the other end. She could tell. 

“Me too,”

Julie has Flynn help her put together an outfit the day of the dance, just telling her that she has a fancy date, seeing as though she might not help her if she reveals her true plans tonight. After hours of prep, they hear the doorbell ring. 

“Oh, that must be Luke,” she finally says. 

Flynn gives her a look, “Luke?” 

“Yeah. He’s going to take me to a ball tonight,” 

“Wow when you create a world you really live in it,” 

“Just answer the door for me. I gotta grab my purse,” Julie points her finger at her “Do not scare him off.” 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Won’t scare off the imaginary boyfriend,” 

Then Flynn goes to answer the door and standing there is a very real boy, wearing a dress shirt and holding a bouquet of flowers. 

He grins, “Hey, you must be Flynn. I’m Luke.” 

She just gapes at the attractive guy for a second before slamming the door in a panic.

“Flynn!” Julie comes downstairs in time to witness what happened, “Why did you do that for?” 

“He’s real?!”

“Yeah. Been trying to tell you!” 

“Have you tried telling me that he’s cute too? Maybe I would have been inclined to believe you and ask for proof if said he was,” 

“I’ll explain everything later. Now do you mind opening the door?” 

To Julie’s relief, Luke is still behind the door after Flynn’s little freakout, albeit more nervous now to meet her best friend. 

They give her the abridged version of the story before it’s time for Luke to take Julie to his school. 

When they get there, Luke finally introduces her to Alex and Reggie and their reactions are priceless. Reggie’s mouth hangs open while Alex blinks repeatedly at her, rubbing his eyes for good measure to make sure he is actually seeing her right now. 

“Dude, we would hear about Julie your imaginary friend for years,” The blonde says before turning to her, “We didn’t think we’d actually meet you...” 

“Honestly, I thought we already have. I swear I shook your imaginary hand when we were 6,” Reggie pipes up, then he takes her very real hand and shakes it aggressively, “Wow. You’re real. Like really real. Now about the dragons...” 

Julie finds herself getting along real well with the boys, even though periodically through the night, Reggie would make the point to poke her in the shoulder to make sure she’s still real, for which Alex would always apologize but she didn’t mind. 

The real highlight of the evening is when the ball is coming to a close and the DJ plays a slow song. 

Luke does a bow and extends his hand to her, “May I have this dance, princess?”

She curtsies before taking his hand, “Yes you may, my prince.” 

The boys try not to ‘aww’ too loudly at this (but they fail). 

Luke takes her to the middle of the dance floor where they sway in time to the music. 

“Gotta admit. I did not expect this,” Luke says. 

“Dancing with your imaginary friend at school?” 

“No,” He spins her and right as she comes back around to face him, he pulls her in close, “I did not expect to fall for my imaginary friend.” 

“Me neither,” Julie whispers, leveling his tender gaze.  

“So what now? What next?”

“Well,” Julie reaches for his face, “I sorta imagine we would be sharing a kiss right about now,” 

Luke grins, “Is that so?” 

“I don’t know. It might not happen. I’ve been told that I have a big imagination...” 

“Never stopped you before,” 

“You’re right,” 

“So...” Luke leans in, “let me help you make it come true,” 

“Please,” 

And when they finally kiss, Julie could safely say that this, being with Luke in this moment, is better than anything she could ever imagine. 

[springday-aus]

Rich Kid!AU with Suho [Junmyeon]

moodboard link 

Group: EXO 

Member: Suho / Kim Junmyeon

Genre: romance + lowkey reality check 

Type: Bulletpoint AU 

Word Count: 3.2k

A/N: Suho has a black card and what else was I to do with this information? 

yes, I am making Junmyeon into one of those rich ass fuckboys

you know the ones I'm talking about

the ones that have an endless amount of cars

(and prob names them)

the ones who you can literally tell has not worked a day in his life

despite having so much money, he's dressed like a hobo

but it's like the branded shit

like Supreme or Gucci or Chanel

(and whatever else is trendy)

so it’s “fancy”

unless he's gotta go to like a charity event that isn't really for charity

then he's like in a suit

hm.... when he gets dressed up

he gets dressed up

anyways

let's start from the beginning

he inherited his money from his parents, who inherited it from their parents, who inherited it from their parents.. and so on and so forth

so the Kims have like a shitload of money

like

LOADS

like "I can swim in my own money" loads

except he tried it once when he was a kid

lots of paper cuts

also the gold coin thing

wow did that hurt

it was not a fun day for rich kiddo Suho

and this is very stable money, i.e. old money

so you can only imagine the amount of people who are practically kissing their asses to get partnerships and whatever else rich people want

oh my god, when his mother was supposed to get married—it was chaos, literally every man was throwing themselves at her feet

tsk, tsk, tsk—it was just sad

don't get mixed up, their parents are happy together

or at least they seem like it

lowkey it was an arranged marriage and, like all rich people, his parents like to call it a "partnership" more than a “marriage”

anyways back to Suho

if he's being honest about this whole thing, he doesn't know if he really wants to (or is going to) inherit the family business

he’s not even an official heir 

he has an older brother and Suho has watched enough dramas to know that the older ones are most likely to inherit the family business 

so what is he supposed to do? 

sure, they've been showing him what he's supposed to do

but does he actually know what he's doing?

or if he wants to do it?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

he's been living the same life he's been living since he was born

wake up, eat, shop, go home, sleep

yo, speaking of which

he legit cannot stop buying anything—he sees it, he wants it, he buys it

you know those ugly ass Gucci slippers

yeah, he got those

he bought two of them because they came in two colors

he wore them each like once and then it was never seen again

granted, he was shopping with Taehyung, one of his company managers who Suho had taken underneath his wing

Tae literally encourages people to buying stuff they don't really need

but like

he can afford lots of impulse buys

it's not like he's doing anything else

okay, that's a lie

he's also working at the office, but does it really feel like he's doing anything?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

anyways, let's get back to his horrible shopping habits

this is very important because this is how you come into the picture

he was out one day with Sehun, walking around one of the major shopping centers

just as they were leaving

there was a protest outside one of the department stores

the CEO had like 50+ charges of sexual assault and he was just let off

and wow

these people were angry

so where do you come in?

you….. you were in the front….

with a loudspeaker….

saying some things that…. no one should be saying with children present….

anyways

you were one of the people who’ve organized the event

because this asswipe was still working and got off with a warning from all of these assault charges????

you were not going to let this go

hence why you’re in the front, with your loudspeaker—spitting facts and roasting this man in front of his business

yeah, y’all were a bit of a smallish crowd

(a group of about thirty people)

but anyways

Suho saw you and

wow

his interest has been piqued

you were cute—yelling into your loudspeaker and your fist in the air

you have so much passion

Sehun has obviously noticed Suho had been staring at you for quite some time 

it’s hard not to notice

just as Sehun was just going to push Suho in the order direction, that shitty CEO steps out

and……. in front of you……

you remained calm, letting his douche canoe spit as he rambles on about how these women were all over-reacting and that you were an idiot for spending your free time here and that you were nothing more than a liberal snowflake

at this point, people were all recording on their phones but this man clearly didn’t care and just went ham on you

and as he pauses to breath, you take your chance: “I’m the snowflake and yet you’re the one who needs to chill”

you see the anger just explode in his eyes and, as he continues to yell, he raises an arm

just as he was about to swing at you, Suho steps in

right between you and the CEO, blocking you and grabbing his arm

Suho: “and what is it that you think you’re doing?”

CEO: “let go of me”

Suho: “and let you hit this stranger? aren’t you just embarrassing yourself even more?”

for the first time, you can see him flush with embarrassment as he realizes the eyes and the cameras that are on him

but then he snarls at Suho: “who the hell do you think you are?”

Suho smiles, but it’s as fake as this man: “I’m heir to the Kim business, I could make you disappear in two phone calls, would you like me to show you?”

he freezes, before yanking his arm out of Suho’s hand and walking off

muttering something about millennials

he finally turns to you, as the crowd starts to disperse

Suho: “are you okay?”

You: “I could have handled myself, pretty boy”

Suho: “you think I’m pretty?”

**cue Sehun facepalming on the sidelines**

you sigh, tired from him already: “I can’t deal with this right now, that asshole is still out there and I’m not resting until he’s resigned”

you turn away, not even bothering to listen to his response and immediately head off

Sehun: “you really managed to blow that opportunity”

Suho: “shut up and drink your milk tea”

later that day, he may or not have used some of his family’s money for something other than meaningless shit

he was looking you up—you’ve done a lot of things and you have so many achievements

as well as enemies

yikes

he’s seen a lot of these people at the Kim’s charity auctions

and at business meetings

and the parties his family throws at their party mansion

oof—this is not looking good for him or these people

so what else does he do?

he does a bit more digging on you

is it creepy? yes

should he be doing this? probably not

so what does he find?

your fb, instagram, twitter—all the social media you’ve got

this is what happens when you have a lot of free time and you’re rich 

he’s not really sure these accounts are your personal accounts though

there are pictures of you and the causes you’re involved with

but they’re not about you

he will admit that he’s very impressed with all of the things you’ve done

you’ve managed to make some major changes

environmentally, socially, and lawfully

(local laws ofc)

it wasn’t done without a lot of damages and enemies

but (from what he’s seen) you’re tough

next week, you’re leading another protest against a makeup company because of their false claims of being cruelty free

and their microplastic beads that’s polluting the ocean

and the high water demand due to the large amount being used in their products

jesus you have retweeted so many scholarly articles

and they’re like 40 pages long

Suho doesn’t think he’s read this much since college

(well his family paid their son’s way through, but you get what I mean)

he makes a note to shop there on the way sometime next week

just do he can see you again

the next week passes, more slowly than Suho had thought

as it comes, he goes ham on his shopping trips—he’s going to ALL the makeup department stores

never really buying anymore because he’s too busy on the lookout for you

he says it’s a “business trip”

(ignoring Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Jongdae + Sehun’s side eyes)

these people are really kissing up to his asses

literally getting up to his face and trying so many products on his faces

it’s like the spongebob episode when all those perfume people are spraying shit in his face 

yeah... imagine that 

his vision is getting blocked and his face is getting caked with every passing hour he spends

just as he was about to give up

the days roll around 

and he finally spots you outside the shopping center with your loudspeaker and protest signs

you’re in a group circle, talking with some other people 

who Suho is going to assume are other organizers

he manages to kind of sneak over as y’all are discussing 

you were discussing the main points and what the game plan was

Suho was just…. there…. 

you didn’t even know until everyone was dispersed to their positions

Suho: “so what can I do?” 

your eyes narrow at him: “pretty boy?” 

he smiles, so stupidly bright: “yeah” 

you eye him up and down: “are you lost? don’t you have a department store to get to?” 

Suho: “this is a department store” 

You: jesus christ 

You: “okay, in case there was another misunderstanding on my abilities, I can handle this” 

Suho: “I understand, I just want to help” :) 

you nearly growl at him, what an idiot 

you don’t realize you’ve been staring at him for a while, until a friend of yours steps up next to you and give you a little nudge 

your friend whispers to you: “he’s a Kim, his involvement would mean more exposure” 

you let out a deep sigh and shoo her away to deal with the stragglers who’ve just joined 

You: “do you know why we’re here?” 

Suho: “false claims of the makeup being cruelty free?” :)

You: “lucky guess” 

You: “okay fine, we’re gonna be here for a couple of hours—he’s arriving soon and then he’ll leave, just as he always does and we’ll have to rally in case he gets aggressive”

Suho: “okay, got it” 

he gives another smile and is so compliant, you figure he’ll be here for a bit and then leave 

but, to your shock, he’s there the whole you’ve been there

which is like two hours longer than the others were supposed to be there 

and even after the whole thing, he asks you what else is coming up 

with another push from your friend, you reluctantly share the information with him from your organization’s website and facebook group and all this other stuff

but let’s be real, Suho already knew some of this stuff due to all of his internet stalking

it doesn’t mean he doesn’t appreciate you sharing the information tho 

anyways 

he comes to the next one—just as you told him from last time 

and the other one

and another one

eventually, he just makes it part of his schedule to come and help out

at first, you didn’t really think he would show up

and when he does, you asked why

Suho: “I have a lot of free time”

somehow you don’t doubt that

the more he’s been coming, the more interested you were

not in the sense that “oh he’s so attractive for fighting for these causes alongside with me” interested

it’s more of the “what does this sneaky motherfucker want” interested

so you do some digging and it only confuses you more

shouldn’t be fighting his brother for that heir position for the Kim Incorporation?

why is he so interested in being part of this fight that involves… well, him?

isn’t he worried we’ll start attacking the Kims?

a lot of the other organization members notice it as well

because I mean, have you seen him?

(he is very attractive)

but also because this big name hot shot is at these small group protests, when he should be in a meeting or something

it doesn’t mean his efforts aren’t appreciated

he always gets the group things like food and supplies for strikes that last for longer than usual

for instance, you and your organization went to join teachers who were striking for a better contract with the school district

Suho came running with more posters, loudspeakers, shakers, coffee, sandwiches

the district teachers absolutely adored him—they even took pictures with him 

but, you will admit that it’s nice to talk to him, despite the differences in social class 

he likes talking to you too 

(maybe more than he likes to admit) 

it’s just 

you have this fire in your eyes 

the passion in your voice is clear 

and you know what you want and you go for it, without any mercy for anyone who gets in your way 

but you have that sensitivity and awareness and drive to help others that’s the whole point of you even being here 

he wishes he had that

but, these last few weeks

he actually feels good to help you out

whether it’s running for supplies or providing donations for causes you’ve told him about  

he feels purposeful

he feels good that he can help all these people and that his time is actually useful

and now, your organization is getting more exposure, which is nice

…. until the media gets involved and starts to paste Suho’s face on it

and that’s when you realize what he’s been doing

the Kim family had been using this whole thing as a reputation tactic

you feel stupid letting him into this

what you wanted to do was make a change for those who couldn’t advocate for themselves

and now all your hard work is being passed in the hands of some rich guy with way too much time on his hands

so, you did what you did best: dig some dirt on some filthy rich people

turns out there was a previous scandal with the family

they underpaid their staff

lots of people were getting low/little income and they were at a disadvantage because they were in a position where they couldn’t quit

when word got out, they said they would raise the wages

but some people say that these people didn’t

so you’re gonna find out—you snuck around their estate, talking to the staffers about the incident

most were unwilling to talk, but there were a couple of people who shared with you

they talked about they had medical bills, student debt, disabled family members, etc.

they had to work here and have to continue

apparently it was said that they would receive raises, but it isn’t livable—they only had 10 cent raises, but only after working for 5 years at a time

office workers obviously were higher up, but the servant staffers at the estate were taken advantage of

even after it was exposed, they didn’t really do anything about it

while you spent a couple of weeks snooping around

Suho had been at home

his parents were clearly upset because he’d been spending too much with the lower class

Mrs. Kim: “it’s good for our reputation, but you can’t keep spending your time with them”

Mr. Kim: “why can’t you be more like Dongkyu and spend more time in the office”

Suho: “I’m not even inheriting the company, why bother working?”

Mr. Kim: “of course you’ll inherit the company, alongside with your brother—it’ll be an even split”

Suho: “what if… what if I don’t want to inherit the company?”

Mrs. Kim: “what else are you going to do, if not a businessman?”

he doesn’t know why, but your face flashes in his head at that moment

in fact, you might get along with him better if he lost the inheritance

he wouldn’t be able to donate anymore

or get any supplies

maybe his support would be enough

the only question is to whether or not his family would cut him off

so, he speaks the truth

Suho: “I… I don’t know”

it’s been a couple of weeks since he’s seen you, so when he comes to the next meeting…

he was a bit excited

but when he comes

that fire is in your eyes once again…  but it’s towards him

Suho: “hey” :)

You: “so when were you going to tell me that you’re an absolute douche-bag”

Suho: “what?”

You: “your face is all over our hard work and now you get all the credit?”

You: “not to mention, you don’t say shit about all these people who you work with”

You: “also your family is garbage—really? underpaying the staff and lying about it?”

he’s…... speechless

on one hand, you’re right

and on the other…. you’re right

what is he really doing here?

is he actually making a difference?

you, on the other hand, you’re….

you’re amazing

you have been able to draw attention to all these issues

and you’ve been able to make these changes

you might not be filthy rich, but it doesn’t mean you don’t have any influence

Suho can’t really say anything other than…

Suho: “I’m sorry”

You: “you think that’s enough?”

Suho: “no, it’s not enough, I just don’t know what else I can say”

to be fair, you should be really pissed—you are pissed

but he looks so dejected

you remembered talking to him about his family ties and their family history… is not pretty

so you soften up a bit

just a bit

but only because it’s him

the one who always comes with a smile on his face

the one who comes with more than enough supplies because he wants to make sure everyone is comfortable

the one who hangs around you because he knows how tired you are

the one who stays and listens to you rambling for hours about a million different social issues

you put a hand on his shoulder

You: “you don’t always have to say it, sometimes it’s a matter of doing”

thanks to you, he decided to do something

for another couple of weeks he doesn’t see you

but you?

you def saw him

on the news

he got busy

he went on his usual schedule (like his parents wanted)

but this time

he wasn’t quiet about it

I’m talking about pointing out the environmental drawbacks of these products

calling out the people during the “charity” events

cutting of trade with those who don’t give fair wages

he’s even actually been trying to actually raise those wages for the servants in the Kim house 

(of course with the request of your help)

and wow

the news are just having a field day and eating it up

so that ultimately means his parents are seeing all of this

and what happens?

he gets cut off

he’s no longer inheriting the Kim fortune

Dongkyu is getting everything and he gets nothing 

but with your help, he’s a successful business consultant

turns out that business degree did do some good

he helps develop local businesses and the money he makes

not only goes to good causes

but also to help promote your organization

with the rightful faces on it

as for you two?

let’s just say, you’re a lot closer than before

seeing his drive to help others

the effort he makes to recover from his blissful ignorance

you’ve grown a soft spot for him

as for Suho

he’s glad he has you

you’ve made him a better person

made him realize all the different things he can do

you two working together + practically dating?

the organization members are eating it up

(and you’re pretty sure they were betting but no one would say anything to your face)

anyways

dating a former rich kid! Suho is a lot more fun than you would have thought before

lots of dates are at your (or his) apartment

mainly yours because he’s got a studio and has a roommate

(he is broke)

anyways

you spend a lot of time working on building cases against companies

it’s mainly work bc humanity is evil

but when y’all aren’t working

it’s cuddle timeeeee

you would put shows on, but y’all aren’t watching

you spend a lot of time in his arms

or him in yours

(he likes being a little spoon and isn’t afraid to admit it)

and, as his official partner, you are always supported by him

Suho: “WOO-HOO YOU GOT THIS ANGEL”

You: “omg it’s flipping an egg, I’m not receiving a medal”

it’s cute tho

and ofc you got his back

when he was kicked out of the house, you straight up wreaked havoc

all those people were spreading rumors, you shut that shit down

when he kicked out with nothing more than a duffle of clothes, you became his safe haven

you helped him get back on his feet 

found what he really wanted to do

and he was able to find someone really special

you ♡ 

[randomfandomfamily]

uhhhmhmjlots of angst one shots lately i see,,,you should write something fluffy w/ gary, avocato, & little cato,,.., you can never go wrong with those 3 interacting in a cute/happy way right?

---

You know what? You right. Have some fluff.

Avocato hadn’t seen much of the arcade, but when he heard Quinn and Gary shouting from that general direction, he figured it was worth investigating.

Though when he found Quinn and Gary, he was confused. They were peering into vents and calling out Little Cato’s name. “What’s going on here?”

Quinn looked at Gary. “You wanna explain? Or should I?”

Gary took a deep breath. “Don’t be mad-”

“Already off to a bad start,” Quinn commented.

“Okay, I didn’t know a root beer float was going to give him a friggin’ sugar high, Quinn,” Gary said, “I just thought ‘Hey! Little Cato’s never heard of a root beer float before, maybe he should try one.’”

“He didn’t have a root beer float, Gary,” Quinn shot back. “He had five of them because somebody left him alone at the soda parlor!”

Avocato looked at Gary in confusion. “What the hell is a root beer float?”

“Is this seriously just an Earth thing? There is a soda parlor on this alien ship, and you’re telling me no one has had a float ever?!”

“It’s ice cream and soda,” Quinn answered for him. “Basically just caffeine and sugar.”

“But root beer doesn’t have caffeine in it,” Avocato interrupted.

“So you’ve heard of root beer, but not a root beer float,” Gary muttered, “That makes perfect sense

Quinn and Avocato ignored Gary. “Usually it doesn’t,” Quinn said, “But turns out the ship is stocked with a Earthen root beer called Barq’s, which does.”

Avocato shot Gary a look. Gary shrugged sheepishly in response. “I didn’t know it’d affect him this bad, otherwise I wouldn’t have given it to him.”

“Great,” Avocato said, “How long has it been since you’ve seen him last?”

“Fifteen minutes?”

Avocato bit back a frustrated growl. He loved Gary, lovable idiot that he was, but he was about two seconds from punching his co-parent in the face. “Alright, let’s just find him before-”

“GARY!!”

The three adults turned to see Ash and Fox running towards them. “Ash? Fox? What’s wrong, are you okay?” Gary asked.

Ash’s eye was wide with panic. “I think something’s wrong with Little Cato.”

Fox nodded. “Yeah, I don’t know what happened to him, but he’s tearin’ through the ship like a madman!”

“He knocked HUE over just a few minutes ago,” Ash said, “And Sheryl, too.”

Gary fought back a laugh. “Wait, seriously? He knocked over my mom?”

“Gary,” Quinn said firmly.

He shook his head. “Right, right, right. Focused, I’m focused.” He looked back to Fox and Ash. “Do you know where he went?”

‘I do.’

“AVA?” Avocato was still unused to her voice. And HUE with a body was weird too. “Where’d he go?”

‘He’s currently in the ventilation system,’ she replied, ‘But he’s heading for the bridge as we speak.’

Avocato was going to kill Gary. “Let’s go before he gets into the control room.”

‘You won’t beat him there,’ AVA said helpfully.

Fox and Ash backed away. “Y’all have fun with that,” Fox said, “We’re staying far away from that little hell cat.”

“Yeah,” Ash agreed, “I’m gonna stay here and play games.” Avocato wasn’t too reassured by that, but he figured it couldn’t be all that bad. Right?

Quinn gave Gary a smug smile as they ran for the control room. “I told you to wait and ask Avocato but noooo, you just had to give the hyper kid caffeine, didn’t you?”

“Now is not the time, Quinn!” Gary said. “AVA! Is he in the control room?”

‘Yes,’ AVA replied, ‘Though I would advise against entering the bridge at this time.’

Avocato halted outside the door to the bridge. “Why?”

‘Little Cato appears to be trying to take over the ship.’

“That means we should most definitely be in there!” Gary exclaimed. “Open the door!” Not needing a second prodding, Avocato opened the door and ran in, his gaze darting around to find his kid. “Avocato, look out!”

He barely had time to register Gary’s warning before something dropped onto his back. “INTRUDERS!!”

“Little Cato?!” Avocato reached back and pulled the kid off his shirt. “What are you doing?”

Eyes shining with glee, Little Cato said, “I’m takin’ over the ship! This is my ship now!” He managed to wriggle out of Avocato’s grasp. “This is my ship, and y’all are intruding!”

Gary crossed his arms. “I don’t think so, mister. I’m the captain around here.”

Little Cato climbed onto the captain’s seat and put his hands on his hips. “I, Little Cato, declare this ship mine! Forfeit the ship to me, for I am the superior captain!”

“You can’t do that!” Gary protested.

Quinn interjected, “Sure he can. Provided the grounds on which he claims to be a better captain are supported.”

Avocato turned to her incredulously. “You’re encouraging this?”

She shrugged. “I’m curious.”

“I know how to pilot the ship.” Little Cato spun the chair in circles. “Oh, and I know how to fix it, too! And I have the most experience out of everyone here.”

Quinn frowned. “I’ll grant you the first two, but not that last one, I’m pretty sure you’re the youngest one here.”

Little Cato stopped spinning in the chair. “First of all, how dare you.” He pointed at Quinn disapprovingly. “And second of all, respect your elders! I am seventy-four years old, and I will kick your butt!”

Avocato rolled his eyes at his sons caffeine-induced antics. “Okay, now you’re just being ridi-”

“No, he’s actually right about that one,” Gary interjected. “Long story. Explain later, grab kid now.”

“Ooooooh, I like this game!” Little hopped out of the chair and braced himself to run. “You shall not defeat the captain!”

Gary cracked his knuckles. “Oh ho, you wanna bet?”

Quinn looked at Gary apprehensively. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Something my old man used to do with me whenever I had energy to burn,” Gary said, “Wrestling match.”

Avocato put a hand on Gary’s shoulder. “Nope. Bad idea. Gary, as your friend and the co-parent with the most experience: do not.”

“Too late! We’re doing it!” Gary and Little Cato ran at each other, Little Cato launching himself into Gary’s chest.

The kid was light enough that Gary barely stumbled, the real problem was when Little Cato scrambled over his shoulder, grabbed his arm and pulled it back. It wasn’t enough to really hurt, but it was enough that Gary could no longer use it.

Gary tried to pull Little Cato off like Avocato had, but it was considerably harder with his arm wrenched behind him. “Hey! Get off me!”

Little Cato cackled and jumped off, still holding Gary’s arm. With a small Ventrexian attached to the end of his arm, Gary was off balance and fell easily, landing hard on his rear.

“Ow! You little-” Gary stood and started aggressively taking off his jacket. “Alright, let’s go for real!” But as soon as his jacket was about halfway off, the idiot managed to get himself stuck somehow.

Avocato crossed his arms. “This’ll end bad.” He glanced at Quinn. “Should we stop him?”

“Nah. I’m interested to see where this goes.”

And where it went was Little Cato grabbing the ends of Gary’s half empty sleeves, still flapping in the air from where Gary had partially shrugged it off, and tying them into a knot. “Oh what the-? What is this?!” Gary struggled with his tied sleeves. “Explain to me how I’m supposed to get this off!”

“You don’t!” Little Cato giggled.

Quinn sighed. “Okay, now we intervene.” She gently nudged Little Cato to the side and untied Gary’s sleeves. “How about we find a different way to burn Little Cato’s energy.”

Gary readjusted his jacket and harrumphed. “Alright, like what? He’s about to vibrate through the wall!”

“I can see into another dimension,” Little Cato said to Avocato while Quinn and Gary bickered.

Avocato patted his head, hoping Quinn would come up with something to wear out this kid. “No, you can’t.”

“I can see it,” Little Cato whispered, “The floating roots of beer have shown me worlds beyond worlds.”

There was no response to that other than, “No.” Nothing had prepared him for this part of parenting. There wasn’t a book on ‘How To Deal With Your Kid on a Caffeine High’.

Little Cato bounced on heels. “I’ve never felt so alive.”

“You’ve got too much pent up energy,” Avocato said, “Why don’t we go for a walk or-”

His son suddenly waved his arms in the air frantically. “Oh! Oh! Pent up energy! Need to release!” He pointed up at the ceiling and shouted. “AVA!”

‘Yes?’

“The captain demands Loggins!”

Gary pumped both fists into the air, startling Quinn. “Oh, hell yeah, Spider-Cat! Let’s get some tunes up in here!”

“What’s a Loggins?” Avocato asked.

“Gary does he mean Kenny Loggins?” Quinn said in disbelief.

“What’s a Kenny Loggins?!” Avocato was growing more confused with each passing second.

“LoggiiiiaaaaaaAAAAAHAHAHA!!” Little Cato broke into excited laughter as music started blaring over the ship’s sound system.

Avocato stared as Gary and Little Cato started dancing in a weirdly synchronized way. “What is happening?”

Quinn sighed. “It’s an old song from Earth called Footloose. It’s stupidly catchy and it will be in your head all day.”

“Dance with me!” Gary took Quinn by the hand and swung her around.

Little Cato followed suit by grabbing his hand. “Dad, dance with us!”

“I don’t-”

“Obey your captain!” Little Cato demanded. “Dance with us!”

Avocato couldn’t help the laugh that slipped through. He still didn’t dance, but he watched Little Cato, Quinn, and Gary dance around the control room. At one point, Avocato even found himself humming along.

Quinn was right. This song really was stupidly catchy. He didn’t even notice that it was playing on loop until the fourth time through, that’s how catchy is was.

After fifth playthrough was over, Little Cato clapped his hands. “Yes! Aw, that was awesome!”

“Sounds like you’re starting to come down a little.” Avocato noticed.

“A little bit.” Little Cato rubbed his eyes. “Man, that wore me out. How’d that wear me out so bad?”

Quinn patted his head. “You’re about to crash.”

“Crash?” Little Cato asked. “I don’t wanna crash.”

Gary laughed. “She means you’re about to be real tired.”

“Oh… yeah, that sounds about right.” Little Cato rubbed his eyes again. “Note to self: limit the caffeine and sugar.”

Avocato put a hand on Little Cato’s shoulder. “Wanna go lay down?”

Little Cato nodded. “Uh-huh.”

“Good.” Avocato ushered him out of the room. “Because I’m gonna punch Gary in the face now.”

His son paused outside the control room. “Wha-”

“Nothing, go lay down.” Avocato closed the door and turned to Gary.

Gary shrank away. “Are you gonna punch me now?”

“No,” Avocato admitted, “But the next time you wanna give our kid something full of sugar, either moderate him or come ask me first.”

Sighing in relief, Gary said, “Deal.”

Quinn smiled and rolled her eyes. “Told you so, you moron.”

“Hey!”